wazo design - Rachelle Soucy

Coriandoline: Friendly houses for girls and boys is a community housing project in Italy. The project was developed through a participatory process. The children were asked about their needs and expectations and the architects and designers listened. The website for this project is amazing...especially exploring the neighbourhood and the different buildings, murals, gardens and hiding spots!

We didn't ask them to design solutions and we didn't hand them a pencil so that they could try to be architects. Spontaneity, innocence, naïf - they are simple solutions to complex themes.

Shown below are some of the childrens' illustrations.

Architecture has been suffering a profound crisis of identity in recent years. The only novelties introduced are marginal and do not have a profound effect on projects; they relate to performance and comfort levels. The great revolution that might liven up the years to come will come from new participation of individuals, and will depend on designers' ability to listen. Participation and listening - especially to people who have never been listened to, the future dwellers. People who have been ignored for a very long time can be an unexplored mine of ideas.

Here is an article about Coriandoline in UTNE.

Some Websites and Projects - Participatory Design ...

Institute for Participatory Design

Participle

Human Centered Design Toolkit