Abstract:

The living lab approach is widely used in urban design, urban and landscape planning as an innovative system enhancing public participation and user involvement in the development of new visions and solutions for urban public spaces and landscapes, enabling interactions between planners, experts, communities, and various stakeholders. The use of this approach in practice is considered an important prerequisite for achieving high-quality outputs, the solutions creating a more sustainable, livable, and resilient environment. The living lab approach becomes widely used also in architectural education as a method of creative work in design studios. Using the living lab approach in design studios means that students acquire various skills needed for successful design, including communication and management skills needed for validating and testing their ideas in participatory and co-creation processes. In this research, we examine the applications and the experience with the use of the living lab approach in urban design studios at the Faculty of Architecture and Design of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia). We analyze at one hand the constraints and at the other hand the possibilities of broader inclusion of this approach to the teaching models of urban design studios, to better prepare students for real-life practice.

Keywords:

Living lab, urban design studio, participatory design, urban landscapes, landscape design, co-creation.