InformeDesign

About InformeDesign

Purpose

InformeDesign was originally formed in a worksite portable office and was created to bring building design research and practice together. The designers and architects of buildings face a multitude of complex challenges that are resource, social, environmental, behavioral, and architectural design in nature.

InformeDesign brought research from a vast array of reputable research sources to the building design community to addresses those challenges. They ranged from the most rigorous, peer reviewed journal research findings transformed into evidence-based design criteria, to postings of the most recent doctoral dissertations and intra-company industry reports.

All are provided as a means by which to enable building design practitioners to engage in evidence-based design (EBD).

Why InformeDesign?

The building design professions of interior design, architecture, landscape, graphic design, and urban planning, among others, are vital and essential. However, these jurisdictions, or boundaries of practice, can only be maintained through the attainment and use of abstract knowledge (Abbott, 1988).

Abstract knowledge is developed through research that adds to a profession’s body of knowledge. These professions must effectively engage its practitioners as active consumers of research. This source will enable the further development of the bodies of knowledge of the building design professions to secure their professional jurisdictions and enhance the public’s understanding of the value they add to their lives.

For the body of knowledge to be utilized and enhanced, information sharing between practitioners, researchers, educators, code officials, clients, and industry partners must be more encompassing and continuous.

Researchers are beginning to consistently coordinate with practitioners to provide research that is vital to their work, so the outcomes of building design solutions can be systematically examined. Practitioners can help generate the raw data necessary to develop the body of knowledge.

Researchers can analyze the data; educators can use the findings to teach new knowledge to future building designers; graduating students can inspire practitioners to engage with new knowledge and to go beyond normative design. All must work toward the development and use of the body of knowledge.

InformeDesign did just that.

Mission

The mission of InformeDesign was to facilitate building designers’ use of current, research-based information as a decision-making tool in the building design process, thereby integrating research and practice in an evidence-based design (EBD)-approach.

Objectives

InformeDesign enabled practitioners to engage in an EBD-approach, thereby improving the quality of building design solutions; enhancing the public’s health, safety, and welfare; and supporting sustainability.

Specifically, InformeDesign’s objectives were to:

Benefits

InformeDesign provided a broad range of benefits to be gained by the building design community, clients, occupants, participants, and other users through the building designers’ use of research.

  • Incorporating research findings into the building design process will inform the creation of building design solutions that protect people’s safety and health and enhance their welfare.
  • Enhancing collaboration across disciplines, industries, and nations advances the development of superior building design solutions that are evidence-based and sustainable.
  • Encouraging documentation and dissemination of building design solutions via case studies to build the body of knowledge raises the bar for building design professionals, ultimately benefiting building occupants and the natural environment.

History of InformeDesign

InformeDesign was co-created by Denise Guerin, PhD and Caren Martin, PhD at the University of Minnesota, in the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel. Ideation and development of InformeDesign occurred between 1999-2002. The ideation and commitment to this project is the belief that the building designers of the built environment must continue to enhance their knowledge and skills to continue to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public to ever-increasing degrees of excellence. Continuing to build the body of knowledge and disseminating that knowledge is the key.

InformeDesign became operational in January 2003 with the launch of the Web site. InformeDesign had substantial, generous financial support through multi-year grants from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), beginning with their funding of the development grant in 2000. ASID also provided principal, continuous support via their key staff and organizational amenities through 2009. The University of Minnesota also provided generously via in-kind contributions of staff assistance, functional support, and physical housing of InformeDesign’s offices through 2013. Additional financial support was secured from industry, building design firms, and building design entities from 2009-2013.

In October 2013, the University of Minnesota granted the license for InformeDesign back to its co-creators, Denise Guerin and Caren Martin, who formed InformeDesign, LLC. As an independent entity, new forms of organization, funding (advertising and sponsorship), publishing, and communication can be leveraged to continue to grow InformeDesign to fulfill its evidence-based building design (EBD) mission.

InformeDesign, LLC was administratively terminated in the state of Minnesota on February 17, 2021 and the website was relaunched by the architect John Alexander because he wanted to maintain the integrity of the website for the building design community. In November of 2021, Green Building Elements LLC located at 935 Main Street B3-B Manchester Connecticut 06040 acquired InformeDesign and brought John on-board as the Chief Building Architect.

This page will be maintained to showcase the history of this valuable website and for those interested in contacting John Alexander for information related to InformeDesign you may contact him here.