Observing for better understanding

Field study

From sept. 2021 to march 2022

Concrete objects for meeting users

Mobile equipment

From feb. to june 2022






An immersive experience

Visual interpretations

From feb. to june 2022

Sensitive to the social relations to be improved in public space, I chose to take an interest in a local issue for my dissertation by carrying out a field survey on Place Carnot in Saint-Étienne.
It was important for me to analyse the social life of this space in order to understand the issues at stake and the needs of the users.
Located in a working-class neighbourhood, this square is first and foremost a very important point of passage (dynamic space), with a garden often occupied by local people (static space).

In order to operate concretely on the square, I developed an exploratory research before acting there to be as accurate as possible. As this investigation progressed, the need to intervene in the square was transformed into a need to exchange with the users in order to co-create this project for better living together.

For months I analysed it using different observation tools. There was sound recording, written description, oral description where I pretended to talk on the phone to go incognito, discussions with the cafe owners and regulars, observation and feeling, photography, video, mapping.

This case study proved to be very fruitful.

How to bring in design without imposing it on the inhabitants of the neighbourhood? How to involve the inhabitants?

This dissertation was the basis for my final project.












Following this research phase, I started to experiment with ways to increase the exchanges with users.
I needed concrete objects to go further in the link created with people and leave a trace of it. By bringing a desk to the square and working on it or by building a kiosk to exchange and disseminate information.
Having a neutral posture was an essential point in this process, I finally managed to do this work without imposing myself on them.

By designing, shaping and adapting them, these mobile meeting tools enabled me to gather a large amount of information and social dynamics: 

* Meeting and exchanging with users on their relationship with the public spaces they use on a daily basis, on what needs to be improved and developed.

*Share with them the historical knowledge acquired after research in the city's municipal archives.

* To collect plans of these shared common spaces, giving me access to the personal perception of the residents and other indicators of understanding their practices.  
This could become a method of global apprehension, as these simple, mobile and autonomous devices could be deployed in any public space.
The idea would be to design ephemeral actions and interventions that participate in the memory of the place in a different way and transform it.













At the same time, I wanted to interpret the signs and data collected in a sensitive way and to create a visual and sound installation. I wanted to show the different visions of the inhabitants of the neighbourhood as well as my own by creating a poetic metamorphosis of the square. An immersive experience projected on three 3x4m walls, drawing the viewer into a narrative similar to a video game.

This transposition of space is composed of several 3D animations. A first realistic series is based on photographs of certain elements of the square. The second series of videos script the plans drawn by the users and accentuate their subjectivity. Finally, the last approach is sound, a sensory experience using the ambient recordings of the Place Carnot as well as the recorded testimonies that resonate in the black room.

An invitation to share, exchange and altruism.

Video presentation of the animations:

https://youtu.be/HS8HIou9H00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fibGTH2UsvM