Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

We focus on the process—and challenges— of ‘miniaturization’ in the built environment and the resulting importance of transdisciplinary design towards finding innovative solutions that do not sacrifice quality of living. Although there have been drastic changes to the nature of settlements since the dawn of civilization, many recurring processes exist for these. One such process is the concentration of people and densification of use and space. Despite the growth in discourse around the latter over the past decades, little attention has been paid to resulting impacts of this cultural trajectory and the role that design, at all scales, can play in its transformation. Miniaturization—the act of making objects and spaces smaller in size—is an operation intimately related to the processes of concentration and densification. While the standard solution of creating and stacking smaller spaces on top of one another speaks to the initial stages of miniaturization, we have reached the point where a transdisciplinary, multi-scalar approach to design (urban design, landscape, architecture, interior design and industrial design) is necessary to continue the process in a meaningful way—ensuring that quality of life is not sacrificed in the miniaturization process. Our paper describes the process of miniaturization as it pertains to the built environment, contextualizes it historically, and highlights relevant case studies—focusing specifically on a winning proposal put forth for the Canadian-based Edmonton Infill Design Competition that explored living within a 300 square foot dwelling and that, ultimately, required a comprehensive transdisciplinary design approach.