Abstract:

After a year and a half of pandemic and isolation, in a context of uncertainty and always in the search of meaning for technology-mediated design processes, the Digital Graphics Workshop -TGD- 2021 was associated with the Social Interest Extension Project "Island Narratives" and the pre-professional practice of the Degree in Occupational Therapy, all educational spaces of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral from Santa Fe, Argentina.

We partnered to work in a multidisciplinary way in La Boca, a neighborhood that is located on the edge of our city, in the flood valley of the Paraná River. This geographical situation implies conflicts and opportunities. The potential of its natural and cultural heritage, shaped by life on the islands in a privileged landscape, could contribute to the sustainable development of the neighborhood, however, this heritage is undervalued and underused by the local community. In addition, there are other problems such as insufficient infrastructure and services, and varying degrees of vulnerability to water risk, which is extended to their socio-economic and housing situation.

Based on these diagnoses, we proposed the theme "Designing Possibilities" to reflect on possible futures, and on the role of design, architecture and art in shaping these scenarios. We ask ourselves, what can we contribute from the disciplines of the Design family, to the problems of this community using the available technologies? How can we contribute from the public university to achieve a greater integration of our asymmetrical societies?

Thus, we focus on making visible the natural and cultural heritage of La Boca, valuing its identity and nurturing solidarity micro-economies, fluvial mobility and other sustainable activities with creative ideas, through the collaborative design of artifacts, interfaces and representations that stood out the knowledge and resources of the place, articulating the natural, the artificial and the digital.

The team was made up of 5 teachers, 5 assistants and 33 students of Architecture, Industrial Design, Web Design and Visual Communication Design, from 5 Latin American universities. We work along 12 weeks through Zoom classes and a virtual classroom where we share educational resources.

The students proposals, in addition to collaborating with some of the problems of the La Boca community, had to incorporate at least 2 levels of design or means to configure a transmedia narrative, among them: Multimedia Design, Brochure and Signage Design, Parametric Design and Design Hypermedia.

Once the workshop is over, we recover the initial question: can we contribute from design and technologies to social problems? The answer is yes, when the design emerges from a deep understanding of the problem. The multiplicity of actors, theoretical and methodological frameworks, languages and expectations; the complexity added by the pandemic; and the limited time for dialogue prior to the experience; may have affected the understanding of the situation in some cases. However, the value of Design emerges from the empathy, the identification, the commitment of the actors, the priorities defined by themselves and the understanding that it is part of a process of social construction.

Keywords:

Transmedia Design, Designing Possibilities, Sustainable Development, Heritage.