This project explores how Copenhageners’ affective relations to the nature of Amager Fælled, an urban green area located in the North-western part of Amager in Copenhagen, can be activated through design. Our motivation behind the design project originates from the controversial construction case of the residential area ‘Fælledby’, which has been a topic of political debate for years. The controversial case highlights the importance of understanding the affective dimension between humans and nature, and we believe that this dimension is particularly relevant to understand as climate changes influence how people perceive the world as well as the future.
In the project, we engaged with experimental data collection methods of studying affective relations and created the affective interaction design, ‘Sæt dig ind I fremtiden’. The design is an interactive bench situated on Amager Fælled, that through a five-minute timelapse of sound, aims to activate a positive relation to the surrounding nature. The low-fidelity prototype consists of a simple switch made of paper and aluminum foil. When someone sits on the seat, the switch triggers the timelapse from using an Arduino-controlled MP3 player. The contrasting sound experience develops from nature to urban sound and thus presents a speculative future where urban surroundings dominate. The project shows that affective interaction design can create room for reflection and direct human attention towards nature conservation.
PROJECT MEMBERS
Zoe Nattestad & Jonas Pedersen
DATE
16. maj 2022