ELEMENTAL is a Chilean Do Tank that focuses on the design and implementation of urban projects. It thinks, designs and builds better housing and infrastructure to promote social development. At the city of Iquique in Chile, the group conceptualized the design of a neighborhood as an organic system: one where the growth occurred after the design team’s departure. The problem of low-cost housing was framed in a collaborative manner, empowering residents with the necessary knowledge, processes and tools to take ownership of their dwelling space

Educating the community members about the design process was at the core of ELEMENTAL’s strategy. Workshops, talks, and design sessions contributed to the creation of a collaborative framework. After studying such a successful process, I asked: What are some of the unspoken roles of design in larger collaborative frameworks? As a graphic designer, I became curious about the effects of design thinking principles in the work of other professionals. How can they help bring larger teams together? What are the possibilities?

Using elemental’s strategy as context, this graphic investigation identified a moment where design thinking could be applied to facilitate the understanding between the architects and community members

Focusing on how the architects used wooden blocks to talk about space, this graphic project added language and color to the strategy, allowing community members to better imagine a future space through the needs and uses that will have for them. This graphic intervention is meant to be etched into the existing wooden blocks. This would allow for a resident to shuffle them around, just as the architectural design allows the same in the planning of the future living space.

Customization is at the core of the architectural system. As a response, a movable graphic system could facilitate dialogue with community members.

The graphic system helps community members understand more about the workings of the architecture strategy.

Endless possibilities allow for a sense of ownership and belonging of one's individual layout.

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This is the presentation shown at the studio critic.

PROJECT CREDITS _ NC State Graduate Design Studio: Fall 2007 Prof. Denise Gonzales Crisp