Sustainability of Social Design Laboratories: Infrastructuring of publics and Micro- planning in the development Design Networks

This paper presents the initial results of the doctoral research in design held at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, which is based on the possibility of expert and non-expert designers acting jointly in... [ view full abstract ]

This paper presents the initial results of the doctoral research in design held at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, which is based on the possibility of expert and non-expert designers acting jointly in co-design processes, which make the infrastructure of design networks feasible from the engagement of young residents of neighborhoods stigmatised by poverty and social vulnerability. From January 2016, participatory design dynamics are being conducted in neighborhoods located in Lisbon, Portugal; and in São Luís do Maranhão, in Northeastern Brazil. Here we present the developments of the field study conducted in the Desterro region, the historic centre of São Luis do Maranhão, Brazil, where the LABDES - Desterro Social Design Laboratory was constructed, a platform for collaborative research based on design experimentation which is intended to search for solutions to complex social problems.The question that arises in this experiment is how to continue the LABDES platform beyond its initial scope. This involves the responsibility to reflect and to define strategies to ensure that the participatory design initiatives can continue when the expert designers cease to operate in the design network, understanding how they start, operate and not least, how they leave a project. In other words, we question the sustainability of the participatory design project when the designers or design researchers no longer have the central role in these initiatives. We understand the ability to establish lasting relationships between various stakeholders to promote continuous appropriation of the problems of a particular design network as project sustainability. At first, reflections are presented from the theoretical framework of participatory design, co-design, micro-planning, infrastructuring and living labs. After this first phase, as the LABDES design network was established, which used the participatory design approach, guided by "bottom-up” decisions and "peer-to-peer interactions" involving designers, members of the Desterro neighbourhood community and other stakeholders. The results presented explain the difficulties for the engagement of young residents. Apathy and resentment caused by the lack of continuity of actions undertaken in the past, hidden agendas, conflicts of power, the need for leadership and the legitimacy of the established leaders, the scarcity of resources, the impact of the use of social networking tools and the influence of the power of drug trafficking are the challenges that are presented to the sustainability of the lab project. In the discussion of the issues, planning, participatory design and low complexity prototyping tools were used, Participant Observation being used for the collection of data for action in the field. We conclude the paper by discussing strategies to support designers and researchers in their practice for training, performance and sustainability of design networks.