informal urban practices

By Helen and Rahul

The Urban Treasure Hunt final presentation documents the practices taken place within the CBD.

This is an urban game that guides the users along a path to experience the various informal urban practices and locations along the way.

The users pick up different treasures at each location i.e. the treasure is the experience. This game took place along 3 pathways, which were predetermined by us.

Each pathway takes the users on a journey to different locations with the help of instructions by either a booklet or audio tour, whichever they may  wish to choose to complete the Urban Treasure Hunt.

Louis- Pathway 2

Martine- Pathway 1

Instruction Booklet

Audio Source – The Naticnal Geographic : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSHKqX8_pqU

Are we erasing parts of our record?
The Habitallery wonders if this is true.

The Habitallery could be part of yours?

What do you think?

Jiazhen Ken Chen & Irene Ka Ming,Lee

This week we focus on swapping with services, objects and information. We run our mobile booth at dockland next to designers market. We choose our location carefully, co that we catch as many pedestrians as we could but out of market area. We ask people pick their favourite souvenirs, then we start our conversations about what did they brought, the feeling of today, what did they visit, etc. it seems they swapping the souvenirs by spending their time, emotions and information. While we were chatting, we start object swap activity. A graphic design student would like to swap a butterfly souvenir with a batch that she bought in the market.

From the activities, we recognize that people would like get a ‘free’ souvenirs/ objects by spending their time and start a conversation for a few minutes.

We plan to do our activities indoor in building 8 and 88. we ask them to get a bookmark or craft object by motivated themselves to start a conversation with someone they don’t know in computer labs. It gives their opportunity to enlarge their social network in campus. Also they get a rest and escape form the assignments.

video- http://vimeo.com/14738371

By Rahul and Helen

the direction that we are wanting to experience is the surreal, absurd and the silly, investigating the informal urban practice within these elements will give us a better understanding of how to appoarch this project. we will be testing and looking at installations that provoke thought, graffiti vs. art and swap shop. we will experiement on all these areas so we can express the final outcome. the projects will be conducted within the city centre, as we will experience all types of people that will be beneficial to our final results.

The direction that we are wanting to experience is the surreal, absurd and the silly, investigating the informal urban practice within these elements will give us a better understanding of how to appoarch this project. we will be testing and looking at installations that provoke thought, graffiti vs. art and swap shop. we will experiement on all these areas so we can express the final outcome. the projects will be conducted within the city centre, as we will experience all types of people that will be beneficial to our final results.

Market trading of ideas and thoughts about informal urban practices. We all made cards of sorts and headed to our 1^st public trading space. We set up and traded much to the amusement and bemusement of passersby. We also traded gifts in return for others cards. The next trading location was federation square which did not work quite as well due to the weather.

Over all the day proved useful as we were able to find groups with similar interest to work with on our major assignment.

Images and keywords of interest for Informal Urban Practices which were influenced by examples from various parts of the world were shown on business cards and hung with rope from my wrist for easy mobility. These were exchanged amongh students for lollies, cookies, tea, other cards and interests/ stories.

First stop was the underground station at Degreves Street where things were slow with little flow of people. As we moved to Federation Square and the graffiti walls off Flinder Lane things became more productive despite the poor weather conditions.

In doing this I was able to find others with the same interests therefore, creating a group for my project.