The Caring Project

The results of the ‘Caring Project’, a multidisciplinary research project involving product, interior and fashion design researchers.

The project team consisted of:

  • Dr Alison Gwilt
  • Jackie Leaver
  • Gordon Young
  • Mark Fisher

An academic paper was presented at the Product Lifespan and the Environment (PLATE) Conference at Nottingham Trent University in 2015.

Abstract: This paper explores how people extend and preserve the life of specific objects and domestic spaces through ‘caring’, drawing on early findings from an empirical study conducted by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Sheffield Hallam University. Researchers from across the design disciplines of fashion, product and interiors explore the attitudes of users towards care routines by profiling and comparing the specific practices, customs and rituals that are adopted in the care and maintenance of products and domestic spaces in regular use.

You can download the full paper here:

Caring Project PLATE_full_paper

The project was funded by the Art & Design Research Centre (ADRC) at Sheffield Hallam University.

This research led to the Critical Care project.