As the world continues to open up and set our ‘new normal’ in motion, our collective ‘post-pandemic’ spirit is one characterised by hope yet caution. COVID-19 remains, as does the makeshift assemblage of face masks, hand sanitisers, plastic screens, zoom meetings, and working-from-home paraphernalia that came along with it. And while the continued prevalence of such ‘meanwhile’ infrastructure is a stark reminder of what we have endured in the aftermath of March 2020, as we move forward, it equally offers that liminal, material space through which we negotiate our next steps and inform the shape of our shared future. 

For so long, architects, urbanists, and planners have seen the ‘bricks and mortar’ of buildings and highways as that medium for transformation, however, their inelasticity during the pandemic has shown us the inability of our static built environment to respond to change. In learning from the ‘meanwhile’ assemblages of COVID-19, therefore, it is safe to say that the processes through which our cities and streetscapes emerge thus require new modes of radical practice and intervention. And while such discourse has gained traction over the past 18 months, at both a community and governmental level, its manifestation on the ground remains limited in the wake of what has unraveled as a distinct urban crisis. 

These modes of radical practice and intervention aren’t new to us at Urban Scale Interventions; they’re at the heart of everything we do, tackling gaps between thinking and doing through championing a people-centered approach that employs co-design and the ‘short-term’ as a means for beKer shaping the resilient places where we live, work, and play. 

The multidisciplinary nature of our team–which brings together a diversity of designers, researchers, web developers, planners, strategists, artists, and producers–makes us well-placed to turn unconventional ideas into innovative realities. Take, for example, our new ‘Banana Block’ museum offer at Portview, Belfast, which has reframed heritage through bringing together local tourism offers and authentic community spaces informed by engagement with over 200 local organisations and community groups. Or our work with the EU Creative Roobop network that aims to transform roofscapes across Europe through pop-up interventions that will inform both policy and the sustainable future of these forgotten spaces. And that’s not all; from arts and heritage strategies for local transport providers to masterplans for zoos and riverfronts, everything we do is about taking action through a boKom-up approach that can positively impact both people and place. 

Based on our various project learnings over the years, here are five steps on how to get your good intentions off the ground through meanwhile uses: 

Thinking through Doing

Whether it’s prototyping ideas with communities through workshops or simply change through potential outcomes with a potential funder, don’t wait, start now. Thinking and doing aren’t consecutive linear processes, they’re interdependent and simultaneously inform each other. At the outset of your next project make sure that the ‘brain-work’ and ‘on-the ground-work’ kick-off together – you’ll be using the ‘meantime’ more effectively in laying the grounds for both your meanwhile project and the longer-term sustainable development of urban spaces. 

Making Connections and Facilitating Collaboration

From community members to creative institutions, relevant government bodies, and potential funders, a diversity of outreach is essential across all stages of a meanwhile project’s development. You’ll not only be generating buy-in for the project going forward but enriching its content and formation through facilitating conversations that lead to novel interactions and potential possibilities. Our international partnership with the Goethe Institute, for example, saw the delivery of a Disappearing Wall that engaged 24,000 citizens within empty public space as a cultural response to social distancing and events during the pandemic. This has led to further conversations and collaborations around how this space is used going forward. 

A Shared Story

While meanwhile projects are intended to inform long-term offers through testing potential interventions and continually crafting new narratives, it’s important that any pop-up is brought to life through capturing both local intelligence and a diversity of global experience from the get-go. That’s why it’s paramount to create a shared language and narrative that is accessible and relevant for everyone. Language is important. Our new ‘Banana Block’ museum for example that brings people together in a heritage setting in unprecedented ways has been brought to life by uncovering subcultural histories of the banana in Belfast through capturing local stories. Stories crafted through language that is relatable to wider global audiences, tourism bodies, and cultural institutions that are now committed to using this ‘meanwhile’ opportunity to inform the site’s long-term offer through an extensive engagement programme. 

Co-creation with Communities

It’s important from the outset of any project that local people are involved, not through tokenistic forms of consultation, but authentic on-the-ground co-design engagement. When people are involved in the ideation and creation of urban spaces they’re not only contributing to the wealth of a project but generating pride in their area which inspires civic ownership and thus positively impacts wellbeing. In the delivery of our current arts and heritage strategy with Translink (Northern Ireland’s transport provider) we’re heavily engaging with local communities from the outset to reframe contested space through the lens of pop-up interventions; from engaging young people in portraying their local heritage through the art of spray painting to reimagining hoarding as an interactive platform for the collation of ideas.

Continual Critical Evaluation and Engagement

As with the nature of ‘meanwhile’ uses that aim to delineate normative processes of ideation, implementation, and evaluation, it’s important to remember that delivering pilot projects on the ground is all about learning – learning from each other and our mistakes. That’s why it’s key to ensure that throughout engagement, and co-design processes, that critical evaluation takes place across all stages of a projects delivery and that this is measurable. As part of our work in establishing Safer Public Spaces in partnership with the Public Health Agency, for example, we’re creating well-being indicators to ensure that everything we do maximises social impact and enriches the ‘everyday’ of those involved in our work. These indicators will be key in laying the foundations for the success of future decision-making processes and projects. 

The world might still be grappling with COVID-19 and its own ‘meanwhile’ assemblages, but there’s lots to be learned from the aftermath of the pandemic, and it may just be through harnessing the potential of ‘meanwhile’ uses that what we do for now can actively contribute to the creation and ambition of places for tomorrow.