On the 1st and 2nd of February 2013 Dérive app held its first workshop in collaboration with New York University Abu Dhabi. The two day workshop was run by Eduardo Cachucho and Babak Fakhamzadeh, the creators of Dérive app, as well as Dale Hudson and Pascal Menoret from NYU Abu Dhabi.
The workshop began with a lecture introducing the participants who were from various faculties and specialities to the concept of the ‘dérive’ as well as the background of the application and the platform that is at its base. This was followed by an informative lecture by Pascal Menoret about the history of Abu Dhabi’s urban layout. Following these introductory lectures, we took out the participants to explore Abu Dhabi using a set of ‘urban’ cards that can be used in any urban space. The goal was to see how the application makes people aware of the urban space around them, but also to keep note of urban traits that might be unique to Abu Dhabi alone.
This first dérive was followed by the participants, also taking into account their personal experience of Abu Dhabi, what makes the Abu Dhabi urban space unique. As a result, the participants of the workshop were able to create a deck of task cards specifically designed for Abu Dhabi, taking into account the city’s special traits.
Using both the initial deck of cards as well as the newly created Abu Dhabi deck, the participants went out to explore the city for a second time, which eventually resulted in a discussion on Abu Dhabi’s urban space, in the light of the participants’ experience from the workshop, their own experience as inhabitants of the city, and the lecture on the history and outside influences of Pascal Menoret.
An impression
Background
View the Programme for the Abu Dhabi Workshop here.
Workshop Facilitators: Dale Hudson and Pascal Menoret
Dérive app team: Eduardo Cachucho and Babak Fakhamzadeh
