Protecting the shortcut
This system also benefits the city. A DHT becomes a benefactor for the city he or she is visiting. The user buys a key that activates the installation and the money could potentially be used to restore or maintain the city’s architecture and patrimony. Organizations such as UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee could benefit from this service.
One of the main purposes of the key is to protect the function of a shortcut. This key is crafted with the technology to activate the installation when a user with the key walks by. This way the installation recognizes each person and prevents the installation from activating anytime. Only people who have access to this privilege can activate the shortcut; therefore the secrecy is kept.
We are using a key for diverse reasons. The space around the street “changes” when the user walks by. A new path is open with this key for exploration and closes when the user finishes the route. It has a metaphorical value of acceptance for strangers because they are given a key to the city.
Design strategy
The installation has been developed for the city of Venice, but it’s a design strategy that could be applied in different cities around the world. The most folkloric aspects of each city could be applied in each shortcut, thus making them different from each other but keeping the same basic principles of teaching a shortcut to a stranger.
Our prototype is based on a shortcut on the way going from Campo S. Polo to Rialto bridge. It’s a side street of Calle de Mezzo, going from Sotoportego Ca’ Morosini to Campo San Aponal passing through Sotoportego Del Todeschini.
We chose this location among others because we think it’s a perfect example for our project. Passing some time there, we noticed that this shortcut seems like a secret passage known and used only by Venetians. Most people passed right by it without noticing it.
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