Construction Field Monitoring of a COB Prototype Building

Cob is an earthen building material made by soil, fibres and water used for millennia. However, cob construction disappeared out during the nineteenth century. These last years, it is experiencing a renaissance in Northwestern France and Southern England. Due to a limited technical knowledge, the investigation of engineering properties is important for modern design practice and code requirements. Moreover, to ensure building properties, it is necessary to have same quality mix along the building phases. The aim of this study is to determine material variation during the monitoring of a cob prototype building in Normandy (France). This study investigated structural cob mix composition, water content, density, mechanical properties and thermal conductivity. Specimens shape used were cylindrical 110 x H220 mm and prismatic 300 x 300 x 70 mm. Results indicated a variation in cob mix (water content, materials proportions) between three different lifts. These variations lead to different densities and, consequently, to variables compressive strengths: 0.99 to 1.38 MPa and thermal conductivities from 0.610 - 0.816 W.m-1∙K-1.

Weaving Together a Decolonial Imaginary Through Design for Effective River Management: Pluriversal Ontological Design in Practice

Looking at how we, as designers, can move beyond charges of neo-colonialism in social design, this article uses the empirical example of a design project focused on the restoration of a riverine system in New Zealand to provide an outline of ways that pluriversal ontological design can occur in practice. Exploring how the use of design tools and frameworks (e.g., boundary objects and infrastructuring) can help build out a decolonial imaginary, the article demonstrates how— through our design practice— we are able to successfully acknowledge, and work with, different “ways of being” in the world.

Values that Matter: A New Method to Design and Assess Moral Mediation of Technology

In this article, we aim to strengthen the basis of designing for values, by relating it to philosophy of technology. We start by discussing several theories to understand technology-induced value mediation: mediation approach, technology assessment methods, and types of value change. We continue by connecting these theories to design practice by proposing a new design for values methodology: Values that Matter. This methodology provides the means to evaluate moral mediation of technology during the design process and to responsibly design for it. The methodology is explained by the redesign of continuous vital sign monitoring technology in hospitalized patients.

Time and postphotography

This article presents a practice-led research project that asks how experienced time can be perceived through manipulated photographic images. The investigation is carried out by a series of digital images whose content is renegotiated over time, while the subject of the photograph remains within the frame. The artwork evidences an unstable space between a photographic composition and a moving image employed to question the power conventions in visualization and to expand the way we can conceive of time as duration in digital photographic images. It contributes to the discourse about practice-led oriented methodologies in the field of practice as a form of research through a comment on the design practice.

Industry Survey on the Current State of Stope Design Methods in the Underground Mining Sector

Stope design is a core discipline within mining engineering. This study analyzes the current state-of-the-art of stope design through a survey addressed to mining industry professionals. In stope design research the dominance of empirical methods has slowly shifted towards numerical methods. Recent advancements have mostly focused on the development of stope optimization algorithms. The survey consisted of 19 questions and was distributed to stope design experts via email, LinkedIn messages, and the Mining Industry Professionals network forum. In total, 36 responses of satisfying quality from 20 countries were received and analyzed. No dominance of a single stope design method was recognized. Empirical methods and personal expertise are still used widely. However, a readiness for change in stope design practice was indicated in 87% of responses. The current needs of the stoping-based underground mining sector are to increase the amount of geotechnical data, automate stope design and implement related software, and integrate these into general mine planning. According to 70% of the participants, acquired geotechnical data should be available within three days to be employed in design practice. The industry is ready to implement more efficient stope design methods if they offer results proven in case studies.

The Priority Given to Sustainability by Industrial Designers within an Industry 4.0 Paradigm

Industrial design is intrinsically linked to manufacturing; however, what is required of industrial design to adapt to new changes brought on by Industry 4.0 in manufacturing is unknown. Current literature gives little insight into how industrial designers need to evolve to the current developments in manufacturing to remain value drivers in an Industry 4.0 paradigm. There is minimal research describing the link between industrial design, Industry 4.0 and the effect this will have on sustainability. We conducted an extensive survey of 190 respondents from 53 countries to establish the present state of industrial design practice globally and to better understand the priority sustainability is given by practicing industrial designers. Qualitative data showed a desire for improved sustainable processes; however, quantitative data contradicted this, showing “sustainability” as one of the lowest ranked areas of importance in design practice for industrial designers. While sustainability—especially in manufacturing—demands more prominent change as industrial design adapts to an Industry 4.0 manufacturing paradigm, it seems that junior industrial designers do not currently see this as a priority.

Building “Working with, not for” into Design Studio Curriculum

Design ManifesT.O. 2020 is a Participatory Action Research project currently underway in Toronto, Canada and is working with communities to uncover stories of grassroots placemaking and community building done through creative practice. An unexpected discovery during data collection highlighted how communities are still being left out of decision-making processes that directly affect their collective values and living conditions and are being disrespected by designers and researchers — exposing very large gaps in the education of designers in terms of values-based learning, design ethics, and informed methods for working with communities. This paper interrogates design pedagogy and practice in order to stimulate further discourse and investigation into how to successfully integrate ethical and responsible protocols into design curriculum to support co-design practices where social justice and equity becomes normalized in practice. In other words: giving students the tools to “work with, not for” communities. Demonstrating social conscience is ethically desirable in design education but if students are not given the tools required to work with communities through respectful and collaborative processes then we are training the next generation of designers to continue a form of hegemony in design practice that is undesirable.