We create and support the design of great places and tools to better serve people.
Guided by our passion to help deliver digital and physical environments that enhance the human experience, we focus on spatial, digital, and social design.
With an interdisciplinary background in planning, architecture, and education, we are well placed to bridge the divide between designers and those typically outside of the design process - design outsiders.
The Foundry pays homage to Detroit’s industrial past. Yet, the name also speaks to an industrious spirit of a people who continue to build a brighter future for their city.
The brief was to design, build and launch a website that was clean, minimalist, with a tailored focus on each individual project. The website should capture attention, inspire the client, and demonstrate expertise.
‘What if…? / Scotland’ responds to the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia's theme ‘How will we live together?’ The exhibit paired local citizens from Scotland – with designers, architects, and artists. ’What if…? / Scotland’ re-engages the civic role of design professionals by asking communities from across Scotland to share their hopes and dreams for the future of the places they call home.
Using the brief as a starting point for discussion and a spark for creativity the team collaborated with a 'design outsider' - an NGO volunteer and former exchange student at the University of Dundee. The goal was to reimagine the Dundee waterfront by enhancing connectivity to the rest of Dundee city centre.
Aakar Design Consultancy - Top 20 Finalist Award. The CLT induction was set up by Aakar design consultants and sponsored by Mitsubishi Estate, its aim was to introduce CLT construction to the Indian market. Construction in India currently comprises of mainly concrete and steel building techniques with little thought given to sustainable design. India faces many challenges as it grows and develops as a country, cheifly over-population, increasing density and rising pollution rates. This competition was organised to allow designers to consider these challenges and offer appropriate and improved solutions.
Design Outsider worked as facilitators in workshops with University of Dundee Urban Planning students anchored around one question: 'how could a reimagined landscape and a mass replanting of trees help bring back life to old places of work, identify new clusters of homes and ventures, and provide a new focus for a dynamic rural economy?' Following each session, the Design Outsider team synthesized data, information, and research gathered by the students. This background provided the basis for further illustrated interventions and proposed changes to the built and natural environment.
Design Outsider co-founders Callum O’Connor and Josh Speedie have been inputting architecture and urban design terms and precedents into Midjourney bots. The results highlight some potential challenges and opportunities for built environment professionals and beyond. The rendering output by the Midjourney Image Generator reflects the changing relationship between designers and Artificial Intelligence. As designers, they put Midjourney to the test with surprising results. In this article the duo discuss the basics of Midjourney, share their initial thoughts, what they found, and finish with a top ten list of recommendations when using Midjourney to produce your own visualisations.
The recent COP26 theme of youth and public empowerment reflects a growing belief that children and youth are here-and-now citizens capable of communicating their thoughts and ideas. Children want to be heard and make a positive contribution to their communities. Children’s perspectives and opportunities for them to express their ideas about their local environments is an important contributor to building resilient cities in the midst of our Climate Crisis. Around the world, however, opportunities for children to participate in decisions that affect their lives have been largely overlooked by prevailing adult planning priorities and agendas in cities.
Our ‘Creative Commons’ prototype is an online platform that works in tandem with a supportive local planning system. At its core, the 'Creative Commons' is a platform for collaboration and planning, a digital playground to explore ideas, proposals, organizing events and promoting members of the creative community. Working together within an integrated planning strategy, the ‘Creative Commons’ enables and incentivises creatives to contribute to the community.
In this article we explore examples that enable creativity, empower 'collaborators', and envision new possibilities. We engage with the power of asking 'what if' to share inspiring examples of innovative constructions that allow for individual creativity, encourage positive social interaction, and foster a stronger sense of community.
It was a pleasure to collaborate with a local Dundee, Scotland family to reimagine Finlathen Park and area! Our video briefly shares our experience, the valuable contribution from the multi-age group, and showcases the power of including those typically excluded from the design process - ‘design outsiders’. The collaboration was part of the ‘What if…? / Scotland’ exhibit at V&A Dundee. ’What if…? / Scotland’ re-engages the civic role of design professionals by asking communities from across Scotland to share their hopes and dreams for the future of the places they call home. The exhibit was commissioned by the Scotland + Venice partnership and produced by 7N Architects in collaboration with Architecture & Design Scotland. The exhibit responds to the 17th International Architecture Exhibition – Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia's theme ‘how will we live together?’
We are Design Outsider. We create and support the design of great places and tools to better serve people. Guided by our passion to help deliver digital and physical environments that enhance the human experience, we focus on spatial, digital, and social design. With an interdisciplinary background in planning, architecture, and education, we are well placed to bridge the divide between designers and those typically outside of the design process - design outsiders. We invite you to learn more at www.designoutsider.com
Why do so many designs fail to meet the needs of people and our planet? This is the question we at DESIGN OUTSIDER asked when reflecting on our current collective professional and educational experiences ranging from architecture, planning, urban design to education. So what can be done? Whose knowledge and experiences can ENRICH the design process and ENHANCE the design product?
In this episode we reveal changes that could enhance the connectivity of Dundee's Waterfront to the rest of the city centre. Combined, the proposals recognize that a design-led approach alone is not sufficient to ensure this area connects with the rest of the city centre. However, we believe these are a strong starting point discussion. The team again meets back up with Kirsten, a former University of Dundee exchange student and former NGO volunteer. Also joining the conversation is Tynwood, Architecture graduate from the University of Dundee.
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May 21, 2021
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