Abstract
“Low techs” are technologies aimed at creating deep sustainability, collective resilience, and cultural transformation by adhering to three core requirements: useful, accessible, and durable. Despite the significant effort invested in designing technically feasible low-tech solutions, relatively little research has been conducted on the viability and desirability of these technologies. Current prototyping methodologies support design processes beyond technical feasibility and can be leveraged throughout a design process to support design for viability and desirability. This paper examines the potential role of prototypes in the development of low techs, drawing upon the existing work of the Low-Tech Lab in conducting and documenting experiments with these technologies. Opportunities for further use of prototyping as a tool to design and develop low techs are identified, and reflections are shared on how low-tech principles might create new avenues for the roles of prototypes.
Keywords
Low tech; prototyping; sustainability; new prototyping methods
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.115
Citation
Coulentianos, M.(2023) A Preliminary Investigation into Prototyping for Low Techs, in Silvia Ferraris, Valentina Rognoli, Nithikul Nimkulrat (eds.), EKSIG 2023: From Abstractness to Concreteness – experiential knowledge and the role of prototypes in design research, 19–20 June 2023, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2023.115
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
A Preliminary Investigation into Prototyping for Low Techs
“Low techs” are technologies aimed at creating deep sustainability, collective resilience, and cultural transformation by adhering to three core requirements: useful, accessible, and durable. Despite the significant effort invested in designing technically feasible low-tech solutions, relatively little research has been conducted on the viability and desirability of these technologies. Current prototyping methodologies support design processes beyond technical feasibility and can be leveraged throughout a design process to support design for viability and desirability. This paper examines the potential role of prototypes in the development of low techs, drawing upon the existing work of the Low-Tech Lab in conducting and documenting experiments with these technologies. Opportunities for further use of prototyping as a tool to design and develop low techs are identified, and reflections are shared on how low-tech principles might create new avenues for the roles of prototypes.