Contributive Workshops

The ALICE (Atelier de la Conception de l’Espace) laboratory of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) has been developing for several years a contributive approach to design. The choice of the term contribution is informed by the work of philosopher Bernard Stiegler, who explored the concept to overcome the passive role usually granted to citizens in our democracies. Animated by the movement of the digital commons, where people might contribute freely and anonymously to Wikipedia or developing free software for anyone to use, contribution seeks to propose an alternative to the exploitative relations between economy, environment and knowledge at the core of our climate emergency. At ALICE, we have been exploring the opportunities offered by contributive workshops, searching for an alternative architectural practice based on collective authorship, common knowledge and limited resources.