在丹尼尔·伯纳姆的铁路交易所大楼的大厅，芝加哥建筑基金会（CAF）将不可见的变成了可见的。
在名为“芝加哥：城市大数据”的展览上，芝加哥建筑基金会将“芝加哥模型 ”——-一个320平方英尺芝加哥市中心的树脂复制品，每年更新以反映其增减——变成一个可以“查看”城市数据的交互模型。芝加哥市政厅，开发商及设计师们越来越多地使用各种所谓的大数据，涵盖了从twitter短信到人口统计及空气质量，以创建更智能的基础设施，更好地让城市环境服务于民众。
在大理石、黄铜、钢材和玻璃制造的Burnham大厅中，这一模型给人留下了硕大无比的印象。再加上解释说明的科技功能，使它变得活灵活现，在这样一个地方消磨上几个小时太容易了。
大阶梯旁还有另外一样东西同样吸引眼球，没有被模型吸引的游客肯定在看“芝加哥仪表盘”，它是一块实时更新的数字屏幕，上面可以显示在各种巴士和火车的到站时间，Divvy单车租赁系统在全市各网点的使用情况，热点地图，甚至是预测城市平均收入水平、居民消费物价指数。当然，这个列表里也包括来看这一展览的游客数量（本周刚刚超过58,000）和＃chicagobigdata这一标签的点击量。
这里有一个奇妙的互动式显示屏，将城市的地域数据赋予谷歌地图软件，使人们能对一个已发展的地区有一个深入的认识。人们能够输入他们的地址，一个区域分区地图就会马上会弹出来，显示出这个地址的左邻右舍以及附近街区的信息。
芝加哥模型本身通过使用色彩和动画及各种照明装置来显示不同的数据集，增强了展览的视觉感（DCBolt制作，Katelynn普费尔，Luci 创意，并TruthLabs参与展览设计。）几款触摸屏让游客与各种建筑物的3D模型进行交互。
或许展会的最佳观赏点是一个能俯瞰整座城市的高台。透过城市最繁华地段往西眺望，一群新的背景建筑物赫然矗立。每一个建筑物都刷有不同颜色，以区分它们建造的不同时代：黄色建于最早; 蓝色建于1900-1945年; 橙色建于1946-1979年; 而红色建于1980－2014年。这是整个展览中最引人注目的部分，它让参观者直观感受到城市建设的波澜，以及近来发展带动的建筑拆除和重建。
展览内容也特别涵盖了大数据---许多人围绕着数据的所有权及其揭示的规律，针对隐私问题表示担忧。芝加哥正准备推出一个完整的传感器系统，它将与智能手机和环境进行交互，产生一系列新的数据。一方面，这个系统可以用来帮助城市确定哪里需要基础设施的改善；另一方面，它同时也将捕捉大量潜在的敏感信息。该项目被称为“物联数组(Array of Things)”，是芝加哥市、芝加哥大学和美国阿贡国家实验室( Argonne National Laboratory)之间的合作。自此，芝加哥有可能成为史上第一个创造了这样一个永久数字化基础设施的城市。
通过该项目收集到的数据将向公众开放，可以被个人、政府和企业所使用。该系统将于今年逐步推出，但对于那些在数据间寻求各种答案、探索数据的危险性与可能性的人来说，城市大数据是一个很好的开端。
原文：
In the lobby of DanielBurnham’s Railway Exchange building, the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF)has made the invisible, visible.
For the exhibition Chicago:City of Big Data, CAFturned its centerpiece Chicago Model—a320-square-foot resin replica of the city’s downtown, updated annually toreflect additions and subtractions—into an interpretive piece through which to“view” the city’s data. Encompassing everything from tweets to demographics toair quality, so-called big data is increasingly employed by city governments,developers, and designers to create smarter infrastructure that betterintegrates the urban environment with its populace.
The model—at the center ofBurnham’s marble, brass, steel and glass lobby—makes a gigantic impression. Addto that the interpretive technology that brings it to life and the result is aplace where it’s very easy to while away a few hours.
Tearing ones eyes from thegrand staircase, visitors that aren’t immediately pulled to the scale model canreview the “Chicago Dashboard”; it’s a digital screen that displays real-timeupdates on a variety of data points from bus and train arrival times,availability of the city’s Divvy bike-share system, heat maps, and buildingpermits to even the city’s median income, gross domestic product, and consumerprice index. Also on the list, of course, are the number of visitors to theexhibition (just over 58,000 this week) and the#chicagobigdata hashtag.
There is a fantasticinteractive display that pairs the city’s zoning data with Google Maps softwareto offer insight on the way a given neighborhood developed. Locals are able toenter their address and the zoning map pops up swiftly, displaying the zoningfor the parcel and its immediate neighbors, along with the boundaries ofadjacent zoning districts.
The Chicago Model itself isenhanced for the exhibition with a lighting installation that uses color andanimation to visualize various data sets. (DCBolt Productions, Katelynn Pfeil,Luci Creative, and TruthLabs contributed to the exhibition design.) Severaltouch-screens allow visitors to interact with 3D models of various buildings.
Perhaps the best vantagepoint in the exhibition is from a raised platform overlooking the model. Lookingwest across the model’s downtown, a new backdrop has been erected that islarger than the model itself. It displays every individual building in theentire city and is color-coded to show the era in which it was developed:yellow for the oldest; blue for 1900-1945; orange for 1946-1979; and red from1980-2014. It is the most striking part of the exhibit and allows visitors tovisualize the city’s waves of construction and where more recent developmenthas driven demolition and reconstruction.
The exhibition also puts big data in context: theownership of the data and the patterns it reveals has caused many to raiseprivacy concerns. Chicago is poised to roll out an integrated system of sensorsthat will interact with smart phones and the environment to create whole newsets of data that, on the one hand, can be used to help the city determinewhere infrastructure improvements are needed but, on the other, would capturepotentially sensitive information. The project—called “Array of Things”—is a partnershipbetween the city, the University of Chicago, and Argonne National Laboratory.It may qualify as the first time any city has created such permanent digitalinfrastructure across an urban landscape.
Data collected through theproject will be open to the public for use by individuals, governments, andbusinesses. The system will be rolled out this year, but for those seekingperspective on the data, its dangers, and its possibilities, City of Big Datais an excellent place to start.
原文发布时间为：2014-07-10
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