Debate: does user involvement create better designs? Date: 27 February 2017 Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm Location: Future Cities Catapult Speakers: Robert Sakula, partner, Ash Sakula Kyle Buchanan, director, Archio Dieter Kleiner, director, RCKa Carolina Caicedo, The Decorators Does participatory design lead to better buildings? How and why do architects benefit from a close collaboration with users during the design process? The third event in our Architecture and Citizenship season takes the format of a debate to understand whether getting the users involved results in better designs. On one hand, co-design allows a wide range of people affected by a particular design challenge to make a creative contribution in shaping the solution of a problem. On the other hand, a large number of participants involved might make the design process much more complicated and difficult to manage, often with limited benefits. This talk aims to understand what tools are available to architects to facilitate co-design processes, and what might be the potential obstacles as well as rewards. We will hear from four speakers who will each present their case for a more critical engagement with the users in the design process to understand how participation impacts the current practice in the built environment industry. |