‘For fucks sake get a life’ she yelled as he honks at her with violence. She can see the white in his eyes. She hadn’t planned to cross the line, but now that she accidentally did – she owns up to it. This is public space and she is definitely public. The time her luxury, the space her sanctuary and he just entered her church. She is it. A true pedestrian.
When she finds the white role in her pocket feeling the heavy fabric in her palm she stops shaking. It unrolls with a ‘fffffflapp’ and sails to the ground in an instant assimilating with its environment. It’s official now. This time she redrew the line – not cross it. So we can all go back on the road. Together.
Project Description
Commissioned by ArkDes Stockholms Architecture and Design Museum lead by the brilliant Olle Lundin for the re-opening of the museum we establish a series of interventions to showcase the work of ‘Gångbart – the technopolitics of walking’ an ongoing research project by Martin Emanuel, Daniel Normark and Will Hilliard. The research seeks to contribute to a greater understanding of walking, its role in the creation of public spaces, and the possibilities for its renaissance in European cities. It is done by examining the tension during the 20th century between different ways of controlling pedestrians and actual walking practices in Stockholm and Copenhagen. By focussing on different kinds of material and technological control of pedestrians, the means of sidewalks, traffic signals, pedestrian streets and other we enter the world of the pedestrian.
Title : Gångbart WIP
Year : 2024
Role : Experience Designer
Is : bringing it back to the streets
Should be : Taking space
Will : Help you find your way
Background WIP
Based on a co-creative process we moved through different stages sharing research and references, establishing areas of interests, extrapolate key findings and fold the extensive research material into activations and pieces for different contexts and a series of events. Engaging participants to explore pedestrianism as rich history of our social norms and etiquettes we try to actively think about our experience in the city, the qualities we miss, the behaviours we would like to establish attempting a social fabric we would like to weave in the Future.
Some Darlings to Kill
New thinking Lights
What would you do when disruption was no chore but a gain? If waiting time was precious?
Future Fines
If previous fineable actions are no longer a problem or shift into the socially acceptable space could we consider fines as a tool for us to frame and establish new behaviours?
How should we use fines in the Future? What would we endorse or try to get rid of? Are there conflicts that should be settled? Is there social etiquette that we are missing and should be enforced?
Oracle Walks
Instead of time being the only factor in the routes offered, what other new variables and overlays for a routeplanners would you invite? Toggle me softly – giving you new ways to the city.
White li(n)es
What if we could hack the cities choreographies, bring our own needs, desires, motivations, abilities and motions to the table making them as official, as important as the white marks on our pavements?
Marathon for the people
What if we would use the collective. Become a new entity of Finishers. A collective Marathon for all for everyone to celebrate our ability to greatness – together.
A work in progress and Interventions in close collaboration with Will Hilliard based on the research of Martin Emanuel and Daniel Normark and with guidance of Olle Lundin.