ABSTRACT
Drawing on fieldwork conducted with the Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects from 2017–2019, this chapter examines the anthropological fieldwork and interdisciplinary design process for Ryerson University’s Innovation in Science Building in Toronto, Canada. Focusing on the ways in which anthropological methods and insights become architectural design drivers within the project, this paper explores how the concept of “inclusivity” emerged as a design dimension, became a research object, and was transformed into a spatial concept that could circulate through the design process. Drawing on theoretical concepts from phenomenology to explore how inclusivity emerges in relation to users’ spatial activities and experience, this chapter illustrates how anthropology can help solve complex design issues in practice and outlines an approach to questioning the shape of social concepts.
