'auto.city' 1.0 is the first in a series of screen-based works that uses generative algorithms to explore the dynamic nature of urban structures. To French philosopher de Certeau, the production of city space creates a 'universal and anonymous subject which is the city itself'. The city is thus subject to the aggregate narratives that the mass population (or network) projects upon it. Existing to be manipulated, molded and explored, each iteration emerges differently; as nothing about the 'city' is static; not even the structures that comprise it. From this perspective, the work invites users to interact with dynamically developing urban structures within a vast possibility-space.
Each time 'auto.city' loads in a browser, the rules for building the generative city are reset and new structures with distinct patterns and emergent properties materialize through user interaction. Algorithmically selected colors structure the work into an abstract cartography open to multiple interpretations; as a model of dense information flows for example, or even, in later versions, as an interpretive musical score.

Technical specification:

The piece runs as a simple in-browser Java applet that requires only a current version of the Java runtime available at http://java.com/en/download.