Democratizing Architecture and Design with New Media

Posted by Andree Iffrig Oct 10, 2008

The success of artist Michel Rivard’s video protesting $45 million in cuts to federal arts funding is proof that social media are a powerful way to promote citizen engagement.

Wireless communications can also be used to improve the design of the built environment, as evidenced in a new book co-published by Riverside Architectural Press, OCAD and the Canadian Design Research Network/Design Research Canada.

Mobile Nation editors Martha Ladly and Philip Beesley have collected a series of short essays on innovative ways for applying wireless communications. The ubiquitous cell phone has a myriad of potential uses, including gathering information for the design of buildings and cities.

The key to these innovative applications is the active participation of users in the project design process. Some architects and urban designers consult with users, but usually the actual collection of data pertinent to the design process—studies of work flows, for instance—is conducted by the design “experts”.

Wireless technology turns that paradigm on its head. In his contribution to the book, Shawn Micallef describes a mobile phone project entitled [murmur], currently being piloted in several cities. As participants wander about a city, they can call in their stories about different locales. Stories capture participants’ anecdotes and social, political and historical associations.

This same process could be used in an organization considering a new building. Employees would spontaneously phone in their stories to the design team as they moved about the workplace . This might elicit more telling data than conventional means. Similar processes can and are being used for planning and design purposes in urban and recreational landscapes. Editor Martha Ladly writes about their use in parks.

User stories convey more than just data; through story, emotional attachment and subtle details about human interactions can be documented. Stories are, as Micallef points out, a way for overlooked voices to be heard. Designers everywhere should take note and get ready for a design revolution.