The split between physical and digital spaces is obsolete, as they are now intricately intertwined, influencing and impacting each other seamlessly. Our social lives occur across media, in transmedia spaces whose design and regulation nobody takes responsibility for. As we gather through multiple layers of media we merge environments and create possibilities for meaningful exchange between people globally as well as further opportunities for manipulation, inequality, and concentration of power. Our increasing reliance on commercially-driven digital platforms -often referred to as public squares or civic forums- raises concerns. Even though they are far from serving the public interest, these platforms fulfill a role that physical public spaces fail to perform. In them, corporate natures conflict with civic expectations, presenting an urgent challenge as their services become integral to everyday life. 

Transmedia Gatherings will address such issues through two parallel initiatives: the design and development of a hybrid gathering platform for a selected social group which takes the shape of a transmedia installation activated through live events and a site for experimental testing and feedback; and the development of a report for strategic institutional/governmental action towards hybrid space and immersive media in the form of an open source publicly available document.

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The internet enabled social interaction in and around previously disconnected physical spaces and digital assets, turning the formatting of information into the shaping of unprecedented transmedia realms. Our social lives occur in transmedia spaces whose design and regulation nobody takes responsibility for.

Spatial practitioners and thinkers must take the lead in shaping the civic-minded transmedia spaces.

Space Popular

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Jury Statement

The project Transmedia Gatherings by Space Popular addresses the unequal access of certain populations to new communication technologies, which leads to forms of isolation and exclusion. The duo advocates a multifaceted approach that encompasses field research, policymaking, the development of new interfaces, and the design of prototypes for the public to experience via public forums for learning and discussion. Their expertise, combined with their ability to make complex issues accessible to a broad audience, instils confidence in the jury regarding their potential to drive change within the region at both the community and governmental agency levels. 

LABoral

Collaborators and Partners