MA- thesis project: Co- creating a Sense of Home

Lisa Adele Rogersdotter presents her master thesis project in collaboration with ‘Drømmenes Café’ at Marielund, Kolding.

What did you design?

I have co-created site-specific wallpaper designs that support the residents’ various needs and desires for a homely place to live. The two site-specific wallpaper designs are for the common room ‘Drømmenes Café’ at Marielund. One is based on ideas and wishes for a colorful café, graffiti, and positive supportive messages. In another area, the wallpaper defines a cozy living room with a calm atmosphere, with nature motifs. In the process an important insight was that some of the residents would like a design with repetitions so they could occupy their mind by counting these whenever they needed to find peace.

Why did you choose to work with this theme?

With my MA-thesis project Co-creating a Sense of Home, I have been motivated by exploring and learning more about inclusive design methods that can create positive effects on the well-being. As a textile designer with a focus on pattern and color in a spatial context, I saw a potential in investigating how the quality of life at Marielund, a social-psychiatric residency, can be improved by including the residents in the design of the space.

I have worked from the following problem statement: In collaboration with the residents of a social psychiatric residence, how can I design a proposal for wallpaper design for a common room that can help support their wishes and dreams for the space as well as support the existing treatment plans.

How did you conduct your design process?

The overall approach was co-design and ethnographic research. The residents made design probes. I designed three workshops in collaboration with employees from Marielund. The workshops included ideation with mood boards collage techniques, and prototyping with cardboard models of the existing space. Materials were designed by me and workshops were facilitated by me. When making the patterns I have worked with silk-screen print and digital print.

During the design process for instance two residents said:

“I think it’s important that the place doesn’t become so institutionally-like…”.

“.. you can sit down and talk about what you see, there are 7 red or 7 green fields. You can create some peace by sitting and looking at it..”.

The two site-specific wall paper designs is based on a synthesis of the ideas from the 3 workshops and data generated and co-created during making and in conversations. I designed the Calming Acorn-wallpaper for the living room area, based on wishes for a calm, and suiting area where the wallpaper would function as a distraction by having motives that you could count.

I designed Happy stones-wallpaper to create a positive atmosphere and support the wishes for a colorful café. The design is informed by prototypes and ideas by the residents, a wall with colorful positive messages and a wish for graffiti in happy colors.