"Traditional design today places a strong emphasis on being human-centered. At the same time, however, human-centered design does not take into account what lies outside human meaning-making," said Alec Kozicki, a junior researcher in semiotics at the University of Tartu. From the perspective of biosemiotics, humans are a species like any other. Just as animals and plants create their own niches in the environment — shaping their own living spaces — the relationship between humans and their homes can be described in similar terms.

According to Kozicki, humans can understand space only from their own perspective, that is, through their Umwelt. At the same time, each individual perceives their surroundings through a narrowly personal lifeworld. For example, Kozicki himself, having come to Estonia as a researcher from abroad, is accustomed to certain natural rhythms, food, culture and linguistic environments. In Estonia, the weather is colder and everything else is different. "All of these things are not part of my previous lifeworld, because the lifeworld itself is in constant development," he noted.

In his recently defended doctoral thesis, Kozicki proposed a toolkit that takes both the lifeworld and Umwelt into account in home design. Using this approach, both designers and residents themselves could create living spaces that are not merely functional, but meaningful. Figuratively speaking, what would matter less is the mere presence of a television in the living room and more its placement, as well as which family members watch it and what they choose to watch. "As humans, we very often modify our living spaces: we hang things on the walls and adapt rooms to our needs. What is important, however, is the ability to see oneself as a conscious designer within that space," the junior researcher said.

From consumer to co-author

In his doctoral thesis, Alec Kozicki describes the home as a technologized living space. In a narrower sense, this could refer to the modern smart home where household appliances are connected to a network and can be controlled by a virtual assistant similar to Amazon Alexa that processes voice commands. "More broadly, I mean any living environment where technology is not merely present, but encourages everyone who lives there to learn, create and use their imagination," Kozicki explained. This includes any living space equipped with a screen, an automated system or a smart device.

In traditional design, a person using a computer, a television or even virtual reality goggles would simply be a consumer of these technologies. According to Kozicki, however, this view has several shortcomings. First, the pandemic period clearly demonstrated how the meaning of designed spaces can change over time. "For instance, I may need to hold a meeting in my living space. I then have to curate the room in some way to make it appear professional. Some people arranged artworks or books in the background of their webcam," he said.

On the other hand, while a designer may have an intended user in mind, they cannot account for all possible users. New technologies such as artificial intelligence are also constantly evolving, making it impossible for designers to anticipate every potential issue. "As consumers, we are told that a product can do this, that and the other. The more technology develops, the more the ways we use it in everyday life evolve as well. We do not really know where new technologies will ultimately lead us in the future," Kozicki noted.

This is where the concept of "de-sign," highlighted in Kozicki's work, comes into play. The term was coined by American semiotician and architect Farouk Seif who also served as the opponent for the doctoral thesis. "The de-sign approach is much more than simply producing things; it is an attempt to create relations of meaning," Kozicki said.

Under this approach, designers consider the characteristics of potential users when creating an object or space. The passive consumer becomes an active shaper of their living environment, doing so creatively, playfully and in unexpected ways. "Meaning design is important in creating technologized living spaces precisely because it compels us to be lifelong learners," the junior researcher added.

Growing with your home

While the central concept in Alec Kozicki's toolkit is de-sign, he also recommends taking into account a person's Umwelt and lifeworld when designing objects and spaces. This means that multiple people may share the same space, yet perceive and interpret it differently. "Imagine a family living space: two parents, two children and perhaps a grandparent all live there. Each of them has their own relationships of meaning with, for example, the television and the radio," he explained.

To foster meaningful relationships between a person and their living environment, Kozicki proposes four components: semiotic resources, affordances, competences and scaffolding.

For instance, a voice-controlled home assistant installed in a household functions as a semiotic resource, enabling users to explore and create new meanings. "The fact that you can ask the assistant something at all is an affordance and knowing how to use it is a competence," he noted. When the device becomes part of a person's new habits and the home's automated functions, it can also be described as semiotic scaffolding. "These components describe how we can develop and grow together with our homes," Kozicki said.

According to Alec Kozicki, a good example of the co-development between a person and their home, as well as lifelong change, is aging. The meaning of certain elements in a home, such as stairs, can shift over time. "For a young person, climbing stairs may require little effort, but with age, the meaning and function of stairs can change dramatically. This is related to biomechanics and perceived affordances," the newly minted PhD explained. As a result, people need to be creative and consider how to continue coexisting with their homes.

Kozicki adds that the example of a door helps illustrate affordances well. If a person wants to use a door, they typically have two options: push or pull. "In Estonia, doors often have written signs saying 'push' or 'pull.' But if you lack the competence to understand what those words mean, it becomes a matter of guesswork," the junior researcher noted.

In contrast, in a smart home, where people increasingly use technologies such as virtual reality devices, these relationships of meaning take on an entirely new dimension. In such cases, a person is essentially in two places at once. "Physically, I may be in my living room, but my activities, development and meaning-making are taking place in a virtual space," Kozicki said.

The example of Earthships

What might such an actively designed living space look like in practice? As a case study in his work, Alec Kozicki examines the Earthship movement. It originated in the 1970s in the U.S. state of New Mexico when architect Michael Reynolds moved there. He sought to challenge the architectural status quo and design self-sustaining homes. "He looked for alternative building materials. These were provided by the surrounding environment where there were many discarded car tires, glass bottles and aluminum cans," Kozicki explained.

Over time, Reynolds' experiments grew into a broader movement in which people seek ways to live self-sufficiently. This includes, for example, living off-grid, sourcing one's own drinking water and growing food in personal greenhouses. While the indoor climate in a conventional home is typically very stable, in an Earthship it largely depends on environmental conditions. "Earthship builders are, in a sense, lifelong learners who carefully observe which resources are available for constructing their homes. They must live in attentive harmony with their environmental conditions," the junior researcher noted.

To Kozicki's knowledge, there are no Earthships in Estonia or the Baltic states, although similar alternative living spaces have been attempted in the Nordic countries. He does not offer a universal recipe for building an Earthship, as each such dwelling must suit its specific climate, plot and the needs of its residents. "Earthships are an excellent example of a home that grows and develops with us, encouraging us to function in tandem with environmental conditions," he said.

Alec Richard Kozicki defended his doctoral thesis in semiotics and cultural theory, titled "The De-sign Process of Inhabiting Techno-Living Spaces," on March 16 at the University of Tartu. The dissertation was supervised by Professor Kalevi Kull of the University of Tartu. The opponent was Professor Emeritus Farouk Y. Seif of Antioch University.

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