This master’s thesis is about participatory design: designing with and for the end user. The central research question is: How can I, as an interior architect, invite the neighbourhood of Westveld to participate in the design process of their community centre and encourage fruitful participation?
The community centre of Westveld, located in the Sint-Amandsberg district of Ghent, serves as the research site. A community house, a meeting place, seemed an appropriate place for this participatory design research. The old presbytery house is owned by the city of Ghent and will be demolished in early 2025 to make way for some emergency housing. The non-profit organisation Ocup is currently providing a temporary infill. They are creating open spaces for active participation, with a focus on diversity and vulnerable groups. The community centre bears the neighbourhood’s chosen name, ‘Our House’.
With this master’s thesis I wanted to enthuse the residents, support their dreams for the community centre and encourage them to imagine the spaces. An open call was the starting point for an engaging interaction between the neighbourhood and me. As a designer, I sought to translate the users’ dreams into something achievable, with a sense of coherence and generosity. The task was to go beyond mere solution-oriented design. My role as an interior designer was to listen, mediate and translate in order to design in a participatory way. A short-term interpretation was sought for the unifying activities of ‘Our House’. At the same time I was looking for an outcome beyond a programme for the now.
The house and its lush garden will go through a process from community centre to emergency shelter. I have divided the participatory design into four phases. The first phase is the current situation of the community house with a translation of the dreams of the residents. The second phase is an interim phase: the period between the demolition of the existing community house and the construction of the future emergency shelters. A third phase is the phase with the newly built shelters. Finally, the fourth phase represents the period after the temporary shelters. At all stages I have tried to maintain an open dialogue with the local people.
Phase 1: the new community centre
Phase 2: the intermediate phase, between the breaking down and building up
Phase 3: the new community village
Phase 4: the open community park
