An overgrown plot behind construction fencing, between a pale and a red block of flats with cafés on the ground floor. The side walls of the neighbouring buildings are exposed.
Tour step 2 of 7 · The original
The site today · AI-generated, fictional place
The original
The image of the plot as it is today, unchanged. Proposals A, B and C were made from this image, in the same framing. Here the original is an AI-generated image of a fictional place, not a photo.
In DEMOCITY, the original is the photo of the place. It should stay untouched, and every proposal should be made directly from it, not from an earlier proposal.
Tour step 4 of 7 · Proposals A, B and C
The proposals
Proposals from different people. The letters are just names; a place is meant to have room for as many proposals as people make. In the prototype, you can for now only compare proposals made by the same person.
Terracotta-red panels, four storeys above the ground floor and recessed balconies.
What actually differs
The descriptions are based on what the images show. A, B and C are three different buildings, not one building with three facades. They differ in their storeys, the height of the street frontage and the top storey, but the overall height is roughly the same.
Proposal ABrick and two tall storeys
Proposal BPale stone and deep recesses
Proposal CWarm colours and balconies facing the street
Materials and colours
Red brick, with a panel of patterned brick near each end
Pale stone in large panels
Terracotta-red ribbed panels
Storeys and windows
Two tall storeys above the ground floor, seven French windows across, and a set-back top storey
Three storeys above the ground floor, five bays across, and a set-back top storey
Four storeys above the ground floor in an asymmetric rhythm, with no set-back storey
Ground floor
Taller than the neighbours’, with two wide shop windows and an entrance in the middle
The same height as the neighbours’, with large glazed panels between stone piers and double doors in the middle
Shorter than the neighbours’, with six glazed bays and an entrance near the middle
Balconies
French balconies, flush with the facade
Small balconies set into deep recesses
Recessed balconies with timber ceilings
Height and neighbours
The main cornice sits below the neighbours’ eaves, and the top storey rises a little above them. The building is narrower than the plot, and the windows do not line up with the neighbours’.
Fills the plot. The ground floor lines up with the neighbours’, the storeys above sit slightly lower. The top storey only just rises above the eaves.
The facade rises to full height right at the street edge, a little above the neighbours’ eaves. Four storeys above a shorter ground floor, where the neighbours have three above a taller one. Slightly narrower than the plot.
Proposal A · Brick and two tall storeys
Materials and colours
Red brick, with a panel of patterned brick near each end
Storeys and windows
Two tall storeys above the ground floor, seven French windows across, and a set-back top storey
Ground floor
Taller than the neighbours’, with two wide shop windows and an entrance in the middle
Balconies
French balconies, flush with the facade
Height and neighbours
The main cornice sits below the neighbours’ eaves, and the top storey rises a little above them. The building is narrower than the plot, and the windows do not line up with the neighbours’.
Proposal B · Pale stone and deep recesses
Materials and colours
Pale stone in large panels
Storeys and windows
Three storeys above the ground floor, five bays across, and a set-back top storey
Ground floor
The same height as the neighbours’, with large glazed panels between stone piers and double doors in the middle
Balconies
Small balconies set into deep recesses
Height and neighbours
Fills the plot. The ground floor lines up with the neighbours’, the storeys above sit slightly lower. The top storey only just rises above the eaves.
Proposal C · Warm colours and balconies facing the street
Materials and colours
Terracotta-red ribbed panels
Storeys and windows
Four storeys above the ground floor in an asymmetric rhythm, with no set-back storey
Ground floor
Shorter than the neighbours’, with six glazed bays and an entrance near the middle
Balconies
Recessed balconies with timber ceilings
Height and neighbours
The facade rises to full height right at the street edge, a little above the neighbours’ eaves. Four storeys above a shorter ground floor, where the neighbours have three above a taller one. Slightly narrower than the plot.
Tour step 6 of 7 · Give your input
Say what you think
Try it · nothing is sent
This is how you respond in DEMOCITY: what you prefer, and why. Try it here. Your response stays on this page and disappears when you move on.
Which do you prefer?
Tour step 7 of 7 · See the insight
What people think
How the responses and the discussion are meant to come together. The figures are fictional, each person counts once, and no one is shown by name. What people write in their own words in their responses is not included here.
This illustrates a direction: here, proposals from three authors are compared and summarised. Today’s prototype compares and summarises one proposal set at a time.
Fictional figures · 163 responses in the example
What people prefer
Fictional figures
As it is today14 of 163 (9%)
A · Brick and two tall storeys39 of 163 (24%)
B · Pale stone and deep recesses52 of 163 (32%)
C · Warm colours and balconies facing the street58 of 163 (35%)
Each person chose one option. Keeping the place as it is today is an option in its own right.
The reasons people gave
Fictional figures
Places to linger and public life88 of 163
Character and history71 of 163
Height and density54 of 163
Homes and other uses41 of 163
Safety and comfort23 of 163
Greenery, nature and climate19 of 163
Everyday use and practicalities17 of 163
Getting around and access9 of 163
Each person could choose up to three reasons, whichever option they preferred, so the figures add up to more than the number of responses.
Concerns and questions
Fictional participation
From the open posts in Community, with a link to where they were made.
Will a taller street frontage make the pavement darker?
Written by a person, not an automatic analysis, and whoever writes it may have interests of their own. Each point links to the posts it is based on, so anyone can check it and say in the discussion if something is missing.
Agreement
Several people, including Jonas and Ivar, want a shop or café on the ground floor. All three proposals show commercial space facing the street.
The height at the street: Hanne worries that C, which rises to full height at the street edge, will make the pavement darker. Kari suggests the storey arrangement of B.
The material and balconies of C, with the storey arrangement and set-back top storey of B. Sara suggested it after the discussion, and Ivar and Hanne support the idea. There is no image of D yet; it would be made from the original with these choices, not by editing C.
All the images of the plot are AI-generated and show a fictional place, not a real photo. The starting image is an AI-generated image supplied by Eivind Fasting, and proposals A, B and C were made from that same image. The developer, the architect and the neighbours are invented.
Proposal A · AI-generated, fictional place
Proposal B · AI-generated, fictional place
Proposal C · AI-generated, fictional place