Beginn des PhD-Programms / Start of the PhD-Program:
WS 2025
Betreuung / Supervision:
Andrea Curtoni, Giulia Mazzorin
The research investigates site-specific design strategies for public spaces interpreted as choreographed stages. By observing how these spaces function, the research reveals how objects and tools—whether architectural elements, everyday items, or vehicles—become integral components of an ongoing informal urban “theater.”
Through this perspective, I want to experiment with an approach that involves public spaces through redesign interventions inspired by everyday practices related to the use of local, site-specific tools and emphasise their performative nature. I named this practice “Popular Prototyping,” which merges artistic inquiry with speculative methodologies to construct narratives that provoke interactions, dialogues and inspire renewed reflections about public engagement, technology, and human collaboration in outdoor spaces. Popular objects and tools are prototyped through a process of redesign and re-contextualization, highlighting their narrative potential by bringing them into focus through public actions immersed in their everyday use in order to collect new stories and feedback.
The investigation explores the intersection of empirical data, speculative design, and the use of public spaces through the lens of low-tech tools and practices. By focusing on site-specific tools and real-time observations, the project aims to archive, reinterpret, and reimagine contemporary mechanisms and practices that shape public life. The goal of this work is to produce a shift in our perception of public environments, revealing them as dynamic settings shaped by interactions between people, spaces, objects, and tools.