Caring through design? En torno a la silla and the “joint problem-making” of technical aids

Tomás Sánchez Criado and Israel Rodríguez-Giralt also elaborate on alternative design methodologies through a discussion of En torno a la silla (ETS), an experimental collective in Spain, which seeks to develop more accessible, affordable and multi-functional technical aids for disabled people through extensive collaborations between social scientists, designers, craftspeople and users. Constituting an alternative to mainstream participatory design, ETS engages in a shared ‘problem-making’ that not only exposes the limitations of contemporary notions of inclusive design but creates new economic, political and material conditions for collaborations that foster a long-term, caring commitment towards the design process. This caring also extends beyond the ETS collective, as the group documents its activities and makes them open access to share ideas and insights more widely and thereby contribute to the empowering potential of design

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Sánchez-Criado, T.; Rodríguez-Giralt, I. (2016). Caring through design? En torno a la silla and the “joint problem-making” of technical aids In C. Bates; R. Imrie; K. Kullman (Eds), Care and Design: Bodies, Buildings, Cities (pp. 198-218). London: Wiley/Blackwell.