Understanding the End User: How One Woman Took It To The Extreme

2019-07-14T08:00:00-04:00

Architects, by and large, are tasked with a tremendous undertaking: to design a world for the masses. The ultimate driving factor of any project is people – to serve them, entertain them, and accommodate them. Shelter is one of our most essential needs as humans and so the architect must, by the nature of her work, understand the human, she must know her user. Architecture is the manifestation of what we believe we understand about the human condition. With such an essential factor of the creative process relying on one’s relation and empathy to people, it is sensible to investigate how that empathic process might unfold. What follows is a powerful example of a young pioneer who took extraordinary steps to literally transform herself into her user. As an industrial designer, she propelled herself into an experiment that would position her as one of the world’s foremost models of empathic brilliance, setting the stage for a new generation of creators and designers.

Recent Wheelwright recipient Samuel Bravo discusses unearthing the architectural vernaculars of the Amazonian region and beyond

2017-07-14T11:45:00-04:00

The Harvard University Graduate School of Design awarded its coveted 2017 Wheelwright Prize to Chilean architect Samuel Bravo for his proposal Projectless: Architecture of Informal Settlements. His work focuses on the traditional architectures and informal settlements of communities in Chile, Peru, and the Amazonian region. Past projects include organizing community-led rebuilding efforts in earthquake-damaged Chile and designing/constructing a lodge, shamanic center and school for the Shipibo people in the Peruvian Amazon.

Archinect - Features

Understanding the End User: How One Woman Took It To The Extreme

Recent Wheelwright recipient Samuel Bravo discusses unearthing the architectural vernaculars of the Amazonian region and beyond