Community, Public Space and Digital Data

Bologna interactive urban furniture lab

Abstract

Through the manifestation of digital traces, the research demonstrates how it is possible to value to behaviors and actions present in space at a certain moment, recalling them as echoes in subsequent temporalities within space. The contribution fits into the problematic of the contemporary city – the applied context being the Quadrilatero Malvasia and the Barca neighborhood in Bologna – where spaces are layered day after day with digital data produced by the space itself and the people who pass through it. Design expressions related to product design that delve into the urban dimension, exploring the relationship between digital data, space, and user behavior, show a limited variety of methodologies and actual case studies. The experimentation carried out by the working group fits into this context and provides some original design directions for designers who venture to imagine new urban objects.