dwelling · lifestyle · community: reconsidered | reconceived | redesigned
Abstract
Design and architecture play an incredibly important role in our lives. They shape our lifestyles, interests, passions and relationships. The way we design and interact with our surroundings defines our ethics, values and personal identities. From the scale of cities and neighbourhoods to the corners of our homes, built-environments both capture and design our lives. Design and architecture are incredibly important to our personal standard of living and quality of life but they also impact the environment and the economy. Therefore, the design decisions that are made within the design and development industry have implications on a scale which spans the global community.
Through my local and international work experiences, I have found that the design and development industry is fundamentally broken in many ways. Communication barriers between stakeholders and limited awareness from end-users has led to a system which lacks innovation and efficacy. In order to provide this, there is a need to re-shift the system and re-align stakeholders so that we begin to foster a more conducive environment. Perhaps through disruptive technologies and new intermediaries (LePatner & Jacobson 2007) we can create this change and provide residential design and architecture that is more innovative and reflects the needs and desires of end-users with greater efficacy.
The approach uses various methods of research to understand the complexity of the industry and identify the exact gaps which are hindering the system. Through research, reflection, synthesis, design and systems-thinking, solutions are identified, evaluated and designed. This exploration is fundamental to begin the discussion for how change can be manifested in a large and powerful industry where the status quo seeks to continue its reign. Through piloting solutions, designing and iterating we may be able to create the methods and interventions necessary to bring about systemic change. Designers, architects, planners, developers, financiers, builders, marketers, end-users, researchers and entrepreneurs may consider and reflect upon the ideas put forward in this thesis.
Description
Keywords
Architecture
Citation
Rajan, S. (2017). dwelling · lifestyle · community: reconsidered | reconceived | redesigned (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25752