Virus plug-in // Makerlab // Istanbul Design Biennale 2012

Adhocracy is part of the Istanbul Design Biennial. The exhibition presents a collection of some of the most relevant projects undertaken in previous years as part of the “Third industrial revolution.” Or as The Economist described it “The world of people who make things.” The scope of Adhocracy ranges from digital manufacturing and 3D printers to the re-appropriation of public spaces, open-source hardware and crowd funding. These are all important examples of how people are becoming pro-active, and how technology, and in particular the Internet, is facilitating that.

MakerLab Istanbul centres on the connecting of the projects presented at the biennial and the realities of the city of Istanbul. Our goal is to hold a lab where we can show how knowledge and tools can be applied, taking in consideration the knowledge and tools accesible to the citizens.

Concept: Virus Plug-In

Like in many cities, people have been disenfranchised from the sense of responsibility towards the public space. Citizens think that the government and other institutions should take some action to rectify this. While this is a commodity, and is true that most times we are paying for it, it is more and more clear that centralised institutions can’t deal with all our requests.

So it becomes clear that we have to take charge, at least if we want something to happen. Most of the concepts that have emerged during the lab can be classified as public furniture objects. Objects that we could put in the public space, not just to serve a function, but to actually make us feel at home.

I coin the term The Virus Plug-in.

An object that will use a public structure as its own. It will grow around itself, almost self-replicating, and will give a new sense and value to its location, one decided by citizens.