Gathering Spaces
Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon
Buildings as Pedagogical Devices: Analyzing the Impact of the Learning Environment in the Education of Architects View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Roberto Castillo
For educators and learners in the architecture field, the architecture school’s building can provide an environment with real-size demonstrations of the implementation of theories and technologies, offering additional value in the learning process. Emblematic architecture school buildings such as the ones in Sao Paulo by João Vilanova Artigas, or in Porto by Alvaro Siza are not just neutral containers of academic activities but influential in the development of design agendas by students and faculty that extends beyond into the professional field. However, the building’s influence on design education and its role as a relevant proof of concept is often overlooked. The research process examines precedents and then focuses on a school architecture building located in the United Arab Emirates that houses a 280-student department of architecture. It also looks at other relevant case studies found in the United States and Latin America. Using a case study approach and by developing analytical diagrams, on-site observations, and focused interviews. The research considers three ways in which buildings can impact design education: First, the impact of more specific variables related to building performance but not specific to architecture schools, such as acoustic control or wayfinding. Secondly, the architectural design studio setting, as the primary spatial component of any architecture school; and thirdly, the larger implications of the building when considered as an example of the implementation of design philosophies, including formal, spatial, and material discourses.
Sport for Community Building and Social Inclusion in the Urban Context View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Viktor Malakuczi, Andrea Gentile, Mariia Ershova, Lorenzo Imbesi, Angela Giambattista
Recent research shows that sporting activities can contribute to the creation of communities and promote social inclusion in the urban context. Sport has gone beyond mere physical activity and has acquired social, cultural, urban and political dimensions that need to be analysed in order to develop effective governmental programs and appropriate incentives. The purpose of this study is to investigate the benefits, barriers, existing programs and the role of design in sport as a means of community building, social inclusion and city development. The study falls in the domain of design for social innovation and uses a literature review to develop ethnographic tools for analyzing sports communities. Social science literature shows that public spaces supporting sport do indeed contribute to community development, empowerment of marginalised groups, and overall citizen safety. Moreover, sport is shown as a favourable means of social inclusion, assisting in the reduction of physical, social, economic, or structural barriers of underrepresented people. It was found that the sports-related literature in the design field is focused mainly on the physical dimension of products, rather than its capacity of fostering community and inclusion. For this purpose, the ongoing research has developed a field research protocol and a specialised toolkit, that will be applied to a series of bottom-up sports communities selected through a first mapping within the metropolitan area of [omitted for blind review]. Future research developments could lead to understanding how Service and Systemic Design may promote social inclusion and community growth through sports in urban spaces.
Featured Craftsdesign for Social Change: Drafting a Framework for Co-creation in Rural Places View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Dalia Sendra Rodriguez, Ana Margarida Ferreira
This paper presents the primary results of a research exercise deconstructing transdisciplinary models of intervention bringing social change, dynamization and positive impact into rural areas through crafts and design collaborations. The experiences analysed brought together designers, craftspeople, and local communities in a process of dialogue, collaboration and co-creation connections based on design methods, crafts heritage, land resources, and local knowledge. The tools used include a primary literature review and multiple case study design practice mapping and analysis. The qualitative research methods used allow us to study the connections between personal, social, organizational, cultural, and environmental factors. The case study methodology has been used to extract complexities and particularities. Data collected has been structured in the form of a comparative table of key elements to consider when designing innovative solutions such as collaborative methods, organizational models, creative processes, role played by crafts and design, and impact. The objective of this research exercise is to identify a framework that systematises those relevant elements and suggests potential trans-disciplinary approaches to follow to foster sustainable social innovation initiatives in rural areas through craftsdesign collaborations. The CraftsDesign Framework is expected to evolve into a collaborative toolkit to be tested, evaluated, and re-designed in simulated and real contexts through workshops. The findings resulting from the experience will inform the PhD research project conducted by the researcher entitled “Craftsdesign for entrepreneurship, social innovation, and sustainability” and aim to identify sustainable social innovation solutions based on the experience of design practice.
Designing for All in Context: Moving and Playing in the Mountains View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Octávia Chélsea Mota dos Santos, Eduardo Gonçalves, Ana Margarida Ferreira, Mariana Francês Silva Costa
Context technique, problem-based learning processes and the search for innovative and socially sustainable solutions were the foundation for the products and systems developed in project 2 of the Master in Industrial Design at the University of Beira Interior. These outcomes and the underlying challenges presented in this paper as case studies allowed a better understanding of the design process and the perception of the importance of teamwork, group discussions and individual reflection at each step of the way. Experimentation exercises by trial and error and rapid iteration with effective results, from research to production, show the reinforcement of creative skills, critical analysis of the environment and capacity for modelling and production under the inclusive perspective.These gained conceptual and operative resources, resulting from the proposed experiences and challenges, were explored in multiple layers of experience and scales of human interaction resulting in new inclusive and sustainable solutions for play and moving in the mountains. The outputs of the design process emerged from using endogenous resources, cultural practices, and accessible technologies as a strategy to foster a new outdoor lifestyle of conviviality, a nature-based balance and understanding and personal and social well-being in a unique and beautiful environment.
