The New Collage City
	by Fangliang Shen MArchII student project Instructors: John Zissovici and Paul Soulellis Cornell Department of Architecture
	Hidden behind the simulated city of Chicago in Google Earth is the network of users who share their experiences of the city by obsessively posting their pictures of it.A visual record of the postings reveals nodes of densities that sometimes correspond with iconic landmarks of the city like the Chicago Tribune tower and the Sears tower, or Marina City. Of lesser importance, as measured by the number of postings are the John Hancock center and Buckingham Fountain. Each of these nodes affects the new city in its unique way. The Tribune tower, the city’s media center, sends out its messages through print, television and web communications. The Sears tower is Chicago’s most photographed and visible landmark, its image pervading all aspects of the city. Marina City embodies Chicago’s urbanity and aspirations to become more ‘visible’. Its image is inseparable from that of the city. The cumulative web of movements of these users forms the new frame of the city, reconfiguring its surfaces and introducing new dimensions of legibility and navigability from the point of view of this vast network of users.