Public Physical Forum dedicated to discuss public issues with people around them
Public Physical Forum dedicated to discuss public issues with people around them
I was working on public forum in the public space in Bergen where people would be stimulated to discuss on public questions with people around them.
Contemporary uses of the term forum refer to digital forum, virtual spaces for educational or social activities. These forums facilitate communities that span greater distances than any empire. Yet is lacking the physicality of an architectural forum, these online spaces are unable to visualize and make apparent the social significance they represent, nor are they fully equipped to promote communities on a local level. Besides, since humans cannot cope with the amount of information available on the Internet, I wanted to create interpretation and adaptation of the social forum structure in the physical world. With the goal to evoke the cognitive diversity and the social function of the forum. The project intends to create space of community and exchange, simulating traditional forum. When people feel comfortable interacting with strangers, they tend to feel a stronger sense of place or attachment to their community.
Streets, parks, and sidewalks are designated as traditional public forums.I was not designing a generic space where people gather and interact in whatever way they please. I was designing towards some purpose, such as encouraging sharing of ideas and discussing public questions. With the goal to increase the likelihood that people generally will be exposed to a wide variety of people and views. To ensure a range of unplanned, unanticipated, unchosen encounters. In that way, to promote cognitive diversity. What they see may change their minds, even their lives. I want to create an environment where person encounter different beliefs or opinions than their own, where alternative ideas would be considered.
The public forum that promotes some important social goals. First, it ensures that people can have access to a wide array of people. Perhaps some people’s views change because of what they learn; perhaps they will become curious enough to investigate the question on their own. The public forum will create a right of general access to heterogeneous citizens. Encountering heterogeneous citizens with different view-points and knowledge, increase the possibility of more tolerant attitudes between citizens.
Second part of the public forum, supposedly will allow people to have general access not only to people but also to policy makers, by me creating plans to expand the municipal building, where public forum will take place. The public forum will ensure that you can make your views heard by legislators. Creating opportunities for citizens to make meaningful contributions to decision-making. Yet in this search for the common good, anyone and everyone -from a Lithuanian baker to a Norwegian lawyer-could find him- or herself at the heart of policy making.
Test of seating possibility.
Public Physical Forum in Nygårdsparken location
"Mini referendums" are integrated in the walls of the forum. Here people can vote by throwing stone in and build wall at the same time.
Public Physical Forum to discuss public issues
The design is based on many constraints like: my construction abilities cause (it was meant to be built by me with some help), materials available in Bergen city, limited budget (I meant to finance it).
On the provided site I was doing some performative action to experience the space better.
