The Economat

Designer: Thomas Lommée

The Economat is a social machine that visualizes and maps micro-economic activities within a local community.

A converted photo booth installation invites inhabitants to capture, describe and locate their personal ‘demands’ or ‘supplies’.

These messages can then be directly published on a wall or scanned and uploaded on a website. The Economat has been envisioned to complement and enrich existing local venues, such as library reading rooms, coffee corners at the supermarket, or bakery diners, with a social function.

The Economat is installed at Atelier Tarwewijk (located at Mijnsherenlaan 2).