Elements for adaptation and change-design for creative conflict

Abstract

The starting point of this thesis is a strong critique of the conventional design of housing. The thesis suggests a new approach to the perception of environments and the act of "dwelling." Inhabitants are not assumed to act as passive consumers of "set facts" or of a "potential variety," but as instigators in the design of their living environments. Through conflict, inherent or built into the design, people are stimulated to appropriate their surroundings according to their needs. Environments have to be designed such that they can be interpreted and contain the "clues" (the elements for adaptation and change) for people to intervene. Inhabitants control the design by means of social interaction as well as physical intervention. Four theoretical concepts are discussed which shall assist designers in understanding environments more completely in terms of potential use and sympatric relations, and in finding new innovative solutions in design. The concepts deal with (1) the complexity of environments, (2) the importance of community, (3) privacy and territoriality, and (4) form. Two case studies are presented as evidence to document the importance of the theoretical concepts by means of a detailed analysis of the selected environments, and to demonstrate how two very different participatory processes are translated into the "sympatric" design of physical environments.