The thermal environment in outdoor spaces can significantly influence users’ thermal perception and thus their use of these spaces. Improving microclimatic conditions in urban spaces will most likely encourage people to spend more time outdoors, with the potential to improve their health and wellbeing, as well as boosting social cohesion. As well as enhancing the environmental quality of cities it should also eventually improve the quality of life of its citizens. This thesis is one of the first attempts to investigate the outdoor thermal comfort and the effect of cultural differences in hot arid climates. Case studies were carefully selected in two different parts of the world (Marrakech in North Africa and Phoenix-Arizona in North America) to represent a variety of users in similar climatic context. Field surveys, carried out during winter and summer, included: structured interviews with a standard questionnaire; observations of the human activities; and microclimatic monitoring. The results revealed that the solely physiological approach is insufficient to assess the outdoor thermal comfort conditions in hot arid climates. Environmental variables such as air temperature and solar radiation, could have a great impact on the use of the outdoor spaces in the hot arid climate, and may determine the number of people and activities in them. The study also shows that participants who usually spend more time outdoors due to their life style, “outdoors individuals”, tend to stay longer in the studied sites compared with the “indoors individuals” who spend more time indoors. This is probably because the “outdoor individuals” have better experience of the outdoor conditions and respective thermal conditions. Experience has a strong link with expectations so that according to their past experience, people prepare themselves for the expected weather by taking adaptive measures. People from different cultures in the hot arid climate are likely to evaluate their thermal conditions differently, have diverse thermal comfort requirements, and use urban public spaces differently as well. Further work needs to be done to cover more geographical areas within the hot arid climate. Such an expansion may generalise the findings of this study or explain any particularity associated with the sites of the current study. More research is also needed to investigate he thermal requirements and use of outdoor spaces by different social groups by using robust classification methods. Emphasis should be on investigating the influence of thermal comfort on the use of outdoor public spaces by young and older people, and how that may affect their health and will being in such climates.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. / Open access. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85).

In this thesis the opportunities for designing products that are less resource intensive during use, in different cultural contexts is investigated. The research was divided into four phases: an extensive literature review, an online scoping study, an intensive qualitative study on laundry behaviours, and an international design competition. The research drew on the background of design for sustainable behaviour, a relatively new field of enquiry concerned with reducing the social and environmental impacts of products during their use. Despite the increasing development of theories to change user behaviour through design, there is a lack of understanding of how different cultural contexts affect behaviour. An extensive literature review established the current thinking on culture, development, and behaviour. The diverse nature of everyday household behaviour from different cultures and the effect it has on household resource consumption was uncovered and was investigated further in an online scoping study. In the study, participants from the UK, Brazil and India answered questions related to the themes of food, water, energy, materials and government schemes. The findings helped to highlight the differences in household behaviours and led to more detailed investigation of laundry behaviours in three sites in the UK, Brazil and India using in-context interviews, observations and household tours. From these findings a series of culturally significant and culturally independent factors were established that can aid designers in understanding behaviours in a given context. A set of design guidelines were also created to facilitate the design of less resource intensive products during use. These were then tested with designers in an international design competition answering a brief to design a less resource intensive laundry process. The research suggested a range of benefits for designers studying other cultures. The guidelines and cultural factors created can help designers to build empathy with users in a given context and boost creative thinking for more sustainable solutions. The research also offered insights into the possibility of, and application for, transferring behaviours between contexts as well as a new understanding of the aspirations of consumers in emerging markets, which could support other theories of sustainable development, such as leapfrogging.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2019-03-07T16:01:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Giulio Federico Palmitessa_.pdf: 6271067 bytes, checksum: 3d3eb16867fd7e332026766517559cb3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2019-03-07T16:01:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Giulio Federico Palmitessa_.pdf: 6271067 bytes, checksum: 3d3eb16867fd7e332026766517559cb3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-11-28 / Nenhuma / Este trabalho tem como objetivo identificar possíveis cenários de atuação da cultura de projeto, frente ao crescente uso de tecnologias do âmbito da Quarta Revolução Industrial (QRI). Nesse sentido, propõe-se a organização de um quadro de síntese, como paradigma da atuação da disciplina neste contexto, em relação ao potencial entre as novas tecnologias da indústria 4.0 e as capacidades (capabilities) do Design de vislumbrar cenários de futuro e desejados. O trabalho verifica os valores e definições da Cultura de Projeto frente as potencialidades processuais e materiais de atuação do Design, e busca, investigar a dimensão da inovação no cenário da QRI. A pesquisa é de teor qualitativo, realizado através um roteiro de 7 entrevistas semiestruturado, gravadas e analisadas com software utiliza a tecnologia de CAQDAS. Os resultados evidenciam duas abordagens da Cultura de Projeto: um processo que antecipa os fenômenos do futuro, através competências ligadas a intuição percepção de simular novos cenários e, por contra um processo que prevê e imagina a dimensão de projeto, como sequencias de ações que usam a eficácia e controle. / This work aims to identify possible scenarios for the performance of the project culture, in light of the growing use of technologies from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (QRI). In this sense, it is proposed the organization of a synthesis framework, as a paradigm of the discipline's performance in this context, in relation to the potential between the new technologies of industry 4.0 and the capabilities of the Design to envision future and desired scenarios. The work verifies the values and definitions of the Project Culture against the procedural and material potential of Design and seeks to investigate the innovation dimension in the IRB scenario. The research is qualitative, carried out through a script of 7 semistructured interviews, recorded and analyzed using software using CAQDAS technology. The results show two approaches to Project Culture: a process that anticipates the phenomena of the future, through skills linked to intuition perception of simulating new scenarios and, by contrast, a process that predicts and imagines, the project dimension, as sequences of actions which use effectiveness and control.

This thesis, conducted at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs France under the supervision of LCPI Laboratory and Strate Collège, explores the concept of aesthetic experiences in an R&D department.One of the current interests of design research explores the concept of User eXperience (UX) and provides frameworks and methods to observe, describe and generate a rich product experience. Other recent studies focus on the aesthetic experience in organizations. Using an Action-Research approach, we extend the knowledge on aesthetic experiences through a new perspective: rather than looking at the users' experience, we framework the experience of multidisciplinary R&D teams through a qualitative and quantitative study. Our experimentation field consists of multidisciplinary projects from the Applications Research Domain (APPRD) - the multidisciplinary department of Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs. We study the most memorable projects - those that trigger aesthetic experiences in the work experience of research-engineers. Our goal is to understand what is the link between aesthetic experience feelings, design practices and aspects of the innovation culture. Finally, we propose a descriptive framework of aesthetic experience in this context and we show first implications to trigger this type of experience in a multidisciplinary R&D department.

Cette thèse CIFRE, effectuée au Laboratoire LCPI avec les partenaires Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs France et Strate Collège, explore le concept de l'expérience esthétique des concepteurs dans le contexte de l'innovation et du travail pluridisciplinaire.Un des intérêts actuels de la recherche en design se focalise sur l'expérience utilisateur (UX) et propose des modèles et des méthodes pour comprendre ce concept pour la conception. D'autres études récentes portent sur l'expérience esthétique dans les organisations. Au travers d'une approche Recherche-Action, nous prolongeons la connaissance sur l'expérience esthétique avec un changement de perspective, de l'expérience de l'utilisateur vers l'expérience des concepteurs. Dans une étude qualitative et quantitative nous modélisons le concept de l'expérience esthétique dans un département de recherche. Notre terrain est constitué de projets pluridisciplinaires de l'Applications Research Domain (APPRD), le département pluridisciplinaire de Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs. Nous étudions les projets les plus riches, mémorables, transformateurs - ceux qui ont donné lieu à des expériences esthétiques dans le travail des concepteurs, pour comprendre quel est le lien entre ces projets, les pratiques design et la culture d'innovation. Finalement nous proposons un modèle de l'expérience esthétique dans ce contexte et nous montrons de premières implications pour déclencher ce type d'expérience dans un département multidisciplinaire de R&D. / This thesis, conducted at Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs France under the supervision of LCPI Laboratory and Strate Collège, explores the concept of aesthetic experiences in an R&D department.One of the current interests of design research explores the concept of User eXperience (UX) and provides frameworks and methods to observe, describe and generate a rich product experience. Other recent studies focus on the aesthetic experience in organizations. Using an Action-Research approach, we extend the knowledge on aesthetic experiences through a new perspective: rather than looking at the users' experience, we framework the experience of multidisciplinary R&D teams through a qualitative and quantitative study. Our experimentation field consists of multidisciplinary projects from the Applications Research Domain (APPRD) - the multidisciplinary department of Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs. We study the most memorable projects - those that trigger aesthetic experiences in the work experience of research-engineers. Our goal is to understand what is the link between aesthetic experience feelings, design practices and aspects of the innovation culture. Finally, we propose a descriptive framework of aesthetic experience in this context and we show first implications to trigger this type of experience in a multidisciplinary R&D department.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2017-06-22T13:49:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia Caldas Silber_.pdf: 817295 bytes, checksum: 99d4ad1e1239a4ae5c5675ca7d537a70 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-22T13:49:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Claudia Caldas Silber_.pdf: 817295 bytes, checksum: 99d4ad1e1239a4ae5c5675ca7d537a70 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-24 / Nenhuma / Este trabalho visa contribuir para o desenvolvimento cientifico no campo do design estratégico ao propor que a atualização da proposta de valor das organizações, frente aos desafios impostos pelos atuais contextos sociais e econômicos, está relacionada às mudanças na cultura das organizações. Mudar a cultura de uma organização é uma questão complexa que envolve questões materiais explícitas, bem como questões tácitas relacionadas aos valores, pensamentos, atitudes e crenças organizacionais. Porém, conhecimentos em design estratégico são competências que não estão comumente presentes nas equipes internas das organizações, mas que podem ser incorporados às suas estruturas como recursos externos por meio da contratação de empresas de consultoria especializadas em design estratégico. Ao atuar junto ao contexto organizacional dos clientes, empresas de consultoria em design estratégico agregam não só conhecimentos especializados e métodos, mas também o pensamento e a atitude do design. Esse conjunto de ferramentas e habilidades forma a cultura do design, que, pelas suas capacidades, pode contribuir para a evolução das organizações. Ao afetar estruturas organizacionais, a cultura do design catalisa mudanças que transformam a cultura das organizações abertas e permeáveis à ação do design. Contudo, em organizações com cultura conservadora, poderão surgir barreiras e resistências às mudanças, com a intenção de preservar o modelo existente, limitando a ação transformadora do design que pode operar como instrumento de transposição desses limites. A pesquisa qualitativa foi realizada com base em um estudo de caso múltiplo que possibilitou a compreensão sobre a capacidade transformadora do design estratégico nas organizações consideradas unidades de análise deste estudo. A integração entre múltiplos atores dos diversos níveis das estruturas organizacionais foi resultado da ação da empresa de consultoria que ativou um processo dialógico por meio dos instrumentos de design estratégico no sentido de orientar a estratégia, promover processos criativos e construir sentidos coletivos para a geração de valor. / This paper aims to contribute to the development of scientific research in the field of strategic design by proposing that the updating of the value proposition of organizations, facing the challenges imposed by the current social and economic contexts, is related to the transformation of the organizational culture. Changing the culture of an organization is a complex issue, because it is a systemic process that involves organizational values, as well as processes, beliefs, thoughts and attitudes. However, knowledge in strategic design is skills not commonly present in internal teams of organizations, but can be incorporated into their structures as external resources by hiring consulting firms specialized in strategic design. By working alongside the organizational context of clients, strategic design consulting firms add not only expertise and methods, but also the thinking and design attitude. This set of tools and skills form the design culture, which, through its capabilities, can contribute to the evolution of organizations. By affecting organizational structures, the design culture catalyzes changes that transform the culture of organizations open and permeable to the action of design. However, in organizations with a conservative culture, barriers and resistance to change may arise, with the intention of preserving the existing model, limiting the transforming action of design, which can operate as an instrument to transpose these limits. The qualitative research was carried out based on a multiple case study making possible the understanding about the transforming capacity of the strategic design in the organizations considered units of analysis of this study. The integration among multiple actors at the various levels of organizational structures resulted from the consulting company's action that activated a dialogic process through the tools of strategic design in order to guide the strategy, promote creative processes, and build collective meanings for the generation of value.

A social etiquette has emerged around the consumption of food in the West which requires the use of cutlery – knife, fork and spoon. It is the spoon that is the subject of this thesis, a utensil so familiar as to have become almost invisible. The significance of the spoon should not be underestimated and it is employed in this study as a device to offer insight into material practices, examine theoretical issues in relation to design and explore the culture of representation that has developed around objects in the contemporary field of visual and material culture. In this sense this thesis can be seen as located in the blurred boundaries of art, craft and design and as constituting a text which contextualises and supports a collection of artefacts developed in the course of a 'practice led' Art and Design PhD. The spoon exists not only as an object whose usefulness transcends time but also in terms of a metaphorical singularity; as an idea with an infinite number of possible interpretations and material manifestations. This thesis originates in the idea of a reflective cross-disciplinary enquiry intended to explore fundamental questions around what the author defines as “spoonness”, articulating that which might otherwise be articulated through (and subsumed in) the making of the object itself. Significantly, by tracing the journey of the authors film „Emilie Eating Soup‟ together with the various objects, exhibitions and catalogues developed in the course of this research, this thesis also contributes to current critical discourse from the perspective of the practitioner - a voice that in the past has often been absent from academic discourse. It opens up the creative processes to scrutiny and further comment, and serves as a model of analysis to others in the field of material culture to aid reflection upon their own practice and generate new modes of innovation. A critical reflection upon the works subsequent reception at a series of prestigious international exhibitions and events is made throughout this thesis. These materials, together with this text, combine to represent the broad arc of this author‟s creative practice and collectively define the innovative nature of this PhD.

Submitted by Maicon Juliano Schmidt (maicons) on 2015-06-11T19:11:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernanda Seidl Ferretti.pdf: 1748375 bytes, checksum: 3a14da8caf8aaa4278c345ca3c0a62ed (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-06-11T19:11:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Fernanda Seidl Ferretti.pdf: 1748375 bytes, checksum: 3a14da8caf8aaa4278c345ca3c0a62ed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-25 / Nenhuma / As intervenções de designers que, como consultores, interagem com comunidades de artesãos, para qualificar a produção artesanal e reposicioná-la no mercado consumidor, são populares no Brasil - devido ao seu potencial de gerar desenvolvimento econômico e social para tais comunidades. Investiga-se tais interações a partir da perspectiva do design estratégico, visando a geração de valor através de processos que envolvem múltiplos atores na elaboração de soluções. Objetiva-se a proposição de caminhos estratégicos para a qualificação das consultorias de designers nas comunidades artesanais, visando à promoção de processos de co-design que contribuam para a maior autonomia das comunidades em relação às instituições que fomentam tais intervenções. A partir de uma investigação exploratória, são realizados estudos de caso com três grupos produtores de artesanato que contaram com a presença de designers para o desenvolvimento de seus produtos. Analisa-se a trajetória e processos de criação de artefatos destes grupos, e descreve-se um ambiente projetual em que a estrutura organizacional e as relações interpessoais influenciam a atuação dos designers e a continuidade do projeto, e a introjeção das competências dos consultores, e o fortalecimento da rede de valor dos grupos favorecem a autonomia dos artesãos. Sintetizam-se quatro proposições centrais: 1) a atuação do designer como um agente de capacitação do grupo na cultura do design; 2) a criação de um espaço de co-design condutivo a uma experiência imersiva, favorecendo simultaneamente as relações interpessoais e a projetação colaborativa; 3) a facilitação do processo de co-design e da capacitação dos artesãos, a partir de instrumentos que combinam pesquisas metaprojetuais e o desenvolvimento das relações entre os participantes; 4) o fortalecimento da rede de valor dos grupos através de colaborações horizontais intergrupais. / The interventions of designers who, as consultants, interact with communities of artisans to qualify handicraft production and reposition it in the consumer market, are popular in Brazil - because of their potential to generate economic and social development for such communities. These interactions are investigated here through a strategic design's perspective, aiming at value creation through processes that involve multiple actors in the development of solutions. The objective of this research is to propose strategic paths for the qualification of design consultancies for handicraft communities, aiming to promote co-design processes that contribute to the community's greater autonomy in relation to the institutions that promote these interventions. As part of an exploratory investigation, three case studies are conducted, involving communities of artisans where designers helped to develop artifacts. The development paths and the artifact creation process of these groups are analyzed, leading to the description of a designing environment where the organizational structure and the relationships between participants have an influence on the designers work and the continuity of the project; and the introjection of the consultant's skills, and the strengthening of the community's value network contribute towards the artisan's autonomy. Four central propositions are therefore defined: 1) the role of the designer as a qualification agent in design culture; 2) the creation of a co-design space which conducts to an immersive experience while promoting interpersonal relationships and collaborative design; 3) the facilitation of the co-creation process and qualification of artisans through instruments that combine research on a metadesign level and the development of interpersonal relations; 4) the strengthening of the groups value network through horizontal intergroup collaborations.

[pt] A partir da apuração da inevitável necessidade de transformação do meio natural pelo homem na construção do seu habitat, o trabalho investiga uma cultura projetual que busca evidenciar os pontos de contato e as articulações entre natureza e artifício ao propor ações transformadoras da paisagem por meio do esforço criativo e da técnica. O papel central da arquitetura discutido não se refere apenas à construção do abrigo essencial que visa garantir sobrevivência frente às contingências naturais, mas também à necessidade de transformar natureza em cultura. Este processo de conversão é colocado pela investigação como o próprio sentido de paisagem, conceito chave na aproximação às questões elaboradas pela pesquisa. A partir de uma certa abordagem teórica deste e das discussões elaboradas na pesquisa sobre tectônica e prática material, o trabalho caracteriza o conceito tectônica da paisagem como princípio de ação da cultura projetual em questão. Princípio através do qual será analisado um determinado modo de pensar e projetar arquitetura, estabelecendo a base pela qual é proposta uma aproximação a certo tipo de projeto que parte das articulações, das juntas entre natureza, paisagem e artifício. Discussão teórica que informa a análise crítica da proposta para a Baía de Montevidéu desenvolvida por Paulo Mendes da Rocha. A pesquisa demonstrou que a cultura de projeto investigada contribui na construção de um discurso arquitetônico fundeado na potência instrumental da arquitetura em transformar a realidade de maneira crítica e imaginativa, enriquecendo o mundo cultural do homem. / [en] Spreading from the inevitable need by man to transform the natural environment in process of building his own habitat, the work invested in a design culture that highlights points of contact and articulations between nature and artifice, proposing actions that can actively transform the landscape through creative effort and technical work. The primal role of this architecture refers not only to the construction of the essential shelter, that aims to guarantee survival in face of natural contingencies, but also the need to transform nature into culture. This process of conversion is understood by the investigation as the very sense of landscape, key concept in approaching the questions elaborated by the research. Based on a certain theoretical approach and discussions on tectonic and material practice, the work characterizes the concept landscape tectonic as the principle of action of the design culture in evidence. This principle will analyze a certain way of thinking and designing architecture, establishing an intent of approach to a specific type of project that begins with its articulations, the joints between nature, landscape and artifice. This theoretical debate informs the critical analysis of the proposal for Montevideo Bay developed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha. The research has shown that this design culture being investigated contributes largely in building a architectural discourse based on the instrumental power of architecture as it transforms reality in a critical and imaginative way, enriching the cultural world of men.