Design, Environment and Society focuses on the role of design in human ecology. Investigations in the relationship between humans and their natural, social, material and built environments is grounded in human-centered design, architecture, urbanism, and landscape architecture, and addresses the past, present, and future by understanding historically-constituted contemporary concerns with forward-looking visions.
There are six main research themes:
Architectural and Urban Humanities explores architectural and urban issues from interdisciplinary perspectives, situates built environmental knowledge and practices in socio-cultural contexts, and expands the social relevance of technoscientific and professional knowledge and practices
Community-based Design develops participatory models and strategies to cope with various environmental, social, economic and technological challenges that Asian cities face, including issues related to community & participation, and resilience & informality.
Ecology in, of, and for Cities develops and applies methods and knowledge of cities as socio-ecological-technological systems to support urban development goals of sustainability, liveability and resilience.
Heritage Conservation develops critical capacities to examine questions on conservation and regeneration of cultural and natural resources across the historical timeline, covering a wide range of topics in cultural authenticity, environmental sustainability, social continuity, economic viability, and architectural integrity.
Interactions and Experiences investigates the design of objects and environments as dynamic and interconnected interfaces that facilitate human activities. This includes Tangible Interactions, Internet of Things, Interaction Materiality, and Extended Reality.
Service Systems Design aims to create new service and social systems by combining human-centred design and systems thinking. It deals with smart services design, organization’s digital transformation and social innovation, having human experiences at the centre.