Tea

2008 - INTERACTION

TEA – a social experiment as part of a design research on the use of public space in the Kanaalstraat, Utrecht. This street, with her many exotic shops, is becoming more and more popular amongst a young, highly educated and often creative group of people and is therefore the lively heart of the gentrifying district Lombok. Much of this ‘liveliness’ takes place in the public space: exhibitions of

Wares, chance encounters and shopkeepers taking a break at the door or on a casket on the sidewalk. The arrangement of the public space, however, offers little means. The narrow sidewalks are separated by a broad asphalted road with a great amount of traffic. After observations during a journey to Istanbul for studying where I, among other things, discovered a public tea-network organized per street or per town square, I boldly brought the Turkish tea system to Lombok for a day. A ritual that is, according to western standards, quite homely being moved into the public domain and therefore shining a new light on the usage and possibilities of public space.

lombok high tea gallery 2

IMG_0101

› tags: culture / exploration / place making / public space / social experiment / story telling / urban observation /