Mapping Places & Traces*

Workshop during Introduction Week

Mapping Places & Traces is a series of two workshops that focus on a neighbourhood with an eye for its history and cultural diversity that shaped it. In this first workshop, you’ll explore a place not just as a (maybe recently arrived) visitor, but as a curious researcher, active observer, and engaged maker. Together with your group, you’ll dive into the layered cultural histories of the city — walking its streets, documenting what you see, and uncovering the often invisible traces of the communities who shaped the spaces around us over time.

You’ll be assigned an area in the vicinity of the academy, where you’ll begin to map stories, traces, and memories—through sketches, images, sound, video, and field notes that you attach to a specific site. Think of it as a collective, creative inquiry into places and its traces. No prior research needed, just bring your attention, openness, and a willingness to look closer. Let the city teach you.

How Does the Mapping Work?

The mapping process uses a web-based application designed specifically for this project — no need to download anything. Simply visit the website, register, and begin mapping by following the steps below.

Once logged in, you can create and perform GPS-enabled tasks. These tasks are inspired by the historical and cultural traces you observe in the city. Each task includes a short description (text), and optionally, an image and/or audio file. Because each task is geo-referenced, it can only be “unlocked” and performed when someone physically enters the coordinates where the task was created.

All created and performed tasks are uploaded in real time on the shared workshop map.

What You’ll Need

• A smartphone with 3G or higher
• Access to a browser with Location Services enabled
  (Settings → Privacy → Location Services → Enabled for browser)
• Be outdoors — mapping only works on sites where there is GPS signal

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Step-by-Step Guide

1. Register Your Group

• Register as a group (one registration per group of 5 students)
• Use a shared group name that matches the number of the area you are assigned to map. For example "Group 1". You can use a fake email address if you prefer. Multiple phones within the same group can log in at the same time.

Phone roles:

• Phone 1: Create tasks (before the break)
• Phone 2: Record "the making of" — short videos of group interaction when the history of the site and the tasks are discussed
• Phone 3: Perform tasks (after the break)

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Mapping part 1: Create Tasks

• Go to the area assigned to your group
• As a group, explore the neighborhood in historic context and discuss what types of tasks you’d like to create
• Log in on two phones (phone 1 and phone 2) using the same group credentials
• Select “Create Tasks” → Press ‘+’ to add a new task
• Choose text + (optional) audio and/or image
  • If using images, always shoot in landscape mode!
  • Text is required to briefly describe the task.
• Keep negotiating and creating tasks for an hour.
• Minimum: 5 site-specific tasks per group
• Meanwhile, one student (phone 2) records video clips of group discussions and decisions. The video can be no longer then 3 minutes.

After 1,5 hour of mapping, return to the meeting point.

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“The making of” clips

During the creation of tasks, groups are encouraged to capture short video clips of their discussions—whether they're reflecting on the traces they’ve encountered or brainstorming the tasks they wish to create. These videos may also include spontaneous interviews with people they meet in the street.

To record these moments, use Phone 2, just use the camera function. Once the task creation for a specific location is complete, the video(s) should be uploaded on-site via Phone 2 by logging in and selecting the “Making of” button. Do this every time again for each new task creation.

Please ensure:

• Videos are recorded in landscape mode
• Each video is no longer than 3 minutes

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Lunch break

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Mapping part 2: Perform Tasks

• Go to the second research area assigned to your group
• Log in on two phones (phone 2 and phone 3) using the same group credentials
• Select “Perform Task”
• A map will appear with green dots — each dot is a location-specific task.
• When you enter the zone of a green dot (20 meters range), a window with a task will pop up
• Perform the task and document it using text, image and/or audio
  • Again: use landscape mode for photos
• Once performed, the green dot turns blue
• Perform tasks for an hour.
• Minimum: 5 tasks performed per group

After 1,5 hour of mapping, return to the meeting point.

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Results and experiences are discussed.

* The title is derived from the former research group "Places and Traces" at Design Academy Eindhoven that was led by David Hamers.

Credits

Design of mapping app and workshop: Naomi Bueno de Mesquita
Web development: Iván Fuciños Calle and Kamiel Verhelst
Graphic design of handouts: Toni Wagner
Workshop assistance and photography: Freja Emilie Kræmmer and Toni Wagner