culture design - exploring social innovation in danish design and architecture

2010 OPLÆG STUDIO X NEW YORK 5. NOVEMBER 20091

Designing culture for You, I and We

Culture DesignExploring social innovation in Danish design and architecture

OPLÆG COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDIO XNOVEMBER 2009


This is ChristianCultural planner,philosopherand filmmaker

This is JacobArchitect, designer,urban plannerand a terrible drawer

In spring 2009 they formed

the design agency UiWeToday we want to talk about ourselves and have a conversation with LEONG LEONG ARCHITECTURE

on culture design

What do we mean by design?

How can we redefine good quality Danish Design?


How can design become more than objects of consumerism

How can design be a part of the solution, not the problem?

This is NOT good quality!

THINK BIGGET INVOLVED

no more consumer mass design

“Design’s too important to be left to designers” Tim Brown IDEO

We think THIS is great quality!

What if we could design a culturethat enables people to participate in creating good quality?

2010 OPLÆG STUDIO X NEW YORK 5. NOVEMBER 2009�

What do we mean by culture?

Culture is a way of conceptualizing the complexity of “we”Historical:Culture is social heritage, or tradition, that is passed on to future generations.Behavioral: Culture is shared, learned human behavior, a way of life.Functional: Culture is the way humans solve problems of adapting to the environment or living together.Mental: Culture is a complex of ideas, or learned habits, that inhibit impulses and distinguish people from animals.Normative: Culture is ideals, values, or rules for living.Structural: Culture consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols, or behaviors.Symbolic: Culture is based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that areshared by a society (wikipedia)

Culture is what ties us all together as a “we”

Normative defintion:

WHAT WE WANTCulture as ideals and values

Hermeneutic approach: seeing cultural expressions as ideals and values.

Behavioral definition:

WHAT WE DOCulture as human behavior

Anthropological approach: understanding the ways we act and interact.

Why culture design?

The hyper complex challenges of contemporary society require cross-disciplinary solutions: sustainability, urban planning, education, social welfare

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etc.

Challenge:hyper specialized fields / sciences


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Culture Design

Culture Design bridges specialized fields

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Culture Design

and breakes silos within specialized fields

Culture Design aims to bridge the cultural differencies that defines the silos

We started by breaking our own

Design as a physical product

Cultural Design

Design as aService or process

Culture as behaviour

Culture as ideals

We propose to link the experimental design methodology with an experimental approach to culture

It is about asking questions together about how we act and interact

We brought you 4 themes:

Creative learningGrounded city brandingFuture-proof welfareActive sustainability


Creative solutionscalls forcreative people!

Creative learning

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity at Creative Places + Spaces last week

The Marshmellow Challengeat Creative Places + Spaces in Toronto last week tested on a gang of creative professionals

The Marshmellow Challengetested with a gang of kindergarteners

Guess who won....

3-5 years 98%5-10 years 32%10-15 years 10%

25+ years 3%

Scientific research on creativity

How can we redesign schools that evolves creative capacities instead of diminishing them?


Howard Gardner defines 8intelligences not two

People smart

Number smart

Picture smart

Word smart

Music smart

Body smart

Nature smart

Self smart

Up to 75% of learning happens through informal learning!

We needed to break the barriers of the existing school organisation

CASE: Redesign 12 existing schools to fit present day needs

“Everywhere we look, we see institutions that appear the same as they used to be from the outside, and carry the same names, but inside have become quite different. We continue to talk of the nation, the family, work, tradition, nature, as if they were all the same as in the past. They are not. The outer shell remains, but inside all is different.” Anthony Giddens http://www.lse.ac.uk/Giddens/reith_99/week1/week1.htm

“We need to reconstruct the institu-tions we have or create new ones in ways appropriate for the global age”

Anthony Giddens: http://www.lse.ac.uk/Giddens/reith_99/week1/week1.htm


Shell bombing

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+

++

10.00

Centresof excellence

Rhizome

Paralelleinstitution

Selforganising

Multiprogramme

Realism

Parasite

Open source

Hacker

Self-organizing

What if the school had a completely flat structure? So that every individual could structure their own education.

HallwaysStairsCommons

Specified classroomsLibrary

General classrooms

Storage +

Toilets / Baths

Teachers


How could we get everybody to agree on how this new, open school was to be organized?

Teacher’s language

Kid’s language

Parent’s languageDesigninga common language

Administration’s language

Challenge:Finding a common language

Product:A set of building blocks

A year and 50 meetings later...

New functionalorganization

Before


Before During

After


Centres of excellence What if the school was hyper specialized and offered deep knowledge in a certain field?

CASE: analyse potentialsfor new school development in new-townØrestad, Copenhagen, DK

Going to class!

New specialized IT and technology high-school in ØrestadBy 3XN

A fortunate chance to prototype in real life

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”Albert Einstein


Bottom line:Analysing and challenging existing organisational and physical structures

Creating a common langauge between users

Prototyping and testing a new organisation in real life

Can design realize a vision for a town based on its inhabitants’ stories and dreams?

A Creative Class struggle: competition between cities in the experience economy

And a question about how we want to live together in our cities

Global city challenges

CASE: Vision for ElsinoreElsinore + ReD AssociatesIntroducing a cultural approach to identity building of Elsinore


Elsingore >Facts on Elsinore:45 min from CopenhagenApprox: 60.000 Inhabitants

Copenhagen >A vacuum in Elsinore’s identity after the downfall of the shipyard

Lack of self-identity

Old economic foundation is falling apart (no more drunk Swedes)

An obsolete business model

Tourism potential is there, but not realized- people come, but don’t stay

A potential, but no strategy

Ambitious public cultural projects (but no grounded notion about the projects)

A future model without local ownership

Elsinore challenges:

A potential, but no strategy

An obsolete business modelA future model without lo-cal ownership

Lack of self-identity

A common vision ?


NOT the quick branding fix...

avoiding “the creative municipality” trickCultural analysis approach:User oriented culture analysis deploring tools from anthropology:Observing, gathering, participating, interpretating (not just asking)

19

SNEKKERSTEN

ÅLSGAARDE

ESPERGÆRDE

HORNBÆK

Morten

Victoria

Natalie

Lars

Anders

Jesper

Anja

Arne

Tom

Janus

Line

Tobias

FinnHans

Annelise og Jørgen

Videnspersoneer:

Repræsentanter for kommunens forvaltninger

Henrik Numelin, Helsingør turistbureau

Birgitte Bergman, citychef

Claus Dalgas, Helsingør Dagblad

Martin Christiansen, initiativtager på Elværket

Poul Erik, Toldkammeret

Nanna Kannenworff, iværksætter

KØBENHAVN

HELSINGØR

Nikolaj og Tanja

Danyal

Ursula

Aviva og Sisse

Videnspersoner:

Orvar Löfgren, professor ved Lund Universitet

Claudia Rota Andersen, Danmarks Turistråd

Trevor Davis, kulturentreprenør og leder af KIT

+ 14 hold endagsturister

Borgere og fraflytere Sommerhusejere Potentielle turister

Methodology appliedQuality in research (rather than quanity)Personal narratives and places of meaningParticipating in everyday setting

Helsingør skal...

komfortabel

natur

skøn natur

hav

ro

bekvemmelighed

skov

vandet

forfædre

fællesskab

det velkendte

fordybelse

natur

uspoleret

nærvær nærhed

det gamle

oprindelse

genkendelighed

virkeligt (ikke for perfekt)

charme

genkendelighed

tætte relationer

traditioner

det runde og bløde

tryghed tryghed

historier

historie

hygge

rødder

autentisk

RO

NÆRHED

AUTENCITET

RO

NÆRHED

AUTENCITET

Samler

Jæger

Opdyrker

FÆLLES VÆRDIER FOR DE TRE SEGMENTER

Extracting meaning from images and narratives found in the field research

Using the sensibility of the cultural interpretator in the proces

intimate

authentic

calm

intimate

calmauthentic

honest

inclusive enigmatic

Design guidelinesUrban design proposals

Prototype eventsRites and rituals

New residential programming

Tourist initiatives

Product:Value-based design manual guiding the municipalityHolistic + pragmatic implementation of the vision

Challenge: Integrating organizational power to ensure execution of the vision

How do we create a cross disciplinary organizational driver?

Dept. of planningDesigning the city

Dept. of cultureCreating cultural services

Dept. of communicationBranding Elsingore

Dept. of commerceAttracting business


Bottom line:

Integrate user-oriented research and creative interpretation

Creating tools that can facilitate a collective development process

Engaging and syncing key actors in making the vision happen

Today the agricultural production landscape covers

62% of Denmark.

This part of the country is managed by 1% of the population - the farmers.

40% of the agricultural production is exported

Last year some 17 290 individual farms received support representing

5% of the total EU of almost

2 billion $

How can we design a environmentally, economically and socially sustainable Danish agriculture?


Traditional Danish culture: Farming

New technology: Pharming

Political supportVision for a new Danish identity

Urban planning

What if Denmark farmed pharmaceuticals?

Pharmland ™

20 m2 of bioengineered plant can produce enough antibodies to meet a

world demand of 14 million Euros.

A minipig used in pharmaceutical industry is sold for 125 euros per kg. An ordinary

pig is sold for 1,5 euro pr. kg.


Polymer plasticsBiofuelSolar fieldsWind turbine fields

Potential land-use

We think this is quality. Don’t you?

Bottom line:Analysing and challenging an existing view of self identity

Bringing new groups of specialists together for a common project


How do you design a system where the user can ACT on sustainability issues?

Challenges

The experience of sustainability issues as complex and too hard to handle.

An everyday packed with an overload of de-mands to take action - in the abstract.

CASE: improving the experience of the Danish recycling system for bottles + cans

Realized by Via Design + Danish Recycling System

FACTS on DANISH RECYCLING SYSTEM

446 million items 13,000 returns recipients - mainly supermarkets2,900 reverse vending machines Returns percentages for 2008: 88%

When a can is recycled you spend only 5% of what it would require to produce a new can

When 1 lb of aluminium is recycled 9 lb of CO2 is saved

Danish Recycling System todayWork well, but could be better

Consumer Danish Recycling SystemMoney

Analyzing social and personal motives for using - and not using - the Danish recycling system

Mapping and understanding the complex variety of motivations: functional, social, personal

Exploring new ideas to strengthen the recycling system

Approach:


Anthropological approach (2)Qualitative dialogue with selected users in their home setting

Mapping of user patternsCostumer journey + tracking of interaction points

Integrating professional, cultural perspectives in the proces

Developing perspectives with a range of cultural specialists: artists, cultural theorist, sustainability practioneers

Using film as medium to enhance the experience of immediacy in the idea generation

Cultural mapping shows: a desire to participate a potential in acting for a greater cause

Consumer+ citizen

Money+ ethic value

Better qualityDanish Recycling System

Using the recycle infrastructure as hub as a site for social action on sustainability isssues

The potential in the shop as a hub for community engagement

Realizing the cultural potential by framing the user-experience in the light of the bigger picture


Bottom line:maps the complex motives of the user

investigating how design can support the experience of values and ideals in everyday actions

explores solutions that combines high performance service with an understanding for the social and cultural desires of the users

Bottom Bottom line:

Focus on people ‘s needs and actions (rather than just objects)

Develops tools that enable co-creation rather than finished solutions

Work integrated with programming and design

Involve the client in the design process to ensure ownership

Integrate user oriented research and creative interpretation

Be honest about exercising a personal cultural sensibility and ethic

So...What do you think?

www.uiwe.dk

culture design - exploring social innovation in danish design and architecture

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