Inter’Act research lab launched a new research project during summer 2020: « Architects & Clients Interactions (ACI)». The project aims to better understand architects’ and users’ expectations, needs and constraints when interacting, and to reveal solutions to improve the experience of architectural service for both sides. As the main decisions are made during the early stages of the architectural project, the project focuses on preliminary design phases. On one hand, the current state of practices in the Belgian French Architectural Community will be studied. On the other hand, tools, methods, and strategies developed by close design fields will be revealed and analyzed. This body of knowledge will allow us to design and adapt solutions – renewed interactional models, methods, and tools – through several co-design sessions that will bring together architects and users. We aim to improve awareness of these issues, supply architects and users with tools and strategies, and empower them both, thereby increasing the quality of architectural service experiences through participation.
The project is funded by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S.–FNRS) and the research team is composed of two Ph.D. students, one post-doctoral fellow, and the promoter. Audrey Mertens’ (Ing. Arch.) PhD project focuses on Belgian architects’ practices to better understand their realities and needs when interacting with clients. Çiğdem Yönder’s (Int. Architect) PhD project focuses on tools, methods, and strategies already developed in broader design fields to better involve end-users throughout design processes. Yaprak Hamarat (Ph.D., designer researcher) is in charge of the project’s scientific development and diffusion. The project is led by Catherine Elsen (Prof. Dr. Ing. Arch.), Principal Investigator.
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