Title: Between organisation and architecture: end-user participation in design

Authors: Marianne Stang Valand

Addresses: Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School, Kilevej 14A, DK 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

Abstract: This paper contributes to our sparse knowledge on the relationship between organisational and architectural design. It is based on an ethnographic study of the process of designing a municipality town hall, in which end-user participation constituted an integrated part of the design process. In this process, the open-office layout was introduced as a premediated design condition, a format that the users initially resisted. The paper discusses how end-user participation as a method and spatial design as a perspective may inform change in organisations. Although the users| resistance toward the open layout remained, their perception of this solution concurrently modified.

Keywords: end-user participation; open office layout; architectural design; organisational design; architecture; ethnography; town hall design; spatial design; organisational change; user resistance; open layout.

DOI: 10.1504/IJWOE.2011.041530

International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion, 2011 Vol.4 No.1, pp.42 - 60

Published online: 25 Jul 2011 *

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