Daniel Goddemeyer and Chris Woebken attended the Royal College of Arts in London, but didn’t meet until they moved to New York City. After exchanging messages online, they discovered that they both shared an interest in technology and the way it shapes our world. New York City debuted its “Digital Roadmap” in 2012, which led Daniel and Chris to consider the implications of living in a hyper-connected city. They were inspired to form the Office for Hypothetical Futures as a way to explore ideas about technology in urban spaces. From there, NYC Foresight was created to act as a fictional department of the city of New York that tries to address the issues that come about from technology, data collection, and digital noise. Find out more about NYC Foresight and the “Digital Serenity Initiative” in this week’s show.

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Episode Photo from NYC Foresight.

In the early 1900’s a painter named Henry Ward Ranger selected a block of West 67th Street in New York to establish a building with studio apartments with ample space and good natural light where artists could work and live comfortably. Over time, this block, located between Central Park and Columbus Avenue, became a hub for artists and creative types. The block was built up over a period of thirty years and most of the buildings maintained architectural consistency with Ranger’s original apartments. Between 1916 and 1917, the architectural team known as Shape & Brady led the effort to complete the eight-story building at 50 West 67th Street. This building has since been dubbed, “The Musician’s Building” due to its 60 soundproof apartments that were each large enough to accommodate a grand piano. Learn more about the historic West 67th Street Artists’ Colony, the Musician’s Building, and a neighborhood controversy involving ABC with former New York Times writer and current editorial director of cityrealty.com, Carter Horsley.

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View the Musician’s Building and the West 67th Street Artists’ Colony in Google Street View:

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Check out some additional photos of the West 67th Street Artists’ Colony in New York:

Special thanks to Jeff Emtman from Here Be Monsters for his help on this episode.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is presenting their first group exhibition highlighting sound art from August 2013 through November 2013. Soundings: A Contemporary Score highlights the work of 16 artists from around the world that combine elements of art, architecture, science, music, technology, and numerous other disciplines. Learn more about how the exhibit developed and some of the pieces on this week’s show featuring Barbara London, the Associate Curator of Department of Media and Performance Art at MoMA.