Sentiment Architectures as Vehicles for Participation

Abstract

What if the large programmable surfaces of media architecture were used to empower citizens, instead of for commercial purposes? Designer, maker and researcher Moritz Behrens and his collaborators have created Sentiment Architectures with this aim in mind. Here he describes how two of their projects – the Smart Citizen Sentiment Dashboard and the Sentiment Cocoon – encourage interaction in public spaces, allowing individuals to express their feelings and enabling a better understanding of communities' needs.