Lenneke Kuijer | Eindhoven University of Technology

'Flipping the techno-hedonist persona; a summer comfort case'

In the past few years, the use of air-conditioning in households has increased rapidly, from almost no use to 30%. This phenomenon is ironic, because increased energy demand contributes to further climate change. Moreover, cooling tends to displace other, more inclusive and sustainable forms of summer comfort, such as shading and night ventilation.
This talk highlights how the “techno-hedonist persona” (an assumed user often targeted by designers) contributes to this development. Designing for this persona, which prefers easy pleasure and convenience through technology, stimulates and perpetuates unsustainable lifestyles.
In collaboration with design students, attempts were made to change this persona. This has resulted in 16 design fictions that illustrate what it would mean for summer comfort to design for an opposite persona. This effort encourages broader conversations about how designs affect quality of life and what this means for future living environments.

Research partners: Itho Daalderop, Auping, Romazo, Het Klimaatverbond, Havensteder and Clarify.

Biography

Lenneke Kuijer works on the relation between design and domestic energy demand. She combines theories from sociology with critical design approaches such as design fiction and research through design. Her current VENI project focuses on futures of summer comfort in Dutch households, looking at low energy, inclusive alternatives for an emerging dependence on energy intensive cooling. In the project she works with a diverse set of partners including Itho Daalderop, Auping, Romazo, Het Klimaatverbond, Havensteder and Clarify. She is also part of the NWO funded project JUST PREPARE focusing on a just and effective energy transition in underprivileged neighbourhoods.