MOVING THE PUBLIC - object hacks for urban spaces
Workout equipment and people doing sports in public places have become a familiar sight, and yet, according to the WHO, 80% of Swiss young adults and 66% of Swiss adults do not exercise enough - tendency rising. In order to promote interaction between people - movement - and togetherness, the module focuses on impromptu or ad-hoc interventions in intermediate urban spaces. The project builds on the students' experiential knowledge with reference to their own patterns of physical activity. Themes on urban futures, participation, the public sphere and health are opened up and contextualised, discussed and made tangible using examples from art, architecture, science and design. Introductions to the use of cultural probes for idea generation support the students' research off-campus. The module welcomes subtle as well as disruptive ideas and compelling objects whose physical and aesthetic presence enables users to interact in a way that stimulates movement. Hybrid speculative objects that carry the potential for repurposing and reinterpreting, operate at the interface of artistic and design practices, whereby impact is also sought in the sense of social sustainability.