LAVINIA GRADISTEANU

​Abstract - Participatory design

Where is architecture heading?
Lavinia Gradisteanu​

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“We are good at putting up buildings, but we are bad at making places”-B. Hunt

 

Being in places involves social encounters, immersion in the sights, sounds, smells, sun and atmosphere of a local, imagination and investment that have guided their construction and use over time. Contributors to a way of living are the people who need to think they are not being planned “for” but planned “at”. The places need to emphasize the idea that they belong to the city’s inhabitants and have to answer to their needs: sociability, relaxing, going for a nice walk. In making these wishes real there is just a way to do it: the people to feel they want the sites, so they can contribute in building them. Each person thinks it’s natural to get something out of the project, so, the whole idea has to offer entertainment to its’ visitors. But first, the people have to be encouraged to use the public space and get rid of the idea “ I don’t care what happens outside my door as long as it’s quiet”. The focus on citizens and places is the main goal of modern cities, hence, we have to make some efforts in giving our spots personality and feeling a real joy to live in the city.

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People need to at least feel important by the attention that is given to them at each stage of the design process.

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Visibility is an important process which helps the consumer ( in this case the space consumer ) to tell from a glance that they can or cannot deal with the proposed situation. In this case the object has to reveal from the first sight its utility. The city should catch a shape humans would love to live in, where all activities, inspirations and lives are fixed into place. The design  should be interactive, creative and flexible which will allow its’ users to have access in making architecture ( even for several minutes ) emphasizing a link between the actual an the possible.