On Interventions and Institutions

Abstract

Many perspectives exist on how research through design can contribute to creating alternative futures for our cities. One of these focuses on how small-scale citizen / professional initiatives can play a role in shaping our cities. Without a profound research into the role of the small-scale in city-making, it might be easily romanticised or not taken seriously. Our research units, Social Spaces (LUCA School of Arts, University of Leuven) and Spatial Capacity building (ArcK, UHasselt), investigate how research through design can support these small-scale initiatives to form, consolidate, or challenge institutions in the city space in order for them to become an active part in designing our future cities. We will briefly address some viewpoints on this issue, to then discuss how the TRADERS research on interventions has enriched the position of our research units in this debate. We will end with a reflection on our contributions in this field and the challenges we face.