Domestic Probes

Beyond textiles, the common denominator of our research is practice-based, design-led research. Working within the domestic context, and particularly interested in the concept of Design Probes, I have found the Domestic Probes approach used within the Equator Project at RCA extremely inspiring and valuable.

Defined as a 'design-led approach to understanding users stressed empathy and engagement', the Domestic Probes are defined by the group as :

a collections of provocative tasks designed to elicit inspirational information from people about their lives at home. They provide an alternative to more traditional methods of user research from the social sciences, such as questionnaire studies, focus groups, or ethnographies.

As Gaver, Boucher, Pennington and Walker argued in Cultural Probes and the Value of Uncertainty, the approach values uncertainty, playfulness, exploration and ambiguity as a research methodology, which is of interest to me as an exemple to deal with and recognize 'the notion that knowledge has limits', a perception particularly relevant in term of practice-based research.

Discover more about the methods and perspective used within the Equator Project regarding domestic experiences here.

Phd Tectonic Textiles

Aurélie Mossé, Constellation Wallpaper, Research artefact for Philips Design, 2007

Aurélie Mossé is currently undertaking an International PhD in Tectonic Textiles within CITA, Centre for IT & Architecture, Copenhagen in collaboration with TFRG, Textiles Futures Research Group, London. The project is fully funded by the Danish Government.

Aurélie’s current research about Energy-harvesting & Self-actuating textiles in the Design of Domestic Spaces is questioning the role smart textiles can play in a domestic context, how they can be implemented to encourage a more sustainable lifestyle. The project will investigate tangible scenarios for responsive textile architecture and will explore how textiles can embed innovative technologies in our interiors, with a specific interest for photovoltaic & responsive textiles. The research process will explore a combination of practice-based and design methodologies to address the potential of these soft technologies for living architectural surfaces.

Material Computation, Computational material

SLOW FURL by Mette Ramsgard Thomsen & Karin Bech, CITA

Mette Ramsgard Thomsen, head of CITA, Centre for IT and Architecture, Copenhagen will address this topic, presenting her last works during a lecture at the Bartlett, London.

"Mette Ramsgard Thomsen is an architect working with interactive technologies. Her research centres on the design of spaces that are defined by physical as well as digital dimensions. Through a focus on intelligent programming and ideas of emergence she explores how computational logics can lead to new spatial concepts. Mette’s work is practice lead and through projects such as Slow Furl, Strange Metabolisms, Vivisection and Sea Unsea she investigates the design and realisation of a behavioural space. "

So, let's meet on the 4th of february, 6.30pm at the Bartlett to discover her astonishing work focusing on generative design, digital crafting and responsive environments.

More details on the Bartlett website.