DRS2012 Bangkok Proceedings Vol 4 - Design Research Society

1962 Conference Proceedings
Sandra Viña
problem, gap or program between two or more individuals or bodies. An urban
intervention is by nature mobile rather than fixed, stimulating and dynamic rather than
static, liberal rather than conservative and, open rather than restricted. Interventions deal
with both pragmatic and theoretical conditions, as they are statements, phenomena and
situations as well as applied science, people’s know-how, experiences on making and
acting. Interventions in the urban public spaces can occur in different places, in
institutions, public transportations and buildings; including also streets, boulevards,
squares, parks, malls and so on.
The introduction of an intervention in the public space may arise from different reasons
and motivations. People may introduce a commercial or financial intervention; others may
act in a more cultural, artistic and recreational way; while some others may introduce
interventions that convey political messages or contain an activist approach. One can
also find interventions in the city that dictate specific normative values through signs and
symbols that tries to control people’s behavior. Also, design interventions are taken to the
streets to intervene with the public in the context of different research and educational
programs. Thus, people in cities can observe and experience several types of
interventions, some which can highlight a functional, artistic, intellectual and/or
commercial value. In the following section I will illustrate different case studies.
A variety of interventions in city places are mapped out in figure 1 to better understand
their characteristics, functions and meaning. the figure shows a typology of urban
interventions. It consists of various characters, often overlapping, such as political,
recreational, artistic, cultural, commercial, financial and design character. Each is based
on specific values and acts. The vertical axis in the figure shows urban interventions as
consensual or dissensual. Consensual interventions are a common, consensual
understanding of issues, challenges, problems, successes and so on of the public and
private sector. Generally, these interventions are created by the private and public sector
and they follow normative, laws and rules. Dissensual interventions are disjunctures,
provocations or frictions created by individuals, a group or community. Usually, these
interventions are taken to the streets without consent or permissions from the public
sector; there is little consideration about laws and normative.