Power, autonomy and trust in a caring world?

Experience of a place is as much about how it comes to be produced as it is experienced in the moment. The design process may be exclusionary, setting us in opposition to a place even before it is built. Our use of buildings may be mandated by statutes providing for education or detention, rather than enthusiastic engagement with aesthetics or function. Alternatively, the design of a building may be welcoming, and an inclusive design process may encourage a reciprocal ‘caring’ relationship with the structure or service.

The concept of ‘care’ carries with it notions of responsibility and protection, nurture and empowerment. In designing buildings and services to ‘be safe’, properly constructed, non-hazardous environments, we rarely ask if we lose anything in the process. Do the ‘safeguarding’ and ‘protective’ aspects of building and service design compromise potentially ‘nurturing’ aspects of design that encourage development and growth?

Through the lenses of power, autonomy and trust, we explore tensions between these different aspects of care in the design of spaces and service in three community and institutional settings, challenging assumptions about co-production and caring design.