ECHO

The world's first public space cooperative

PROJECT OVERVIEW

In 2019, ECHO took shape in Geneva as a unique architectural and social experiment, examining public space as an infrastructure of the collective. While the history of architecture has constantly sought to design forms that facilitate living together, ECHO reverses this perspective: what if the true architecture of the collective were the very emptiness of public space?

In a world where the Anthropocene has become a reality, the ecological and social transition can only be a collective journey, requiring an active reappropriation of our common spaces. ECHO thus proposes an imaginary cooperative, bringing together more than 500 collaborators around the production of public space—not as a simple place, but as a lived experience and a perspective for action.

KEY FEATURES

01 Ephemeral installation: materialization of a fictitious architecture of the collective. 02 Immersive experience: staging the symbolic construction of a shared space.
03 Performative approach: mobilizing the audience through spontaneous interactions.

PROJECT IN NUMBERS

500 (fictitious) cooperators
8 wheelbarrows
1 opening

REFERENCES

Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle – Critique of commercial urbanism and the need for a collective play space.
Georges Perec, Species of Space – Empty space as a place for writing and reappropriation.
Yona Friedman, Mobile Architecture – A non-fixed architecture, adapted to social dynamics.