Design I (Sustainability, Society and Artistic interventions)

Course coordinators :Dr. Georgiadou Zoi, Dr. Moira Maria, Dr. Loukia Martha

Abstract

“Social design,” or “socially useful design,” is the design process that is mindful of the designer’s role and responsibility in society in order to bring about social change. The content of the course concerns the investigation of a contemporary human-centered architectural theory and practices which focuses on the search for the multi-collective experience of the inhabited space (public or private) and on the re-approach of the functions, uses and practices it serves, in terms of social negotiation, cultural and historical identity.

This course is focused on design theories and processes, framing the investigated lifestyles and shelter types, as systems providing contemporary solutions. The aim is to investigate architectural space as product and identifier for individuals and social groups that use, adapt or appropriate it. Within this content, architectural design is investigated as a result of choices concerning ideas and collaborative activities, focused on research, study and materialization of social changes rather than commercial goals. Thus, gender, cultural and social background, interculturalism and multiculturalism, social institutions and prioritization, collective narratives, e.tc. are the starting points, providing the experimental framework in design process. The students are introduced in a range of embedded design methods and theories and apply them in short-time workshops, lectures and presentations. The aim is to create new design praxis out of theoretical and normative approaches focused on a certain weak or unique community group(s).