Article

Guidelines Manual

Context Exploratorium for participants

 

In uncertain times like these, working together, bringing together their expertise, intuitions, and sensitivities, will make the difference. To have this meeting of minds is the intention of the Exploratorium. Out of such engagement comes the insight and energy that can inspire many others. This is how we can generate new perspectives for the times to come.
In the Exploratorium new online collaborations are formed between experts (artists, designers, policymakers and scientists) who live in different cities and who are working on similar questions and themes. These different groups we call a track. In the Exploratorium 12 tracks are formed. The intention of the tracks is to offer the experts the opportunity to explore their own work in a different context. The shared case between most of the tracks is Venice and its Lagoon, which is why the contribution of We are here Venice is significant. Most experts from Amsterdam and other cities are matched with experts who work and live in Venice. By doing so we hope that the Dutch contribution to the Biennale also offers significant value to the city of Venice.

More information

Principal investigator of the Exploratorium is Caroline Nevejan (Chair Designing Urban Experience, University of Amsterdam & Chief Science Officer of the City of Amsterdam). She is asked by Het Nieuwe Instituut (as commissioner of the Dutch pavilion at the La Biennale di Architettura) to shape the complimentary research programme to the Dutch contribution to the 17th Architecture Biennale of Venice. She gave this research program the title Values for Survival. This research programme runs from March until November 2020. It consists of several elements of which the Exploratorium is one.

Results of the different elements are published in a series of Cahiers edited by Huda Abi Farès and Caroline. In the Exploratorium each track will design their own pages in the minimal framework of a special Exploratorium Cahier.
Caroline curates the Exploratorium with an editorial team. The members of the editorial team are Jane Da Mosto (co-founder and executive director We are here Venice), Eleonora Sovrani (researcher We are here Venice), Marco Moretto and Pinar Sefkatli (producers Het Nieuwe Instituut), Zola Can (Chief Science Office Amsterdam). All experts agree to work under the Creative Commons License Attribution, Non-commercial- Share Alike.

First Contacts:

Marco Moretto is you first contact. He is in charge of the production of the Exploratorium. The editor for the programme is Zola Can and she is also responsible for the publication on the Open Research platform. If you have any questions feel free to approach Marco, Zola, or one of the other editors.

Marco Moretto
Email: exploratorium@hetnieuweinstituut.nl
Telephone: +39 3519331768

Zola Can
Email: z.can@amsterdam.nl

Caroline Nevejan
Email, C.Nevejan@amsterdam.nl
Telephone: 31 (0)613223500

Jane Da Mosto
Email: jane@weareherevenice.org


How will we work

Each track deals with different topics and contexts, which will require different ways of collaborating and documenting the work. Next to exploring the content in each track, we anticipate that you will have to use new (and old) methodologies in the online collaboration in the ways you meet and work together under these conditions. We hope to harvest these methodologies as well.

Moments to meet

We envision that tracks will have their own periodical meetings online, exchange files and collaborate. We like to organize a few meetings with all tracks. One at the beginning to share plans for exploration and halfway to share work in progress. In July we will present the work online to a larger audience (via Zoom). There will also be moments to discuss the content and design. Ultimately, we hope to meet and present the Cahier with our work In Real Life at the Biennale in Venice.

Online communication

For everyday communication, we suggest that each group chooses a channel that suits them best (WhatsApp, Skype, Slack, Google Drive, Zoom, Teams).

Online Documentation

We will make use of Open Research as the platform to document and share the work in progress. Via this platform the universities and the municipality of Amsterdam collaborate and we expect this will be helpful. For each track, we have set up an online project space where you can add your material (articles, notes, pictures, links, videos…). In the following days you will receive a link to set up your personal account on the platform. We are always available to upload the above-mentioned updates in your project space. You can send your files to the production team, or, if you would like to this yourself on Open research, we can provide you the guidelines on how to work in the platform.

Publication

The research programme Values for Survival is documented in a series of Cahiers. The contributions of all tracks will form together a special Exploratorium Cahier. We anticipate that each team would like to make their own pages for the Cahier (minimum of 6 to a maximum of 12 pages) for which we will provide guidelines soon. We will create the framework so that all the different contributions form one Cahier.

To do in the next days

We launch the Exploratorium on the day the Biennale would have opened on the 21st of May as part of an online event.

Before that we would like to ask if you could provide us with the information below, so that we can upload it already on the HNI website and on the Open Research Platform.
1. Title of the project
2. Name and photo of each participant + the affiliated institution if there is one
3. A bio of max 100 words per participant in English
4. A 150-word summary of each project in English
5. Please send us an image that we can use as the cover for your project.
Please send this to us as soon as possible and on the 12th of May the latest.

Please put in the agenda these important dates:

1. Introducing the Research (20th of May 16:00pm Amsterdam-Venice): In this second session, every group will give a 5-minute presentation about their project.
2. Thursday Night Live on the biennale + Exploratorium
3. Feedback on content and design (15th-19th of June): During this week personal appointments with the editors of the Cahier series Caroline Nevejan and Huda AbiFarès and can be made to discuss the content and the design of each track.
4. Sharing work in progress (19th June 2:00-17:00pm Amsterdam-Venice): In this session the different teams will be sharing their work in progress.
5. First deadline to deliver the results (8th of July): hand in the pages for the cahier.
6. Presentation and Interaction between teams (13th-14th of July). In a public event results will be presented, and tracks will comment on each other’s work.
7. Hand in final pages for Cahier (17th of July): We will ask the different groups to deliver their pages including the feedback they received.
8. Presentation and Publication (end of August): By the end of July, the publication will be finished and by the end August it will be ready to be distributed. We hope that the publication will be a physical event during the opening of Architecture Biennale in Venice.

Image credits

Header image: Fuller projection 1954_Marco Moretto Edit

Icon image: Guidelines 1.pdf