Photo of Chiara Del Gaudio

Chiara Del Gaudio

Associate Professor

Expertise:• Decolonial, Feminist, and Critical Design Studies, • Design as a Political and Affective Process, • Participatory and Collaborative Design, • Power, Agency, and Self Determination in Design, • Strategic Design for Socio-Cultural Transformation
Email:Chiara.DelGaudio@carleton.ca
Building:Mackenzie
Department:School of Industrial Design
Degrees:•PhD Design (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro) •Msc in Design and Engineering (Politecnico di Milano) •BA Industrial Design (Politecnico di Milano)
Website:https://www.urbanimaginarieslab.com

Biography

Chiara Del Gaudio is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator at Carleton University’s School of Industrial Design. She is a designer, researcher, and educator working at the intersection of participatory and collaborative design, strategic design, and critical studies in design.

Her research examines design as a political and affective process, focusing on power, agency, conflict, and self‑determination within design practices. Drawing on feminist, decolonial, affect theory, and participatory design traditions, she investigates how design processes shape possibilities for action, belonging, and resistance, and how they can reproduce or challenge dynamics of exclusion and marginalization. Her work explores the conditions under which design can contribute to more democratic, inclusive, and sustainable societies through situated and community‑engaged research.

She holds a PhD in Design from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro and graduate and undergraduate degrees in Design and Engineering and Industrial Design from Politecnico di Milano. She leads Carleton’s Urban Imaginaries Lab, organized the international Participatory Design Conference in 2020 on the theme Participation(s) Otherwise, serves on its Advisory Board, and is Editor‑in‑Chief of Design and Culture.

Research

Chiara Del Gaudio’s research critically examines design as a political, affective, and relational process. Working at the intersection of participatory design, strategic design, and critical studies in design, she investigates how power and agency are distributed, constrained, and negotiated within design processes, and how participation shapes possibilities for self‑determination. Her work analyzes both the emancipatory potential and the limits of collaborative and participatory approaches, paying particular attention to dynamics of inclusion, exclusion, resistance, and normativity in design practice. Her research is grounded in applied and situated inquiry and often develops through long‑term engagement with communities and institutions.

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