A few weeks back the people at outside.in posted a list of America's Top 10 Bloggiest Neighborhoods. Here's the list of neighborhoods with the highest concentration of bloggers based on their tracking of over 3,000 US neighborhoods over the last six months with a sample, local blogger from each:

1. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn - Brownstoner
2. Shaw, DC - Remaking le Slum Historique
3. Downtown LA - blogdowntown
4. Newton, Mass - The Garden City
5. Rogers Park/North Howard Chicago - Howard Watchers
6. Pearl District ("The Pearl"), Portland - Neighborhood Notes
7. Watertown, Mass - H2otown
8. Harlem, NY - UPTOWNflavor
9. Potrero Hill, SF - Potrero Hill, San Francisco
10. Coconut Grove ("The Grove"), FL - Coconut Grove Grapevine

I wasn't surprised by which neighborhoods I knew that showed up on the list. Pearl District and Potrero Hill are both home to large number of young, relatively affluent, computer-savvy folks, but it's exciting to see them blogging about their "physical" neighborhoods. Instead of using the internet to form communities based solely on niche interests (like putting stuff on their cats or muzzle loading rifles), they are forming virtual communities with their real-world neighbors, great stuff! I didn't see any Berkeley neighborhoods in the top ten list, but if you look around a bit you'll find hyper-local sites like the Camelia Street Blog which is focused on West Berkeley (Clear Ink's hood) or the Willard Park Blog (shameless plug) that I started last month on the other side of town. If you want to see what people are blogging about in your neighborhood, look on outside.in, feedmap, Placeblogger or just knock on your neighbor's front door and ask them if they are secretly a blogger.

Avast maties, how might one better sail the vast, salty seas of the world of online communities than with yonder treasure map by Randall Munroe?

I was a little disappointed that I couldn't find the island for the huge, online community of people who like to talk like a pirate, but hey you can't have everything. (Thanks again to BoingBoing)

In an environment where architecture is more like a liquid than an artifact, everything seems to be a work in progress. This constant state of metamorphosis is a distinct advantage (and challenge) of building in a virtual world, where the architectural palette is able to shift and change as quickly as its context and programmatic agenda unfold.

As we watch Clear Ink Island evolve, I think there is value in documenting and characterizing its current state of architectural affairs as it emerges. My hope is that the buildings and spaces we create there will serve as a foundation upon which to continue expanding our virtual worlds practice, as well as the community we are designing it to encourage and sustain.

As a matter of background, the most ubiquitous criteria the Clear Ink team kept returning to was the development of a sense of community on the island, which remained a core tenet of whatever would be built on the island. Likewise, comfortable, easily navigable spaces, as well as the inclusion of the ‘SL Spirit’ in anything we build were also key ingredients.

By searching images symbolizing the architecture of community, it became clear that, insofar as an architectural relationship with the term was concerned, the most common denominator was the creation of space. Features such as courtyards, town centers, and central gathering spaces were clearly the stuff community is made of.

So, the new installation on Clear Ink Island would feature a town center or courtyard, but what should the surrounding architecture look like?

My avatar friend and Fine Artist Dancoyote Antonelli brought it to my attention that virtual architecture is interface, a thought that has continued to pervade and influence my approach to virtual design. Clear Ink Island is certainly a manifestation of that influence. With no gravity, and no elements to protect from, why depend exclusively on replication of real life architecture – which is derived from an entirely different set of functional requirements? How do we define spaces while retaining clear way finding strategies without resorting to exclusively real-world replication and enclosure?

It is important to remember that people are trained at an early age to understand and organize the world around them through certain visual cues – both learned and innate. Even though we are technically free to design without the restriction of physical limitations, the process of creating effective and easily navigable spaces in a virtual environment requires that we draw upon these basic visual cues in order to organize the architecture into easily recognizable patterns. This process forces a return to the fundamental principles of architectural design. Basic elements, such as hierarchy, proportion, rhythm, scale and layering are as important as ever in shaping quality virtual environments with lasting value.

Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion is a fine example of a restrained, yet expressive precedent of what can be achieved through the utilization of the most fundamental, almost reductivist palette of architectural strategies; highly appropriate for a virtual environment. This precedent was appropriate for Clear Ink’s architectural elements for many reasons, not the least of which was its effectiveness in shaping both indoor and outdoor spaces through the use of point and plane in a primarily open air environment. The elegant simplicity and freedom of shaping space through such minimal intervention seemed an appropriate, albeit prim-efficient means of fulfilling our functional program requirements, while at the same time avoiding restriction of camera movement and the claustrophobia of tightly enclosed spaces.

The potential of incorporating both motion and sound was manifest through the pools and cascading waterfalls intersecting the build. Waterways pass directly under the pavilions, where they join the pre-determined context of the infinite ocean surrounding the sim boundary. With gulls flying overhead, sharks threatening swimmers near the beach, coins in the courtyard pools and other hidden surprises, we hope to preserve and foster the spontaneity and personality of the ‘SL Spirit.’

As for community development, the courtyards and shared common spaces are intended only as an aperture. It is our intention to continue building upon Clear Ink’s invited guest series and events, opening these discussions to the public on a regular basis. To kick off the new year, and to test drive our new installation, we will be welcoming Lys Ware (formerly Henrik Linden) to discuss what it really means to build a virtual community on January 9th, 7pm SL. Stay tuned for details, and background information on Lys and other invited guests.

In sum, by inviting the dimension of time into the equation of architecture in a virtual environment, I believe we gain a more accurate perception of its true character. If Clear Ink Island remains static, its community will be equally so. I think it’s important that we continuously revisit and revise our goals for the island as our agenda evolves, and allow the architecture to shift shape accordingly. After all, architecture really is interface – the common boundary. There is nothing static about Clear Ink’s virtual worlds initiative, our interface can be equally intense.