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Introduction: Welcome

Welcome to the ZMG-axis. This Web site is a collaboration between Sandro Alberti and 'whoever' (anyone interested in promoting and reinterpreting the city of Guadalajara, Mexico); an integral part of fen-om. The project, which will be developed long-term over the next few decades, is a Web site that represents a multi-dimensional database [architecture, urbanism, programming, history]. It is all based around the representation of the city based around one of its main vehicular axes (the Vallarta/ Juárez Avenue, which cuts through the city from east to west). It includes buildings, the urban matrix, the lives of the city's residents, and a range of texts and images and sounds of the city. Enjoy the various representations of the axis:
2d-axis [2d representation of Guadalajara]
3d-axis [3d representation of Guadalajara] (includes the network of 'spheres')
database [experimental components, in *.wrl format]
map [map of Guadalajara, linked to the 2d and 3d axes]
texts [focusing on Guadalajara and virtual visualization, categorized in 5 themes]
your ZMG-axis [where you may collaborate/ structure directly]
'digital events' calendar [media-arts calendar for events held in Los Angeles- California]

As part of this project, free urban workshops are held as well, allowing all of us the opportunity to meet in 'real life' and to gather more and new data to be added to the ZMG-axis on-line. These workshops are held every couple of months, always on a Sunday (that day in which vehicular power yields to allow pedestrians the possibility of a promenade; this, by the way, is also reflected in the development of the 'Recreactive Thoroughfare' by Guadalajara's City Hall at the end of 2004). The lunch-for-8 occurs in conjunction with these urban workshops (on preceding Saturdays), acting as an 'intellectual salon' to stimulate ZMG-relevant ideas. This lunch gathering is more exclusive, with guests ranging from fen-om collaborators to renowned 'creators' from Mexico and California- USA (these include foreign guests who participate in a 7-day guided tour of the city called 'Urbano-7'. Finally, the ZMG-axis includes a 'real' component, which allows for the re-presentation to be experienced outside of the computer screen, in different locations in Guadalajara (the intent is to represent various aspects of the ZMG-axis at info-sites, such as cafés/ bars and galleries/ cultural centers, in the form of publicity, exhibits, and even 'digital modules' that include screens, projections, and other ways of combining the ZMG-axis with the 'real' Guadalajara).

We thank everyone who has collaborated on the various aspects of this project. Particularly, we would like to highlight all of the special help provided by the following:
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and many more...

Relevant Web sites outside the ZMG-axis,
REGARDING 'MEXICAN SPACE':
inSite_05 [Tijuana- San Diego]: Various interventions highlight urban-border conditions in northern Mexico.
Mexico City [México, DF]: Varied Web portal that brings together varied data from across Mexico (sports, contemplation, artifacts, maps, etc.).
JVC Cultural Center [Guadalajara]: A massive cultural-business park will be built in the outskirts of Guadalajara, and leading 'starchitects' have been hired to design it.
Villa Duz [Guadalajara]: The city of Guadalajara represented via the metaphor of a sugar plantation of old.

REGARDING 'DATA VISUALIZATION':
34N118W [Los Angeles, CA, USA]: Urban-mapping project in which participants are provided GPS tablet PCs and headphones, to experience hidden narratives in downtown Los Angeles.
Amsterdam Realtime [Amsterdam, Netherlands, Europe]: The Waag Society has produced new maps of the city, 'drawn' by residents moving about with GPS units. All of the resident's maps can be overlayed, and reflect transportation restrictions, mental maps, proximities...
Manhattan Timeformations [New York, NY, USA]: Digital visualizations evaluate various layers of urban formation.
PhotoSynth [Microsoft + University of Washington]: Experimental program that creates 3d spaces, based purely on analysis of a collection of photos of a place.
Stamen News [Google]: The popularity of news is visualized 'at a glance'. More popular news are depicted with larger icons than less popular ones. Depending on whether popularity of an article is increasing or decreasing, it is depicted with one color or another.