OBJECTIVE
This module equips facilitators with the skills to guide learners through the TREND RESEARCH tool, activating an initial level of conscious design thinking through the identification of living styles, needs, and spatial characteristics.
The objective is to support the transition from introspective reflection to the practical design of space, encouraging learners to make meaningful choices that reflect different ways of living.
By the end of the module, facilitators will be able to:
- Present the TREND RESEARCH tool and its purpose;
- Support learners in identifying the living style most aligned with the space they aim to redesign (Shared, Enabling, Nomadic, Supernormal);
- Guide participants in selecting furniture, materials, and objects that express the values and needs of the chosen living style;
- Use the tool as a bridge between personal reflection and design decisions, preparing learners for the creation of moodboards and spatial solutions in the next modules.
CONTEXT
This module builds on the previous stages of the WellHome journey and introduces a transition from personal introspection to spatial awareness.
Following the sensory and emotional exploration of the first two modules, learners are now invited to reflect on contemporary ways of living as expressions of cultural values, personal needs, and relational dynamics.
The theoretical overview and comparison of four housing styles offer a framework to examine how desires, habits, and social trends influence the way we inhabit space.
By identifying with a particular style and exploring related visual and material cues, learners begin to translate their identity into spatial languages, laying the foundation for the design decisions to come.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this module is to activate reflection on contemporary housing practices, supporting learners in identifying values, styles, and spatial configurations aligned with their own vision and with the needs of the spaces to be redesigned.
Through the guided selection of design elements (materials, furnishings, accessories), participants begin to define a visual and functional language that will inform the next design phases, ensuring greater alignment between personal identity, cultural references, and the relational functions of space.
PREPARATION
- Download the presentation to introduce the tool the 9 original housing styles so you can provide essential theoretical, cultural, and symbolic references
- Print the LEARNER HANDOUT
- Prepare the TREND RESEARCH toolkit:
- A3 worksheets to support the composition of the cards and allow participants to visualize their hoursing identity
- 1 cardboard box or folder (A3 size, rigid and closable) to serve as a symbolic and operational container for the cards and the worksheets
- Printed rigid cards, organized into 4 color-coded sets, each representing a distinct housing style:
- Shared Living (orange)
- Well-being Living (green)
- Temporary Living (light blue)
- Individual/Basic Living (red)
- Each set contains:
- 1 furnishing card
- 1 material card
- 1 accessory card
- 1 wild card with a blank front to be drawn, colored, or completed by the participant
- Set up a welcoming, quiet environment that encourages reflection, concentration, and group exchange.
- Writing, drawing and collage materials (magazines, pre-cut images, scissors, glue sticks, adhesive tape, pencils, markers, post-its, etc.)
DURATION
1,5 – 2 hours divided into two phases:
- A creative or verbal reflection phase (individual or group sharing of the housing style and choices made).
- A guided experiential phase (exploration and selection of cards);
CONCLUSION
At the end of the activity, facilitators invite learners to carry out an individual reflection, considering the choices made and the impressions experienced throughout the exercise.
Learners are encouraged to express their reflections verbally or through creative means such as drawings, collages, keywords, or symbols. This reflection phase supports the consolidation of insights and the translation of personal perceptions into conscious design intentions.
Facilitators play a key role in listening attentively and non-judgmentally, helping learners recognize the cultural, emotional, and symbolic dimensions that influenced their selections. Each reflection becomes a valuable trace – a starting point for future design actions aimed at creating spaces that are authentic, inclusive, and rooted in the identities and needs of those who will inhabit them.
RELEVANCE TO SPACE RENOVATION
This module supports learners in identifying cultural, emotional, and symbolic codes that influence how people inhabit space, offering a framework to guide meaningful and personalized design choices.
By reflecting on living trends and selecting styles, materials, and objects that resonate with their own or others’ ways of living, learners uncover latent needs, aspirations, and values that might not be immediately verbalized but are essential to shaping spaces that foster belonging, wellbeing, and identity.
Facilitators help learners translate these emerging insights into spatial intentions, supporting renovations that are inclusive, coherent, and consciously tailored to the individuals who will inhabit them.
Made with love by Wellhome team
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
