Le Voci della Pressa

Brief / Concept

Domus Academy Research & Consulting was invited by the local administration to conceive and design an exhibition where memories and elements of the industrial archeology of the area would have been exhibited. In particular, the intervention focused on the life of workers in the past, the typical ceramics production process and the main machineries being used before the revolution introduced by electronics and innovative mechanics.

Design Process

During the collaboration with DARC, a visit to Fiorano was organized in order to better understand information on the context and collect site-specific elements from interviews and discussions with locals and ex-workers. In the concept generation phase, some ideas were presented and discussed until a single direction was individuated. The installation consisted in a payroll punchcard-alike system - with a design closely related to the original one - and different cards containing pictures of the past with a short text abstract. Each card was placed on the wall aside the punchcard machine and had printed-on a unique QR code which activates related videos and interviews when it is inserted in the payroll machine. Being a low-cost support, the cards can be taken away by visitors after the experience: a sort of augmented promotional postcard that we are used to found in museums. An early prototype was implemented using Processing and Reactable TUIO in order to investigate the user experience and support the next phase of exhibition production.