Spaceability co-designing a tangible space for learning by understanding the intangible core of  Aalto's creative sustainability community.

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School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
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Date

2015

Department

Muotoilun laitos

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Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

112

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Abstract

This thesis explores through research and an applied process how design can take part in creating an understanding of the intangible interior or core that characterises a community and then expresses it into the tangible or physical elements that make and shape a built space. Considering that the design brief was to co-design a learning and collaborative built space within the community of students of Aalto University’s Creative Sustainable (CS) Master Degree Program, the main thesis hypothesis is that to adopt a Community Centred Design approach (CCD), and to profoundly empathise with the future users of the built space, before, during and after the co-design process, would allow to make a more meaningful space that could actually support the community’s needs and furthermore, reflect its values and allow its evolution as a learning and collaborative community . Being able to access or to tap into the intangible interior of the CS student community is seen as the central point of this thesis, but furthermore, crucial for developing, both the designer’s and the CS community’s ‘Spaceability’. Spaceabilty refers to the ability of both a designer and a community to access that interior and shift from space design approaches that rely extremely on existing –often stereotypical– design vocabulary and on logical views about space, to more context based, community specific, intuitive and humane space design approaches. The thesis can be seen as an integrative research and design process consisting of four parts that were developed in a non-linear and iterative way over three years, from 2012 to 2015. The process, however, goes beyond making a space. It shifts its perspective from the design OF a built space –the design OF an object–, to the design FOR co-designing a built space –FOR developing the necessary conditions and processes (i.e. research, community engagement, co-design, etc.) to make a built space with specific characteristics (Manzini, 2013). There are four parts to this thesis. In the first part an introduction that tells the story behind the thesis is presented. In the second part a literature review creates the background knowledge to support the development of the case study and the final design proposal. The literature review is divided into five categories: Thinking, Being, Doing, Designing and Inhabiting. Key topics explored under these five categories are Learning and Education, Collaboration, Communities, Co-design, Community-centred design, Empathic design, Spaces and places, Collaborative and learning spaces, A space design template and Spatial Intelligence.The third part presents and develops a case study: Co-designing for making built space that supports collaboration and multiple ways of working, learning and being within the community of students of Aalto University’s Creative Sustainable Master Degree Program. In the fourth and final part, the insights gained from the theoretical investigation and the results of case study are linked together to provide the whole design process’ insights, reflection, future recommendations and conclusions under the name of ‘Spaceability’.

Description

Supervisor

Fuad-Luke, Alastair

Thesis advisor

Staffans, Aija

Keywords

spaceability, space design, community centred design, creative sustainability, empathic design, co-design

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-201602161311

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[master] Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu / ARTS