4. People - Part I

Week 04

People, Process & Technology

People + Process & Technology PART I

By Amal Shah Faculty of Design CEPT University

Teaching Associates Chandni Chhabra, Sachi Motiwala & Shikha Mehta

IR3609 | Monsoon Semester 2020

People? ‘the members of a particular nation, community, or ethnic group.’ TRADITIONS, ‘(of a group of people) inhabit (a place)’ CONTEXT

Technology

Process

People

‘A person (plural people or persons) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes.’ KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS PRACTICE

COGNITIVE, EMOTIONAL and SOCIAL ASPECTS associated with the built environment as well as PHYSICAL EFFORT AND INPUT in the design process.

Clients User

PEOPLE

Architects or Interior Designer

Engineers

Why

Pre Design

INTEGRATED DESIGN PROCESS

When

Design

Construction

Project Managers

Agencies Contractors

Maintenance and Operation

Role of People/ Stakeholder in the Process Customer

Architect or Designer

Communication, Understanding, Deciding

Designing, Evaluation, Rationalize, Documentation

Project Planner

Project and Resource Planning, Licensing and Pricing, Quantity Management

Project Manager

Communication and Understanding, Implementing Quality Management

Regionalism Regionalism relies on speciďŹ c knowledge of the climate, geology, geography and topography of the region.

Critical Regionalism Critical Regionalism is an architecture that strives to counter the placelessness and lack of identity in architecture. It is not only regionalism in the sense of vernacular architecture. It is a progressive approach to design that seeks to mediate between the global and local languages of architecture.

Location & Traditions

Topography, Context, Relation to site

Form and Massing

Layout Concept Derivation of form

Spatial Construct

Organizational Structure Circulation/ Movement/ Programmatic Distribution

Regionalism Elemental Assembly and Articulation Material and Technique

Involvement of Stakeholders ‌.

Local Craftspeople/ Industries, Government bodies

Courtesy : Shah,J. (2020). Approaches to Critical Regionalism in Post-Independent Architecture of India (Undergraduate Thesis) CEPT University

Spatial Construct, Form and Massing

YMCA Sta Quarters by Design Group Exposed brick exteriors and use traditional elements like courtyards and terraces to evoke the character of traditional North Indian towns

Production Building for Synergy Lifestyles, TN by Shimul Jhaveri Kadri Uses skills and resources of local workforce and local industries (quarries) to evoke a local character along with its courtyards, circulation

Material and Technique, Elemental Assembly

Centre for Development Studies (1971) at Trivandrum by Laurie Baker. The forms are dictated by the topography and the brick was procured from a nearby kiln

Location & Traditions, Spatial Organization

Vaastu Purusha Mandala

Spatial Construct and movement

City Plan of Jaipur

Use of Red Sandstone

Jawahar Kala Kendra by Charles Correa

Navagraha 9 Square Mandala

Courtesy : Charles Correa Foundation

Modernising the material

IIM Ahmedabad

By Louis Kahn

Use of bricks not just to construct but to build a language at IIM Ahmedabad. Kahn created a campus in which the public spaces were uniquely contemplative and quiet, while the private ones exploded with life and activity

Crafts in Interior Design an activity involving skill the members of a skilled profession work or objects made by hand The meaning of craft in architecture lies in the nature of. the connections a building or space creates—both internally, between its constituent. parts, and externally, through its relationship to its place. These connections can be physical, temporal, or even spiritual.

Can the integration of craft be done so well in the design that there is no boundary seen between craft and design?

Is Craft people-driven ?

Is it process-driven?

Is it Technology or technique driven?

Reflection of craftsmanship

Works by Sandeep Sangaru (up), Nari Gandhi (right)

Response to craftsmanship as a resource

Derivation of new language emerged out of the associations with material, context, craftspeople Miyadaiku Matsumoto髙広 have been making Japanese shrines since years.

They have inherited the technology of wooden joineries

Horyu-ji Temple’s Wood Structure Detail

GC Prostho Museum

Starbucks Cafe, Kengo Kuma

Embodied Knowledge of Craft

Bamboo symphony by Neelam Manjunath : Bamboo craft explored in space-making elements with a collaboration of the architect and master craftsmen

Traditional practices as a derivative of the crafts tradition

Works by Laurie Baker initiated a whole movement where building using the local material techniques and skills as a craft They embody a unique ethical and material philosophy

Sustainability An act of avoiding unnecessary reduction of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance

Sustainability in Interior Design Interior design in which all systems and materials are designed with an emphasis on integration into a whole for the purpose of minimizing negative impacts on the environment and occupants and maximizing positive impacts on environmental, economic and social systems over the life cycle of a building

Sustainability in Interior Design How can we (Interior Designers) maximise resource efficiency for Sustainable Interiors ?

● Less is More ● Longevity or durability ● Flexibility ● Reuse, Recycle and Biodegradability

● ●

Reducing Quantity and Size Reducing Finishes

● ●

Investing in Quality Reduce need for change

● ●

Perform more than one function.

Change to suit developing needs

Sustainability in Interior Design : Flexibility Designing for permanence where constant change is the reality, will result further environmental impact.

Sustainability in Interior Design LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world.

In LEED, the categories of evaluation is under six topics as: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Sustainable site development Water eďŹƒciency Energy eďŹƒciency Material selection Indoor environmental quality Innovation and design process

Interior Design Elements : Towards Sustainability Furnishing

Materials

Conoid Bench Designed by George Nakashima.

Kibits

George embraced the traditional Japanese building principles of “ki-mon” – respect for the natural landscape and use of indigenous materials

A stool which has upholstery made with the waste of the silk by a Japanese designer Naofumi Aoyama

Lighting

The Menil Collection in Houston by Renzo Piano.

To use and control the daylight entering the galleries, the design developed into separate ‘beam light trusses’ which were later dubbed as ‘light leaves.’

Sustainability in Interior Design In the dimension of environmentally sustainable development, it is classiďŹ ed the theoretical studies under ďŹ ve topics as:

1. Reduction of the energy and emission in the environment.

2. Minimizing the distraction in the ecological, natural ion areas for food production.

3. Minimizing the consumption of environmentally harmful construction materials.

4. Recycling natural resources.

5. Preventing sound and air pollution in order to protect the inhabited health.

How does sustainable design support user experience?

Project constraints allow us to make tangible solutions for otherwise abstract problems. This is not just true for projects that focus on ‘sustainable design.’ Any project relates to sustainability in some way. If we choose to consider sustainability as a factor in the design phase, the constraints of a speciďŹ c product give designers the space to make concrete solutions for otherwise abstract issues.

Source: arcVision Prize Women and architecture 2013

WALL HOUSE ONE TO ONE Venice Biennale, Italy

By Anupama Kundoo ●

Full scale architecture was constructed

●

response to the theme ‘Common Ground’ demonstrating a range of innovative technologies that utilize geometry and structural efficiency to shape architecture in a way that it reduces resource consumption drastically while improving socio-economic conditions locally.

Source: arcVision Prize Women and architecture 2013

VOLONTARIAT HOMES Pondicherry, India

By Anupama Kundoo ●

●

built using a rare technology pioneered

by Ray Meeker of which consists of baking a mud house insitu, after constructing it.

A fired house or a fire-stabilised mud house is in principle, a mud house built with mud bricks and mud mortar that is cooked after building as a whole to achieve the strength of brick.

Source: arcVision Prize Women and architecture 2013

Maya Somaya Library

By Sameep Padora.

Source: Arch Daily

Buddhist Centre

By Sameep Padora.

Source: Arch Daily

Buddhist Centre

By Sameep Padora.

Source: Arch Daily

Human-Centered Design There is a shift in perspective occurring today at the collaborative edge of design and social science.

It is a change from a user-centered design process to that of participatory experiences. It is a shift in attitude from designing for users to one of designing with users.

It is a new design movement (that we call Post design) that will require new ways of thinking, feeling and working.

Participatory experience is not simply a method or set of methodologies, it is a mindset and an attitude about people.

It is the belief that all people have something to oer to the design process and that they can be both articulate and creative when given appropriate tools with which to express themselves. From User-Centered to Participatory Design Approaches by Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders

User-Centered Design Process The social scientist/researcher serves as the interface between the user and the designer. The researcher collects primary data or uses secondary sources to learn about the needs of the user.

The researcher interprets this information, often in the form of design criteria. The designer interprets these criteria, typically through concept sketches or scenarios. The focus continues then on the design development of the thing. The researcher and user may or may not come back into the process for usability testing. In user-centered design, the roles of the researcher and the designer are distinct, yet interdependent. The user is not really a part of the team, but is spoken for by the researcher.

Participatory Culture In participatory experiences, the roles of the designer and the researcher blur and the user becomes a critical component of the process. The new rules call for new tools.

People want to express themselves and to participate directly and proactively in the design development process.

Design for Experiencing But we can never really “design experience.” Experiencing is a constructive activity. That is, a user’s experience (with communication, for example) is constructed of two equal parts: what the communicator provides, and what the communicatee brings to the interaction.

Where the two parts overlap is where the actual communication occurs. Knowing about users’ experiences, then, becomes vital to the process of designing the communication. If we have access to both what is being communicated and what experiences are influencing the receipt of communication, then we can design for experiencing.

In fact, if we can learn to access people’s experiences (past, current and potential), then we can make user experience the source of inspiration and ideation for design. And by making user experience the source of inspiration, we are better able to design for experiencing.

How Do We Access Experience?

There are many ways we can learn from people about their memories, their current experiences and their ideal experiences: ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

We can listen to what people say.

We can interpret what people express, and make inferences about what they think.

We can watch what people do.

We can observe what people use.

We can uncover what people know.

We can reach toward understanding what people feel.

We can appreciate what people dream.

Where does Post design Fit? â—?

Post Design is a new mindset. It transcends the traditional domain of design by making user experience (as opposed to artifacts, interfaces, systems or spaces) the focus for design inspiration and ideation. It is easy to see that people are ready for the Post Design mindset.

Where does Post design Fit? ●

●

Just look at the Internet. New computer tools and applications have made self-expression through personal websites accessible to everyone with the time and desire to build one.

Post Design is not about specific methods, tools or processes. It is about an emerging visual language that people, all people, can use to express and interpret those ideas and feelings that are often so difficult to express in words.

Where does Post design Fit? ●

●

●

Post Design is an attitude about people. It is about the recognition that all people have something to offer and that they, when given the means to express themselves, can be both articulate and creative.

Post Design is contextual. Understanding and empathizing with the people who experience artifacts, interfaces, systems and spaces can best be accomplished by communicating with them in the places where they live, work and play while they live, work and play.

Post Design is participatory. It emphasizes the direct and active participation of all stakeholders in the design development process. This makes the deliverables of design more meaningful to the people who will ultimately benefit from them.

Human-Centered Design - A Critique Know Your User Most items in the world have been designed without the beneďŹ t of user studies and the methods of human-centered design. Yet they do quite well. Moreover, these include some of the most successful objects of our modern, technological worlds.

The Automobile. People all over the world learn to drive quite successfully with roughly the same conďŹ guration of controls. There were no systematic studies of users.

Why do these devices work so well? The basic reason is that they were all developed with a deep understanding of the activities that were to be performed.

They evolved with time. Each new generation of builders slowly improved the product upon the previous generation, based on feedback from their own experiences as well as from their customers.

Human-Centered Design - A Critique Activities Are Not the Same as Tasks an activity is a coordinated, integrated set of tasks. For example, mobile phones that combine appointment books, diaries and calendars, note-taking facilities, text messaging, and cameras can do a good job of supporting communication activities.

This one single device integrates several tasks: looking up numbers, dialing, talking, note taking, checking one’s diary or calendar, and exchanging photographs, text messages, and emails. One activity, many tasks.

Human-Centered Design - A Critique What Adapts? Technology or People?

The historical record contains numerous examples of successful devices that required people to adapt to and learn the devices. People were expected to acquire a good understanding of the activities to be performed and of the operation of the technology. None of this “tools adapt to the people” nonsense—people adapt to the tools.

Think about that last point. A fundamental corollary to the principle of human-centered design has always been that technology should adapt to people, not people to the technology. Is this really true? Consider the history of the some successful technologies.

From Human-Centered Design Considered Harmful By Donald A. Norman

Human-Centered Design - A Critique What Adapts? Technology or People?

The Clock (and Watch). An arbitrary division of the year and day into months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds, all according to physical principles that differ from psychological or biological ones, now rules our lives.

Writing Systems. Consider printing, handwriting, and typing. All are artificial and unnatural. It takes people weeks, months, or even years to learn and become skilled.

Musical Instruments. Musical instruments are complex and difficult to manipulate and can cause severe medical problems. It takes considerable instruction and practice to become skilled at reading and playing. The medical problems faced by musicians are so severe that there are books, physicians, Web pages and discussion groups devoted to them.

Pompidou Center : User Evaluation Synthesis of some of the most prevailing attitudes held by employees of the Center:

1.

Designed for the comfort, convenience and needs of the visitors and not those of employee-user.

2.

A lack of privacy in work area.

3.

Physiological discomfort caused by unacceptable levels of glare, sound, lighting and temperature dierentials.

4.

Lacking in employee related amenities

Pompidou Center : User Evaluation Synthesis of some of the most prevailing attitudes held by employees of the Center:

Physiological discomfort caused by unacceptable levels of glare, sound, lighting and temperature dierentials.

Signage and graphic system was inadequate

Pompidou Center : User Evaluation Synthesis of some of the most prevailing attitudes held by employees of the Center:

6. Lowering of the interior lighting levels the contrast between outside and inside light

7. Overpowering Industrial language