Mission
The aim of the BRIDE project is to explore the role of smart public infrastructure in making and re-making of public space. Utilizing research through design and mobilizing an empirical-philosophical theory of technology, the research team will engage in the design and construction of data interaction systems for an Internet of Things-enabled 3D printed bridge in Amsterdam.
Building on the concept of cityness, the BRIDE project will provide insight into how designers, technologists, and citizens can utilize IoT technologies for designing urban space that expresses its intelligence from the intersection of people, places, activities and technology, not merely from the presence of cutting-edge technology. The research through design methodologies allows for participatory data-informed design processes that mediate the relation between pedestrians and “their” bridge.
The multidisciplinary research team comprises scholars from humanities (philosophy of technology), industrial design, and computer science. By analyzing the whole design process of the bridge – covering planning, design, development, construction, use, and data applications – the project will close a fundamental knowledge gap in urban research, design, and engineering of how smart technologies and manufacturing processes can be harnessed as 'Design Material' in urban design projects.
By developing a theoretically sound and practically informed understanding of “cityness”, the project will provide insight in how smart technologies can be utilized to design for cityness, eventually promoting citizen’s feeling of ownership of the public space (“citizen led governance”).
Funding
NWO (Creative Cities – Smart Culture), 2018-23, Budget: € 476K