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Scaffolding Transition Pathways: Integrating Ses Resilience As A Dialogic Tool For Community-Based Co-Design, Jiarong Hu, Angus Donald Campbell, Gabriela Baron Jun 2026

Scaffolding Transition Pathways: Integrating Ses Resilience As A Dialogic Tool For Community-Based Co-Design, Jiarong Hu, Angus Donald Campbell, Gabriela Baron

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper addresses a challenge for Transition Design (TD): how to make long-term, systemic frameworks tangible and actionable in small-scale, community-led practice. We introduce and evaluate the preliminary results of a methodological framework that scaffolds TD backcasting with seven principles of Social-Ecological Systems (SES) resilience for urban gardens. Grounded in a community garden case study in Shanghai, we analyse data from semi-structured interviews and a co-design workshop to evaluate this method in practice. Our findings reveal that this method functions as a dialogic tool, enabling participants to diagnose systemic issues, negotiate trade-offs, and co-create near-term actions with a longer-term vision. …

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Ddenso: An Evaluation-Driven Methodology For Information Visualisations, Michele Mauri, Elena Aversa, Anna Cattaneo, María De Los Ángeles Briones Rojas Jun 2026

Ddenso: An Evaluation-Driven Methodology For Information Visualisations, Michele Mauri, Elena Aversa, Anna Cattaneo, María De Los Ángeles Briones Rojas

DRS Biennial Conference Series

When designing Information Visualisations for Media and Information Literacy (MIL) initiatives, a significant challenge lies in ensuring that they effectively transmit and consolidate knowledge, particularly when the Information Visualisation literacy of the audience is unknown. Applying a Research through Design approach, this article describes a meta-process: the reflective and iterative path that led to the definition of DDENSO, a replicable design methodology for creating and evaluating Information Visualisations that allow for knowledge retention. Grounded in prior theoretical and practical experience in Information Design, DDENSO emerged through the development of the artefacts for a MIL exhibition exploring the social implications of …

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Value Co-Creation, Co-Displacement, And Co-Destruction In Design: Bridging Value And Values In Human-Data Interaction, Boyeun Lee, Ella Tallyn, Ramprabu Thangaraj, Chris Elsden, Chris Speed Jun 2026

Value Co-Creation, Co-Displacement, And Co-Destruction In Design: Bridging Value And Values In Human-Data Interaction, Boyeun Lee, Ella Tallyn, Ramprabu Thangaraj, Chris Elsden, Chris Speed

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Data has emerged as a fundamental driver of value creation within design processes, shaping economic, ethical, and environmental outcomes across societies and socio-technical systems. Existing scholarship often frames value in binary terms of co-creation and co-destruction, overlooking the systemic complexities introduced by interconnected, data-intensive systems. This paper introduces the novel concept of value co-displacement to capture how alternative forms of value emerge and displace others within human–data interaction. Drawing on four design research case studies, we investigate how value and values are co-created, co-displaced, and co-destroyed across interconnected, data-intensive systems. We develop a framework that conceptualises the dynamic interplay of …

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Emerging Hybrid Human-Genai Workflows To Optimise Human Ideation, Sketching And Design, Mauricio Novoa Munoz, Juan Antonio Islas Munoz, Alejandro Lozano Robledo Jun 2026

Emerging Hybrid Human-Genai Workflows To Optimise Human Ideation, Sketching And Design, Mauricio Novoa Munoz, Juan Antonio Islas Munoz, Alejandro Lozano Robledo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This article presents findings on the reciprocal relationship between industrial design education and the industry it prepares graduates for. Particularly considering the growing impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on ideation, sketching, design methodologies, and productivity. To inform this research, industry professionals currently integrating GenAI into their practice were consulted to establish benchmarks and highlight critical areas for updated pedagogical approaches and digital transformation, thereby ensuring that design learning and productivity workflows remain relevant. The study arises from an awareness of current workforce shifts that are anticipated to become more pronounced soon. Rapid technological advancements are driving significant cultural and …

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Interface Cultures, Forever: Speculative Prototypes For Technological Awareness, Mario Ciaramitaro, Pietro Costa Jun 2026

Interface Cultures, Forever: Speculative Prototypes For Technological Awareness, Mario Ciaramitaro, Pietro Costa

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As artificial intelligence increasingly takes over the designer’s role in shaping interfaces for services and platforms, a key challenge is how to teach young designers to critically reflect on how design mechanisms shape users and their everyday lives. Interface Cultures, Forever was a design workshop that challenged the conventional notion of the digital interface. Participants were asked to design critical interfaces - concepts that reveal tensions, paradoxes, and invisible mechanisms within digital life. Through speculative and ironic prototypes, students explored how interfaces shape behavior, emotion, and identity. The projects articulate a landscape of cultural critique, where the interface becomes both …

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The Memory Loom: Reweaving Curatorial Power Relations With Source Communities In Virtual Reality Cultural Heritage Exhibitions, Ning Zhao, Ziqiang He, Shijie Ming, Haopeng Yuan, Furui Sun, Ke Jiang Jun 2026

The Memory Loom: Reweaving Curatorial Power Relations With Source Communities In Virtual Reality Cultural Heritage Exhibitions, Ning Zhao, Ziqiang He, Shijie Ming, Haopeng Yuan, Furui Sun, Ke Jiang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper examines how to redistribute curatorial power in VR heritage exhibitions by designing actionable governance mechanisms. We conceptualize VR heritage exhibitions as political curatorial infrastructures rather than neutral storytelling media. We employ a two-stage RtD framework: first building a baseline VR stage, then embedding two mechanisms: Parallel Weave (narrative authorship) and Asynchronous Governance Lock (publishing/veto rights). With N=32 participants, analysis reveals four tensions: (1) community narratives increased affective engagement and epistemic recognition, yet (2) parallel inclusion also risked narrative segregation; (3) a visible veto established accountable workflows, but (4) this power redistribution also transferred sociopolitical risk onto community representatives, …

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Designing Motion Identity: Exploring The Aesthetic Expression Of Brand Style Through System Motion, Xinyi Xie, Yinman Guo, Zican Chen Jun 2026

Designing Motion Identity: Exploring The Aesthetic Expression Of Brand Style Through System Motion, Xinyi Xie, Yinman Guo, Zican Chen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study investigates how system motion enhances aesthetic experience and shapes users’ interpretation of brand style. Using Windows 11, macOS, and HarmonyOS as representative cases, the study analyses four categories of system animations through a motor-level framework comprising temporal, spatial, and transformational attributes. Twelve motion samples were coded, and participants evaluated each sample using perceptual adjectives. The results show that consistent attribute patterns across functional categories lead to stable aesthetic tendencies, while differences emerge from how each system repeatedly applies these attributes. These attribute biases create distinct perceptual profiles, indicating that motion can function as a subtle medium for expressing …

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No One Knew. They Came. Exploring Photo-Elicitation In Societal Development, Jennie Schaeffer, Mira Karlsson, Andreea Strineholm, Erika Andersson Jun 2026

No One Knew. They Came. Exploring Photo-Elicitation In Societal Development, Jennie Schaeffer, Mira Karlsson, Andreea Strineholm, Erika Andersson

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Citizen dialogues strive for inclusivity but often exclude marginalized groups. New participatory and creativity-based approaches are needed to be evaluated and become a part of the skillset repertoire for public officials to foster an inclusive dialogue. This paper reflects on photo-based conversations as a dialogic method for societal development and inclusion. The results show that the method provides possibilities to creatively involve participants, strengthen relationships and open a space for diverse narratives between different actors in society. However, the challenges of internal exclusion, lack of strategies for impact, and the need to build competence in handling conflicting stories, without depoliticizing …

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Interiority As A Pedagogical Approach In Interior Design Studio Education, Selin Aktan Abraham, Fulya Özbey Jun 2026

Interiority As A Pedagogical Approach In Interior Design Studio Education, Selin Aktan Abraham, Fulya Özbey

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As the central platform of design education, interior design studios function as dynamic learning environments that advance creativity and sensitivity to the social and spatial dimensions of design. Although the experiential qualities of space are conceptually acknowledged within studio pedagogy, the notion of ‘interiority’ remains unstudied compared to the emphasis placed on technical requirements. This paper positions interiority as a critical yet underexplored component of interior design pedagogy. Through a literature mapping and thematic synthesis, this paper defines five core dimensions of interiority as (1) spatial, (2) sensory, (3) affective, (4) identity-related, and (5) temporal, then correlates these dimensions in …

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Interspecies: A Collaborative Curatorial Inquiry Into New Romanticism, Mariana Pestana, Katerina Inglezaki, Carlos Pastor, Mathilde Gouin, Bernardo Gaeiras, Fernanda Costa, Mariana Simões Jun 2026

Interspecies: A Collaborative Curatorial Inquiry Into New Romanticism, Mariana Pestana, Katerina Inglezaki, Carlos Pastor, Mathilde Gouin, Bernardo Gaeiras, Fernanda Costa, Mariana Simões

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper presents a situated, plural, and horizontal curatorial methodology centered on questioning rather than providing solutions in response to posthuman thought and practice. It inquires whether we might be witnessing the emergence of a New Romanticism in contemporary design and architecture concerned with interspecies relations. This romantic turn arises by acknowledging subjectivity and imagination while engaging critically with the complexities of the climate crisis. To this end, this paper examines the making of an exhibition that assembled material evidence from science, art, technology, and design. The exhibition was developed through a three-step curatorial framework aligned with the decentering narratives …

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Enframing Creativity: Speculations On Design Education's Transformations In The Age Of Generative Ai, Alireza Sharifi, Michael Hohl, Fredrik Skatar Jun 2026

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 …

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The Lustre Of Hands, Ziyan Wang Jun 2026

The Lustre Of Hands, Ziyan Wang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper introduces the lustre of hands—a term used to describe the gentle, subtle sheen that appears on things through long and caring contact with human hands. This concept challenges the visual paradigm and the pursuit of the new in contemporary design. It suggests that the traces of touch and time embody care, continuity, and human presence. Illustrated through the author’s example of a family inkstone, whose surface bears the lustre accumulated over generations, it offers design a powerful perspective: to appreciate the marks left by time and use to make things more fully used rather than wasted; to give …

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Mediating Sonic Worlds: Critical Approaches To Boundary Objects In Sound-Driven Design, Stefano Delle Monache, Nicolas Misdariis, Elif Özcan, Daniel Hug, Sara Lenzi, Sandra Pauletto, Davide Rocchesso, Simone Spagnol Jun 2026

Mediating Sonic Worlds: Critical Approaches To Boundary Objects In Sound-Driven Design, Stefano Delle Monache, Nicolas Misdariis, Elif Özcan, Daniel Hug, Sara Lenzi, Sandra Pauletto, Davide Rocchesso, Simone Spagnol

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This theme critically examines boundary objects – work arrangements, artefacts and representations facilitating cooperation across diverse social groups [1, 2] – at the intersection of sound and design. Our fundamental question is: how effectively can objects informed or defined by sound and listening fulfil this important role in design [3]? Sound-driven design [4, 5] addresses complex socio-technological challenges induced by sound to design for sonic habitability: positive auditory experiences that enhance well-being, foster social connection, and promote a more harmonious relationship between humans, their technologies, and their environments [6]. Sonic boundary objects leverage sound and listening to structure information and …

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Reframing Practice: Architectural Design Research And The Expanding Role Of The Architect, Manuela Triggianese, Juan Sádaba, Lee Moreau, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Kees Kaan, Georg Vrachliotis, María Risueño Jun 2026

Reframing Practice: Architectural Design Research And The Expanding Role Of The Architect, Manuela Triggianese, Juan Sádaba, Lee Moreau, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Kees Kaan, Georg Vrachliotis, María Risueño

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Architecture extends far beyond the design of buildings and cities, engaging with environmental, technological, and societal challenges. As practice evolves, so must the research that supports it. This theme track examines architecture’s expanding role in collaboration, communication, and service, positioning it as a research-driven discipline and a tool for inquiry, innovation, and responsiveness to communities and stakeholders. Operating across systems, social processes, and technological infrastructures, architecture is increasingly understood as an interdisciplinary practice. The track strengthens Architectural Design Research by addressing its evolving methodologies and its role in knowledge production. Contributions explore co-creation, artificial intelligence, data as design material, and …

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Playing With Possibility: Exploring Materiality, Affordances And Forms Of Participation Through Construction Play, Jesper Falck Legaard Jun 2026

Playing With Possibility: Exploring Materiality, Affordances And Forms Of Participation Through Construction Play, Jesper Falck Legaard

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Material exploration is central to both play and design, where imagination unfolds through tactile and social engagement. This study examines how materials participate as agents in creative exploration through three video-recorded construction-play sessions involving children aged five to six. Using reflexive thematic analysis, the study identifies three key findings: (1) expressive form elements augment material agency; (2) affordances are encountered through two distinct relational mechanisms — Affordance Emergence and Affordance Orientation — which mediate between imaginative states and material properties; and (3) participation shifts dynamically between contributing, cooperating, and collaborating. By clarifying how affordances bridge psychological engagement and material structure, …

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Default Bodies: Challenging Gendered Norms In Fighting Games Through Participatory Design, Shalom Taiwo, Laura Pruszko Jun 2026

Default Bodies: Challenging Gendered Norms In Fighting Games Through Participatory Design, Shalom Taiwo, Laura Pruszko

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The over-sexualisation of female characters in video games peaked in the 1990s and 2000s and fighting games have been slow to move away from it. Their reliance on visual exaggeration to convey identity and fighting style makes this harder to change. With 48% of players today being women, this raises questions about how these portrayals persist. This paper examines how participatory approaches can be used to explore how women players respond to these designs through a survey, a within-subject evaluation task, and a co-design workshop. Participants recognised exaggeration as part of the genre’s identity but criticised its association with sexualisation. …

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Critical Reflectors, Bridge-Builders, And Sense-Makers: How Designers Intervene In Ai’S Reproduction Of Gender Inequality, Sanita Budihardjo, Kazjon Grace, Josie Young, Yiying Wu Jun 2026

Critical Reflectors, Bridge-Builders, And Sense-Makers: How Designers Intervene In Ai’S Reproduction Of Gender Inequality, Sanita Budihardjo, Kazjon Grace, Josie Young, Yiying Wu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In recent years, AI has become increasingly entangled with design practice, whether as a tool, a design material, or a collaborator. Alongside these opportunities, it is necessary to recognise AI as a socio-technical system that reproduces existing gender hierarchies. Treating design as a political site of intervention; this paper examines how designers can ground their practice in addressing gender bias in AI. Drawing on a scoping review of gender bias in AI, feminist design perspectives, and existing interventions in design research, we argue that designers occupy a consequential role as critical reflectors, bridge-builders, and sense-makers, uniquely positioned to question how …

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Modes Of Being Amid Anthropocene: Living Through The 2024 Rio Grande Do Sul Floods, Natalia Dai Prá Penteado, Guilherme Meyer Jun 2026

Modes Of Being Amid Anthropocene: Living Through The 2024 Rio Grande Do Sul Floods, Natalia Dai Prá Penteado, Guilherme Meyer

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper situates the 2024 Rio Grande do Sul climate disaster within the intertwined crises of the Anthropocene, arguing that those impacted developed situated practices to preserve identities and sustain life amidst collapse. Drawing on in-depth interviews with thirteen individuals directly affected by the floods, the research identifies Modes of Being that illuminate strategies of adaptation, care, and continuity rooted in Latin American ontologies. Through the interpretive lenses of Anna Tsing’s concepts of ghosts, monsters, and ruins, these modes reveal how to endure life in the Anthropocene and reconfigure identities and relations to persist. The study proposes a framework of …

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Fostering Emergence In Behavioral Public Policy: A Systemic Behavioral Design Framework, Ruth Schmidt Jun 2026

Fostering Emergence In Behavioral Public Policy: A Systemic Behavioral Design Framework, Ruth Schmidt

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Behavioral public policy design tends to take a top-down, evidence-based approach to prompting behavioral change through mechanisms like ‘nudges.’ Yet behavioral responses to evolving conditions in complex systems—such as the recent No Kings rallies and anti-ICE activities in the US—often manifest as emergent, self-organizing movements, representing a powerful ‘bottom-up’ form of behavioral change that provides an alternative to traditional behavioral policy. This paper proposes a behavioral systems framework to explore the dynamic of behavioral emergence in a systemic context, composed of two matrixed dimensions: 1) micro, meso, and macro system levels; and 2) mechanisms that support behavior, ranging from targeted …

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Mechanical Jewellery As Epimethean Practice: Staying With The Trouble Of Human–Machine Entanglement, Zhiyang Ding, Guang Dai, Beverley Hood, Sarah Kettley Jun 2026

Mechanical Jewellery As Epimethean Practice: Staying With The Trouble Of Human–Machine Entanglement, Zhiyang Ding, Guang Dai, Beverley Hood, Sarah Kettley

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores how mechanical jewellery can serve as an Epimethean design practice that rethinks human–machine relationships through care, hesitation, and affective engagement. Drawing from post-anthropocentric design discourse and new materialist theory, the research investigates how low-tech, playful, and speculative prototypes can undo conventional narratives of technological progress. Through a practice-based workshop conducted at Fringe Arts Bath 2025, the study examines how wearable artefacts exhibiting unpredictable motion provoke emotional response and relational awareness in participants. The findings suggest that mechanical jewellery can operate as a modest yet generative medium for staying with the trouble of human–machine entanglement, foregrounding absurd materiality, …

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Youth As Cultural Agents: Facilitating Cultural And Civic Engagement Through Game Design, Carlo De Gaetano, Maarten Groen, Sabine Niederer, Susannah Montgomery Jun 2026

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, …

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Interdependencies Of Art History And Design History Curriculum In Indian Undergraduate Education, Srutinwita Roy, Saurabh Tewari Jun 2026

Interdependencies Of Art History And Design History Curriculum In Indian Undergraduate Education, Srutinwita Roy, Saurabh Tewari

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This research investigates the interdependencies between the subject of Art History and Design History within undergraduate programs across five prominent institutions in India. The study draws upon the experiences, perspectives, and reflections of both teachers and students and through interviews, curriculum mapping, and classroom observations, explores how these two disciplines influence, overlap, and inform each other in both content and pedagogy. The findings reveal that these subjects are deeply interconnected, with each contributing significantly to the understanding and evolution of the other. The research also highlights institutional variations among curriculum development. It is observed that the absence of a defined …

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“Why Do All The Schools Look The Same?” Exploring Children’S Spatial Design Preferences Through Generative Ai In India, Chinmay Pade, Charu Monga Jun 2026

“Why Do All The Schools Look The Same?” Exploring Children’S Spatial Design Preferences Through Generative Ai In India, Chinmay Pade, Charu Monga

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Artificial Intelligence is increasingly embedded in creative and spatial design processes, transforming how ideas are visualized and interpreted. This study examines how generative AI tools influence children’s imagination and articulation of spatial design preferences for schools in India. In a context where school environments are often standardized and children’s perspectives remain marginalized, participatory workshops with primary-school students engaged them in describing, writing, and generating AI-assisted images to express their visions for school spaces. The process revealed both the potential and the limits of AI-driven visualization. While AI expanded imagination and made ideas instantly visible, it also reproduced globalized aesthetics detached …

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Exploring How Llms Shape Collaborative Decision-Making In Service Design, Yaoqi Li, Hyunyim Park Jun 2026

Exploring How Llms Shape Collaborative Decision-Making In Service Design, Yaoqi Li, Hyunyim Park

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The increasing integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) into design workflows is reshaping how designers make decisions. This study examines the influence of LLMs on design decision-making during the early stages of service design, through a diary study with service design practitioners. By analysing usage logs and conducting post-intervention focus group interviews, we examine collaborative decision-making across three interaction dimensions: designer–designer, designer–LLM, and LLM–LLM. The findings reveal that LLMs reshape the internal decision logic and collaboration mode within service design teams. Across different stages of collaborative decision-making with human, LLMs take on varying roles as apprentice, collaborator, advisor, expert, co-creator, …

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Agnes As A Critical Wearable: Mediating Age, Materiality, And Embodied Expertise, Elisa Cardamone, Taylor Brennan, Sophia Ashebir, Lisa D'Ambrosio, Joseph F. Coughlin Jun 2026

Agnes As A Critical Wearable: Mediating Age, Materiality, And Embodied Expertise, Elisa Cardamone, Taylor Brennan, Sophia Ashebir, Lisa D'Ambrosio, Joseph F. Coughlin

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design is increasingly engaging with the body through soft systems, wearables, and responsive materials, exploring how material interactions shape experiences of care and inclusion. This paper examines the Age Gain Now Empathy System (AGNES) - a wearable suit simulating the chronic physical conditions and functional changes associated with older age - as a critical, soma-focused design intervention. Drawing on auto-ethnographic reflection and participant observation, we present a theoretical and methodological analysis. We argue that AGNES' critical materiality actively mediates how the ageing body is read and made visible, inviting embodied understanding and supporting co-creation partnerships. We analyse how this wearable …

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Intermediary Ecologies And Participatory Infrastructures In Wind Power Planning – Towards A Practice Of Design For Just Transitions, Tessa Laven, Ramia Maze, Niki Wallace Jun 2026

Intermediary Ecologies And Participatory Infrastructures In Wind Power Planning – Towards A Practice Of Design For Just Transitions, Tessa Laven, Ramia Maze, Niki Wallace

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper analyses how transition intermediaries and participatory infrastructures shape an unjust energy licensing process and outlines implications for design for just transitions. Centring on the Fosen Wind Farm in Norway, where wind power development violated Indigenous Sámi cultural rights, it traces how licensing enabled renewable expansion while generating democratic and rights-based conflicts. Using historical case analysis and a synthesis of various literatures, the paper explores the intermediary ecology of licensing and shows how interactions among transition intermediaries structure power asymmetries. In dialogue with design research on infrastructuring, it proposes three practices for design in just transition contexts: unveiling institutional–cultural …

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Can Textiles Be Alive? Exploring Transitional Materialities Through Microbial Biosensors And Textile Fluidics, Avantika Velho, Saurabh Mhatre, Varenya Sethumadhavan, Hann Tu, Neel Joshi, Katia Zolotovsky Jun 2026

Can Textiles Be Alive? Exploring Transitional Materialities Through Microbial Biosensors And Textile Fluidics, Avantika Velho, Saurabh Mhatre, Varenya Sethumadhavan, Hann Tu, Neel Joshi, Katia Zolotovsky

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores materials in transition through Living Textiles, a platform that integrates genetically engineered whole-cell biosensors into textiles for on-body physiological and environmental sensing. The project investigates how textiles can act as computational and ecological systems, integrating living cells that sense their environment and communicate through material change. By combining biological sensing with textile craft, Living Textiles reframes smart materials as regenerative and cohabited rather than extractive and disposable. The research contributes to the field of transitional materials design by: (1) presenting new interaction possibilities with microbial cells; (2) developing methods for designing microenvironments that sustain life and sensing; …

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More Than Weeds: Thickening Designer-Plant Relations In The Sonoran Desert, Andrew James Whitcomb, Marysol Ortega Pallanez Jun 2026

More Than Weeds: Thickening Designer-Plant Relations In The Sonoran Desert, Andrew James Whitcomb, Marysol Ortega Pallanez

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Affective relations among humans and more-than-humans are full of shifts, subtleties, and complexities. Yet, design research often treats feelings as stable instruments to utilize for making sustainable climate futures. Through reflection-on-practice, we untangle impressions and gestures in the field during a design research project in the Sonoran Desert titled Gifts for Tempe. Our reflections focus on shifts in our attention and attachments with an ‘invasive’ plant commonly known as Stinknet. The impressions and gestures reveal designer-researchers’ thick tensions in designing for climate futures. By showing how affective relations with more-than-humans change over time, we identify that climate futuring involves learning …

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Reframing Architectural Practice Through Territory And Emotion: The Atlas Of Emotions In Bajo Atrato, Colombia, Carolina Saldarriaga-Cardona Jun 2026

Reframing Architectural Practice Through Territory And Emotion: The Atlas Of Emotions In Bajo Atrato, Colombia, Carolina Saldarriaga-Cardona

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study reframes architectural practice in Bajo Atrato, Colombia, through a relational understanding of territory and emotion, during the implementation of the Peace Agreement. Using a situated research-by-design approach, the study combines field journeys, workshops on emotional cartographies, semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and audiovisual recordings in Carmen del Darién, Marriaga Swamp, Triganá Bay, and Santa María de la Antigua del Darién. These methods consider everyday life, memory, and collective care as forms of territorial knowledge. The recognition of territories, identification of emotions, and the visibility of the Territorial Expressions of Grieving led to the creation of the Atlas of Emotions, …

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The R’S Have It: Navigating The Playground Of Design For Health Through Design Rationale, Bard Wartena, Derek Kuipers Jun 2026

The R’S Have It: Navigating The Playground Of Design For Health Through Design Rationale, Bard Wartena, Derek Kuipers

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper examines how systemic designers in health navigate plural perspectives and overlapping quality regimes. We introduce the Playground of Design as four interconnected spaces of problem, design, change, and solution, together with four R’s, Rapidness, Rigour, Relevance, and Resonance, as conversational lenses for articulating design rationale in plural settings. Two Dutch cases illustrate this approach. Bias Blaster, a serious game for adolescents recovering from psychosis, is reread retrospectively to reconstruct systemic design rationale. E-Health Junior, a long-running e-health consortium, is reconstructed through interviews and translated into a pedagogical workshop for perspective-taking. We argue that combining the Playground of Design …

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