Futuring Design: Transforming Interior Design using Design Futures Theory

Abstract

Design studies traditionally examine the process of design in the context of how that process contributes to the creation of the designed object, system or structure. That is, a successful design process is measured by the capacity and efficiency with which it results in an object, space or system. In many cases, there is no measure of how well-designed these outputs are, at most; such measures will generally be limited to cost, efficacy and user satisfaction. Further, the notion of what constitutes well-designed is arbitrary and inconsistent across disciplines. The theory of Design Futures highlights the crucial implications of design on society and the environment in which the designed object operates over its lifetime. This thesis deals with the challenge of finding ways to incorporate the principles of Design Futures to improve design practice so that it incorporates both the lessons learned from historical enquiry and the experience of design practitioners who have attempted to incorporate these historical lessons. Inevitably, any attempt to improve design practice must engage with education practice to ensure that designers acquire the principles and methods of design which they apply in their professional practice. Human-centred design focuses on the impact of the design on the user as they make use of the space, dwelling or object that has been designed and Design Thinking facilitates this by framing the problem as broadly and contextually as possible and iteratively reviewing the design approach with the user. Design Futures is one of a number of theories, or movements, that extends the context to the long term social, environmental and cultural implications of the design. This research builds on that work to discover a framework that connects theory to practice and how that framework might be used in educating designers to embed that theory into their practice thereby assisting them to take responsibility for the long term cultural, social and environmental implications of their design. This research sets out to link the theory and the practice by creating a Design Futures framework and integrating it into the curriculum of an Interior Design course. This challenges the superficial view of Interior Design with a view to teaching a socially responsible design practice that takes a long-term view. Such a curriculum is built on the theoretical underpinnings of Design Futures and is informed by the key principle that a designer is responsible for the social, cultural and environmental impact of their design. The term sustainability is used in this research to include these impacts over the long-term. This review unfolds in a narrative that moves from the literature review of Interior Design theory and practice in chapter one to an analysis of Urban Planning and its social impacts in chapter two. This second phase combines the literature review with interviews to explore the mechanics of change through an examination of the theory and practice of Urban Planning. The chapter on Authenticity extracts and examines a framework based on the variables of success developed by Price Waterhouse Coopers and summarised by the Greater Namoi Chamber of Commerce, to determine criteria for urban planners to measure the “Success of the City.” Interviews were carried out with the founder and residents of Common Ground and with the urban planners commenting on authenticity. The practitioners actively engaged in the research as they commented on the value of authenticity as a framework for measuring the impact of gentrification as well as on the authenticity of their practice. Given the apparent power of a framework to record and collate quantitative action research, these frameworks are then examined and compared with the Authenticity framework, to create the proposed Design Futures framework. This framework is then tested against Action Research previously undertaken by the author to explore its aptness for measuring Design Thinking and ways in which it might be employed pedagogically. There are two separate sets of Action Research used to retrospectively review the Design Futures framework. Firstly, the author and colleagues undertook major external projects applying Design Futures theory to refine, develop and promote it. In addition, the students engaged in delivering design projects to real-world clients by applying Design Futures methodology and so were actively engaged in developing and testing the concepts that were later incorporated as the components of the Design Futures framework developed in this thesis. By working with the students to refine and test the application of Design Futures theory, the research actively engages the students as participants in the research that they are applying. By developing the framework and the Action Research independently but from the same underpinning theory, it is possible that built in assumptions have been reinforced rather than exposed. Methods for overcoming this weakness are addressed in the conclusion.