Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s)

Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s)

The design research I&IC (Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s), explores the creation of counter-proposals to the current expression of “Cloud Computing”, particularly in its forms intended for private individuals and end users (“Personal Cloud”).

Research project (2017)

Inhabiting and Interfacing the Cloud(s) is to offer an alternative point of view, a critical appraisal as well as an “access to tools” about this iconic infrastructure of our modernity and its user interfaces, because to date their implementation has followed a logic chiefly of technical development, mainly governed by corporate interests, and continues therefore to be paradoxically envisioned as a purely functional, centralized setup.

However, the Personal Cloud holds a potential that is largely untapped in terms of design, novel uses and territorial strategies. Through its cross-disciplinary approach that links interaction design, the architectural and territorial dimensions as well as ethnographic studies, our project aims at producing alternative models resulting from a more contemporary approach, notably factoring in the idea of creolization (theorized by E. Glissant).

Main applicants

ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne
Haute Ecole d’Art et de Design - Genève (HEAD-GE)
Patrick Keller (project leader)

Research team

Christophe Guignard  (professor)
Nicolas Nova (professor)
Lucien Langton (assistant)
Charles Chalas (assistant)

Partners

ALICE (EPFL)
EPFL-ECAL Lab
James Auger (Auger – Loizeau)
Dr. Christian Babski (fabric | ch)
Matthew Plummer-Fernandez (#algopop)

Period

september 2014 – july 2017

Soutenu par

Strategic fund of the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO RCDAV)

Dissemination

Website
iiclouds.org/

IIC-a ©ECAL:Daniela Droz & Tonatiuh Ambrosetti.jpg
©ECAL/Daniela Droz & Tonatiuh Ambrosetti
IIC-b ©ECAL:ECAL:Daniela Droz & Tonatiuh Ambrosetti.jpg
©ECAL/Daniela Droz & Tonatiuh Ambrosetti
Andrea Branzi, 1969, Research for « No-Stop City »
Andrea Branzi, 1969, Research for « No-Stop City »

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mobile-users.jpg
City subway, somewhere, 2013. Users, participants, content creators, consumers, products, …?
Google Earth, 2014. Facebook data centers, Prineville, Oregon (USA)
Google Data Center in Lenoir, North Carolina (USA), 2013

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