Science Fictioning Participatory Design

This paper proposes two allied approaches to participatory design and architectural pedagogy: Responsible Architecture is attentive to multiple ecological actors and behaviour change in value-led PD, and science fictioning addresses how narratives of the future are constructed in architectural pedagogy.

We developed three frameworks for pedagogy in a PD course: ‘authorship’ invited students to consider how their values might be productive as they construct their practice, ‘collective storytelling’ included actors who otherwise would not be represented – community stakeholders and non-human ecologies on site – and ‘translation’ negotiated community values with the material reality of an architectural project.

We conclude that these methods rooted in shared values can help a project respond to the long-term ambitions, ecological worldviews, and social-environmental responsibility of a community of stakeholders. The workshop revealed to students how choices in design could never be innocent, but a response aligned with values and future hopes in architecture.