Anatomy of a techno-creative community – the role of brokers, places, and events in the emergence of projection mapping in Nantes

This article aims to study the role of brokers, places, and events in the structuring of a community of innovation whose practice is at the intersection of art and technology – projection mapping. Using an exploratory case study, we observe the relationships between the different actors who form a community, sharing a common interest in a techno – creative practice – but whose collective innovation dynamic is only in its beginnings and remains unstable. We document the critical role of places and events as intermediary platforms for these actors. This reveals preferential circulations – patterns of moves among a set of focal locations in the city for a community – and the crucial role of these locations in communities’ emergence.