INMERSION [by Chipotle]

Inmersion (elop*athlon)

by Chipotle team

Elop* Athlon: an immersive fast-pace challenge taking the participants through an accelerated design loop; discovery of context through their heros, dramatic events, imaginative solutions and storytelling. This was for Chipotle team, the first communication and collaboration activity, involving our creativity, our ideas, our disciplines, our personal background.Our specific task was to resolve a crisis scenario where a large number of inmigrants arrives at the area of "El Tepe". It was also a quick exercise for comprehending La Otra Banda reality, existing infraestructure and opportunities for social and urban development. 

02 Intuition - Jalapeño

After inquiring, investigating and meet more about " La Otra Banda ", we realized that there are major problems in terms of the diversity of existing programs in the area there is a diversity of service; but people do not go to them because a sense of belonging or identity to their neighborhood remaining in a cluster without any kind of interaction with people from other neighborhoods.  However they have social meeting points like Alcanfores park, the Tepe market and the old train station.

Establishing a project on different scales according to the area, as well as planning for the short, medium and long term for its implementation; all this based on the combination of three strategies “Connection Points”, “Create a Network” and “The Heart of Darkness”.The  key of this project is " the use of land and abandoned homes " - revitalizing these areas in a first stage as enhancing social interaction through public utility services, community spaces, eco -boxes ( service of electricity, water , urban agriculture) that fit the space and needs of the inhabitants.

After the interventions on the abandon spaces, the process is raised to medium-term revitalization of public spaces as the Tepe market, the Alcanfores  park and the old train station turning them into mixed-use spaces in which converge all areas of interaction that are in area to the creation of a social network.

Finally, as with the social, cultural and economic development of the area with these small interventions, on a larger scale it arises " allow the city to know la Otra Banda" based on the metaphor "The Heart of Darkness" which makes resemblance to a river that is leading travelers to the depths of the jungle to get to know and realize the value of a place. Applying this concept to the area by the renewing of one of the streets that connect Universidad Avenue with the Tepe market having spaces for cultural expression on different days throughout the week, allowing visitors to learn more the area and go deeper into the "La Otra Banda" to get to know the place, identity, tradition and social and cultural variety.  

02 Intuition - Team Habanero

After an introduction to the different disciplines represented at ELOP this year and some creative self-expression, the varied skills, insights and cultures of five individuals were woven together to form Team Habanero, named after the small, yet feisty chili!

The Elopathlon was our first team experience of attempting to solve the identified problems in Queretaro. We were challenged with a dramatic, hypothetical scenario, in which a floundering economy had provoked rapid inflation, severely threatening the survival of many official businesses. This tense economic situation had prompted widespread proliferation of the informal and cheap tianguis, leading to chaos and disruption throughout the city.

Although we lacked an extensive understanding of the site at this point, the function of the task was to immerse ourselves in the situation, as a means of discovering more. The distinct characterization of this challenge certainly allowed such immersion to take place. Through the contemplation of a dramatic event, we were able to envisage how the citizens of Queretaro would react and struggle with this situation. The vibrancy of this story plunged our senses into a mental representation of the city, which would later help to bridge the gap between our theoretical perception of the situation, and the real-life experiences of those that live in these fringe conditions.

The most useful implement in our ELOP tool-box of skills was the application of the traits of our transdisciplinary heroes. These included Arniko; an architect from Katmandu who used his artistic ability to improve relations between Nepal and China, Emma Watson, primarily recognized for her role as Hermione in Harry Potter, but also capable of enchantment in the non-magical world as an ambassador for women’s rights, and Salvador Dali, admired due to his daring and controversial character as well as his ability to communicate a great variety of meaning through a single image. Eugene Violet le Duc and Andre Agassi were also identified as heroes; Eugene due to his use of innovative methods to renovate architectural structures to their former glory, and Agassi as a result of his ability to transform apparently bleak circumstances into triumphant situations, both in the tennis world, and in wider society.

Like many great ideas, our final strategy rose like a multi-colored, paper phoenix from an enormous pile of post-it notes. We started by brainstorming individually and then observing how these ideas either replicated or complemented one another, by clustering groups into four main themes; governance and administration, space and distribution, tools and alternative opportunities. These four themes are encapsulated by the idea that it is important to improve relations between the government and the tianguis to thereafter improve the cleanliness and order of this commerce, whilst at the same time providing alternative opportunities and equipment for official business owners who had been rendered bereft by the economic depression.

The most important insights we gleaned from the Elopathlon were the value of understanding the context of a situation, and the importance of clear communication. Considering a dramatic scenario is compelling and exciting; it can really help you climb inside the map of the city, to understand the stories of the natives and to empathize with the intricacies of the problem. Equally, it is essential that an idea born out of this rich understanding be communicated with as much colour and feeling as it is created, maybe with a dash more clarity, to ensure a truly comprehensive strategy can be developed, explained and shared.

INTUITION

elop*athlon  / Challenge 02

An immersive fast-pace challenge taking you through an accelerated design loop:
discovery of context through your heros, dramatic events, imaginative solutions and storytelling.

Phase B / Physical Kick-off

Physical Kick-Off in Querétaro Mexico | CW 41 2015

Goals

1.Team- and trustbuilding

Build a profound social link among the students as a basis for a solid collaboration during the course of the project. Several team spirit activities will be organized during the week.

2. Common understanding and first iteration phase

The main goal is to get to a common transdisciplinary understanding of the topic and the task. Therefore the exchange of the results of phase A is essential. Each team will be guided thourgh a process of five steps called immersion, affinity, ideation, prototyping/testing & communication.

Immersion (elop*athlon): An immersive fast-pace challenge taking the participants through an accelerated design loop: discovery of context through their heros, dramatic events, imaginative solutions and storytelling.

> Intuition (blog label)

Affinity: Immersive context discovery including interview with stakeholders and users, understanding of site and surroundings by the use of mindmapping and site mapping.

> Awareness (blog label)

Ideation: Experience of different techniques to boost lateral thinking, metaphorical thinking, clustering of ideas, decision making, synthesis. 

> Synthesis (blog label)

Prototyping+testing: Prototyping and simulation of ideas, visions, scenarios

through different media. > Visioning / Scenario building / Modeling

> Protomodel (blog label)

Communication: Putting together a first project intent, extracting its essence, communicating its value and showing a tentative roadmap under conditions of uncertainty, by means of storytelling, storyboarding

> Vision (blog label)

Through this process each team will be able to formulate a common vision and to start developing first possible scenarios. 

A summary of each (daily) step will be uploaded on the blog already during the physical Kick off week.

3. Stakeholders and local specificities

The students are given the unique opportunity to meet, in a common workshop, authorities, interest groups and users represented by Implan, the Patronage and La Jabonera (see chapter 3.5 Stakeholders). Thereby the teams have to do on-site research and collect information supported as much as possible by the academic team to become acquainted with the local specificities. The goal is to get familiarised with the local situation and boundary conditions of the area.

4. Project and Process Planning

Definition of the project’s process outline/plan: At the end of the kick-off week, the teams are to present a project plan including work packages, time line, definition of milestones, team resource planning, schedule of further activities, etc. The presentation of the project plan to faculty and experts concludes the kick-off week, dismissing the students to their home universities with comments and recommendations for the further development of the project. Each team has to agree on a possible timeline compatible with other academic obligations at the home university including regular meetings with the team coaches and the local coach. Process planning includes as well the organization of the team process, the definition of milestones, and the development of a transdisciplinary decision-taking-process.

5. Communication and Collaboration Tools

During the week several communication and collaboration tools will be tested and presented to get ready for the virtual team collaboration following the kick off week.The students get an introduction in collaborating and communicating by ICT (tools, methods, tips). Therefore, all students attend the so called lunch an learn sessions on how to use the different tools (video conferencing, blog, data sharing, process management,...).

Input 

Specific inputs by experts with a focus on design thinking, mindmapping, transdisciplinary working methods and process planning are provided to facilitate the project kick-off with respect to a common nomenclature. Essential aspects of the project are addressed during daily team discussions together with coaches and experts.

Coaching 

The coaching is based on a double coaching system: we distinguish between transdisciplinary team coaching and local disciplinary coaching. Both are taking an important role during the whole project.

Each team will be assigned a coach or coaches from different disciplines (transdisciplinary team coaches) in the role of tutors. They will follow closely the development of the teams’ work throughout the whole semester, will join the weekly meetings and are contact persons in case of conflicts. In parallel every disciplinary local group has its local coach that follows the work of all his/her students as well in regular meetings.

Goal at the End of Kick Off Week | Discussion, Oct.10th 2015

Each team presents a first project intent based on the five steps introduced during Kick Off. This includes a vision for the area of research and the focused site, argumenting around the relevant vector(s) of development, extracting the projects‘ essence, communicating its value and showing a tentative roadmap (process plannnig) under conditions of uncertainty. 

Deliverables
Presentation (NO ppt) sketches, ideograms, diagrams, common statements, conceptual models, movie, with process planning wall etc. showing the results of the first project iteration phase.