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2026

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The Invisible Playground For Taboos: A Framework For Recognising And Designing For Inner Play To Engage With Death And Anticipatory Grief, Manuela Melo, Sofie Kinch, Andrew Tibbles, Allan Køster Jun 2026

The Invisible Playground For Taboos: A Framework For Recognising And Designing For Inner Play To Engage With Death And Anticipatory Grief, Manuela Melo, Sofie Kinch, Andrew Tibbles, Allan Køster

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Death and Anticipatory Grief remain culturally taboo, limiting opportunities for open dialogue and emotional preparedness. This paper explores how design can facilitate such conversations through play. Inner Play is a form of imaginative and introspective play that aids engagement with taboos in an empathic way, but lacks ways to understand and evaluate how to design for it. Employing a Research-through-Design approach, the papers presents a speculative design project that mediates communication between the bereaved and the deceased with a game kit resulting in a shared grief artefact. Ten participants in five workshops engaged in an iterative prototyping process, which resulted …

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Designing Social Inclusion In Circular Transitions: A Participatory Study Of Repair Initiatives In Germany, Antje Burckhardt, Lenard Opeskin, Andrea Augsten Jun 2026

Designing Social Inclusion In Circular Transitions: A Participatory Study Of Repair Initiatives In Germany, Antje Burckhardt, Lenard Opeskin, Andrea Augsten

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Repair initiatives are promoted as policy instruments to foster sustainable consumption practices within circular economy agendas. However, recent studies question their ability to achieve broader societal impact, noting that social inclusion remains limited. The study addresses this challenge by employing a participatory design approach to actively explore fields of action to enhance social inclusion in repair initiatives in Germany. Drawing on a literature review, we first conducted five expert interviews with repair initiative representatives, as well as 53 short interviews with visitors and people who had not previously visited a repair initiative, identifying barriers and opportunities for improvement. Second, we …

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Designing For Radical Renewal: Innovation Outcomes Across Circular And Regenerative Approaches, Belinda Nors, Louise Møller Haase, Sara Nielsen Jun 2026

Designing For Radical Renewal: Innovation Outcomes Across Circular And Regenerative Approaches, Belinda Nors, Louise Møller Haase, Sara Nielsen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper defines regenerative design in relation to current collaborative, sustainability-oriented innovation. Production and consumption patterns are largely linear, with circular economy efforts largely focused on recycling. Regenerative approaches are emerging but underdeveloped. Literature describes the Regenerative worldview and theoretical framework, and the few papers on methodology and practice highlight a need for greater definition of the field. An actionable design- and innovation methodology for the regenerative field is lacking. We conduct a scoping review and define the Regenerative design approach in relation to the current Circular Oriented Design approaches. We present the characteristics of the Value Preserving and Regenerative …

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Creating A Regenerative Design Practice That Gives Back To People And Planet: Lessons From Stakeholder Interactions In Industrial Agriculture, Cecilie Baann, Birgitta Ralston, Jannike Falk-Andersson, Line Johanne Barkved Jun 2026

Creating A Regenerative Design Practice That Gives Back To People And Planet: Lessons From Stakeholder Interactions In Industrial Agriculture, Cecilie Baann, Birgitta Ralston, Jannike Falk-Andersson, Line Johanne Barkved

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper considers the development of a regenerative design practice as a grounded and participatory method that fosters sustainable design and solutions, sensitive to relational practices and values, even when these are thought to be negligible. We draw upon theories of ecological relationality, in combination with posthuman theory, to argue that holistic regenerative design should aim to foster ownership of the design processes amongst affected actors. To do so, our regenerative design practice allows participants to search for, promote, and expand existing practices of relationality, a focus we argue have been missing in the existing research on regenerative design. Drawing …

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Negotiating Control With Materials: Progressive Modes Of Engagement In Design Practice, Yuliang Kang, Enza Migliore, Jingze Liu Jun 2026

Negotiating Control With Materials: Progressive Modes Of Engagement In Design Practice, Yuliang Kang, Enza Migliore, Jingze Liu

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper addresses a design dilemma: how can designers engage with materials that exhibit recognizable yet unpredictable behaviors? Traditional design relies on predictability and control. However, in an era of crises and complexity, we must acknowledge non-human agency and recognize that materials inherently respond and adapt. Complex material systems, characterized by self-organization, nonlinear dynamics, and emergent patterns, resist deterministic control, requiring an alternative approach. Drawing on material agency and play perspectives of rules and chances, we develop an operative framework of negotiating control, exemplified through clay fractals using the Lifting Hele-Shaw cell (LHSC). We identify three progressive modes of engagement: …

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Material Awareness And Meaning-Making: Leather In Handbag Design, Jaana Päeva Jun 2026

Material Awareness And Meaning-Making: Leather In Handbag Design, Jaana Päeva

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This article explores how material properties and sustainability awareness shape aesthetic perception in leather handbag design. Drawing on practice-based research, the study combines memory collection, collaborative designer-led prototyping and user feedback to examine designer and consumer experiences. Findings show that designers focus on structural and tactile qualities—stiffness, thickness, and texture—while aesthetic attributes such as colour and surface finish support conceptual and stylistic intentions. Sustainable tanning methods and innovative leathers introduce new challenges, requiring adaptive strategies. For users, long-term interaction with leather fosters appreciation for durability, patina, and cultural meaning, shifting aesthetic evaluation from immediate visual appeal to qualities signalling longevity …

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Is There Limitless Romance Behind A “Bunch Of Ones And Zeros”? How Social Vr Shapes Romantic Interaction And Its Design Implications, Ágnes Karolina Bakk, David Redmond, Borbála Tölgyesi, Kata Szita Jun 2026

Is There Limitless Romance Behind A “Bunch Of Ones And Zeros”? How Social Vr Shapes Romantic Interaction And Its Design Implications, Ágnes Karolina Bakk, David Redmond, Borbála Tölgyesi, Kata Szita

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study explores how romantic relationships and expressions of intimacy unfold within social virtual reality (SVR) environments such as VRChat. Drawing on virtual ethnography and 26 semi-structured interviews, it examines how embodiment, anonymity, and technological affordances shape trust, emotional intimacy, and sexual expression. While often framed as taboo, these dynamics are central to understanding relational practices in immersive environments. Findings show that intimacy is experienced as both emotionally authentic and technologically mediated, emerging through practices such as roleplay, virtual touch, and shared activities. The study highlights how anonymity simultaneously enables openness and introduces challenges around trust, consent, and safety. By …

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Putting An Ear To The Ground: Attending To Frictions In Human-Machine-Soil Temporalities, Margrete Lodahl Rolighed, Lone Koefoed Hansen Jun 2026

Putting An Ear To The Ground: Attending To Frictions In Human-Machine-Soil Temporalities, Margrete Lodahl Rolighed, Lone Koefoed Hansen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In this paper we present "Plant-disco", an interactive physical design object that seeks to make activities in soil (e.g. bugs and plant growth) sensible to humans. With this, we discuss how more-than-human temporalities come to surface (such as plant, soil, microorganisms and machine) and how this creates friction in our human perception of time and interaction. The central aspect of the paper is to discuss how the design, as a result of trying to extend human appreciation of nature into soil, also intervenes in human temporalities by engaging with the seemingly slow pace of nature at a time where most …

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Inclusive Design Revisited: A Paradigm Of Trustworthy Connectedness, Iris Van Hest, Eveline Van Zeeland, Jörg Henseler Jun 2026

Inclusive Design Revisited: A Paradigm Of Trustworthy Connectedness, Iris Van Hest, Eveline Van Zeeland, Jörg Henseler

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper revisits inclusive design by moving beyond its traditional emphasis on individual accessibility, which tends to overlook the relational dimension of inclusion. It proposes a paradigm of trustworthy connectedness, in which inclusion is conceptualised not merely as individual participation, but as the facilitation of relational ties between the designer or researcher and the individual or group. Inclusive design often relies on participatory methods, yet when participation and control become central, they risk silencing the very groups these approaches seek to include. Rather than participation or decision control, trustworthy connectedness, expressed through the designer’s competence and warmth, is central to …

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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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Appropriating Edinburgh’S Dead: Exploring The Potential Of Edinburgh’S Historic Burial Grounds As Sites For Designerly Conversations About Grief And Loss, Richard Thompson, Diane Willis, Kirstie Jamieson Jun 2026

Appropriating Edinburgh’S Dead: Exploring The Potential Of Edinburgh’S Historic Burial Grounds As Sites For Designerly Conversations About Grief And Loss, Richard Thompson, Diane Willis, Kirstie Jamieson

DRS Biennial Conference Series

There are five unique historic burial grounds within the proximity of Edinburgh’s city centre. Cross-sector consultations with police, heritage and council officials decry the decline of these spaces. Each is at risk; erosion, limited resources, and perceived anti-social behaviour obscure their value as social spaces apt to explore, share and process grief. The potential of these historic sites has been limited to imagining convivial and heritage-aligned uses of graveyards. This case study explores their potential as unique spaces to publicly discuss bereavement, mortality and grief through design workshops. It argues that designing provides an appropriate process to scaffold these conversations …

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Bridging Macro Sustainability And Everyday Life: Developing A Meso–Micro Indicator Framework For Sustainable Design In Historic Districts, The Case Of Laomendong, Nanjing, Chen Liu, Yuwei Wu, Weimin Guo Jun 2026

Bridging Macro Sustainability And Everyday Life: Developing A Meso–Micro Indicator Framework For Sustainable Design In Historic Districts, The Case Of Laomendong, Nanjing, Chen Liu, Yuwei Wu, Weimin Guo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper develops a multi-scalar indicator framework that bridges macro sustainability goals with the realities of historic district regeneration, focusing on the Laomendong Historic District in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. The study translates top-down policies into meso to micro level design indicators that capture the spatial, social, and cultural dimensions of sustainability. Using a mixed-methodology approach, it combines policy content analysis to identify macro-narratives with grounded theory-based social media analysis to reveal bottom-up perceptions and everyday experiences. The resulting framework demonstrates how sustainable design can move beyond macroeconomic and environmental metrics, embracing a broader range of considerations. Findings suggest that while …

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Care-Ful Reorientations In Design, Irem Tekogul, Laura Forlano, Carlos Teixeira Jun 2026

Care-Ful Reorientations In Design, Irem Tekogul, Laura Forlano, Carlos Teixeira

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In an era marked by increasing uncertainty and precariousness, feminist care ethics provide a conceptual foundation for reimagining alternative futures, challenging the persistence of "futures-as-usual" that often perpetuate dominant sociotechnical regimes. Care is a future-oriented and imaginative ethic: one that requires moral imagination to recognize the needs of distant others, the vulnerabilities of future generations, and the ethical entanglements of emerging sociotechnical systems. Building on an ethnographic study of design practices within a multinational technology company, we propose reorienting questions and tactics to integrate care ethics into future-making, addressing the disjunction between techno-futures and emergent care-informed design approaches. We outline …

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From Decoration To Co-Presence: Reconfiguring Human–Plant Relations In Urban Workplaces Through Aesthetic Bio-Feedback, Yibo Meng, Bingyi Liu, Siyuan Li, Xinran Huang Jun 2026

From Decoration To Co-Presence: Reconfiguring Human–Plant Relations In Urban Workplaces Through Aesthetic Bio-Feedback, Yibo Meng, Bingyi Liu, Siyuan Li, Xinran Huang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Office plants are ubiquitous in urban workplaces, yet they are often treated as disposable decoration rather than living co-inhabitants. This paper examines how interaction design can reconfigure this cultural framing. Using a research-through-design approach that combines interviews, the creation of an aesthetic biofeedback artefact, and a longitudinal deployment, we explore how plant vitality, expressed through light and sound, shapes everyday encounters between employees and plants. Rather than improving maintenance efficiency, the artefact functions as a relational probe. Participants described empathy, comfort, and companionship, alongside guilt, pressure, and resistance when the plant’s expressions demanded attention. These tensions show how care for …

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Integrating Co-Design And Auto-Ethnographic Approaches: A Preliminary Review Of Methods, Intentions, And Potential, Jingyuan Tan, Linfu Zhang Jun 2026

Integrating Co-Design And Auto-Ethnographic Approaches: A Preliminary Review Of Methods, Intentions, And Potential, Jingyuan Tan, Linfu Zhang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Co-design emphasizes the outward connectivity of perspectives and aspirations, while autoethnography foregrounds the inward exploration of the personal and intimate. Recent trends in design research that integrate these approaches prompted this literature review, guided by the question: How might combining co-design and auto-ethnographic approaches contribute uniquely to design practice and research? Drawing from design studies in education, healthcare, HCI, and community engagement, the review identifies five methodological variations of co-design and auto-ethnographic integration: solo, dialogic, triangulated, cumulative, and solidary. It suggests that these collaborative-reflective–narrative approaches empower co-design practitioners to (1) navigate their evolving and layered roles and identities in relation …

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Situated Knowledge In Rural Craft Practices: A Context-Sensitive Approach To Craft–Design Collaboration In Fife, Scotland, Peining Sheng, Ayaan Ahmed Jun 2026

Situated Knowledge In Rural Craft Practices: A Context-Sensitive Approach To Craft–Design Collaboration In Fife, Scotland, Peining Sheng, Ayaan Ahmed

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores how craft, as an unselfconscious design practice and embodied knowledge, contributes to situated design research, based on an ethnographic field study in Fife, Scotland, and a co-creation workshop in Edinburgh. The study points out that existing studies and practices promoting craft–design collaboration tend to focus on urban contexts and designer-led methods, often resulting in a lack of context-sensitive consideration and the presence of imbalanced relationships. Thus, this study underscores that understanding the local knowledge of rural-based craft practitioners and the distinct attributes of rural settings can respond to the challenges of rural craft practices and the barriers …

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Careful Configurations: An Exploration Of Smart Technologies In More-Than-Human Innovation, Ruth Neubauer, Verena Fuchsberger Jun 2026

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 …

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Crafting Savage Futures: Translanguaging And The Material Politics Of Peripheral Making, Guilherme Meyer, Seher Mirza, Raees Calafato Jun 2026

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 …

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The Role Of Participatory Architecture In Urban Transition, Mirian Calvo, Carmen Fabregat-Nodar Jun 2026

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. …

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Data And Power: A Tool For Designing Data Visualisations From A Feminist Perspective, Bianca Novais Queiroz, Virgínia Tiradentes Souto Jun 2026

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, …

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Care-Ful Sensemaking: Co-Mapping Lived Experiences And Biases In Hormonal Self-Management Tools, Roberta Antognini, Francesca Toso, Cristina Zaga, Mascha Van Der Voort Jun 2026

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 …

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Learning From Inexperienced Users’ Early Engagement With Food Tracking, Isil Oygur, Saadet Tikac Andic Jun 2026

Learning From Inexperienced Users’ Early Engagement With Food Tracking, Isil Oygur, Saadet Tikac Andic

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Current food tracking applications are largely designed to support behaviour change among users who track their food intake to meet predefined goals. As a result, individuals who are curious about food tracking but do not have specific goals remain underserved, limiting the potential of these tools for preventive care. To address this gap, we conducted a three-phase interview study using an existing food journaling application as a probe to reimagine food tracking experiences for inexperienced users. Thirty-one participants used the app for 14 days and discussed their views on healthy eating, food practices, and their tracking experiences. Our analysis identified …

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The Didactic Body: Interdisciplinary Design Pedagogy In 1970s Denmark, Christine Bjerke Jun 2026

The Didactic Body: Interdisciplinary Design Pedagogy In 1970s Denmark, Christine Bjerke

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper explores alternative pedagogical approaches that centred the relationship between the human body and design in 1970s Denmark. Initiated by lecturers at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts – School of Architecture (today Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation), a series of interdisciplinary ergonomics seminars (1974–78) at Institute 3C2 brought together more than a hundred students and lecturers from architecture, design, dance, and the medical and social sciences. Through archival research and oral history, I analyse these overlooked teaching practices and situate them within broader societal changes. Informed by disability studies, I examine how the seminars negotiated …

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Collective Handiness In Prospective Design: Philosophical Musings On A Serious Play Workshop On Articulation Work, Polyana Andrade Tavares, Rodrigo Freese Gonzatto, Frederick M.C. Van Amstel Jun 2026

Collective Handiness In Prospective Design: Philosophical Musings On A Serious Play Workshop On Articulation Work, Polyana Andrade Tavares, Rodrigo Freese Gonzatto, Frederick M.C. Van Amstel

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Building on the German philosopher Heidegger, design philosophy has historically dealt with handiness (zuhandenheit/vorhandenheit) as an ontological relationship between an individual, a technology, and an artificial world. Such handiness conceptualization does not account for the social accumulation of work necessary to bring technology ready-to-specific-hands. Building on the work of Brazilian philosopher Vieira Pinto, this investigation foregrounds the collective aspect of handiness to account for the articulation work behind a new design philosophy program, prospective design. This program embraces philosophy through design; therefore, this investigation includes a description of a stakeholder mapping workshop in which serious play was used to develop …

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Territorial Quest | A Phygital Urban Game For Public Design Education, Leonardo Moiso Jun 2026

Territorial Quest | A Phygital Urban Game For Public Design Education, Leonardo Moiso

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Design education increasingly unfolds across studio, city and digital platforms, yet these environments are rarely orchestrated as coherent learning ecologies. This paper presents Territorial Quest, a location-aware, game-based activity embedded in a master’s level systemic and service design studio. The intervention turns urban exploration into a structured, data-driven process: student teams investigate different neighbourhoods, collect and categorise contextual data through shared digital tools, and participate in a lightweight scoring system that makes fieldwork visible and comparable. Using a research-through-design and design-based approach, the study combines questionnaires, digital trace data and qualitative feedback to examine how Territorial Quest shapes learning. Findings …

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Learnings From Peruvian Gastronomy For The Transculturalization Of Design Practices, Laura Salcedo Miranda, Juan Montalván Lume Jun 2026

Learnings From Peruvian Gastronomy For The Transculturalization Of Design Practices, Laura Salcedo Miranda, Juan Montalván Lume

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In recent decades, Peruvian gastronomy has experienced a higher exposure and production of culinary creations manifesting practices of transcultural mixture entangling diverse cultural influences. Nevertheless, there still remains a need for studies that discuss such cultural amalgamations, which could also inform strategies for transculturalization in other culturally sensitive practices like design. This paper analyses multiple variations of well-known Peruvian dishes to understand the historical and contemporary processes of cultural mixture that have fostered the current landscape. For this, a conceptual framework that draws from Latin American Transcultural Design Studies and Gastronomic Theory is proposed to enable transdisciplinary learnings entangling both …

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Design-Led Ecodesign Implementation: Enabling Product And Organisational Transformation For Sustainability Transitions, Enrica Monticelli, Francesco Zurlo Jun 2026

Design-Led Ecodesign Implementation: Enabling Product And Organisational Transformation For Sustainability Transitions, Enrica Monticelli, Francesco Zurlo

DRS Biennial Conference Series

A research project conducted in a major appliance company investigates how Ecodesign, when implemented through a design-led and cross-functional process, can evolve from a technical activity into a catalyst for organisational transformation. The study examines the application of a company-specific Ecodesign tool designed to guide product development teams and support adaptive change. A conceptual framework integrating Design-Led Innovation, Dynamic Capabilities, and the Multi-Level Perspective is adopted to interpret how design mediates learning across functions. The paper focuses on the Seize phase, when Ecodesign is integrated into new product development routines through pilot projects. These pilots act as experimental settings in …

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Public Design Education: Plural Practices And Situated Teaching And Learning, Luis García, Lara Salinas, Sofía Bosch Gómez, Geert Brinkman, Francesco Leoni, Estefania Ciliotta Chehade Jun 2026

Public Design Education: Plural Practices And Situated Teaching And Learning, Luis García, Lara Salinas, Sofía Bosch Gómez, Geert Brinkman, Francesco Leoni, Estefania Ciliotta Chehade

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This editorial introduces Track 8.1, Public Design Education: Plural Practices and Situated Teaching and Learning, and reflects on the submissions, review process, and accepted contributions as a way of exploring how public design is currently being interpreted, taught, and learned. We position public design as a transdisciplinary mode of practice enacted within and alongside public administration and other public-sector subjects, where institutional ways of working, governance conditions, and commitments to public value shape the design process itself. Drawing on contributions to the track, we examine the diverse interpretations surrounding the term, the competencies and capabilities associated with becoming a public …

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More-Than-Human Design In The Real World: Resistance, Regeneration, And Radical Solidarity, Cristina Zaga, Iohanna Nicenboim, Elisa Giaccardi, Joseph Lindley, Arne Berger, Claudia Garduño García, Laura Forlano Jun 2026

More-Than-Human Design In The Real World: Resistance, Regeneration, And Radical Solidarity, Cristina Zaga, Iohanna Nicenboim, Elisa Giaccardi, Joseph Lindley, Arne Berger, Claudia Garduño García, Laura Forlano

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In Capitalocene, humanity faces the intertwined crises of technological advancement and ecological collapse. These urgent challenges require us to question the power structures embedded in design, technology, and society. As a response, More-than-human design (MthD) recognizes the agency, sentience, and mutual influence of nonhuman species, materials, and environments, foregrounding principles of care, reciprocity, and collaborative co-shaping to foster multispecies cohabitation, ecological justice, and planetary well-being. Yet, it remains unclear how MthD can move beyond academia to influence policy, industry, and communities for ecological and social regeneration. Practicing MthD in the real world means proposing different ways of knowing and ways …

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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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