Participatory design in architectural practice: Changing practices in future making in uncertain times

Abstract

The ways that architects invite participation in the design of future environments has evolved. This paper traces a history of architectural participatory design from the mid-twentieth century. This exploration suggests that current interest in participatory design reflects more progressive forms of architectural practice, where participatory interventions in everyday settings acknowledge and embrace value-pluralism. Architects practicing today engage people in design processes in different ways and at different scales of future-making. Improvising whilst learning, becoming and living are contemporary themes in participatory design, able to accommodate uncertain and changing situations. These understandings of architectural participation pose new questions for practice-based design research, concerning the relevance and impact of architectural research, as well as the education of architects for twenty-first century practice.