New Ideas CityHello Museum

Urban Speaker

Cover Image:

Photo: Carlos J. Gomez de Llarena

Part of the Street Program

This portable urban art installation will allow people to broadcast their voices in public space by calling a telephone number from their mobile phones. The Urban Speaker resembles construction street signage coupled with a loudspeaker, a smartphone, and a battery. The sign will instruct passersby to dial a phone number to call in public. Anyone who places the call will get an automatic answer and will be able to speak their mind for sixty seconds, after which the call is terminated.

Urban Speaker addresses the idea of urban media spaces created by introducing telecommunication and interactive technologies into our built environment. Temporary interventions such as this explore what our personal and collective experiences of public spaces can become in an age of ubiquitous communication.