Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

With a plethora of technology at our fingertips, information about a place is easy to retrieve without leaving the laptop. Design studios and competitions often invite participants to develop concepts, proposals, and strategies without tangible experience of place. Many practitioners lament the loss of fieldwork and its heuristic approach to the development of the digital age. However as we recognize the limitations of research from a distance, technology may well bring us physically back to the site. This study examines how integrating the use of small unmanned aerial vehicles (AKA drones) into design education and process might stimulate a return to fieldwork. Flying a drone through a landscape requires knowledge about that landscape and adapting to its changing conditions in situ, uncovering spatial and phenomenological relationships. The drone itself is susceptible to temperature, wind, and precipitation. The pilot becomes acutely aware of spatial conditions – how high are the trees, structures, power lines? Do particular relationships cause turbulence or create barriers? Is the ground plane constant or irregular? Is the investigator an agent of disturbance? Through incorporation of drones into the design process, it is possible to form tangible relationships with the site and infuse the process with the realities of conditions. Depending upon various configurations of drone equipment (camera, range finders, thermal imagery), the investigator is able to record these relationships, in time and dependent on the experience of the user, infusing data collection with creativity and nuance.