Local Cultures – Global Spaces

Abstract

In the face of ongoing civic challenges and escalating urban issues, there is a group of artist-architect-activists coined as Spatial Provocateurs; who respond through conducting participatory interventions in public spaces. These interventions conceptualise alternative urban futures through experimentation with collective interaction scenarios. This paper explores the Spatial Provocateur’s practice as temporary interventions in public spaces, situating them within the context of urban laboratories. The objective is to examine how the notion of urban laboratory experimentation generates an interplay between local dynamics and global theories, fostering urban transformations and collective engagement. Drawing on qualitative research methods, including practice review and in-depth interviews with Spatial Provocateurs, this study delves into the principles behind their interventions. The analysis focused on two case studies, reveals that their collective engagement aligns with the participatory concept of urban laboratories, emphasising the importance of face-to-face interactions, tacit knowledge exchange, and collective action. These interventions, characterised by in-situ experimentation at the local level, bridge the gap between local and global perspectives, contributing to the creation of alternative scenarios of collective interaction in urban spaces. This study affirms that local-level experimentation is paramount for engaging with global theories. The study highlights the role of the Spatial Provocateur in re-evaluating collective interaction within the built environment through prototyped intervention scenarios, stimulating critical inquiry within the urban context. In conclusion, the Spatial Provocateur’s immersive interventions serve as platforms for addressing shared challenges, and influential for testing the potential for change and envisioning alternative realities within shared spaces.