MaPS @ Biennale dello Spazio Pubblico | Roma, May 21-24, 2014
In this conference we presented updates on the research process of the Green Urban Lab.
The Green Urban Lab is a project carried out by Urban Gorillas NGO together with two partners, the Architecture Department of the University of Nicosia and the Dendros Ltd. It is an initiative to regenerate public spaces in Cypriot cities. The project intends to raise awareness on the importance of public spaces, which are lacking from the Cypriot urban culture. It aims at developing socially sustainable cities through bottom-up initiatives that endorse participatory democracy.
The main tools of interventions, taking the form of a flexible public installation are giant inflatable structures that were be placed in major cities during Spring 2015. They will be placed at various locations in the cities offering a temporary inside-outside space that would be used by local communities to host and present participatory projects, site specific activities, artistic works and social projects that demonstrate innovation and creativity.
Additionally, the inflatable structures, by their architectural specificities, will promote the engagement of the local communities and passers-by through design and playfulness. The fluid presence of the installations will be acting as a catalyst for social interaction. They will be accessed and viewed effortlessly and surprisingly, creating opportunities to rediscover public spaces and to counteract the ‘non-places’ described by the anthropologist Marc Augé.
More information at http://www.biennalespaziopubblico.it/
