PARTICIPATORY design for sustainable community development. Case Study; A dates-pack-house in the Egyptian Western Desert

Over recent years, participatory design processes have been gaining momentum in the architecture field. This research analyzes the past experiences of the participatory design processes from literature and case studies to apply it on an ongoing sustainable development initiative for creating a dates pack-house in the Western Desert Oasis of El-Heiz. The aim of the development project of the dates pack-house at El-Heiz is to help achieve a more sustainable community economy. The research is done through understanding past intervention in the area, mapping the whole participatory design process (while being a design participant) in its various stages, and finally analyzing the outcomes. The methodology for mapping the process entails qualitative and quantitative assessments by being a participant observer documenting the whole process through observation, interviews, participatory action research and gathering numerical data. The project applies a triple bottom line sustainability analysis, and a critical assessment of the practicality of the building design for the operational process. This includes users’ feedback, modifications performed on the building, and the community impact. The study specifically answers questions -and raises others- about participatory design approach in architecture, while analyzing the potential of architecture in creating sustainable community economies in Egypt, especially through participatory design processes. This thesis also seeks to offer some recommendations for participatory sustainable design of community based commercial facilities

The Place of Play

Increasingly, technology is at stake in toys, games and playing. With the immense popularity of computer games, questions concerning the role and function of technology in play have become more pressing. A key aspect of the increasing technologization and digitalization of both toys and play is the vagueness of borders between producers, consumers and players. In these so-called participatory cultures, players do not simply play with toys designed behind closed doors but become co-designers. This book takes a critical look at the advantages and disadvantages of participatory cultures and places the changing world of toys, games and playing in a historical context. Contrary to many New Media and computer game studies, this book takes the historical background of these phenomena into account by situating the changing world of play in the context of the social and cultural processes of commodification, domestication and urbanization from the 1850s to the present

Modernising Furniture: Four Melbourne Designers 1946-60

This thesis seeks to address the work of Australian mid-century modern furniture designers, focusing on four Melbourne-based designers, from 1946-60. Melbourne was a creative centre during this fourteen-year period, with some of the best-known modern Australian artists and designers working out of the city. This thesis will examine the furniture designed by Fred Ward (1900-1990), Fred Lowen (1919-2005), Grant Featherston (1922-1995), and Clement Meadmore (1929-2005), during this time, and will answer the question of how international design as well as Australian post-war aesthetics and society were manifested through their furniture. There has yet to be a definitive account written of the work these designers produced in the post-war era, and how Melbourne as a city responded to the emerging modernism of these designers. This thesis seeks to address this gap. It will also explore the craftsmanship of the designers, the materials and production techniques used, and the styling and marketing of the furniture. It will be shown that the majority of the furniture produced by these designers sold in large quantities and was used extensively throughout Melbourne and other cities. It will also examine the legacy of mid-century modern furniture and its resurgence in popularity in recent years

Energise Living Labs Workshop Report : Deliverable 3.3

This report presents the discussions and outcomes of ENERGISE Living Labs workshop. The aim of the workshop was the co-creation and co-design of the ELLs with stakeholders that represent business and the public sector, including several organisations supporting local ELL implementation, in order to ensure the incorporation of as diverse as possible views in the design of the ELLs. The workshop was a key event in the design of the ELLs, therefore influencing the implementation of the ENERGISE project’s main task, the ELLs. A special focus in this report is on three questions that were the main topics of three co-creation sessions in the workshop: what will be tested in the ELLs, how to understand practices and their contexts and how to evaluate the sustainability of the ELLs. The valuable input from the expert panel members and other stakeholders feeds in the deliverables D3.4 (ENERGISE Living Labs intervention and engagement guidebook) and D3.5 (ENERGISE Living Lab evaluation and assessment manual) to be finalised after the workshop, as well as to the implementation and monitoring of the ELLs

A sensitising tool for smart home designers: Based on user-oriented product design research into the home life of older adults in the UK

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Focusing on the needs of users, design can leverage new product development process by offering insightful knowledge of those needs. This research investigates the technology development of smart homes. Design is utilised as a product research tool to identify key insights of the home life of the older adults living in the UK, and for the purpose of informing the front-end of the new product development process. The review of the literature in the field of smart homes suggests that the developments have lagged by a technology-push approach, the lack of appropriate concepts from users’ perspectives as well as the lack of development strategy, which has consequently been reflected in consumers’ reluctance towards smart homes. As a result, this doctoral research aimed to ‘develop a user-oriented product design research tool that improves the understanding of the home life of older adults.’ To achieve the aim, this research employs qualitative methodology to develop a research process that utilises the cultural probe, semi-structured interview and video tour. Informed by ethnographic tradition, this research establishes its trustworthiness and credibility by employing a thorough process of analysis (qualitative analysis with computer-assisted software NVivo 8 and peers debriefing) and evaluation (creative workshop and evaluative interview) with practitioners from the field of product design, design management and design education. The result of the field investigation is presented as ten personas and taxonomy of nodes, which form the contribution of this research, a sensitising tool and process. This research contributes a sensitising tool - a design-led, user-inspired and participatory product design research that the offers insightful knowledge of those older adults and their relationships with their homes living in the UK. This sensitising tool is developed for the smart home designers for the purpose of generating new product ideas and challenges designers’ preconception of users and smart homes, and provokes reflections on the practices of user-centred and user-participatory design, as examined in the creative workshop. In addition, this research also contributes to the growing debate surrounding the issues relating to ethnographic user research and the use of cultural probe for the design of new smart homes