[other] ways to occupy public space
Hong Kong street diorama.
The street in Hong Kong is a multi-layered space in which all kinds of activities occur; this diversity of uses is possible thanks to various elements that change its character throughout the day. A tarpaulin, a stool and a bucket full of cement can transform a hostile space into a comfortable place to wait for customers.
Hong Kong street diorama.
The street in Hong Kong is a multi-layered space in which all kinds of activities occur; this diversity of uses is possible thanks to various elements that change its character throughout the day. A tarpaulin, a stool and a bucket full of cement can transform a hostile space into a comfortable place to wait for customers.
[Other] ways to occupy public space is a catalogue of appropriations, objects, elements, and actions of occupation of public space in Hong Kong; a detailed account, almost an inventory, of current uses, including those that are non-intentional, spontaneous, and unplanned. The aim is to inventory, analyse and give value to everyday actions that shape our public sphere and to identify differences, similarities, and “patterns of occupation” with Latin America. The catalogue contains photographs, architectural drawings, videos, soundscapes, and descriptions, systematised using a faceted -rather than hierarchical- classification. It is open and available for anyone to consult, expand, organise and form groups, categories, relationships, and nodes that give different readings and meaning to public life, conferring new possibilities for architecture in the 21st century.
[Other] ways to occupy public space is a catalogue of appropriations, objects, elements, and actions of occupation of public space in Hong Kong; a detailed account, almost an inventory, of current uses, including those that are non-intentional, spontaneous, and unplanned. The aim is to inventory, analyse and give value to everyday actions that shape our public sphere and to identify differences, similarities, and “patterns of occupation” with Latin America. The catalogue contains photographs, architectural drawings, videos, soundscapes, and descriptions, systematised using a faceted -rather than hierarchical- classification. It is open and available for anyone to consult, expand, organise and form groups, categories, relationships, and nodes that give different readings and meaning to public life, conferring new possibilities for architecture in the 21st century.
- 2023
- Grantee: Ximena Ocampo Aguilar
Ximena is an architect and master in city design and social science from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is co-founder of dérive lab, a laboratory that seeks to explore, understand and inspire other (new) ways of living and thinking about life in the city, where she works to date as executive director, leading different projects focused on the relationship between space and the people who inhabit it. Ximena has been a recipient of several prizes and grants, such as the Young Creators Grant delivered by the Mexican Secretary of Culture in 2021, with which she developed the project [other] ways to occupy public space, as well as grants from the Design Trust Hong Kong in 2018 and The Active Travel Academy at the University of Westminster in 2020, both for the development of DERIVAS magazine.
- Organisation: Dérive lab
Dérive lab is a multidisciplinary laboratory that seeks to explore, understand and inspire other (new) ways of living and thinking about life in the City. Through research, design and action, we develop projects with impact on three specific scales: public life, the built environment and everyday objects. We dedicate our time to research and the creation of pedagogical content, such as manuals for shared streets, parklets and exemplary streets; as well as teaching and delivering courses and workshops. Our work has been published on Archdaily, Coolhunter, Yorokobu, Archello, Divisare, among other media, and exhibited at the Observatory of the 11th Biennial of Architecture of Sao Paulo, the Museum of the City of Querétaro and the Libertad Gallery. Our project PIP Ciudad Futuro was selected as one of the local initiatives that contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by the Mexico 2020 Action Fund, promoted by google.org, and ICLEI.