Valentina Ustinova

Exploring Shared Living

Developing a tangible toolbox for generative workshops to envision socially and environmentally sustainable urban housing.​

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Time

8 weeks, 2020

Role

Research
Ideation
Prototyping
Workshop facilitation

Collaboration

Elizabeth Matkiewicz
Jonas Stengel
Linea Bendtsen
Tirsa Ramos-Pedersen

Stakeholder

K3 Malmö University

Overview

If we may have to redefine the meaning of home and get used to the shared living model, what should be considered, when planning for a lifelong successful cohabitation?

A goal of the design process is to develop a toolkit for participatory workshops that serves as an instrument for expression, inspiration and idea generation. A toolkit aims to support city planners, urban developers, architects and designers, who want to initiate discussions about cohabitation in a group of potential neighbours.

background

Relational aspect of coliving​

The experiments over the years, show that social factors are essential for shared living projects and it is important to timely address interpersonal relationships occurring between people.

A team of designers applies co-design methods to investigate through a series of workshops, how different groups of people might envision and negotiate private, personal and shared spaces as well as living conditions.

Design Process

The process includes planning, research, ideation, prototyping, workshop facilitation and analysis.

Ideation & Prototyping​

The design process started with open-ended materials, like styrofoam and paper. Experimenting with various sets of rules and quickly shaping and iterating physical components, eventually, we developed general principles of the design board game.

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Ideation and Lo-fi prototyping of the Design Game.
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Developing a sensitizing activity. Mapping made by the team of designers regarding things that we would or would not share with others.
To prepare prospective workshop participants for the game, we included sensitizing activity at the beginning of the session. Its goal is to break the ice and initiate discussion about personal boundaries.
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Building blocks of the toolkit based on styrofoam elements.
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Laser-cutting a custom dice.
The design of the toolkit was iterated between the workshops and tests in smaller groups. Considering the feedback, we added a wider range of abstract shapes, introduced levels of complexity, debriefing exercises and instruments to capture the discussion.
methodological outcome

Workshop Methods

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01 What would you share?

Sensitizing activity that explores personal boundaries and provokes discussion about personal vs shared. Participants place a set of words (items, places, activities) on diagram, marking if they would be willing to share it. The activity is followed with questions and discussion.
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Sensitizing activity diagram. Participants place a set of words on diagram, marking if they would be willing to share it. Words include items, places, activities and some controversials like partner, family.

02 Building a community

A board game which goal is to envision and explore aspects that could appear between people who share facilities and resources. Participants design their community using blocks and taking turns. When adding facilities, players talk through their decision-making process.
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Design Game building blocks. Workshop participants utilize them collaboratively to build a community on the board.

Workshop Insights

The toolkit was tested during workshops with two interest groups — international students (7 people) and expat parents in Sweden (6 people). The length of each workshop was approximately 1.5 h.
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Arrangement for the workshop.

01 A tool for inspiration and expression

The most important finding is that workshop participants can communicate their vision and co-create shared understanding with others through building and rearranging physical objects.
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Participants build their community using blocks and taking turns. Photo by Elizabeth Matkiewicz.

02 Workshop flow

According to the feedback, methods complemented each other in the workshop. During the Sensitizing activity, participants reflect on personal boundaries and ideas about sharing, while the Design Game might alter initial concepts.
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Participants place words on diagram during Sensitizing activity. Photo by Elizabeth Matkiewicz.

03 Scenarios keep it practical

When participants need to respond to certain situations described in Scenario Cards — it opens up more potential practicalities and conflicts. Participant’s remark: “When it comes to action, things change”.
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Participants debating during the community building game.

04 Ambiguity fosters creativity

We observed that open-ended materials like empty scenario cards and abstract building blocks make participants more inventive. Players bring up provocative situations to envision possible conflicts, such as — “A neighbour is constantly loud at antisocial hours e.g. renovation, music, sex noise”. These kinds of scenarios also make the activity more entertaining and involve participants in co-creation.
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Pre-made scenario cards and the ones filled by participants.

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Abstract building blocks provoke unconventional solutions.

05 Documentation and analysis

Colour mapping at the end of the game helps to learn what people think and feel about the community they built and document the outcome.
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The color mapping. “Mark with a pink sticker where do you see your kids spending most of their time”. The round shape represents a swimming pool.
design outcome

Tangible toolkit to explore relational aspects of coliving

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The toolkit. Photo by Elizabeth Matkiewicz.

We created a toolkit that triggers imagination by using playful and open-ended materials and placing participants in the game environment. Using a toolkit, participants are able to envision and explore practical and emotional aspects of shared living and communicate their vision through physical objects.

Main characteristics

  • Opens imagination about what kind of world/society people want to live in.
  • Gives a voice to each participant.
  • Helps to envision and explore what kind of practicalities, conflicts, and emotions could appear between people who share facilities and resources.
  • Helps to explore personal boundaries about sharing.
  • Captures the discussion and reflection.

Future Steps

Future research might apply this toolkit for a larger amount of interest groups, acknowledging intersectionality, or develop a series of workshops. Later explorations may contribute to a variety of materials, forms, the complexity of activities.

other projects

Case study Oresund Walk
The Öresund Walk
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The Window of my Mind
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Warning! You are on stage

v.usttinova@gmail.com

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