The new york digital urbanism lab aims to be a testing ground for smart city initiatives. It is designed to allow for the reconfiguration of space: from the small scale (the individual's interface with the building) to a middle scale (including architectural components such as a wall) to the large scale of the building (including modular electrical schemes to support changing demand). A taxonomy of workspaces allows for the reconfiguration of research clusters according to changing groups sizes, projects, and varied needs that people may have for privacy and ownership.

In addition to the reconfigurable spaces and modules, the space is embedded with a sensor network to measure occupancy, temperature, spatial usage, and more to self-configure in order to meet the needs of its inhabitants, predict how the space will be used, and enforce a particular usage of the space at different times. each user of the space is provided with a virtual assistant that promotes detailed personalization and data privacy, as each user is given the freedom to share their private data or not; and importantly, which data to share and when. the more data each user shares with the environment, the more personalized the space becomes to their needs.

In collaboration with emily klein