Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 4321 - 4350 of 1183368

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Toward Caring Urban Design: Developing Care Practices Through Thinking With Forno Vagabondo, Miriam Kreuzer, Flora Mammana Jun 2026

Toward Caring Urban Design: Developing Care Practices Through Thinking With Forno Vagabondo, Miriam Kreuzer, Flora Mammana

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Urban crises and power inequalities intensify processes of urbanization that reinforce exclusion, segregation, and displacement. Within urban design, care has recently been discussed as an ethical and political framework for addressing these dynamics. However, little attention has been paid to how care-ethical principles can be translated into concrete urban design practices. This paper responds to this gap by developing four caring practices for urban design. Using dialogical inquiry through conversation as a method, the research brings together feminist care ethics with situated, practice-based knowledge from the urban design project Forno Vagabondo – a mobile social oven traveling through a valley …

Go to article

Design-Driven Reflection: A Children's Metacognitive Cultivation System Integrating Physical Interaction And Digital Narrative, Yi Li, Yanfei Xu, Yu Gao, Zihui Jiang, Xinming Zhou, Xiaofang Jiang Jun 2026

Design-Driven Reflection: A Children's Metacognitive Cultivation System Integrating Physical Interaction And Digital Narrative, Yi Li, Yanfei Xu, Yu Gao, Zihui Jiang, Xinming Zhou, Xiaofang Jiang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Reflection is a crucial component for the development of children's metacognitive abilities, which is foundational for their overall growth. However, current preschool practices often lack structured approaches for facilitating reflection. To promote children's reflection after autonomous play and thereby foster their metacognitive abilities, this study introduces a reflection system that integrates physical interaction and digital narrative. Using tangible icons, the system guides children in reconstructing their play experiences, which are then converted into personalized digital comics. Implementation in kindergarten settings demonstrates the system's high usability and its effectiveness in eliciting children's metacognitive statements. Furthermore, the socially shared reflective situations significantly …

Go to article

Multispecies Convivial Learning: Art-Based Interventions At A Japanese Public Junior High School, Sakura Kotokawa, Tomohide Mizuuchi Jun 2026

Multispecies Convivial Learning: Art-Based Interventions At A Japanese Public Junior High School, Sakura Kotokawa, Tomohide Mizuuchi

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This study examined the conditions under which multispecies convivial learning (MCL) can be established within the institutional setting of a Japanese public junior high school, and the kinds of transformations it enables. Integrating Participatory Action Research (PAR) and co-design, interventions A–E were conducted over 2023–2024. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed four interlinked elements—(1) self-understanding and expression, (2) sociality, (3) agency, and (4) co-creation with other species—which collectively transformed the classroom into an “ecological dialogic space” where humans and other living beings learn together. The study contributes by conceptualising MCL—previously under-theorised in public education—as a practice of redesigning relationships, and by specifying …

Go to article

The Changing Role Of Diagrams In Architectural Publications: From Creative To Communicative, Hila David, Dortheimer Jonathan Jun 2026

The Changing Role Of Diagrams In Architectural Publications: From Creative To Communicative, Hila David, Dortheimer Jonathan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Diagrams have long been central to architectural reasoning and communication. While their historical and conceptual roles are established, the impact of digitization on their function and representation is underexplored. This study systematically analyzes 245 diagrams from 45 architectural graphics publications between 1980-2025, classifying them by design stage, representation technique, production method, and purpose. The dataset analysis reveals a transformation in published diagrams: while 1980s-1990s diagrams were characterized by being manually produced, exploratory diagrams in early-stage design, the 2000s onward saw almost total digital production, yet representational conventions remained 2D. By the 2020s, diagrams shift toward external communication and coordination in …

Go to article

From Boundaries To Bindings. Reframing Sound-Driven Design In Narrative Exhibitions, Micol Riva, Yi Zhang Jun 2026

From Boundaries To Bindings. Reframing Sound-Driven Design In Narrative Exhibitions, Micol Riva, Yi Zhang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Digital technologies and human-centred design approaches have transformed the cultural heritage sector, shifting the focus towards the visitor experience and advocating for collaboration between designers and non-designers. This article draws on design research and museography to discuss the role of sound in the digital cultural heritage, focusing on sound-driven exhibition design practices. The ephemeral nature of sonic experiences challenges the concept of “boundary objects”, reframing them from blueprint-like physical or abstract schemes into an Ingoldian concept of “bindings", promoting mutual understanding and collaboration across different communities. We focus here on two narrative exhibitions we were directly involved in: a participatory …

Go to article

How Automation Impacts Worker Ecosystems In Organizations: A Case Study Of Autonomous Bus Operations At An International Airport, Garoa Gomez-Beldarrain, Femke Van Dam, Euiyoung Kim, Himanshu Verma, Alessandro Bozzon Jun 2026

How Automation Impacts Worker Ecosystems In Organizations: A Case Study Of Autonomous Bus Operations At An International Airport, Garoa Gomez-Beldarrain, Femke Van Dam, Euiyoung Kim, Himanshu Verma, Alessandro Bozzon

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Organizations are increasingly immersed in automation programs aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, yet these initiatives fundamentally impact and reshape traditional workplaces. Prior research has examined automation's effects on workers who directly interact with it, but less attention has been given to how broader worker ecosystems are impacted. To address this gap, we investigate an autonomous shuttle bus project at an international airport. We conduct an interview study with nine external experts holding prior experience in similar automation contexts. To engage participants in discussing the impacts of a future autonomous bus operation, we utilize systemic design as a lens and conduct …

Go to article

Making With Virtual Materials: Reframing “Making As Knowing” For Situated Narratives In Large-Scale Vr, Shijie Ming, Ziqiang He, Ning Zhao, Haopeng Yuan, Furui Sun, Ke Jiang Jun 2026

Making With Virtual Materials: Reframing “Making As Knowing” For Situated Narratives In Large-Scale Vr, Shijie Ming, Ziqiang He, Ning Zhao, Haopeng Yuan, Furui Sun, Ke Jiang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Classic “Making as Knowing” relies on tangible resistance from physical materials, but this framework is insufficient for intangible virtual materials in Large-Scale VR, often leading to the “problem of spectacle.” This research explores how “Making as Knowing” is reframed in this context, using a Research through Design (RtD) approach with a novel “Mandated Design Rationale Protocol.” The paper argues that “making” transforms into a rigorous epistemic practice of “systemic and experiential tuning” to generate “Knowledge of Experience” (K-OF). A reception study (N=31) confirmed a strong alignment between the designer’s K-OF targets and visitors’ takeaways. This work offers a traceable RtD …

Go to article

‘Wet’ Policymaking: Exploring The Potential Of Open-Water Swimming In Agonistically Designing Affective Environmental Policies, Kseniia Obukhova, Jan Boon, Liesbeth Huybrechts Jun 2026

‘Wet’ Policymaking: Exploring The Potential Of Open-Water Swimming In Agonistically Designing Affective Environmental Policies, Kseniia Obukhova, Jan Boon, Liesbeth Huybrechts

DRS Biennial Conference Series

In the dryland of environmental governance, design can help cultivate what we call ‘wet’ policymaking: an approach that embraces affect, emotional engagement, and more-than-human (MTH) relations as integral to ecological decision-making. Drawing on fieldwork with open-water swimming collectives and policy initiatives in Flanders, Belgium, we explore swimming as an agonistic inquiry into wet policy futures, revealing the tensions between the prevailing dryness and the potential wetness of environmental—particularly water-related—governance. Theoretically, the paper weaves together affective agonistic democratic thought, political design, and MTH perspectives to articulate wetness as both a political and design orientation. We argue that open-water swimming in Flanders …

Go to article

Perceived Quality And Future Applications Of Transparent Wood: Insights From An International Focus Group, Eva Vanessa Bruno, Beatrice Lerma, Doriana Dal Palù Jun 2026

Perceived Quality And Future Applications Of Transparent Wood: Insights From An International Focus Group, Eva Vanessa Bruno, Beatrice Lerma, Doriana Dal Palù

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Transparent wood (TW), obtained by removing lignin from natural wood and infiltrating it with bio-resin or bioplastic, has attracted renewed scientific and industrial interest over the past fifteen years as an effective alternative to plastics and glass. The research explores how this perceptual hybrid can be meaningfully presented in professional design contexts to support future use of TW. A twofold action was carried out during a focus group involving 12 international project professionals. On one hand, a sensory–perceptual analysis was conducted to identify the distinctive characteristics of the material; on the other, future application scenarios were explored through creative techniques …

Go to article

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 …

Go to article

Towards A Common Language For Representation Tools In More-Than-Human Design, Berre Su Demir, Aykut Coskun Jun 2026

Towards A Common Language For Representation Tools In More-Than-Human Design, Berre Su Demir, Aykut Coskun

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Representation tools in More-Than-Human Design (MTHD) are growing rapidly as researchers increasingly seek to include nonhuman perspectives in design. However, guidance for selecting, designing, and evaluating such tools is limited, leaving designers to navigate trade-offs in user-friendliness, empathy, and resources without a shared structure. While recent work has attempted to address this by introducing parameters for MTHD representation tools, their relevance and usefulness remain unexamined. We explore how these parameters resonate in practice through workshops with 12 MTHD researchers, demonstrating that the parameters serve as decision supports during design and use, as lenses for reflection, and as a shared vocabulary …

Go to article

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: …

Go to article

Uncertainty In The Studio: Ai As A Material In The Design Of Tangible Products, Sam Theelen, Giulia Talamini, Roy Op Het Veld, Demi Sparidans, Jesse Josua Benjamin, Stephan Wensveen Jun 2026

Uncertainty In The Studio: Ai As A Material In The Design Of Tangible Products, Sam Theelen, Giulia Talamini, Roy Op Het Veld, Demi Sparidans, Jesse Josua Benjamin, Stephan Wensveen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

AI uncertainty has been proposed as a design material that provides practitioners with a foothold to engage with technical attributes of these technologies beyond any given output. However, it is unclear what role AI uncertainty can play in tangible product design processes. In this paper, we investigate this through two design research projects following a studio methodology; combining first-person reflective making with autoethnographic elements, incorporating a variety of AI technologies (e.g., object detection, image and video generation, mesh extraction). Through the analysis of these first-person accounts and reflection on design processes and outcomes, we find qualitatively different types of uncertainties …

Go to article

Verbalized Thoughts As Raw Knowledge: A Method For Designing Future Experience, Peiwen Luo, Zhengyu Tan, Ziang Chen Jun 2026

Verbalized Thoughts As Raw Knowledge: A Method For Designing Future Experience, Peiwen Luo, Zhengyu Tan, Ziang Chen

DRS Biennial Conference Series

At the early design stage, users’ verbalized thoughts lack in-depth analysis due to technological and cost constraints, hindering designers' creative future design. This study presents the results of a co-creation workshop with eight designers. Taking autonomous eVTOL flight as an example, this study developed the VR eVTOL cabin—an immersive experiential space where participants experienced story scenarios spanning boarding, flight, and landing. Participants’ verbalized thoughts about safety are collected through the think-aloud method. Subsequently, this study presents the reflective inference card to help participants comprehensively analyze the triggers behind these thoughts, their mental mechanisms, and propose design strategies for enhancing perceived …

Go to article

More-Than-Human Data Practices, Elisa Giaccardi, Sara Lenzi, Chris Speed, Vasiliki Tsaknaki, Jiwei Zhou Jun 2026

More-Than-Human Data Practices, Elisa Giaccardi, Sara Lenzi, Chris Speed, Vasiliki Tsaknaki, Jiwei Zhou

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Grounded in post-anthropocentric and post-humanist perspectives, this track explores more-than-human data practices that challenge dominant data paradigms and cultivate alternative modes of engagement with the world, from the microbial to the planetary. Rather than treating non-human life as objects of measurement and classification, as data subjects, the contributions in this track ask what it would mean to recognize organisms, systems, and processes as data co-producers, whose perceptual worlds, temporal rhythms, and relational entanglements actively participate in what counts as knowledge. This reorientation carries profound consequences for the designer. Co-producing data with more-than-human others is a political, epistemic, and ontological commitment …

Go to article

From Conflict To Care: A Design Learning Experiment On Food Justice In Rio De Janeiro, Laura Cipriani, Claudio Magalhães, Stefano Maffei Jun 2026

From Conflict To Care: A Design Learning Experiment On Food Justice In Rio De Janeiro, Laura Cipriani, Claudio Magalhães, Stefano Maffei

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper discusses the Design for Peace Ecosystem: Urban Conflict and Food Justice course as a situated experiment in transformative design education. Conducted in Rio de Janeiro, the course combined participatory mapping, desk research, and fieldwork to explore how design can reveal and reframe tensions and hidden structural injustices within urban Food Systems. Students first developed urban food conflict maps to visualise inequalities in access, labour, and cultural recognition. Through desk research, they identified local “food care” initiatives that address food conflicts and promote the right to an adequate food culture. Using ethnographic diaries and ethnography techniques, they engaged with …

Go to article

Designing The Playing Machine: Stage Design As Play Catalyst, Maria Mandea Jun 2026

Designing The Playing Machine: Stage Design As Play Catalyst, Maria Mandea

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This article presents practice-led research where stage design is understood as an active, agential collaborator in theatrical performance, similar to how toys, playgrounds and material games are used as catalysts for play. Addressing the limitation of static, representational design, we develop a design for play methodology drawing from Constructivist theatre’s concept of the “acting apparatus.” This research explores the agency of material design within the performative space through two complementary case studies: an analogue, embodied board game system and a tech-driven, automated environment where pre-programmed robots act as performers. The playing machine concept is proposed as a design method that …

Go to article

Tectonic Computation: Crafting Logic Through Material And Geometry, Dimitris Papanikolaou Jun 2026

Tectonic Computation: Crafting Logic Through Material And Geometry, Dimitris Papanikolaou

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper reframes computation as a design practice rather than a technological application. Through the construction of mechanical computing artifacts that harness environmental energy and material constraints, it demonstrates how designing can become a form of computational inquiry. The work positions architecture as a discipline capable of foundational contributions to computation by treating material, geometry, and energy as active agents of logic and memory. The study advances two main contributions: 1) It reconceptualizes computation as a physical and architectural phenomenon rather than a symbolic or digital one. 2) It demonstrates, through a pedagogical experiment, that computation can be enacted and …

Go to article

Driving Public Service Innovation Through Internal Ecosystem Development: Reconfiguring The Internal Management And Service System Of Nanhai Bus Station, Liwen Zhang, Yiqi Liu, Zheng Wang, Jingya Li, Yuexi Dong Jun 2026

Driving Public Service Innovation Through Internal Ecosystem Development: Reconfiguring The Internal Management And Service System Of Nanhai Bus Station, Liwen Zhang, Yiqi Liu, Zheng Wang, Jingya Li, Yuexi Dong

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As public sectors worldwide increasingly adopt design-driven approaches to address complex public service and management challenges, existing research predominantly focuses on citizen-facing experiences while overlooking the critical importance of internal ecosystems as the core of service delivery. This paper examines the Nanhai Bus Station Design Consultation Project in China as a case study, exploring how systematic design interventions originating from within can drive holistic public service innovation through the internal ecosystem. The research conducted in-depth participatory action research through blended research, co-design, and stakeholder engagement methodologies. Addressing challenges such as fragmented internal workflows, ambiguous division of responsibilities, and outdated service …

Go to article

Queer(Ing) Design Research/Practice, Jess Parris Westbrook, Jessica Meharry, Valentina Ferreri, Chenxi Cui Jun 2026

Queer(Ing) Design Research/Practice, Jess Parris Westbrook, Jessica Meharry, Valentina Ferreri, Chenxi Cui

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Paper track Queer(ing) Design Research/Practice, explores how Queer(ing) operates in design as a mode of inquiry, intervention, and worldmaking. Queer(ing) is positioned as a critical practice that challenges normativity, resists fixed categories, and generates alternative possibilities across intentions, processes, and outcomes. The track is organized into three interrelated clusters: Queer(ing) Method/ologies, Queer(ing) Experience, and Queer(ing) Complexity. Together, these clusters trace an expanding arc: from transforming how design is done, to examining what design generates, to engaging dynamic, entangled, complex phenomena. Across diverse contributions, authors use a range of approaches: activist, practice-based, experimental, and theoretical approaches to reimagine epistemologies, change experiential …

Go to article

Exploring Designing For Dignity In The Context Of Digital Community Platforms, Fatima-Zahra Abou Eddahab-Burke, Katharina Bauer Jun 2026

Exploring Designing For Dignity In The Context Of Digital Community Platforms, Fatima-Zahra Abou Eddahab-Burke, Katharina Bauer

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Digital community platforms have transformed civic participation, enhancing social belonging and shared responsibility. Yet, they intensify the digital divide between people. This can be a risk to their fundamental human value of dignity. This paper explores designing for dignity within digital community platforms through a qualitative study conducted in South Holland, The Netherlands. Twenty citizens participated in semi-structured interviews to investigate their understanding, experiences, frustrations and expectations of dignity in digital interactions. The study confirmed dignity’s multifaceted nature (14 distinct definitions), varied expectations of respectful treatment, and common challenges in using government digital services. Only 30% of participants felt these …

Go to article

Historicising Speculative Design With Mcluhan’S Tetrad, Soyoun Jang, Jay David David Bolter Jun 2026

Historicising Speculative Design With Mcluhan’S Tetrad, Soyoun Jang, Jay David David Bolter

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper introduces and applies Marshall McLuhan’s Tetrad model, grounded in critical media studies, as an interpretative framework for analysing corporate concept videos as design fictions. Through a close reading of seven videos, we identify three recurring themes: present as future, the rhetoric of the new and socio-economic utopia. In parallel, the two diagonals of the Tetrad reveal contrasting orientations: the enhances-obsolesces diagonal reflects a corporate anticipatory (non-radical) future, whereas the retrieves-reverses diagonal is more critical and disruptive. We discuss figure-ground reversal as a key strategy for historicising corporate concept videos and suggest how the Tetrad can foster historical reflexivity …

Go to article

Resilient Design Pedagogies: Examining Sustainability's Translation Into Contemporary Design Education, Flavia Alice Mameli Jun 2026

Resilient Design Pedagogies: Examining Sustainability's Translation Into Contemporary Design Education, Flavia Alice Mameli

DRS Biennial Conference Series

What is the status quo of contemporary design education in the context of sustainability as a holistic and timely training, a binding professional ethos, and materialised everyday practice for future designers? This research investigates how contemporary tertiary design education is responding to polycrisis discourse and the multilaterally demanded paradigm shift towards sustainability. This includes a critical reflection on the political dimension of the term itself. A mixed-methods approach, combining systematic programme mapping, discourse analytical case studies of tertiary design education, and interviews with educators, investigates the translation of sustainability rhetoric into pedagogical practice across design and architecture education worldwide. A …

Go to article

Constructing A Scenario-Driven Model For Contextual Brand Experience: The Case Of Chain Coffee Brands, Yi Jui Hsu, Yu Ting Zeng, Hsien Hui Tang Jun 2026

Constructing A Scenario-Driven Model For Contextual Brand Experience: The Case Of Chain Coffee Brands, Yi Jui Hsu, Yu Ting Zeng, Hsien Hui Tang

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Brand experience is frequently theorized as a set of fixed domain attributes, yet how consumption context reorganizes the structural priority of these domains remains largely unmeasured. This paper argues that brand experience is a contextually generated design phenomenon that cannot be adequately addressed through static frameworks or single-context evaluation. Focusing on chain coffee brands in Taiwan, we conceptualize dine-in and take-out as distinct behavioral ecologies and apply the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to construct comparable experiential hierarchies across both contexts. Our findings reveal divergent experiential logics—dine-in privileging environmental immersion, take-out foregrounding product reliability and service rhythm—and non-obvious sub-criteria priorities only …

Go to article

Narrataive: Using Narrative For Human–Ai Co-Creation In Intelligent Cockpits, Danhua Zhao, Yufei Liu, Yuhao Jiang, Zhongjie Xue Jun 2026

Narrataive: Using Narrative For Human–Ai Co-Creation In Intelligent Cockpits, Danhua Zhao, Yufei Liu, Yuhao Jiang, Zhongjie Xue

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As intelligent cockpits transition toward experience-centered scenario design, designers must organize increasingly complex relationships among users, behaviors, and system responses. While Generative AI (GenAI) accelerates early-stage exploration, it often struggles to interpret designers’ intentions, resulting in semantic drift and inconsistencies. This study proposes NarratAIve, a structured narrative–driven framework for human–AI co-creation in intelligent cockpit design. The framework encodes users, actions, contexts, and feedback into computable narrative units that serve as clear semantic inputs for cross-modal AI generation. Through two workshops with 24 participants (including graduate students and industry experts), six cockpit concepts were produced, demonstrating how narrative acts as a …

Go to article

Territorial Design As Frictional Landscapes: Reframing Urban-Landscape Discourse And Practice Into Multi-Scalar Governance, Sophie Eberhardt Jun 2026

Territorial Design As Frictional Landscapes: Reframing Urban-Landscape Discourse And Practice Into Multi-Scalar Governance, Sophie Eberhardt

DRS Biennial Conference Series

This paper traces the emergence of territorial design as a distinct discourse and practice that repositions urban-landscape design from site-based form-making toward socio-ecological governance across scales. Drawing on a systematic review of scholarly literature (1960-2025), a practice survey (42 questionnaires with designers working in France), and three comparative case studies - Room for the River, Medellín’s social urbanism, and riverfront renaturation projects in Paris and Lyon - we show how ecological planning, landscape urbanism, and territorialist thought converge into methods that couple territorial diagnosis, morphological and biophysical patterning, and participatory co-design. The analysis foregrounds two fertile frictions: replicability vs. situatedness, …

Go to article

Sherlock Holmes In The Studio: Supporting Deductive And Inductive Reasoning Skills In Design Education, Koray Gelmez, Pelin Efilti, Hatice Kubra Kubra Yildiz, Ali Cankat Alan Jun 2026

Sherlock Holmes In The Studio: Supporting Deductive And Inductive Reasoning Skills In Design Education, Koray Gelmez, Pelin Efilti, Hatice Kubra Kubra Yildiz, Ali Cankat Alan

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Reasoning is a central skill in design education, yet it often remains implicit in studio courses. This paper presents an instructional exercise that adapts methods of deductive and inductive reasoning, commonly associated with crime scene investigation, into industrial design education. Inspired by Sherlock Holmes’ investigative methods, students examined manufactured products as ‘crime scenes,’ collecting traces of production and assembly as evidence. By reconstructing these processes, they practised analytical thinking and transferred investigative reasoning into design reasoning. Implemented across three semesters with around 101 students, the activity was followed by interviews with 25 participants. Findings indicate that students reported stronger observation, …

Go to article

Designations Drift: Exodesign And The Epiphylogenesis Of Practice, Chris Sutevski Jun 2026

Designations Drift: Exodesign And The Epiphylogenesis Of Practice, Chris Sutevski

DRS Biennial Conference Series

As design becomes increasingly automated and abstracted, the act of designation, once tied to human intentionality, appears to be lifting away from the human. In the era of exocapitalism, defined by Poliks and Trillo as a system unbound from the human condition and driven by self-replicating logics of value extraction, design too is being reconfigured through machinic and algorithmic processes. This paper introduces the concept of exodesign to describe this shift: the deterritorialisation of design’s human-centred agency amidst the rise of software stacks, machine learning, and cybernetic optimisation systems. Drawing on Bernard Stiegler’s notions of epiphylogenesis and general organology, alongside …

Go to article

Designing With Country: Relational Infrastructuring Beyond Technocratic Urbanism, Kimberley Harding, Jennifer Seevinck, Marcus Foth Jun 2026

Designing With Country: Relational Infrastructuring Beyond Technocratic Urbanism, Kimberley Harding, Jennifer Seevinck, Marcus Foth

DRS Biennial Conference Series

The design of both physical and digital layers of the built environment is increasingly shaped by the pursuit of “smartness,” often privileging efficiency and control over the cultural, ecological, and ethical dimensions that sustain life in cities. Resisting this technocratic urbanism and reimagining infrastructuring through Australian Aboriginal principles of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) – including relationality, responsibility, and reciprocity – offers ethical and sustainable directions for design. This paper proposes relational infrastructuring as a situated design practice that enacts and sustains cultural and ecological relations rather than merely delivering technical functions. Drawing on design scholarship, Indigenous knowledges, and urban studies, …

Go to article

Proximity, Technology, And Care: Towards Longevity-Friendly Urban Ecosystems, Carla Sedini, Carolina Nina Bonato Jun 2026

Proximity, Technology, And Care: Towards Longevity-Friendly Urban Ecosystems, Carla Sedini, Carolina Nina Bonato

DRS Biennial Conference Series

Social relationships, extending beyond the familiar and domestic spheres, play a crucial role in sustaining the healthy ageing of cities’ inhabitants. The urban ecosystem can support social participation and interdependence among its inhabitants by combining the design of hard and soft infrastructures that shape social engagement and urban attractiveness. Within this framework, a new dimension of care is emerging, one that transcends traditional healthcare and institutionalised models. How can technologies help generate the cornerstones of caring, inclusive, long-life communities? By examining a series of international case studies on technology, proximity, care, and ageing, the paper aims to offer actionable design …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last