Abstract/Summary

Digital CCSen365 is an international collaborative design-research project developed by University of Reading School of Architecture and Venezuelan not-for-profit Collectivox. This artefact is the by-product of CCSen365, a long standing programme of heritage re-interpretation through storytelling walks in Caracas created by Collectivox in 2016. Caracas is frequently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities in the world, urban violence has eroded residents’ relationships with their immediate social, cultural and public realms. Carried out in the during and post Covid-19, with funding from The British Council International Digital Collaboration Fund, this project focused on translating the positive social impacts of CCSen365 into a low-cost, low-data digital meaningful experience. Drawing on collaborations with historians, architects, designers, artists, local residents and technologists, our contextual user-centred approach resulted in the collective creation of a dedicated Telegram channel. The key features that make Telegram ideal are: content is stored in the cloud meaning users don’t spend their own data; doesn’t require separate signing up to a standalone app, and it enables the protection of the Intellectual Property of the guides by not allowing forwarding of messages. More importantly, Telegram enables the content to be accessible to residents with mobility impairments and other disabilities, and a wider audience comprised of local residents, active users of mobile phones, with limited opportunities to spend their leisure time in free-to-access local cultural activities. Collaborators: Carmen Sofia Leoni. Director of Museo de Arte Popular de Petare Bárbaro Rivas (audio guide) Prieto Gang feat. Budu. Music Track: Petare Barrio de Pakistán [Remix] Fran Suárez. Owner of El Golfiao de Petare. Silvia Gómez Rangel. Anthropologist and Cultural Manager. Maripili Salas. Voiceover, Actress and Cultural Promoter. Luis Guillermo Marcano Radaelli. Architect, Restorer, Independent Consultant and Educator.