Proximity in Design Research: People, Processes, Products, Philosophy

Abstract

Proximity in Design Research explores four constituents of design: people, processes, products and philosophy, and their potential to bridge contemporary gaps through multilevel synergies. The book brings together a variety of design approaches on several scales developed in the collaboration of different agencies and within diverse contexts. Proximity prompts us to explore the challenges and opportunities for research in design, with the widening and closing of distances in unpredictable times such as those during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the social distance imposed during this unprecedented global health scenario, researchers and professionals across different areas of knowledge have engaged in an extraordinary interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary global cooperation. This reinvented proximity enhanced the ability to cross fields, remove boundaries to collaboration between disciplines and accelerate processes towards an overarching goal: to overcome adversity. This edited collection reflects on what designers have taken from this experience so far and the possibilities that are foreseen as the concept of proximity is redefined. This book offers critical knowledge related to both design practice and design theory. It will be of interest to researchers, teachers and students working in the design disciplines.