Paritosh Goel (co-host)
Graduated as an Architect and completed his post-graduation as an Urban Regional Planner from the School of Planning and Architecture in India. Having traveled extensively in his own country and around the world, his keen interest is in determining the urban issues of cities and in the exploration of innovative ideas on city planning. These led him to his National award winning thesis “Reincarnation of Left-over Spaces of the City” for his capstone project in Graduation. Currently, He is working with Central, State and local/City Governments in India on projects related to Urban Planning, Smart Cities and Sustainable Urbanism.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paritoshgoel

Mariko Sugita (co-host)
Graduated from the Free University of Brussels in Urban Studies. Her professional fields are research, marketing, and editing and writing in the field of architecture and urbanism. As a freelance editor, she contributes to various architectural & urban media around the world, as well as facilitates design workshops and research programs through the lens of urbanism. She launched her own media called Traveling Circus of Urbanism as an online platform that collects local urban stories from different parts of the world, and that creates sorely-needed connections between journalism and the fields of architecture and urban design.
https://www.travelingcircusofurbanism.com/

Taipei Ephemera was a project to create a temporal map installation of Taipei that depicts the city through subjective experience, emotion, and feelings.

We, who were both new to Taipei, wanted to acquire a deeper understanding of the city — not only spatially, but emotionally and culturally. This is why we came up with the idea of making a subjective, temporal map of Taipei that somehow depicts the city that exists in our heads, by using ephemeral objects.

"Ephemera" are collectible memorabilia that are, or were, meant for a short term purpose. They can be plane tickets, printed paper bags for street food, postcards, and more. They can be anything, from all backgrounds, cultures, places — things found, or bought, or received. Ephemera might not be normally considered something to collect, save, or cherish, but oftentimes we do keep them, either physically or in our memories.

We prepared a generous stockpile of ephemera, but also we asked the participants to bring their own if needed. Some participants brought personal objects representing their idea of Taipei, and some went out on excursions during the 6 hours-long workshops to pick up more found objects from the city. They cut, piled, or connected them with other materials, and with markers, stickers, or watercolors they collectively created a collage of Taipei — the Taipei in their hearts, the Taipei in their memories or imaginations, the Taipei they treasure.

We asked them two questions: "What makes Taipei Taipei?" and "Where (or what element) makes you feel at home in Taipei?" We prepared worksheets to help participants answer these questions.

The map we made was 2.5 meters by 2.4 meters. we used eight A0 papers and taped them together. Around 20 participants including artists, designers, and some random locals who were walking by and decided to join us when we called them in.