Careful Configurations: An Exploration Of Smart Technologies In More-Than-Human Innovation,
2026
New Design University, Austria;
Loughborough University London, United Kingdom
Careful Configurations: An Exploration Of Smart Technologies In More-Than-Human Innovation, Ruth Neubauer, Verena Fuchsberger
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Smart technologies promise efficiency and sustainability, yet their intelligence remains narrow – confined to optimising isolated human needs rather than nurturing the wider ecologies in which lives unfold. This paper explores how design may shift from smart technologies to more careful configurations: systems that participate in human–material–environmental relations rather than merely processing data. Drawing on Barad’s framework of intra-action, we reimagine technological innovation as distributed and relational. Through a series of eco-social prototypes – from modular heating and communal hydration to wooden fridges and moss bathrooms – the paper demonstrates how care, reciprocity and participation may re-enter the logic of …
Mapping Agents: A Fab City Full Stack Geospatial Framework For Interdependent, Community-Led Interventions,
2026
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile;
Fab City Foundation;
Tongji University
Mapping Agents: A Fab City Full Stack Geospatial Framework For Interdependent, Community-Led Interventions, Tomas Vivanco, Tomas Diez
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This article explores mapping as an experimental design practice that emerges from the intersection of ecosystems, technologies, and communities. Grounded in the Powers of Ten model and the Fab City Full Stack framework, our approach combines multi-scale observation- ranging from local infrastructures to bioregional systems- to capture ecological, material, and social data that reveal the interdependencies shaping territories. The work focuses on detecting weak signals of hyperlocal phenomena, often overlooked shifts in ecological or social systems, that can guide an iterative prototyping process. In this way, mapping becomes a generative act, tracing connections between citizens' behaviors, environmental conditions, and material …
Unstructuring Data, Activating Dialogue: How Situated Knowledges Shape Participatory Systemic Design Practices,
2026
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Unstructuring Data, Activating Dialogue: How Situated Knowledges Shape Participatory Systemic Design Practices, Asja Aulisio, Amina Pereno, Martina Spinelli
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper explores the role of data within participatory systemic design, focusing on how structured and unstructured data influence participation, sensemaking, and representation. Through three interconnected applications, the research examines how systems’ visual representations function as boundary objects that enable dialogue, trust, and shared understanding among diverse actors. Drawing on the concept of unstructuring data, the paper discusses how transforming data from fixed, expert-driven artefacts into open, evolving representations fosters inclusivity and reflexivity in design processes. The findings highlight that structured data support decision-making in well-defined contexts, whereas unstructured data stimulate exploration and collective learning in complex or fragile territories. …
Youth As Cultural Agents: Facilitating Cultural And Civic Engagement Through Game Design,
2026
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands
Youth As Cultural Agents: Facilitating Cultural And Civic Engagement Through Game Design, Carlo De Gaetano, Maarten Groen, Sabine Niederer, Susannah Montgomery
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper analyzes four Cultural Game Jams (CGJs) in the Netherlands, conducted within EPIC-WE, a European project exploring how game-making can become a tool for both cultural reflection and dialogue between youth and cultural, educational and creative stakeholders. The jams connected cultural heritage organisations, creative industries, higher education, and young people (15–25) in a Quadruple Helix framework. Across two years, youths designed games that addressed societal issues, cultural heritage, and European values, while their roles evolved from participants to members of a Youth Advisory Board acting as co-designers, research contributors, and co-facilitators. Through cross-case analysis of jam formats, game outcomes, …
Enframing Creativity: Speculations On Design Education's Transformations In The Age Of Generative Ai,
2026
Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Enframing Creativity: Speculations On Design Education's Transformations In The Age Of Generative Ai, Alireza Sharifi, Michael Hohl, Fredrik Skatar
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The rapid advancement of AI technologies necessitates a shift from reactive adoption to speculative inquiry into long-term consequences for educational systems. Grounded in Martin Heidegger's "The Question Concerning Technology," this research examines the epistemology of AI in design education. Methodologically, it employs speculative futurology, integrating speculative design, critical design, and scenario planning to explore possible futures, culminating in a philosophical mapping framework based on Heidegger's critical stance. The findings reveal a critical temporal mismatch between rapid AI capability growth and slower educational adaptation, creating urgency for human-centered frameworks. The research concludes that design education's future depends on consciously cultivating Critical …
Designing Knowledge Otherwise: The Bembo Officina Editoriale As A Case For Alternative Academic Publishing,
2026
Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy
Designing Knowledge Otherwise: The Bembo Officina Editoriale As A Case For Alternative Academic Publishing, Raimonda Riccini, Simone Spagnol, Giampiero Dalai, Stefania D'Eri, Manuel Zanettin, Giovanni Borga, Luciano Perondi
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper presents Bembo Officina Editoriale (BOE) as a design-research experiment addressing the epistemological, ethical, and technical tensions in contemporary scientific publishing. BOE develops an open-source, automated editorial workflow—based on Markdown–Python pipelines—to generate fully editable InDesign outputs, reducing production costs and enabling accessibility without compromising design quality. Rooted in a non-profit academic framework, the model reclaims editorial autonomy while resisting the inequities of commercial open-access models based on Article Processing Charges. BOE thus proposes an alternative publishing infrastructure where automation sustains pluralism and transparency. The contribution situates this approach within a critical reflection on the historical continuity between typographic rationalization …
Plant Biographies: Expanding More-Than-Human Modes Of Relating,
2026
Design Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Plant Biographies: Expanding More-Than-Human Modes Of Relating, Keili Koppel, Larissa Pschetz, Michelle Bastian, Antje Ahrends
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The term “plant awareness disparity” describes a tendency to overlook plants in the environment leading us to underestimate their significance in ecological systems. In this paper, we explore plant biographies as a participatory narrative method that aims to leverage new modes of relating to plants. The method consists of introducing people to the history of seasonal changes experienced by the plant, inviting them to locate and attune to its present condition, and finally writing a short biography about the plant. The interaction was tested with visitors of a botanic garden, who were invited to engage with two individual Rhododendron plants, …
Reimagining Id Education With Ai: Perceptions, Practices, And Pedagogical Implications Of Ai Adoption,
2026
North Carolina State University, United States of America
Reimagining Id Education With Ai: Perceptions, Practices, And Pedagogical Implications Of Ai Adoption, Yuanqing Tian, Byungsoo Kim
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This study investigates how Industrial Design (ID) programs can effectively adopt and integrate Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen-AI) into curricula, while respecting the well-established ID workflow and preserving the core ID values of originality and creativity. Through multi-perspective qualitative research (including 7 ID faculty members, 6 industry professionals, and over 70 ID students), this study maps current AI tools, roles, and use cases within the ID workflow, identifies key pedagogical challenges, and proposes strategies that bridge foundational design traditions with emerging AI opportunities. Findings introduces a progressive learning trajectory, supported by innovative teaching practices that cultivate an AI-collaborative design mindset. By …
Crafting Savage Futures: Translanguaging And The Material Politics Of Peripheral Making,
2026
University of Vale dos Sinos, Brazil
Crafting Savage Futures: Translanguaging And The Material Politics Of Peripheral Making, Guilherme Meyer, Seher Mirza, Raees Calafato
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Dominant paradigms have confined imaginaries to narrow, hegemonic narratives, severing them from plural, relational, and non-domesticated possibilities. This paper challenges monolithic views of language and material craft by offering a transformative lens on cultural and linguistic dynamism within design research and practice. Drawing on “savage” futures (Lévi-Strauss, 1966) and “translanguaging” (Lee, 2015; García & Kleifgen, 2020), we highlight the situated creative practices of peripheral craft makers as mediums for multilingual storytelling, identity negotiation, and speculative futures. Translanguaging extends beyond language, involving embodied, material, and affective communication as non-hierarchical resources for collective worlding and shared meaning-making. Through participatory craft projects in …
Mediating Heritage Through Design: Participatory Approaches To Post-Digital Transformation,
2026
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Mediating Heritage Through Design: Participatory Approaches To Post-Digital Transformation, Lorenzo Barberis, Lorenzo Arena, Vlasios Kasapakis, Viktor Malakuczi, Ioannis Chatziannakis
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This research explores how design mediates the digital transformation of cultural heritage through hybrid and multisensory installations in archaeological contexts. Using the Case Romane del Celio in Rome as a pilot site for the European project HeritAdapt, it aims to redistribute visitor flows and promote sustainable tourism by enhancing the intangible value of minor sites. The study contributes to the post-digital museology debate by framing design as a critical, participatory practice operating across physical and virtual dimensions, fostering collaboration among engineering, management and restoration. Combining Service Design, Extended Reality and Artificial Intelligence technologies, qualitative research and iterative prototyping guided the …
The Role Of Participatory Architecture In Urban Transition,
2026
Lancaster University, United Kingdom
The Role Of Participatory Architecture In Urban Transition, Mirian Calvo, Carmen Fabregat-Nodar
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In response to escalating socio-environmental challenges, transformative approaches in architectural design are crucial for facilitating urban transitions. Conventional adaptation strategies, prioritising density and digital integration, often fail to address the multifaceted crises facing modern urban contexts. Participatory architecture offers a shift towards socially engaged practices, fostering innovation and sustainable adaptation by creating spaces of disruption. This study evaluates projects in Colombia, Spain, Senegal, and the UK using our tailored/expanded deep adaptation framework through four components— resilience, relinquishment, restoration, and reconciliation. Our findings reveal that participatory architecture can enable communities to transform vulnerabilities into actionable interventions for sustainable development and transitions. …
Material Articulation: Toward An Ornamental Thinking In Digital Tectonics,
2026
Materiability Research Group, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Dessau, Germany
Material Articulation: Toward An Ornamental Thinking In Digital Tectonics, Ali Etemadi Esfarjani, Manuel Kretzer
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This research explores ornament as a form of material intelligence in large-scale additive manufacturing. Through the evolution of two design case studies, this paper investigates how micro-scale design articulation evolves from surface tectonics to the traces of the machine’s toolpath and material behaviour. One reveals itself as an organic, agent-based, data-informed modulation. The other integrates a woven toolpath strategy that transforms 3D printing into a spatial composition. Considering ornament not only as an aesthetic element but as a manifestation of process creates a dialogue between matter, performance, and application. With the help of computational design and data, this intervention expands …
Data And Power: A Tool For Designing Data Visualisations From A Feminist Perspective,
2026
Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Brazil
Data And Power: A Tool For Designing Data Visualisations From A Feminist Perspective, Bianca Novais Queiroz, Virgínia Tiradentes Souto
DRS Biennial Conference Series
The production of knowledge in data visualisation can serve as a space for the reproduction of social hierarchies; therefore, there may be an intrinsic relationship between normative parameters in design and power structures. This study examines normative biases in information design and presents counterpoints to the predominance of these hegemonic values from a feminist perspective. Drawing on a theoretical framework that challenges established norms, this paper proposes a critical analytical and methodological tool to transcend normative bias in the design process. The tool supports the analysis and creation of visualisations from a humanistic and feminist perspective. To validate its potential, …
Public Dialogues: A Citizen Participation Platform For Adaptive Deliberation,
2026
The Hague University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Public Dialogues: A Citizen Participation Platform For Adaptive Deliberation, Arnold-Jan Quanjer, Nazanin Karimi, Jos P. Van Leeuwen
DRS Biennial Conference Series
This paper presents a practice-based approach to designing a platform for creative and deliberative citizen participation, grounded in observations of how people deliberate face-to-face. Insights from these observations informed the design, enabling the platform to mirror and extend in-person dynamics. Because deliberative processes are diverse and serve multiple purposes, taking them online requires a modular architecture, diverse deliberation tools, and flexible moderation. Participation processes also evolve during execution, so the platform was designed for adaptability, allowing moderators to respond to emerging dynamics and changing needs. The paper discusses and evaluates several practical cases demonstrating the platform’s application. Finally, it reflects …
Between Assistance And Autonomy: The Home As A Field For Inclusive Design,
2026
CNAM, France
Between Assistance And Autonomy: The Home As A Field For Inclusive Design, Eloïse Ravet
DRS Biennial Conference Series
As new forms of bodily vulnerability emerge, personal objects play a crucial role in preserving identity and protecting everyday routines. In the context of home care, the domestic environment becomes a site of ongoing adjustment, where objects are assessed and modified in response to changing physical abilities. This paper proposes a reflection on the potential of inclusive design when applied to the home environment, and its role in supporting ageing at home. Drawing on observations of domestic situations and interviews conducted with residents and healthcare professionals, we aim to reveal the tension between assistance and autonomy, between the adaptability of …
Designing With And Through Care: From Empathy To Relational Accountability,
2026
Università della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Italy
Designing With And Through Care: From Empathy To Relational Accountability, Ibtissam Jayed, Valentina Sorvillo
DRS Biennial Conference Series
In contemporary design practice, care risks becoming an imperative that obscures asymmetric power relations. This paper interrogates the relationship between design and care, asking: how can design shift from producing solutions to cultivating relations of care without reproducing paternalistic logics? Through a comparative analysis of case studies through the lenses of knowing, making, and defining with care, we treat caring about, caring for, and caring with as simultaneous and co-present dimensions to examine how care operates within design processes. The analysis identifies a structural pattern: while caring about and caring for are compatible with existing design logics, caring with encounters …
Boundary Objects For Systemic Insight: Relational And Embodied Systemic Co-Design Case Studies,
2026
Inholland University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands
Boundary Objects For Systemic Insight: Relational And Embodied Systemic Co-Design Case Studies, Laura Niño Caceres, Sietske Klooster, Caroline Hummels, Wina Smeenk
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Relational negotiation, contextual adaptation, and reflective exchanges between designers and non‑designers are central to how boundary objects shape knowledge creation and systemic insight in Systemic Co‑Design (SCD). Drawing on the ESCollab publication, this study examines two embodied SCD cases, the MelkSalon and the Co‑Design Canvas, which foreground sensory, experiential, and artefact‑based engagement. Using systems thinking, Relevance Theory, Aristotelian rhetoric, and affordance theory as lenses, we analyse how these boundary objects mediate boundary framing between designers and non‑designers. Findings indicate that boundary objects are most effective when grounded in contextual and cultural realities, fostering emotional engagement, trust, and adaptive participation to …
Care-Ful Sensemaking: Co-Mapping Lived Experiences And Biases In Hormonal Self-Management Tools,
2026
University of Twente, The Netherlands
Care-Ful Sensemaking: Co-Mapping Lived Experiences And Biases In Hormonal Self-Management Tools, Roberta Antognini, Francesca Toso, Cristina Zaga, Mascha Van Der Voort
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Self-management technologies help patients manage their health and improve autonomy by tracking biomedical data. For people with hormonal chronic conditions, these tools clarify complex, fluctuating symptoms. These technologies often rely on clinical data, overlooking the complexity and context of lived experiences, risking continued healthcare bias. This paper explores the lived experiences of people with chronic hormonal illness through a feminist ethics of care perspective. In collaborative sensemaking workshops, we unveiled how social and political contexts shape these experiences, the implicit politics of what data is valued (and what is not), and the socio-technical framing of self-management tools. Examining the intersections …
Occupying The Sensors: Underwater Sound In An Urban River,
2026
Northeastern University, United States of America
Occupying The Sensors: Underwater Sound In An Urban River, Sebastian Gonzalez Quintero, Dietmar Offenhuber
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Although underwater soundscapes of urban rivers are understudied, they can reveal urban and biological processes across multiple scales. We present a case study of the Charles River’s underwater soundscapes in Boston, Massachusetts. We approach underwater acoustic sensing as a method to attune to infrastructural, non-human, and environmental dynamics. Given that water is an ideal medium for sound propagation, the river becomes a magnifier for ignored aspects of the city, such as the urban infrastructure’s impact on the river's soundscape or aquatic fauna activity. In the sensing process, the river’s underwater environment becomes a space where human, more-than-human, environmental, and infrastructural …
From Matter To Method: Situated And Relational Approaches Through Geothermal Clays,
2026
Aalto University, Finland
From Matter To Method: Situated And Relational Approaches Through Geothermal Clays, Alejandra Vera
DRS Biennial Conference Series
Working with natural materials can open space for exploratory forms of inquiry. This paper examines how nature influences our approaches to artistic practice and research. Through the frameworks of introspective methodologies and posthumanism, this study examines a case of Icelandic geothermal clays to reflect on possible methodological approaches within artistic research. The author’s ceramic practice serves to trace the processes of developing artworks with natural materials. The acts of collecting, testing, and designing with geothermal clays become both a creative and an epistemic endeavour, a way of thinking with and through materials. Artistic practice emerges as a form of inquiry …
