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Over the duration of two weeks the claims and demands of the 'Social Design Thinking Manifesto' were tested for their practical feasibility. For this purpose, a space for creative thinking and crafting was set up. A central meeting point beyond reach of compulsory consumption. 
EXPERIMENT

As a result of former theoretical research the manifesto called on freeing oneself from the need for gainful work by breaking up consumption habits. The act of buying should be replaced with the question of how something can be attained without the use of money. This approach is much less linear than the buying process. It requires creative thinking and social interaction.

By not having to work in a paid job, one can gain 30-40 hours per week, which can be directly used to access free resources that are not commonly exploited, only because nobody has time for it. Plenty of perfectly good food gets thrown away everyday as a result of overproduction. The same counts for material such as wood, old furniture or clothes. These can be used to serve ones own needs and most of the time one will end up with way too much of it. This surplus then can be distributed or exchanged against other goods.

Like this, a lifestyle can be achieved, which depends much less on money and much more on communication and awareness. Ideally, it will provide much more free time than one would normally have. This then can be reinvested into the environment and social body than one is embedded in. 

The tiny-house 'Wohnmaschine' designed by Van Bo Le-Mentzel was set up in front of the city hall from 26th of May until 8th of June. Due to its central location it served as a perfect basis for storage and redistribution of food and material. Furthermore it provided shelter for sleeping and a stove for cooking. 

A variety of actions was drafted and executed in a prototypical manner. They explore different ways in which awareness for and discourse about shared living conditions can be enhanced. 

After the money-free framework was set up. A performative practise was developed as the core of the experiment. This consisted of a circular series of actions.

CITY STROLLS

First, potentials of the living environment would be determined. A first simple technique for that can be found in the practice of the Lettrist- and Situationist International movement around Guy Debord in the middle of the last century. The so called 'Dérive' translates to drifting through the city without any particular destination, but with a sensitivity for the emotional radiance of different surroundings.

PSYCHOGEOGRAPHICAL MAPS

In comparison to a precise geographical map, a psychogeographical one is a representation of each persons individual perception of their living environment. Rather than showing exact locations and relations in space, they show the relation that the maker of the map has towards places and agents of their surrounding. In the case of the experiment psychogeographical maps were used to analyse the extent of what I consider my own habitat. 

BUILDING PUBLIC FURNITURE

Based on the research on freely accessible resources of my surrounding, material was collected and provided for pedestrians to work with. Although anybody was free to build whatever they wanted, they were encouraged to build something that would improve parts of public space that had an importance to them personally.

Benches were built as a symbolic piece of furniture, that offers space for two people and therefore allows social exchange to happen. People were invited to position them at a spot in the city which they already found welcoming to take a rest and perceive the urban surrounding form there.

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE

The central location in front of the city hall was offered to people to share their knowledge and skills with other people or present projects of their own.

COMMUNITY BRUNCH

Once a week a community brunch was initiated in order to join a diversity of people over something that we all share and enjoy – the need for food and the joy of eating. Everyone was invited to join and contribute self made food or also to just eat from the dishes cooked from the food collected through foodsharing.

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