Emergence and Organization of a Creative Place in the Middleground: Acceleration, Collateral Effect and Critical Mass

Abstract – The relationship between territorial concentration and dynamism in the creative industries has been highlighted and studied extensively. The role of places or organizations in a territory’s creative dynamism has been analyzed with the notion of middleground. These crucial intermediary groups connect informal communities with institutionalized players. This paper discusses the dynamics of the emergence and organization of a place within the middleground. We study the case of POUSH, a place located in Paris suburbs renting studios to artists and providing spaces dedicated to artistic exhibition. Our research sheds light on the internal dynamics of the middleground. As fruitful interactions between players cannot be foreseen, the role of creative places is not to create them from scratch. Instead, they need to gather a critical mass of diverse players in a limited space. Such a hub creates an acceleration effect (increase in chances of fruitful partnerships) and a collateral effect (recognition of an artist by the institution benefits to the other artists in the creative place). Both trigger a virtuous circle of social perception: because enough players consider the place as creative, new players are attracted to the place.