Civic Participation Architecture
Introduction
Civic design is the field of design that incorporates collective intelligence, civic innovation and open design applied to the territory in its practices.
It is a transdisciplinary professional field that brings together architects, urban planners, sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists or philosophers among others, and that makes other practices more complex around city design and social thinking such as urban design or social innovation, assuming the political complexity of the territory.[1].
Context
After a period in which innovation and change are promoted through social entrepreneurship, the need to reformulate the field of design and concepts such as social innovation arises from different professional sectors, mainly related to the urban and the city.
The main criticism made about the "social" nature of these practices deals with the ultimate disconnection from the human, cultural, economic and, above all, political fabric of the territories on which it acts, as well as its operating logic, predefined for particular contexts and ecosystems.
The term "civic" arises as "belonging to the city" trying to coin its political character, that is, the mechanisms of organization in the territory.
Related practices
Dream Hammar
Dreamhamar[3] is an open design process for the rehabilitation of the public square Stortorget Square in Hamar, Norway led by the architecture and urban planning office Ecosystem Urbano.[4] During 2011-2012, citizens took part in a collective brainstorming process that would define their new square. It was a pioneering approach for the construction of new public spaces or the transformation of existing public spaces through workshops, conferences, urban actions, communication and participation tools. The project involved the different affected agents to make them become part of the Dreamhamar community and participate in one of the seven work areas that have currently been developed.[5].