Building the Design Laboratory in a Public Cultural Organisation

Abstract

This article presents the research objectives of a design research Ph.D project in the Municipality of Copenhagen. The aim of the project is to explore and develop an open platform of participatory inquiry and dialogue, within the organizational setting of three local cultural administration units (LCAU), consisting of public libraries and cultural centers at three different local sites in Copenhagen. 

The focus of the research project is to build a design laboratory, that will suit the organizational setting of the LCAUs, in such a way that the lab, and the methods that will be adapted and explored in the lab, can be taken over by the cultural workers and librarians as a part of their ongoing work routines, after the research project has been completed. 

The research project is interested in exploring the laboratory, as an open platform for design dialogues, community building and as a strategy of democratization, on the borderland between public administration and public sphere.