Inquiring Minds
Material-Energetic Assemblages for a Curious Climate View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jerry Hacker, Lisa Moffitt
Climate change makes the world a curious place. The earth is getting ‘dimmer’ and ‘wobblier’. The tectonic plates are ‘dancing’ an unprecedented dance. The arctic has become ‘wavier,’ and these waves are creating ‘microscopic creature clouds’ in the sky. While there is scientific evidence supporting these emergent conditions, they are causally complex, with temporal and spatial boundaries that are difficult to demarcate. This paper posits there is pedagogical merit in embracing the curious nature of climactic conditions and in conceiving of the entanglements between buildings, materials, natural scientific processes, and energetic exchanges together as assemblages. The pedagogical research presents a series of workshops in a comprehensive design building studio that the authors taught at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Deliberately scale-less and without specific application, the material constructions and their associated qualitative tests were designed to elicit curiosity about the material-energetic workings of the world. Students each designed and fabricated five specific material artefacts (over 200 in total as a cohort) and correspondingly tested them within five different custom-made qualitative heuristic devices. Observations gleaned through the material explorations informed development of the building design proposals that students designed in tandem. The material studies led to a conception of buildings and landscapes less as assemblies of discrete material elements and more as complex assemblages of material-energetic phenomena enmeshed in wider ecologies and energetic systems. Overall, the studio traded metric-based and longevity-centric construction conventions for open-ended, curious learning methods inspired by the ‘stranger than fiction’ geophysical conditions previously noted.
Visual Musicality in Three-Dimensional Design: A Study on Basic Design and Material Interpretation View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Karna Mustaqim, Erwin Rezasyah, Christophera Ratnasari Lucius, Iwan Zahar, Anita Lawujaya
This practice-led research explores the concept of visual musicality within the framework of three-dimensional design, examining how musical elements such as rhythm, melody, harmony, and dynamics can be translated into tangible forms. It investigates the translation of musical elements into three-dimensional design through iterative student experimentation. Centered on experiential learning, the study documents a series of student-driven projects that explore the interplay between auditory and visual-tactile forms. Participants selected musical compositions (spanning genres such as classical, jazz, and electronic), analyzed their structural components—rhythm, melody, harmony, and dynamics—and iteratively translated these elements into physical forms using materials like wire, wood, fabric, and recycled plastics. The experimental process prioritized hands-on exploration, where students tested material playful behaviors and construction techniques. Key outcomes include the development of spatial narratives that mirrored musical progression, with emphasis on proportional balance, textural contrast, and visual dynamism. The final works, confined to a 50x50 cm field, highlighting the challenges of aligning abstract sound with tangible form. Findings reveal how iterative experimentation fosters creative problem-solving, material literacy, and cross-sensory design thinking. This research contributes to design pedagogy by demonstrating how music can serve as a scaffold for teaching three-dimensional composition, while underscoring the role of trial-and-error processes in nurturing student innovation. Evaluation criteria focused on experimental rigor, conceptual coherence, and the ability to articulate synergies between musical inspiration and material outcomes.
Playful Participation: Serious Games for Climate Change Engagement within Design Education, and Urban Sustainability View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anna Merry
The current climate emergency demands innovative and participatory educational approaches to foster awareness and engagement. Serious games offer a way to bridge knowledge gaps, encourage participation, and enhance students thinking around climate education. This paper explores the potential of game-based learning, where a participatory serious game (Rooftops Reimagined) was designed as part of the EU and UKRI Horizon funded GREAT project (Games Realizing Effective and Affective Transformation) to engage participants in the complexities of urban sustainability through design. Using playful and dilemma-based learning principles in roleplay scenarios, Rooftops Reimagined immersed participants in decision-making scenarios where they negotiated environmental, economic, and social trade-offs related to rooftop greening. The study draws on data from 97 participants, including citizens, architects and design students, gathered through game sessions, surveys, observations and feedback sessions. Findings reveal that the approach fostered deeper empathy, strengthened problem-solving skills, and encouraged collaborative solutions to sustainability challenges. Additionally, the game’s interactive format made complex climate issues more accessible, particularly for younger audiences. This research highlights the value of serious games in design education and policy discourse, emphasizing the potential to cultivate critical thinking, engagement, and behavioral change. The study underscores the importance of playful participation in shaping more inclusive and participatory climate action strategies. By integrating game-based learning into urban sustainability, environmental and design education, educators and policymakers can create more impactful, experiential learning experiences that empower individuals to engage with climate challenges in meaningful ways.
