Heather Wiltse

From "Effects" to "Entanglements": A Fishbowl Discussion on Sociomateriality

Multiple research areas within the field of information studies grapple with the notion of technology and its role in social processes and outcomes. Recent theorizations on sociomateriality reflect ...

Trojans a Drones : Materializing possibilities for transforming industrial infrastructures

Emerging post-industrial societal needs require the evolution of existing networks of industrial infrastructures toward more distributed and citizen-centered configurations. This opens up new questions regarding what design processes and practices are necessary to effect change within these systems that are often deliberately not accessible and open for design interventions. We here present a set of design explorations in tracing and materializing infrastructures in order to make them available for design and participation, taking logistic services in a remote ruralarea of northern Sweden as a case study and field site. A design concept consisting of a drone and drone postbox were used to speculate about the possibility of a community-owned delivery network operated by dronesin synergy with existing infrastructures. We used these artifacts in staging participatory processes of imagination and experimentation in order to explore possible future configurations. The project provides an example of a possible framework for initiating and curating the transformationof industrial systems towards more open and locally adaptive forms and functions.In particular, it illustrates the rich potential and opportunities for design when it comes to ways of knowing and designing with the infra- structural—that which is usually hidden beneath the surface.