The FIGUREGROUND Project

PRAUD (Progressive Research on Architecture, Urbanism and Design) is a Boston based firm which was founded in 2010 by Rafael Luna and Dongwoo Yim. The research and design firm "focuses on a contemporary approach to understanding the effects of urbanity and developing architectural process ... [taking] into account various scales in architecture and urbanism with key topics such as hybridity, urbanity, density and transformation." One of their current research projects is called FIGUREGROUND.

Mapping World Cities
(Image Copyright: FiguregroundBos)

FIGUREGROUND is an interactive research project that was started "in order to better understand built environments through analytical comparison of the world's most influential cities." They are currently mapping world capitals using figure grounds (the most famous of which has to be the Nolli Map of Rome) as a comparative drawing technique. The research is being conducted across multiple media platforms, including social networks such as Facebook, FlickR, Twitter and Youtube. It also includes online surveys and analysis of existing databases that rank cities globally.

Amsterdam and Los Angeles
(Image Copyright: FiguregroundBos)

One such product is a range of T-Shirts that depict a number of world cities (London, Paris, Amsterdam, LA, Berlin, Chicago) through figure grounds. The T-shirt Blog 'Cottonable' has described the T-shirts as something which can "inspire interaction between cities" and that they give people a chance to "learn about the anatomy of a few [of the] most influential cities in the world while looking good" (see here).

Chicago, Boston and World Map
(Image Copyright: FiguregroundBos)

These products present an interesting junction between both analogue and digital data collection and visualisation, through the production of various products. Whenever a product is purchased PRAUD three pieces of data are collected: the place it was purchased; the city design that was purchased; and the place it was shipped. The intention is to compare "the marketability of a city to the world rankings of world's most influential cities." Other products currently available include a series of frames/prints of various cities.

Berlin
(Image Copyright: FiguregroundBos)

As part of a project they are also working on a book about the World's Most Influenctial Cities (the progress of which can be checked on for free here). Their mission is to "create a publication that provokes a dialogue between cities, and analyse what makes some cities great in order to transport these strategies to developing cities."

You can find out more about FIGUREGROUND from the project blog here.