The aim of this paper is to move established positions in architectural design by discussing a more refined user perspective. The motivation is threefold. Firstly, fields like environmental psychology and cognitive science for architecture have in recent years brought novel insights on the embodied nature of human spatial experience, and the extensive effects of the built environment on people’s psychosomatic health and behaviour that are not well-captured by existing building standardization systems. Secondly, while the fast growing trends of user-centred and research-based design in architecture have showed that users’ experience is a valuable source of design knowledge, the methods for incorporating this wealth of new insights in the architectural design process are still underdeveloped. Finally, the example of the newly built psychiatric department in Aabenraa, Denmark, whose interior, despite an international architectural award in 2016, had to be re-designed one year after construction due to poor understanding of the users, indicates existing discrepancies in the current approaches to translating research information in user-centred design. To address these issues, we discuss the experiences from a new masters’ course in ‘Architecture, Health, and Well-being’ and propose that user-centred methods like ‘personas’ and ‘scenarios’ used in IT, marketing, and product development also have a potential to develop more in-depth research-informed user perspectives. As well as, to help students envision and strengthen the architectural quality of the programming and building design throughout the architectural design process, by supporting a ‘design empathic’ understanding and immersion in user perspectives.
In the attempt to improve patient treatment and recovery, researchers focus on applying concepts of hospitality to hospitals. Often these concepts are dominated by hotel-metaphors focusing on host–guest relationships or concierge services. Motivated by a project trying to improve patient treatment and recovery through the architecture framing eating experiences, this article examines, from a theoretical perspective, two less debated concepts relating to hospitality called food design and architectural theatricality. In architectural theory the nineteenth century German architect Gottfried Semper is known for his writings on theatricality, understood as a holistic design approach emphasizing the contextual, cultural, ritual and social meanings rooted in architecture. Relative hereto, the International Food Design Society recently argued, in a similar holistic manner, that the methodology used to provide an aesthetic eating experience includes knowledge on both food and design. Based on a hermeneutic reading of Semper’s theory, our thesis is that this holistic design approach is important when debating concepts of hospitality in hospitals. We use this approach to argue for how ‘food design’ is an overlooked element in hospital eating environments today, and further point at how Semper’s discourse on theatricality can be used to add a more nuanced perspective to future hospitality studies.
Objectives: Our aim is to investigate how a new master studies course “Architecture, Health, and Well-being” (AHW) supports development of students’ skills in understanding and assessing health-related research as well as applying research-based knowledge through unfolding of user perspectives in their design projects. Background: With the growing focus on health-related research in Danish design practice, knowing how to translate research findings into research-informed design strategies becomes a preferable, if not (yet) a critical, skill. This calls for architecture educations to reconsider their graduate profiles and teaching curricula, thereby addressing research-to-practice gap. Method: Based on design project hand-ins, we evaluate whether students participating in the AHW course demonstrate greater sensibility toward user experiences and research-based design (RBD) in their master thesis projects, compared to students attending a more traditional architectural tectonic track. Evaluation relates to the use of scientific literature and theoretical frameworks on topics like “healing architecture” and applied user-oriented methods (interviews, personas, demographics). Results: Our explorative analysis indicates that students have the skills to make a detailed user analysis when it comes to well-defined user groups in a highly specialized building (e.g., hospice patients and staff). The extent to which health-related research and user perspectives are applied in the design process seems to be primarily driven by thematic focus of the project (welfare buildings in contrast to housing). Conclusion: Despite the challenges in teaching students to assess and apply academic literature, a RBD paradigm in architectural education can help bridge emerging research knowledge with design skills and professional competencies.
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