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Architecture is never fixed: buildings and (urban) spaces change as their use(r)s and contexts change over time. Even when architectural projects receive recognition of their dynamic nature, it remains unclear how to deal with this during design processes. The need for sustainable building raises interest in this topic in architecture research. This interest converges with discourse on open design in other design fields. Work in human--computer interaction and industrial design engineering is generating more concrete design strategies that bring into view in design processes the dynamic with which artefacts become part of real (end-use) environments. Examples include open-ended design and open script design. We propose such strategies may enrich architectural education particularly in the face of the challenge to move towards a more sustainable architecture that changes meaningfully through time. In this article we explore the value of, and requirements for, teaching open design strategies in architectural education. In the context of a master course on actual topics in architecture we involved architectural engineering students as researchers to explore the value and applicability of these strategies in architectural design. Analysis of focus group interviews and students' intermediary and final coursework suggests that open design makes explicit a topic that is latently present to these students in their education. They perceive open design as having high societal relevance that will help them in their future practice to approach (design) problems (e.g., including environmental and social challenges) in new ways.

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.

Project boundaries force architects to work with resources that are insufficient to meet all possible interests, raising questions of distributive justice. In settler colonial contexts, these mingle with questions of restorative justice, prompted by demands to repatriate Indigenous land and life. To foreground how questions of justice arise and are engaged with in contemporary architectural practice, I explore recent work by LMN Architects, an interdisciplinary studio active in complex scenarios with many different interests. LMN is based in Seattle, an area Native Americans inhabited long before the first European settlers. Focusing on two projects in the area – the Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal and the Seattle Aquarium Ocean Pavilion – I analyse how LMN seeks ways to involve the Coast Salish tribal communities: from programming and design; over siting, spatial organisation, and integration of public art; to material selection, sourcing, and beyond. This analysis allows understanding the studio's attempts at 'giving back' in relation to their ambition to leverage a project's opportunities beyond the boundaries of its site. Throughout their work, LMN adopts expansive notions of who is affected – by extending whose interests to meet – and what resources to distribute – by reconsidering who is invited to contribute and how invitees may benefit from that contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In qualitative research, visual methods often entail engaging with images as the subject of analysis. Yet, images may be of value also as a means of analysis. This article reflects on this analytical value in relation to drawings. To this end, the authors explore drawings made by researchers in various phases of qualitative research. Drawings made 'in the margin' are put centre stage to better understand their role in data analysis. They allow revisiting situations; and they supplement the audio-to-text act of transcribing. Actively drawing involves and stimulates a sensory engagement with the phenomena under study and the data. Drawings furthermore play an important role in arranging and re-arranging concepts when formulating conclusions. Examples highlight how researchers may explicitly incorporate drawing in data analysis to harness the potential of a multisensory skill set and engage with transcribing in new ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of rehabilitation, research shows a close connection between patients' physical activity, care culture, and the built environment. As these three impact on patients' rehabilitation process, we aim to understand what affects physical activity in a particular rehabilitation centre. We combine insights from literature with a qualitative study informed by quantitative data. Semi-structured and walking interviews with 16 patients were informed by output from activity trackers. Two focus-group interviews with respectively four nurses and two therapists provided extra perspectives. We found that patients interpret physical activity rather narrowly, equating it with therapy. Yet, the data of the activity trackers show that daily activities are often as active as therapy, as confirmed by nurses and therapists. Motivation to be physically active was found in setting clear goals, social interaction, allowing choice and control to achieve a sense of normality, and the built environment. How patients act in and interact with the built environment are closely related to how staff approaches and communicates care. The focus on what affects – defines, hampers, or supports – physical activity in a rehabilitation centre allowed developing a better understanding of how care culture and the built environment interrelate. How physical activity is perceived by patients reflects the goals they like to achieve through rehabilitation. The built environment is a third factor in the relation between care culture and patients' physical activity. Fully supporting patients to be physically active with respect to their personality and capabilities requires differentiating between patients both in how they are approached (patient- or person-centred) and in how they are spatially facilitated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]