Developing a Norm Critical Gaze – Teaching Norm Creativity in Design and Architecture Programmes

Abstract

Design and architecture are two core components of building a just and equal society, encompassing and recognising all people. However, who is in practice considered to be part of “all”, and what opportunities do design students get to reflect upon social justice and diversity during their education and training at LTH? This project aimed to develop teaching and learning activities for socially sustainable design that can be applied to courses in the industrial design and architecture programmes. It resulted in three novel prototypical course modules on norms, norm critique, and norm creativity that are meant to be tailored to different situations and course contexts: an introductory module, an individual assignment combined with a group assignment, and a speed project. In the paper, we present the modules in detail and discuss their design, assessment aspects, and potential impacts. We conclude by discussing the project results based on Universal Design for Learning and Design Justice perspectives.