Understanding Architecture-in-Use as Multistable: What People Do in the Semi-Public Square of a Housing Project

To create spaces that are both resilient and meaningful, architects are often guided by values such as sustainability, inclusion, and overall well-being. Ultimately, these values are realized through the everyday interactions between architecture and its users. Therefore, attention to use and how it relates to design choices is vital. However, studies of architects’ design processes show that knowledge of design-use relations is mainly applied intuitively and often remains unarticulated. What is lacking is a vocabulary that supports more structured thinking about what happens once architecture is built and used; how spaces, their use, and users develop in relation to each other over time. In this article, we explore the potential of philosophical and social theories of technology to offer a basis for such a vocabulary. We specifically look at postphenomenology and script theory and apply their concepts to an empirical study of a large-scale housing project. For over two years, we observed ongoing changes of its semi-public square and its use. This provided insight into (1) use in relation to design and (2) postphenomenological and script theory. It led us to propose a conceptual lens, an open script, that brings focus to architecture as architecture-in-use. • A vocabulary is lacking to articulate what happens once architecture is built and in use. • Postphenomenology emphasizes that architecture is “never one thing.” • Spaces are open to multiple uses and meaningful in different ways to different users. • Inscribing scripts is an ongoing process that extends from design into use. • Empirical work shows how scripts are negotiated and become shared in communities.