From the Object to the Site, Promoting Social Acceptability

What is the connection between school furniture and Hydro-Québec's high-voltage power lines? Their integration into people's lives. Caroline Gagnon, professor of design at ÉTS since fall 2025, broadens her thinking beyond the visual aspects of design to include the social and political dimensions of a project or development. 

A classroom cluttered with objects of all colours, shapes, and materials can hinder students' concentration. In the same way, high-voltage power lines can spoil the beauty of a landscape. Professor Gagnon emphasizes the importance of early intervention in project planning to improve implementation and social acceptability. 

Caroline Gagnon holds a PhD in environmental design (2007) and a master's degree in environmental design from the University of Montreal (2000), as well as a bachelor's degree in environmental design from the Université du Québec à Montréal (1994). She also completed postdoctoral studies at the Cité du design in Saint-Étienne, France. There, she strived to understand the influence of design on regional development.

“I followed a very diversified path, ranging from fashion design to environmental design, using a multi-scale approach that allows me to connect objects (equipment and buildings) to a structure (cities). This has helped me understand the link between the constraints of urban equipment design and the use of spaces on a human scale,” says Caroline Gagnon.

Transmission towers and aesthetics

Twelve years at the Chair in Landscape and Environment at the University of Montreal have shaped her vision. Initially hired for a research assignment at Hydro-Québec, she devoted her thesis to the aesthetic appreciation of high-voltage power lines in the landscape. Caroline Gagnon has a special interest in integrating technical infrastructures—considered more or less attractive in public spaces—into the environment. “We need to design projects with a better understanding of how facilities will impact living environments, rather than focusing essentially on those that are cheapest and quickest to build,” she argues. 

The common thread in her research relates to people's perception of their environment. Caroline Gagnon has focused primarily on design in public contexts, and more recently in the education and healthcare sectors.

Empathic Design

 “Human beings need objects,” declares Caroline Gagnon. Objects can be aids to everyday life, but when you add them all up, they can sometimes be a hindrance. She gives the example of inpatients who must walk to speed up their recovery. In addition to the discomfort of wearing a hospital gown and being hooked up to IVs, they have to navigate their way through a virtual maze of obstacles in the hallways of a care unit. “Instead of reinventing technological equipment, we can reorganize the space and offer a path leading to a captivating view from a window to encourage walking and healing,” emphasizes Ms. Gagnon. It is important to walk in the users' shoes, for they are at the heart of the experience. Here, we are referring to patients, caregivers, and visitors. 

Technology is not everything, then. Sometimes the challenge for a designer is not to create objects, but to remove some, or to suggest existing options.

Professor and researcher at ÉTS

Caroline Gagnon has been a research associate at the Chair in Landscape and Environment at the University of Montreal since 2007. She was a professor at Laval University's School of Design for thirteen years, where she began her career as founder and director of the Product Design program. She accepted the position at ÉTS, involved in the creation of the Department of Design. She loves teaching, but research is important, and ÉTS allowed her to combine both areas of her expertise. 

AI is just around the corner

Projects are multiplying, and Caroline Gagnon is looking forward to implementing them in support of a socio-ecological transition. Sufficiency is now her focus. At the same time, the excitement generated by AI is leading to a mushrooming of infrastructures that will need to be installed somewhere. The challenge for designers will be to guide decisions upstream to promote social acceptability of projects and ensure harmonization of the sufficiency concept.

“Design is about turning abstract ideas into reality,” concludes Ms. Gagnon.