You are here

  1. Home
  2. Dr Christian Nold

Dr Christian Nold

Christian Nold

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Lecturer in Design
  • Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics
  • School of Engineering & Innovation
  • christian.nold

Web links

Professional biography

Dr. Christian Nold is a researcher, artist and designer inventing new models for collective representation. He is experienced in Citizen Science, having coordinated and evaluated the EU-funded ‘Doing It Together Science' project and worked on the 'EveryAware' and 'EU.Citizen-Science' projects. He has written numerous books and journal papers including ‘Emotional Cartography: Technologies of the Self’ and 'The Internet of People for a Post-Oil World' and given keynotes and public lectures across the world. In the last decades he created large-scale public projects such as the widely acclaimed 'Bio Mapping', 'Emotion Mapping' and ‘Bijlmer Euro’ that have been staged with thousands of participants across sixteen countries. Before joining the Open University he was a Research Fellow at the Social Design Institute (UAL) and researcher in the Extreme Citizen Science group (UCL).

Research interests

Keywords: Citizen Science, Participatory Design, Internet of Things, Actor-Network Theory, Ontological Politics, Anarchism

My current research interests focus on developing Design for Public Controversies as a way for designers to directly intervene in creating new realities. I am doing this by connecting ideas from Science and Technology Studies such as 'ontological politics' (Mol 2002) and 'care' (Puig de la Bellacasa 2017) with design and Citizen Science practices.

References:
Puig de la Bellacasa, M. (2017). Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds. University of Minnesota Press.
Mol, A. (2002). The Body Multiple: Ontology in Medical Practice. Duke University Press.

I am a member of the Open Ecologies research group at the OU.

Teaching interests

Keen to supervise PhD students around the politics of design and using design practices to intervene in the world directly. I have expertise in using social science theory that can offer new understandings of design. Keen to support methods of design ethnography to see how design operates in the real world.

Lead Supervisor for:
Samantha Osys - The ethical decisions in digital product design

Impact and engagement

  • 2018 - 2019 DoomsDay Blockchain, Collusion, Cambridge
    Artistic research exploring blockchain insertions. https://ddbc.io

  • 2014 - 2016 Hubbub, Wellcome Trust, London
    Citizen monitoring network to materialise the impact of Heathrow airport.

  • 2011 - 2014 Money Lab, Pixelache, Helsinki, Finland
    Three-year experimental local currency for a Finnish fortress island.

  • 2010 - 2011 Rennes Emotion Map, Les Bouillants, Rennes, France

  • 2010 Control Maps, Impakt Festival, Utrecht, Arnheim & Enschede, Holland
    Participatory mapping project to visualise ‘control’ in three Dutch cities.

  • 2009 - 2010 The Bijlmer Euro, Imagine IC, Amsterdam, Holland
    15-month experimental RFID parasite local currency that supports local identity

  • 2009 - 2010 Sensory Journeys, Sustrans, Bristol, UK
    Participatory mapping with three schools to trace children travel experience.

  • 2009 Sensing the Future of Hedehusene, Copenhagen International Theatre, Copenhagen, Denmark
    Town-scale air & noise pollution monitoring network with real-time citizen voting.

  • 2009 BioTagging Manchester, Futuresonic, Manchester, UK
    Citizen Science collaboration with Natural History Museum and Meteorological Office.

  • 2009 Bethlehem Biopsy, Bethlehem University, Bethlehem, USA
    Participatory mapping involving hundred residents and local government to create urban visualisation.

  • 2008 Complexity Maps, World Design Capital, Turin, Italy
    Summer school visualising heroin trade networks with 30 international design students.

  • 2008 Strange Weather, Studio for Urban Projects, Berkeley Art Museum, USA
    Winner of the Eyebeam EcoViz competition.

  • 2008 Emotional Tourism?, Santiago de Compostela Council, Spain

  • 2007 Networked Identity, BBC Blast, Serpentine Gallery & Science Museum, London

  • 2007 Bio Mapping, Hayward Gallery Projects, Brixton & Clapham, London

  • 2006 - 2007 Bio Mapping, Wellcome Trust Sciart R&D Grant, London

  • 2008 The Brentford Biopsy, Watermans Gallery, London

  • 2008 Emotion Map East Paris, Arslonga Gallery, Paris, France

  • 2007 - 2008 Creative Mapping, Iniva, London

  • 2007 Stockport Emotion Map, Stockport Council & Lendlease, Stockport, UK

  • 2007 San Francisco Emotion Map, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, USA

  • 2006 - 2007 Mapping Fulham, Fulham NDC, London

  • 2005 - 2006 Greenwich Emotion Map, Independent Photography, London

Publications

Typology of Emotion Assemblages in Art and Science (2023-06)
Nold, Christian
Leonardo, 56(3) (pp. 266-271)

Citizen Science Study of Overflight Noise from New and Old Generation Aircraft at London City Airport (2023)
Nold, Christian; Haklay, Muki; Walker, Tim; Doherty, John; Morris, Martin and Boon, Gregory
Community Science

Twelve potluck principles for social design (2022-06-08)
Nold, Christian; Kaszynska, Patrycja; Bailey, Jocelyn and Kimbell, Lucy
Discern: International Journal of Design for Social Change, Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 3(1) (pp. 31-43)

Sense and the city: An Emotion Data Framework for smart city governance (2022-06-07)
Willis, Katharine S. and Nold, Christian
Journal of Urban Management, 11(2) (pp. 142-152)

Contours of citizen science: a vignette study (2021-08-25)
Haklay, Muki; Fraisl, Dilek; Greshake Tzovaras, Bastian; Hecker, Susanne; Gold, Margaret; Hager, Gerid; Ceccaroni, Luigi; Kieslinger, Barbara; Wehn, Uta; Woods, Sasha; Nold, Christian; Balázs, Bálint; Mazzonetto, Marzia; Ruefenacht, Simone; Shanley, Lea A.; Wagenknecht, Katherin; Motion, Alice; Sforzi, Andrea; Riemenschneider, Dorte; Dorler, Daniel; Heigl, Florian; Schaefer, Teresa; Lindner, Ariel; Weißpflug, Maike; Mačiulienė, Monika and Vohland, Katrin
Royal Society Open Science, 8(8)

A question of dialogue? Reflections on how citizen science can enhance communication between science and society (2021-05-10)
Wagenknecht, Katherin; Woods, Tim; Nold, Christian; Rüfenacht, Simone; Voight-Heucke, Silke; Caplan, Anne; Hecker, Susanne and Vohland, Katrin
Journal of Science Communication, 20, Article A13(3)

Insurrection training for post-human politics (2021-05)
Nold, Christian
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 41(3/4) (pp. 541-557)

User experience of digital technologies in citizen science (2019-01)
Skarlatidou, Artemis; Ponti, Marisa; Sprinks, James; Nold, Christian; Haklay, Muki and Kanjo, Eiman
JCOM: Journal of Science Communication, 18(1) (E1-E8)

How Does Citizen Science "Do" Governance? Reflections from the DITOs Project (2019)
Göbel, Claudia; Nold, Christian; Berditchevskaia, Aleksandra and Haklay, Mordechai
Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 4, Article 31(1)

The Value of Stakeholder Mapping to Enhance Co-Creation in Citizen Science Initiatives (2019)
Skarlatidou, Artemis; Suskevics, Monika; Göbel, Claudia; Prūse, Baiba; Tauginiené, Loreta; Mascarenhas, Andre; Mazzonetto, Marzia; Sheppard, Alice; Barrett, Judy; Haklay, Muki; Baruch, Avinoam; Moraitopoulou, Elina-Aikaterini; Austen, Kat; Baïz, Imane; Berditchevskaia, Aleksandra; Berényi, Eszter; Hoyte, Simon; Kleijssen, Lotte; Kragh, Gitte; Legris, Martine; Mansilla-Sanchez, Alicia; Nold, Christian; Vitos, Michalis and Wyszomirski, Paweł
Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 4, Article 24(1)

Practice-based ontological design for multiplying realities (2018)
Nold, Christian
Strategic Design Research Journal, 11(2) (pp. 58-64)

Bio Mapping: How can we use emotion to articulate cities? (2018)
Nold, Christian
Livingmaps Review, 4

Data Platforms and Cities (2017)
Blok, Anders; Courmont, Antoine; Hoyng, Rolien; Marquet, Clément; Minor, Kelton; Nold, Christian and Young, Meg
Tecnoscienza: Italian Journal of Science & Technology Studies, 8(2) (pp. 175-219)

Micro/macro prototyping (2015-09)
Nold, Christian
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 81 (pp. 72-80)

Biotagging Manchester: Interdisciplinary Exploration of Biodiversity (2011-02-01)
Nold, Christian; Tweddle, John; Ellis, Rebecca; Hemment, Drew and Wynne, Brian
Leonardo, 44(1) (pp. 66-67)

Autopsy Of An Island Currency (2014)
Nold, Christian; Aubret, Nathalie and Jaschko, Susanne
Nold, Christian; Aubret, Nathalie and Jaschko, Susanne eds.
Publisher : Pixelache

The Internet of People for a Post-Oil World (2011)
Nold, Christian and van Kranenburg, Rob
Situated Technologies Pamphlets
ISBN : 978-0-9800994-7-8 | Publisher : The Architectural League of New York | Published : New York, NY, USA

Aesthetic strategies for engaging with environmental governance (2021)
Nold, Christian and Sobecka, Karolina
In: Rogers, Hannah Star; Halpern, Megan K.; Hannah, Dehlia and de Ridder-Vignone, Kathryn eds. Routledge Handbook of Art, Science, and Technology Studies (pp. 91-101)
ISBN : 9781138347304 | Publisher : Routledge | Published : London

Taxonomy of environmental sensing in smart cities (2020)
Nold, Christian
In: Willis, Katharine S. and Aurigi, Alessandro eds. The Routledge Companion to Smart Cities (pp. 254-261)
ISBN : 9781138036673 | Publisher : Routledge

Turning Controversies into Questions of Design: Prototyping Alternative Metrics for Heathrow Airport (2018)
Nold, Christian
In: Marres, Noortje; Guggenheim, Michael and Wilkie, Alex eds. Inventing the Social(4) (pp. 94-124)
ISBN : 978-0-9955277-6-8 | Publisher : Mattering Press | Published : Manchester, UK

Participatory Sensing: Recruiting Bipedal Platforms or Building Issue-centred Projects? (2017)
Nold, C. and Francis, L.
In: Loreto, V. ed. Participatory Sensing, Opinions and Collective Awareness (pp. 213-235)
Publisher : Springer

Metrics of Unrest: Building Social and Technical Networks for Heathrow Noise (2016)
Nold, Christian
In: Callard, Felicity; Staines, Kimberley and Wilkes, James eds. The Restless Compendium: Interdisciplinary Investigations of Rest and Its Opposites (pp. 149-156)
ISBN : 978-3-319-45263-0 | Publisher : Palgrave Macmillan

Devices for articulate propositions (2014)
Nold, Christian
In: Thomson, Mike ed. Stressed Out (pp. 34-39)
Publisher : Design Academy Eindhoven

Legible Mob (2005)
Nold, Christian
In: Latour, Bruno and Weibel, Peter eds. Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy (pp. 846-853)
Publisher : ZKM Center for Art and Media with the MIT Press

Emotional Cartography: Technologies of the Self (2009)
Nold, Christian ed.
Publisher : Space Studios

Mapping and sensing Dewey’s Situations as design and social science methods (2023-06)
Nold, Christian
In : Nordes 2023: This Space Intentionally Left Blank (12-14 Jun 2023, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden.)

Program or be Programmed? Teaching algorithmic principles to future designers (2023)
Nold, Christian
In : The 7th International Conference for Design Education Researchers (29 Nov - 1 Dec 2023, London, UK)

The politics of metadesign (2022-06-25)
Nold, Christian
In : DRS2022 (5 Jun - 3 Jul 2022, Bilbao, Spain)

12 Principles of Social Design (2021)
Bailey, Jocelyn; Kasynska, Patrycja; Kimbell, Lucy and Nold, Christian
In : Nordes 2021 Matters of Scale (15-18 Aug 2021, Kolding, Denmark) (pp. 478-480)

How designers can reshape public controversies (2016)
Nold, Christian
In : Design and the City (19-22 Apr 2016, Amsterdam) (pp. 9-12)

Mapping Disagreement around Smart City devices (2013)
Nold, Christian
In : Hybrid City 2013: Subtle rEvolutions. 2nd International Biennial Conference (23-25 May 2013, Athens, Greece) (pp. 133-140)

Device Studies of Participatory Sensing: Ontological Politics and Design Interventions (2017)
Nold, Christian
PhD thesis UCL (University College London)

Design Economy 2021 Scoping Project: Introductory Paper (2021-07-29)
Kimbell, Lucy; Bailey, Jocelyn; Nold, Christian; Kaszynska, Patrycja; Todd, Jonathan and Mazzarella, Francesco
Design Council, London.

Design Economy 2021 Scoping Project: Public Understanding of Design (2021-07-29)
Nold, Christian; Kaszynska, Patrycja and Bailey, Jocelyn
Design Council, London.

Towards a Typology of Design in relation to Prisons (2021-03)
Nold, Christian
University of the Arts London: Social Design Institute, Working Paper no. 1

Towards a Sociomaterial Framework for Systems in Design (2021)
Nold, Christian
University of the Arts London: Social Design Institute, Working Paper no. 2

ECSA's Characteristics of Citizen Science (2020)
Haklay, Muki; Motion, Alice; Balázs, Bálint; Kieslinger, Barbara; Greshake Tzovaras, Bastian; Nold, Christian; Dörler, Daniel; Fraisl, Dilek; Riemenschneider, Dorte; Heigl, Florian; Brounéus, Frederik; Hager, Gerid; Heuer, Katja; Wagenknecht, Katherin; Vohland, Katrin; Shanley, Lea; Deveaux, Lionel; Ceccaroni, Luigi; Weißpflug, Maike; Gold, Margaret; Mazzonetto, Marzia; Mačiulienė, Monika; Woods, Sasha; Luna, Soledad; Hecker, Susanne; Schaefer, Teresa; Woods, Tim and Wehn, Uta
European Citizen Science Association

A Tale of Two Science Buses: Diversity of Knowledge and Inclusion Practices (2019)
DITOs Consortium, and Nold, Christian
DITOs Policy Briefs and Research Insights 11, Doing It Together Science (DITOs)

Rennes Emotion Map (2011)
Nold, Christian
Les Bouillants

Mapping the City - Reflections on urban mapping methodologies from GPS to Community Dialogue (2008)
Nold, Christian; Jensen, Ole B. and Harder, Henrik
Department of Architecture, Design and Media Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.

East Paris Emotion Map (2008)
Nold, Christian
Galerie Ars Longa

Brentford Biopsy (2008)
Nold, Christian and Boraschi, Daniela
Watermans

San Francisco Emotion Map (2007)
Nold, Christian
Southern Exposure

Stockport Emotion Map (2007)
Nold, Christian and Boraschi, Daniela
Softhook

Greenwich Emotion Map (2006)
Nold, Christian
Independent Photography

Bio Mapping / Emotion Mapping (2004)
Nold, Christian
www.softhook.com