The Missing Dimension
I am a social designer, researcher, digital and cultural project coordinator and co-founder of the collective Umarell.
I have a background in cultural and digital studies with a focus on the redistribution of commons and public encapacitation through co-creative process.
After my master, I did a traineeship as design researcher in a program between Amsterdam University and the airport of Schiphol. I’ve lead a research on the enhancement of the baggage reclaim experience including field research, behavioral experiments and research-tools crafting.
From there, I’ve worked for 6 years in cultural institutions such as Palais de Tokyo and Fondation Cartier as digital project manager where I’ve been curating the digital content and developing mediation web-based tools. One of the project I’m the most proud of is the Sally Gabori’s website (for which I was head-editor and project lead): https://www.sallygabori-fondationcartier.com/map
In parallel, I’ve been working with the collective of architects Umarell to create experimental research methods and tools that can bring out vernacular knowledge and help users recognize their own power of invention and intervention.
One example of this practice is the residency « un trou dans la raquette » hybridizing architecture with journalistic investigation, happening and speculative design : https://www.ma-lereseau.org/residence-architecture/un-trou-dans-la-raquette or the Europan 16 : https://www.europan-europe.eu/en/exchanges/the-bet-of-the-living
To complete this hybrid profile, I’d like to add that :
- I’m an associate teacher at Sorbonne Nouvelle where I love collaborating with students on the future of cultural mediation.
- I try to write more and more on my practice. Next article will be published in the « Revue Blok » this winter: https://www.instagram.com/revue_blok/
- I’m the co-author of the community research project « the everyday data (h)activism toolkit » https://data-activism.com/
"The Missing Dimension" is an on-going research project on chronotopic approaches towards city-making.
The notion of 'chronotopy' refers to the simultaneous consideration of temporal (chronos) and spatial (topos) dimensions.
For decades, notions of time have been largely overlooked by modern and contemporary city planners, who prioritize instantaneity over long-term considerations.
What if the consideration of upcoming city-makers’ could be to build not only over space?
In the face of the imminent sixth extinction and the global climate crisis, the objective of this research is to break away from established capitalist criteria of performance and efficiency. Instead, it seeks to embrace a long-term vision of time that aligns with the natural pace of the living world and reconnects with ancient beliefs (7th generations rule). Frequently linked to the concept of space/time optimization (diversification of uses in existing spaces, 15 minutes city), 'chronotopy' functions as a non-anthropocentric and post-growth tool to understand temporalized and gendered uses of places shared between all living forms.
Chronotopic approaches to space-making offer a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interplay between organisms and their environment, facilitating a deeper exploration of ecological processes and their temporal dimensions.
However, unlike space, time is difficult to perceive.
"The Missing Dimension" aims to transform abstract scientific research data into a tangible and comprehensible representation, allowing us to grasp the presence of time in a more concrete and accessible manner.
The ultimate objective of this research is to provide city-makers with a comprehensive tool-kit, to take care of space and time towards a regenerative city.
The project could take various participatory forms, including workshops, collective field research, an exhibition or a lecture. So far, a first representation of regeneration time scale has been edited.
