Research · Orbis
A participatory atlas of cultural communities.
Orbis is a research-grounded platform for cultural mapping — making the living, overlapping communities of a place visible, and authored by the people who belong to them.
01 · The idea
Mapping culture, one community at a time
Every city is made of overlapping communities — by neighbourhood, language, heritage, music, faith, interest, or shared history. Most of that texture is invisible on an ordinary map. Orbis makes it visible.
02 · Origins
Born from research
Born from research into how cultural communities form and connect across a region. The project grew out of work funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Brazil.
03 · Method
How Orbis works
A map authored by the communities it represents.
04 · Openness
Open science, open source
The methodology and the platform are open. Anyone can study how it works, reproduce it, and build on it.
05 · Direction
Where the research is heading
Orbis is evolving from a community map into a broader platform for cultural participation and heritage. The methodology was developed in Brazil and is designed to transfer across cultural contexts, including European ones.
AI-assisted cultural mapping
Using AI to help communities surface, organise, and connect cultural knowledge — supporting cultural and creative work rather than replacing it.
Diversity-aware discovery
Recommendation that actively surfaces a plurality of communities and cultural perspectives, rather than narrowing them.
An open, collaborative project
Whether you are a community, a researcher, a developer, or a cultural organisation, there are ways to take part.