Dorota Anna Dunajska

What did you want to find out?

One of the focus points of this project is the human subjectivity of meaning making. We live in multitude of autonomous concepts, that we call realities. Everything we do and we find motivating is based on knowledge and general understanding of the world we develop. As this ‘constructs’ carry also the marks of social and cultural influences, it is difficult to make a clear and conscious distinction between what’s us and what’s imposed on us. As stressed in my thesis, design is responsible for developing and implementing new concepts into our collective and individual realities. Design solutions, can directly define who we are, how do we function and behave. In this broad context, I discuss the main topic of my project i.e. How Visual Communication could redefine briefing process in architectural design?

How has the process been?

My research initiated with the ambitions to understand the principles of a genuine dialogue between designers and non–designers. What language could we use to be more precise? Based on theoretical research and intuitive insight, my findings and reflections made me reformulate the second research question: How can abstraction be used as a visual tool to perceive and identify people’s needs in context of architectural design? Theoretical intentions of this study were therefore to start the discussion about the idea of using Visual Abstractions as means facilitating communication. To observe the characteristics of meaning making through abstraction, I initiated also my own artistic research as well as Visual Intuitive Responses–V.I.R which were series of workshops, conducted in Norway and Poland, with architects but also non–designers.

What have you discovered along the way?

Identifying abstraction as means of visual communication was a crucial moment in this project. I found out, that the idea of abstraction could be traced in many disciplines not only art, but also computer science, cognitive linguistics, jazz music Etc…

What was the result?

The aim of V.I.R was to demystify the design processes by actively involving non–designers and to break the experience of a place into a sequences of essential architectural layers presented to Participants in forms of Tasks. Each Task was an elaboration on different aspects of architectural design i.e. Sound of Space, Temperature, Form etc... As a final outcomes, I have developed a process which I called TOT - THE OPEN TOOL, that could allow non–designers to reveal their very subjective ways of experiencing architecture. TOT is a proof of my theoretical concept recognising Abstraction as means of Visual Communication.

Who will especially benefit from your project?

I dedicate this work to architects and their clients mostly. Nevertheless, I believe the discussed aspects like breaking the preconceptions of things, developing new understanding that could be achieved through Visual Abstraction could also be applied to other design disciplines while working with non–designers. The outcomes however, respond to very specific set of inquiries, addressing phenomenological aspects of an architectural project.