This project took place in Buitenhof, a district of the city of Delft (Netherlands) commonly known as a socially and economically challenged area. Here the CANIDREAM foundation started a collaborative art project called NOBIS that consists of painting murals in the district from the input of residents of the area. This project has the goal to create a positive district identity that residents can be proud of and that can be communicated to the rest of the city, eventually increasing the interest of Delft citizens in the area. During summer 2024, the artist BEYOND in collaboration with Museum Prinsenhof Delft designed and realized one of these murals. I took part in this process with the goal of enhancing the positive social impact of the NOBIS murals and designed an interactive experience aimed at fostering empathy among Delft citizens and neighbourhood residents.

Collaborative research

Big part of this project consisted of researching the context I was working into, with a focus on its social challenges and on the already existing impact of the NOBIS murals on it. During the first half of the project I spent most of my time engaging with Delft and Buitenhof residents, carrying out interviews, surveys and art related workshops.

Autoethnography

As an outsider in the context (I am not Dutch and not a resident of the Buitenhof district), I decided to carry out an autoethnography in support to the other research methods. I attended all the community activities for the design and realization of the new NOBIS mural and held a personal diary to reflect on my own emotions and thoughts about what I was experiencing.

Problem definition and design goal

The combination of findings from the several research activities led to the definition of a problem and a goal to reach with my final design.

PROBLEM 1:
The inhabitants of the Buitenhof district suffer of negative stereotypes from the rest of the city. Additionally, residents from other districts do not visit Buitenhof because they find it a boring place, so these stereotypes are never challenged.

PROBLEM 2:
The NOBIS murals attract Delft residents in the area. However, these visitors have a superficial interaction with the artwork that does not allow room for getting to know the area and its inhabitants or challenging such stereotypes.

DESIGN GOAL:
By allowing a more meaningful interaction with the artwork I can spark empathy towards Buitenhof inhabitants. This can, on the longer term, contribute at challenging the stereotypes and improving connectivity in the city.

Design explorations

I carried out three design explorations, each of them focusing on a different aspect of the final concept. For each exploration I designed, prototyped and tested with Delft residents two different concepts. The findings of these explorations led to the realization of a final concept, which I prototyped and tested in the real context.

From the sketches to the wireframe

I incorporated the research learnings and the insights from the design explorations into one final concept. The main element of the concept consisted of a website that I detailed through lo-fi sketches and a wireframe.

Voices of Buitenhof

I made a hi-fi digital prototype in Figma and set up the physical elements in the area around the mural I designed for. The visual identity recalls the shapes and colors of the mural and aligns with the graphic design choices of the posters designed by the CANIDREAM foundation and Museum Prinsenhof Delft.

The experience starts in front of the mural, where visitors find a a call-to-action sign that invites them to scan a QR code to discover what hides behind the mural. The QR code leads to a webpage.

The webpage is an online game that invites visitors to find nine different stars located in the area surrounding the mural. Each star has a code that can be used to unlock a small piece of information about the artwork.

Each piece of information consists of the voice of one of the people involved in the realization of the artwork explaining their interpretation of it. These voice recordings have the purpose of showing the collective and collaborative nature of the artwork, making the artwork feel relatable and human, and communicating it in an authentic way.

On the main page of the webpage visitors can keep track of how many stars they found. This makes sure to keep them engaged throughout the game. Additionally, having to look for the stars gives them the opportunity to autonomously explore the area allowing them make their own opinion about it.

When all the stars are found, visitors can save their progress and access a personal page where they can find the other artworks. On a longer term, this can become a game that takes place in the whole city and motivates residents to explore Delft a little more.

Achievements of Voices of Buitenhof

Over the course of my graduation, Voices of Buitenhof sparked some interest among the Delft community resulting in the project to be featured in two local newspapers (Verrassend Voorhof 7 and TeGek Tanthof 7) and the TU Delft website.

Read the article on the TU Delft website

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