ČIPTalks: Architecture of Communication Space

One of the ČIPTalks panel discussions was devoted to media, new communication technologies, and the influence their development had on both communications and the wider cultural context of the contemporary society. The development of forums, social networks, and directories like Myspace or YouTube, turned consumers in creators of information, radically changing the postulates of the media industry that openly faces the dilemma on sustainability of traditional printed newspapers.

Unpredictability of these developments is not just transforming traditional media, but is creating great opportunities for new form of creativity, projects emerging on the new networks and communication platforms.

Albert Ferre, Tomislav Wruss, Bojan Mušćet, Jesse Shapins, Ivan Rupnik, and Saša Randić talked about the development of media, journalism, and the concept of authorship.

ON BOOKS…
Albert Ferre
We start from understanding of the book as a simple brochure for architect purposes, and describing architecture today as a series of inventions and solutions that could be implemented in different situations. 
We are interesting in specific solutions and problems for real conditions but then understand each of these projects as prototypes that can be implemented elsewhere.
Mixing the notion of the book with the notion of the project than appropriate and transform, and as a publisher what you do is you use what architects are doing, and try to make a new project out of that.
One example of the book is a monograph of MAD, not actually produced by ACTAR but by the architects themselves, that is redefining the notion what an architecture monograph is. The book is interesting because it does not really show their work. The work is approached with different stories built up on the stories how the building was produced. The book is basically a series of conversations.

ON JOURNALISM…
Tomislav Wruss
We have forced objective journalism, and I think this is bad for the journalism in general.
The voice of the group of people - the newsroom, that produces, aggregates, selects and distributes information should be more present. The editing process today should escape from the cage of depersonalization and adoption of false lack of attitude. Stronger voice, more attitude. We choose a voice that fits us. Because the information is already out there and available.

ON AUTORSHIP…
Jesse Shappins
I was always really interested in working with other people in collaborative context in designing platforms or systems that facilitate new forms of collaboration. And I think I am not alone in that and there is a sensibility of that attitude that is somehow basic today. I think it does have a lot to do in recognizing the rising of technology like in the yellow arrow project where arrow is so exciting, it fetishising the technology and makes you want to do something about it. People get so excited with technology, but what it actually does it allows you to take a step back and look at things, to ask why and what for, and when you do that you realize there is an enormous potential in a ways we can use this systems to connect people with each other. Joshua Ramus was absolutelly right, you push back authorship individually and collectively, you do both simultaneously.

Tomislav Wruss
In newspaper it is not black and white, there are always people that have a certain skill or knowledge but less then ever their work on the text has been exclusively their own. The process in which the article is produced is already in collaboration. At the end of the day, the article is already done in a collaborative way: it has been published before, commented on the web sites, published by competition, so it is a project being done in a collaborative way by using comments of people and what has been said on that by others. Final article is only a status report what goes on this topic, in the moment that newspaper goes to print.

ON TECHNOLOGY…
Bojan Mušćet
The existing trend shows increasing presence of cross media – I want it all, and I want it now: print media form web issues and news-rooms, radio-stations distribute their broadcasts by means of podcasts, TV is integrating with the Internet, Internet is creating new media rules, social networks combine narrative tradition and a media role, mobile devices are becoming personal media.
Future development will bring the return of professionalism and drastic development of cross media, as well as a different web concept: the new Web 3.0, different search engines, like Mahalo.com and Viewzi.com, but also e-newspapers with pronounced seriousness and reliability of information.