The Book

As society rapidly changes, so too does our relationship with design and the spaces of the designed world. Meanings of Designed Spaces is a collection of articles by—and interviews with—renowned design academics and professionals exploring how people make meaning using design today, and how "designed space" both shapes and is shaped by technology, business, ethics, culture, sustainability, and society. Questions posed include: How does designing our world provide meaning in our lives? How is this meaning constructed? What is design research within this framework? How do interiors influence our social, cultural, and psychological ways of being? How is the designer’s role evolving in relationship to other stakeholders? What are possible ways we can understand and respond to the social, political, ethical, and cultural issues we face? The book’s subject matter moves from the theoretical to the practical and includes, at times, contradictory viewpoints, providing a springboard for conversation and debate.

Table of Contents

Design Thinking, Knowledge and Critical Approaches
The Spaces of Interiors
Understanding Space Through Historic and Philosophical Perspectives
Philosophies and Spaces - Alternative Viewpoints
Design Philosophies, Aesthetic Theories and Lived Experiences
Considerations of Time and Space: Shaping Changing Spaces of Exploration
Design Thinking and Meaning in the Context of Business
The Business of Design
Social Norms, New Patterns and Meanings of Social Relevance
Cultural Contexts and Lived

About The Authors

Tiiu Poldma is an academic and award-winning researcher and currently the Vice Dean of Graduate Research in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Montreal, USA. She also coordinates the interior design program at the School of Industrial Design. Her expertise includes creating spaces in flexible and temporal environments using light, color and design elements through changing human user experiences of interior space.