Communities creating spaces

adding user innovation to the flexible design process A session prepared for Think Commons Noa Bonin Peer, Office for Urban Innovation

TAGS: User innovation, community, network, mutualisation, engagement, involvement, appropriation, collaborative, transparency, participation, sharing, place-making

Think commons introduction Introduction

When Domenico asked me to speak in think common session, I was very excited about it. I have worked with ecosistema urbano on Urban Social Design Experience that included online sessions, and I believe this is a great way to share knowledge and experience. But there was one small problem. Domenico specifically mentioned not to speak about architecture. Being an enthusiastic architect this is quite a challenge to me, as the domain I suppose to understand the most is, architecture.

START Video: Le Corbusier's Interview on philosophy behind Open Hand Monument

What fascinates me the most about architecture is the contrast between creating a static object a building, and the moving project its usage over time. In this session I will talk about methods to develop projects the embrace communities. 10 years ago, just before starting architecture school I made a trip to the north of India (beautiful landscapes, most of it very calm). Chandigarh was my final destination. I was curious to see a city entirely built by an architect. At that time I knew little about Le Corbusier. Actually I knew more about the Indian way of living, having spent a month of travelling. Chandigarh hit me as a failure. Trying to create tomorrows city based on a manifesto and presumptions of how it should function. It is very vast and sectorized, and to visit the capitol you need to get a special authorisation, which I received after claiming I was studying architecture. But Im not here to criticize Le Corbusier (though I could talk about him for an hour if I need) what interest me in the following image is how the citizens of Chandigarh managed to adapt it. - the hand monument is also a football field - the sectors are mixed

As an architect, I believe the urban design and architecture are result of the society we are living in. I feel that my main goal is not to try to reinvent architecture, but rather create projects that incorporate the latest innovations used by our society, and composed of a flexible programme and structure, to allow it to evolve during time. - Which of the tools used today are efficient to use with complex urban developments? - How can we avoid the conventional scheme of client-spectator-recipient of a finished project, and incorporate citizen be as active agents in urban development processes? - How can we respond to a user-centred process while keeping the programmes and design flexible? - What is the role of municipalities, governments and other legislators in encouraging, initiating and managing projects that integrate social innovation? What defines our society today? GLOCAL: The connections between communities todays are both local. Individuals, households and organisations maintaining interpersonal social networks that combine extensive local and long-distance interactions These communities are NETWORKed: both in the virtual and physical space. As Bruno Latour stated: the more digital, the less virtual and the more material a given activity becomes all these virtual networks exist even more in the physical space.

USER CENETRED: commodities today are made in a user centred process, where the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product are given extensive attention. And the tendency is going even to more and more PERSONALIZED production. Our society is defined by an overload of information and mix of cultures and disciplines. These factors, among others, generate cities that are complex social systems, requiring efficient tools to develop proficient management. It demands new ways of thinking and working, which makes the transition towards a sustainable society a massive social leaning process. I believe there is no such thing as a universal solution. There is no manifesto or a readymade typology to respond to these situations, this is why I dont like putting formulas and conclusions to things. Each urban and architectural project different, as it requires multiple solutions for multiple challenges. One way of working with cities today is applying tactics. It is important to draw the difference between strategies and tactics. In their book situation normal, the architects trio LTL define the difference between strategies and tactics: Strategies define legitimate modes of research and establish the boundaries of acceptable practice, they are institutional processes that set norms and conventions. For instance - le Corbusiers five points, or the recent codes of new urbanism. Tactics on the other hand, lack of specific location, survive through improvisation and use the advantages of the weak against the strong. Tactics indicate a method of thinking through practices of architecture, not by introducing solution or conclusions to given situations. Creating CONDITIONS: is the about applying creative opportunities rather than instantly offering a closed design. By creating conditions we can transform, enrich and update the conventional design process by engaging more stakeholders into the practice, integrating existing or new communities to spaces and buildings. This can be applied to the HABITAT, a MIXED USE, PUBLIC spheres and others. In HABITAT for instance, communities can act outside the dominant thought and behaviour pattern by organise the way they live and share spaces, commodities and values (such as cohousing). In this example, Lavoir du Buisson Saint-Louis, in Paris, a group of 12 families joint forces to build this co-housing project. The year was 1983, and it took them 4 years and hundreds of meetings. The houses are positioned around three shared spaces and a shared room of 80 square metres. The shared room is very versatile: first it is used as a nursery for the numerous little children (24), then as time goes by, it is used for gymnastics and yoga, for holidays and birthdays, meetings of the neighbours, theatre rehearsals, exhibitions and traditional evening of Beaujolais Nouveau. In a MIXED USE development, buildings can influence their proximate spaces and neighbourhoods. 6B is a new place of creation and dissemination in a former office building located in SaintDenis. It hosts more than 150 residents over 6 floors and has 4500 m2 of workspace and dissemination. 6B is born of the gathering of individuals and art structures that have decided to pool their resources to create spaces for work, for art expression and of liberty. It is a private initiative, with a self-management economic model; the membership fees paid by residents have funded the development and operation of the place. 6B is open, accompanying the transformation of Saint-Denis neighbourhood and proposing a new way of thinking about cultural facilities. It develops and federates the initiatives and challenges of a territory that is constantly changing.

By organizing artistic projects and cultural events, the ambition of 6B is to network initiatives and as individuals locally and internationally. In the PUBLIC SPHERE, how can different stakeholders act together to create a community around a project? place au changement is a project by collectif etc. Answering the on-going urban changes in the neighbourhood, the project simulates a first step of the process in which a building is designed and built. The idea is to represent the plan of imaginary housings on the ground and their section on the wall. That way, people can imagine living in the future buildings and get an idea of the impact of the real one that should be built in a couple of years. For a whole month, Collectif etc. organized workshops that were fully open to anyone, every day. Local associations, artists and musicians were invited to organize various activities such as wall paintings, concerts, circus workshops, open air movies, sports tournaments, tango lessons, special meals, debates An online blog got set up and showcased the everyday life of the construction site. Now it is a place that neighbours identify to.

> experience@paris
creating a community between locals and visitors This project started when a group of 3 young entrepreneurs contacted us with the idea to build a hostel in Paris. According to them, while Paris is one of the most visited cities Europe, it is also having the smallest amount of hostels. We were interested in developing a project bringing local interactions to the age of global tourism to make the journey more sustainable, authentic by building and nourishing a community between tourist and locals.

Why do we need such a process?

With global urbanization and the evolution of infrastructure and transportation means, mobility is becoming more and more accessible, making tourism a low-cost commodity. Equally, accessibility and transparency of data shared online demand a real coherence between quality, price and services, while allowing multiple interactions. Travelling today became a less enhanced experience, easy to consume. In a society that is constantly changing, guidebooks are becoming rapidly futile, as the cityscape often reinvent itself. Furthermore, cities tend to have one or several touristic areas created, separated from the local ones. Paris is very conscious of its tourists. They flow through certain streets and districts like a torrent of money and futility. These souvenir shops on the way to Montmartre sell trinkets to help tourists preserve their precious memories of shopping for trinkets in souvenir shops. Look at the Berets here in the picture; have you ever seen anyone wearing them in Paris? The normal city flees from the tourist track, leaving a brightly colourful cultural wasteland, which the conventional tourist carefully stays within. Not only is the tourist unconscious, but where he goes there isnt much worth being conscious of. I remember now that the first time I visited Paris on my own as a tourist, I made a little exercise. I went to a random metro line; picked the most Parisian looking person I saw and followed him. It took me to places that were not always very beautiful but they were different and filled with normal life. Nowadays a new generation of tourists emerges. They are looking for the extraordinary, generating the need to give life to local and authentic cultural experiences in the course of an ordinary journey. Users are looking for exclusive services customized to their tastes and needs. They are using couchsurfing, airbnb, and other rental services that are offering cheap and

authentic experiences. This client type is constituted by the backpackers and flashpackers Backpaker: The Backpacker is young (18-25), he travels often in groups with few resources. The backpacker travels the world more easily by audacious means. Backpackers travelling in respect of the environment. Flashpaker: The flashpacker is over 30 years (30-45), he often travels alone, he has the means and likes to have fun. Thing in common: These clients display a shared commitment to a non-institutionalized form of travel, which is central to their self-identification- as backpackers. When travelling, they are constantly looking for a real experience related to the City and travel destination. They appreciate all the new technologies that improve their daily lives. How can their experience be enhanced? How can they create something to the city rather then just consuming it? What kind of interaction can be created between locals and visitors? Both local citizens and tourists are facing similar challenges how to profit more from the duration of the stay? How can tourists undergo an authentic experience? How to attract more visitors?

METHODS
Experience@paris brings the tourists and locals together through an active exchange of creation and consumption. It combines an physical place (the hostel) offering rooms but also spaces of interaction with the city, working hand in hand with a web platform that shares current activities in the city through existing websites or announcement posted by local businesses, service providers etc. Creating new networks and connecting them with existing ones through an online city exchange platform working closely with the hostel accommodating various sleeping and living combinations. The objective is to develop tourism that boosts the local economy through the exchange and consumption of products and activities, allowing the development of a local network manager and a global consciousness. Its transforms the hostel to a tangible space influenced by the interactions created around and within it. It offers an authentic and responsible travel, based on existing values of the local community, by learning experiences on the environment, culture and life on the premises. Customers can customize the services they order according to their desires and their budget. WEB PLATEFORM: It uses global trends (Internet, interactive mobile applications, social media ...) as tools to empower and promote local tourism. Using global digital trends as tools to empower and promote local tourism Experience@yourcity is a web platform and application creating a cultural and social exchange between tourists and locals, offering visitors a unique travel experience. From dancing classes to underground dinning, the web platform holds a rich and diverse database of current, underground, ephemeral or conventional activities in the city, giving various solutions to different interests. A strong search engine allows each tourist to adapt the activities to the kind of experience he is looking for: - Business or leisure, - With children, friends, lovers or alone, - Dynamic or slow, - Early morning, late morning, midday, afternoon, evening, night, - Outdoor or indoor,

- Creation or consumption, - Paid or free, - Cheap or luxurious, - Etc. After experiencing the unique journey, each visitor may choose to share his odyssey on the platform, creating a database of interactions four each city. This enables future visitors to plan their journey by comparing previous experiences. Hostel SUSTAINABLE which is part of his entourage to a local holistic way and absorbs latest global innovations. FLEXIBLE Who is accessible to different influences, able to change and adapt. INNOVATIVE that provides immediate and lasting solutions to the latest breakthrough innovations, creating a dynamic location. MODULAR permit in simplicity and efficiency to transform functions of a place. hybrid program choices in the spaces, services and prices societal representing an attractive centre of a neighbourhood - cultural exchange between tourists and residents. Environment designed with conscious and enhancing biodiversity and existing ecosystem. Shared spaces promoting the exchange between guests. social Media honest communication tools in place identity. Local network promoting the exchange between the guests and residents. CONSTRUCTION integrating norms saving energy, material etc.

COMMUNITY IMPACT
Exchanging with the local activities enhances the travelling experience; it becomes a learning journey creating a network between tourists and locals. The platform uses common interest to create links between visitors and locals. It enables strongly established groups or professions to meet their similars in other cities, for instance between philosophical movements, gardeners, artist, religious groups etc. Creating these nodes enrich the learning of each community from one another, the local and the visiting one, opening the way for future collaborations and exchange. As the platform allows the possibility to find services using geolocalization, it can also help flourish local businesses within specific parts of the city.

ECONOMIC IMPACT
Boosting local economy, experience@paris platform develops a network between tourist and locals through services and businesses. To begin with, the platform relinks each visitor to thousands of websites and therefore promotes their sales and activities. For instance, if one seeks a design event the platform will select and propose websites of museums and exhibitions holding events matching the visitors profile. Onsite, the platform also creates a less official economy, based upon on demand services given by students, amateurs or professionals that provide or share services related to field of interest. This may attract a large number of visitors for the authenticity and different range prices. The ever-growing wide network created between local services, businesses and institutions as well as visitors, develop strong fresh links of various scales within cities. These links create new collaborations and open innovations between cities.

> 5 for 1: Montreuil

creating a community between inhabitants

Video: neighbours
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. Henry Ford

INTRODUCTION:
5 for 1 is an imaginary case study I have invented to conclude a year of studying for the part three in Ecole Nationale Suprieure dArchitecture de Paris la Villette. It is the story of 5 families - a group of friends - who decides to join resources and knowledge to create a building together.

Why do we need such a process?

The initiative responds to current situations in France: ECONOMY: it is more and more difficult to have access to affordable housing. This goes hand in hand with the ratio between income and housing prices. As you can see with this Tunnel de Friggit housing purchasing power is lower than ever. SPACE becomes a very precious commodity, you rarely have EXTRA space in Paris. FLEXIBILITY is also needed within time, as families grow, split, change, get old or young, a housing building might become an office, a factory into housing and so on. How can we access affordable housing in Paris? How can the design assure flexibility? What interactions exist between the habitat and urban development? Which spaces can be shared in housing project? Which should be kept private? What community can be developed and exist around a collective housing project? What network? In a co-housing project the ambition is to create a community from design phase until and during its functioning. That will: - Observe - Localize - programme - Interact - mutualise - Finance - manage - design The role of the architect in that case is to construct the project by animating the community. It offers guidance in determining and establishing the project by working with them closely in workshops and meetings, asking questions, making notes, helping the community to determine the role of its members and so forth. The architect helps structuralizing, advising and giving form to the community. There is a continuous process of drawing from programming to feasibility and construction, which is the more classic work of the architect.

5 for 1 are 5 families: (Meet the actors)

- Family 1 couple, no children. - Family 2: couple of men, no children. - Family 3: couple + 3 children. - Family 4: couple with one child. - Family 5: Divorced man with 2 children (shared parenting)

Before launching a co-housing project the members talk and listen and see what can be the mutual scheme. In this story, the members already know each other coming from a similar social background, though the families profile is not homogeneous. One of the first steps in building the project is to define the leader of the community. His role is to pilot the group, to speak in the behalf of the community and to ensure diplomacy during the decision-making.

The first set of meetings has a goal to set up and define the mutual objectives of the group: It is very important to ask the questions early in the project, without necessarily having all the answers. The value of these exchanges is that they break taboos or a series of difficulties that rises when a group of persons is working together. Questions can be divided into the following categories: - buildings performance & quality: renovation / new construction, technical performance (energy consumption), standard benefits, ecological intensity, private needs, spatial configuration - site attributes and layout: geographical location (city, district), site characteristics (public transport service, residential area, proximity to school) - Shared elements: interior spaces and functions, services, tools / equipment, outdoor spaces. - Method of organizing: management of common areas, participation of users, legal form, time commitment, decision-making, charter. - Financial goals: external experts, funding of private areas, funding of public areas, skills of project members. - Temporality: construction launch, signing the agreement, deadlines relative to housing, ultimate move in date. - Life projects: expectations, fears, goals, motivations, and activities to be developed.

During this phase the architect organizes a series of meetings between project members, led by the project leader chosen by the members. Then a report is communicated to the families to summarize the things said and the decisions the following week's meetings. These meetings are held, in turn, in each of the familys residents so the members such as the architects can learn from each others way of living and that can be to the constitution of the collective and private areas of the project. The close work between the future resident of the building and the architects is giving tools for the community to further explore and interact within itself so it can continue doing so and to define it needs so that the architect can draw a flexible lasting spaces. The meetings result in a charter, developed in order to identify the values that bring together people. This charter is the cement that will guide the group over time - very useful in cases of removal of the original philosophy of adventure. The charter illustrates the life projects, it describes the places, values, and draws notions of

commitment and vision. Then, to record the decisions, the charter is signed by everyone. Common services: laundry, guest room, cinema, library, child care and garden Parking: electric cars, scooters, strollers, bicycles Storage: Local tools, bulky Dwellings: a dwelling unit for guests (alternating) + 5 apartments After the different meetings the architects research for site according to the expectations and definitions of the families. Later the architect sets the programme and budget according to the desires expressed by the families. This requires more individuals meetings between the architect and the future residents. After the programming and choosing the site, the families create a real estate company (SCI societe civile immobiliere) and a cooperative. The legal status is very important to such a project so that it can have an official status between the members and towards the acquisition of the site. From this step forward the project resembles a regular architectural project. The desire to promote and develop co-housing comes from the benefits that the clients can gain from it economi cally (the price per square meter is lower than the market one, price for m2: 3700 EUR (market price 5000 EUR)), socially (it concerns cohabitation, sharing semi private spaces for the profit of the group) and ecologi cally (sharing spaces and utilities reduces the amount of energy use; creating a pri vate project allows the clients to choose local and highperformance materials). In addition, the intimate relations between the clients and the architect can push the project into innovative grounds. >Dreamhamar Creating a community around the public space This is a project I developed with Ecosistema Urbano. It started as a competition intituled Art in the main square for implementing an art piece on the main square in Hamar, a city 130 km from Oslo, Norway. Dreamhamar suggested an expanded top-down participation process engaging all kind of stakeholders around the topic. The goal was to create and strengthen community involvement around the square, to enliven the debate about the squares future and to change creatively the perception of the square, making citizens feel that they belong to a community, using the public space as its platform. This project was launched during the summer last year and it is still ongoing. It is divided to: 1. 3 months of a preliminary design for Stortorget to be discussed with Hamar Kommune (3 months). 2. 4 months of a participatory art process for the final design of Stortorget square (4 months). 3. A final design project with all necessary documents for tender and construction (5 months) that is ongoing now. While working with Ecosistema Urbano I had the opportunity to develop and implement Dreamhamar together with a team of diverse proficiencies. During this period, in parallel for working in Madrid, I was based in Hamar to share with the local citizens their view of the city and what they dream for Stortorget.

Why do we need such a process?

Nowadays, worldwide, from Wall Street New York to the paths of Delhi, a movement of disenchanted and leaderless citizens is reclaiming public space and manifest for new ways of decision making.

The same generation is widely using Internet, where the possibilities for consumption and invention are endless, hence are tools for creating communities. Our society is rapidly changing and constantly reinventing itself using the virtual world. Dreamhamar is using democracy as a tool to reclaim public space, by responding to the demands of the different stakeholders, their expectations and desires. Including citizens in the creative process could have direct and immediate benefits: it could improve the outcome, it would facilitate the development, it would increase the acceptance of the project and the most important: it would build up community. The following components detail the set of networks that we developed for providing the fertile grounds to exchange ideas, enrich existing and new social connections and to change the citizens perception of the square. To implement this design philosophy in the context of Stortorget, we have developed multiple satellites around Dreamhamar. These satellites were used for regrouping different stakeholders around a common cause: whether local themes that are community related (such as how to use the square throughout the changing seasons?) or global - themes that are rather academic (such as tactical urbanism) - using the website as a free, open and reachable platform. Implementing a varied and vivid set of networks allowed Dreamhamar to widen the projects inputs and outputs, setting the grounds for a great amount of opportunities, therefore creating a dialogue within the existing and new communities. Being based in Hamar for 4 months was an opportunity to work closely with the community and to understand its existing issues. Dreamhamar is about encouraging residents to become the creators of public space, instead of being just consumers. Its about starting conversations between different stakeholders, and doing things together in public space. Its about understanding Hamars current needs by initiating a brainstorming and dialogue around the future design of Stortorget square, by means of workshops and urban actions. The purpose behind this social approach was not just to physically create a new innovative public space, but also, and far more important to build a community behind it; a networked community to support it, to care for it, to use it, to fill it, to be part of it before, during and after its materialization. The experience would enable citizens to meet each other, to work together with a common purpose and to see the implementation of the ideas in the future Stortorget, and this close relation could somehow guarantee the engagement and increase the chances for success afterwards. The preliminary urban design is a document created by Ecosistema Urbano. It is the first phase of the design process: an urban and architectural approach to Stortorget, analysing its main characteristics and suggesting principles and tools to design the future square. It defined the main aspects and gave some guidelines to work with. It was a starting point, a base to work with during the participation and network design process. It also acted as an introduction to Hamar and Stortorget for worldwide creative people engaged with the different workshops and activities inside the dreamhamar project framework. The Basarbygningen is Dreamhamars Physical Laboratory, where workshops, lectures and exhibitions took place through the fall of 2011. Not a gallery, nor a simple office or information centre. The laboratory was the most appropriate definition to reflect the hybrid use of the space. Facing Stortorget, the Physical Lab was open daily with free entrance. The strategic physical position and the open space played an interesting role within the local community - like a sponge, it would absorb any problem related to the square or the city, like a whiteboard it was a place to draw an idea, like a bar it was a place to meet new and old friends. Moreover, the Physical Lab is a pop-up space, designed with a fresh new look and renovated

in just a short time with much creativity. The idea behind this fresh and flexible design was to provide the space with an inviting air that could be easily adapted and used for various purposes (exhibitions, workshops, office, lectures...). The on-site workshops and lectures were used as activities to bring locals to participate in the process and create a community around Stortorget through various approaches. In order to bring people together, five different topics were used as catalysts: Each topic was introduced during a week that included two workshops and a lecture. +Technology week : How Hamar incorporate technology as a way to define a new concept of public space? + Activities week : What activities would the Hamarsings like to have on the square? + Environment week : How can we promote citizens to be more conscious and concerned about their environmental responsibility from design? + People week : How can we use the design of public spaces to improve/enhance/multiply and promote the interaction, creativity and auto organization dynamics between people? + Seasonal Strategy week : Can we design a public space as a responsive environment to the changing light/weather/temperature conditions? The workshops and lectures were held in the Physical Lab and directed by community activators and creative guests invited by Ecosistema Urbano. Local Community activators are creative and dynamic locals who worked with Ecosistema Urbano to lead the ongoing participation process. They have professional experience in terms of participation and workshops. Besides conducting the workshops, the community activators were in charge of generating participation, by creating and using local contacts. Creative professional network are international experts who directed workshops, gave lectures and participated in building the local network among stakeholders in Hamar. The on-site workshops allowed participants to meet, interact, brainstorm and discuss their proposals and thoughts regarding the square and the city. The aim was to use creative methods in order to get the participants to know each other, and feel free to develop new and fresh ideas. The lectures were both an opportunity to share the creative guests knowledge regarding each topic, and generate an open debate related to the community, along with specific guests who were invited to assist the lectures from the front row. Dreamhamar engaged various European universities and academic institutions into the network design process. Students with different backgrounds worked around Hamars main public space with their course, and contributed with their work and creativity in rethinking the squares identity. Some of the European students involved also travelled to Hamar to take part in the urban actions, while some participated in the online workshops to guide their course. Academic institutions that took part in dreamhamar: University of Alicante, Spain / The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen Denmark / University of Limerick, Ireland / Hedmark University, Norway / Politecnico di Milano, Italy / Bergen School of Architecture, Norway / Istituto Europeo di Design, Madrid-Spain / The Norwegian School for gardeners, Hedmark. The urban actions are a series of events that took place at Stortorget, aiming to arouse expectation and call citizens to action on the square. They were a way of experiencing possible uses and solutions for the future square, but also to spontaneously change the urban environment for a short period of time. Painthamar: Featuring the projects opening event when Stortorget square was transformed in 3 days from a parking lot to a colourful creative space. This action was created and implemented by Boamistura, an urban art collective from Madrid, Spain.

Creamhamar: This event transformed Stortorget into a huge living room offering Hamar citizens free lunch made from local products of surrounding farms. It was a tool used to gather people. This action was coordinated by Ecosistema Urbano and Gunvor Bakke and organized and implemented with 3rd year students from Bergen School of Architecture. Greenhamar: An old car filled with flowers, a wooden platform-bench-stage-playground made from 400 meters of wood and 10 tons of gravel, free homemade mushroom soup and bike powered organic smoothies Greenhamar was all about bringing sustainable actions to take over the square and what used to be a road. It was coodinated with Gudbrand Kjs and Frode Degvold Landscape architects and teachers at Vea School Statens fagskole for gartnere og blomsterdekoratrer whose students developed and implemented the Greenhamar installation. Playhamar: 5 trampolines on the square and the Physical Lab filled up with hundreds of children, parents, toys and laughs. The event lasted two days and during this period kids were bringing their own toys and exchanging them with other kids. Playhamar was carried out along with the local teacher Audun Jensen. Arthamar: A fictive wedding, interactive screens, and poems written in leaves was some works of the 3rd year students from the Bergen school of Architecture when they came back to Hamar in October. The students were directed by the artist Eva Kun, and worked at locations that they considered interesting or challenging with installations and performances. They explored different areas trying to discover, putting into value or framing the qualities and potentials of these spaces. The goal was not to make a finished product but reveal, add and articulate qualities. Alicantehamar : As part of the academic network of Dreamhamar, a group of 50 Architecture students from the University of Alicante (Spain), directed by their teacher Ivn Capdevila, were involved in the design of the future Stortorget. They will be working from September 2011 to june 2012 on different proposals for Hamars main square. During one week they visited Hamar and interacted with locals around Stortorget. Jeffrey Schnapp Harvard MetaLab director, as part of the Dreamhamar international academic network, was also lecturing at Physical Lab and leading the students advisory board during Alicantehamar week. Lighthamar : This was the launching event of the second phase of Dreamhamar. Ecosistema Urbano left the onsite action at Stortorget in order to focus on the urban proposal. The event combined an interactive lighting installation created by art collectives Uncoded + Fitzmedia, a new urban furniture for Stortorget (hamar stools) produced by local School Ungdom i Farta and the square invaded by singers from various local choirs, creating with Thomas Caplin (choir conductor at Hedmark University College) the first flash mob ever made in Hamar. The Digital Laboratory is the online open platform where all information converged to enhance the participation process by gathering both local and global stakeholders under a single/ common virtual roof. Stortorget then became an online open tool for anyone interested in integrating the process, or just knowing about it. The dreamhamar.org web platform is an open and participatory website that includes social network channels (facebook, twitter, flickr) and all the data and content from the Dreamhamar process.

DIGITAL LAB: Online workshops: Open to locals and creative people from all around the world, these workshops were an opportunity to work globally on the project, through specific themes with the support of experts. The process showed an interesting mix of international people who joined the Tactical urbanism workshop led by architects Ethel Baraona+Paco Gonzlez or the Public Space and People

workshop led by sociologist Andrs Walliser. Mobile app: dreamhamar.app is a digital application that was developed for the project to share georeferenced (text, image or video) ideas about urban aspects of Hamar. It also worked as a database of Hamar citizens thoughts, aims or desires for the new Stortorget. Hamar experience: Weekly live broadcast to share dreamhamars progress and report the ongoing activities. Every Monday at 6 pm Belinda Tato and myself interviewed someone from the local community. Besides allowing keeping track of the process, it was also a way to make it transparent.

CHALLENGES
One of the biggest challenges in Dreamhamar, beyond coordinating the large amount of networks, was enhancing local participation. Taking the citizen out of their comfort zone, of their routines and daily life and get them to use their time and thought for doing something different. INVOLVEMENT Involvement was achieved in different ways. Creating networks: in an ideal participation process time is not an issue. dreamhamar was limited in time and short in networks, as we were a Spanish company coming to a Norwegian territory. We had to be very reactive, dynamic to get peoples involvement. All networks were to be created. Local Community activators: 5 responsible of each topic of the workshops. 0Creative and dynamic locals who to lead the ongoing participation process. They have professional experience in terms of participation and workshops. Besides conducting the workshops, the community activators were in charge of generating participation, by creating and using local contacts. Getting the information out would never guarantee people coming by and participating. It was essential to count on local professionals who were key in the community. By engaging the community activators we were inviting and linking to their own networks. These personalities we chose are well known people in the community and have a great reputation. They could speak the language and they could reach out where we couldnt. They could represent the spirit of the project and how open it was for all sort of people with different backgrounds and interests. They have been the perfect ambassadors for Dreamhamar. Group meetings: contacting existing associations, reference gorups, institutions, and municipality departments, we held group meetings to expose the project. The resulted in people growing interest, some knew about that project, some never heard of it, some didnt understand. These meeting were to clarify the project but also build something together with the community by offering empty slots for event open square. Interviews: during workshops, with key people of the town, spontaneously, the interview were then published on the web and used to better understand the local environment. Communication: Dreamhamar is about communication; but not just in one direction, but bidirectionally or even multidirectionally. It is about communicating out information and events whereas collecting back ideas, inputs and feedback and sharing them afterwards. We struggled to get the message out to as many people and over as many different channels as possible. At certain points there was too much to communicate in a very short time. This intensity, while being essentially positive, could become counterproductive at certain points because it could lead to confusion. Digital Local websites word of mouth

END Video: lieu dtre

Lieu dtre is a dance project choreographed by Compagnie Acte. It is set in between the private and public space in a housing district in Lyon that was built by one of Le Corbusiers follower Jean Zumbrunnen. What is interesting to me in such a project is not only the settings, but that the project was built with over 50 local residents that helped, danced and played with the professional dancers. The success is being able to build such a project.