CAFx - Making Spaces Polling Places by Spirit of Space

Making Spaces Polling Places

Spirit of Space

USA

The world watched as Milwaukee residents struggled to express their right to vote when only 5 polling stations of 180 remained open to serve a population of over 600,000 in this COVID-19 pandemic. The locations that remained open were not accessible to all neighborhoods. This is what voter suppression looks like. Communities, especially those without reliable transportation, need polling stations to participate in our democracy. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Milwaukee identified a need and took action. Three club locations have already been approved to serve as polling stations and seek more prior to the November election. The clubs are trusted places for kids, parents, and the community. This civic gesture can be deployed in cities across the nation, and only takes the foresight to look at the current built environment and recognize the spaces already serving communities. Communities can use existing space to remove barriers and make it possible for everyone to vote.

Latest films

Unlocking the inner child

"Unlocking the inner child" portrays the everyday difficulties of Sophia, who, due to her ADHD diagnosis, sometimes has problems letting her energy run free in an urban environment. That's why she likes to come to the trampolines at the harbour to exercise between her work and other commitments. Here she can live out her inner child and feel free. Leah Meinhof directed, shot and edited the film. Sophia Livecchi tells her personal story.

The World And The Flock

The World And The Flock speculates about the capacities of the famous Geneva sheep flock to change our perception of the city. Thus, the flock that roams the gardens of Jardin des Nations, the heart of so called International Geneva, becomes a connecting and form-making element. The project offers an alternative reading, beyond the dispersed, isolated and fenced estates of International Geneva. The circulating flock becomes a spatial factor that is ordering social realtions through the (un)built. Seen, observed, monitored, the event unfolds its impact on multiple channels: from the physical to the digital. Thereby, the public space which nowadays is weakly articulated, scattered and isolated within the city of Geneva, becomes more connected and attractive to both locals and tourists and not only for members of International Geneva. Ingredients Grass, fences, water, trees – everything the flock needs can be found on site. The only missing elements, were a barn and salt for the sheep to winter. The flock is kept on rotating pastures, called padocks. There it grazes for four days before moving on, rotating from land to land, using normal asphalt roads. In the course of one year, the flock visits the United Nations, the U.S. Mission, the Rothschild estate, and many others. Every last weekend of the month, the flock leaves the Jardin des Nations and moves into the city. This urban event reconnects the isolated Jardin des Nations with the city of Geneva which is itself a city of (dis)connected madows.

Unreal Cheung Sha Wan

In an increasingly digitised age, how can we bring inclusivity into spatial designs and how can individuals represent themselves in such spaces? This exhibit is showcasing the co-creations by citizens and architects - the "Volumetric Cinema" workshop openly invited more than 30 participants from all walks of life to co-learn Artificial Intelligence (AI) and 3D Extended Reality (XR) technologies, and generated five microcinema of urban landscapes in three weeks. Taught by seven international and interdisciplinary instructors, who toured participants around old districts of Hong Kong, interacted with residents, and studied urban redevelopment from the perspectives of inhabitants to jointly reflect on the multiplicity of our urban future(s). At the Mid-Autumn Festival, the workshop held a premiere event and community review, inviting residents to participate in interactive games and discuss the results of the workshop, and spent a warm and meaningful holiday together.