We approached this project thinking that nowadays the kiosk as an urban infrastructure should be more then an empty container on the sidewalks of ours cities. We wonder what defines a kiosk in its essence and how do we see the kiosk today? What are the possibilities of adapting the traditional function and form of a kiosk to the current urban lifestyle?

           

We see the kiosk as add-on in the urban grid, which provide the city surface with small spaces for commercial transactions of daily items, however we want more then its pendular activity, we want it to power the urban grid with public utilities that establish an interaction with people keeping them close to the object surrounding area. Once it is to be placed in the Millennium Park for the Chicago Architecture Biennial and then moved to the Chicago Lakefront, their new added utilities are related with the action of those environments. The kiosk program was extended from commercial transactions to public charger, jukebox, illumination, energy producer, electric power, publicity display, interactive screen and wireless Internet. While it evolves its function it has to evolve its shape to assemble all these new utilities.

           

To power itself and its electrical program it has to have its own source of renewable energy to become a self-sufficient add-on which plug-in the urban grid with free electric energy. Once it is self-sufficient it can automate its functions establishing interactions with people throughout the year and not only in the open season when the inside commercial activity is functioning.

            With a complementary system of wind turbine and photovoltaic cells collecting wind and solar power the kiosk is prevented to produce and store energy from any weather conditions.

 

When closed, the Kiosk image is similar to a steel safe box that isolates and protects its own devices from external conditions. It’s lifted off the ground to prevent water accumulation and infiltration. The electrical parts are also located in the upper half of the form. Even when it’s closed the Kiosk always interact with people through their light beams which represents the energy contained in is inner core. People are invited to interact with the Kiosk using their smartphones as a key to unlock the light contained inside it. Once they do it the Kiosk will light up their beams like a shining pixel in the Chicago Lakefront.

            It has a 3 meters cubic shape to reinforce the image of a geometric urban artifact that will prevail in time filling the collective imagination of the people of Chicago.

            When open, the Kiosk loses its 3 meters cubic shape but allows the vendor to use the 2,1 meters of internal cubic space for his commercial activities. All the others moving parts are for public users and it’s opening transform the kiosk into a shape shifter object that adapt according to the users needs.

            The Kiosk has a main structure, concentric to the empty space inside it, which supports the secondary structure of the moving pieces. Between this two structures is the rail system, which allow the moving pieces to slide in and to slide out of the Kiosk form.

           

About its transportability the cubic structure allows it to be easily manageable by the technicians because it can be pulled up as one solid box and deployed in a new location. When approaching the ground, is necessary to adjust the hydraulic jacks to keep the kiosk in the horizontal plane.

 

 

The plug-in Kiosk reflects a technological vision by electrifying the public space with their social dynamics. The project attempts to establish contact between people through their technology needs by bringing them together in its surrounding area.

Due to its self-sufficiency it has the potential to improve the urban lifestyle by upgrading the urban grid with clean and free energy warning the people for an ecological attitude.