Designing Cultures of Care

Book excerpt: Designing Cultures of Care brings together an international selection of design researchers who, through a variety of design approaches, are exploring the ways in which design intersects with cultures of care. Unique in its focus and disciplinary diversity, this edited collection develops an expanded discourse on the role and contribution of design to our broader social, cultural and material challenges. Based around a unifying critique of the proposition of care as a theoretical framework for undertaking design research in real world contexts, each chapter presents a case study of design research in action. This book aims to provide readers - both academics and practitioners - with insights into the possibilities and challenges of designing cultures of care. The disciplines represented in this collection include architecture, visual communication, participatory and social design, service design, critical and speculative design interventions and design ethnography. These case studies will provide real world insights that have relevance and value to design students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and to researchers at all levels within and outside of the academy.