Redefining design practice as a sensory and decentred experience

This paper examines how sensory focused practice can decentre the role of the design educator-researcher within design education, reframing learning as a relational and embodied form of practice-led design research. Drawing on a sensory workshop with foundation-year design students in Lahore, Pakistan, it explores how listening, movement, and tactile engagement foster reflective awareness and co-creation. Informed by theories of embodied cognition and relational pedagogy, the study considers how agency in learning environments extends beyond the educator to include materials, atmospheres, and collective experiences. Sensory practice is presented not as an adjunct to design but as integral to it, cultivating attentiveness, empathy, and care. Through this lens, the paper argues that design education can nurture designers who learn and make with others, redefining practice as a shared, decentred process of knowing and becoming.

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Suggested Citation: Hamid, A., Hameed, U., Kuusk, K., & Nimkulrat, N. (2026). Redefining Design Practice as a Sensory and Decentred Experience. In L. Simeone, C. M. Gray, A. Verhoeven, A. de Götzen, Y. Bakırlıoğlu, H. Zohar, M. Stead, & P. Buwert, (eds.), Proceedings of 2026 Design Research Society Conference (DRS 2026). 8–12 June, Edinburgh, UK. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.466.