HUGO PILATE
/ DESIGN RESEARCHER & DIGITAL ARTIST
Research-focused design practitioner and project manager, with 10+ years of experience working across the US, India, France, and the Netherlands, now based in Sweden.
I am specialized in user research and participatory methods with a strong curiosity for digital cultures and urbanistic questions. My work draws inspiration from gaming culture, creative coding, speculative design, and critical spatial practices.
Lately, this practice has taken the shape of investigative reports on the use of digital twins in Gothenburg, virtual spaces used to pitch future urban developments, game-based collaborative experiences for young adults, and courses on site-specific speculation.
Elsewhere, I am one half of the artist duo What A Mess.
Find my latest portfolio here ( 🗂️ ).
I am specialized in user research and participatory methods with a strong curiosity for digital cultures and urbanistic questions. My work draws inspiration from gaming culture, creative coding, speculative design, and critical spatial practices.
Lately, this practice has taken the shape of investigative reports on the use of digital twins in Gothenburg, virtual spaces used to pitch future urban developments, game-based collaborative experiences for young adults, and courses on site-specific speculation.
Elsewhere, I am one half of the artist duo What A Mess.
Find my latest portfolio here ( 🗂️ ).
2023 - 2025 MASTERS THESIS, MFA in Design, HDK-Valand
An investigation of Gothenburg’s urban digital twinning ecosystem with a critical interrogation of its actors’ ability to provide opportunities for meaningful civic engagement.
The work resulted in the shadowing of the development of the KultVis digital twin and the production of my own digital twin prototypes inspired by the practice of cartography.
The project resulted in the production of three “counter-twins” which explore new approaches to spatio-temporal visualizations of contested sites by drwaing inspiration from the practice of counter-cartography.
Project microsite (🔗 External)
Masters thesis (🔗 External)
NEW MEDIA ART
CO-PRODUCTION PHOTOGRAMMETRY
COUNTER-CARTOGRAPHY
SITE-SPECIFIC PRODUCTION
2022 - 2025 — Funding: Erasmus+ Grant
The Turfu Project is an EU-funded effort to develop a worldbuilding methodology and playbook for youths across Europe living in various forms of peripheries. The intent of the project was to encourage the imagination of desirable futures rooted in otherwise often overlooked territories, based on an original concept by artist and philosopher, Makan Fofana.
My role was to managed the development of the playbook, design and roll-out its visual identity, and coordinate efforts across consortium members.
Project Instagram: (🔗 External)
CO-PRODUCTION
WORLDBUILDING
TURFU
2024 — Client: AlmostThere for Natet
Evening-long workshop bringing together producers, distributors, processors and potential customers to identify core values, drivers, and challenges shaping the development of Gothenburg’s local food ecosystem.
My role was to consult on workshop design, production and documentation, with a focus on providing a hybrid experience for online and in-person participants, and producing a booklet capturing the consolidated set of recommended strategies .
CO-PRODUCTION
SITE-SPECIFIC PRODUCTION
2024 — Self-Initiated
What A Mess is an artist collective founded by Pedro Gil Farias and myself, exploring how the digital and physical built environments inform each other; with a special interest for less market-dependent ways of engaging with these spaces.
Our work uses a mix of site-specific documentation processes then translated into interactive installations made using readily available open-source tools (as much as possible!).
Collective’s site (🔗 External)
PHOTOGRAMMETRY
SITE-SPECIFIC PRODUCTION