Abstract
Opening Ceremonies of mega-events captivate a global audience and have the potential of nurturing a sense of community belonging among the population of the host country. From the visual identity to the stage design and its live media broadcast, such ceremonies unite different design practices. The underlying design processes usually depart from a top-down perspective, often prompted by specific social and political realities. As a result, inhabitants may experience a diminished sense of belonging. Participatory approaches are able to challenge oppressive power relations, and are increasingly deployed in mainstream media, yet the scale and complexity of the design of opening ceremonies demand a thorough understanding. Through a narrative analysis of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, and through interviews and co-creation sessions with 18 Chinese inhabitants that recalled their experience watching this event, we were able to extract a number of design dimensions to open up the opening ceremony.
Keywords
opening ceremony; participatory design; narrative analysis; design dimensions
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.529
Citation
Wan, X., Vasconcelos, V., and Claes, S. (2024) Co-creating the spectacle: Identifying design dimensions of opening ceremonies to embed participatory approaches, 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.2024.529
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Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Co-creating the spectacle: Identifying design dimensions of opening ceremonies to embed participatory approaches
Opening Ceremonies of mega-events captivate a global audience and have the potential of nurturing a sense of community belonging among the population of the host country. From the visual identity to the stage design and its live media broadcast, such ceremonies unite different design practices. The underlying design processes usually depart from a top-down perspective, often prompted by specific social and political realities. As a result, inhabitants may experience a diminished sense of belonging. Participatory approaches are able to challenge oppressive power relations, and are increasingly deployed in mainstream media, yet the scale and complexity of the design of opening ceremonies demand a thorough understanding. Through a narrative analysis of the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, and through interviews and co-creation sessions with 18 Chinese inhabitants that recalled their experience watching this event, we were able to extract a number of design dimensions to open up the opening ceremony.