Designing With Users: 7 Projects Where Architects Collaborated With Communities
There are moments when architects take the design process beyond their practice and engage with potential users as design participants. This expands the design framework and makes the input of future users key to project development. By seeking the knowledge, skills, and decision-making of a communal collective, the project becomes more tailored to their needs, better designed to fit within their local context, and a platform to exchange techniques and vernacular skills. It also creates a general sense of belonging in communities and gives users the authority to claim the environment around them.