INÊS MOREIRA DOS SANTOS

Inhabiting the Infocity

Tutors: Francesc Muñoz, Xavier Costa. Both information and communication technologies are having significant effects on social, cultural, political and economical aspects of everyday life. Cyberspace also seems to be changing community relations by promoting the globalization of culture and information services. Urban space is today immersed in an enormous amount of energy and flow of information. According to the thesis, two layers define the contemporary city: its physical body and the flows of information.

The thesis refers to Infocity, since we are speaking of informational society, in which the fields of technologies, economy, sociology and geography are interconnected. Considers that we should analyze the consequences of the globalization of information on architecture, urbanism, planning on the city. The revolution on lifestyles is evident and it is undoubtedly connected with habitat forms and consequently with architecture. The attributes ahead exposed, based on contemporary conditions, characterize the Infocity, where an informational society inhabits, with its lifestyles and architectural tendencies.

After making a brief reference to the history of networks and to the world of utopia/dystopia and the city, the thesis proposes a research question: Is there an Architecture of the Infocity? In order to answer to that question, the thesis defines the Infocity, using for that propose, its attributes. It also analyzes lifestyles as mejor actors on the development of new habitat forms and architectural projects.