Abstract
This paper reflects on the design and construction of a hybrid timber–concrete house in a Dong minority village in southwest China, developed collaboratively with local carpenters and villagers. Situated within the framework of design thinking, the study explores how traditional craftsmanship becomes not only a building technique but also a mode of inquiry that reframes the notion of prototyping. While conventional design thinking views the prototype as an iterative tool for testing ideas, this research positions it as a “contextualized prototype”—a participatory and relational process grounded in collective making and cultural negotiation. Engaging with Dong carpentry, where knowledge is orally transmitted and embodied in practice, reveals how design thinking can evolve through empathy, slowness, and shared authorship. The study argues that embedding design thinking in local craft and culture expands its theoretical scope and human dimension, allowing architecture to emerge not merely from concepts but from lived experience, relationships, and place. This study situates itself at the intersection of design thinking, ethnographic practice, and vernacular craft, proposing “contextualized prototyping” as a mode of situated design research.
Keywords
Traditional craftsmanship; Prototype; Carpenters; Cultural heritage
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1118
Citation
Feretto, P., Liu, Z., Lam, M.Y.,and Ling, P.W.(2025) Redefining the Prototype: Contextualized Design Thinking through Dong Carpentry, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1118
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 5 - Design Thinking
Redefining the Prototype: Contextualized Design Thinking through Dong Carpentry
This paper reflects on the design and construction of a hybrid timber–concrete house in a Dong minority village in southwest China, developed collaboratively with local carpenters and villagers. Situated within the framework of design thinking, the study explores how traditional craftsmanship becomes not only a building technique but also a mode of inquiry that reframes the notion of prototyping. While conventional design thinking views the prototype as an iterative tool for testing ideas, this research positions it as a “contextualized prototype”—a participatory and relational process grounded in collective making and cultural negotiation. Engaging with Dong carpentry, where knowledge is orally transmitted and embodied in practice, reveals how design thinking can evolve through empathy, slowness, and shared authorship. The study argues that embedding design thinking in local craft and culture expands its theoretical scope and human dimension, allowing architecture to emerge not merely from concepts but from lived experience, relationships, and place. This study situates itself at the intersection of design thinking, ethnographic practice, and vernacular craft, proposing “contextualized prototyping” as a mode of situated design research.