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Signal Space: New York’s Soft Frequency Terrains

By Michael Chen and Justin Snider

The article examines the emergence of signal space as a form of soft mediation between the physical and social characteristics of the city and the technologies of broadcast, and the modes of representation that concern the technical and spatial relationship between urban form and antennas. The shift to mobile technologies and the growth of mobile infrastructures in the city is examined in relation to algorithmic modes of representation and signal processing and is accompanied by a series of maps created by the authors that seek to register signal space as it is now manifest in spatial, technological, and political terms.
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Manhattan mobile network service areas in relation to architecture. Service cells are drawn based upon building locations within a 1000 meter service radius, revealing service intensities within the Manhattan’s relatively even coverage. Not quite a topographical index, the pattern nevertheless represents the negotiation between urban topography, user population, and antenna placement. Data Sources for the above: New York City Department of Buildings Permit Filings (08/10/2005-02/10/2011); New York City Planning Commission PLUTO Dataset (2010)

AntennaDiptych.jpg

Manhattan mobile network base stations. Each installation point is indexed to the aggregate building volume within its service boundary and scaled proportionally, revealing areas of service intensity, as well as radiation exposure intensity. Data Sources for the above: New York City Department of Buildings Permit Filings (08/10/2005-02/10/2011); New York City Planning Commission PLUTO Dataset (2010)

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Manhattan Mobile base stations distributed according to address and building height, in relation to major broadcast infrastructure locations. Data Sources for the above: New York City Department of Buildings Permit Filings (08/10/2005-02/10/2011); New York City Planning Commission PLUTO Dataset (2010)

AntennaStrata.jpg

Antenna distribution and coverage areas of the six largest private land mobile radio networks in Manhattan, a mixture of city and regional agencies, institutions, and private service and real estate empires. Data Source: Federal Communications Commission Structure Registrations; New York City Planning Commission PLUTO Dataset (2010)

BRACKET [goes soft]

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