Architecture and Design: Ecologies and Publics focuses on the role of design in the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. Grounded in architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture, and industrial design, and considering the Asian and equatorial context, research addresses both contemporary concerns and the identification of speculative future directions.
There are eight main research themes under Architecture and Design: Ecologies and Publics research:
- Technologies
- Research by Design
- History, Theory and Criticism
- Urbanism
- Landscape Studies
- Design Education Research
- Interactions and Experiences
- Service and Social Innovation
Technologies
Technologies researches on the relationship between human and natural landscapes, at every scale, from the building component scale to the urban scale. It aims at a new understanding of the human ecosystem and at discovering the relationships between form and performance.
Research by Design
Research by Design (RxD) develops translational research approaches through creative practice, emphasising the importance of rigorously engaging critical and creative practice in making, writing, and thinking in architecture.
History, Theory and Criticism
History, Theory and Criticism develops critical capacities to examine questions of built environmental production and consumption within historical and contemporary milieu, covering a wide range of topics in colonial/postcolonial and modern/postmodern Asian contexts.
Urbanism
Urbanism develops sustainable models and innovative urban strategies to cope with various environmental, social, economic and technological challenges that Asian cities face, including issues related to community & participation, conservation & regeneration, ageing & healthcare, built form, modelling & big data, and resilience & informality.
Landscape Studies
Landscape Studies undertakes research to generate new knowledge of landscapes as socio-ecological systems and promotes the use of knowledge in governance systems and landscape design that improve the well-being of humans and the ecological integrity of the environment.
Design Education Research
Design Education Research provides a platform and a forum to advance discourse, research, scholarship, and best practices on design education, and to collaborate, share, nurture and build a community of design educators.
Interactions and Experiences
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 and Social Innovation
Service and Social Innovation deals with services, businesses and social systems as new design objects, aiming to solve complex social problems through multidisciplinary approaches of design and systems thinking.