Designers, Builders, Users: Messing with Mainstream Architecture

Abstract

The built environment is representative of a society’s health. It grows and diminishes with economic changes and largely affects social behavior. Therefore it is easy to ascertain that healthy and vibrant built environments equal social success and human well being. Architectural practice has been responsible for much of this ongoing struggle, and within the last 40 years collaboration between the design and building trades has began to re-establish itself. Coupled with this re-adapted design process, North America’s ongoing evolution into a modernized, fast paced economy has put pressure on the development of today’s built environment. In this respect, education has not caught up with the demands of society and a gap has grown between designers, builders, and users, resulting in high numbers of low quality economic designs, fit to please bank accounts and not living or working conditions. These social circumstances are represented through the design and development of built environments, but much of this information remains unknown to individuals without training. This leaves the responsibility of creating well designed and functioning environments secluded within a select field of individuals, none of which are the users of the built environment. This seclusion will remain in place until incorporating the user into the design process becomes economically feasible. As this is not likely in the near future of commercial development, architecture should respond to this with explorations into alternative design processes, ultimately with the knowledge that if or when the user becomes fully incorporated into a standardized design process, the learning curve will be shorter. This theory is only applicable if user’s have a pre-existing and appropriate understanding of spatial design and architecture, potentially allowing their perspectives to become incorporated into the design and building trades on a more experiential level. This thesis aims to uncover the means by which this theory is possible.