Social lamp-shades
Concours "Lost Spaces"
Calgary - Alberta - Canada
Collaboration :
Pauline Vignon architect
Mathieu Grosche designer explorer
Year : 2015
A "lost space" is a space which remains under-utilized in our urban environment. They may be residual spaces as well as a ghost left after a development plan of the incomplete territory. Lost spaces are public places, often designed to work with a social and environmental relevance in the city.
The ideas competition aims to explore alternatives to improve the use of public space and the ecological value of a lost space.
Project : Social lamp-shades
Outside sheltered place for social events.
Underpasses are unsafe, cold and moreover
under-utilized outside sheltered spaces. The social
lamp-shades requires three steps to revaluate those
space and make them more friendly.
1. Highlighting
The first step is to put the misused underpass
in the spotlight through an artistic intervention
with lamp-shades.
This action will give to this lost space a new
face that will attract as a magnet the curiosity
of the inhabitants. But what’s the narration used
behind the lamp-shade to attract people ?
The project uses cozy lamp-shades to build an
intimate canopy which convey a feeling of
being in a comfortable outdoor living room, a
familiar place that everybody knows, a place
where you feel safe and comfy.
2. The social place
This re-envisionned space can now be used by
inhabitants, organizations and institution to
organize social events . To demonstrate this
potential, lamp-shades events will be created
first, such as : « Plug your own lamp-shade
», « build your own lamp-shade » and charity
events held by sponsors with a call for artists
« lamp-shade design contest » and an auction
sale. The goal of those events is to initiate and
keep a dynamic programmation social event in
the remnant public space to show the potential
of this new living space.
3. Pass the torch
Now that the function of this new social space
is understood, other groups as citizens or organizations
can appropriate it to create various
events as ice rink, chess contest, theatre, food
market...