Atlas of Procedures for an Emergent Commons

By Iain Kerr and Petia Morozov of spurse, a research and design collective based in New York

This Atlas is the outcome of our crowdsourced research at the BMW Guggenheim Lab New York. It is an interactive tool that takes on the core question: How do we confront comfort? The Atlas grew out of the pressing need to respond to systemic inequality, the commodification of everyday life, and the unsustainability of our current lifestyles. For us, it is part of a collective struggle to explore new frameworks for thinking and acting that effectively straddle the conceptual and the practical.

The Atlas consists of five sequential diagram/conversations. Atlas of Procedures for an Emergent Commons questions the methods by which we arrive at solutions, investigates our implicit frameworks, and offers a brief guide of how to use the Atlas. Overview of Research Methods lays out our research methods and procedures and introduces the ideas of “emergence” and “the commons.” Diagnosing the Current Paradigm looks at how much our current paradigm—which we call “The Hygiene Model” only half in jest—shapes everything from our thinking about comfort and cities to the very physical manifestation of our cities. Assembling (Through Worldmaking) Procedures presents our alternative to “The Hygiene Model,” laid out as a set of procedures for working within this new logic of the commons to participate in change. Prototyping (Through Worlds Meeting) Procedures details how to develop “pirate projects” that catalyze the development of new possibilities and new commons.

Each diagram is interactive—you can jump to any point of the drawing/discussion with a click of your mouse. These are our provisional conclusions and speculations. Please be in touch with us about your thoughts and ideas.

You will need the latest version of Adobe Reader to hear and view the following Pencast PDFs on your computer. 

Atlas of Procedures for an Emergent Commons

Overview of Research Methods

Diagnosing the Current Paradigm

Assembling (Through Worldmaking) Procedures

Prototyping (Through Worlds Meeting) Procedures

Photos: © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

Date added: May 21

• Category: Programs and Events
• Language: English
• Cycle: Cycle 1
• City: New York
• Related Multimedia