Walkstorming: Embodied design with/through/in the environment

While brainstorming creates a space for the mind to generate ideas mainly based on dialogue and visual-verbal expressions, bodystorming as an embodied design practice puts the body in the centre of exploration to generate ideas through interaction with probes and materials. The workshop combines these two design activities and suggests ideating with the environment by moving in it. Walking as a methodology is often used in ethnography to generate knowledge through embodied experience. Besides, artists walk to engage with the environmentin an artistic way while also positioning the moving body in performance-like settings in the public sphere. The workshop builds upon these techniques common in other disciplines and opens up an experimental space for designing while being in dialogue with the environment and situated things during the design process.

Prior to the workshop, the participants explore a selected environment and generate design ideas by moving in it. Different from sedentary methods, moving allows participants to encounter unexpected and thought-provoking things and perspectives and, therefore, provides an alternative dimension to the body and ideation. The participants document their experiences and discuss the results of this embodied posthuman design practice in the workshop.