Meanings of Designed Spaces

As society rapidly changes, so too does our relationship with design and the spaces of the designed world. Meanings of Designed Spaces is a collection of articles by -- and interviews with -- renowned design academics and professionals exploring how people make meaning using design today, and how “designed space” both shapes and is shaped by technology, business, ethics, culture, sustainability and society. Questions posed include: How does designing our world provide meaning in our lives? How is this meaning constructed? What is design research within this framework? How do interiors influence our social, cultural and psychological ways of being? How is the designer's role evolving in relationship to other stakeholders? What are possible ways we can understand and respond to the social, political, ethical and cultural issues we face? The book's subject matter moves from the theoretical to the practical and includes, at times, contradictory viewpoints, providing a springboard for conversation and debate.

Tiiu Poldma, PhD, ARIDNB, DRS, IDC, IDEC, is an academic and award-winning researcher and currently the Vice Dean of Graduate Research in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Montreal. She also coordinates the interior design program at the School of Industrial Design. Her expertise includes creating spaces in flexible and temporal environments using light, color and design elements through changing human user experiences of interior space. Born in Montreal, Poldma has practiced as an interior designer for over 30 years with projects in North America and Australia. Design awards include finalist with Raymond Girard for ToqueE at the Concours Commerce Design Montreal in 1997, and Honorable mention for the Laurentian Bank competition in collaboration with Julia Bourke architecture in 2003. Her extensive expertise as a reviewer and invited editor at several research journals and publications includes Regional Editor for the Journal of Design Research and reviewer for the International Journal of Design, Journal of Research Practice, Interscience and Learning Landscapes.