Date of Award
8-1-1975
Degree Name
Master of Architecture (March)
Degree Type
Restricted Thesis
Abstract
Originally, I had termed the design approach to be utilized for this thesis as one involving discourse between the designer and the users of the facility being designed, This reflected my view that the essential element of participatory design was a formalized communication between people involved in the design of a building; that is, no matter what technique the designer developes to structure the process of design and activate user expertise, the fundamental aspect of this approach involves an organized debate among the participants of such a collaborative design venture. This view of participatory design changed as I continued to investigate the appropriateness and feasibility of this approach prior to its application. This investigation entailed a two-fold examination into the theory and practice of participatory design as well as the theory and practice of alternative education. The attempt of this analysis was to examine how the context free theories of participation would be modified when applied in one particular context. What emerged is a critique of participatory design as it is now practiced, and the view that, for this particular context, design must be seen as a dialogue between participants of a collaborative design venture. What constitutes true dialogue, what are some of the barriers to true dialogue, how they might be overcome, and what are the implications for a specific architectural design project form the subject of this thesis.
Language
English (en)
Comments
Print version in library: https://catalog.wustl.edu:443/record=b1280369~S2