One of the many Recipes

One of the Many Recipes,For Socially Engaging Projects

by Jawwad Zaidi

ID 503 - RESEARCH METHODS IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN FALL SEMESTER 2013-2014

Luisa AlpalhaoLuísa Alpalhão is a portuguese installation artist and architect working between London and Lisbon, and with several international projects. She is the founder of atelier urban nomads (a-nu). 

Author

Keywords

• Urban spaces• Participation• Positivity• Social engagement• Experimental• Ephemeral• Experiential• Collaborative• Interacting

Recipe for Social

Engagement

• In this article

• Luisa looks at the methodology by which SUB-UTILZED urban spaces can be reclaimed through participative methods that encourage a cross-cultural and cross-generational interaction.

• provides us with a direction in which to gain from the very society that we intend to transform.

Recipe for Social

Engagement

•Brief• The brief must engage us to be engaging

itself.

• There should be flexibility in the brief so as to develop and progress along with the projects process.

[ table for 100s ]2011• A project commissioned by Konya2023, referencing the dining traditions of

Portuguese and Japanese cultures. Touching upon conventions from both cultures, the effort manifested in a single unique piece of outdoor-furniture that reflected the social norms and ways of interaction among people in society.

Recipe for Social

Engagement

• Collaborators

• Involvement of people from other fields can bring a fresh perspective to the development of the project.

• One of the aims of a social project is to initiate the sharing of knowledge and experience.

[al Facinhas]

2011

Recipe for Social

Engagement

• Participation

• Getting people to engage can be the hardest part of the project as usually they want to see before they trust. Getting them to be active, reactionary and adventurous is the key.

Recipe for Social

Engagement

Local Craftsmen:• Along with utilization of local space, involvement

of local people, including the unemployed, can also be a vital ingredient, who have their own untapped unique skills .

Children:• While being a positive source for inspiration,

children can be also be inventive while playful, and bring their view which is in contrast to the pre-conceived notions of adults.

Recipe for Social

Engagement

• Misused Urban Spaces

• Spaces that are neglected or under-utilized are always around in cities and can be fruitful in providing new perspectives when seen in terms of catering to the physical and social needs of the space.

• Interventions do not necessarily have to be site specific but can be along a determined route within sub-spaces that bring more diversity to the project.

[a Linha]2012Project that analyzes the 4 routes leading to a local market in Lisbon and aimed to revitalize social cohesion through urban interventions, in collaboration with local authorities.

Recipe for Social

Engagement

•Onsite Observation & Research

• In order to understand and predict the utilization of the space in the future, documentation of existing activities, routines and most importantly, interactions becomes an imperative part of the research phase.

Recipe for Social

Engagement

•Materials

• The objects of daily use that are unwanted can always have a place in such projects, as the re-use brings along with it a re-purposing of the apparently obsolete product. A materials bank is an essential part of the process.

Banco De Materials[a Linha]

Recipe for Social

Engagement

• Design Stages• The projects themselves be approached as

experiments and they will enable us to reflect and keep informing the initial brief as the project progresses.

• Every stage is thought of as a small product, achieved with the rich feedback of local users and diverse disciplines.

Recipe for Social

Engagement

• Small scale

• The interventions have to be temporary and minimal in scale as we are working with locals, speaking their language instead of the planners

• Experience and memory of their involvement

ID 503 - RESEARCH METHODS IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN FALL SEMESTER 2013-2014

Jawwad Zaidi

“ We always have fun so that others canhave fun too when they engage in our

projects! ”