Welcome to STEEMTOWN
Today I’m very excited to introduce a new collaborative art project. This architectural experiment will use Steemit stories, comments and upvotes as building blocks to model a community reflective of Steemit culture. Post by post, the “Internet’s Small Town” will be built and powered through your ideas, feedback and participation.
Introducing V.1
Here is the very first phase of STEEMTOWN, below…
Each building and landscape element was inspired by a family of posts (outlined below.) These photographs, quotes and stories inspired their own design logic and manifested themselves as 3D characters within the Town.
How To Play + Participate
Every week, a new phase of buildings will be added to the Town. Each new addition to STEEMTOWN will be derived directly from your comments! Post an image, link, poem in the comment section below. Here are a couple of examples...
Posting an image or a story isn’t the only way to play! Your critique is also important! With each post, Steemit commenters can contribute ideas for future growth, renovation, or even petition for a deconstruction. (Maybe more on that down the road…)
For now, there’s a lot of room for future development! As the Town matures we will be making / polling community decisions on zoning, infrastructure, preservation, public and private uses. STEEMTOWN will be treated as a living, breathing art-project within a digital canvas, always subject to change.
Let’s see where this blue-tinted wild west takes us!
STEEMTOWN on Peerhub
Over the next few days I’ll be opening a Peerhub page where you can use the local tinder to trade for a STEEMTOWN high-quality print or postcard. As the Town grows it will be exciting to see the “postcards” evolve. I’m also testing each building as a 3D printed model. (Results in progress.) As more buildings are added you could potentially collect and build a 3D printed Town all your own!
For the first 3D print test I thought it only appropriate to model a classic “Amsterdam Canal House” representative of our community's first global meetup at Steemfest. This building sits in the center of STEEMTOWN and serves as a symbolic keystone for the first phase. (Below)
A Steem-Powered Project on Placemaking
Through STEEMTOWN - I hope to engage in a broader dialogue with fellow Steemians about their own sense of place and placemaking. My past collaborative projects (with designers from @hitheryon) have explored ways of using art and architecture as a means to engage others with identity and geography. These types of game-structured conversations are a fascinating way of learning more about what a person defines as his or her “community”... It’s a way of us connecting to one another through the geographies we are deeply tied to and knowledgeable of. In a world of links, likes, upvotes and IP addresses, it’s exciting to find ways of bridging the digital divide and connecting with those on the other side of the screen.
With your comments, STEEMTOWN will evolve week by week. Over time, the Town will inherit a new kind of language in architectural-storytelling… where buildings coalesce into neighborhoods that embrace a visual identity entirely native to this platform.
So, what kind of community do you want to see? A utopia, dystopia? Comment with ideas… and let’s get building!
@fairytalelife @kevinwong @everlove @macksby @opheliafu @ericvancewalton @hansikhouse @natureofbeing @steemfest
follow me @voronoi | design collective @hitheryon
So this is what you were up to... I love it! An amazing idea.
Thanks Ophelia! I'm glad you like it! I'm thrilled that one of your birdhouses has a home here :)
I would like to have a concert venue. There could even be more than one venue built for different kinds of music; classical concert hall, jazz club, music in the round, specially designed megarock concert stadium etc. We could start simple with a gazebo...
Yes, a public venue for music is a must! Thanks for the great design ideas and photograph!
Very cool idea! Tweeted on @Steemit.
Wow, fantastic! Thanks for the support @hilarski!
This is a super creative idea @voronoi! I'm honored to have been chosen to be in the first generation. I think we need an open-air marketplace where we buy everything from fresh produce to art with Steem. : ) Wouldn't it be amazing if we turned this into a virtual world with V.R. (like Second Life - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life)? This way we could actually circulate Steem.
Great work, what an abstract and dynamic way to integrate and build a community, I love it!! It's requiring my mind to stretch around the concept and practical application. Very cool. I really like @ericvancewalton's note that most of our goods and services could potentially be bought and sold through steemit. And I too am very honored to be a part of the first generation!
Thank you for such kind feedback @natureofbeing! My hope is that this project becomes an architecturally messy testbed of ideas. Almost like a visual sounding-board for Steemit as our community grows. To address concept / practice... I think this kind of conceptual strategy of feedback-based-designing could be an interesting model to try in real life. (Mike and I are hashing out some ideas for this!) Anyway, 2017 will be very interesting... thanks again for being part of Steemtown's gen.1!
Thank you so much @ericvancewalton! This is a fantastic idea. We are in dire need of a marketplace for trading resources in Steemtown! Also, a VR environment for exploring architecture and furthering the steem-economy would be amazing. A couple of folks have expressed the same interest. This past year, I've been trying to teach myself some Augmented Reality software with the hopes of integrating 3D modeling experiments in a human scale world... very curious to see what 2017 yields...
You're welcome, @voronoi! I'm going to really enjoy seeing how this all unfolds!
This is super entertaining, what a great idea!
I would love to see a theater where we could have poetry and story slams, open mic nights and plays :)
Maybe something like "prufarchy's playhouse" ... or something ;)
Haha I dig it. That's an excellent idea!
Look ma! That's my spa!
The town needs a Church :-)
https://steemit.com/christianity/@jdbry/daily-devotional-jan-8th-2017
Excellent idea + a beautiful Church!
This is great. Should also have a town center with a STEEM fountain, where most Steemians show up on a daily basis to distribute accordingly.
Actually great for visualizing stuff thats going on!
Yo @kevinwong, your town center and STEEM fountain is shaping up / under construction... check it out in the latest Town update! - https://steemit.com/art/@voronoi/steemtown-v-2-a-community-art-experiment-in-city-making
Great idea for a town center and fountain. We need a meeting place! Definitely, this will be fun experiment in visualizing highs and lows as events unfold this year. Thanks for the re-steem, Kevin!
Bags packed.
Looking forward to hosting some improv shows at the local SteemBar.
Yes! We're in serious need of a SteemBar...
Love this! Can't wait to see how it develops
Likewise! Thanks so much for your support @andrarchy!
This is a great and interesting idea. I'd like a Chinese-style garden ;)
Excellent! If you have an image in your minds-eye, send me a link. Thanks also for the kind words :)
Upvoted followed and resteemed!!!!
I will add my office building as soon as I get a picture of it!
Looking forward to it! We need some office buildings in STEEMTOWN! :)
It's not my office building. My office is actually a small old house. I thought we could use this building where there is plenty of office space for others too!
Great idea! A nice big community office building for all the small businesses on steemit :)
Hi @riosparada, check it out in the latest Town update! - https://steemit.com/art/@voronoi/steemtown-v-2-a-community-art-experiment-in-city-making
awesome! Very cool! Upvoted and resteemed!!! Keep up the great work!!
😉
This town needs a taqueria!
Every good town needs a good taqueria! :)
I can't believe it! You are creating a kind of Madurodam! This is wonderful, @voronoi. Brilliant, in fact. Do I really get a whole palace to myself? ;)
All are invited! Thank you for including my Kathmandu picture.
Thank you so much @fairytalelife! Madurodam is a big inspiration for this...! I was even considering a play off of that name. (Kind of still debating it.) And why not - you should have a whole palace, the step-well is just the beginning! :)
I can't wait for more! :)
Thank you for the resteem!
Oh, and don't forget the trains! How about a Flying Scotsman/Orient Express type? Well, has to be a steam engine, doesn't it?
YES! It has to be a steam engine... ;)
great idea!
Thanks for the re-steem!
Thank you for posting @voronoi. Amazing ideas percolating here. @digit designs sim plots and such...bleujay will send her a note.
All the best in your journey.
Thanks so much @bleujay ... also for spreading the word! If you have a building or place of your own that you'd like to share please do :)
this sounds amazing. Can this story be included maybe? https://steemit.com/life/@k3t3r/a-rebellious-girl-gets-cold-feet
Absolutely! Thank you for sharing... the Town could always use a water feature for rebellious youngsters to learn their limits :)
Brilliant. I love it. What is the best way to follow this?
Follow me at @voronoi for weekly updates!
For the moment, I'll post a new phase of construction every Tuesday. With additional updates throughout the week that will give a window into the process and design-decisions.
Hi @k3t3r, check it out in the latest Town update! - https://steemit.com/art/@voronoi/steemtown-v-2-a-community-art-experiment-in-city-making
This is a really neat idea! Would there be any place to get a copy of the 3D assets for use in other projects?
Thank you! Great question. I'm compiling a 3D warehouse now... it should be up and running later in the week! Stay tuned for more :)
Nice! I think it would be fun to collaborate on creating custom assets and textures for this project as long as people are open to it.
a gas station :)
Here it is, in progress :) https://steemit.com/art/@voronoi/under-construction-3d-modeling-a-vintage-gas-station
I'd love to see a race track for motorcycles and cars! That would be awesome! :D
Yes! This is a great idea!
@voronoi Love the idea! It is similar to my #steemland idea where steem(it) themed user creations may be created and shared in a virtual world (YrGrid). Will relaunch efforts as some of the names of residents have expressed interest. Look forward to steemtown.
Wow YrGrid and steemland is fascinating! I can't believe I haven't seen this yet. Thanks for sharing! I love the idea of creating a digitized economy around buying and selling virtual real estate. I'll definitely join YrGrid and begin exploring... Thanks for your support @virtualgrowth!
Please feel free to send me a message if you want in YrGrid (Virtual Growth), on discord, or steemit.chat.
Yes, very curious to learn more... just messaged you on steemit chat!
You should add some of my trees.
https://steemit.com/art/@rubenalexander/draw-trees
Steemtown definitely could use some zen-greenery! Thanks for sharing!
Thought provoking post! We talked about it on this week's episode of the @steemittalk podcast.
Link if interested: https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemittalk/steemit-talk-podcast-026-1-28-2017-where-s-winston-or-group-sourced-commercial-or-welcome-ryan
tbh tho think of this with virtual reality
Yes! Very interesting. Perhaps in later phases we could explore the town as a virtual / augmented reality environment... Steemfest 2017 perhaps?
Virtual reality is right around the corner. If steemit becomes popular enough that could happen by that time
At first I thought you meant the automated growth of a virtual town like MyMiniCity. com that grows according to stats or for example clicks on the page, but maybe that is confusing me here?
Does sound interesting
Thanks for sharing
Procedural town / city generation based on stats.. worth considering!
Super interesting... maybe building types could be determined / influenced by weekly trending topics...?
Thanks, digit! This is in the same realm as a city-building game... but more of an art project (since it isn't automated.) If you have an idea of what you'd like to see built please comment with an image or link!
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Wonderful idea.. :) I hope to see a Labyrinth in STEEMTOWN. I think they're marvelous for walking meditation and contemplation. There are many designs of labyrinths, but perhaps the most iconic is from Chartres Cathedral in France... There is a similar one at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco which I would walk from time to time.
Thank you! A Labyrinth is a fantastic idea. We absolutely need one. Thanks so much for the thoughtful concept!
Now this is all shades of amazing!
We need SmallTalk Media (I'll get you my preferred design in my post on this project) for Steemtown's radio, television, and general monopoly of the Creative market.
Yes I called dibs on it so I get the monopoly. I'll be very nice tho 😊
Great idea smalltalk! Haha sure send me a link to your post when it's up!
It's up!
https://steemit.com/steemtown/@smalltalk/smalltalk-s-amazing-post-of-the-week-1-it-s-real-estate-on-the-blockchain
That's a very creative idea. How about some heavy woodlands outside of town for hunting, camping, and hiking?
Absolutely, we really need a stronger presence of natural landscapes and woodland areas. I'll get to it! Thanks for your idea :)
You're welcome!
Love this idea. Thank you for sharing. Looks like we bumped into each other in the same section of the bookstore.
I love this. Intentional Design is my pseudo middle name...
Can someone tell me how to post a pic?
http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2017/06/01/harmony-traffic/358838001/