Daniel Keith Elkin
Spatial Agency Research and Practice
Daniel Elkin is a researcher and designer specializing in spatial agency research, agency driven design, and housing sciences. He is Assistant Professor and Deputy Discipline Leader of the Department of Environment and Interior Design at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Educated at Cranbrook Academy of Art (March) and the University of Cincinnati (March, BSArch), Mr. Elkin’s career spans between sociological research, architecture, product design, and activism. Elkin established a focus to spatial agency research and housing sciences: branches of social and spatial sciences concerned with individual and collective decision making, particularly regarding housing acts and artifacts. He served as the Cubic Journal Design Making issue primary editor, as fabrication supervisor for the School of Design’s 2020/2021 Venice Biennale contribution, and is the leader of the Tai O Village collaborative governance initiative. His recent work studies housing satisfaction and decision-making phenomena, particularly in the unique development conditions of Tai O Village, Hong Kong. His team has won significant Hong Kong Government funding, a 2021 Smart50 Smart City Initiative Award, and a 2022 Polyu Young Innovative Researcher Award.
Email: dkelkin@polyu.edu.hk