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While the importance of appropriate mental health care for young people is increasingly acknowledged, the role of the built environment in this context receives little attention. We investigate this role in how children and teenagers experience care at a child psychiatric center. We interviewed them, their parents and caregivers using methods that addressed the young people’s lifeworld and that introduced a spatial dimension. The participants perceive the organically shaped building as a secure base that helps reduce their prejudices against mental health care and that affects their willingness to stay. They especially appreciate places where security is well-balanced with autonomy. A privacy gradient allows retreating and exploring, although the preferred balance and gradient differ among children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architectural design as collaborative practice relies on using representational artefacts. However, these artefacts and their use are prone to a visual bias, which may pose problems in co-designing with vision impaired people. This article studies how we can develop representational artefacts to support a discussion between architects and blind people, and how these artefacts mediate the discussion. We performed a 3-month focussed ethnography using participant observation in an architectural design firm involved in a competition design. In agreement with the architects, we introduced two blind persons as user/expert at distinct moments. Together, we developed and tested visuo-haptic design representations. We analyse how these representations were conceived and used. We first discuss how the representations perceptually and cognitively support verbal and gestural communication. Secondly, we explain why, after having analysed their use in a design meeting, we move from the term 'tactile model' to 'visuo-haptic model'. And thirdly, we discuss how the ownership of the models shifts and how that relates to the ownership of the design. To conclude, visuo-haptic design representations can support aspects of co-design with blind people, but raise further questions regarding the role of representation in co-design in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Architects use scenario-based design (SBD) to design for diversity, employing instruments like personas and scenarios. The development and use of personas has been subject to debate; these instruments are critiqued for missing either rigour or heart. We contribute to this debate through a reflective case-study on what personas did in the process of designing a care facility. We examine a yearlong collaboration between architectural researchers and a youth care organisation. Next to our own perspective as researchers, the analysis considers that of the end-users (children/youth and staff), the client, and the architects. Our exploration of different perspectives shows that personas – their aspects and situations – must be recognisable beyond mere representation. While initially influential, the personas seemed less capable of steering design propositions beyond current use. Insight into how these instruments (and SBD in general) affect stakeholders’ involvement and the design process can shift discussions about rigour and heart, balancing what is important in development and usage. Rigour and heart, in this context, do not exclude one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing complexity of architectural practice presents a challenge to transferring knowledge from use to design contexts, leaving attending to user experience an implicit design dimension. An ethnographic study in three firms sheds light on how knowledge about user experience – unpacked into facets of perception, activity and meaning – is embedded in architectural practice. It offers insight into the fragile nature of knowledge about user experience, as it is largely contingent, implicit and essentially person-bound. Mapping how this knowledge is mediated by the socio-material environment of design practice allows identifying challenges and leads to knowledge transfer. It highlights the coupling of narratives and materials as a design-oriented way to unlock embodied knowledge, so as to support architects in addressing user experience. • Architects' knowing about users is largely contingent, implicit and person-bound. • User experience in architecture entails how a space feels, works and what it means. • The socio-material context of design mediates knowledge about user experience. • The complexity of design processes challenges knowledge transfer. • Materialising narrative is a design-oriented way to support architects' knowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the very aim of designing living environments for people, the perspectives of the end users are underrepresented in architectural design processes. Architects are expected to address the challenges of a diverse and ageing society but, due to increasingly complex design processes, they often have limited access to the perspectives of those they are designing for. This study aims to bring people's spatial experience to the foreground in architects' design processes, by turning to techniques developed by related design disciplines. More precisely, it analyses the potential of scenario-based design, a family of techniques for exploring user experience in design, which architects are largely unfamiliar with. Based on elements like personas, scenarios, and user journeys, a scenario-based design approach tailored to architectural design's particularities was developed. Test workshops were conducted in two architecture firms involved in designing residential care projects, and findings were discussed with an expert panel. Findings illustrate how these workshops offered architects insight into user profiles and themes, facilitated exploring and diversifying potential futures during design development, and supported communication with team members and the client. Additional opportunities and challenges are identified, which can advance the development of an integrated approach to support architects in designing human-centred environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A major barrier to designing inclusive built environments is inherent to the very idea of inclusive design: this idea prescribes designing environments that address the needs of the widest possible audience in order to consider human differences, yet taking differences seriously may imply severely restricting 'the widest possible audience'. Inclusive design thus faces a paradox that is naturally connected with a question of justice. In confronting this paradox, we are investigating to what extent the theory of justice as fairness may apply to design. According to this theory, whether a design allows for equitable use is to be deliberated by users under a veil of ignorance concerning their own capacities or limitations. Since this can hardly apply to single artefacts, the social distribution of usability seems the proper domain of fairness in design. Under this reading, differences in usability are acceptable if overall usability for the 'worst o ff is maximized. What this means for built environment design is explored in this article: how to understand usability, how to distribute it socially, and how to identify the 'worst o ff in this context? In considering these questions, we seek to contribute to strengthening the theoretical basis of inclusive design, while offering built environment professionals a hold in confronting its paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We explored the concept of design quality in relation to healthcare environments. In addition, we present a taxonomy that illustrates the wide range of terms used in connection with design quality in healthcare. Background: High-quality physical environments can promote health and well-being. Developments in healthcare technology and methodology put high demands on the design quality of care environments, coupled with increasing expectations and demands from patients and staff that care environments be person centered, welcoming, and accessible while also supporting privacy and security. In addition, there are demands that decisions about the design of healthcare architecture be based on the best available information from credible research and the evaluation of existing building projects. Method: The basic principles of Arksey and O’Malley’s model of scoping review design were used. Data were derived from literature searches in scientific databases. A total of 18 articles and books were found that referred to design quality in a healthcare context. Results: Design quality of physical healthcare environments involves three different themes: (i) environmental sustainability and ecological values, (ii) social and cultural interactions and values, and (iii) resilience of the engineering and building construction. Design quality was clarified herein with a definition. Conclusions: Awareness of what is considered design quality in relation to healthcare architecture could help to design healthcare environments based on evidence. To operationalize the concept, its definition must be clear and explicit and able to meet the complex needs of the stakeholders in a healthcare context, including patients, staff, and significant others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Well-considered building codes turn out to be insufficient to ensure inclusive building design, suggesting a need for change in how building accessibility is addressed in architectural design practice. This article presents Rent-a-Spatialist, an attempt at socially innovating architectural design practice based on the skills of disabled people. Due to their particular interaction with the built environment, disabled people are able to appreciate spatial qualities architects may not be attuned to, which would contribute to a more inclusive built environment. Because this ability is rarely used in architectural design practice, and disabled people have a vulnerable position on the job market, we explored the potential of mobilising disability experience as a consultancy service to inform architectural design practice, which connects improving material conditions with improving social relations. To this end we probed the interest in such a service by interviewing 34 built environment professionals involved in building design and construction or exploitation in Belgium or the Netherlands. In addition, seven disabled people and 12 HR experts specialised in workforce diversity were interviewed about the potential of the envisaged service. Findings suggest that the service could strengthen disabled people's position on the job market by enabling them to gain work experience. However, efforts are needed to convince built environment professionals of its added value, and to clarify issues related to disabled people's employee status. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The built environment is increasingly recognized to influence people and their well-being. The related concept of Healing Environment is adopted by the Maggie’s Centres, which provide psychosocial cancer support in the UK. Outstanding architecture, stated to have the power to uplift people, is an inherent part of the programme. This paper investigates the meaning of Healing Environment in design practice. In-depth interviews with five designers of different Maggie’s Centres provide insight into their perspective. The study reveals particularities of the design process, such as a close collaboration with the client-expert. Furthermore, it identifies common design themes designers associated with Healing Environment, such as nature, spatial experience, domesticity, and privacy. Finally, a focus group interview with users of the Dundee Maggie’s Centre augments the discussion on how architecture can contribute to well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Through their bodily interaction with the designed environment, disabled people can detect obstacles and appreciate spatial qualities architects may not be attuned to. While designers in several disciplines acknowledge disabled people as lead or critical users, in architectural practice their embodied experience is hardly recognized as a valuable resource for design. In this article, we therefore investigate what professional architects could learn from disabled people. To this end, the article reports on a field study, set up to explore ways of mobilizing disabled people's embodied experience to inform architectural practice. Analysis of the field study's outcome suggests that mobilizing this experience does not only add nuance to the existing accessibility standards, but also offers architects rich insights into building qualities that surpass these standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the study of an architect who designs in the absence of sight, we question to what extent prevailing notions of design may be complemented with alternative articulations. In doing so, we point to the cognitivist understanding of human cognition underlying design researchers' strong attention to ‘visual thinking’, and contrast this with more situated understandings of human cognition. The ontological and epistemological differences between both raise questions about how design research is produced, and consequently what design can also be. By accounting for how a blind architect re-articulates prevailing notions of design, we invite researchers to keep the discussion open and call for an ontological and epistemological re-articulation in design research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In analysing parallels between sustainable and inclusive design, the paper investigates reasons for architects' disappointing uptake of these approaches so far. A common reason seems to be the lack of knowledge that has the applicability required by architectural practice. Researchers produce knowledge on why and how we should accomplish more sustainable practices in building, which rarely filters down to practising architects. Vice versa, the knowledge developed through architects' design experiences rarely feeds back into academic research. Moreover, in the case of inclusive design, the user side represents a valuable body of knowledge as well: through their specific interaction with buildings/spaces, users with disabilities appreciate qualities and detect misfits most architects are unaware of. If the uptake of sustainability and inclusiveness in architecture is to be improved, the major challenge thus seems less a need to generate more knowledge than a need to make more effective use of what is already available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the intrinsic complexity of integrating individual, social and technologically supported intelligence, the paper proposes a relatively simple ‘connectionist’ framework for conceptualizing distributed cognitive systems. Shared information sources (documents) are represented as nodes connected by links of variable strength, which increases as the documents co-occur in the usage patterns. This learning procedure captures and exploits its users’ implicit knowledge to help them find relevant information, thus supporting an unconscious form of exchange. These principles are applied to a concrete problem domain: architects sharing design knowledge through a database of associatively connected building projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning is increasingly considered as a principal driver of innovation. In architecture, however, several barriers have stood in the way of widespread learning initiatives so far. A major obstacle seems to be architects' idea that it is best not to be influenced by others, which leads to a fundamental hostility towards learning. In an attempt to overcome this obstacle, a Dynamic Architectural Memory On-line (DYNAMO) has been developed to stimulate and support architects in learning from others' building projects. On the one hand, DYNAMO is firmly rooted in Dynamic Memory Theory, which explains how architects (and others) learn from previous design experiences. On the other hand, DYNAMO builds on the observation that knowledge in the building industry is not primarily textual, but wielded in more varied and more visual ways. The ultimate aim is to initiate a change in mentality by providing young architects with a vehicle to catalyse learning at multiple levels – between building projects; between individual professionals and firms; and between the building industry and academia.L'acquisition de connaissances est de plus en plus considérée comme l'un des principaux moteurs de l'innovation. En architecture, toutefois, plusieurs obstacles se sont dressés, jusqu'à présent, à des initiatives d'acquisition des connaissances de grande envergure. L'un des principaux obstacles vient du fait que les architectes pensent qu'il est préférable de ne pas être influencé par d'autres, ce qui conduit à une hostilité fondamentale envers l'acquisition de connaissances. Pour essayer de surmonter cet obstacle, on a développé le programme DYNAMO (mémoire architecturale dynamique en ligne) afin de stimuler et d'aider les architectes à tirer des enseignements d'autres projets de construction. D'une part, DYNAMO s'inscrit dans la théorie de la mémoire dynamique qui explique comment les architectes (et d'autres) peuvent tirer des enseignements d'expériences de conception précédentes. D'autre part, DYNAMO s'appuie sur le fait que dans l'industrie de la construction, la connaissance n'est pas fondamentalement textuelle mais s'exprime de façons plus variées et plus visuelles. L'objectif ultime est de déclencher un changement de mentalité en proposant aux jeunes architectes un moyen leur permettant de catalyser l'acquisition de connaissances à des niveaux multiples, entre projets de construction, entre professionnels et entreprises et entre l'industrie de la construction et le monde universitaire.Mots-clés: architectes, outils d'information, saisie de la connaissance, échange de connaissances, acquisition de connaissances, soutien à l'acquisition de connaissances, apprentissage organisationnel, pratiques professionnelles [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the role of cases in architectural design from the perspectives of design researchers, practicing and student-architects, design teachers and technology developers. Overview of case-based reasoning and its application to the task of design; Case-based design tools for architecture; Evaluation of Dynamic Architectural Memory On-Line.

Design-use relations are complex: architects influence social outcomes through design without having control over them. Making this complexity explicit during design is important, but difficult. Promising is work on human-technology relations in science and technology studies (STS) and philosophy of technology. With an eye to connecting this theoretical work to design practice, we study what architects already do: how design-use complexities figure during design processes and how architects deal with them. Based on a case study of the design competition for a new media building, we show two lines of reasoning in architects' anticipation of use: specificity and openness. In doing so, we aim to provide insight into when, where and why they can benefit from STS and philosophical theory. - Anticipating use entails a continuous testing of solutions between specificity and openness. - To foster particular social outcomes architects develop specificity into their designs. - To deal with the unpredictability of use architects aim to create open designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human values and social issues shape visions on dwelling and care for older people, a growing number of whom live in residential care facilities. These facilities' architectural design is considered to play an important role in realizing care visions. This role, however, has received little attention in research. This article presents a case study of a residential care facility for which the architects made considerable effort to match the design with the care vision. The study offers insights into residents' and caregivers' experiences of, respectively, living and working in this facility, and the role of architectural features therein. A single qualitative case study design was used to provide in-depth, contextual insights. The methods include semi-structured interviews with residents and caregivers, and participant observation. Data concerning design intentions, assumptions and strategies were obtained from design documents, through a semi-structured interview with the architects, and observations on site. Our analysis underlines the importance of freedom (and especially freedom of movement), and the balance between experiencing freedom and being bound to a social and physical framework. It shows the architecture features that can have a role therein: small-scaleness in terms of number of residents per dwelling unit, size and compactness; spatial generosity in terms of surface area, room to maneuver and variety of places; and physical accessibility. Our study challenges the idea of family-like group living. Since we found limited sense of group belonging amongst residents, our findings suggest to rethink residential care facilities in terms of private or collective living in order to address residents' social freedom of movement. Caregivers associated ‘hominess’ with freedom of movement, action and choice, with favorable social dynamics and with the building's residential character. Being perceived as homey, the facility's architectural design matches caregivers' care vision and, thus, helped them realizing this vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DYNAMO (Dynamic Architectural Memory Online) is an interactive platform to share ideas, knowledge and insights in the form of concrete building projects among designers in different contexts and at different levels of expertise. Interaction with various user groups revealed two major thresholds: submitting project material to the platform takes time, effort, and specific skills; in addition, designers tend to sense a psychological threshold to share their ideas and insights with others. In response to this 'free-ridership', the paper proposes to conceive DYNAMO as an associative network of projects, and develops ideas about how the links in this network can be determined and updated by exploiting insights implicitly available in project documentation and user (inter)actions. This should allow DYNAMO to learn from the insights of all designers using the platform, active contributors and 'free-riders' alike, without any awareness on their side and to apply these insights to continuously enhance its performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]