3 x 4: Exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Brighton
Department Name: Centre for Research & Development (Arts)
Abstract
In megacities such as Delhi and Mumbai - and within one of the fastest growing cities within the world, Ahmedabad - more than 50% of the population live in informal urban settlements. More than half the city is therefore considered 'illegal' by the authorities. 3 x 4 metres is the plot size provided in some resettlement colonies such as Savda Ghevda in Delhi, India. Resettlement colonies are set-up by the government to relocate people from informal settlements within the city to vacant land on the periphery. 3 x 4 is a project that seeks to look at informal settlements differently by envisaging a future where everyone has the right to citizenship and informality is not viewed as a problem, but as Zeiderman (2008) notes a promising new model of urbanism for the global south.
Exploring the qualities and values built through informal markets and settlements, this project seeks to identify a future cities metaspace. 3 x 4 is about enabling people to critically think about their own protocols for connection, as existing platforms are not designed for their needs. It seeks to identify and provide alternative digital platforms - another experience that connects people in a way that creates ownership and authorship. Using these dimensions as an interface to connect, the project aims to explore new hybrids of digital space and how the boundaries of space are shifting as we look toward the future. What might new systems of engagement look like? What will multi-dimensional spaces look like psychologically, physically, digitally and ecologically? How can these be understood through co-creation and collaboration?
3 x 4 will use a telematic installation to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of these issues. Merging two 3 x 4 metre rooms in Delhi and London through a telepresent videoconference interface in a mixed-reality transnational dialogue will practice new ways of seeing and engaging in urban spaces, offering an alternative to current discourse on Third World megacities. Our practice-based approach will use ethnography to document these dialogues and transnational encounters. Working with our project partners UnBox, Future Cities Catapult and REACT, 3 x 4 will contribute to the UnBox Festival in Delhi during November 2014. Inverting the Future Cities logic of progress through historical time, 3 x 4 will reveal an emerging logic based on informality that sets an aspiration for developing metaspace platforms in megacities of the global south.
This research builds upon practice-based research conducted as UnBox LABS 2014 Fellows in Ahmedabad, India; a project that used immersive installation to explore the qualities and values built through self-organised communities that are lost in the resettlement process. See visual evidence attachment and 3 x 4 documentary video for more information: http://vimeo.com/paulsermon/3x4
References
Zeiderman, A. (2008). Cities of the future? Megacities and the space/time of urban modernity. Critical Planning, Summer, 23-29.
Exploring the qualities and values built through informal markets and settlements, this project seeks to identify a future cities metaspace. 3 x 4 is about enabling people to critically think about their own protocols for connection, as existing platforms are not designed for their needs. It seeks to identify and provide alternative digital platforms - another experience that connects people in a way that creates ownership and authorship. Using these dimensions as an interface to connect, the project aims to explore new hybrids of digital space and how the boundaries of space are shifting as we look toward the future. What might new systems of engagement look like? What will multi-dimensional spaces look like psychologically, physically, digitally and ecologically? How can these be understood through co-creation and collaboration?
3 x 4 will use a telematic installation to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of these issues. Merging two 3 x 4 metre rooms in Delhi and London through a telepresent videoconference interface in a mixed-reality transnational dialogue will practice new ways of seeing and engaging in urban spaces, offering an alternative to current discourse on Third World megacities. Our practice-based approach will use ethnography to document these dialogues and transnational encounters. Working with our project partners UnBox, Future Cities Catapult and REACT, 3 x 4 will contribute to the UnBox Festival in Delhi during November 2014. Inverting the Future Cities logic of progress through historical time, 3 x 4 will reveal an emerging logic based on informality that sets an aspiration for developing metaspace platforms in megacities of the global south.
This research builds upon practice-based research conducted as UnBox LABS 2014 Fellows in Ahmedabad, India; a project that used immersive installation to explore the qualities and values built through self-organised communities that are lost in the resettlement process. See visual evidence attachment and 3 x 4 documentary video for more information: http://vimeo.com/paulsermon/3x4
References
Zeiderman, A. (2008). Cities of the future? Megacities and the space/time of urban modernity. Critical Planning, Summer, 23-29.
Planned Impact
Through the 3 x 4 project, the following groups will benefit:
- Our project partners Quicksand & UnBox, Future Cities Catapult, British Council Delhi and AHRC Knowledge Exchange hub REACT who will contribute and engage with the research process, but also benefit from the project's findings.
- Members of the public in dialogue between Delhi and London, who participating in the 3 x 4 installation at UnBox Festival 2014 will co-create new knowledge, raising awareness of the value of informality and creating legacy around appropriate metaspace platforms in the global south.
- Designers and Technologists developing new communication platforms that embrace informality and are relevant to megacity futures.
- Stakeholders including government bodies, non-governmental organisations and professional design organisations who have a vested interest in design innovation and are looking for new ways of engaging with design processes to raise public awareness of the value of informality in the global south.
- 3 x 4 researchers and consultants whose processes and methods will be enhanced though engagement within this interdisciplinary team.
In order to work toward an effective and applicable design research process, Quicksand (one of the founding partners of UnBox Festival) and Future Cities Catapult are named as the primary partners in the 3 x 4 proposal. They have agreed to support the project from their respective bases in Delhi and London, and will be providing the following:
- Future Cities Catapult will host and provide relevant infrastructure for the 3 x 4 installation in London during November 2014
- UnBox Festival 2014 will host and provide relevant infrastructure for the 3 x 4 installation in Delhi during November 2014
- Quicksand will help facilitate access to relevant user-communities within Delhi
- Future Cities Catapult and Quicksand will provide support via project consultation at interim points throughout the research process.
The research will have potential impact on the way in which informality in megacities of the global south is understood and metaspace platforms developed in the future. This will be achieved through a number of routes including:
- Enabling effective, innovative working relationships and knowledge transfer between interdisciplinary teams - in this case the disciplines of visual communication, psychology and architecture - with stakeholders and project partners.
- Developing a public exhibition as a part of UnBox Festival 2014 in Delhi using project documentary evidence to facilitate public interaction and engagement.
- Testing and assessing alternative metaspace platforms for communication.
- Exploring issues relevant to informal settlements in the global south with stakeholders and representatives from NGOs and architectural studios to enhance an informed dialogue.
- Developing a set of future directions in order to guide further applications of novel and innovative metaspace platforms in the global south.
- Our project partners Quicksand & UnBox, Future Cities Catapult, British Council Delhi and AHRC Knowledge Exchange hub REACT who will contribute and engage with the research process, but also benefit from the project's findings.
- Members of the public in dialogue between Delhi and London, who participating in the 3 x 4 installation at UnBox Festival 2014 will co-create new knowledge, raising awareness of the value of informality and creating legacy around appropriate metaspace platforms in the global south.
- Designers and Technologists developing new communication platforms that embrace informality and are relevant to megacity futures.
- Stakeholders including government bodies, non-governmental organisations and professional design organisations who have a vested interest in design innovation and are looking for new ways of engaging with design processes to raise public awareness of the value of informality in the global south.
- 3 x 4 researchers and consultants whose processes and methods will be enhanced though engagement within this interdisciplinary team.
In order to work toward an effective and applicable design research process, Quicksand (one of the founding partners of UnBox Festival) and Future Cities Catapult are named as the primary partners in the 3 x 4 proposal. They have agreed to support the project from their respective bases in Delhi and London, and will be providing the following:
- Future Cities Catapult will host and provide relevant infrastructure for the 3 x 4 installation in London during November 2014
- UnBox Festival 2014 will host and provide relevant infrastructure for the 3 x 4 installation in Delhi during November 2014
- Quicksand will help facilitate access to relevant user-communities within Delhi
- Future Cities Catapult and Quicksand will provide support via project consultation at interim points throughout the research process.
The research will have potential impact on the way in which informality in megacities of the global south is understood and metaspace platforms developed in the future. This will be achieved through a number of routes including:
- Enabling effective, innovative working relationships and knowledge transfer between interdisciplinary teams - in this case the disciplines of visual communication, psychology and architecture - with stakeholders and project partners.
- Developing a public exhibition as a part of UnBox Festival 2014 in Delhi using project documentary evidence to facilitate public interaction and engagement.
- Testing and assessing alternative metaspace platforms for communication.
- Exploring issues relevant to informal settlements in the global south with stakeholders and representatives from NGOs and architectural studios to enhance an informed dialogue.
- Developing a set of future directions in order to guide further applications of novel and innovative metaspace platforms in the global south.
Organisations
- University of Brighton (Lead Research Organisation)
- India Habitat Centre, Delhi (Collaboration)
- British Council (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (Collaboration)
- UnBox Festival, Delhi (Collaboration)
- Khoj International Artists' Association (Collaboration)
- Southbank Centre (Collaboration)
- Watershed (Project Partner)
- Quicksand (Design Studio) (Project Partner)
- Innovate UK (Project Partner)
Publications
Sermon P
(2017)
3×4 EXPLORING METASPACE PLATFORMS FOR INCLUSIVE FUTURE CITIES
in VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL, INDIA HABITAT CENTRE
Sermon P
(2017)
3×4: a telematic/architectural hypersurface
Sermon, P.
(2015)
3x4: Exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities
Sermon, P.
(2016)
3x4: Exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities
Sermon, P.
(2018)
AHRC Design Research for Change Showcase
McAndrew C
(2017)
Hyperlocal Imaginaries
Sermon P
(2016)
Metaspace futures
in Metaverse Creativity
McAndrew, C.
(2016)
Now I Lay Me Down to Eat. Bernard Rudofsky and Ludic Architecture
McAndrew, C.
(2016)
Performing Architecture
in Urban Pamphleteer
| Title | 3x4 Documentary Video |
| Description | 3x4: Exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities Documentary video of 3x4 installation Duration: 05:31 https://vimeo.com/paulsermon/3x4 Using a live telematic videoconference connection, the installation functioned between two geographically distant audiences located in separate 3x4 metre blue-box room installations at Khoj Studios, New Delhi and the Southbank Centre, London. Spanning five time zones the installation was connected 6 hours a day from 12 to 14 December 2014, combining two cities not just spatially but temporally, from the start of one person's day to the end of another's. The networked convergence of these two physical 3x4 metre structures and their urban locations allowed these diverse public audiences the opportunity to explore networked spaces as new mixed-reality hybrid environments. The documentary video captures this, and how it is possible to experience, not only the presence of geographically distant participants, but also a sense of coexistence with them. Produced by Paul Sermon, Claire McAndrew, Swati Janu and Vivek Muthuramalingam |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | The documentary video provides an account of the concept and process of including the 3×4 installation at Alchemy Festival 2015 and Web We Want Festival 2015 at the Southbank Centre and Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre and UnBox Festival 2014 in partnership with the Southbank Centre and Khoj International Artist's Association in Delhi. The documentary video provides a sense of longevity to what was a transitory happening, one that can travel beyond the symbiotic dialogue of two cities. Featuring the video on our project website, showcasing it via social media platforms and screening it within academic/public forums has been instrumental in extending the reach of our ideas and participant experiences. Through this documentary public audiences can acquire new knowledge that present a possible vision of a future city metaspace. These can be used by the participants to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/paulsermon/3x4 |
| Title | 3x4 Line Out Video |
| Description | 3x4: Exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities Line out video recording from 3x4 installation Duration: 02:16:08 https://vimeo.com/paulsermon/3x4-line-out-video Using a live telematic videoconference connection, the installation functioned between two geographically distant audiences located in separate 3x4 metre blue-box room installations at Khoj Studios, New Delhi and the Southbank Centre, London. Spanning five time zones the installation was connected 6 hours a day from 12 to 14 December 2014, combining two cities not just spatially but temporally, from the start of one person's day to the end of another's. The line-out feed captures the networked convergence of these two physical 3x4 metre structures and their urban locations, and how diverse public audiences explored networked spaces as new mixed-reality hybrid environments. The line-out feed illustrates how it is possible to experience, not only the presence of geographically distant participants, but also a sense of coexistence with them. Produced by Paul Sermon, Claire McAndrew, Swati Janu and Vivek Muthuramalingam |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | The line-out feed has been used in a variety of ways - it has featured in our documentary video and has been screened within academic/public forums - each have been important in expanding the reach of our ideas and participant experiences to global audiences. It has also provided profiling of 3×4 at Alchemy Festival 2015 and Web We Want Festival 2015 at the Southbank Centre, London and Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre, Delhi; alongside UnBox Festival 2014 with Khoj International Artist's Association and the Southbank Centre. The line-out feed has played an active role in articulating how in the context of informal settlements in megacities of the global south, the 3x4 installation provided many public participants with their first encounter of a networked platform. It also allows audiences to understand how through this unique engagement public audiences can acquire new knowledge through their lived experiences that present a possible vision of a future city metaspace. These first time encounters and experiences can be used by the participants to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/paulsermon/3x4-line-out-video |
| Title | 3x4 Website |
| Description | The research outputs produced during and after the project have been made available from a dedicated project website (http://www.3x4m.org) which includes the following: • Installation concept and production plan document. • Photographic evidence. • Observation accounts and reports. • Project contribution information. • Line-out video recording from the installation events. • Links to related conference papers, reviews and blog posts. • Biography details of the project team. • Documentary video production of installation set up and exhibition. Other outputs produced beyond the duration of the research project will continue to be listed and linked on the project website, including related academic papers and journal articles. Through these outputs the complete website represents a full account of the 3x4 research project activity, providing a detailed project case-study. The 3x4 website was designed by Oficina de disseny, a graphic design studio founded in Barcelona in autumn 2014, specialists in website design for creative media, art and design projects (http://oficinadedisseny.net). |
| Type Of Art | Artefact (including digital) |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | The 3×4 website has served as a repository for the outputs associated with the project. In this way, it has provided public audiences open-source access to academic discussions on future cities, metaspace platforms and creative alternatives to existing protocols for connection. It has also provided access to the wealth of documentation on 3×4 at Alchemy Festival 2015 and Web We Want Festival 2015 at the Southbank Centre, London and Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre, Delhi; alongside UnBox Festival 2014 with the Southbank Centre and Khoj International Artist's Association located in Khirki Extension an unauthorised district in Delhi. The website extends the reach of these large public audience in London and Delhi during these ludic happenings. In the context of informal settlements in megacities of the global south, the 3x4 installation provided many public participants with their first encounter of a networked platform. Through the 3x4 website, public audiences not present at the exhibitions can acquire new knowledge that present a possible vision of a future city metaspace. These can be used by the participants to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. |
| URL | http://www.3x4m.org |
| Title | 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Description | 12 to 14 December 2014 10.00am-4.00pm GMT / 3.30pm-9.30pm IST Festival Village, Southbank Centre London Khoj Studios, S 17 Khirkee Extension, New Delhi For the UnBox Festival 2014 All Together Now - held at the IGNCA Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in New Delhi from 12 to 14 December 2014. The festival focused on the themes: analog~digital; informal economies; future cities; systems + disruptions; inclusion; exclusion; and meta toolkits. 3x4 cut-across a number of these themes, through its contribution to the festival as an off-site installation and participatory workshop. UnBox celebrates interdisciplinary collaborations, with the festival being the central manifest for inspiration, dialogue and hands-on action. It brings together creative, academic, and development professionals keen on pushing the boundaries of their practice. Held in New Delhi since 2011, the festival is curated through panel discussions, workshops, labs, performances, exhibitions, community meals and excursions into the city, over the three days for a rich balance of the intellectual and the experiential. Participants from diverse spaces come together as co-creators rather than passive spectators. http://unboxfestival.com From 12 to 14 December 2014, visit the Southbank Centre London or Khoj Studios New Delhi to participate in 3×4, an exploration of metaspace platforms for future inclusive cities. 3×4 creates an immersive, telematic environment by merging two identical 3×4 metre room installations at the Southbank Centre, London and Khoj International Artists Association, Delhi to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of new hybrids of digital space. Audiences in London, Delhi and across the globe can co-create these mixed-reality scenes and explore the qualities and values built through self-organised communities that are lost in their eviction and resettlement. From informal settlement dwellings to contemporary compact interior designs, micro living solutions and imagined worlds, this transnational dialogue intends to set an aspiration for developing metaspace platforms in the global south. Using a live telematic videoconference connection, the installation functioned between two geographically distant audiences located in separate 3x4 metre blue-box room installations at Khoj Studios, New Delhi and the Southbank Centre, London. The audience groups in these green and blue-box spaces are captured on camera and brought together through a system of live chroma-keying and are placed onto a computer-generated background image. The complete composited image is then displayed simultaneously on large LCD video screens in both locations. As the merged audiences start to explore this shared telepresent space they encounter the digital background environment they now both coexist within. These background scenes directly reference their combined social setting, ranging from informal settlement dwellings and Delhi environments to contemporary compact interior designs, micro living solutions and imagined worlds. Located on a bustling little street in Khirkee Extension New Delhi, Khoj International Artists' Association opened its studio doors to allow the passing public directly into the 3x4 installation housed within it; drawing in a large diverse audience from this lively urban village and former informal settlement community. Once inside the 3x4 metre blue-box installation the audience discovered a large video screen displaying live images of themselves together with other participants in an altogether new kind of 3x4 metre environment. The other people they encountered were equally drawn in from a busy public intersection, albeit five time zones away in London. This 3x4 metre green-box installation was located in the Southbank Centre's Festival Village space, situated at street level between Queen Elizabeth Hall and Southbank's skateboard park; simultaneously inviting the walking, strolling and skating public into this new 3x4 coexistence. Reaching out to a wider audience the 3x4 public intervention was presented to coincide with the UnBox Festival in New Delhi, a forum to engage in further discussion about this metaspace platform. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2014 |
| Impact | In partnership with the Southbank Centre 3×4 has been shown at UnBox Festival 2014 with Khoj International Artist's Association located in Khirkee Extension an unauthorised district in Delhi. 3×4 reached large public audiences in London and Delhi during these exhibitions. In the context of informal settlements in megacities of the global south, the 3x4 installation provided many public participants with their first encounter of a networked platform. Through this unique engagement public audiences acquire new knowledge through their lived experiences that present a possible vision of a future city metaspace. These first time encounters and experiences can be used by the participants to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. One of the impacts of this visual dialogue was the invitation from key cultural institutions to exhibit 3×4 at Alchemy Festival and Web We Want Festivals during May 2015 in conjunction with the Southbank Centre and Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre, Delhi. |
| URL | http://www.3x4m.org |
| Title | 3×4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 |
| Description | 15 to 25 May 2015 10.00am-4.00pm BST / 2.30pm-8.30pm IST Southbank Centre, London India Habitat Centre, New Delhi ALCHEMY FESTIVAL 2015 Friday 15 May 2015 - Monday 25 May 2015 It's the sixth year of Alchemy, Southbank Centre's annual festival showcasing the best of dance, music, theatre, design, fashion, comedy and literature from the UK and South Asia. http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/festivals-series/alchemy-2015 Spanning five time zones the installation will be connected 6 hours a day from: 10.00am to 4.00pm in London and 2.30pm to 8.30pm in Delhi, combining two cities not just spatially but temporally, from the start of one person's day to the end of another's. The networked convergence of these two physical 3×4 metre structures and their urban locations will allow these diverse public audiences the opportunity to explore networked spaces as new mixed-reality hybrid environments. It will make it possible to experience, not only the presence of geographically distant participants, but also a sense of coexistence with them. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | 3×4 was exhibited at Alchemy Festival during May 2015 at the Southbank Centre, London and Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre, Delhi. In partnership with the Southbank Centre it has previously been shown at UnBox Festival 2014 in collaboration with Khoj International Artist's Association located in Khirkee Extension an unauthorised district in Delhi. Locating 3×4 at India Habitat Centre extended the reach of the installation beyond Khirkee Extension drawing into the dialogue large public audiences from other Delhi districts to explore creative and performative collaborations with participants in London. In the context of informal settlements in megacities of the global south, the 3x4 installation provided many public participants with their first encounter of a networked platform. Through this unique engagement public audiences acquire new knowledge through their lived experiences that present a possible vision of a future city metaspace. These first time encounters and experiences can be used by the participants to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. |
| URL | http://www.3x4m.org |
| Title | 3×4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 |
| Description | 28 to 31 May 2015 10.00am-4.00pm BST / 2.30pm-8.30pm IST Southbank Centre, London India Habitat Centre, New Delhi Southbank Centre - Web We Want Festival - a festival investigating the past 25 years of the Web and its possible future. http://webwewant.southbankcentre.co.uk Audiences in Delhi and London experience, perform and play in a shared digital space. Two identical installations measuring 3 x 4 metres are draped in chroma-key fabric that creates a live mixed-reality video connection. This allows the audiences at Southbank Centre and at an arts venue in Delhi, to coexist and interact with one another in the same room. The installation connects the two cities, live, six hours per day. |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | 3×4 was exhibited at Web We Want Festival from 28 to 31 May 2015 at the Southbank Centre, London and Visual Arts Gallery at India Habitat Centre, Delhi. Its inclusion was a direct impact of the success of the installation at Alchemy Festival 2015 in collaboration with the Southbank Centre and India Habitat Centre, and UnBox Festival 2014 with Khoj International Artist's Association located in Khirkee Extension an unauthorised district in Delhi. Locating 3×4 at India Habitat Centre extended the reach of the installation beyond Khirkee Extension drawing into the dialogue large public audiences from other Delhi districts about the extraordinary potential of and challenges of the world wide web. In the context of informal settlements in megacities of the global south, the 3x4 installation provided many public participants with their first encounter of a networked platform. Through this unique engagement public audiences acquire new knowledge through their lived experiences that present a possible vision of a future city metaspace. These first time encounters and experiences can be used by the participants to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. |
| URL | http://www.3x4m.org |
| Title | Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at the Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 |
| Description | Gwangju Design Biennale 2015, Korea Title: Creative Research and Development for Future Growth Period: From 15th October to 13th November, 2015 Location: Hall 5 - 'Sustainable Future' at Gwangju Biennale Hall Participants : 17 Universities and 2 Enterprise institutions in South Korea, China, Japan and United Kingdom. Including: Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton This exhibition showcases indicative interdisciplinary projects that explore ideas of sustainability through historical, curatorial and visual communication methods of enquiry at the College of Arts and Humanities, University of Brighton in UK. The selected projects address notions of sustainable futures in Design History and practice through 'methods and contents of convergence'. These include historical research on modern living, past, present and future, knowledge curating, future cities and meta-spaces. The exhibition includes four research projects. Modernity and Sustainability in Korean Kitchen Design (Dr. Yunah Lee) Modern and Sustainable Living: domestic Interior Design in India (Dr. Megha Rajguru) Exploring British Design: connecting archive content (Professor Catherine Moriarty) 3x4: Exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities (Professor Paul Sermon) Yunah Lee and Megha Rajguru explore ideas of sustainable futures of the development of living spaces through historical research into the development of modern domestic interior design and modular living in Korea and India. This research is supported by 'Rising Star Scheme' at the University of Brighton. Catherine Moriarty introduces 'Exploring British Design', a prototype web interface that reveals the connections between designers and their footprint across a range of archives, a collaboration between the University of Brighton, Jisc, and funded by the AHRC. Paul Sermon presents 3x4, an immersive, telematic environment merging two identical 3x4 metre room installations in London and Delhi to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of new hybrids of digital space. This project is developed in collaboration between the University of Brighton and University College London, supported by the AHRC. http://www.3x4m.org Professor Paul Sermon, Principle Investigator, College of Arts and Humanities, University of Brighton Dr Claire McAndrew, Co-Investigator, The Bartlett, University College London Swati Janu, mHS City Lab, New Delhi |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2015 |
| Impact | One of the impacts of featuring 3×4 at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 in Korea was the extension of the dialogue around informality, living spaces and metaspace platforms to new global contexts. Screening the 3×4 documentary video, allowed a lens for audiences at the biennale to consider ideas relating to sustainable future cities through playful modes of immersive, visual communication. It also enabled them to critically consider existing social media platforms and acquire new knowledge of possible future city metaspaces. The documentary video of interactions within this telematic installation extended the original impact of 3×4 at UnBox Festival (2014). These first time encounters and experiences can be used by public audiences to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Gwangju, Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. |
| URL | http://www.gdb.or.kr/index.php/site/eng |
| Title | Improbable Presents Outside the Frame |
| Description | The team from Improbable commenced their residency wanting to explore moving in and out of boxes, breaking down the barriers that separated them in their previous Zoom performance work. They sought to create a spacious open space to speak from and to identify and explore what they described as "the fun, the creativity, the outrageous, the intimate, the beautiful, the human, the theatrical, the unexpected and unlikely". Reflecting on what was technically possible whilst maintaining their original dramaturgical approach, they developed a handmade tactile aesthetic that uses the technology in a unique way, whilst maintaining the attributes of live theatre. The Improbable team brought a wide range of skills and experiences to the residency, including directing, acting, making, design and stage management. Their unique style of research and development resembled a jazz improvisation ensemble, working together in unison and riffing off each other to develop ideas, and compositional scenes and dialogues. Their residency resulted in a rich and original layering of scenography, animation, painting and live action in their final 20-minute performance, entitled Outside the Frame. |
| Type Of Art | Performance (Music, Dance, Drama, etc) |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | Feedback from Improbable Co-Director and Actor, Angela Clerkin "I really wanted it to still feel like theatre, and to me it did! This really opened up a world for us, that we could use different techniques that felt real 'you could feel the set wobble' you know, that's what I really liked about it. It felt really right with the type of work that we were developing." |
| URL | https://www.telepresencestage.org/residencies/improbable |
| Description | Playing with the future. Time / space inversions in metaspace by Claire McAndrew: In Space Time Play (2007) von Borries, Walz and Böttger advocate the potential of gamespaces to not only create new notions of the city, but to permanently change their future composition. They speculate on how "the ludic conquest of real and imagined gamespace [can] become an instrument for the design of space-time" (von Borries, Walz and Böttger, 2007, p.13). This comes at a moment when new forms of urbanism are said to be abolishing temporal narratives of progress and shifting the spatial distribution of power from the global north to the south (see for example, Zeiderman's (2008) paper Cities of the future? Megacities and the space/time of urban modernity). How can this future inversion of time and space be explored and contested through play? Through the design of 3×4, its methods of connection and representation, the layering of London over New Delhi provided comment on the domination of the global north and rising of the global south. And yet, the co-creation of built and imagined landscapes offered opportunity to redefine collective futures, a critical visual commentary on living spaces, racial segregation, informality, underground culture and contemplative fantasies. Occupying a part-demolished building via 3×4, took the matters of informalising architecture, contested space and merciless destruction to a global audience. Not just imaginings, 3×4 also morphed into a playground of spontaneous and undirected play. Children, for whom the street and the objects it contain form a recreational landscape, shifted their space of play to this metaspace. Using their bodies as an interface, they even shared a digital chair - emblematic perhaps, of this approaching inversion and shared digital future. 'Playing the city' it seems, can bring built and imagined spaces closer together, creating new typologies of architectural space that shape lived experience in novel ways. - Play is in the eye of the beholder by Paul Sermon: 3×4 is a temporal and spatial timecode; reduced to its ephemeral elements it consists of 18 hours of memories and reflections in the minds and collective recollections of those who participated in it, played out over three days on 12, 13 and 14 December 2014 from 10:00-16:00 GMT / 15:30-21:30 IST daily. Ultimately what remains as its legacy is a story told in and between two cities consisting of human encounters and events that unfolded in a state of flux between London and Delhi. Whilst every effort was made to document this transitory happening through photographs and video footage the single most important recording was from the line out video feed; the final composited or chroma-keyed image of the audience participants displayed within the installation itself. When watching this recording we are taking up the position of the persons within it; we are looking directly at the very same image that caused the effect we are now contemplating for ourselves. From beginning to end, the entire recording represents a 1080-minute data stream upon which we can now study and apply our own minute-by-minute layer of metadata based on observations, reflections and analysis, as we look the participant in the eye through this 'two-way mirror' recording. Whilst this work is ongoing, 45 minutes from each day has already been compiled and made available for public viewing. This video contains memorable moments upon which we can now reflect, such as when a young boy in Delhi wearing a white shirt and hat enters the space (53:30) and initially waves to participants in London, staying for over an hour perfecting his interactions and gestures as he invents and plays new games. Or when three ladies in Delhi enter (1:38:00) with two babies greeted by participants in London eager to hold and play with them, who appear to be memorized by this lacanian moment of realization as the babies stare into the screen [mirror]. - Whose city is it? by Swati Janu: The installation brought together people from different backgrounds who might otherwise have never shared a 3×4 metres space before, not just through the physical space but also the hybrid digital room created. The digital interface, being alien to most, seemed to fascinate some while others seemed more apprehensive. But, as soon as someone from the other end of the connection waved or communicated a hug, initial hesitation gave way to fun and amusement. The element of 'play' in the installation, further heightened by the absence of sound with only a visual connection, aided the audience in confronting their own reactions, notions and even biases, in some cases. The installation exposed many prejudices and the inherent inequalities in the city of Delhi. A strong case can be made of people's reaction to the choice of venue in the city, which was different from a typical art gallery space in that it was based within a community and spilled out onto the street. The urban village, where the installation was located, lies at the confluence of, on one hand - low-income to middle-income residents, a large migrant population comprising students, labourers from rural areas, immigrants from other countries such as Nigeria and Afghanistan - and on the other, the affluent who frequent the high-end mall adjacent to the area. In many ways, this dichotomy is representative of the polarised ends of Indian cities today. Some asked us why we had decided to set up the installation in the village and not a 'better' place such as the mall next door. Even a local police officer questioned us on why we had set up the art project in that area. We would like to raise a question of our own - Who has the right to the city? |
| Exploitation Route | Building ongoing International relations between cultural institutions: Southbank Centre London and Khoj Studios / India Habitat Centre Delhi. Continued connection to Khirkee Extension communities through Khoj. Established support of the British Council UK, India. Contributions to The Bartlett Future Cities Doctoral Network. Contributions to the Open Source Housing Crisis, (UCL Urban Lab and CSM). |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | This public legacy represents a pathway to future cultural, social and economic impact that goes beyond its academic context, and has the opportunity to help shape the future cities of the global south. In the context of informal settlements in megacities of the global south, the 3x4 installation provided many public participants with their first encounter of a networked platform. Through this unique engagement public audiences acquire new knowledge through their lived experiences that present a possible vision of a future city metaspace. These first time encounters and experiences can be used by the participants to influence future projects, define methods for using this new knowledge to inform themselves, who in turn tell their family, friends and colleagues of this new experience, motivating others to engage in similar experiences in future projects. The intention of this legacy is to inform a critical public community that impact on future network protocols appropriate to the needs and requirements of a future cities metaspace. At the same time it seeks to identify its relevance in the global north. The dialogue between Delhi and London is a critical pathway in connecting communities and contributing to dialogue on informality in the global south and its symbiotic relation to future cities in the global north. The success of the 3x4 has led to the Southbank Centre London inviting the installation back for inclusion in Alchemy Festival from 15 to 25 May 2015 and Web We Want Festival from 28 to 31 May 2015, linking the Royal Festival Hall in London and India Habitat Centre in Delhi. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2015 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | Centre for Research and Development Support Fund |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Brighton |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2015 |
| End | 06/2015 |
| Description | Southbank Centre Alchemy Festival Funding |
| Amount | £1,950 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Southbank Centre |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2015 |
| End | 06/2015 |
| Description | UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities / Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) |
| Amount | £1,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2015 |
| End | 06/2015 |
| Description | Bi-lateral AHRC agreement and project partners |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Department | British Council in India |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | 3x4 formed a part of a bi-lateral AHRC agreement between UK and India, a unique collaboration between UnBox in Delhi, British Council in London and Delhi and the UK Science and Innovation Network. Project partners directly linked to the grant included the Southbank Centre in London (2014/15) and Khoj International Artists' Association (2014). Our partnership with India Habitat Centre in Delhi resulted from the success of Unbox Festival and an invitation from the Southbank Centre to contribute to Alchemy and Web We Want Festivals in 2015. Contributions from the 3x4 project team included intellectual input into the framing of the 3x4 concept at UnBox (2014), Alchemy (2015) and Web We Want Festivals (2015). Prof Paul Sermon provided the video conferencing equipment necessary for the telematic dialogue between London and Delhi at each of these exhibitions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions from our partners - Southbank Centre, Khoj International Artists' Association and India Habitat Centre - included inclusion in their institutional programmes, access to gallery space (including, production support and technical support) and where required, access to workshop space for co-creation activities. These collaborative partnerships were also instrumental in fostering our reach into local communities, and extending our profile across these cities through in-house marketing campaigns. The British Council in India and London have provided additional contributions in terms of connecting the 3x4 project team to the local cultural agenda in each respective city, a dialogue which continues today. |
| Impact | Publication outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: Performing architecture [The counter culture version] Now I lay me down to eat. Bernard Rudofsky and ludic architecture 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (C21 writings) 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (ISEA) Artistic and creative outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: 3x4 website 3x4 documentary video 3x4 line out video 3x4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 3x4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Bi-lateral AHRC agreement and project partners |
| Organisation | British Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | 3x4 formed a part of a bi-lateral AHRC agreement between UK and India, a unique collaboration between UnBox in Delhi, British Council in London and Delhi and the UK Science and Innovation Network. Project partners directly linked to the grant included the Southbank Centre in London (2014/15) and Khoj International Artists' Association (2014). Our partnership with India Habitat Centre in Delhi resulted from the success of Unbox Festival and an invitation from the Southbank Centre to contribute to Alchemy and Web We Want Festivals in 2015. Contributions from the 3x4 project team included intellectual input into the framing of the 3x4 concept at UnBox (2014), Alchemy (2015) and Web We Want Festivals (2015). Prof Paul Sermon provided the video conferencing equipment necessary for the telematic dialogue between London and Delhi at each of these exhibitions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions from our partners - Southbank Centre, Khoj International Artists' Association and India Habitat Centre - included inclusion in their institutional programmes, access to gallery space (including, production support and technical support) and where required, access to workshop space for co-creation activities. These collaborative partnerships were also instrumental in fostering our reach into local communities, and extending our profile across these cities through in-house marketing campaigns. The British Council in India and London have provided additional contributions in terms of connecting the 3x4 project team to the local cultural agenda in each respective city, a dialogue which continues today. |
| Impact | Publication outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: Performing architecture [The counter culture version] Now I lay me down to eat. Bernard Rudofsky and ludic architecture 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (C21 writings) 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (ISEA) Artistic and creative outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: 3x4 website 3x4 documentary video 3x4 line out video 3x4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 3x4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Bi-lateral AHRC agreement and project partners |
| Organisation | Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy |
| Department | UK Science and Innovation Network |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | 3x4 formed a part of a bi-lateral AHRC agreement between UK and India, a unique collaboration between UnBox in Delhi, British Council in London and Delhi and the UK Science and Innovation Network. Project partners directly linked to the grant included the Southbank Centre in London (2014/15) and Khoj International Artists' Association (2014). Our partnership with India Habitat Centre in Delhi resulted from the success of Unbox Festival and an invitation from the Southbank Centre to contribute to Alchemy and Web We Want Festivals in 2015. Contributions from the 3x4 project team included intellectual input into the framing of the 3x4 concept at UnBox (2014), Alchemy (2015) and Web We Want Festivals (2015). Prof Paul Sermon provided the video conferencing equipment necessary for the telematic dialogue between London and Delhi at each of these exhibitions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions from our partners - Southbank Centre, Khoj International Artists' Association and India Habitat Centre - included inclusion in their institutional programmes, access to gallery space (including, production support and technical support) and where required, access to workshop space for co-creation activities. These collaborative partnerships were also instrumental in fostering our reach into local communities, and extending our profile across these cities through in-house marketing campaigns. The British Council in India and London have provided additional contributions in terms of connecting the 3x4 project team to the local cultural agenda in each respective city, a dialogue which continues today. |
| Impact | Publication outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: Performing architecture [The counter culture version] Now I lay me down to eat. Bernard Rudofsky and ludic architecture 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (C21 writings) 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (ISEA) Artistic and creative outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: 3x4 website 3x4 documentary video 3x4 line out video 3x4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 3x4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Bi-lateral AHRC agreement and project partners |
| Organisation | India Habitat Centre, Delhi |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | 3x4 formed a part of a bi-lateral AHRC agreement between UK and India, a unique collaboration between UnBox in Delhi, British Council in London and Delhi and the UK Science and Innovation Network. Project partners directly linked to the grant included the Southbank Centre in London (2014/15) and Khoj International Artists' Association (2014). Our partnership with India Habitat Centre in Delhi resulted from the success of Unbox Festival and an invitation from the Southbank Centre to contribute to Alchemy and Web We Want Festivals in 2015. Contributions from the 3x4 project team included intellectual input into the framing of the 3x4 concept at UnBox (2014), Alchemy (2015) and Web We Want Festivals (2015). Prof Paul Sermon provided the video conferencing equipment necessary for the telematic dialogue between London and Delhi at each of these exhibitions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions from our partners - Southbank Centre, Khoj International Artists' Association and India Habitat Centre - included inclusion in their institutional programmes, access to gallery space (including, production support and technical support) and where required, access to workshop space for co-creation activities. These collaborative partnerships were also instrumental in fostering our reach into local communities, and extending our profile across these cities through in-house marketing campaigns. The British Council in India and London have provided additional contributions in terms of connecting the 3x4 project team to the local cultural agenda in each respective city, a dialogue which continues today. |
| Impact | Publication outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: Performing architecture [The counter culture version] Now I lay me down to eat. Bernard Rudofsky and ludic architecture 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (C21 writings) 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (ISEA) Artistic and creative outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: 3x4 website 3x4 documentary video 3x4 line out video 3x4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 3x4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Bi-lateral AHRC agreement and project partners |
| Organisation | Khoj International Artists' Association |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | 3x4 formed a part of a bi-lateral AHRC agreement between UK and India, a unique collaboration between UnBox in Delhi, British Council in London and Delhi and the UK Science and Innovation Network. Project partners directly linked to the grant included the Southbank Centre in London (2014/15) and Khoj International Artists' Association (2014). Our partnership with India Habitat Centre in Delhi resulted from the success of Unbox Festival and an invitation from the Southbank Centre to contribute to Alchemy and Web We Want Festivals in 2015. Contributions from the 3x4 project team included intellectual input into the framing of the 3x4 concept at UnBox (2014), Alchemy (2015) and Web We Want Festivals (2015). Prof Paul Sermon provided the video conferencing equipment necessary for the telematic dialogue between London and Delhi at each of these exhibitions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions from our partners - Southbank Centre, Khoj International Artists' Association and India Habitat Centre - included inclusion in their institutional programmes, access to gallery space (including, production support and technical support) and where required, access to workshop space for co-creation activities. These collaborative partnerships were also instrumental in fostering our reach into local communities, and extending our profile across these cities through in-house marketing campaigns. The British Council in India and London have provided additional contributions in terms of connecting the 3x4 project team to the local cultural agenda in each respective city, a dialogue which continues today. |
| Impact | Publication outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: Performing architecture [The counter culture version] Now I lay me down to eat. Bernard Rudofsky and ludic architecture 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (C21 writings) 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (ISEA) Artistic and creative outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: 3x4 website 3x4 documentary video 3x4 line out video 3x4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 3x4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Bi-lateral AHRC agreement and project partners |
| Organisation | Southbank Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | 3x4 formed a part of a bi-lateral AHRC agreement between UK and India, a unique collaboration between UnBox in Delhi, British Council in London and Delhi and the UK Science and Innovation Network. Project partners directly linked to the grant included the Southbank Centre in London (2014/15) and Khoj International Artists' Association (2014). Our partnership with India Habitat Centre in Delhi resulted from the success of Unbox Festival and an invitation from the Southbank Centre to contribute to Alchemy and Web We Want Festivals in 2015. Contributions from the 3x4 project team included intellectual input into the framing of the 3x4 concept at UnBox (2014), Alchemy (2015) and Web We Want Festivals (2015). Prof Paul Sermon provided the video conferencing equipment necessary for the telematic dialogue between London and Delhi at each of these exhibitions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions from our partners - Southbank Centre, Khoj International Artists' Association and India Habitat Centre - included inclusion in their institutional programmes, access to gallery space (including, production support and technical support) and where required, access to workshop space for co-creation activities. These collaborative partnerships were also instrumental in fostering our reach into local communities, and extending our profile across these cities through in-house marketing campaigns. The British Council in India and London have provided additional contributions in terms of connecting the 3x4 project team to the local cultural agenda in each respective city, a dialogue which continues today. |
| Impact | Publication outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: Performing architecture [The counter culture version] Now I lay me down to eat. Bernard Rudofsky and ludic architecture 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (C21 writings) 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (ISEA) Artistic and creative outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: 3x4 website 3x4 documentary video 3x4 line out video 3x4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 3x4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Bi-lateral AHRC agreement and project partners |
| Organisation | UnBox Festival, Delhi |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | 3x4 formed a part of a bi-lateral AHRC agreement between UK and India, a unique collaboration between UnBox in Delhi, British Council in London and Delhi and the UK Science and Innovation Network. Project partners directly linked to the grant included the Southbank Centre in London (2014/15) and Khoj International Artists' Association (2014). Our partnership with India Habitat Centre in Delhi resulted from the success of Unbox Festival and an invitation from the Southbank Centre to contribute to Alchemy and Web We Want Festivals in 2015. Contributions from the 3x4 project team included intellectual input into the framing of the 3x4 concept at UnBox (2014), Alchemy (2015) and Web We Want Festivals (2015). Prof Paul Sermon provided the video conferencing equipment necessary for the telematic dialogue between London and Delhi at each of these exhibitions. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Contributions from our partners - Southbank Centre, Khoj International Artists' Association and India Habitat Centre - included inclusion in their institutional programmes, access to gallery space (including, production support and technical support) and where required, access to workshop space for co-creation activities. These collaborative partnerships were also instrumental in fostering our reach into local communities, and extending our profile across these cities through in-house marketing campaigns. The British Council in India and London have provided additional contributions in terms of connecting the 3x4 project team to the local cultural agenda in each respective city, a dialogue which continues today. |
| Impact | Publication outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: Performing architecture [The counter culture version] Now I lay me down to eat. Bernard Rudofsky and ludic architecture 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (C21 writings) 3x4: exploring meatspace platforms for inclusive future cities (ISEA) Artistic and creative outputs arising from these collaborative partnerships include: 3x4 website 3x4 documentary video 3x4 line out video 3x4 at Web We Want Festival May 2015 3x4 at Alchemy Festival May 2015 Design History and Practice: New Perspectives from University of Brighton at Gwangju Design Biennale 2015 3x4 at UnBox Festival Delhi December 2014 |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | 3x4: changing perception of informality in Indian Cities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Blog post written by Swati Janu and featured on Micro Home Solutions City Lab's website (a social housing initiative based in Delhi): The ongoing urbanisation of the world, spurred over the last century, has led to increasingly dense urban centres where space has become the most valuable commodity. Millions are migrating to cities, especially in the developing countries in the hope for a better life. From the high-rise dwellings of New York or Hong Kong to the informal shantytowns of Mumbai or Rio - cities are becoming crowded, intense magnets of swelling populations, evocative of Asimov's 'Caves of Steel'. In his science fiction Foundation series, Isaac Asimov talks of the agoraphobic residents of futuristic gigantic domed cities who spend their entire lifetimes within these domes, rarely-if ever-stepping out of the dense structure of these man-made caves. What drives the fear of closed spaces in some and open, large spaces in others, to the extent that a whole society could be agoraphobic, is our perception of space. This difference in perception of space is borne out of various cultural, social and economic reasons. While communities in urban villages in Delhi live in houses with abutting balconies separated by less than a foot; in a Swedish landscape, people live in dwellings separated by vast tracts of land. While thousands travel crammed against each others' bodies in the Mumbai locals every day; during similar peak hours in the London tubes, people form tight invisible private spaces around themselves. While men occupy the benches, parks and all the street corners in Indian cities, the women resort to find comfort and safety in more private spaces. While a 3x4 metre space could be the size of a house for a family of six in a resettlement colony in Delhi, it could be the size of one man's toilet in another part of Delhi. Exploring our perceptions of space, therefore, could unravel the various layers behind them. 3x4 is a project that wants to challenge the perception of informality in Indian cities. Anything that does not fall within the purview and planning of the civic authorities can be called informal. It is that component of the city that is not organized and planned, and consequently considered illegal. 3x4 metres is the plot size provided now in some 'resettlement colonies' in Delhi such as Savda Ghevra. These colonies have been set-up by the government to relocate people from informal settlements within the city to vacant land usually on the periphery. The project explores the qualities and values built through self-organised communities that are lost in the resettlement process. It seeks to look at informal settlements differently by envisaging a future where everyone has the right to the city; where informality is not viewed as a problem, but as a self-made solution. 3x4 was conceived during the Unbox Labs 2014 held at the National Institute of Design in India between February and March, which brought together creative professionals and researchers from the UK and India. Organized by Unbox and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK in partnership with British Council, Science and Innovation Network of the British High Commission in India, REACT and NID - the two week long workshop had an open-ended brief, on the theme of 'Future Cities'. I attended the workshop as a fellow, seeding the art project with Professor Paul Sermon, University of Brighton and Dr Claire McAndrew, the Bartlett UCL. 3x4 also seeks to identify alternative digital platforms to connect people, in a way that creates ownership and authorship. It aims to explore new hybrids of digital space and their potential to empower people. As India heads towards the very near future where everyone might have 4G connection even before basic sanitation, it is time to rethink existing power structures and explore new possibilities. At the Unbox Labs, we built an installation to develop and share our thoughts, which also allowed us to experiment with space and people's interactions with the projected realities within it. This has been documented as a video and can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/paulsermon/3x4. The Lab provided us with the platform and tools for the inception of what we feel could be a very powerful project, which we hope to take further to provoke a much needed discourse on inclusiveness in cities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://www.microhomesolutions.org/blog/3-x-4-changing-perception-informality-indian-cities |
| Description | 3×4 Performance architecture and inclusive future cities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | 25 January 2016 5.30pm-8.00pm The Bartlett, UCL The first event in The Bartlett Future Cities Doctoral Network Seminar Series 2015/16 explores how Film and Performance Architecture influence and shape our understanding, vision and perception of one or multiple urban futures and the way we attempt to design them. With Dr Penelope Haralambidou and Ava Fatah gen. Schieck, Dr Claire McAndrew explores the Future City not only within but beyond the limits of the built environment as construction. The presentations were followed by a panel discussion and invited questions from postgraduate students at The Bartlett and beyond. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett-doctoral-networks/future-cities-network |
| Description | AHRC Design Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | AHRC Design Symposium 25 September 2015 9.30am-4.30pm London 3×4 presented as a pecha kucha by Prof Paul Sermon and Dr Claire McAndrew at the AHRC Design Symposium exploring future innovation in design. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.3x4m.org |
| Description | Co-Creation Workshop during UnBox Festival 2014 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In preparation for the live installation at UnBox Festival, participants were invited to a co-creation workshop on 10 December 2014 at Khoj Studios, New Delhi. It was structured to provide an introduction to the project and opportunity for participants to develop creative content. The workshop was led by Professor Paul Sermon, Dr Claire McAndrew and Swati Janu. WORKSHOP ANNOUNCEMENT: 3x4 creates an immersive, telematic environment by merging two identical 3x4 metre room installations at Khoj International Artists Association, Delhi and Southbank Centre, London, to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of new hybrids of digital space. From 12-14 December 2014 audiences in Delhi, London and across the globe can co-create and experience these mixed-reality scenes via www.3x4m.org/ , exploring the qualities and values built through self-organised communities that are lost in their eviction and resettlement. From informal settlement dwellings to contemporary compact interior designs, micro living solutions and imagined worlds, this transnational dialogue intends to set an aspiration for developing metaspace platforms in the global south. Co-Creation Workshop: In advance of the live installation, participants are invited to a co-creation workshop on 10 December 2014 at Khoj International Artists Association, Delhi. This workshop provides an introduction to the conceptual foundations of the project and the opportunity to develop creative content. By uploading an image or downloading other people's images and using them or their elements, participants will be given the opportunity to co-create the environments displayed within these rooms whatever they interpret and imagine that to be. 10.00am to 10.30am: Introduction of the project 10.30am to 11.30am: Creative content software demonstration 11.30am to 12.00pm: Discussion of ideas for content creation 12.00pm to 2.00pm: Sourcing content over lunch 2.00pm to 3.30pm: Creative content development 3.30pm to 4.00pm: Presentation of outcomes Access to laptops for uploading content and basic stationery will be available at the workshop. Participants are welcome to bring along digital cameras, personal laptops or any other items to document living spaces or imagined environments. Note that the workshop is limited to 20 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Please write in to 3x4workshop@gmail.com to book your spot. The workshop will be led by Professor Paul Sermon at the University of Brighton, Dr Claire McAndrew at The Bartlett, UCL and Swati Janu, a Delhi-based Architect. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of a broader collaboration between UnBox, British Council and Science and Innovation Network. 10 December 2014 Khoj Studios, S 17 Khirkee Extension, New Delhi Listed on allevents.in: http://allevents.in/new%20delhi/3x4-co-creation-workshop/1500447133576315 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://khojworkshop.org/programme/3x4-exploring-metaspace-platforms-for-inclusive-future-cities/ |
| Description | Immersive, inspired and collaborative - a view from India's UnBox Festival |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Laura Bones from the AHRC writes about the Unbox fesitval In December 2014 I attended the UnBox festival in Delhi. The UnBox festival is an interdisciplinary festival which brings together professionals from many different sectors, to encourage inspiration and collaboration. In February 2014, the AHRC funded 8 UK researchers to go to the UnBox LABS at the National Institute of Design, in Ahmedabad, along with UK and Indian creative practitioners and researchers. This was an immersive 10 day experience where participants were given the opportunity to network and develop joint project ideas. The AHRC funded 4 follow-on projects from the LABS and it was great to see these showcased at the UnBox festival. The workshops and display boards showed how the projects had developed from those initial ideas at the LABS stage. One project which proved very popular was '3×4'. They demonstrated their immersive telematic environment, which merged two 3×4 metre room installations, one at the Southbank centre in London and one in Khoj International Artists Association, Delhi. This gave participants the opportunity to explore and play across the digital space. It was fun to be able to interact with participants in another country through the merged image and to be able to co-create the background images. The installation was deliberately 3×4 metres in size, as this is the plot size provided in some resettlement colonies in India, and the project team wished to see how participants explored the qualities and values built through self-organised communities that are lost in the resettlement process. They will go on to analyse the footage of the interactions and see how people reacted differently to the space. Overall the festival was a great mix of workshops, talks, performances, visits and conversations. It has a really informal atmosphere which allows people the opportunity to talk and explore. I really enjoyed seeing how the AHRC projects had developed since the LABS stage and I attended some great workshops, ranging from topics such as gender discrimination to the Indian Mars mission. I also got to talk to a diverse range of people, from design consultants to local craftspeople. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | https://researchbeyondborders.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/immersive-inspired-and-collaborative-a-view-f... |
| Description | Sharing the same living space in Delhi, London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Online Newspaper Report: The Hindu, New Delhi, May 21st 2015. One of the biggest problems with any big city across the world is space, and in India, mega cities like Delhi and Mumbai have a large number of people living in informal settlements in which entire families adjust in a one-room house. In-fact, 3x4 metre is the plot size provided in some resettlement colonies by the government in an initiative to relocate people from informal inner-city settlements to vacant land on the periphery. This 3x4 metre space is not unique to India as many people starting out their lives in cities like London or New York also manage to make a 3x4 metre space home. A project titled "3x4 exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities" has been set up at the Visual Art Gallery at the India Habitat Centre, which looks into informal settlements differently where informality is not viewed as a problem, but a promising new model of urbanism. The project has an installation measuring 3x4 metre draped in blue chroma-key fabric to recreate a room. There is an identical installation set up in London at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, draped in green chroma-key fabric. The idea is to have the public experience a shared living space in the form of a mixed-reality live video connection which enables people in both cities to coexist in the same 3x4 metre room that has been merged digitally to create a single room. One can go into the room and connect with people in London on a screen that provides an immersive, telematic environment. Various situations are created by Internet users in London, Delhi and around the world which the people need to adapt to. It is sometimes a funny situation that is created, and the experience can be a lot of fun depending on how involved one can get and adapt to the digital space. Internet users can contribute by creating various spaces and situations for people to react to. From a simple living room to the top floor of a house in which the centre has caved in and people need to tip-toe around the periphery to get around. One can even drape themselves with a blue cloth that turns them invisible as it blend with the background. The project does manage to get people in the two cities connect in a unique way to deal with the limited space. Public audiences in London and Delhi will be able to experience the shared living space till May 25. The installation is connected for six hours a day between 2.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. IST at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, combining two cities not just spatially, but temporally. The 3x4 project is collaboration between Paul Sermon at University of Brighton, Claire McAndrew at The Bartlett, UCL, and Swati Janu, an architect at mHS City Lab in New Delhi. The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of a broader collaboration between UnBox, British Council, and Science and Innovation Network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/sharing-the-same-living-space-in-delhi-... |
| Description | UnBox PopUp at the ICA London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 3x4 Presented at UnBox PopUp at the ICA London 17.00 - 19.00 Thursday 25 June 2015 Institute of Contemporary Art, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH Paul Sermon and Claire McAndrew present 3×4 an AHRC funded project exploring metaspace platforms for inclusive future cities at UnBox PopUp at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) on 25 June 2015. The project uses an immersive telematic environment to provide a playful, sensorial exploration of new hybrids of digital space by merging two 3×4 metre room installations in London and Delhi through mixed-reality techniques. Incubated through UnBox LABS 2014 (co-hosted by AHRC, British Council and National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad) 3×4 features as a part of the AHRC's showcase of new, innovative research collaborations between UK - India in the creative economy. UnBox PopUp is supported by the AHRC. http://www.space-doctors.com/unbox-popup-london/ http://quicksand.co.in/events/unbox-popup-in-london |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.space-doctors.com/unbox-popup-london/ |