RE-SIGNIFY THE DOMESTIC SPACE IN TIMES OF CONFINEMENT FROM THE APPLICATION OF ETHNOGRAPHIC TOOLS AND PERSONAL CENTERED DESIGN

DS 110: Proceedings of the 23rd International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE 2021), VIA Design, VIA University in Herning, Denmark. 9th -10th September 2021

Year: 2021
Editor: Grierson, Hilary; Bohemia, Erik; Buck, Lyndon
Author: Cobreros, Carlos; Maya, Mariana; Biondi, Stefania; Sánchez, Ximena; Ontiveros-Ortiz, Elsa
Series: E&PDE
Institution: Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Arquitectura, Arte y Diseño
Section: Meeting 21st Century Challenges in Further and Higher Education
DOI number: 10.35199/EPDE.2021.83
ISBN: 978-1-912254-14-9

Abstract

The situation we face today with COVID-19 moves us to reformulate the work of design in favor of the physical and psychological health of people through the study of interactions within the spaces themselves. There are issues that, when observed, become opportunities for analysis and reflection to generate new ways of inhabiting space. This observation forces us to respond as academies in the search for new tools in which professionals are trained to act in favor of present and future solutions. In times of confinement, being obliged to stay at home for a longer time and to reduce interactions in public spaces has consequences of various kinds, leading to the emergence of new needs within the domestic space. This space has had to adapt from one day to the next to fulfill various functions that were not considered original and that now require urgent adaptations. The project Re-signify the Domestic Space in Times of Confinement aims to provide a new approach to the problem of housing in times of confinement from the School of Architecture, Art and Design at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, to train professionals of the XXI century before emergencies such as the one originated by COVID-19. It is intended to re-think and re-signify the domestic space from confinement, as an opportunity to rethink new and different ways of living in the future. The project aims to work in an interdisciplinary way, with students of Industrial Design and Architecture, to address the social challenges of the situation caused by confinement. Micro and autoethnography, virtual ethnography, and person-centered design methods are applied, generating more responsible results, based on conversation and the most direct relationship between the designer, technical knowledge, and practical user knowledge. Here, the person-centered design is understood as a practice of mobilization and response that generates new meanings within the production of spatial imagery. Ethnography and auto-ethnography allow the designer to immerse himself in a particular reality, in people's daily activities, to understand how they operate from a reflective and empathetic position. With micro-ethnographies, it focuses on a particular aspect in a short period of time, placing, in this case, the social problem in a spatial dimension, discovering particular problems, within a global pattern, to through immersion in the reality studied, visualizing an added value based on people's preferences and motivations. This article compiles, compares, and explains the processes and results around the research as the characterization of domestic space in the search for well-being. Thus, it was fundamental to identify the influence of the principal elements within the domestic environment. It was worth noting that the research was carried out under confinement conditions, placing the person and the domestic space experience at the center. The paper concludes with a reflection around the user's personal experience to their own relationship with the domestic space, around the use of new ethnographic tools, and pointing to new questions about the experience of the domestic space, in times of confinement and in the future.

Keywords: Domestic Space, Confinament, COVID-19, Ethnography

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