Scott Page

Scott Page is the founder of Interface Studio, a collaborative design office based in Philadelphia.

Member for
18 years 2 months

Contributed 46 posts

Full Bio

Scott Page is an urban designer and planner with degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Georgia Tech. His experience in neighborhood design, city-wide housing strategies, waterfront planning, downtown revitalization and economic development has resulted in innovative and achievable strategies for a diversity of public, non-profit and private clients. Scott's design process merges creative grass-roots planning with a focus on sustainable development and design. His project work has been featured in 306090, CITY, The Journal of Urban Technology, Salon, The Philadelphia Inquirer and, most recently, in Crossover: Architecture Urbanism Technology, by 010 publishers, Rotterdam.

Scott founded Interface Studio in 2004 to explore the relationship between urban design and information technology. Today, the firm is engaged in a wide range of assignments including work in Philadelphia, Chicago, Rochester and Camden. Scott is also a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design.

Wi-Fi Markets

Just to keep everyone updated on the continuing development of Wi-Fi, Muni-wireless released a new <a href="http://muniwireless.com/municipal/reports/841">report </a>on the state of the Wi-Fi market. The long and short of it is the market is expanding rapidly with just about every city looking to get in on the action. <br /> <br /> On the flip side, the Philadelphia Inquirer last weekend ran a <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13151838.htm">story</a> about the uncertain future of wireless as a city-led initiative.

Community Billboards

When recently working in a distressed community in Philadelphia, we were thinking of the best ways to communicate what we were planning for the area and guide residents toward local resources that exist but are rarely used. As a cost effective solution, we worked with the <a href="http://www.klip.tv">Klip Collective</a> to implement a video installation within a vacant storefront. The installation runs every evening. Besides providing some valuable information, we used the installation to instill some street activity along what was once an active commercial corridor.

Augmented and Real-Time Maps

Interesting idea under development at the <a href="http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/stories/2005/augmented_maps/">University of Cambridge</a>.<br /> <br /> "Printed maps can be designed and printed to show fine detail and yet remain easy to take in at a glance. They are also simple to use in group discussions. However, a new map needs to be printed whenever information changes. Computer-based maps on a screen can change dynamically to represent a changing situation, but are not as easy to use. Dr Tom Drummond, Dr Gerhard Reitmayr, and Ethan Eade are combining the benefits of printed maps with the benefits of computer based dynamic maps, creating a dynamic high resolution map by augmenting printed maps with digital graphical information.

Interactive Tours

The "trace", as some designers and planners refer to them, are marketed and annotated tours that cover specific topics including waterfronts, historic districts and parks. Traditionally, they've been undertaken through marketing efforts and physical improvements such as signs, markers and designated trails. Until recently, they have been developed top-down with funding and the identification of historic markers and sites by specific organizations. Ken Snyder's excellent <a href="http://www.planetizen.com/tech/archives/2005/07/01/298/">post</a>

City-Wide PRT

Just an added note on personal rapid transit. Some years ago, Bruno Latour wrote "Aramis" which documents the French government's attempt to create a PRT system for Paris (later killed by the government itself). Written as a cross between a socialogical study and a mystery novel, its worth a look for those interested in the subject.