MUSEUM OF THE PHANTOM CITY: OtherFutures
a mobile media project by New York Prize Fellows Irene Cheng and Brett Snyder

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2009

1:00pm - Tour and Scavenger Hunt
Meet at the base of the aerial tram station on Roosevelt Island

4:00pm - Project Reception and Prizes
Convene at Van Alen Institute

Van Alen Institute is pleased to announce the launch of Museum of the Phantom City: OtherFutures, a public art project that allows individuals to browse visionary designs for the City of New York on their iPhones.

Users can view images and descriptions of speculative projects ranging from Buckminster Fuller’s dome over midtown Manhattan, to Antonio Gaudi's unbuilt cathedral, to Archigram's pop-futurist "Walking City," all while standing on the projects' intended sites.

Designed by Van Alen Institute New York Prize fellows Irene Cheng and Brett Snyder, Museum of the Phantom City: OtherFutures is not only a window into innovative architecture, but a work of unconventional design in itself – a robust, database-driven contribution to the field of mobile media public art and part of the small but emerging genre of iPhone "app art."

The project launch will take place on Saturday, October 3, 2009, starting with a tour and scavenger hunt. Participants will meet at 1:00pm at the base of the aerial tram station on Roosevelt Island, and will reconvene at Van Alen Institute at 4:00pm for a reception and launch party. During the reception, prizes will be awarded to scavenger hunt winners and the full Phantom City website will be launched.

Individuals interested in participating in the tour and scavenger hunt must email rsvp@vanalen.org by 5:00pm on Wednesday, September 30 for further instructions. The Museum of the Phantom City iPhone app can be downloaded here. Those who do not have an iPhone will be teamed up with someone who does.

This event is free and open to the public; participation in the scavenger hunt is not required to attend the launch party.

In the event of rain, the event will be rescheduled for Sunday, October 4.

Visit phantomcity.org for more details.