On potential application of interaction design for placemaking

Parag Deshpande

pp. 321-343

in: Nicholas S. Dalton, Holger Schnädelbach, Mikael Wiberg, Tasos Varoudis (eds), Architecture and interaction, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

While the notion of place has been discussed exhaustively within the field of interaction design, the idea of Placemaking or creation of places is yet to receive attention. Placemaking is an established approach used by disciplines, such as, Urban Planning, Urban Design, Landscape architecture and Architecture, to create public places that people want to live and work in. So far, various approaches to Placemaking have been largely limited to the above-mentioned fields. Drawing on evaluation of four interaction design projects (carried out by the author and by his students under his tutelage) and on author's extensive experience of designing novel interactive artefacts for public places, it is pointed out that interactive artefacts, due to their novel nature, may have the potential to contribute to the process of Placemaking. The chapter concludes by arguing for deeper examination of the field of interaction design for its potential to contribute to the process of Placemaking.