Building Physical and Digital Places of Care

I invite you to look at places differently. Not only as existing landscapes for you to walk in and out of, but as living things that you and I both make every day. I believe that making our cities should be a collective effort, where all citizens are allowed and encouraged to participate. The same is true for digital places that are becoming so dominant in our lives - do you know enough about who makes these places and what happens with your data when you use them? The places we inhabit are of paramount importance in our lives - they hold us like a cradle and afford (or not) certain actions. This is why we should be thoughtful when creating them. Is your neighborhood healthy and green? Are there spaces for community building and meeting each other? What influence do algorithms have on your digital environments, experiences and wellbeing? These are some of the questions I consider in my work, preferably in collaboration with others.

My research analyzes the spatial element of care and wellbeing on different levels - home, hospital, cities, countryside, and planet. These levels are related: questions of how we care for sick people or elderly people are often very similar to questions about designing cities with wellbeing and justice in mind, but also caring for the planet - another place in need of care. I show that all these questions are in essence about placements and replacements, illuminating who cares where and about whom/what.

With the current rapid spread of digitalization, places of care are being reconfigured as digital (VR) ‘experiences’. How should we think about this digitalization of care spatialities? Who designs these digital architectures of care and with which goals and consequences?

If you are interested in care and ‘odd places’, take a look at my PhD dissertation CARE/PLACE: Unsettling Place in Healthcare, which you can download by following the link below.