An interactive telepresent installation designed for public audiences in Delhi and London

Concept Development and Prototyping at UnBox LABS 2014

National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, 24 February to 7 March 2014

From 1991 to 2011 the urban population in India has increased from 100 million to 200 million. By 2041, 50-percent of India’s population is expected to live in cities. The issue is not India’s alone; UN estimates say that by 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities. While growth in urban populations puts increasing pressure on the infrastructure that makes them work, it can also be an opportunity to reimagine future cities.

UnBox LABS 2014 aspired to extend the discourse of infrastructure development and policy through cross-disciplinary collaborations that place human experience at the heart of the future city. It brought together 35 researchers and creative practitioners from the UK and India to pinpoint opportunities from the complex systems that form our cities. Drawing upon design, research and digital technology, the 10-day LAB prototyped qualitative & subjective interventions to build communities of engaged, responsible citizens.

3x4 was one such project, which explored the qualities and values built through self-organised communities lost in the resettlement process. 3x4 took its name from the plot size provided in some resettlement colonies. Using these dimensions as an interface to back-project the narratives of fractured communities, this prototype installation aimed to explore new hybrids of digital space and how the boundaries of space are shifting as we look toward the future.

UnBox LABS 2014 Future Cities Website: http://labs.unboxfestival.com