Vague Space as Potential: A Fluid Design for Urban Public Space

Vague Research Studios is a collective research duo with specialization in interactive material design and artistic processes in public space. This chapter is based on a pilot project running from 2012 to 2013. This project is geographically situated in the project area of Västra Frölunda, Gothenburg, Sweden and based on ‘terrain vague’, a concept coined by the architect Ignasi de Solá-Morale. Vague spaces also represent the issue of vacant land, which are both under the pressure of dense building in some areas, while at the same time being vastly reproduced in other places due to the recession. Both these processes give rise to re-ordering of ownership, claim and use of urban space. Our aim is to reveal results of a flexible and open urban design by focusing on vague spaces and uncertainty as potential rather than problem. The project is investigates into and concretizes Fluid Design, as coined by Prof. Uta Brandes, of Cologne, Germany. Fluid Design is described as being a non-authorative and emphatic design that allows for a variety of interpretations and possibilities. The result of a fluid design process tends to suggest options instead of prescribing them. Our results are presented in three formats, photography, narrative and textile material/artefact. The theoretical concept applied is the ‘boundary event’ by filmmaker and theoretician Trinh T. Min-ha. This research through vagueness results in a possible design of urban public space including diversity, self-organization and surprise. The result is also a critique of finality in development processes in urban space.