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Designing for Care: Interdependency, Relational Design, and Affirmative Ethics
Embracing Interdependency: Reframing Inclusive Design as an Actor in the Web of Care
Kaat Kenis
In contemporary discourse on Inclusive Design, independence is often prioritized as the goal of the design process. In the case of wayfinding applications for people with visual impairments, for example, “independent navigation” has long been regarded as the standard to aspire (Bennett et al., 2018). However, such focus on independence reflects prevailing neoliberal ideologies that champion individual autonomy and overlooks the value of interdependency. Employing care as a critical concept, as it has been reframed through the lens of feminist scholars and specifically building on Joan Tronto's work, this paper challenges the prevailing paradigm by advocating for a reconsideration of the role of the Inclusive Design practice as an actor within a wider, interconnected web of care. The concept of care, as articulated in Tronto's work Moral Boundaries (1993), defines care as a multifaceted activity aimed at sustaining and repairing our world to enhance overall well-being. Such a broad conception of care not only emphasizes its political significance but also highlights inherent interconnectedness of the human and nonhuman; the designed environment, nature, and people, prompting a more holistic perspective on Inclusive Design.
By recognizing this interconnectedness of human and nonhuman entities, I propose Tronto's five aspects of care – caring about, caring for, care giving, care receiving, and caring with – as key concepts to reimagine Inclusive Design practices. This includes the reconceptualization of tools such as “personas” (i.e., representation of fictional characters that embody the characteristics, needs, goals, and behaviours of target users) or “simulation exercises” (i.e., the use of simple tools such as gloves or blindfolds to gain understanding of how certain disabilities impact everyday life). Through this research, I aim to foster more equitable approaches to designing that prioritizes the well-being of all actors, human and nonhuman alike, within the interconnected web of care.
Kaat Kenis (she/her) is a PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Design Sciences of the University of Antwerp. Previously, Kaat graduated as a MSc in Product Development (University of Antwerp) and an MA in Gender and Diversity (Ghent University), showcasing her interest in exploring the intersection of design and social equity. In her doctoral research, Kaat explores the potential of intersectional perspectives within Inclusive Design theory and practice. She aims to redefine Inclusive Design’s understanding of diversity and inclusion to address the complex and systemic challenges inherent in today’s superdiverse society. With a special interest in the power dynamics within design processes, Kaat draws inspiration from queer theory, feminist studies, new materialist thinking, and critical accessibility studies.
Thinking and Designing Dwelling Space as a Care Relationship Between the Inhabitant and the Architect
Vasilina Papadimitropoulou
This paper takes the practice of the architect as a starting point and discusses how care thinking can introduce issues of performance and tacit knowledge in the design process of dwelling space. Thinking of and designing the dwelling space for the “other” brings forth two contrasted conditions for the architect: honesty and pretense. Honesty as for the personal knowledge of the architect to inhabit, a tacit knowledge of practice. Pretense as for the designing for another inhabitant and for uses and situations “to be.”
Integrating care as a methodological approach to the space-thinking and space-designing process of the architect arises awareness on the procedure of approaching the other, the inhabitant, in a way of creating a relationship of care-giving and care-receiving that works both ways. Typically, the architect is the care-giver, by creating the space where the other will and can live. Here I suggest that thinking of the architect as a care-receiver as well, means that the inhabitant takes a decisive role of passing on their own personal embodied dwelling knowledge and practices. This approach incorporates anthropological and ethnographic approaches to the architectural theory and practice. It also means accepting performance as founding behavioral feature of this relationship, but also of the recording and comprehension method for the beginning of space-thinking.
In my presentation, along with the theoretical part, I will discuss ways in which performance can be an initiating tool for the designer/architect to approach the inhabitant. As for the next step of designing dwelling spaces, I will show an example of how care for the embodied habits, everyday performances, and narrations of the inhabitant affect space formation.
My name is Vasilina Papadimitropoulou, I am an architect, holding an integrated Master’s degree from the Department of Architecture of University of Thessaly, and a student in the postgraduate master program “Research in Architecture: Design, Space, Culture” in the School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens. My research interests focus on space thinking and forming through everyday practices and performance theory. My thesis title was “Assembling Intimacies: Materialisation of Dramatised Practices to be Read” and was my first attempt to form a space designing methodology based on an inhabitant-oriented research. Parallel to my studies, I am an active architect for three years now, focusing mostly on residential projects.
Playful Care: Fostering Affirmative Ethics in Artistic Design Practices
Sofie Kinch, Jennifer Ann Skriver & Mathias Poulsen
This contribution advances the concept of “playful care,” proposing it as a generative framework for understanding artful interactions as dynamic forms of care capable of driving significant social transformation. Artists, designers, and other makers are well equipped to challenge established norms and new modalities of existence through their work. By activating aesthetic experiences, they not only transform our perception of ourselves but also reshape our understanding of the world (O’Sullivan, 2001). These practices can uncover new opportunities by interpreting care as the “repair of our world” to enhance our collective well-being (Tronto, 2013, p. 19). We argue that the playful care framework recognizes these practices as potent forms of social engagement that catalyze ethical renewal and cultural evolution.
We define playful care as engaging in “radical relationality” (Escobar, 2020, p. xiii), where care is playfully rendered to foster deep mutual responsibility beyond traditional caregiver and receiver roles. This form of care involves a generous, reciprocal exchange that remains open-ended and uncalculated (Grocott et al., 2023, p. 303), drawing on feminist theory which posits that ethical behaviors emerge through tangible caring actions rather than prescriptive norms (Braidotti, 2015).
Moreover, playful care encourages a vigilant awareness open to spontaneous discoveries and awe-inspiring moments in everyday life (Bennett, 2001, p. 4). Such encounters can obstruct our movement and spark a “responsive hesitation” (Al-Saji, 2014, p. 154) with the capacity to make visible other possible trajectories. Playful care promotes an affirmative ethics that embraces the potential for individual and collective evolution (Braidotti, 2019, p. 72), advocating for a “care of the possible” (DiSalvo, 2022, p. 161) and the exploration of alternative world-making methods (Tsing, 2015). Through these lenses, playful care enriches our theoretical understanding and also suggests practical applications, inspiring artists, designers, and communities to reimagine the ways they interact with and care for their worlds.
ReferencesAl-Saji, A. (2014). A phenomenology of hesitation: Interrupting racializing habits of seeing. In E. S. Lee (Ed.), Living alterities: Phenomenology, Embodiment, and Race (pp. 133-172). State University of New York Press.
Bennett, J. (2001). The enchantment of modern life: Attachments, crossings, and ethics. Princeton University Press.
Braidotti, R. (2015). Posthuman feminist theory. In L. Disch & M. Hawkesworth (Eds), The Oxford handbook of feminist theory (pp. 673-698). Oxford University Press.
Braidotti, R. (2019). Posthuman knowledge. Polity.
DiSalvo, C. (2022). Design as democratic inquiry: Putting experimental civics into practice. MIT Press.
Escobar, A. (2020). Pluriversal politics: The real and the possible. Duke University Press.
Grocott, L., Jones, S. H., Sand, A.-L., Skovbjerg, H. M. & Surnatojo, S. (2023). Wandering feasts: Relational orientations in academic writing. Qualitative Studies, 8(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.7146/qs.v8i1.136813
O’Sullivan, S. (2001). The aesthetics of affect: Thinking art beyond representation. Angelaki, 6(3), 125-135. https://doi.org/10.1080/09697250120087987
Tronto, J. C. (2013). Caring democracy: Markets, equality, and justice. New York University Press.
Tsing, A. L. (2015). The mushroom at the end of the world: On the possibility of life in capitalist ruins. Princeton University Press.
Sofie Kinch, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and head of the research program “Playful Care” at Design School Kolding, Denmark. Her expertise lies in play design and textile design, with a focus on enhancing affective and relational experiences in care practices, primarily focusing on hospitalized children. With a strong academic background and practical application, she explores how designers can cultivate environments that promote trust, openness, and vulnerability, grounded in ethical relationality.
Jennifer Ann Skriver, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at Design School Kolding, Denmark. She specializes in the development of artful educational practices aimed at enhancing agency, creativity, and critical thinking through playful learning. Her approach to research transitions from a traditional qualitative framework to innovative performative and post-qualitative methodologies. Her research spans several key areas including Artful Education, Playful Learning, Affect, Inclusion, Whiteness, and Learning & Pedagogy.
Mathias Poulsen, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at Lab for Play and Design, Design School Kolding, Denmark. His research engages with the difficulties of living well together, for both humans and more-than-humans. He is particularly interested in play as a mode of democratic participation with the potential to expand our democratic imaginaries. Mathias is a self-proclaimed play activist, who founded the international play festival “CounterPlay” to cultivate safe, trusting spaces and communities for exploring and sustaining play.
Location
23-25 January 2025
Kontakt der Kontinenten, Amersfoortsestraat 20
3769 AS Soesterberg
Online
23-25 January 2025
Kontakt der Kontinenten, Amersfoortsestraat 20
3769 AS Soesterberg
Online
Contact info Louis van den Hengel
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design website: Johanne de Heus and Marielle Schuurman