Where We Stand is a design challenge that invites 15 leading creative agencies, designers and design partnerships to respond to a new reality in cities: the need for physical distancing. Each team has chosen a favourite public space, and proposed new visual systems that create a welcoming, safe – and at times provocative – environment for the public to gather, dropping the typical cues of crisis and caution.
A project by David Michon, made possible by ASK US FOR IDEAS.
Where
Reimagining Public Spaces
We
Stand
Foreword
Aric Chen
Based in Shanghai, Aric Chen is an independent curator and writer. He is also Professor of Practice at the College of Design & Innovation at Tongji University, and Curatorial Director of Design Miami.
In nature, the oscillating forces of attraction and repulsion create equilibriums of distance, whether between atoms and molecules, or swarming birds, fish or insects. Much more difficult, however, is getting crowds of humans to maintain such rules of configuration.
However long it may last, this period of social distancing (let’s please not call it an “age”) is asking us to redraw our physical, social and emotional bonds using two-meter increments. It’s a forced experiment in social engineering whose most rudimentary, underlying imperative is also its fatal weakness; try as you might, you cannot impose a Cartesian grid on human relationships. And so the fifteen creative agencies, design studios and collaboratives participating in Where We Stand have taken on the challenge of reconciling this contradiction – of balancing the rights, needs and responsibilities of individuals and societies while enabling, rather than denying, that most human of instincts: to be together.
Throughout, the proposals show ingenuity in how we organise and interact with space, in both static and dynamic ways, whether using old-school or emerging technologies or even simply found objects. In doing so, they turn compulsion into persuasion. But perhaps most significant is how, in devising these solutions, the designers have tackled deeper problems, whether of racial and social inequality, disenfranchisement or the erosion of the public sphere. These, too, are all interrelated. Indeed, pandemics are, by definition, not permanent. This one will also pass. And as it does, let’s hope that the social fractures it has exposed and amplified can begin to heal as well.
Read an original poem by Remi Oshibanjo.
Remi Oshibanjo is a London-based writer who writes mostly from the middle of herself, from experience. Her writing focuses on themes of Black Britishness, and love in all of its expansiveness. She self-published a collection of poetry in 2016 called These Are The Most Terrifying Thoughts, and is working on a YA novel with the working title, Child is a dirty word, which is currently unagented.
Inspired by Hackney Marshes football pitches, London
51°33'10.1"N 0°01'33.7"W
There is an undoubted excitement for the pro football leagues to start up again. How can we fix the everyday leagues for the amateurs who come together whatever the weather, for the love of the game?
Detroit (And anywhere)
42.3314° N, 83.0458° W
Our project features an Asterisk Kit, a stencil with 6 points that measure 6 feet of distance. It gives citizens the power to transform the streets, grass, and sidewalks within their own neighbourhoods—in Detroit and anywhere that needs it.
Bondi Beach, Sydney
33.8915° S, 151.2767° E
We responded by creating individual structures to relax in, get away from the crowds and connect with the ocean in peace, inspired by the form of Sydney's coastal paths.
View Project
@__designstudio__
Parliament Square, London
51°30'02.3"N 0°07'36.4"W
Augmented Assembly is an app, driven by the Voronoi diagram that produces ever-shifting patterns that can be projected on the ground through AR so people can find their spot to take part in an activity.
View Project
@dnco
Foreign Policy
Singapore Botanic Gardens, Singapore
1.3138° N, 103.8159° E
Distantly-spaced poles with sound receivers/speakers let people who are hanging out at the Singapore Botanic Gardens to interact with one another, acting also as a public art installation.
View Project
@foreignpolicydesign
Bryant Park, New York
40.7536° N, 73.9832° W
A field of sculptural, functional objects that create gravitational centre points for social distancing. The grid of objects is positioned between two large, typographic "ideas" that are meaningful to the local public.
Bristol City Centre
51°27'17.2"N 2°35'47.8"W
Public space must honour its most sacred invitation: to exercise free thought and movement. Our proposal casts in bronze the brave figures who removed Edward Colston’s statue, casting their placards on the ground to be read by generations to come.
View Project
@oh_lovers
Harry Bridges Plaza, San Francisco
37°47'42.7"N 122°23'38.7"W
Market Mounds acts as an outdoor ‘parklet’, allowing visitors to picnic with food either purchased at the Ferry Building, or from a series of nearby food trucks. This allows for a wide range of struggling local restaurants to service tourists and locals.
View Project
@manual_sf
Mother Design
Arnold Circus, London
51°31'32"N 0°4'26"W
Music has historically and continues to bring people together, which is why we are reclaiming the bandstand. Graphic elements and a curated sound set up intuitively create a safe environment, connecting the community in East London to a community of performers worldwide.
View Project
@motherdesign
Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia
39.9495° N, 75.1497° W
Unfinished Thought uses the symbolic ellipsis to turn the birthplace of American democracy, the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, into an open, vibrant and safe forum for debate again.
View Project
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
10.8231° N, 106.6297° E
In Ho Chi Minh City, the streets are extensively utilised. Our project empowers and encourages imaginative use of space, proposing to install minor but noticeable interventions, which accentuate readymade practices.
View Project
@thisis.rice
Granary Square, London
51.5365° N, 0.1248° W
A pattern of versatile graphic islands, some populated with phonetic greetings to encourage conversations about culture and meaning, and in doing so, strengthen our community spirit.
View Project
@sthuthiramesh
@samarmaakaroun
Place Georges Pompidou, Paris
48.8606° N, 2.3522° E
Equilibrium is an installation located in the Centre Pompidou square. Consisting of 4-sided pillars covered with flip dots, Equilibrium shifts the dynamic from social distancing to public consciousness and collective redistribution.
View Project
@wiedemannlampe
Domino Park, Brooklyn
40.7147° N, 73.9679° W
During these unprecedented times we must encourage open and comfortable dialogue within our communities and our personal circles. Our solution provides a way to engage in dialogue.
View Project
@worldsgreatestinternship
Tempelhofer Feld, Berlin
52°28'32.0"N 13°24'08.2"E
“Where We Stand Apart (Together)” tries to shift personal behaviours and public space in tandem. This proposal for Berlin’s Tempelhofer Feld (but adaptable to other spaces) encourages people to wear masks by making them cool again.
View Project
@wkshps
@studiopandan
Where
We
Reimagining Public Spaces
Stand
Where We Stand is a design challenge that invites 15 leading creative agencies, designers and design partnerships to respond to a new reality in cities: the need for physical distancing. Each team has chosen a favourite public space, and proposed new visual systems that create a welcoming, safe – and at times provocative – environment for the public to gather, dropping the typical cues of crisis and caution.
A project by David Michon, made possible by ASK US FOR IDEAS.
Foreword
Aric Chen
Based in Shanghai, Aric Chen is an independent curator and writer. He is also Professor of Practice at the College of Design & Innovation at Tongji University, and Curatorial Director of Design Miami.
In nature, the oscillating forces of attraction and repulsion create equilibriums of distance, whether between atoms and molecules, or swarming birds, fish or insects. Much more difficult, however, is getting crowds of humans to maintain such rules of configuration.
However long it may last, this period of social distancing (let’s please not call it an “age”) is asking us to redraw our physical, social and emotional bonds using two-meter increments. It’s a forced experiment in social engineering whose most rudimentary, underlying imperative is also its fatal weakness; try as you might, you cannot impose a Cartesian grid on human relationships. And so the fifteen creative agencies, design studios and collaboratives participating in Where We Stand have taken on the challenge of reconciling this contradiction – of balancing the rights, needs and responsibilities of individuals and societies while enabling, rather than denying, that most human of instincts: to be together.
Throughout, the proposals show ingenuity in how we organise and interact with space, in both static and dynamic ways, whether using old-school or emerging technologies or even simply found objects. In doing so, they turn compulsion into persuasion. But perhaps most significant is how, in devising these solutions, the designers have tackled deeper problems, whether of racial and social inequality, disenfranchisement or the erosion of the public sphere. These, too, are all interrelated. Indeed, pandemics are, by definition, not permanent. This one will also pass. And as it does, let’s hope that the social fractures it has exposed and amplified can begin to heal as well.
Read an original poem by Remi Oshibanjo.
Remi Oshibanjo is a London-based writer who writes mostly from the middle of herself, from experience. Her writing focuses on themes of Black Britishness, and love in all of its expansiveness. She self-published a collection of poetry in 2016 called These Are The Most Terrifying Thoughts, and is working on a YA novel with the working title, Child is a dirty word, which is currently unagented.