Electric Atmospheres explores the ethereal architecture of urban datascapes. Modern life would not be possible without the electromagnetic waves carrying our data. As important as it is, we have a limited conception of how this system actually works. We imagine information magically popping up in the right place or beaming straight from a cell tower to our phones. Reality, however, is much more complex and much more interesting. Electromagnetic fields are a spatial medium, inhabiting spaces like cities, buildings, and our bodies. They are three-dimensional and interact with their surroundings. As we move through a city with our cell phones, we carry an electromagnetic “aura” that moves through buildings and objects, morphing its shape in reaction to their physical and electrical properties.
What if we could see this dimension? What does a city look like when you visualize the interaction between architecture and information? We cannot perceive electromagnetic waves, and their scale makes it difficult to measure the characteristics of the electromagnetic signals around us. However, their behaviour is well understood and, given a detailed three-dimensional map and enough computing power, can be simulated.
In collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre and Altair Engineering, I was able to simulate the behaviour of the electromagnetic cloud from a single cell phone in different urban environments and visualize how the electromagnetic waves are absorbed and reflected by their surroundings. The results reveal an invisible dimension of reality, a hybrid of architecture and data, as cathedrals of information.