Abstract
This exploratory qualitative research underlines architectural properties of a res-idential house that was repurposed as a temporary creative space. Findings were compared against existing theory on third places (particularly creative spaces) and their relationship with citizen participation, empowerment, and social change. Overall, the “homey” character creates a sense of belonging and occu-pants seem eager to decorate and furnish with personal effects. Findings reveal tensions between large open and smaller closed spaces to reflect on how flow, accessibility, occupancy, and intimacy are affected. Occupant behaviors lead to wonder about the tensions between community, codesign, empowerment, and ownership. Findings help question how temporary third places could play a role in the design of new creative spaces. Further insights could lead to explore be-yond interior architectural properties and consider how the outer shell and loca-tion of a building influence community participation, or how successful recruit-ment is impacted by the community’s personal social networks.
Keywords
third places; empowerment; citizen participation; co-design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.543
Citation
Masciarelli, L., Lamirande, M., Dalimier, I., Mertens, A., Elsen, C., and Schelings, C. (2024) A third place as a space to foster citizen participation and their empowerment: The case of “La Ruche à Projets”, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.543
Creative Commons License
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Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
A third place as a space to foster citizen participation and their empowerment: The case of “La Ruche à Projets”
This exploratory qualitative research underlines architectural properties of a res-idential house that was repurposed as a temporary creative space. Findings were compared against existing theory on third places (particularly creative spaces) and their relationship with citizen participation, empowerment, and social change. Overall, the “homey” character creates a sense of belonging and occu-pants seem eager to decorate and furnish with personal effects. Findings reveal tensions between large open and smaller closed spaces to reflect on how flow, accessibility, occupancy, and intimacy are affected. Occupant behaviors lead to wonder about the tensions between community, codesign, empowerment, and ownership. Findings help question how temporary third places could play a role in the design of new creative spaces. Further insights could lead to explore be-yond interior architectural properties and consider how the outer shell and loca-tion of a building influence community participation, or how successful recruit-ment is impacted by the community’s personal social networks.