Self-Initiated

 ― 

Seattle Design Festival, #OurSpace

StudioMatthews_OurSpace_03
This installation for Seattle Design Festival’s Block Party was an invitation to share a moment of connection, empathy, and belonging with a total stranger.
Project
Seattle Design Festival, #OurSpace
Location
Seattle, Washington
Year
2018
Team
Principal: Kristine Matthews
Project Lead: Ian Campbell
Designer: Jazmine Hoyle
Partners
Collaborators: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center’s Youth Ambassadors program and Storytellers for Change
Photography
Tony Archie Kim / ALT240, Ian Campbell, Storytellers for Change
Categories
Installation

At Our Space, participants were encouraged to meet a new person, pick a story prompt, and sit down for a conversation. Afterwards, they took a polaroid to commemorate the moment, sharing the picture on the #OurSpace display boards. At the end of the day, the displays were filled with photos of people who met as strangers and walked away knowing a bit more about each other. Our only problem was the need to cut some conversations short in order to accommodate the next pair of strangers! It turns out that strangers have a lot more in common than one might think. We loved working with the Gates Foundation Youth Ambassadors on this project; they worked on design ideas with the Studio Matthews team, prototyped the concept, and helped to install the pop-up with us at the Festival.

StudioMatthews_OurSpace_04
StudioMatthews_OurSpace_01
StudioMatthews_OurSpace_06 StudioMatthews_OurSpace_02
StudioMatthews_OurSpace_05
StudioMatthews_OurSpace_07
StudioMatthews_OurSpace_08
StudioMatthews_OurSpace_09
StudioMatthews_OurSpace_10