**** Call for Participation ****
Locating Boundaries: A Workshop on Place, Space, and Design
Join us (organizers: Julian E. Orr, Thomas Binder, Dvora Yanow,
Erling Björgvinsson, Steven Harrison, Gunnar Sandin, Genevieve Bell)
for a stimulating all-day workshop in Trento, in the foothills of the
Italian Alps, on Wednesday, August 2, 2006. This workshop is in
conjunction with the 2006 Participatory Design Conference, August
1-5 http://www.pdc2006.org/
WHY
While we are "Expanding Boundaries in Design", perhaps we should
think for a moment on the significance of boundaries, which are
essentially the separation of "this place" from everything "not this
place". And what constitutes "this place"?
The cultural meanings of place and space have been the subject of
three decades and more of study in disciplines such as social
geography, sociology, political science, and anthropology. The social
meanings of space comprise subfields in the study of architecture and
urban and regional planning, and they are increasingly present in
organizational studies. In recent years, design in fields other than
architecture and planning and research in support of such design have
been paying more attention to matters of place and space (extensive
bibliography available on request).
Place and space are social constructs, ways for humans to consider
the physical world in which they exist, and as social constructs,
both reflect and shape the culture in which they arise. Edward
Casey, phenomenological philosopher, argues for the primacy of
place. Not only are we always already embodied, he claims, but we
are always already emplaced. We are always some place and never
nowhere. Despite this experiential reality, our scientistic society
privileges space. Casey writes, ³Once it is assumed (after Newton
and Kant) that space is absolute and infinite as well as empty and a
priori in status, places become the mere apportionings of space, its
compartmentalizations.² (Casey, 1996, p. 14)
Nor are place and space unitary constructions; they will be
constructed differently by different people, different social groups,
and these differential constructions are inflected by differences in
interest and power as well as culture. This layering of construction
creates what may be thought of as place as palimpsest, a layered text
with different readings at different levels. These readings do not
simply coincide, either; they may be and often are contested.
THE WORKSHOP
The intent of this workshop is to bring together researchers and
practitioners who have studied place and space and are engaged in
exploring the ways in which place and space affect design and the use
of technology and the ways in which technology changes the places
where it is used. Those interested in learning about place and space
and exploring their relationship to design and technology are also
urged to attend. Participants are strongly encouraged to prepare one
to two page reports on their studies of place and space, similarly-
sized position statements on place, space, and design, or both.
These may be sent in advance, in which case we will try to post them
on a website for participants, or brought to the workshop. Those
wishing to suggest games or exercises in addition to those already
planned to explore aspects of the natures of place and space are
asked to contact the organizers in advance.
The day of the workshop will be divided between exercises and
discussions. It will begin with a brief round of introductions,
followed by an exercise on location. This is intended to explore
differences in awareness of location and the differential meanings
carried by the respective terminologies of place and space. The next
segment will be the presentation and discussion of participants'
reports on their own studies of place and space, either sent in
advance or brought to the workshop. The morning will conclude with a
game on place, space, and design.
During lunch, participants will encounter places and boundaries in
Trento. There will be a directed exercise to do during lunch of
attempting to recognize and identify places and boundaries and
observing actual or potential transgressions. When we reassemble,
the first part of the afternoon session will be a discussion of this
exercise and our observations. The next exercise will be on
transgressions of place and space, drawing on our observations and
discussions from the lunch-time exercise and including the uses and
misuses of technology for such purposes. The final segment will be
the presentation and discussion of participants' position statements,
which is expected to evolve into a general discussion of place,
space, and design.
RELEVANT DETAILS
This workshop is limited to ten participants in addition to the
organizers. Registration for the workshop is accomplished during
registration for the conference. However, those intending to
participate are also asked to e-mail Julian Orr
<[log in to unmask]>, so we may know who is coming. Position
statements and reports on previous studies of place and space should
be sent to the same address. Those with digital cameras should bring
them for the lunch-time exercise, or participants may consider how
else to register and record places.
REFERENCE
1. Casey, Edward. How to Get from Space to Place in a Fairly Short
Stretch of Time: Phenomenological prolegomena. In Feld and Basso,
Senses of Place. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press,
1996.
ORGANIZERS
Julian E. Orr, Black Sheep Farm, P.O. Box 577, Pescadero, CA, 94060,
USA. [log in to unmask] tel. +1 650-879-0066.
Thomas Binder, Center for Design Research, Royal Academy of Fine
Arts, School of Architecture, Philip de Langes Allé 10, DK-1435
Copenhagen K, Denmark, [log in to unmask], tel:+45 3268 6365,
mobile: +45 5091 4326.
Prof. dr. Dvora Yanow, Department/Afdeling Culture, Organization &
Management, Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen, Vrije Universiteit, De
Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS,
[log in to unmask], tel. +31 (0)20 598 2653 (direct line), +31 (0)6
4674 1479 (cell).
Erling Björgvinsson, Arts and Communication, Malmö University,
Beijerskajen 8, 205 06 Malmö, Sweden. [log in to unmask]
Steven Harrison, Dept of Computer Science, 510 McBryde Hall - 0106,
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, [log in to unmask], http://
people.cs.vt.edu/~srh/, tel. +1 540-231 - 7783
Gunnar Sandin, Lund University, School of Architecture, Box 118, 221
00 Lund, Sweden. [log in to unmask]
Genevieve Bell, Domestic Designs and Technologies Research, Digital
Home Group, 2111 NE 25th Ave, MS JF1-251, Hillsboro, OR 97124,
[log in to unmask], tel. +1 503-264-7510
---------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, send an empty email to
mailto:[log in to unmask]
For further details of CHI lists see http://sigchi.org/listserv
---------------------------------------------------------------
|