ISSN 2398-3132
PROCEEDINGS OF DRS
27–30 JUNE 2016
VOLUME 7
50th Anniversary Conference Brighton, UK
Design + Research + Society Future-Focused Thinking EDITED BY: PETER LLOYD ERIK BOHEMIA
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Proceedings of DRS 2016 Design + Research + Society Future–Focused Thinking 50th Anniversary International Conference Brighton, UK, 27–30 June 2016 Volume 7
Editors Peter Lloyd and Erik Bohemia
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Proceedings of DRS 2016 International Conference 28–30 June 2016, Brighton, UK www.drs2016.org Volumes 7 of 10 Cover and conference identity design by Gavin Ambrose, Nikki Brewster and Seamus White Proceedings compiled by Kaajal Modi Editors: Peter Lloyd and Erik Bohemia Section-Editors: Harriet Atkinson; Leonard Bachman; Giovanni Baule; Michaël Berghman; Noemi Bitterman; Alison Black; Rebecca Cain; Elena Caratti; Rachel Cooper; Anne Cranny-Francis; Tejas Dhadphale; Hua Dong; Bianca Elzenbaumer; Carolina Escobar-Tello; Luke Feast; Tom Fisher; Aija Freimanee; Lorraine Gamman; Valeria Graziano; Camilla Groth; Marte Gulliksen; Paul Hekkert; Derek Jones; Sarah Kettley; Tore Kristensen; Sylvia Liu; Geke Ludden; Jamie Mackrill; Maarit Mäkelä; Betti Marenko; Andrew Morris; Kristina Niedderer; Nithikul Nimkulrat; Maya Oppenheimer; Elif Ozcan; Verena Paepcke-Hjeltness; Ann Petermans; Philip Plowright; Tiiu Poldma; Hendrik Schifferstein; Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen; Qian Sun; Michael Tovey; Rhoda Trimingham; Kim Trogal; Nynke Tromp; Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer; Sue Walker; Alex Wilkie; Alex Williams; Seda Yilmaz
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Proceedings of DRS 2016 International Conference: Future–Focused Thinking ISSN 2398-3132 Published by the Design Research Society Loughborough University, London 3 Lesney Avenue, The Broadcast Centre, Here East London, E15 2GZ United Kingdom
Design Research Society Secretariat email: admin@designresearchsociety.org website: www.designresearchsociety.org Founded in 1966 the Design Research Society (DRS) is a learned society committed to promoting and developing design research. It is the longest established, multi-disciplinary worldwide society for the design research community and aims to promote the study of and research into the process of designing in all its many fields.
DRS Special Interest Groups Design for Behaviour Change Design for Health, Wellbeing and Happiness Design Innovation Management Design Pedagogy Design for Sustainability Design for Tangible, Embedded and Networked Technologies Experiential Knowledge Inclusive Design Objects, Practices, Experiences, Networks
DRS International Conference Series DRS 2002 London; DRS 2004 Melbourne; DRS 2006 Lisbon; DRS 2008 Sheffield; DRS 2010 Montreal; DRS 2012 Bangkok; DRS 2014 Umeå
DRS 2016 Programme Committee Conference Chair Peter Lloyd, University of Brighton, UK Conference Co-Chairs Tracy Bhamra, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Stephen Boyd-Davis, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Jonathan Chapman, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Peter Childs, Imperial College, United Kingdom International Scientific Review Committee Tracy Bhamra, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Erik Bohemia, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Lin Lin Chen, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan Nathan Crilly, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Paul Hekkert, TU Delft, The Netherlands Peter Lloyd, University of Brighton, UK Debates, Conversations and Workshops Chairs Stella Boess, TU Delft, The Netherlands Carlos Peralta, University of Brighton, UK Cameron Tonkinwise, Carnegie Mellon University, US Conference Experience Chairs Dan Lockton, Royal College of Art, UK Veronica Ranner, Royal College of Art, UK PhD by Design Bianca Elzenbaumer, Leeds College of Art, UK Maria Portugal, Goldsmiths University, UK Alison Thomson, Goldsmiths University, UK DRS Special Interest Group Chairs Erik Bohemia, Loughborough University, UK Rebecca Cain, Warwick University, UK Hua Dong, Tongji University, China Tom Fisher, Nottingham Trent University, UK Sarah Kettley, Nottingham Trent University, UK Kristina Niedderer, University of Wolverhampton, UK Nithikul Nimkulrat, Estonian Academy of Arts, Talinn Michael Tovey, Coventry University, UK Rhoda Trimmingham, Loughborough University, UK Executive Advisors Carl DiSalvo, Georgia Institute of Technology, US Kees Dorst, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Janet Mcdonnell, University of the Arts London, UK Johan Redstrรถm, Umeรฅ Institute of Design, Sweden Erik Stolterman, Indiana University, US Anna Valtonen, Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Finland
International Board of Reviewers Tom Ainsworth, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Katerina Alexiou, The Open University, United Kingdom Manola Antonioli, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris La Villette, France Rina Arya, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Harriet Atkinson, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Stephen Awoniyi, Texas State University, United States Jeremy Aynsley, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Leonard Bachman, University of Houston College of Architecture, United States Betsy Barnhart, Iowa State University, United States Giovanni Baule, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Nigan Bayazit, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey Michaël Berghman, TU Delft, Netherlands Tracy Bhamra, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Richard Bibb, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Noemi Bitterman, Technion, Israel Alison Black, Reading University, United Kingdom Janneke Blijlevens, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University, Australia Anne Boddington, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Stella Boess, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Erik Bohemia, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Casper Boks, NTNU, Norway Elizabeth Boling, Indiana University, United States Andy Boucher, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Simon Bowen, Newcastle University, United Kingdom Stephen Boyd Davis, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Jamie Brassett, Central Saint Martins, United Kingdom Philip Breedon, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom Charlie Breindahl, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Denmark Patrick Bresnihan, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Cheryl Buckley, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Jacob Buur, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Rebecca Cain, University of Warwick, United Kingdom Elena Caratti, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Philip Cash, DTU, Denmark Tom Cassidy, University of Leeds, United Kingdom Julia Cassim, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Japan Jonathan Chapman, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Chien-Hsiung Chen, Taiwan Tech, Taiwan, R.O.C. Chun-Chih Chen, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Taiwan, R.O.C. Chun-Di Chen, National Taipei University of Education, Taiwan, R.O.C. Kuohsiang Chen, I-Shou University, Taiwan, R.O.C. Lin-Lin Chen, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C. Peter Childs, Imperial College London, United Kingdom Wen-Ko Chiou, Chang Gung University, Taiwan, R.O.C. Bo Christensen, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark Henri Christiaans, UNIST, School of Design & Human Engineering, South Korea Abdusselam Selami Cifter, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Turkey Nazli Cila, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands Mollie Claypool, University College London, United Kingdom Stephen Clune, Lancaster University, United Kingdom Tim Cooper, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom Anne Cranny-Francis, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Nathan Crilly, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom Odette da Silva, TU Delft, Netherlands Massimo De Angelis, University of East London, United Kingdom Michel de Blois, Université Laval, Canada Cees de Bont, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Christine de Lille, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Jakki Dehn, Jakki Dehn Materials, United Kingdom
Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, National University of La Plata, Argentina Claudio Dell'Era, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Samuel DeMarie, Iowa State University, United States Halime Demirkan, Bilkent University, Turkey Gaurang Desai, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates Pieter Desmet, TU Delft, Netherlands Emma Dewberry, The Open University, United Kingdom Sarah Diefenbach, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany Ingvild Digranes, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway Orsalia Dimitriou, Central Saint Martins, United Kingdom Hua Dong, Tongji University, China Dennis Doordan, University of Notre Dame, United States Kees Dorst, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Shelby Doyle, Iowa State University, United States Alex Duffy, University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom Delia Dumitrescu, University of Borås, United Kingdom Abigail Durrant, Newcastle University, United Kingdom Thomas Dykes, Northumbria University, United Kingdom Wouter Eggink, University of Twente, Netherlands Bianca Elzenbaumer, Leeds College of Art, United Kingdom Magnus Eneberg, Konstfack - University College of Arts, Crafts and Design, Sweden Alpay Er, Ozyegin University / Istanbul Institute of Design, Turkey Ozlem Er, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey Pia Geisby Erichsen, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Carolina Escobar-Tello, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Juhyun Eune, Seoul National University, South Korea Mark Evans, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Luke Feast, Aalto University, Finland Thomas Fischer, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China Tom Fisher, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom Kate Tanya Fletcher, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom Jodi Forlizzi, Carnegie Mellon University, United States Lois Frankel, Carleton University, Canada Jill Franz, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Biljana Fredriksen, University College of Southeast Norway, Norway Ken Friedman, Tongji University, China Jennifer Gabrys, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Loraine Gamman, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, United Kingdom Nick Gant, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Philippe Gauthier, Université de Montréal, Canada Aysar Ghassan, Coventry University, United Kingdom Katherine Gibson, University of Western Sydney, Australia Carolina Gill, The Ohio State University, United States Steve Gill, Cardiff Met University, United Kingdom Maria Goransdotter, Umeå University, Sweden Colin Gray, Purdue University, United States Camilla Groth, Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Finland Marte Sørebø Gulliksen, Telemark University College, Norway Ian Gwilt, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom Robert Harland, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Dew Harrison, University of Wolverhampton, United Kingdom Steve Harrison, Virginia Tech, United States Marc Hassenzahl, Folkwang University of the Arts, Germany Anders Haug, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark Tero Heikkinen, independent / University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland Tincuta Heinzel, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom Paul Hekkert, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Bart Hengeveld, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Netherlands Ricardo Hernandez, Lancaster University, United Kingdom Ann Heylighen, KU Leuven, Belgium Clive Hilton, Coventry University, United Kingdom
Michael Hohl, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany Chung-Ching Huang, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, R.O.C. Karl Hurn, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Praima Israsena Na Ayudhya, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand Robert Jerrard, Manchester Metropolitan Univ/Birmingham City Univ, United Kingdom Wolfgang Jonas, Braunschweig University of Art, Germany Derek Jones, The Open University, United Kingdom Peter Jones, OCAD University, Canada Rachel Jones, Instrata, United Kingdom Guy Julier, University of Brighton/Victoria and Albert Museum, United Kingdom Sabine Junginger, Hertie School of Governance, Germany Lorraine Justice, Rochester Institute of Technology, United States Faith Kane, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Helen Kennedy, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Tobie Kerridge, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Richard Arthur Kettley, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom Sarah Kettley, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom Jinsook Kim, Trinity Christian College, United States Lucy Kimbell, UAL, United Kingdom Holger Klapperich, Folkwang University of Arts, Germany Maaike Kleinsmann, TU Delft, Netherlands Ben Kraal, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Ksenija Kuzmina, Loughborough University London, United Kingdom John Langrish, Salford University, United Kingdom Keelin Leahy, University of Limerick, Ireland Helmut Leder, University of Vienna, Austria Ji-Hyun Lee, KAIST, South Korea Yanki Lee, Hong Kong Design Institue, Hong Kong Eva Lenz, Folkwang University of Arts, Germany Pierre Levy, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands Debra Lilley, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Rungtai Lin, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taiwan, R.O.C. Stephen Little, Asia Pacific Technology Network, United Kingdom Sylvia Liu, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Peter Lloyd, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Kathy Pui Ying, Lo, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Dan Lockton, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Vicky Lofthouse, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Lian Loke, University of Sydney, Australia Nicole Lotz, The Open University, United Kingdom Rachael Luck, The Open University, United Kingdom Geke Ludden, University of Twente, Netherlands Rohan Lulham, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Ole Lund, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Alastair Macdonald, Glasgow School of Art, United Kingdom Fiona Maciver, Norwich University of the Arts, United Kingdom Jamie Mackrill, Imperial College London, United Kingdom Anja Maier, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark Maarit Mäkelä, Aalto University, Finland Betti Marenko, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom Ben Mathews, The University of Queensland, Australia Tuuli Mattelmäki, Aalto University, Finland Ramia Mazé, Aalto University, Finland Sanjoy Mazumdar, University of California, Irvine, United States Janet McDonnell, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom Chris McGinley, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Tomislav Medak, Multimedia Institute, Croatia Wellington Gomes de Medeiros, Federal University of Campina Grande, Brazil Brian Mennecke, Iowa State University, United States Paul Micklethwaite, Kingston University, United Kingdom Karen Miller, University of Brighton, United Kingdom
Val Mitchell, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Kathryn Moore, Birmingham City University, United Kingdom Michael Moore, Ulster University, United Kingdom Sarah Morehead, Northumbria University, United Kingdom Nicola Morelli, Aalborg University, Denmark Mariale Moreno, Cranfield University, United Kingdom Andrew Morris, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Andrew, Morrison, AHO, Norway Jeanne-Louise Moys, Reading University, United Kingdom Tara Mullaney, Umeå Institute of Design, Sweden Yukari Nagai, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan Ki Young Nam, KAIST, South Korea Kristina Niedderer, Wolverhampton University, United Kingdom Liv Merete Nielsen, Oslo and Akershus university college, Norway Nithikul Nimkulrat, Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia Conall Ó Catháin, Past Chairman DRS, Ireland Arlene Oak, University of Alberta, Canada Maya Oppenheimer, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Elif Ozcan, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Kursat Ozenc, Stanford, United States Verena Paepcke-Hjeltness, Iowa State University, United States Eujin Pei, Brunel University London, United Kingdom Carlos Peralta, University of brighton, United Kingdom José Pérez de Lama, University of Sevilla, Spain Oscar Person, Aalto University, Finland Ann Petermans, Hasselt University, Belgium Daniela Petrelli, Sheffield Hallam University, United Kingdom Doina Petrescu, The University of Sheffield, United Kingdom Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway Sarah Pink, RMIT University, Australia Silvia Pizzocaro, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Philip Plowright, Lawrence Technological University, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, United States Anna Pohlmeyer, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Tiiu Poldma, University of Montreal, Canada Lubomir Popov, Bowling Green State University, United States Vesna Popovic, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Thomas Porathe, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Ruben Post, TU Delft, Netherlands William Prindle, Iowa State University, United States Charlie Ranscombe, Swinburne, Australia Yaone Rapitsenyane, University of Botswana, Botswana Ingo Rauth, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden Kirstine Riis, University College Telemark, Norway Paul Rodgers, Northumbria University, United Kingdom Zoe Romano, WeMake, Makerspace, Italy Jose Antonio Rosa, Iowa State University, United States Seymour Roworth-Stokes, Coventry University, United Kingdom Robin Roy, The Open University, United Kingdom Keith Russell, University of Newcastle, Australia, Australia Daniel Saakes, KAIST, South Korea Noemi Maria Sadowska, Regent's University London, United Kingdom Miguel Said Vieira, Independent, Brazil Fatina Saikaly, Co-Creando, Italy Filippo Salustri, Ryerson University, Canada Liz Sanders, The Ohio State University, United States Rick Schifferstein, TU Delft, Netherlands James Self, UNIST, South Korea Nick Senske, Iowa State University, United States Matt Sinclair, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Kin Wai Michael Siu, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Dirk Snelders, TU Delft, Netherlands
Ricardo Sosa, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Chris Speed, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom Jak Spencer, The Sound HQ, United Kingdom Kay Stables, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Pieter Jan Stappers, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands Shanti Sumartojo, RMIT University, Australia Kärt Summatavet, Aalto University, Estonia Qian Sun, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Helena Sustar, Aalto University, Finland Gunnar Swanson, East Carolina University, United States Ben Sweeting, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Keith Tam, University of Reading, United Kingdom Hsien-Hui Tang, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, R.O.C. Toshiharu Taura, Kobe University, Japan Damon Taylor, University of Brighton, United Kingdom Sarah Teasley, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom Adam Thorpe, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom Clementine Thurgood, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Jeremy Till, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom Oscar Tomico, Eindhoven University of Technology, United Kingdom Cameron Tonkinwise, Carnegie Mellon University, United States Mike Tovey, Coventry University, United Kingdom Rhoda Trimingham, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Nynke Tromp, TU Delft, Netherlands Darren Umney, Open University, United Kingdom Louise Valentine, University of Dundee, United Kingdom Anna Valtonen, Aalto University, Finland Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Johann van der Merwe, Independent Researcher, South Africa Mascha van der Voort, University of Twente, Netherlands Karel van der Waarde, Graphic Design - Research, Belgium Susann Vihma, Aalto University, Finland Andre Viljoen, University of Brighton, United Kingdom John Vines, Newcastle University, United Kingdom Bettina von Stamm, Innovation Leadership Forum, United Kingdom Sue Walker, Reading University, United Kingdom Renee Wever, Linköping University, Sweden Alex Wilkie, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom Alex Williams, Kingston University, United Kingdom Garrath Wilson, Loughborough University, United Kingdom Heather Wiltse, Umeå University, Sweden Christian Woelfel, TU Dresden, Germany Martin Woolley, Coventry University, United Kingdom Paul Wormald, National University of Singapore, Singapore Artemis Yagou, Macromedia University for Media and Communication, Germany Joyce Yee, Northumbria University, United Kingdom Susan Yelavich, The New School, United States Seda Yilmaz, Iowa State University, United States Robert Young, Northumbria University, United Kingdom
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Table of Content Editorial................................................................................................................................................................................................... i – Volume 1 – SECTION 1 50 YEARS OF DESIGN RESEARCH Design Research: What is it? What is it for?............................................................................................................................................. 5
Victor Margolin Schön’s Legacy: Examining Contemporary Citation Practices in DRS Publications ................................................................................... 17
Jordan Beck, Laureline Chiapello The Idea of Architecture, The User As Inhabitant: Design through a Christopher Alexander Lens ........................................................... 31
Molly Wright Steenson Design Research for Sustainability: Historic Origin and Development .................................................................................................... 43
Astrid Skjerven The Design Methods Movement: From Optimism to Darwinism ............................................................................................................ 51
John Z. Langrish User Design: Constructions of the “user” in the history of design research ............................................................................................ 65
Theodora Vardouli 60 years of creativity in business organizations ..................................................................................................................................... 83
Ricardo Sosa, Pete Rive and Andy M. Connor 20th Century Boys: Pioneering British Design Thinkers .......................................................................................................................... 97
Emma Murphy and Martyn Evans Design Research and Design Participation ........................................................................................................................................... 111
Robert Aish The Design Research Society in the 1980s and 1990s: a memoir .......................................................................................................... 125
Conall Ó Catháin SECTION 2 AESTHETIC PLEASURE IN DESIGN Introduction: Aesthetic Pleasure in Design .......................................................................................................................................... 139
Michaël Berghman and Paul Hekkert Measuring design typicality – a comparison of objective and subjective approaches ........................................................................... 145
Stefan Mayer and Jan R. Landwehr Most Advanced yet Acceptable: A case of referential form-driven meaning innovation ....................................................................... 157
Seong geun Lee, James Self and Ekaterina Andrietc Extracting Design Aesthetic Heuristics from Scientific Literature.......................................................................................................... 179
Ana Cadavid, Stefany Ruiz-Córdoba and Jorge Maya Putting product design in context: Consumer responses to design fluency as a function of presentation context ................................. 203
Laura K. M. Graf and Jan R. Landwehr The Value of Transparency for Designing Product Innovations............................................................................................................. 215
Peiyao Cheng and Ruth Mugge A comparison between colour preference and colour harmony – taking athletic shoe design as an example........................................ 233
Li-Chen Ou Creating Novel Encounters with Nature: Approaches and Design Explorations..................................................................................... 245
Thomas J. L. Van Rompay and Geke D. S. Ludden Introducing Experience Goals into Packaging Design ........................................................................................................................... 259
Markus Joutsela and Virpi Roto The beauty of balance – An empirical integration of the Unified Model of Aesthetics for product design ............................................. 277
Michaël Berghman and Paul Hekkert SECTION 3 DESIGN EPISTEMOLOGY Introduction: Design Epistemology...................................................................................................................................................... 295
Derek Jones, Philip Plowright, Leonard Bachman and Tiiu Poldma Mapping design knowledge: 36 years of Design Studies ...................................................................................................................... 303
Kathryn Burns, Jack Ingram and Louise Annable I know this one, but the answer is complex… ...................................................................................................................................... 321
Simon Downs Source domains of Architectural Knowledge: Mappings, Categories, Validity and Relevance ............................................................... 339
Philip D Plowright Using Rhetoric in Persuasive Design: What Rhetoric? .......................................................................................................................... 355
Danny Godin Design Fiction: Does the search for plausibility lead to deception? ...................................................................................................... 369
Paul Coulton, Joseph Lindley and Haider Ali Akmal
Graphicality: why is there not such a word? ........................................................................................................................................ 385
Robert Harland and David Craib Design as Anticipation and Innovation: Co-creating a future by learning from the future as it emerges ................................................ 401
Markus F. Peschl and Thomas Fundneider – Volume 2 – SECTION 4 Design EDUCATION AND LEARNING Introduction: Design Education and Learning ...................................................................................................................................... 419
Michael Tovey “Dis-course is Killer!” Educating the critically reflective designer ......................................................................................................... 425
Veronika Kelly Design Culture and Contemporary Education ...................................................................................................................................... 441
Therese Uri Promoting an emancipatory research paradigm in Design Education and Practice ............................................................................... 455
Lesley-Ann Noel Design Thinking: A Rod For Design’s Own Back? .................................................................................................................................. 471
Aysar Ghassan Designing the unknown: supervising design students who manage mental health issues ..................................................................... 483
Welby Ings Using Design Thinking to create a new education paradigm for elementary level children for higher student engagement and success 501
Lesley-Ann Noel and Tsai Lu Liu Design Research in Interior Design Education: A Living Framework for Teaching the Undergraduate Capstone Studio in the 21st Century ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 513
Charles Boggs, Helena Moussatche, Catherine Pizzichemi and Meghan Woodcock Designing Universities of the Future .................................................................................................................................................... 525
Anna Valtonen Dexign Futures: A Pedagogy for Long-Horizon Design Scenarios .......................................................................................................... 539
Peter Scupelli, Arnold Wasserman, and Judy Brooks Design and Interdisciplinarity: the improbable introduction of “fundamental physics” in a design school ............................................ 555
Annie Gentes, Anne-Lyse Renon and Julien Bobroff Card Games Creation as a Learning Method ........................................................................................................................................ 569
Birgit S. Bauer “Spend another day in our class talking about this research please”: Student insights from a research-based design thinking exercise 593
Cynthia J. Atman, Arif Ahmer, Jennifer A. Turns and Jim Borgford-Parnell Communication is not collaboration: observations from a case study in collaborative learning ............................................................ 609
Iestyn Jowers, Mark Gaved, Gary Elliott-Cirigottis, Delphine Dallison, Alan Rochead and Mark Craig The use of argumentation in design research ...................................................................................................................................... 625
Stella Boess Digital Sketch Modelling: Integrating digital sketching as a transition between sketching and CAD in Industrial Design Education ....... 637
Charlie Ranscombe and Katherine Bissett-Johnson Prototyping in the in-between. A Method for Spatial Design education ............................................................................................... 653
Jennie Andersson Schaeffer and Marianne Palmgren Global Flows of Materials: Design Research and Practice in Architecture ............................................................................................. 669
Janet McGaw Evaluating Living and Learning on Campus: A Community Engaged Research Model ............................................................................ 685
Rebekah Radtke What is sought from graphic designers? A first thematic analysis of job offers for graphic design positions in the United Kingdom ...... 705
Paulo Roberto Nicoletti Dziobczenskiand Oscar Person LIVD: An Avant-Garde Publication with Pedagogical and Epistemological Aims .................................................................................... 719
Meredith James Design Studio Desk and Shared Place Attachments: A Study on Ownership, Personalization, and Agency. ........................................... 729
Peter Scupelli and Bruce Hanington Online Reflective Interactions on Social Network Sites in Design Studio Course ................................................................................... 751
Simge Hough Junior designers’ awareness of personal values and their employment choices ................................................................................... 767
Anna Jonkmans, Julia Wurl, Dirk Snelders and Lenny van Onselen Knowledgeability culture: Co-creation in practice................................................................................................................................ 781
Alicen Coddington, Colin Giang, Alexander Graham, Anne Prince, Pauliina Mattila, Christine Thong and Anita Kocsis Visual Thinking Styles and Idea Generation Strategies Employed in Visual Brainstorming Sessions ...................................................... 795
Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi The Future of Product Design Utilising Printed Electronics ................................................................................................................... 813
Nicola York, Darren Southee and Mark Evans
Project Contribution of Junior Designers: Exploring the What and the How of Values in Collaborative Practice .................................... 835
Lennart Kaland, Annelijn Vernooij and Lenny van Onselen Exploring framing within a team of industrial design students ............................................................................................................. 853
Mithra Zahedi, Lorna Heaton, Manon Guité, Giovanni De Paoli and Marie Reumont – Volume 3 – SECTION 5 AESTHETICS, COSMOPOLITICS AND DESIGN Introduction: Aesthetics, Cosmopolitics and Design ............................................................................................................................ 873
Alex Wilkie Framing Values in Design .................................................................................................................................................................... 881
Marta Gasparin and William Green The Prototype as a Cosmopolitical Place: Ethnographic design practice and research at the National Zoo ............................................ 895
Martín Tironi, Pablo Hermansen and José Neira The Role of Participation in Designing for IoT ...................................................................................................................................... 913
Anuradha Reddy and Per Linde Aesthetics, Cosmopolitics and Design Futures in Computational Fashion ............................................................................................. 927
Laura Forlano Designing diagrams for social issues .................................................................................................................................................... 941
Michele Mauri and Paolo Ciuccarelli iPhoneography and New Aesthetics: The Emergence of a Social Visual Communication Through Image-based Social Media ................ 959
Eman Alshawaf A Creative Ontological Analysis of Collective Imagery during Co-Design for Service Innovation ............................................................ 969
Priscilla Chueng-Nainby, John Lee, BingXin Zi and Astury Gardin Post-critical potentials in experimental co-design................................................................................................................................ 985
Sissel Olander Collaborative Imaging. The communicative practice of hand sketching in experimental physics ........................................................... 997
Judith Marlen Dobler The Aesthetics of Action in New Social Design ....................................................................................................................................1013
Ilpo Koskinen Designing Debate: The Entanglement of Speculative Design and Upstream Engagement ....................................................................1025
Tobie Kerridge SECTION 6 DESIGN AND TRANSLATION Introduction: Design and Translation .................................................................................................................................................1039
Giovanni Baule and Elena Caratti Towards Translation Design A New Paradigm for Design Research .....................................................................................................1047
Giovanni Baule and Elena Caratti Design as translation activity: a semiotic overview .............................................................................................................................1061
Salvatore Zingale Word to Image – Image to Word The Contribution of Visual Communication to Understanding and Dialog ........................................1073
Michael Renner Perception, Meaning and Transmodal Design .....................................................................................................................................1089
Mathias Nordvall and Mattias Arvola The Ways of Synesthetic Translation: Design models for media accessibility .......................................................................................1101
Dina Riccò The narratives and the supports. Remediating Design Culture in the translation of transmedia artefacts. ...........................................1111
Matteo Ciastellardi and Derrick de Kerckhove Rules of Thumb: An Experiment in Contextual Transposition ..............................................................................................................1123
Damon Taylor, Monika Büscher, Lesley Murray, Chris Speed and Theodore Zamenopoulos Juxtaposing Chinese and Western Representational Principles: New Design Methods for Information Graphics in the Field of Intercultural Communication .............................................................................................................................................................1139
Ruedi Baur and Ulrike Felsing Elucidating perceptions of Australian and Chinese industrial design from the next generation of industrial designers .........................1163
Blair Kuys and Wenwen Zhang Translating picturebooks: Re-examining interlingual and intersemiotic translation.............................................................................1179
Anne Ketola Long Kesh: Site - Sign - Body...............................................................................................................................................................1191
Ola Ståhl
SECTION 7 DESIGN FOR DESIGN – THE INFLUENCE AND LEGACY OF JOHN HESKETT Introduction: Design for Design The Influence and Legacy of John Heskett .........................................................................................1205
Tore Kristensen and Sylvia Liu Doing qualitative studies, using statistical reasoning ..........................................................................................................................1211
Gorm Gabrielse and Tore Kristensen Design as Driver for Understanding Sustainability and Creating Value in the Fur Industry ...................................................................1223
Irene Alma Lønne, Else Skjold Design Awareness: Developing Design Capacity in Chinese Manufacturing Industry ...........................................................................1237
Sylvia Liu Design Expanding into Strategy: Evidence from Design Consulting Firms ............................................................................................1253
Suzan Boztepe – Volume 4 – SECTION 8 Design for Behaviour Change Introduction: Design for Behaviour Change ........................................................................................................................................1271
Kristina Niedderer, Geke Ludden, Rebecca Cain, Andrew Morris and Aija Freimane An alternative approach to influencing behaviour: Adapting Darnton’s Nine Principles framework for scaling up individual upcycling 1277
Kyungeun Sung, Tim Cooper and Sarah Kettley Assessment of the Co-creative Design Process ...................................................................................................................................1291
Pratik Vyas, Robert Young, Petia Sice and Nicholas Spencer The potential of Design for Behaviour Change to foster the transition to a circular economy ..............................................................1305
Laura Piscicelli and Geke Dina Simone Ludden Developing a theory-driven method to design for behaviour change: two case studies .......................................................................1323
Anita Van Essen, Sander Hermsen and Reint Jan Renes What a designer can change: a proposal for a categorisation of artefact-related aspects ....................................................................1339
Anneli Selvefors, Helena Strömberg and Sara Renström Exploring and communicating user diversity for behavioural change ..................................................................................................1357
Aykut Coskun and Cigdem Erbug How I learned to appreciate our tame social scientist: experiences in integrating design research and the behavioural sciences .........1375
Sander Hermsen, Remko van der Lugt, Sander Mulder and Reint Jan Renes A Design Approach for Risk Communication, the Case of Type 2 Diabetes...........................................................................................1390
Farzaneh Eftekhari and Tsai Lu Liu Metadesigning Design Research – How can designers collaboratively grow a research platform? .......................................................1412
Mathilda Tham, Anna-Karin Arvidsson, Mikael Blomqvist, Susanne Bonja, Sara Hyltén-Cavallius, Lena Håkansson, Miguel Salinas, Marie Sterte, Ola Ståhl, Tobias Svensén and Ole Victor SECTION 9 Design for Health, Wellbeing and Happiness Introduction: Design for Health, Wellbeing and Happiness .................................................................................................................1434
Rebecca Cain, Noemi Bitterman, Geke Ludden, Jamie Mackrill, Elif Ozcan, Ann Petermans and Carolina Escobar-Tello In the moment: designing for late stage dementia..............................................................................................................................1442
Cathy Treadaway, David Prytherch, Gail Kenning and Jac Fennell Design for Ageing-in-place: Evidence from Australia ...........................................................................................................................1458
Naseem Ahmadpour and Alen Keirnan Supporting healthy behaviour: A stages of change perspective on changing snacking habits of children .............................................1473
Geke D.S. Ludden and Laura H.J. de Ruijter Co-creating narratives: an approach to the design of interactive medical devices, informed by phenomenology .................................1487
Rowan Page and Mark Richardson A Design Primer for the Domestication of Health Technologies ..........................................................................................................1499
Paul Chamberlain and Claire Craig Disentangling complexity: a visualisation-led tool for healthcare associated infection training ...........................................................1515
Alastair S. Macdonald, David Loudon, Susan Wan and Colin Macduff Exploring Design for Happiness in the Home and Implications for Future Domestic Living ...................................................................1529
Emily Corrigan-Doyle, Carolina Escobar-Tello and Kathy Pui Ying Lo Using symbolic meaning as a means to design for happiness: The development of a card set for designers .........................................1553
Mafalda Casais, Ruth Mugge and Pieter M. A. Desmet Designs with benefits: hearth fire nights and bittersweet chores ........................................................................................................1573
Stella U. Boess and Anna E. Pohlmeyer Happy moments: A well-being driven design of a Car2Go ...................................................................................................................1589
Tessa Duste, Pieter Desmet and Elmer van Grondelle
SECTION 10 DESIGN FUTURES Games as Speculative Design: Allowing Players to Consider Alternate Presents and Plausible Futures ................................................1609
Paul Coulton, Dan Burnett and Adrian Gradinar An approach to future-oriented technology design – with a reflection on the role of the artefact .......................................................1627
Tiina Kymäläinen Future Product Ecosystems: discovering the value of connections ......................................................................................................1643
Tim Williams and Marianella Chamorro-Koc Vision Concepts within the landscape of design research ...................................................................................................................1659
Ricardo Mejia Sarmiento, Gert Pasman and Pieter Jan Stappers Visual conversations on urban futures. Participatory methods to design scenarios of liveable cities ...................................................1677
Serena Pollastri, Rachel Cooper, Nick Dunn and Chris Boyko – Volume 5 – SECTION 11 Design Innovation Management Introduction: Design Innovation Management ...................................................................................................................................1701
Rachel Cooper, Alex Williams, Qian Sun and Erik Bohemia Emerging Trends of Design Policy in the UK ........................................................................................................................................1709
Qian Sun Resourcing in Co-Design .....................................................................................................................................................................1725
Salu Ylirisku, Jacob Buur and Line Revsbæk From Participation to Collaboration: Reflections on the co-creation of innovative business ideas .......................................................1739
Cara Broadley, Katherine Champion, Michael Pierre Johnson and Lynn-Sayers McHattie Bridging service design with integrated co-design decision maker interventions .................................................................................1759
Sune Gudiksen, Anders Christensen and Pernille Henriksen Exploring framing and meaning making over the design innovation process .......................................................................................1779
Clementine Thurgood and Rohan Lulham The making of sustainable cultural and creative cluster in Hong Kong ................................................................................................1795
Kaman Ka Man Tsang and Kin Wai Michael Siu An exploration of Service Design Jam and its ability to foster Social Enterprise ...................................................................................1811
Ksenija Kuzmina, Chris Parker, Gyuchan Thomas Jun, Martin Maguire, Val Mitchell, Mariale Moreno and Samantha Porter Fiction as a resource in participatory design .......................................................................................................................................1829
Eva Knutz, Tau U. Lenskjold and Thomas Markussen Space as organisational strategy ........................................................................................................................................................1845
Pia Storvang The value of design: an issue of vision, creativity and interpretation ..................................................................................................1865
Mariana Fonseca Braga A Multilevel Approach to Research ‘Obscure’ Innovation Processes and Practices ..............................................................................1883
Emmanouil Chatzakis, Neil Smith and Erik Bohemia Coordinating product design with production and consumption processes .........................................................................................1905
Anders Haug How Companies adopt different Design approaches...........................................................................................................................1921
KwanMyung Kim Challenges in co-designing a building .................................................................................................................................................1937
Min Hi Chun SECTION 12 DESIGN PROCESS Form as an abstraction of mechanism ................................................................................................................................................1953
Lewis Urquhart and Andrew Wodehouse Integrating Nanotechnology in the Design Process: An Ethnographic Study in Architectural Practice in Egypt .....................................1971
Ramy Bakir and Sherif Abdelmohsen Of Open bodies: Challenges and Perspectives of an Open Design Paradigm. .......................................................................................1987
Émeline Brulé and Frédéric Valentin Provocative design for unprovocative designers: Strategies for triggering personal dilemmas ............................................................2001
Deger Ozkaramanli and Pieter M. A. Desmet A case based discussion on the role of Design Competences in Social Innovation................................................................................2017
Tamami Komatsu, Manuela Celi, Francesca Rizzo and Alessandro Deserti Riding Shotgun in the Fight Against Human Trafficking .......................................................................................................................2031
Lisa Mercer Could LEGO® Serious Play® be a useful technique for product co-design? ...........................................................................................2045
Julia Anne Garde and Mascha Cecile van der Voort
Intuitive Interaction research – new directions and possible responses. .............................................................................................2065
Alethea Blackler and Vesna Popovic Skilling and learning through digital Do-It-Yourself: the role of (Co-)Design ........................................................................................2077
Giuseppe Salvia, Carmen Bruno and Marita Canina Design Research, Storytelling, and Entrepreneur Women in Rural Costa Rica: a case study .................................................................2091
Maria Gabriela Hernandez Temporal design: looking at time as social coordination .....................................................................................................................2109
Larissa Pschetz, Michelle Bastian and Chris Speed A Physical Modeling Tool to Support Collaborative Interpretation of Conversations ...........................................................................2123
Piotr Michura, Stan Ruecker, Celso Scaletsky, Guilherme Meyer, Chiara Del Gaudio, Gerry Derksen, Julia Dias, Elizabeth Jernegan, Juan de la Rosa, Xinyue Zhou and Priscilla Ferronato – Volume 6 – SECTION 13 DESIGN INNOVATION FOR SOCIETY Introduction: Design Innovation for Society .......................................................................................................................................2143
Nynke Tromp and Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer The Challenges of Human-Centred Design in a Public Sector Innovation Context ................................................................................2149
Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer Activating the core economy by design ..............................................................................................................................................2165
Rebeca Torres Castanedo and Paul Micklethwaite On presenting a rich picture for stakeholder dialogue ........................................................................................................................2183
Abigail C. Durrant, Wendy Moncur, David S. Kirk, Diego Trujillo Pisanty and Kathryn Orzech Design and the Creation of Representational Artefacts for Interactive Social Problem Solving ............................................................2203
Richard Cooney, Nifeli Stewart, Tania Ivanka and Neal Haslem Appreciative Co-design: From Problem Solving to Strength-Based Re-authoring in Social Design ........................................................2221
Tasman Munro Design Tools for Enhanced New Product Development in Low Income Economies ..............................................................................2241
Timothy Whitehead, Mark Evans and Guy Bingham Redesigning governance – a call for design across three orders of governance....................................................................................2257
Tanja Rosenqvist and Cynthia Mitchell Involving stakeholders in cross-border regional design .......................................................................................................................2273
Annet Kempenaar From the specificity of the project in design to social innovation by design: a contribution .................................................................2287
Marie-Julie Catoir-Brisson, Stéphane Vial, Michela Deni and Thomas Watkin SECTION 14 EFFECTIVE INFORMATION DESIGN Introduction: Effective Information Design.........................................................................................................................................2303
Alison Black and Sue Walker Informing the design of mobile device-based patient instructions leaflets: the case of Fentanyl patches ............................................2309
Myrto Koumoundourou, Panayiotis Koutsabasis and Jenny S. Darzentas Design methods for meaning discovery: a patient-oriented health research case study ......................................................................2327
David Craib and Lorenzo Imbesi Expectations and prejudices usurp judgements of schematic map effectiveness .................................................................................2343
Maxwell J. Roberts and Ida C.N. Vaeng Data Visualisation Does Political Things .............................................................................................................................................2361
Joanna Boehnert The information designer through the lens of design for learning .......................................................................................................2381
Eden Potter A user centred approach to developing an actionable visualisation for ‘balance health’ .....................................................................2393
Shruti Grover, Simon Johnson, Ross Atkin and Chris Mcginley SECTION 15 Design Thinking Introduction: Design Thinking ............................................................................................................................................................2417
Seda Yilmaz, Verena Paepcke-Hjeltness and Tejas Dhadphale From Technology-Driven to Experience-Driven Innovation: A Case from the Aviation Industry using VIP ............................................2425
Wan-Jen Jenny Tsay and Christine de Lille Critically Exploring the Development of a Conceptual Framework for Building Innovative Brands .......................................................2447
Xinya You and David Hands United We Stand: A Critique of the Design Thinking Approach in Interdisciplinary Innovation ............................................................2465
Fiona Maciver, Julian Malins, Julia Kantorovitch and Aggelos Liapis
Designing Creative Destruction ..........................................................................................................................................................2483
Ashley Hall Blending Hard and Soft Design via Thematic Analysis .........................................................................................................................2495
Vasilije Kokotovich and Kees Dorst2495 The cycle of interdisciplinary learning and theory-solution building in design research .......................................................................2507
Young-ae Hahn Don’t Look Back: The Paradoxical Role of Recording in the Fashion Design Process ............................................................................2521
Helen McGilp, Claudia Eckert and Christopher F Earl Contrasting similarities and differences between academia and industry: evaluating processes used for product development..........2535
Nathan Kotlarewski, Christine Thong, Blair Kuys and Evan Danahay What is the Nature and Intended Use of Design Methods? .................................................................................................................2551
Colin M. Gray Becoming a More User-Centred Organization: A Design Tool to Support Transformation ....................................................................2565
Lennart Kaland and Christine de Lille – Volume 7 – SECTION 16 DESIGN RESEARCH – HISTORY, THEORY, PRACTICE: HISTORIES FOR FUTURE-FOCUSED THINKING Introduction: Design Research – History, Theory, Practice: Histories for Future-Focused Thinking .......................................................2585
Harriet Atkinson and Maya Rae Oppenheimer The Structure of Design Processes: ideal and reality in Bruce Archer’s 1968 doctoral thesis ................................................................2593
Stephen Boyd Davis and Simone Gristwood Closing the circle ................................................................................................................................................................................2613
Douglas Tomkin Re-integrating Design Education: Lessons from History ......................................................................................................................2627
Peter A. Hall (Re)working the Past, (Dis)playing the Future. Italy: The New Domestic Landscape at MoMA, 1972 ...................................................2639
Ingrid Halland Rashidi Recommendations to rebuild the body of feminist work in industrial design ......................................................................................2655
Isabel Prochner and Anne Marchand Design practice and design research: finally together? .......................................................................................................................2669
Kees Dorst Design Research is Alive and Kicking… ................................................................................................................................................2679
Paul A. Rodgers and Joyce S.R. Yee Reverse Innovation: How Has Design in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region Changed the World ......................................................2701
Ningchang Zhou and Tao Huang Beautiful Nerds: Growing a rigorous design research dialogue in the Irish context ..............................................................................2711
Adam de Eyto Carmel Maher, Mark Hadfield and Maggie Hutchings Design Research in the East – at Universities and the Board of Industrial Design of the GDR between the 1960s and 1990 ..................2723
Sylvia Wölfel and Christian Wölfel International Norms and Local Design Research: ICSID and the Promotion of Industrial Design in Latin America, 1970-1979 ...............2739
Tania Messell SECTION 17 DESIGN-ING AND CREATIVE PHILOSOPHIES Introduction: Design-ing and Creative Philosophies ............................................................................................................................2757
Betti Marenko Probing the future by anticipative design acts ....................................................................................................................................2761
Annelies De Smet and Nel Janssens Making polychronic objects for a networked society ..........................................................................................................................2795
Jane Norris Responsibility in design: applying the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon ...............................................................................................2809
Sander Mulder Space as a Becoming: Fresh Water Expo Pavilion as a Creative Practice for an Architecture to Come ..................................................2825
Emine Görgül The Foam: a Possible Model for the Motion Graphic Design ...............................................................................................................2837
Anamaria Galeotti and Clice Mazzilli Experience – A Central Concept in Design and its Roots in the History of Science ................................................................................2869
Johannes Uhlmann, Christian Wölfel and Jens Krzywinski
SECTION 18 EMBODIED MAKING AND LEARNING Introduction: Embodied Making and Learning ....................................................................................................................................2889
Marte S. Gulliksen, Camilla Groth, Maarit Mäkelä and Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen The role of sensory experiences and emotions in craft practice ..........................................................................................................2895
Camilla Groth Learning to learn: What can be learned from first-hand experience with materials? ...........................................................................2911
Biljana C. Fredriksen Why making matters—developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning ..........2925
Marte S. Gulliksen Physiological measurements of drawing and forming activities ..........................................................................................................2941
Marianne Leinikka, Minna Huotilainen, Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Camilla Groth, Mimmu Rankanen and Maarit Mäkelä Code, Decode, Recode: Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing knowledge through making ................................................2959
Anna Piper Experience Labs: co-creating health and care innovations using design tools and artefacts .................................................................2965
Tara French, Gemma Teal and Sneha Raman – Volume 8 – SECTION 19 DESIGN FOR TANGIBLE, EMBEDDED AND NETWORKED TECHNOLOGIES Introduction: Design for Tangible, Embedded and Networked Technologies .......................................................................................2985
Sarah Kettley and Anne Cranny-Francis Designing from, with and by Data: Introducing the ablative framework..............................................................................................2991
Chris Speed and Jon Oberlander Feel it! See it! Hear it! Probing Tangible Interaction and Data Representational Modality ...................................................................3005
Trevor Hogan and Eva Hornecker Designing Information Feedback within Hybrid Physical/Digital Interactions ......................................................................................3019
David Gullick and Paul Coulton Harnessing the Digital Records of Everyday Things .............................................................................................................................3033
Dimitrios Darzentas, Adrian Hazzard, Michael Brown, Martin Flintham and Steve Benford A Toaster For Life: Using Design Fiction To Facilitate Discussion On The Creation Of A Sustainable Internet of Things .........................3049
Michael Stead Making Service Design in a Digital Business ........................................................................................................................................3069
Piia Rytilahti, Simo Rontti, Titta Jylkäs, Mira Alhonsuo, Hanna-Riina Vuontisjärvi and Laura Laivamaa Ad Hoc Pairings: Semantic Relationships and Mobile Devices .............................................................................................................3085
Jason O. Germany Serious Play Strategies in the Design of Kinetic and Wearable Devices................................................................................................3103
Lois Frankel and Ellen Hrinivich Tangibility in e-textile participatory service design with mental health participants............................................................................3121
Sarah Kettley, Anna Sadkowska and Rachel Lucas Wearable Sensory Devices for Children in Play Areas .........................................................................................................................3133
Cai-Ru Liao, Wen-Huei Chou and Chung-Wen Hung Intuitive Interaction in a Mixed Reality System ..................................................................................................................................3149
Shital Desai, Alethea Blackler and Vesna Popovic From nano to macro: material inspiration within ubiquitous computing research...............................................................................3165
Isabel Paiva SECTION 20 Experiential Knowledge Introduction: Experiential Knowledge ................................................................................................................................................3177
Nithikul Nimkulrat Double-loop reflective practice as an approach to understanding knowledge and experience.............................................................3181
John Gribbin, Mersha Aftab, Robert Young and Sumin Park Designing “little worlds” in Walnut Park: How architects adopted an ethnographic case study on living with dementia ......................3199
Valerie Van der Linden, Iris Van Steenwinkel, Hua Dong and Ann Heylighen Bonding through Designing; how a participatory approach to videography can catalyse an emotive and reflective dialogue with young people ...............................................................................................................................................................................................3213
Marianne McAra Capturing architects’ designerly ways of knowing about users: Exploring an ethnographic research approach ....................................3229
Valerie Van der Linden, Hua Dong and Ann Heylighen SECTION 21
INCLUSIVE DESIGN Introduction: Inclusive Design ............................................................................................................................................................3247
Hua Dong ...................................................................................................................................................................................
Designing for older people: But who is an older person? ....................................................................................................................3251
Raghavendra Reddy Gudur, Alethea Blackler, Vesna Popovic and Doug Mahar Towards designing inclusion: insights from a user data collection study in China ................................................................................3263
Weining Ning and Hua Dong ‘Difficult’ packaging for older Chinese adults ......................................................................................................................................3279
Xuezi Ma, Hua Dong Crafted with Care: Reflections from co-designing wearable technologies with care home residents....................................................3295
Christopher Sze Chong Lim and Sara Nevay To Shed Some Light on Empowerment: Towards Designing for Embodied Functionality .....................................................................3313
Jelle van Dijk and Fenne Verhoeven Measuring Product-Related Stigma in Design .....................................................................................................................................3329
Kristof Vaes, Pieter Jan Stappers and Achiel Standaert Towards more culturally inclusive communication design practices: exploring creative participation between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people in Australia ...........................................................................................................................................................3349
Nicola St John Designing meaningful vehicle for older users: culture, technology, and experience.............................................................................3373
Chao Zhao, Vesna Popovic and Xiaobo Lu Towards Innovative and Inclusive Architecture ..................................................................................................................................3393
Sidse Grangaard Hidden public spaces: when a university campus becomes a place for communities ...........................................................................3407
Davide Fassi, Laura Galluzzo and Liat Rogel – Volume 9 – SECTION 22 FOOD AND EATING DESIGN Introduction: Food and Eating Design.................................................................................................................................................3427
Hendrik N.J. Schifferstein Designing with Empathy: Implications for Food Design.......................................................................................................................3435
Hafdís Sunna Hermannsdóttir, Cecilie Dawes, Hanne Gideonsen and Eva De Moor Designing for sustainability: a dialogue-based approach to the design of food packaging experiences. ...............................................3449
Zoi Stergiadou, Jenny Darzentas and Spyros Bofylatos Towards a sensory congruent beer bottle: Consumer associations between beer brands, flavours, and bottle designs .......................3467
Anna Fenko, Sanne Heiltjes and Lianne van den Berg-Weitzel SECTION 23 OBJECTS, PRACTICES, EXPERIENCES AND NETWORKS Introduction: Objects, Practices, Experiences and Networks ...............................................................................................................3479
Tom Fisher and Lorraine Gamman Stories in a Beespoon: Exploring Future Folklore through Design ........................................................................................................3485
Deborah Maxwell, Liz Edwards, Toby Pillatt and Niamh Downing Uber and Language/Action Theory .....................................................................................................................................................3503
Michael Arnold Mages Emotional Fit: Developing a new fashion design methodology for mature women..............................................................................3521
Katherine Townsend, Ania Sadkowska and Juliana Sissons From Afterthought to Precondition: re-engaging Design Ethics from Technology, Sustainability, and Responsibility ...........................3539
Jeffrey Chan Design for Resourceful Ageing: Intervening in the Ethics of Gerontechnology .....................................................................................3553
Elisa Giaccardi, Lenneke Kuijer and Louis Neven SECTION 24 REFRAMING THE PARADOX – EXAMINING THE INTERSECTIONS BETWEEN EVIDENCE-BASED DESIGN AND DESIGN FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR Introduction: Reframing the Paradox – Evidence-based Design and Design for the Public Sector.........................................................3569
Luke Feast Open Practices: lessons from co-design of public services for behaviour change .................................................................................3573
Simon O’Rafferty, Adam DeEyto and Huw Lewis Capturing the “How”: Showing the value of co-design through creative evaluation ............................................................................3591
Arthi Kanchana Manohar, Madeline Smith and Mirian Calvo Design in the Time of Policy Problems ................................................................................................................................................3605
Lucy Kimbell The introduction of design to policymaking: Policy Lab and the UK government .................................................................................3619
Jocelyn Bailey and Peter Lloyd Problematizing Evidence-Based Design: A Case Study of Designing for Services in the Finnish Government ........................................3635
Helena Sustar and Luke Feast
Designed Engagement .......................................................................................................................................................................3653
Gemma Teal and Tara French Public design and social innovation: Learning from applied research ..................................................................................................3669
Caroline Gagnon and Valérie Côté Design as analysis: examining the use of precedents in parliamentary debate. ...................................................................................3687
Darren Umney, Christopher Earl and Peter Lloyd Exposing charities to design-led approaches through design research. ...............................................................................................3705
Laura Warwick and Robert Djaelani – Volume 10 – SECTION 25 SUSTAINABLE DESIGN Introduction: Sustainable Design .......................................................................................................................................................3725
Rhoda Trimingham Design for Sustainability: An Evolutionary Review ..............................................................................................................................3731
Fabrizio Ceschin and Idil Gaziulusoy Consumer Product Design and Innovation: Past, present and future...................................................................................................3755
Robin Roy Product-Service Systems or Service Design ‘By-Products’? A Systems Thinking Approach ...................................................................3771
John Darzentas and Jenny Darzentas Supporting SMEs in designing sustainable business models for energy access for the BoP: a strategic design tool ...............................3785
Silvia Emili, Fabrizio Ceschin and David Harrison Extending clothing lifetimes: an exploration of design and supply chain challenges. ...........................................................................3815
Lynn Oxborrow and Stella Claxton The effect of consumer attitudes on design for product longevity: The case of the fashion industry ....................................................3831
Angharad McLaren, Helen Goworek, Tim Cooper, Lynn Oxborrow and Helen Hill Framing Complexity in Design through theories of Social Practice and Structuration: A comparative case study of urban cycling ........3847
Tobias Barnes Hofmeister and Martina Keitsch Integrating Sustainability Literacy into Design Education ....................................................................................................................3861
Andrea Quam Design of resilient consumer products ...............................................................................................................................................3873
Anders Haug Designing for Sustainable Transition through Value Sensitive Design ..................................................................................................3889
Luisa Sze-man Mok, Sampsa Hyysalo and Jenni Väänänen Mixing up everyday life - uncovering sufficiency practices through designerly tools ............................................................................3913
Miriam Lahusen, Susanne Ritzmann, Florian Sametinger, Gesche Joost and Lars-Arvid Brischke Give car-free life a try: Designing seeds for changed practices ............................................................................................................3929
Mia Hesselgren and Hanna Hasselqvist A sociotechnical framework for the design of collaborative services: diagnosis and conceptualisation ................................................3943
Joon Sang Baek, Sojung Kim and Yoonee Pahk Moving Textile Artisans’ Communities towards a Sustainable Future – A Theoretical Framework .......................................................3961
Francesco Mazzarella, Carolina Escobar-Tello and Val Mitchell Sharing 10 years of experience with class AUP0479 – Design for Sustainability ...................................................................................3983
Maria Cecília Santos, Tatiana Sakurai and Verena Lima SECTION 26 THE POLITICS OF COMMONING AND DESIGN Introduction: The Politics of Commoning and Design ..........................................................................................................................4005
Bianca Elzenbaumer, Valeria Graziano and Kim Trogal Commons & community economies: entry points to design for eco-social justice? .............................................................................4015
Fabio Franz and Bianca Elzenbaumer Design Togetherness, Pluralism and Convergence ..............................................................................................................................4029
Monica Lindh Karlsson and Johan Redström Designing participation for commoning in temporary spaces: A case study in Aveiro, Portugal ...........................................................4045
Janaina Teles Barbosa, Maria Hellström Reimer and João Almeida Mota From Rules in Use to Culture in Use – Commoning and Infrastructuring Practices in an Open Cultural Movement ...............................4063
Sanna Marttila
Index of Authors ………………………………..…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 4080
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Editorial DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.651
The 50th Anniversary conference of the Design Research Society is a special event at an interesting time for Design Research. The Design Research Society was formed in 1966 following the Conference on Design Methods held at Imperial College London in 1962. In the lead up to DRS2016 we contacted the secretary to the 1962 conference, Peter Slann, who now lives in Scotland, and who sent us the original reel-to-reel audio tape recordings of that conference. Listening to those tapes it is striking not only how similar some of the discussions are about design and design research, but also how much has changed. In 1962 every voice is a male British voice. One comment at the end of the conference stands out as significant. Thanking people for coming to the conference and looking towards the future at the end of the closing session, John Page, then Professor of Building Science at Sheffield University, asks the audience three questions (the quote is verbatim): “if one agrees that there are bodies of knowledge that have been raised here, which need further exploration – particularly a case in point would be the terminology of design – is there any point in trying to get some kind of inter-disciplinary working party going on these problems? In this question of disciplines, is there any machinery or any way of arranging for an interchange of information between specialists and people working at Universities? Lastly, is there any point in making the whole thing more of a formal entity, a society, or something of that kind?”
Fifty years later it is clear that there was a point. The DRS as it exists today can trace its origins to the affirmation of that last question in 1962, and the ‘some kind of interdisciplinary working party’ that Design Research has become owes its identity to that 1960’s future-focused thinking. Since the Conference on Design Methods in 1962 many Design Research conferences have been held, with the DRS often as a key organiser. Certainly in the earlier days, defined subfields of research originated from these conferences. Design Participation in 1971 started the participative design movement that has grown into present day co-design. Design for Need, held in 1976, and taking a global view of the population, started both sustainable and inclusive design, and Design Policy held in 1980 introduced a much needed social, political and international dimension to the design research field as Design itself lurched into the consumerist 80s. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Peter Lloyd
From almost every conference comes a thread that leads to the present day, so the fiftieth anniversary conference represents a point to gather these threads together, see how they complement and blend with one another, and consider what kind of textile they might weave in the coming years. Indeed, the early advice that many gave was not to spend too much time looking back and to concentrate on the future. For DRS2016, as well as the Design Research field more generally, the increasing number of PhD researchers is a sign that this future is set to be a healthy one. A significant number of papers in these proceedings are the result of doctoral research projects and organisations like PhD by Design, who had a strong presence at DRS2016, ensure that today’s PhD Researchers will become tomorrow’s Design Research leaders. The DRS Conferences have always looked to develop new formats for people to engage with one another, over and above the standard paper presentation. The 1973 Design Activities conference aimed at: “the provision of an extension of media forms beyond the normal ‘verbalized’ media of the average conference with the idea that such extensions were significant contributions to dialectical form, and not just ‘entertainments’.”
The 2014 DRS conference, in Sweden, continued that tradition by introducing ‘Conversations’ and ‘Debates’ alongside the more traditional academic paper presentation. It feels entirely appropriate that the field of Design Research is at the forefront of conference design, appropriating new technologies in developing more productive formats for discussion, networking, and presentation. And rightly so, because in an age when research papers and keynote presentations are available online we need to ask whether a conference, with all the travel, expense, and carbon involved, is still the most effective way of energizing and invigorating a research field. DRS2016 is no exception and continues this ongoing conference prototyping activity. We have tried to develop a discursive conference that leans both towards the academic, in research papers, but also towards the practical in Conversations and Workshops. So this is a conference that presents existing research, projects, and discussions not as fixed end points, but as ongoing dialogue. To do that we have tried to balance the online conference with the offline one, and the ephemeral with the enduring. Partly this approach helps to provide a continued legacy for the conference, but it also helps to include as many people as possible in (re)directing the dialogical flow of research activity. As an organising committee we met in January 2015 to talk about key questions, conference themes and conference design. From that discussion the three individual words of the DRS – Design, Research, and Society – were felt to define an interesting area for a conference; one that was about the practice and doing of design but also about design’s societal impact and the moderating role that research plays between the two. Design + Research + Society perhaps represents a larger area than that of the Design Research Society, but as these proceedings demonstrate the appetite is clearly apparent for Design Research to embrace ever-wider concerns.
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The underlying premise, however, was that 50 years of design research has provided us with a sound understanding of design and a solid foundation upon which to build. The interesting questions, then, appeared to us as not so much how we do more of the same – though that of course has its place – but in how we use what we now know. Hence the three broad questions that the papers in these conference proceedings respond to: How can design research help frame and address the societal problems that face us? How can design research be a creative and active force for rethinking ideas about Design? How can design research shape our lives in more responsible, meaningful, and open ways? The DRS has a number of established Special Interest Groups (SIGs) which the organising committee thought important to prioritise but we also wanted to find a way to add additional emerging and complementary research themes to these. This resulted in a call for additional themes in June 2015 and a selection process that resulted in 15 further themes (from 25 proposals) alongside the 9 themes represented by the Special Interest Groups. The idea of a ‘conference of conferences’ began to emerge, with theme papers managed by subchairs, but consistency of peer-review overseen by a central review committee across all themes. The systems currently available for managing paper submission, in the case of DRS2016 the excellent ConfTool system, now provide comprehensive integrative platforms to conduct sophisticated submission, peer-review, rebuttal, discussion, communication, and programming of papers, which means we can be more confident than ever about the academic quality of the final papers accepted for DRS2016. In total we received just under 500 paper submissions all of which were reviewed by two, and sometimes three reviewers, as well as being managed by theme chairs. In total 939 reviews were written by 290 reviewers with 200 papers being accepted, and a further 40 accepted following revision. This represents an acceptance rate of 49%. The 240 papers in these proceedings have been grouped under 26 themes, 23 of which have been closely managed and developed by theme chairs (the other 3 themes derived from an Open Call). In these proceedings you will find an introduction to each theme by the relevant chair(s), outlining the background to the theme and putting the papers that were finally accepted and published into a wider context. Nine of the themes are the result of calls from the Design Research Society Special Interest Groups, which are active throughout the year and that report to the DRS council regularly. Many Special Interest Groups hold their own conferences, supported by the DRS, so the papers in these proceedings, responding to the overall theme of Future-focused Thinking, should be seen as a sample of those specialisms. Fittingly for a 50th Anniversary conference there is a strong historical thread of papers – the field of Design Research now becomes a subject of historical study in the themes of Histories for Future-focused Thinking, 50 Years of Design Research, and Design for Design: The
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Influence and Legacy of John Heskett. This is a useful development, and shows the maturity of the field now, with early work not just a familiar citation in reference lists, but something that can be looked at in a wider cultural and historical context. Many of the new themes bring a more critical and speculative approach to Design Research, framing research questions and practices in ways other than what some see as more ‘traditional’ evidence-based approaches to research. These are papers that argue for a particular position or approach to understanding design or practice. Examples of these themes include Aesthetics, Cosmopolitics & Design; Design-ing and Creative Philosophies, and Reframing the Paradox: Evidence-based Design and Design for the Public Sector. The emerging area of Social Design is well represented in the areas of Design Innovation for Society and The Politics of Commoning and Design and shows the importance of Design Research to discussing and achieving concrete outcomes for social good. The idea and limits of Design and Design Research are explored in many themes, but in particular Objects, Experiences, Practices & Networks; Design and Translation; and Design for Tangible, Embedded and Networked Technologies take a more systemic view of design, placing it within a network of activities and technologies. In contrast to this other themes focus much more on the individual and collective experience of designers and others involved in the process of design, for example: Experiential Knowledge; Embodied Making and Learning; Aesthetic Pleasure in Design; and Food and Eating Design. Of course there are themes that have been ever-present in DRS, and in other Design Research, conferences – understanding design process and the nature of design knowledge are the subject of the Design Epistemology and Design Process themes. The practical impacts that design can have on all types of organisations are explored in Design Thinking, an area of continued and increasing interest, and Design Innovation Management. Design Education and Learning, now with its own large biennial conference series, was the most popular theme for DRS2016, with 28 papers accepted from 53 submissions. Finally, there are a set of well-developed themes, organised as part of DRS Special Interest Groups, that broadly explore the welfare of others both in a small and large sense embracing ideas of person-centredness, responsibility and ethics. These themes include Design for Health, Wellbeing, and Happiness; Inclusive Design; and finally Sustainable Design. As in any research field the definitions between sub-areas often blur and overlap, and there are themes that contradict and conflict with one another, strongly arguing against a particular approach or theoretical grounding of another area. The DRS2016 keynote debates were designed to explore some of these issues and fault lines but more generally this should be taken as a sign of health and maturity. For many years we have heard that Design Research is a new field, still finding its feet, but as an organising committee we think the definition and extent of the themes in these proceedings demonstrate precisely the opposite. In Fifty years we have built up a strong and diverse research field that is widely applicable, broadly inclusive and, in 2016, more relevant than ever.
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There is a sense in which design research sits at the crux of a false dichotomy; between on the one hand research in a ‘pure’ form (which values objectivity, subjectivity, experiment, discourse, history, analysis) and on the other the active engagement in shaping future forms by suggestion, prototype, speculation, practice, and intervention at all levels, from the molecular to the political, from the anthropological to the computational. In an increasingly fragmented and atomised world Design Research is a field which reveals the falsehood of the dichotomy. It is a field that collectively links disciplines, audiences, and technologies in a critical but productive way. The design of a conference – with its implicit value systems, partiality to statistical analysis, but with an emergent structure and representation – is no bad example of a future-focused design research that shares what knowledge is known and explores what knowledge is possible. Finally, we would like to thank all people – the local organisation, the international programme and review committee, and all the reviewers – involved in organising DRS2016 and who have contributed to such a huge collective effort. The valuable time that has been given in helping to shape and deliver the conference has been very much appreciated. Thanks should also go to the Design Research Society, for supporting the conference so effectively; to the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London for providing time and resources as partner Universities; and to the University of Brighton, particularly the College of Arts and Humanities, for enabling the early vision of a 50 th Anniversary DRS conference to be fulfilled. Peter Lloyd DRS2016 Conference Chair Vice Chair of the DRS Brighton, UK
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Previous Design Research Society and Associated Conferences 1962 Conference on Design Methods, London, UK 1964 The Teaching of Engineering Design, Scarborough, UK 1965 The Design Method, Birmingham, UK 1967 Design Methods in Architecture, Portsmouth, UK 1971 Design Participation, Manchester, UK 1972 Design and Behaviour, Birmingham, UK 1973 The Design Activity, London, UK 1974 Problem Identification for Design, Manchester, UK 1976 Design for Need, London, UK 1976 Changing Design, Portsmouth, UK 1978 Architectural Design, Istanbul, Turkey 1980 Design Science Method, Portsmouth, UK 1982 Design Policy, London, UK 1984 The Role of the Designer, Bath, UK 1998 Quantum Leap, Birmingham, UK 1999 CoDesigning, Coventry, UK 2002 Common Ground, London, UK 2004 Futureground, Melbourne, Australia 2006 Wonderground, Lisbon, Portugal 2008 Undisciplined!, Sheffield, UK 2010 Design And Complexity, Montreal, Canada 2012 Uncertainty, Contradiction and Value, Bangkok, Thailand 2014 Design's Big Debates, Umea, Sweden
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SECTION 16 DESIGN RESEARCH – HISTORY, THEORY, PRACTICE: HISTORIES FOR FUTURE-FOCUSED THINKING
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Introduction: Design Research – History, Theory, Practice: Histories for Future-Focused Thinking Harriet Atkinsona* and Maya Rae Oppenheimerb a
University of Brighton Royal College of Art *h.atkinson2@brighton.ac.uk DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.510 b
Writing soon after the 1962 Conference on Design Methods at Imperial College - the event that led to the founding of the Design Research Society in 1966 – J.C. Jones and D.G. Thornley described the Conference’s purpose as twofold. Firstly, the event determined the parameters of a collective agenda and, secondly, it enabled discussions that would catalyse future developments in design methods work (Slann, 1963). Making no apology for the ‘breadth’ of collected papers from this meeting, Jones and Thornley’s edited volume contained several contributions including the work of Christopher Alexander, William Gosling, and Joseph Esherick, as well as Jones’s foundational essay, “A Method of Systematic Design”. While varied in background, each author shared an epistemological belief in “systematic methods of problem solving, the application of scientific methods and knowledge to their own particular problems, and, to break down the barriers that exist between one activity and another, attempting to discover the possible connections that link all creative activities” (op cit, p.xi). On the occasion of the Design Research Society’s (DRS) fiftieth anniversary, this conference strand continues this dialogue with a specific agenda: to assess histories of future-focused thinking and to consider the histories, theories and practices shared between design researchers. What emerges from evaluations of the Design Methods Movement and of Design Research is the sustained search for a common language and methods and an interest in problem solving by bringing scientific methods to bear on design. This initiative, however, has not been a steady one. Several authors have recounted this history in generational terms. Horst Rittel, for example, asserts that the first Design Research generation spanned the 1960s and tended towards a rational and systematic development of the field. The second generation moved away from
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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previous formalizations with several forebears, including J.C. Jones, retaliating against early work (Bayazit, 2004, p.21). According to the accounts of Jane Pavitt and Nigel Cross, a bifurcation then formed between, on the one hand, critical work with an immersion in research and, on the other, social projects over commercial interests and a continuation of previous methodological goals (Pavitt, 2012, p.133; Cross, 1993, p.17). Margolin suggests the third generation of the 1980s and early 1990s constituted a mix of the two, with Bruce Archer and Nigel Cross advocating communication across professional perspectives and diverse approaches for problem-solution collaboration (Margolin, op cit). Pavitt shares this view but without characterizing it as a third generation, noting that Archer was so collective in his work that he cannot be written about in isolation (Pavitt, op cit). Characterizing Design Research in generational terms is a useful, albeit reductive, way of understanding shifts in thinking, as is searching for disciplinary definitions and boundaries, which has been another notable preoccupation in this area. In his paper, “A History of Design Methodology”, which considered his activities in design research, Nigel Cross went towards clarifying the terms ‘design science’ (laws and rules of design), ‘science of design’ (body of work seeking to develop design via scientific method) and ‘design methods’ (application of systematic methods) to make room for other preoccupations (Cross, 1993). Now, in 2016, we reconvene. If we continue to characterize the development of Design Research in generational terms, this panel suggests that we are in the generation of rigorous interdisciplinary collaboration. This stretches to include practice methods, research, writing and diverse collaborations across academic colleagues from various disciplinary enclaves. Victor Margolin echoed this vanguard at the DRS2010 conference, noting that design research today “pursues its interests based on its own criteria for best practice and meaningful results” (Margolin, op cit, p.1). We interpret this as pursuing meaningful discourse on shared- and dual-inspirational, creative work in design developments. As part of this collaboration we ask: what can design historians contribute to the understanding of design research as a process comprised of history, theory and practice, particularly across contexts of practice? And what can design research contribute to design history’s interest in critical, reflexive and inclusive investigations into past design contexts and developments in order to ensure sound, future-focused thinking?
2. Main Preoccupations & Inquiries Several of our speakers have taken this, the DRS’s 50th anniversary, as an occasion for charting the origins, mandate and progress of the Society. Since 1966, DRS has led in the field of Design Research with peaks and troughs in its trajectory, as the DRS’s own website recounts.1 These fluctuations and fractures within the Society’s ranks resulted, at times, in conflicting priorities for the field. While this internal temperature-taking is revealing, we must go beyond the DRS in order fully to understand the origins of Design Research; to 1
1 There were the early “fruitless attempts to establish a published journal, and equally fruitless internal debates about the Society’s goals”, which led to inactivity, only to be revived by the 1971 DRS Manchester conference on the theme of Design Participation (DRS, n.d.).
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survey other design organisations and networks through which design research has developed (ICSID and VNIITE, for example). We must also turn to the various art and design colleges that have pioneered design research (RCA, HfG and beyond), the international journals, the conferences and exhibitions and the influential figures associated with this embryonic movement. We might also look to pedagogical principles, design outcomes and policy impacts. In order to determine what design historians and design researchers can exchange to mutually further their work, we have organised our paper submissions into three areas of interest and activity: history, theory and practice. The early founders of Design Issues had a similar approach for the mandate of their journal, adding the subtitle History, Theory, Criticism to the first 1984 issue to encourage what they felt were key areas of work (Margolin, op cit). Like them, we begin our trajectory with history: aiming to inform design research by critically examining the contexts of historical precedents and their development. Historical analysis operates in a number of ways within the papers in this theme: as a means of comparison or clarification in contemporary design research (as papers by Boyd Davis & Gristwood and Murali show); and for historians analysing the origins, motivations and infrastructure of design research (Messell and Halland Rashidi). Pioneer figures within design research also engaged with history to inform their future-focused practice, and their work is referenced in several papers (Tomkin, Hall, Dorst). In addition, historical critiques of and objections to the Design Methods Movement allow us to reflect on contemporary cultures of design research and future scope in this area. Our second panel theme is theory. With a predilection for examining the social, both designers and historians are aware of their situations of engagement, and design historians have the potential to draw connections between contexts of work, expand the field in question, and to critically reflect upon dominant narratives in the history of design research (from figures to geographies). As Andrew J. King highlights via his review of Jones’s book Designing Designing for the Journal of Design History, “The history of design theory is of relevance to the history of design precisely because design theory evolves, questions, and reshapes the idea of what design is - it redefines the subject matter of design history” (King, 1995, p.75). Design pedagogy is also an area of interest, with the same potential for redefinition: various speakers explore specific teaching and learning methods; others develop this theme in relation to their own research including the PhD thesis as design research (Boyd Davis & Gristwood; Rodgers & Yee; Woelfel & Woelfel) and oral histories as critical reflection on the practices of design researchers (Tomkin). Our third theme pertains to the application of work developed within the field of design research and pays particular attention to the needs and quicksilver nature of contemporary design work. How do social and cultural frameworks influence design research methods? How do changing demands from alternative economies and emerging industry shape evolving practice? By selecting practice as our third theme, we heed the noted change in design trends from product to service and system. We also extend Cross’s perspective, making room for further discussion and progress not in design methodology but for design
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comprehension, both in the inclusive and intellectual - and perhaps tacit - definitions of the word (Cross, 1993). History, theory, and practice are all valuable components in any work; in our first panel discussion, therefore, we present one paper as a representation for each theme. Our intention here is to suggest these are all essential components for rigorous design research work, but the ingredients and proportion of each will differ depending on the unique requirements of the system or project under development. Stephen Boyd Davis & Simone Gristwood’s paper, “The Structure of Design Processes: Ideal and Reality in Bruce Archer’s 1968 Doctoral Thesis”, uses the document of their title to consider the relationship between histories of design institutions and pedagogy and early design research challenges. Douglas Tomkin uses oral histories of the Design Research community to underpin his paper, “Closing the Circle”, and compares the period he spent at the RCA’s Department of Design Research working alongside Bruce Archer with his recent work at University of Technology Sydney’s Design Innovation Research Centre. Peter A. Hall’s, “Re-integrating Design Education: Lessons from History”, also looks to histories of pedagogy to engage with visions of future design. He focuses on specific elements of interdisciplinary application, active learning and critical views of practice elements, especially in burgeoning areas of design-thinking and sustainable futures.
3. Histories & Contexts The origins of design research as a discrete area denoting a more systematic and rational approach to design that emphasizes teamwork predates the DRS; its emergence in Britain and North America is closely related to the professionalization of design practice. The need for research within the design process was highlighted by critic and design historian Herbert Read as well as advertising executive Marcus Brumwell, whose pioneering British consultancy, Design Research Unit (DRU), emerged in 1943, bringing ‘design’ and ‘research’ into an enduring relationship.1 “The Design Profession”, an essay by DRU lead designer Milner Gray (1946) advocated design research as a client requirement, while design critic John Gloag (1944) - who, like Brumwell, was director of an advertising agency - discussed the need for Design Research Committees to direct design teams. DRU’s Director, Misha Black, meanwhile seized the opportunity to disseminate design thinking to a new generation of designers becoming the RCA’s first Professor of Industrial Design Engineering in 1959. A year later, Dorothy Goslett, DRU’s lynchpin office manager, wrote her much-reprinted Professional Practice for Designers that gave extensive, practical advice regarding fee structures for research (Goslett, 1960).
1
An early leaflet advertising DRU’s services had stated one of the group’s key aims was “to find out by comparative research where British products lag behind the products of other countries” and “to carry out research into the needs of the consumer, realized or unrealized, and into the ability of the machine to meet those needs” (DRU leaflet, c.1946, Scott Brownrigg DRU Archive). According to DRU’s logic, if research was carried out, design would be more successful and more profitable.
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These were all important moments in building the case for a discrete organisation to represent the Design Research community in Britain. The four papers in this panel reinforce the importance of understanding histories and contexts as impetus for current and future practice and reveal how design research has evolved across a range of diverse sociohistorical contexts. These contexts include design conferences (as was the case for the DRS itself), government-sponsored design boards (including the GDR’s Board of Industrial Design in Woelfel & Woelfel’s paper) and designer-led organisations (such as ICSID in Messell’s contribution), art and design colleges, universities and exhibitions (such as MOMA’s 1972 exhibition of Italian design in Halland Rashidi’s paper). Each context offered itself as a site both for evolving and disseminating design research thinking. In these papers - which are predominantly focused on the period from the 1960s to the 1990s – we encounter activities that we might describe as “design research” occurring across diverse geographies, from the US, to the GDR, to Mexico and the UK and united, at least at the outset, by an engagement with the notion of a progressive, systematizing ‘good design’. Isabel Prochner and Anne Marchand’s paper, meanwhile, make a renewed call for feminist critiques by surveying histories of industrial design in which women still have limited presence. Despite the work of historians such as Cheryl Buckley and designers including Sheila Levrant de Bretteville who set to rectify this over 30 years ago, Prochner and Marchand seek future gender equality within design practice (Buckley, 2009; Levrant de Bretteville, 1999).
4. Agency of the Designer: Process & Methods Design Methods, in its earliest form, was pioneered as an activity distinct from design practice. But today we might ask: if all design is increasingly understood as a form of “research”, with or without realisation in material form, how is Design Research distinct from other forms of research? And as Design Research is increasingly exported as a reliable development strategy in areas as diverse as design thinking in business to healthcare, who will steward and indeed safeguard future practice? Papers in this final panel address a range of applications of Design Research and their juxtaposition, from business development in the Pearl River Delta to craft production in India. But are design researchers prepared or trained to conduct critical evaluations of historical contexts and sources with a conscious management of their own bias? Kees Dorst’s paper, “Design Practice and Design Research: Finally Together?” speculates on an apparent lack of unity and the possibility for a mid-field: Academic Design. Adam de Eyto and Carmel Maher present a case study for communicating present debates around design research practice in their contribution, “Beautiful Nerds: Growing a Rigorous Design Research Dialogue in the Irish Context”. Paul Rodgers & Joyce Yee take the discussion to a speculative, imminent tone, noting the strengths of design research to shape lives in multiple contexts and the need to marshal accessible communication, training and migration away from products and towards people. These calls for frameworks for communication, multifarious and interdisciplinary strands, and a focus on people over products echo with current design history trends. Design
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historians are particularly attuned to reflexive applications of critical theory and history in an attempt to correct and progress their own discipline. As such, they are in a position to reflect and to develop in tandem with design researchers. J.C. Jones once articulated the dual process of firstly arriving at a thought, which is different from the subsequent task of writing it down and communicating it. This practice, be material, intellectual or discursive, requires both theory and communication. Inclusive research methods, such as oral histories and anthropological turns, intersectional perspectives, and geographic variations to dominant narratives, number among recent scholarly developments, which aid in this task. “The exercise of collective choice in the exploration of a [hu]man-made future depends not only upon the use of sufficiently powerful methods but also on the public acknowledgement that methods must be continually remodeled to reflect the responses and insights, the beliefs and dis-illusionments, the protests and back-lashes, the moods and fantasies, the laughs and cries, that may result from the use, or the mis-use of our extending powers. In short: methodology should not be a fixed trace to a fixed destination but a conversation about everything that could be made to happen.” (King, op cit, p.71)
These words, written by Jones in 1984, suggest that conversation is part of responsible, flexible practice. Following his dictum counteracts the simplification of design methods to behaviour training as well as the reduction of a creative, ambiguous and evolving work to systematic, algorithmic protocols for design problem-solving.
5. Conclusion This strand provides a structure for conversation, a kind of prospecting that allows experimentation and reflection, exposing tensions and creating synergies. In a paper called “Design Research: Towards a History”, presented at the 2010 DRS conference, Victor Margolin argued, “New connections need to be made between researchers who study design’s meaning in the past, present, and potentially in the future and those who are doing the research that is generating new and unprecedented products” (Margolin, op cit, p.7). Margolin outlines not only the early history of the DRS but also the societies, conferences and “communities of discourse” that have proliferated but not always communicated since 1962. He also underscores that the aim of these communities should not be to streamline design research to a common goal but to improve the quality of work and facilitate a “greater understanding of design as a social phenomenon” (Ibid., p.6). This strand sets out to explore areas for collaborative discourse, broadly defined, between design historians and design researchers: accessible communication networks, multiple strands of research and contribution, emphasis on people over products towards sustainable, meaningful and ethical design. Our goal here is to investigate mutual interests in histories for future-focused thinking that can inform current communities of discourse in design. This essential exercise demands we question the status, context and nature of design itself rather than accept it as a social construct. We argue such action involves future
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thinking across constituencies of history, theory and practice; this, to borrow a principle from Jones, is design at the level of life (Jones, 1991). Acknowledgements: The authors thank Professors Jeremy Aynsley and Cheryl Buckley for their support and advice on shaping this panel and to colleagues and members of the Design History Society. Especial thanks to Professor Peter Lloyd and the DRS2016 conference committee as well as the paper reviewers – this conference is the product of much commitment to and investment in design.
6. References Bayazit, N (2004) Investigating design: a review of forty years of design research, Design Issues, 1, pp.16-29. Buckley, Cheryl (2009) Made in Patriarchy: Theories of Women and Design- A Reworking’, in Brody, David and Clark, Hazel (eds.) Design Studies. A Reader, Berg. Cross, Nigel (1993) A History of Design Methodology, in M. J. de Vries et. al. (eds.), Design Methodology and Relationships with Science, Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp.15-27. Design Research Society (n.d.) History of the Design Research Society, http://bit.ly/1q9PK9k [Accessed 9 May 2016]. Jones, J.C. (1992) Design Methods 2nd ed., Van Nostrand Reinhold. Jones, J.C. (1991[1984]) Designing Designing 2nd ed., Architecture Design and Technology Press. Gloag, John (1944) The Missing Technician in Industrial Production, George Allen & Unwin. Goslett, Dorothy (1984[1960]) The Professional Practice of Design, 3rd ed., Batsford. Grand, Simon & Jonas, Wolfgang (2012) Mapping Design Research, Birkhäuser. Gray, Milner (1946) The Design Profession, in Read, H. (ed.), The Practice of Design, L. Humphries. King, Andrew J. (1995) [Review] Design Methods by John Chris Jones; Designing Designing by John Chris Jones. Journal of Design History, 8 (1) pp.70-75. Levrant De Bretteville, Sheila (1999[1973]) Some aspects of design from the perspective of a woman designer, in Bierut, Michael, et. al. (eds.) Looking Closer 3: Classic Writings on Graphic Design, Allworth Press, pp.238-245. Lippincott, J.G. (1947) Design for Business, P. Theobald. Margolin, V. (2010) Design Research: Towards a History. Proceedings of the Design Research Society International Conference “Design & Complexity”. Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada, 7-9 July 2010 Pavitt, Jane (2012) Input/Output: Design Research and Systems Thinking, in Reeve, Octavia (ed.) The Perfect Place to Grow: 175 Years of the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Art, pp.129-139. Read, Herbert (1934) Art and Industry: the Principles of Industrial Design, Faber & Faber. Slann, Peter A. (1963) Foreword, in Jones, J. C., Thornley D. G. (eds.) Conference on Design Methods (pp. xi-xv), Pergamon Press.
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About the Authors: Dr Harriet Atkinson is a design historian whose research interests centre on designers' work within 'official' contexts. She completed her PhD in design history at the Royal College of Art (awarded 2007) and teaches history of art and design at University of Brighton. Dr Maya Rae Oppenheimer is a designer, writer and educator. She holds a PhD in Humanities & Cultural Studies (London Consortium) and teaches in the Critical & Historical Studies Department at the Royal College of Art.
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The Structure of Design Processes: ideal and reality in Bruce Archer’s 1968 doctoral thesis Stephen Boyd Davisa* and Simone Gristwoodb a
Royal College of Art Middlesex University *stephen.boyd-davis@rca.ac.uk DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.240
b
Abstract: The paper centres on a single document, the 1968 doctoral thesis of L Bruce Archer. It traces the author’s earlier publications and the sources that informed and inspired his thinking, as a way of understanding the trajectory of his ideas and the motivations for his work at the Royal College of Art from 1962. Analysis of the thesis suggests that Archer’s ambition for a rigorous “science of design” inspired by algorithmic approaches was increasingly threatened with disruption by his experience of large, complex design projects. His attempts to deal with this problem are shown to involve a particular interpretation of cybernetics. The paper ends with Archer’s own retrospective view and a brief account of his dramatically changed opinions. Archer is located as both a theorist and someone intensely interested in the commercial world of industrial design. Keywords: systematic method; science of design; cybernetics; embodiment
Introduction This paper is centred on a single document, the 1968 doctoral thesis of L Bruce Archer, entitled The Structure of Design Processes. At the Royal College of Art (RCA) for 27 years, Archer was a key figure in early Design Research and a driving force behind the attempt in the 1960s to be rigorous, and in particular “systematic”, about the nature and practice of designing. He sought to establish a philosophy of design (Archer 1981a: 33), even a “science of design” (Archer 1968: Foreword), a phrase often associated with Simon’s Sciences of the Artificial (Simon 1969) (Cross 2001). Essential to this science was Design Research, understood not only as the study of design’s methods, but also of its ontology as a discipline and an activity. Archer’s design philosophy also affected education in schools, through the Design Education Unit launched at the RCA in 1977 following a two-year study for the UK This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Stephen Boyd Davis and Simone Gristwood
Government’s Department of Education and Science.1 Archer was a vital contributor to the work of the Design Council, as a member of Council for ten years and of many of its committees. Partly through his work with Michael Farr, a design management entrepreneur and editor for many years of Design magazine, Archer engaged deeply with the commercial world.2 He lectured extensively to business audiences. His influence extended internationally through his work in Germany, the States, Canada, Turkey, India and elsewhere. Archer acknowledged that he learned more from such interactions than he might have realised at the time (Archer 1981b). Archer wanted to grasp the nature of design as well as find better ways of designing. Of these two ambitions, he favoured the first. Christopher Frayling recalls Archer insisting, “I am not doing this to help practising designers. I am doing this to completely understand the design process” (Frayling 2013). His doctoral thesis exemplifies a tension between theory and practice that is still with us. Subtle features within it indicate the beginnings of a change in his thinking that later led to a radical reformation of his views, derived from his increasing real-world experience. J Christopher Jones, in an article for Design (Jones 1966), complains of “substantial but not always very practical publications”, “both vague and dogmatic, [with] little reference to the work of practising designers.” Archer’s thinking about design was increasingly affected by practical design projects. We will not rehearse here the many criticisms of “design methods” that have been made over the years, a rebellion initiated early on by Jones (1969) and Alexander (1971). These debates have been discussed by Cross (1993; 2007), Glanville (1999), Dorst (2003), Bayazit (2004), Margolin (2010), Pavitt (2012) and many others. Our topic instead is the changes generated within Archer’s own thinking and his attempts to match his theories to the messy realities he encountered. When Archer completed his thesis in 1968 he was 46 and had worked at the RCA since 1962, first in the School of Industrial Design as a researcher invited by Misha Black, then rising through a series of promotions to Research Professor of the newly named “Department of Design Research” (DDR) in 1972-73. Previously he had worked briefly at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm with Horst Rittel among others (Krippendorff 2008).3 His own education had been in mechanical engineering at what is now City University. In an article for the RCA’s Ark magazine (Archer 1972a), Archer said “he was a painter before being drafted into industry by the then Ministry of Labour.” Serving in World War II from 1941 to 1944, he was discharged on medical grounds. By 1953 he had set up an engineering consultancy and was teaching evenings at the Central School of Art and Design; he was a full-time lecturer there by 1957. He was writing articles for Design magazine, promoting what he called “a rational
1
Archer describes himself as “a leading proponent of the concept of design studies as a fundamental component of the education of all children at secondary level” (Archer 1974). 2 In the acknowledgements at the beginning of his thesis, Archer thanks Michael Farr who “gave the author many opportunities to put his theories to the test within the framework of the Michael Farr design management organisation” (Archer 1968). 3 The Ulm Hochschule is characterized by Woodham (1997:180) as embracing a move away from intuition to method, from component to system, from product to process, and from the individual to an interdisciplinary design team as an appropriate means of solving problems, all features of Archer’s later thinking.
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approach to design”. It was from the Central School that he was invited by Tomás Maldonado to work at Ulm. There Archer discovered two factions, the “mathematician/ scientists” (including theoreticians and applied psychologists) and the “designers”. He inclined to the “mathematicians” camp (Lawrence 2001:43-44).
Figure 1 Bed height adjustment mechanism – a simple resolution of two opposing requirements. The King’s Fund Hospital Bed designed by Kenneth Agnew at the Royal College of Art under Bruce Archer’s leadership 1963-67. Photo: L. Bruce Archer Archive, RCA.
The Archer who arrived at the RCA therefore had a lot of experience of “real life”, though less experience of large, complex design projects. That would soon change. Black had invited him to lead a research project on non-surgical hospital equipment funded by the Nuffield Foundation (Archer 2004). Archer saw the initial task as “the development of an organised body of knowledge that will assist manufacturers to design and hospital planners to select fixed and moveable equipment” (p.1). Four problems were chosen as the focus of the “organised body of knowledge”, including the need for a standard design of hospital beds. There were over three hundred bed types in use, made in petty numbers by many companies. The Royal College of Nursing had reported the high incidence of permanent back injury among nurses due to the poor design of beds (p.2). Probably because the outputs of this “organised body of knowledge” project appeared too theoretical and produced no prototype products, the first year’s report to Nuffield was rejected and the follow-on three years of funding were denied.1 As Lawrence (2001:51) puts it, “In the design method which Archer was devising, a precise formulation of the design problem was essential, and this was what, in his view, the Report represented.” This insistence on requirements capture prior to designing would be tested to the full as Archer gained more experience.
1
Lawrence (2001) remarks that the notes of Archer’s and his assistant Butter’s deliberations “were couched in abstract terms and exhibited a preoccupation with methodology, with rigorous, often self-referential, definition and with stepwise progression.”
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Following the rejection of the Report, Archer worked nights in an ice cream factory and for nothing at the RCA during the day (Archer 2004:3). Black found ways of keeping the rest of the team together, and recruited “one of his star graduates” Kenneth Agnew. Each of the four hospital projects was addressed, including the King’s Fund hospital bed which “turned out to be a very big exercise” (ibid), and is exceptionally well documented by Lawrence (2001). Prevented by official policy from creating a single design, the team had to create a specification that manufacturers could respond to with their own solutions.1 Nevertheless, it was clear that the team would need to build real prototype beds and evaluate them against many criteria. The beds needed to be high to minimise injury to nurses, but low for the patients to get in and out: the solution was an adjustable-height bed. But straightforward resolutions like this were unusual. During the project, the team had to deal with intersecting issues of manufacturing, materials, healthcare, hands-on nursing, standards, safety, hospital management, patient satisfaction, industrial commerce, external relations, and institutional culture and politics at a number of levels. Such experience seems to have modified Archer’s thinking and led him to question the simplicity of his original model of designing.
The prehistory of the Archer thesis Archer’s thesis was completed in 1968 (a remarkable year worldwide) but much of it had already appeared in print in a series of seven articles, “Systematic method for designers”, roughly 27,000 words, published in Design magazine from April 1963 (Archer 1963-64).2,3 Archer was a long-term contributor to the magazine founded by Alec Davis, its first editor, in 1949 and edited from 1952 by Michael Farr. “Systematic method” was published under the third editorship, that of John E Blake. The trajectory of Archer’s thinking in these articles is not a simple one, but some key ideas emerge that later inform his work at the RCA. His first Design article (Archer 1954), published under Farr, argued the importance of both creative invention and profound technical knowledge in an industrial designer, a theme reprised a year later (Archer 1955). He then contributed a design analysis of a new typewriter (Archer 1955), this time highlighting poor British industrial innovation compared with competitors, a topic often revisited that highlights his interest in the commercial world. Four articles from 1956 (Archer 1956a) began a series again arguing against purely technical engineers working by rule of thumb: the industrial designer needed to be informed by both art and science. At this stage, Archer clearly sees the intuitive part of designing as preceding the scientific part (in italics he states “It is necessary that a hypothetical design shall first be laid down before 1
Lawrence 2001 p.32. In 1967, a Report entitled The Design of Hospital Bedsteads was published by the King’s Fund in London. The Report, which contained a specification for “a bedstead suitable for general purposes”, was the result of a four year project which had cost in the region of £35,000. 2 In current terminology, the thesis Archer presented might be considered a submission for doctorate by prior publication. The level of previously published material in it was surely unusual for the expectations and regulations of the time. To date no documents discussing this question have been found in the archives. 3 “Systematic Method” was highly valued by the readers of Design. A note in issue 38 (1965) p.73 states: “The unprecedented demand for this series of articles has made it necessary for DESIGN to publish them as a bound reprint, revised and extended by the author.”
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analysis can begin” p.14) and explicitly says that design is not about “the evolution of forms by scientific methods”. In the second article of the series, Archer complains about the low proportion of “trained men engaged in scientific and technological work” compared to other nations (Archer 1956b:32). Design Research is envisaged as including the calculation of the bounding space of optimal solutions, based on data about requirements, materials and manufacturing methods – later a key part of Archer’s thesis. Archer notes how “amateurism in management plays a very big part” in Britain’s industrial failure (p.33). In the thesis this will lead him to think about management, game theory, and business decision processes. Still disenchanted with technicians who neither think creatively nor are up to speed with the state of their art, he is increasingly sanguine about science: “Herein lies the brightest hope for progress in design research and for the recovery of the art of designing from its present intimidated state” (p.35). The final series article (Archer and Zaczek 1956) calls again for more rigour in designing – from whatever discipline. Archer’s next article (Archer 1957a) again calls for more science in design, but still does not necessarily require a science of design. A series of articles with J. Beresford-Evans (later a visiting lecturer under Black and a key styling designer with him of diesel locomotives for British Rail (Jackson 2013: 63))1 show Beresford-Evans focusing on the aesthetic aspects while Archer subjects cooking pans (Beresford-Evans and Archer 1957a), hand axes (Archer and Beresford-Evans 1957), and a free-standing fire (Beresford-Evans and Archer 1957b) to a series of tests. Archer continued these design analysis articles into the next decade. The 1957 articles emphasise the need to combine subjective and objective evaluation. There is a focus on qualities that matter to people, “almost atavistic” and “endowed with life” in the case of the domestic hearth (p.53). In “Electronic Instruments” Archer (1957b) rails at the assumption that a problem has only one solution (p.29). In “Honest Styling” (Archer 1957c) Archer makes the telling remark that the manufacturer has considered “not merely a machine, but a man/machine/work system” and notes with approval that its dial has “been redesigned close to principles enunciated by the Applied Psychology Research Unit, Cambridge, and was developed with the aid of advice obtained from the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, Farnborough.” On first studying the thesis, we thought we saw a simple transition: that Archer as a mechanical engineer was attempting to scientise design. But the preceding material has modified our view. Archer’s original emphasis was on the need for creative design in engineering. He was arguing for rigour, not confined to scientific rigour, in industrial practice. Design decisions should be based where appropriate on objective data, and calculation used to identify the limits on optimal designs. No process would provide a single best solution. He assumed that the designer’s vision preceded any application of logic.
1
The business within which Black and Beresford-Evans worked was the Design Research Unit, a commercial consultancy having significant overlap with RCA academic staff but not to be confused with Archer’s Department of Design Research. See Cotton 2010 for a history of the Design Research Unit 1942-1972.
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There is a strong emphasis on the commercial world, of survival and success in international markets, and the inadequacy of current management.
Some influences on the Archer thesis By the time Archer wrote Systematic Method and the thesis, he was increasingly optimistic about a science of design. Now little is said about the need for creative input – most of it emphasises the power of a range of scientific disciplines. What led to this change? Titles in his bibliography are illuminating, including: Scientific method; optimising applied research decisions (Ackoff 1962); General systems theory, skeleton of a science (Boulding 1956); Prediction and optimal decision (Churchman 1961); Problem analysis by logical approach (Latham 1965); New product decisions: an analytical approach (Pessemier 1966). This was a period of high optimism about rational methods, systematic thinking and calculation in decision-making and execution. Operational Research (OR) and Organisation and Methods (O&M) were seen to have yielded significant benefits in war (Kirby 2003) and administration. Archer is unequivocal: “A logical model of the design process is developed, and a terminology and notation is adopted, which is intended to be compatible with the neighbouring disciplines of management science and operational research. Many of the concepts and techniques presented are, indeed, derived from those disciplines” (Archer 1968: foreword). Optimism about systematisation was closely allied to the adoption of computing. Agar (2003: Chapter 8) charts the relationship between “Treasury O&M” and the computerisation of government work, the “government machine” metaphor instantiated in actual computational machinery. In 1968 computing was the key feature of Cybernetic Serendipity at the ICA and in 1969 Event 1, the first major public activity of the Computer Arts Society, was held at the RCA (Mason 2009). Many exhibitors were influenced by cybernetics, OR and Systems Theory (Bertalanffy’s article “General System Theory” (1951) is cited in Archer’s thesis and Bertalanffy”s book of that name came out in 1968). On the continent, New Tendencies in Zagreb included “Computer and Visual Research” from 1968, while computing featured in the Nuremberg and Venice biennales from 1969 and 1970. Max Bense, whose pursuit of “rational aesthetics” involved him in one of the first computer arts exhibitions in Stuttgart in 1965, taught at Ulm in the 1950s and “was the intellectual backbone of the school at that time” according to Krippendorf (2008:57). For the 1962 Conference on Design Methods, Jones opened his paper with the words, “A trend towards more logical and systematic methods of design has been evident throughout the 1950s. In many cases they have appeared as the result of new technical developments such as computers, automatic controls and systems” (Jones 1963). Next year Archer wrote, “the logic by which computers work, and the clarity and fullness of expression which is necessary to prepare a real-world problem for computing, are valuable indicators of the sort
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of logic which might work even without a computer” (Archer 1963).1 A report on government computing in 1956 had explained that all computing systems include input of data and instructions, storage, control, operations for calculation or processing of data, and output (National Physical Laboratory 1956: 3). This linear approach was in many ways just what appealed to Archer, Jones and many others. They were stimulated by the need to be explicit about the problem they were trying to solve and by the need for data at the outset. But alternative models would also claim Archer’s attention, as discussed below.
Figure 2 Figure 2.4 from Archer’s doctoral thesis illustrating the case where “a product may be required to be as profitable as possible, with a low limit of profitability, but no high limit” (Archer 1968: section 2.10).
Archer’s thesis document The Archer thesis is divided into chapters on definition of design, the nature of the act of designing, the systematic model, the operational model, the design programme, the logic of design procedure, design factors, the problem of aesthetics, the problem of imperfect information, techniques in problem solving, and finally a summary and conclusions. It comprises about 36,000 typewritten words, 80 pages of diagrams and 90 endnotes. The argument proceeds by introducing a simple model of the design process and refining it chapter by chapter. The diagrams are significant. Many are graphs (Figure 2). Many resemble algorithmic flow charts (Figure 3). Others show the relation between such models
1
At a practical level as well as metaphorically the DDR under Archer pioneered the uses of computing in design. In 1964 it was stated that, “In recent years Mr Archer has devoted himself to the development of a system of logic for the solution of design problems and has become deeply involved in the application of computer techniques. At the moment he is engaged in applying these techniques” (Granada Television 1964:6). George Mallen and Patrick Purcell were key figures within the DDR in this development, as was John Lansdown from his position in the Science Research Council. See Gristwood and Boyd Davis (2014); Boyd Davis and Gristwood (2015; 2016).
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and the real world (Figure 4), illustrating Archer’s interest in connecting his schemata to reality.
Figure 3 Figure 4.5 from Archer’s doctoral thesis illustrating the case where “a system of systems may form a closed loop, with every subsystem depending on inputs from another subsystem” (Archer 1968: section 4.9).
Figure 4 Figure 4.6 from Archer’s doctoral thesis illustrating how “the design process is thus a dialogue between the real-world and the operational model” (Archer 1968: section 4.10).
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Figure 5 Figure 2.18 from Archer’s doctoral thesis illustrating how “the interdependence of the curves of feasible mutual states will constitute an n-dimensional hypersurface or realm of feasibility. An important pre-requisite for an ultimate solution is that at least a portion of the realm of feasibility should intersect the domain of acceptability, producing an arena within which a solution must be found” (Archer 1968: section 2.27).
An important feature is the calculation of the solution space within which the final design must lie (Figure 5). To calculate this, clearly the requirements and constraints must be known in advance. Archer tended to believe at this stage that the design process began with defining the brief, establishing the requirements and giving them appropriate weights, securing the necessary data and then actually designing. The requirements stand outside the iterative cycle. His diagram (Figure 6), appearing in similar form in several works in the 1960s, clearly shows the brief as outside and preceding the design process proper. Data analysis, synthesis and development are all allowed to retrospectively alter data collection (presumably as the need for new facts becomes apparent) but none of these alters the brief and therefore the requirements.
Figure 6 “Simplified checklist” from Archer’s handwritten notes entitled “Lecture for London College of Furniture 25 Feb 1965 Systematic method 1 – Introduction” from L Bruce Archer Archives, RCA, London: box 2.1.2. The brief precedes and lies outside the design cycle.
Archer had a very particular view of designing as being prior to making: “A key element in the act of designing is the formation of a prescription or model for a finished work in advance of its embodiment.” Thus a sculptor working directly with his or her material is not designing, but “when a sculptor produces a cartoon for his proposed work, only then he can
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be said to be designing it” (Archer 1963 Part Two: 70).1 But this ideal model, in which requirements are finalised prior to designing, which then proceeds in an orderly manner, shows subtle signs of disturbance in the thesis. Surely the fact that Archer had managed and studied the horribly complex Hospital Bed and other live projects, rather than simply observing designing at a distance, must have made him more aware of the messiness – and the embodied nature – of real world design?
The model disrupted There are a number of disturbances to the systematic model. These include complexity, the need to revisit the brief and requirements, and the problem of securing good data.
Complexity Archer always acknowledged that there are multiple solutions to design problems. Figure 5 and its associated thesis text (Archer 1968: section 2.27) make clear that multiple solutions may occupy the spaces between the bounding surfaces of feasibility and acceptability. Yet one key reason to be pessimistic about any systematic method is the interdependence of factors. Fixing one problem opens another, and typically unforeseen consequences occur, problems of complexity characteristic of socio-technical systems (Johnson 2010:120) – such as hospital beds. Even exhaustive computation may not do the trick: “to derive a trend which would point to an ideal solution, is only just becoming feasible and yet might never be attainable because of the large number of variable factors which are not always interdependent” (Archer 1956a:14).2 Archer’s colleague at Ulm, Horst Rittel, memorably characterised these as “wicked problems” in dialogue with C West Churchman at just the time Archer was finalising his thesis. Both authors feature in the thesis (Churchman 1961; Rittel 1965), and he explicitly notes the significance of dependence (Archer 1968: endnote 60). A characteristic passage in the Rittel chapter cited by Archer could be a description of problems like the hospital bed: “...it can be expected that the exchange of associations between several persons is likely to raise this threshold since each association acts as a new stimulus on the other persons. In this manner not only C is increased but also the diversity of the associations produced. This diversity is greatest when the individual reservoirs of associations overlap least (i.e. they are specialists from widely different fields)” (Rittel 1965: 209-210).
Requirements in contention Despite diagrams like Figure 6 that appear to show the brief lying outside and prior to the design process, Archer actually acknowledges at several points that the requirements which the designers thought they were working to may be subject to revision at almost any point.
1
This leads Archer to the odd contention that a couturier is designing even when making a garment on the stand – but only provided this is not the finished item but a prototype for a garment that is going to be made subsequently (Archer 1963 Part Two: 70). 2 Given the context and flow of argument at this point, it seems possible that Archer meant to end this sentence “are not always independent”. In any case it is clear that he believes there is significant interdependence between factors.
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As Rittel put it later: “...the irritating thing is that, depending on the state of solution, the next question for additional information is unique and dependent on the state of solution you have already reached” (Rittel 1972:392). In Archer’s words, “During the course of the problem solving activity new objectives may tend to form and reform” (Archer 1968: 2.29); “The complete set of objectives is only rarely definable at the beginning of the project. Most of them emerge by mutual consent as the project progresses” (Archer 1968: 6:15). He seems comfortable with this, even though we might consider that it undermines some key aspects of his system: “It is open to the arbiter or arbiters in a problem to manipulate the importance ratings in any way they wish, and to revise their ratings at any stage they wish, so as to represent their true aims and interests as the consequences of their decisions emerge, or fresh information becomes available.” (Archer 1968: 3.30). And these are not just minor refinements: “any effective design procedure must therefore permit radical reappraisal of the problem at any stage.” (Archer 1968: 6:17 emphasis added). Again the real-world complexities of design projects seem to have had a progressive influence on Archer’s thinking, but without yet undermining his faith in the system.
Lack of good data For Archer, the designer or engineer must work with the best possible information rather than relying on intuition or custom and practice. OR and O&M had both promoted the provision of adequate data in order to be effective. In ergonomics, Jones had been advocating the use of strong data for more than a decade (Jones 1954). Dreyfuss’ influential anthropometric files had been published repeatedly in the preceding ten years (Dreyfuss 1959). Yet in key areas that Archer considered essential to design, including aesthetics, he acknowledges the lack of good data. A work cited frequently in the thesis confronts the twin problems of interdependence and uncertainty (Tavistock Institute 1966). Archer bemoans the lack of “a corpus of knowledge or a set of techniques capable of providing rational aesthetic decisions” (Archer 1968: 8:17). This for him is a lack of good information, not a fundamental difficulty in processing and using qualitative data: “it should be possible to collect data and to carry out analyses of trends and probabilities, using techniques well developed in the natural and social sciences” (Archer 1968: 8:16); “The principal distinction between phenomena from the operational point of view is therefore not in their ‘qualitative v. quantitative’ character but in their ‘known v. not known’ character (Archer 1968: 9.4). There are problems of both availability and quality: “the data is difficult to find, and when found it very often contains redundancies, errors and omissions” (Archer 1968: 9.9). This arises from the very nature of design problems, dealing as they do with so many kinds of criteria (Archer 1968: 9.10). Later, Archer would present an important paper precisely on computing with qualitative data (Archer 1972b. See Gristwood and Boyd Davis 2014: 622).
Games and cybernetics We have discussed Archer’s inspiration in OR, O&M, computation and systematic decision making. How did he deal with the kinds of problems we have just highlighted, which
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threatened to disrupt such models? Two key areas of his bibliography are concerned with game theory and with cybernetics, disciplines that both deal with ongoing, unpredictable, dynamic systems and with emergent properties. They are thus quite distinct from the pipeline model that at first sight seems fundamental to Archer’s system and is the basis of simple OR and O&M.1 As Pickering (2002) puts it, “cybernetics grabs on to the world differently from the classical sciences. While the latter seek to pin the world down in timeless representations, cybernetics directly thematizes the unpredictable liveliness of the world, and processes of open-ended becoming.” Pickering distinguishes cerebral, representational American cybernetics from the embedded and embodied UK cybernetics created by Ashby, Beer and Pask, all of whose works appear in the Archer bibliography (Ashby 1957; Beer 1959; Pask 1961). Cybernetics attempts to break the distinction between biological and artificial systems, between brains and bodies, entities and their environments, and “cuts across the entrenched departments of natural science” (Pask 1961: 11). Cybernetics offers Archer a way to envisage how “the design process is thus a dialogue between the real-world and the operational model” (Archer 1968: 4:10) (Figure 4). Two cyberneticians in particular are relevant to the problems of complexity and uncertainty – Ashby and Pask. Ashby notes how complexity had been avoided traditionally: not until the 1920s “did it become clearly recognised that there are complex systems that just do not allow the varying of only one factor at a time—they are so dynamic and interconnected that the alteration of one factor immediately acts as cause to evoke alterations in others, perhaps in a great many others” (Ashby 1957:5). Ashby and Pask can often be read as though describing complex multi-stakeholder design projects: “There is first a set of disturbances D, that start in the world outside the organism, often far from it, and that threaten, if the regulator R does nothing, to drive the essential variables E outside their proper range of values” (Ashby 1957:209). Ashby on emergent properties: “Often, however, the knowledge is not, for whatever reason, complete. Then the prediction has to be undertaken on incomplete knowledge, and may prove mistaken” (Ashby 1957: 111). Pask also toys with situations “where the objective is not obvious at the outset and only becomes so when some tentative knowledge has been gained” (Pask 1961: 19). “Uncertainty stems from ourselves and our contact with the World” (p.21). Perhaps this remark of Pask’s appealed to Archer after all the tribulations of complex practical projects: “Cybernetics offers a scientific approach to the cussedness of organisms, suggests how their behaviours can be catalysed and the mystique and rule of thumb banished” (p.110).
Looking back Several of the works that Archer cites exploit the notion of a black box (Ashby 1957, Beer 1959, Duckworth 1962, Pask 1961), the cyberneticians in particular celebrating the idea. Archer does not echo their admiration, perhaps annoyed that designers themselves are so 1
One of the information management sources in Archer’s bibliography is unusual in offering the remark “A sophisticated total system would even include its own arrangements for adjusting (redesigning) itself to meet the needs of a changing environment” (McDonough 1963: 242).
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unfathomable: “meanwhile, the only effective ‘black box’ is the sensibility of a discerning and creative designer.” He wanted to open the black box of designing and discover what was inside. Though his “structure” and his “systematic method” look very like algorithms for designing, in the end he was, above all, interested to understand what designing is. McIntyre (1995) suggests that Archer’s thinking continued unchanged, yet this is clearly not the case. Years later he felt that he had “wasted a lot of time trying to bend the methods of operational research and management techniques to design purposes” (Archer 1979). He now offered a dramatically different approach: humanities, science and design as equal points of a triad of disciplines. Archer announced that “there exists an under-recognised but definable third area of human knowing, additional to numeracy and literacy” (1978: foreword, emphasis added). Ten years after 1968, the “year of revolutions”, it was “Time for a Revolution in Art and Design Education” (Archer 1978: title), and Archer, through the Design Education Unit led by Ken Baynes, would set about creating it (Green and Steers 2006). Given Archer’s own negative re-assessment of his systematic method, there is a risk of underestimating what Archer achieved. The year before he died (Archer 2004), he himself felt that “we had at least established that work study, systems analysis and ergonomics were proper tools for the industrial designer’s trade.” He was surely right about the need for design to be informed by the latest knowledge and for custom and practice to be always challengeable by new data. He championed research into how prototype products were actually used in real contexts. How many objects and systems would be better designed if only his rigorous questioning approach were more common, even now? Though he did not foresee just how bad the decline in UK industrial innovation would become, he diagnosed its causes. When Jocelyn Stevens became Rector at the RCA in 1984, he closed the Department of Design Research. For George Mallen (2011), the effect was to “almost annihilate any intellectual activity in the College.” Stevens kept Archer on while sacking all his staff. “It broke Bruce’s heart” in the opinion of Christopher Frayling (2013). Archer’s insistence that he was not trying to help practising designers almost certainly told against him – he paid the price for such honesty. The other departments stood by and watched the Department close. At Senate, “nobody said a word. They were just relieved it wasn’t them” (Frayling 2013).
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Figure 6 An example page from Archer’s doctoral thesis. Section 6 introduces “The logic of design procedure” and begins by highlighting two topics: 1. the piecewise procedural approach of “decomposition” (an approach also fundamental to computer algorithm design); 2. the theory of games – indicating Archer’s increasing acknowledgement of the complex and emergent nature of larger design projects.
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A note on the thesis document The thesis was published in photocopied form in 1969 by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service, and was republished, according to Archer (1971), in Japanese in 1970 and in French by the Ministère des Affaires Culturelles in 1971. The photocopy is from an original bearing many hand-written corrections and amendments. Not least, the title has been altered, from “The Structure of the Design Process” to “The Structure of Design Processes”. The chapter title “The problem of aesthetics” has added underlining and a question mark – the corresponding section of “Systematic Method” in Design issue 172 was called “The meaning of aesthetics” – and there are many other alterations. Intriguingly, the very last page has an acknowledgement to the book designer Brian Grimbly, which suggests that the thesis was at the same time a book manuscript. A later archived letter from Terry Bishop (1980), editor at Design Council Books, begins: “Dear Professor Archer A PHILOSOPHY FOR DESIGN I’m sure you remember our joint intention to produce a book based on your RCA lectures under this title. As your text is now long overdue, however, I wonder whether you want to proceed with this project.”
We can assume that this is not a book based on the thesis, given how much Archer’s thinking had changed in the twelve years since its completion, yet it is intriguing to wonder at the contents of the book that never appeared and how it would have reflected the profound shifts in Archer’s thinking. Acknowledgements: The authors are deeply grateful for interviews, providing essential insights, with Kenneth Agnew, Miranda Archer, Ken Baynes, Sir Christopher Frayling, Ghislaine Lawrence, George Mallen, Phil Roberts and Doug Tomkin; also to Neil Parkinson, RCA archivist, and to the staff of the Design Archive at University of Brighton and the DDR Archive at the V&A. They also gratefully acknowledge the valuable advice of the anonymous DRS reviewers. Dr Simone Gristwood’s research has been partly funded by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art and the RCA.
References Ackoff, Russell L. (1962) Scientific Method; optimising applied research decisions. Wiley. Agar, Jon. (2003) The Government Machine: a revolutionary history of the computer. MIT Press Cambridge MA. Alexander, Christopher. (1971) State of the Art in Design Methodology: Interview with C. Alexander DMG [Design Methods Group] Newsletter 5(3) (March 1971): 3-7. Archer, L. Bruce. (1954) Artist Versus Engineer. Design 67. July 1954. 13-16. Archer, L. Bruce. (1954) Art Training for Engineering Draughtsmen. Design 78. June 1955. 14-17. Archer, L. Bruce. (1955) A New British Typewriter. Design 79. July 1955. 26-29. Archer, L. Bruce. (1956a) Intuition versus Mathematics. Design 90. June 1956. 12-19. Archer, L. Bruce. (1956b) Design Research: design and stress analysis 2. Design 91. July 1956.
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Archer, L. Bruce. (1956c) Analytical Methods for Product Designing [design and stress analysis 3. Design 93. September 1956. 29-33. Archer, L. Bruce and Bohdan J. Zaczek. (1956) Design 96. December 1956 42-46 Photo-Elasticity for the Product Designer: design and stress analysis 4. Archer, L. Bruce. (1957a) Theory into Practice. Design 101. May 1957. 18-23. Archer, L. Bruce. (1957b) Electronic Instruments. Design 107. November 1957. 29-33. Archer, L. Bruce. (1957c) Honest Styling. Design 108. December. 36-39. Archer, L. Bruce. (1963) Lecture to Architectural Association School of Architecture. Unpublished typewritten notes. L Bruce Archer Archive, Royal College of Art. Archer, L. Bruce. (1963-64) Systematic method for designers: Part one: Aesthetics and logic (Design 172. April 1963. 46-49); Part two: Design and system (Design 174. June 1963. 70-74); Part three: getting the brief (Design 176. August 1963. 52-57); Part four: Examining the evidence (Design 179. November 1963. 68-72); Part five : the creative leap (Design 181. January 1964. 50-52); Part six: The donkey work (Design 185. May 1964. 60-63); Part seven: The final steps (Design 188. August 1964. 56-59). All these issues of the magazine were edited by John E. Blake. Archer, L. Bruce. (1965) Handwritten notes entitled ‘Lecture for London College of Furniture 25 Feb 1965 Systematic method 1 – Introduction’ from L Bruce Archer Archives, RCA, London: box 2.1.2. Archer, L. Bruce. (1968) The structure of design processes. Thesis (Ph.D.) Royal College of Art, London, 1968. Shelfmark: Document Supply DRT 484530. Available on Ethos: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.484530 Archer, L. Bruce. (1971) Technological innovation - a methodology. Frimley, Surrey: Inforlink Ltd for Science Policy Foundation Ltd. Archer, L. Bruce. (1972a) ‘Why do I go on working in this place?’ Ark No.50. London: Royal College of Art. Archer, L. Bruce. (1972b) Computers, design theory and the handling of the qualitative. Proc. International Conference on Computers in Architecture, University of York, 20-22 September 1972. Archer, L. Bruce. (1974) Letter to Professor Charles Wallschlaeger of Ohio State University, including a draft recommendation for Wallschlaeger to write in support of Archer’s distinguished visiting professorship. L. Bruce Archer Archive, Royal College of Art. Archer, L. Bruce. (1974) Design awareness and planned creativity in industry. Jointly published by the Office of Design of the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce, Ottawa, Canada, and the Design Council of Great Britain, London. Archer, L. Bruce. (1978) Time for a Revolution in Art and Design Education. RCA Papers No. 6. Royal College of Art, London. Archer, L. Bruce. (1979) Whatever became of Design Methodology? Design Studies 1(1). July 1979. 17-20. Archer, L. Bruce. (1981a) A view of the nature of design research. In: R Jacques and J Powell (eds.) Design: Science: Method. Guildford, UK: Westbury House/IPC Science and Technology Press. 3047. Archer, L. Bruce. (1981b) Personal letter from Archer to Prof. George L Smith Jnr, Department of Industrial Systems and Engineering, Ohio State University. L Bruce Archer Archive, Royal College of Art, box 1.3.1. Archer, L. Bruce. (2004) ‘Autobiography of research at the Royal College of Art 1961-1986’, notes written for the Rector, Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, at his request in March 2004. L Bruce Archer Archive, Royal College of Art.
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Archer, L. Bruce and J. Beresford-Evans. (1957) Design Analysis 4 - general purpose axe Design 103. July 1957. 20-25. Ashby, W. Ross. (1957) Introduction to cybernetics. Chapman and Hall. Bayazit, Nigan. (2004) Investigating Design: A Review of Forty Years of Design Research. Design Issues 20(1). 16-29. Beer, Stafford. (1959) Cybernetics and management. English Universities Press. Beresford-Evans J. and L. Bruce Archer. (1957a) Design Analysis 3 - stainless steel cooking pans. Design 102. June 1957. 26-30 Beresford-Evans J. and L. Bruce Archer. (1957b) Design Analysis 5 - free-standing fire. Design 106. October 1957. 52-56. Bertalanffy, Ludwig von. (1951) General System Theory. Human Biology 23, Dec 1951. 303-361. Bishop, Terry. (1980) Letter to Bruce Archer. Box 1.8 ‘Design Council (c.1979-84)’. L Bruce Archer Archive, Royal College of Art. Boulding, Kenneth E. (1956) General systems theory, skeleton of a science. Management Science. April 1956. Boyd Davis, Stephen and Gristwood, Simone. (2015) Computing, Design, Art: Reflections on an Innovative Moment in History. In: Preliminary Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the History and Philosophy of Computing (HaPoC 2015), Pisa, Italy, 8-11 Oct 2015. Pisa University Press. 23-25. Boyd Davis, Stephen and Gristwood, Simone. (2016 - in press) Computing, Design, Art: Reflections on an Innovative Moment in History. In: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on the History and Philosophy of Computing (HaPoC 2015), Pisa, Italy, 8-11 Oct 2015. Springer. Churchman, C. West. (1961) Prediction and optimal decision. Prentice Hall. Cotton, Michelle. (2010) Design Research Unit 1942-72. Koenig Books. Cross, Nigel. (1993) A History of Design Methodology. In M. J. de Vries et aL (eds.), Design Methcdology and Relationships with Science. Kluwer Academic Publishers. 15-27. Cross, Nigel. (2001) Designerly Ways of Knowing: design discipline versus design science. Design Issues 17(3). 49-55. Cross, Nigel. (2007) Editorial: Forty Years of Design Research. Design Studies 28(1). 1-4 Dorst, C.H. (Kees). (2003) The problem of design problems. In: E. Edmonds & N.G. Cross (Eds.), Expertise in Design, Design Thinking Research Symposium 6. Sydney, Australia: Creativity and Cognition Studios Press. Dreyfuss, Henry. (1959) The Measure of Man: human factors in design. Whitney Library of Design, New York. Duckworth, Eric. (1962) A Guide to Operational Research. Methuen. Frayling, Christopher. (2013) Sir Christopher Frayling interviewed by Stephen Boyd Davis at the Royal College of Art, 21 March 2013. Glanville, Ranulph. (1999) Researching Design and Designing Research. Design Issues 15(2). 80-91. Granada Television. (1964) Independent Television Programmes for Schools: Design. Summer Term 1964. Granada TV Network, Manchester. Green, Richard and John Steers. (2006) Design Education–now you see it; now you don’t. Position Paper. D&T Association and NSEAD. http://www.nsead.org/downloads/Design_Education_position_paper.pdf (accessed 7 November 2015)
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Gristwood, Simone and Boyd Davis, Stephen. (2014) The Reappearing Computer: the past and future of computing in design research. In: Proc. DRS 2014: Design’s Big Debates. Biennial conference of the Design Research Society, Umeå, 16-19 June 2014. http://drs2014.org/en/publications/ (accessed 5 November 2015). 618-632. Jackson, Tanya. (2013) British Rail: The Nation’s Railway. The History Press. Johnson, Jeffrey. (2010) The future of the social sciences and humanities in the science of complex systems. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research 23(2). 115-134. Jones, John Christopher. (1954) Ergonomics: human data for design. Design 66. June 1954. 13-17. Jones, John Christopher. (1963) A Method of Systematic Design. In: Jones, Christopher J. and D.G. Thornley (eds.) Conference on Design Methods. Pergamon Press, Oxford. 53-73. Jones, John Christopher. (1966) Design methods compared 1: Strategies. Design 212. 32-35. Jones, John Christopher. (1969) The State-of-the-art in Design Methods. In: Broadbent, G., & Ward, A. (Eds.). (1969). Design methods in architecture (No. 6). London: Lund Humphries. Jones, John Christopher. (1991) Designing Designing. London: Architecture, Design and Technology Press, p.174. Kirby, Maurice W. (2003) Operational Research in War and Peace: The British Experience from the 1930s to 1970. London: Imperial College Press. Krippendorff, Klaus. (2008) Designing in Ulm and off Ulm. In: K.-A. Czemper (Ed.), HfG, Ulm; Die Abteilung Produktgestaltung; 39 Rü ckblicke. Dortmund, Germany: Verlag Dorothea Rohn. 55-72. Latham, R.L. (1965) Problem analysis by logical approach. Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. Lawrence, Ghislaine. (2001) Hospital beds by design: a socio-historical account of the ‘King’s Fund Bed’, 1960-1975. PhD thesis of the University of London. Available on the British Library Ethos service, ID: uk.bl.ethos.271734. National Physical Laboratory. (1956) Wage Accounting by Electronic Computer. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Mallen, George. (2011) Interviewed by Jo Stockham and Bronac Ferran at System Simulation Limited, 16 December 2011. Margolin, Victor. (2010) Design research: Towards a history. In Proc. Design and Complexity - Design Research Society Conference, July 7-9, 2010 at School of Industrial Design, Université de Montréal Montreal, Canada. Mason, Catherine. (2009) The Fortieth Anniversary of Event One at the Royal College of Art. Proc. EVA 2009, international conference on Electronic Visualisation and the Arts. British Computer Society, London, 6-8 July 2009. 117-128. McDonough, A. M. (1963) Information economics and management systems. McGraw Hill. McIntyre, Jean. (1995) The Department of Design Research at the Royal College of Art: its origins and legacy 1959-1988. In: Frayling, C. and Catterall, C. (eds.) Design of the Times: one hundred years of the Royal College of Art. 58-62. Richard Dennis Publications / Royal College of Art. Pavitt, Jane. (2012) Input-Output: Design Research and Systems Thinking. In: McCarthy, F. (ed.) The Perfect Place to Grow: 175 years of the Royal College of Art. 129-139 Pask, Gordon. (1961) An approach to cybernetics. Hutchinson. Pessemier, Edgar A. (1966) New product decisions: an analytical approach. McGraw Hill. Pickering, Andrew. (2002) Cybernetics and the Mangle: Ashby, Beer and Pask. Social Studies of Science 32(3). 413-437. Rittel, Horst. (1965) Hierarchy or team? In: Richard A. Tybou (ed.) Economics of Research and Development. Ohio State University Press. 174-218
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Rittel, Horst. (1972) On the Planning Crisis: Systems Analysis of the ‘First and Second Generations’ Bedriftsøkonomen 8. 390-396. Simon, Herbert A. (1969) The Sciences of the Artificial. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. Tavistock Institute. (1966) Interdependence and uncertainty: digest of a report from the Tavistock Institute. Tavistock Publications. 1966. Woodham, Jonathan M. (1997) Twentieth Century Design. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
About the Authors: Stephen Boyd Davis is Professor of Design Research at the RCA, London, where he leads staff research in the School of Design. His research focuses on the representation of knowledge through computation, depiction and diagramming, with an emphasis on chronographics. Dr Simone Gristwood is Lansdown Research Curator at Middlesex University. Her research focuses on uncovering the histories of the use of computing in the arts and design from the 1960s onwards, primarily through investigating the archives of pioneers.
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Closing the circle Douglas Tomkin UTS Australia douglas.tomkin@uts.edu.au DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.288
Abstract: This paper describes a personal journey beginning at the Department of Design Research (DDR), Royal College of Art in 1967 under the leadership of Bruce Archer and culminating in the newly formed Design Innovation Research Centre (DIRC) at the University of Technology Sydney under the guidance of Kees Dorst in 2015. The paper compares the processes and outcomes of the two centres in shaping design research with a particular focus on design in the public sector. The paper concludes with some reflections on the influence the different approaches have had on the way designers design. Keywords: history: public sector; theory, design thinking
Introduction The 50TH anniversary of the Design Research Society has prompted a personal reflection on a life linked with design research from a time close to its beginnings extending to where we are today. My role in this journey has been part guinea pig, as designer testing new methodologies under the scrutiny of researchers, part teacher of design methods and part practitioner. I am not, however a practicing design researcher and offer this contribution more as an outsider observing a period important to the history and the development of design research. In retrospect the influence of the public sector in furthering the interest of design research was somewhat unexpected. The possible reason for this is briefly explored at the outset of this paper. The remainder is a chronological account of design research through personal experience and does not profess to recount all that occurred during this period. The Victoria and Albert Museum archive holds extensive records of research activities at the Royal College of Art from the early 60’s to the 80’s. Those records were indispensable in forming this account, as were meetings with colleagues of the period. During this time one of the pioneers of design research L. Bruce Archer established the Department of Design Research This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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(DDR), the first of its kind in the UK. Trained as an engineering designer L. Bruce Archer joined the Royal College of Art in 1962 following a one-year guest professor role at the Hochschule fur Gestaltung, Ulm. While in Ulm he was tasked with bringing together two factions. One faction viewed design from a science perspective and the other from an artistic viewpoint. This experience proved to be influential in forming his understanding of design and in establishing the structure of DDR. Crucially there was a symbiotic relationship in the Department between design consultancy projects, mostly with government departments, and academic research.
Design in the public sector Tendering public sector projects The public sector is a major purchaser of manufactured goods, yet unlike consumer products where the designer works closely with the client, designers rarely form professional relationships with public servants. The tendering system of purchase, aimed at reducing corruption, discourages such collaboration. Designing for the public sector nearly always entails responding to a detailed brief in the tender document with no opportunity for the design consultant to question underlying assumptions. However where circumstances allow for academic institutions to form relationships with government departments it is possible to explore more fundamental issues and conduct research rarely possible in the private sector. In the case studies below both Universities undertook design related problems in the public sector and utilized the projects to simultaneously conduct design research.
Design research as a discipline While the marriage of research and design into a distinct discipline in the 1950’s was dominated by engineering systems it was in the 60’s that British academics began the design methods movement with a focus on user needs (Cross 1984). User needs figured prominently in Bruce Archer’s Systematic Method for Designers in 1965 (Archer 1965). Archer spent the next 20 years practicing what he preached, overseeing more than 100 projects employing his approach to design (Parkinson 2012). With one or two notable exceptions these projects were in partnership with the public sector. One such exception was a two-day workshop with Lloyds Assurance where Bruce utilized a design thinking approach (his words) to a problem not related to industrial design (Archer 1973).
Change in design research direction Fast-forward 45 years and the relationship between design research and the public sector holds good. The chance to explore new ways of approaching design and evaluating the results in the real world remains the cornerstone in legitimizing the discipline and it is the public sector that can offer this opportunity (Dorst, Kaldor, Klippan, Watson 2015). The major difference between the 1970’s and now is the adoption of design methods outside the design profession. This change in context has provided new directions to design research
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particularly in the public sector where complex, seemly insolvable problems desperately seek a fresh approach (Pritchett, Woolcock 2004).
Department of Design Research (DDR) at the Royal College of Art (RCA) 1960’s – 80’s Key design and research projects Design research at the RCA will for some time to come be associated with Bruce Archer’s ground-breaking design methodology exemplified in the development of a new standard for hospital beds for the National Health Service in 1967 (Swann, D. 2012). The project culminated in a product that ultimately changed the face of nursing in the UK. The radically new design was firmly focused on users, both staff and patients, with many of the features eliminating backbreaking manoeuvres. Over 500,000 beds were built to the specification around the world and many are still in use. The development of the specification and prototype bed design was lead by Kenneth Agnew. The project exemplified a new methodology for designers developed by Archer. A great deal has been written about this project; the design, the methodology and the man. Probably the most comprehensive account is by Ghislaine Mary Lawrence in her 2001 thesis “Hospital bed by design: a sociohistorical account of the King’s Fund bed, 1960 -1975” (Lawrence 2001 a). Lawrence recounts the complex journey of the King’s Fund bed and the significance of Archer’s design method within the project and beyond to the wider design community. It makes for fascinating reading but only tells part of the story of what went on in DDR. During its 20 years of existence DDR contributed a great deal more than the bed project. This included the design of many socially oriented products, the first interactive computer aided design (CAD) programs, and an ambitious and ultimately successful project to introduce design into secondary schools. All these projects were underpinned by the Archer design method and with the benefit of hindsight reveal much about the successes and failures of one of the first and most influential design method movements anywhere in the world. As in any new creative movement the leader, Bruce Archer played a pivotal role. Until his retirement in 1988 his focus was firmly on developing design as a knowledge based discipline comparable with those of science but with its own unique framework. He was ably supported by a team of researchers and designers contributing to the understanding of design, the role of design in society and the meaning of design research. (Archer, B. 1981)
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Figure 1 Bruce Archer (on the right) examining a hospital bed with the Kings Fund bed designer Kenneth Agnew (on the left) circa 1965
Figure 2 Pre-existing hospital bed and prototype Kings Fund Bed
Ethics and project diversity Ethical considerations were ever present in the Department, encouraged by a new student awareness and active participation in the policies of the RCA. This was a time when many students in the UK and elsewhere felt empowered to question all aspects of life that impacted on them. Distrust of authority led to many conflicts between students and police in the late 1960’s. Despite funding pressure (all research fellows were responsible for their project funding) no work was undertaken unless it was seen to have value to society. One project, the design of command and control rooms for the Glasgow Police Force, narrowly escaped rejection (Wood 1975). However when completed the project did show evidence of social contribution. The new control room resulted in a significant reduction in emergency response time, saving lives (Wood 1976). New ergonomic specification for control room staff was also developed as part of the project, with wider application for computer operators (Wood 1975). Ergonomics is a design element well suited to measurement, test results can be quantified, and as such it was a valued tool in DDR. This was particularly evident in early CAD work. In collaboration with Nottingham University a computer-based avatar was created to “virtually� test proposed hospital equipment designs. The stick figure avatar was
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used to assess nurse bed making and lifting under a variety of situations. (Archer, Mallen 1973) In hindsight it does seem incredible that with extremely limited computing power researchers developed interactive software that enabled users with a light pen to perform a bed-making task and be alerted when an action was ergonomically inappropriate. The software was ultimately commercialised with the acronym SAMMIE (Das & Sengupta 1995). These examples like all DDR projects were centred on the user. Understanding the user viewpoint was seen as a key to successful outcomes whatever the problem. With design beginning to be seen as a legitimate university activity, if not a science, the value of the discipline in other spheres was not lost to Archer and a number of his colleagues. They fervently believed that design offered a way of approaching problems in every aspect of life. To this end Archer established a spin off department with the aim of introducing design at all levels of education (Langdon 1969). Design, he believed should rank alongside numeracy and literacy as the three pillars of education (Archer 1979). It could be argued that design education research at the RCA provided the groundwork for the eventual introduction of Design and Technology as a secondary school subject.
Figure 2 Print out from interactive computer aided design program with “nurse� and hospital medicine trolley 1973 and resulting prototype
Lloyds Life Assurance design project December 1972 This project deserves special attention from the perspective of design research history. Firstly I am not aware of any previous use of design method to solve problems outside of design and architecture. Secondly it was the only DDR project to be condensed into a very short period. Preparation and running the project spanned two months including three intensive workshop days (Wood interview 2015). This contraction of the timescale and the requirement for non-designers to engage with the process brings the Archer method into sharp focus and allows comparison with design thinking methods in use today. Underlying the project was Archer’s view that a properly structured methodology related to the manipulation of information by sets of problem solving rules and was therefore independent of the actual content of the information itself (Archer 1965). This project provided a unique
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opportunity to demonstrate that a method developed for designing artifacts was equally appropriate to problem solving elsewhere. The problem, defined by Lloyds, was the need to gain the competitive edge over rivals in the emerging pension policy market (Tester 1974). The information providing the context for a solution was a complex mix of legal, brokerage, shareholder and end user data. This was, in today’s terminology, a co-design exercise. Following four preliminary meetings a mixed discipline group of 14 individuals were isolated from any distraction to resolve this issue. While a hierarchy was specified in the planning documents (with both a chairman and project leader overseeing workshops) the structure was kept informal. Participants were required to dress casually and care was taken to prevent “extreme embarrassment” should anyone feel they were not contributing. Concern that personality clashes might affect the quality of the outcome was documented. However there was no evidence that this did occur. The process involved ten distinct steps (Tester 1974) In keeping with the Archer method a list of carefully prepared elements (nine in all) viewed as essential for success were tabled followed by the generation of a stakeholder list (ten in all). The workshop produced 30 attributes a new policy should have and developed a matrix of attributes and stakeholders. New policy ideas were generated referring to the element list and the matrix. The concepts were then ranked with respect to the matrix, revealing the preferred options. Lloyds declared the process a success with three new pension schemes outlined. Perhaps of greater significance (from the client perspective) was the realisation that staff that had never met as a group and who were schooled in a “conservative meticulous attention to formal procedure” could operate successfully in such a novel environment. A full account of the exercise can be found in the School of Design student publication North Carolina State University volume 23 1974. How this knowledge changed company structure, if at all, is not recorded. The Lloyds exercise was deemed newsworthy. The Times ran a story entitled “Heads down in the Lloyds think-tank” while the workshop was still in progress (Speigelberg 1972).
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Figure 3 Lloyds workshop list of steps
Figure 4 Lloyds workshop in progress. Bruce Archer is top left. 1972
Reactions to the DDR methodology The DDR method had its critics in the 60’s and 70’s. G. Broadbent said the methods neglected humanness, values and emotion or judgement (Broadbent 1979). It was also thought that the concentration on detailed information research would never deliver all there was to know about a problem. Therefore the idea that a full and exact exposition of a problem would contain the solution was a fallacy (Broadbent 1979). Some departments in
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the RCA were hostile to Archer’s methods, Fashion and Textiles particularly so. There was a view that a rigid formulaic approach to design led to a stunting of creativity. It was true that the design profession, as distinct from design academics, showed little interest in systematic design method (Lawrence 2002 b). These opinions are understandable especially when based on text alone and not through participating in the process. I could find no direct response to the Broadbent criticism, but my view and the view of other DDR design staff was that the Archer method provided a unique and invaluable scaffold for approaching design problems. Systematic method for designers was not widely adopted outside of DDR. However the process did enable a cluster of successful social sector products and the development of early CAD software. More importantly systematic method helped facilitate a positive change in attitude towards the role design could play in commerce and in improving government services. Design was taken seriously.
Figure 5 Section of the Archer systematic method showing the detail steps and cross-referencing
Intervening years Much of the time between 1980’s and 2000 might well be considered the dark age of design research, over shadowed by postmodern reasoning with its emphasis on cultural relativism and lack of objective reasoning. Exceptions were Nigel Cross and others who delivered new insights thus keeping the debate on design research alive (Cross 1994). At the end of the 90’s the economic success of well designed hi tech products alerted businesses to the importance of design and the benefits of participating in creative processes. During the same period universities virtually mandated that design staff reach doctoral level to teach design;
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as a result design methods were explored in depth by this new wave of design academics. Both design and design method became hot topics resulting in a rush of publications, new courses and new vocabulary. Design thinking and innovation reached a status in business, academia and even government not dreamed of in the 60’s.
Design Innovation University of Technology Sydney (UTS) 2009 2015 Design innovation and design research In 2009 the University of Technology Sydney teamed with the Justice Department NSW to form a research centre aimed at reducing crime by design intervention, the Designing Out Crime Research Centre (DOC). Predominately working in the public sector the concept centred on bringing design method to complex issues that often results in criminal or anti social behaviour (Watson 2013). While new physical, tangible products were seen as valuable outcomes to the Centre’s work the wider brief was to bring in design thinking to create new systems, structures, indeed any innovations likely to keep the community safe from criminals. This was not the first time crime and design had been connected academically (Wortley, Mazerolle 2013). However DOC did provide the first opportunity to study, develop and publish design method as practiced on live and pressing problems in the Australian public sector. The mastermind of the Centre’s approach was Kees Dorst. Kees arrived in Australia in 2007 having practiced, taught and researched design in his homeland Holland where he engaged with industry leaders and government agencies on strategy and coping with technical change. A new way of thinking on how design might interact outside the discipline was evident in his first book, Understanding Design (Dorst 2003). Perched on the three-legged stool of research, consultancy and education DOC has completed an impressive number of projects, many involving students, and staff papers in two disciplines: design and criminology. Over a period of five years a problem solving process emerged, a combination of a method articulated by Kees and refined through practical application. The resulting “Frame creation”, a nine-step process is now the subject of two books, learned articles and workshops (Dorst 2015). The method provides a platform for innovation well beyond crime prevention. The success of DOC and the Kees Dorst method did not go unnoticed in the wider university community outside of design. The new VC (appointed 2014) placed innovation as a top priority for UTS and as a consequence the “Design Innovation Research Centre” was formed in 2015, bringing together many of the University’s creative thinkers in a partnership which included the DOC team (DIRC 2015). The largely open plan office houses 20 plus staff, overseas guests and PhD students. Whiteboards, butcher paper notes, table tennis and generous refreshment facilities dominate the space. An informal drinks and music session starting 4 pm every Friday replaces brain storming around the printer. An atmosphere of collegiality, exchange of views and a sense of purpose is pervasive. While it is to early to predict if this hub of activity will contribute to design research similar to DDR the signs are positive. The Centre is forming new relationships; some
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with international bodies such as UNESCO, others with local and federal government departments in addition to key Universities in Europe and the US. It is the design-based methodologies that underlie these relationships.
Figure 6 Kees Dorst presenting his “frame creation” approach to solving complex problems. UTS 2015
The DIRC research approach There is no single approach to problem solving in DIRC. The coming together of such an eclectic group means there are many paths practiced in reaching new solutions. However two tend to dominate. The aforementioned frame creation and the second “design led innovation” developed by Sam Bucolo (Bucolo & Matthews 2011). The context of the former is local government, international issues, social problems and higher education. The design led innovation approach is focused on industry, building government links and initiatives to facilitate change in medium size Australian companies. Common to all methods in use in DIRC are three elements - user focus, co-design and a set of design tools that aims to extract key understanding and insight throughout the journey. 30 design tools have been identified (Watson 2013). Symbolic of design method and research in DIRC are end-to-end workshops, seminars, focus groups and presentations. Active participation in process with clients, stakeholders and DIRC staff blurs the distinction of roles and responsibilities. The objective is to transfer problemsolving skills rather than seek repeat business.
A recent DOC project in the public sector Many of the projects undertaken by design innovation staff at UTS have been described and reviewed in journals and the press (DOC website). This particular project has been selected to elucidate the methodology common to most. The problem concerns the high level of recidivism in Australian prisons. One study put the figures at 52 per cent of non-Aboriginal people, and 88 per cent of Aboriginal people return to prison within five years. (Harding,
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1995). Many have a history of social disadvantage and lack basic numeracy and writing skills. The early stages in the frame creation process identified education as a key way of tackling recidivism. (Other opportunities were noted but most fell outside the time inmates were incarcerated.) Educational programs in jails have had limited success, with few enrolments and high dropout numbers. The issue was how to increase certificate level education in high security correctional centres. In keeping with the reframing problem solving approach all the stakeholders were engaged in the redefining (reframing) process, including prisoners. Once the key issues were identified it became clear that a paradox stood in the way of an acceptable solution (identifying paradoxes is a key process step in reframing). Put simply an ideal learning environment is in total contrast with the typical prison environment. Prison design is essentially about managing risk; risk to staff, risk of self-harm, risk from fellow inmates, risk of escape and not least political risk. The result in design terms is what has been described as “cold conservatism� (Clear, Candora 2001). A bleak, harsh aesthetic where all furniture is steel and fixed, inmates are separated from staff by bars or glass, lighting is unforgiving and all nature is removed should it interfere with surveillance. In contrast the current wisdom is that learning works best in stress free, comfortable, flexible spaces with natural light that encourages emphatic relationships and a focus on the task. Understanding the root of this paradox, managing risk, proved to be the key in reaching a resolution. With the knowledge that an emphasis on risk control had such a strong influence on the physical space it became possible to explore other risk management approaches. It transpired that overseers (key in determining control arrangements) believed risk in all its forms was less likely when inmates were not tense or harassed and engaged in purposeful activity. The reframing of an educational place was then possible, with dramatic results both in terms of the resulting architecture, interiors and landscaping but also in the high numbers of graduates (Lulham 2015). The reframing process works well when designers join with nondesigners in a co design partnership, indeed this shared responsibility is a core requirement. The full case study with reference to frame creation methodology can be found at: www.designingoutcrime.com (Intensive Learning Centre)
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Figure 7 top: existing prison architecture and cell interior. bottom: reframed learning space
Reflections As a practitioner of Archer’s systematic design and of frame creation I can vouch that they both “worked�. The creators of the differing approaches have been vindicated in multiple tests of their methodologies. Clients got the results they sought and the design academic community was provided with much to occupy their minds. Public sector projects proved to be ideal for conducting design research. Both methods strive to provide the problem solver with the necessary information to arrive at the all important light bulb moment and having lit the bulb translate the breakthrough into practical, socially relevant solutions. That moment of insight, the flash of inspiration still remains much of a mystery; at least to the extent it cannot be replicated at will or by computer. The power of computing with respect to much of the design process was clearly foreseen by Archer. Systematic method with its mathematical underpinning was well suited to data processing. On the other hand frame creation relies little on computing power or for that matter on a comprehensive collection of data. The necessary information and the source of the solutions dwell rather in the minds of participants, the process merely unlocks that which resides within. The two approaches to problem solving can be seen as products of their time. In 1970, the dawn of the computer age, it was appropriate to reduce problems into small bite (or byte) size pieces. It is perhaps the degree in which computing is absent today in the development of new problem solving methods that would have been surprising to Archer. That said I feel he would be delighted to see how innovators and problem solvers outside of design have embraced processes developed within the discipline. This is proof, if proof were needed that design research is as
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legitimate as any research in the sciences. The shift from an exceedingly systematic approach to a more intuitive, value weighted process could be a reflection of the changing way we view the world. Currently there is a responsive often-passionate connection with the built environment that was not present in the 60’s. An “emotional design” approach has inspired some of the best of our buildings, products and communication systems (Norman 2005). Until software has emotional sensitivity it’s hard to imagine computing playing a key role in design research as it did 50 years ago. Pending that game-changing breakthrough, understanding the fascinating complexity of human thought and then innovating new ways of doing things appears best tackled by creative, connected individuals. Improving process to advance this endeavour seems likely to occupy the design research community for some time to come. Acknowledgements: Thanks are due to Kenneth Agnew, George Mallen, and John Wood, all research fellows at DDR during the 1970’s for their help in securing documents and fact checking. Also thanks to Neil Parkinson, the archivist at the RCA and to the archive staff at the V&A for their patience and assistance in locating ”lost” files.
References Archer, L. B. (1965) Systematic method for designers. Council of Industrial Design. Archer, L. B. (1971) Technological Innovation – A Methodology Science Policy Foundation Archer, L. B., Mallen, G. (1973) Development of mathematical and operation modeling techniques for application in equipment design. Job 124 V&A archive Archer, B. (1973) Job 130 Development of a life assurance product. Royal College of Art AAD/1989/9 Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum Archer, B. (1979) Design as a discipline. Design Studies, 1(1), 17-20. Archer, B. (1981) A view of the nature of design research. Design: science: method, 30-47. Broadbent, G. (1979) The development of design methods. Design Methods and Theories Vol 13 no 1 41-45 Bucolo, S., & Matthews, J. H. (2011) Design led innovation: Exploring the synthesis of needs, technologies and business models. In Proceedings of Participatory Interaction Conference 2011. Clear, T. R., & Cadora, E. (2001) Risk and correctional practice. In K. Stenson & R. Sullivan (Eds.), Crime, risk and justice: The politics of crime control in liberal democracies (pp. 51). New York: Routledge. Cross, N. (1984) Developments in design methodology. John Wiley & Sons. Das, B., & Sengupta, A. K. (1995) Technical note. Computer-aided human modelling programs for workstation design. Ergonomics, 38(9), 1958-1972. DIRC (2015) UTS Design Innovation Research Centre www.uts.edu.au Dorst, K. (2003) Understanding Design BIS publishers, Amsterdam Dorst, K (2015) Frame Innovation: Create New Thinking by Design, First, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England Dorst, K. , Kaldor, L. , Klippan, L. , Watson, R (2015) Designing for the Common Good BIS publishers Harding, R., Broadhurst, R., Ferrante, A., & Loh, N. (1995) Aboriginal contact with the criminal justice system and the impact of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Annandale, NSW: Hawkins Press.
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Langdon, R. (1969) Job 72 Role of design in educational technology. Royal College of Art AAD/1989/9 Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum Lawrence, G. M. (2002 a) Hospital beds by design: a socio-historical account of the 'King's Fund Bed', 1960-1975 (Doctoral dissertation, University of London). Lawrence, G. M. (2002 b) Hospital beds by design: a socio-historical account of the 'King's Fund Bed', 1960-1975 (Doctoral dissertation, University of London 174-175) Lulham, R. (2015) Intensive Learning Centre Evaluation Designing Out Crime report for Corrective Services NSW Norman, D. A. (2005) Emotional design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things. Basic books. Parkinson, N (2012) L. Bruce Archer archive. Archives Hub Royal College of Art Pritchett, L., & Woolcock, M. (2004) Solutions when the Solution is the Problem: Arraying the Disarray in Development. World development, 32(2), 191-212. Speigelberg, R. (1972) Heads down in the Lloyds Life think tank The Times December 12 Swann, D. (2012) Demystifying 21st Century Healthcare Design Practice. Tester, D ed. (1974) The Lloyds Life Exercise. Student publication North Carolina State University Volume 23 Watson, R., Tomkin, D. (2013) A New Visual Aid for Designing, IASDR Conference proceedings Wood, J. (1973) Recommendations for running intensive design exercises Department of Design Research Royal College of Art Wood, J. (1975) Job 172 Ergonomic and technical evaluation of control room consoles Royal College of Art AAD/1989/9 Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum Wood, J. (1976) Job 175 Implementation of Strathclyde Police Divisional Control Rooms Royal College of Art AAD/1989/9 Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum Wortley, R., & Mazerolle, L. (Eds.). (2013) Environmental criminology and crime analysis. Willan.
About the Author: Douglas Tomkin has been at the Designing Out Crime Research Centre since 2009 involved in crime prevention projects ranging from retail theft to counter terrorism in addition to work for Correctional Services. Previously he was Head of the School of Design at the University of Technology Sydney. Douglas arrived in Sydney in 1992 following fourteen years working as a designer in Hong Kong. Earlier he spent eight years in London in research and development for the Home Office and Health Department at the Royal College of Art.
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Re-integrating Design Education: Lessons from History Peter A. Hall Central Saint Martins, UAL peter@peterahall.com DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.287
Abstract: Throughout its short history, formal design education has struggled to find a balance between imparting technical skills and fostering bigger picture, critical and conceptual thinking; and also between notions of passive and active learning. As educators become ever cognizant of a future marked by environmental crisis and accompanying complex problems of population flux, civil unrest, pollution and waste, achieving a balance between “know how” and meta-level thinking has become more pressing. The premise of this paper is that a 21st Century design education can further this goal by confronting the productivist entanglements of its past. It will argue that the lessons of its turbulent relationship with industry provide the seeds for an approach to learning that is better integrated with industry and society than conventional hypothetical studio assignments allow.
Keywords: education; reform; futuring; interdisciplinarity
Introduction The instigators and reformers of formal design education have, throughout its short history, invariably wrought their strategies from a vision—utopian or dystopian—of the future. This paper unabashedly perpetuates this practice by identifying where the threads of past reforms might hold clues for the future of design education in an uncertain future of unprecedented degrees of biophysical change and concomitant societal change. Rather than paint a picture of the history design education as the gradual establishment of a bona fide discipline within academe, the goal here is to tease out the ways in which design education has modelled itself based on its perceived relation with the future of industry and society. In doing so, an argument will be made for an outward-facing 21st Century design education that is simultaneously engaged with industry and society but disentangled from a This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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productivist ethos and a consumerist model of learning, and one which favours holistic, interdisciplinary and design-thinking based approaches to responding to complex problems.
Foundations of an Integrated Education As is well documented, formal design education emerged in the UK in the wake of the industrial revolution as part of a reform directed at what were considered poor quality machine-made artefacts. Since the teaching of design skills seemed to require a special, hands-on kind of approach different from, say, the learning of history or maths, various pedagogues endeavoured to rethink the common “learning by rote” approach, or learning about without learning how. This rethinking eventuated in apprenticeship models that were fuelled by turn-of-the-20th Century zeal for the reform of society. The Central School of Arts and Crafts opened in London in 1896, for example, as the result of a long-standing discussion about the poor standard of British manufacture and how industrialization had brought the decline of creativity and artisanship. The reference point was the Great Exhibition held at the Crystal Palace in 1851, which was regarded as a showcase for goods made around the world, and the poor quality of the British ones. Machine-made ornamentation applied to mass-produced objects was, according to a British government inquiry “degraded” (Crouch, 1999, p.23-4). Among the critics of the loss of hand skills and craftsmanship were the textile designer and socialist William Morris and the critic, painter and philanthropist John Ruskin, who argued that materials have an intrinsic quality that should not be transgressed : “your art is base if it does not bring out the distinctive qualities of that material” (Crouch, 1999, p.24). The Marxist-Romanticist zeitgeist around the Central School’s founding is apparent in both the advocacy of individual expression through craftsmanship and in the productivism present in much 19th century social, political and economic thought (Campbell, 2005, p.13): increased material production was an explicit goal of Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill (Craig, 2006, p.5). In the 21st Century, as design education confronts its own legacy in the form of the environmental damage and accompanying problems associated with this productivist “bias” (Campbell, 2005, p.13), University and College programs are increasingly turning away from design as the production of goods and manufacture of consumer desire toward more holistic, interdisciplinary and design-thinking based approaches to responding to today’s complex problems. Yet the challenge achieving this manoeuvre is that it can deprive design graduates of the very outcome for which they chose to study design in the first place: techne, or the skill of making. In a 1993 paper, Clive Dilnot argued that questions of the evaluation of education “cannot be understood without an explicit or implicit model of design-society relations coming into play” (Dilnot, 1993, p.139). The suggestion in this paper is that such a model can be furthered not by isolating or hothousing design activity in educational institutions but by turning design education inside-out so that all teaching and learning activity relates to the full relational complexity of real world design problems. A pair of “deschooling” strategies could help achieve this reorientation: Better identifying the design profession’s complicity in
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perpetuating an ecologically damaging way of being; and better recognition of everyday design and design thinking within organisations. But in addition, design education has much to gain from exploiting its ill-defined, itinerant status in the academy, as a subset of art, engineering, architecture, information technology or as a truly cross-disciplinary activity. To better exploit this position, an emphasis on design-in-society must replace the current curricula emphasis on hypothetical and formal design problems; and the educational institution should function to provide a preparation and reflection space for tackling wicked problems collaboration with industry, and society. The matter of the institution’s relationship with industry and society is absolutely central to the history and future of design education; rather than aim to eject productivism from this history, it is helpful to learn from how the past has shaped present pedagogies. For instance, one outcome of the hybridization of expression and mechanical production in the Arts and Crafts education was, in places, a progressive trans-disciplinary pedagogy based on the apprenticeship model. The founder of the Central school was the architect William Lethaby, who, with the support of William Morris and others, advocated a direct handling of tools in the classroom, and dissolving the barriers between the designer (then perceived as an abstract, intellectual calling) and the craftsman or artisan (then seen as a baser calling) (Gronberg, 1984, p.18). This approach bears a relation to what we would consider today a “thinking-through-making” and “mimetic learning” (Billett, 2015) pedagogy. The predominant 19th Century method of teaching art teachers involved copying from historical ornament, progressing painstakingly from line to geometrical form, which Morris and Ruskin felt stifled creativity. It was workers, not art teachers, they argued, who most needed training and education. Lethaby likened the dominant theoretical approach to art and design education as being like trying to learn to swim in a thousand lessons without ever getting in the water. He dispensed with paper qualifications and examinations and appointed staff who were specialist practitioners in the daytime, who taught at the school only after their main jobs were finished. Students had access to workshops in the day, and were encouraged to specialize in a particular handicraft while exploring the links between crafts: “you must go upstairs and see how stained glass windows are made and books are bound and gilding done.” (Gronberg, 1984, p.18). The fairly simple principle, that problem-solving in one medium might be informed by problem-solving in another, has a direct correlation in the digital era, as forwarded by advocates of learning through play, in both analogue and digital media. Among his 36 learning principles of videogames, James Paul Gee includes the “transfer principle” whereby skills and strategies developed in one game are applied to solve problems in another, and by extension, to problems outside of a game format – what Gee refers to as “far transfer” (Gee, 2003, 211). In a holistic model of design education, the importance of the transfer principle cannot be underestimated, as it liberates a practitioner skilled in a particular disciplinary area from a perceived obligation to solve a design brief as given. A designer with know-how beyond her specialism is thus able to solve the given problem by recommending expertise beyond her own. This becomes less a call for design polymaths than for adepts with
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disciplinary skills supported by what Gee calls metalevel thinking skills -- “active and critical thinking about the relationships of the semiotic domain being learned to other semiotic domains” (Gee, 2003, 207). A solution to a graphic user interface problem facing a Government retirement website under increased demand, for example, might be reformulated as a larger problem of rethinking the entire “user experience” from website to service centres. Conversely, a design brief to re-style a consumer hardware tool might be revised as an opportunity to establish a tool rental service, thus removing the need for disposable or barely-used tools altogether. Such scenarios were explored by Ezio Manzini’s “sustainable everyday” project (Manzini & Jegou, 2004).
Realigning Early Modernist Education If the Central School was an educational experiment drawn from a Romantic-Socialist vision of the future, subsequent institutions continued this experiment with the zeal of Modernist productivism. One of the many visitors impressed by the Central School was Hermann Muthesius, who went on to found the Deutscher Werkbund in Germany in 1907, an organisation dedicated to “the ennoblement of handiwork through the union of art, industry and handcraft” (Forgacs 1995, p.6). Its goal was to bring representatives of art, industry, crafts and trades to raise the quality of work which they felt was threatened by mechanisation. Walter Gropius, whose model factory was featured in Muthesius’s Werkbund Exhibition in 1914 in Cologne, went on to found the Bauhaus in 1918 with a rhetoric that seemed to explicitly address Marx’s dystopia of the alienated factory worker, disconnected from the products of his or her labour and “depressed spiritually and physically to the condition of a machine” (Marx, 1844, p.4). Gropius advocated a pedagogy around the “unified collective work, which conceives the creative process of design as an indivisible whole” (Wingler 1978, p.51); in place of the divided labour of the factory, where unskilled workers performed single or limited tasks, eliminating the long training period required to train craftsmen, Gropius advocated programs integrated with industry and society. He envisioned the well-trained artist having a factory at his disposal, creating new forms. One problem with Gropius’s vision is that it led not to the takeover of factories by artists, but to the supply of new forms to industry; the school was set up to counter and check the trends toward productivism, but under pressure to integrate in the dominant economic order, ended up feeding it. Among the critiques of the Bauhaus is Tony Fry’s claim, drawing from Jean Baudrillard, that the school’s bias towards art rather than industry mean that industrial products were reduced to mimic an “industrial look”. Since Bauhaus “objects, images, rhetoric, projects, personalities all existed as published representations” (Fry 1999, p.158) the school provided the means for its own dissemination and historicisation, regardless of actual produced output (of which there was famously little). Hence Baudrillard’s audacious claim that the Bauhaus marks the dawning of the object that only fully exists once it gains a sign function that transcends and directs its use function (Fry 1999, p.158): Before the Bauhaus “there were no objects” (Baudrillard, 1981, p.185). Fry adds that the Bauhaus “sought to force the future into its form. There was a fundamental failure
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inscribed in this idealism — unwittingly its zeitgeist … helped expand the unsustainable” (Fry, 1999, p.154). Rather than unceremoniously throwing out the early Modernist experiment from the canon of design education history, a case can be made in the 21st Century for realignment of emphasis. If productivism and the political economy of the sign have propelled human civilisation towards its own destruction, the prospect of an overpopulated, resourcedeprived future should also potentially inspire a re-evaluation of key historical moments. A contrasting journey to the Bauhaus’s gradual commodification was taken in Russia by the VKhUTEMAS school, founded in 1920 by a state decree signed by Lenin, to offer, “in the spirit of freedom, an extraordinarily flexible, open and experimental course of studies” (Forgács, 1995, p.186). Students and staff eschewed an education that “nurtured personal vanities” in favour of collectivism projected in a formal language of pure colours and intersecting straight lines. A curriculum influenced by Constructivism and taught by luminaries including Alexander Rodchenko, prioritized collaboration with industrial production: students progressed from colour to graphic to mass and space construction. At the Bauhaus, industrial resources were readily available, but VKhUTEMAS staff were required to perpetually improvise with limited available resources. Rodchenko was head of the metal workshop but due to lack of metal attempted to design prefabricated buildings using standardized wooden elements. Given the shortage of apartments in Russia, where families were squeezed into single rooms, assignments were dictated by “dire necessity”: “tables that a single turn could change into a seat or a workbench, or chairs that could convert into beds” (Forgács, 1995, p.191). If the Bauhaus set in motion a contemporary design education based on the object as sign and an increasingly codified, formalist education (see Grady 2006), the legacy of the VKhUTEMAS is arguably yet to be felt. It has more resonance today, as we face the tasks of designing tiny houses and smaller more flexible residences for ever-increasing human populations. Vladimir Tatlin’s rallying cry might indeed serve a contemporary design-build or service design assessment: “We need objects that are as simple and primitive as our way of life” (Forgács, 1995, p.191).
Lessons from Sixties Radicalism The contemporary landscape of design education presents a bewildering array of models, that might be arranged on a spectrum, from the “vocational” programme focused mainly on providing job-ready technical skills and know-how, to the critical-theoretical programme, focused on the critique of contemporary and historical design practices, and advocacy of new approaches. In between these poles are a number of influential models, such as the “citizen architect” approach of the Rural Studio at Auburn University, which has introduced multiyear design/build engagements with deprived communities in rural areas of Alabama, including a $20,000 house project: Student teams design and build one-bedroom homes within a small budget, based on the maximum federal housing assistance loan amount available to very low income home owners in Hale County, Alabama (Hinson, 2007, pp.24-6).
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The inherent idea is that in the experiential process of learning on-the-job “know how” the student also grasps a practical and theoretical understanding of ethics, social justice and injustice. This has gained traction in other design disciplines in educational programmes in recent years; it also underlies the research question behind the case study that will be discussed in closing: How can learning technical and practical skills be better combined with theoretical and meta-level reasoning skills via a work-integrated learning programme? (The Australian term “work-integrated learning” is preferred here to the UK term “work-based learning” because the latter tends to imply that the learning happens in the workplace. While the scenario of a solo student on secondment in a professional workplace is also common in Australia, the term “integrated” allows for an alternative model: the “live” project is imported into the classroom, arguably more in the spirit of Lethaby’s Central School model, with its teachers imported from industry.) Before discussion of the case study, however, it is helpful to better develop the overview of historical design education reforms and their larger contexts begun at the outset of this paper. Of particular interest is the role of student activism in triggering reforms; this might be seen as a counter to the autopoietic drive of institutions and professions to sustain themselves. In the philosophy of Niklas Luhmann, this drive is commonly in spite of the environmental complexity (and the ecological problems) in which these institutions exist: “The primary goal of autopoietic systems is the continuation of autopoiesis without any concern for the environment” (Luhmann, 1989, p.12). Student activism provides a reasonably reliable indicator of situations in which institutions (or systems) have become impervious to the currents of change underway in the larger environment. When the architect Mies van der Rohe was appointed director of the Bauhaus in 1930, students suspected reactionary tendencies and demanded that he exhibit his work “to enable them to decide whether or not he was qualified to direct the Bauhaus. (Mies called in the police, and several students were expelled from the school) (Forgács, 1995, p.194). With its founding in 1920, the VKhUTEMAS reflected the demands of an art school student conference in 1918, where students argued for an arts education free of “petty egotism” and free of “diplomas, ranks, awards and privileges”. Fifty years later, students at the Hornsey College of Art in London staged a sit-in, calling for a major review of an anachronistic art curriculum, and critiquing the education system at the time in a document published as The Hornsey Project. Students, no doubt inspired by concurrent events in Paris in May 1968, called for the abolition of entrance requirements, exams and student control of whatever took their place. A context for the 1968 events is provided, post-event, by Ivan Illich’s radical critique of institutionalized education, in which he argued that true public education requires the “deschooling of society”. Institutionalized schooling, argued Illich, has resulted in pupils confusing teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence and fluency with the ability to say something new (Illich, 1971, p.3). In place of institutionalized education that seeks ultimately to maintain itself and the status quo, Illich argued for a self-directed, incidental and informal education, supported by social relations:
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“educational webs which heighten the opportunity for each one to transform each moment of his living into one of learning, sharing, and caring” (Illich, 1971, p.2). Like Illich, Fry argues that we are taught ways of knowing and acting in professional and nonprofessional lives that replicate “specific forms of the unsustainable.” (Fry 2009, p.174). He makes a case for a broader sense of education, beginning with “a reflective interrogation of one’s knowledge, to begin to identify what one has formally and informally learnt and what in hindsight, can be seen as “an induction into error”” (Fry, 2011, p.214). The implication that education is bigger, longer, and more important than what happens in classes is echoed in the writings of the designer and anarchist Norman Potter. Together with a group of architects, designers, a philosopher and English language specialist, Potter set up the Construction School in Bristol in 1964, which drew in part from Lethaby’s approach to an artisan, workshop-orientated design education. One of the School’s goals was to set up a three-year design course without specialisation, leading to various areas of design including architecture (a degree in which was completed in an additional two years). Students were introduced to an intellectually demanding first year concerned with problem-solving and communication; the second year opened out into workshop practice and technical studies in wood, metals and plastics; and the third year linked disciplines in exhibition design. The school achieved a noted level of critical discussion, strong student-centred learning ethos and a high standard of work. Potter, who started writing What is a Designer after the revolts of 1968, when he joined the students at Hornsey college of Art, argues that the beginner can draw confidence from the same source as a seasoned designer once it is realised that the foundations of judgement in design are “rooted in ordinary life and in human concerns not in some quack professionalism” (Potter, 2002, p.95). This brings us to the identity crisis that perhaps prohibits a full confrontation within design education. If design judgement is rooted in ordinary life and human concerns, then what is the purpose of a formal design education? Illich, Fry and Potter would argue that most of the time it is there to uphold the status quo and control who gets to call themselves a professional designer. A profession, according to Potter, can become a “self-protection society with a very short term view of the priorities for professional competence” (Potter, 2002, p.22). At the same time, both Fry and Potter clearly see another more subversive or empowering role for design education. The question is quite dramatically thrashed out in the spaces of learning we inhabit. In the workshops and labs, under close supervision, students learn by watching and doing; in tutorials and seminars, students learn by discussing, presenting and debating; in lectures, students learn by watching and listening. But this is not a neat segregation of spaces and methods, nor is it free of controversy. According to Jacques Rancière, the theatre and the classroom are alike in that both seek to dissolve the very thing on which they are premised, the distance between the stage and the audience, between the “expert” and the student (Rancière, 2014, p.8). On the stage is the teacher whose aim is to dissolve the gap between
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his “expert” knowledge and the students’ ignorance. This distance must be sequentially dissolved and reconstructed; because if the students knew as much as their teacher, then what is the teacher doing on the stage? The teacher achieves this by remaining one step ahead of the students. Unless, as Rancière argues, we follow the lesson of the ignorant schoolmaster, which argues for the equality of intelligence, that all learning is achieved by individuals comparing what is in front of them (what they don’t know) with what they do know. In a direct challenge to the theories of the Frankfurt School, which tended to paint a more pessimistic picture of the brainwashed masses, Rancière draws from the ideas of Joseph Jacotot, a French schoolteacher who developed during the Restoration a method for showing illiterate parents how they could teach their children how to read (Rancière, 1987 p.vii). The ignorant schoolteacher has “uncoupled his mastery from his knowledge. He does not teach his pupils his knowledge but orders them to venture into the forest of things and signs, to say what they have seen and what they think of what they have seen, to verify it and have it verified” (Rancière, 2014, p.17). This suggests that schooling needs to achieve a blend of modes to facilitate this process of saying what has been seen and what one thinks of it, verifying it and having it verified: I show you a thing, an idea or concept in the lecture; you go to the tutorial and say what you have seen, compare it to what you know, and say what you think you have learned. This is verified in class or in a paper, a sketch, model, prototype, schematic, map or final rendering. It was suggested earlier that the late 19th and early 20th Century versions of visions of design education prioritized artisanship and its integration in society for the improvement of living conditions, yet slipped so easily into feeding new forms, fashions and obsolescence to a consumer culture whose doppelganger was environmental destruction. In the 21 st Century, we know that design problems cannot simply be solved with a neat logo, a road tunnel, waterfront regeneration or a shopping mall. Design problems are complex and require an understanding of relational systems, of the potential impacts of bringing a design into the world. Understanding dynamic systems and our role in those systems is the first part of changing our impact on those systems. This calls for an ability to navigate complex problems and research them. As John Seely Brown argued in a PBS documentary on 21 st Century learning, “In a world of rapid change, the need to memorize something is a 20th century skill. The need to navigate in a buzz of confusion and to figure out how to trust the information that you find, if you can feel confident doing that, the world is yours” (PBS 2013). But at the same time, for a design student to become a professional capable of contributing to complex problem tackling requires a recognisable skillset. The importance of strong craft, visualization and technical skills, it would seem, is that they give the designer an opportunity to exercise organisational, participatory planning, brainstorming, stage setting -- in short, design thinking -- skills. This, then, is one reason why it becomes necessary to cultivate a recognisable know-how or techne; for the designer to earn a seat at the negotiating table.
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Case Study A closing case study aims to address the question raised earlier, how can learning technical and practical skills be better combined with theoretical and meta-level reasoning skills via a work-integrated learning programme? The LiveSpace design studio, established by the author and colleagues at Queensland College of Art in 2013, creates a simulation of a professional studio in the classroom, supporting work-integrated learning on real-world projects scaffolded by higher order thinking. This aims at creating a form of “mimetic” learning, which can potentially also present an opportunity to “transform what constitutes…occupational practice.” (Billett, 2014, p.100). Billett suggests that when individuals engage in work activities for specific purposes, they are “actively remaking that occupational practice, thereby realising its continuity”. This act of remaking can either perpetuate existing practices in changing circumstances, or it can “contribute to the transformation of what constitutes that occupational practice” (Billett, 2014, p.13). Project-based learning at LiveSpace supports the development of practical design-build and prototyping skills along with time management, client communication and team-based learning. A larger curricular context emphasises futural, participatory and sustainable design practices. LiveSpace projects to date have explored a number of critical issues relating to environmental crisis. For example, a project with a local museum established an interactive exhibition aimed at introducing high school children to the problem of electronic waste. Another current project with a local annual festival explores low impact fixtures and street furniture that can be easily moved and disassembled, in line with concurrent learning around the increasing importance of moveable architecture amid extreme weather events and itinerant refugee populations. Finally, a project with a counselling service and University based suicide prevention clinic developed scenarios and personas for testing the viability of an app-based software programme for self-monitoring mood and anxiety. All three projects purposely move the design project beyond traditional client-designer relations where the brief arrives “pre-cooked”. Instead they support “redirecting” (Fry, 2007) the client brief so that meta-level questions can be used to reframe the given problem. In the scaffolded environment of LiveSpace, students are arguably able to test redirective strategies in authentic scenarios, contributing to the remaking of practice. Mimetic learning describes how, prior to industrial and institutionalized education, people learned occupational skills in the workplace. “Rather than novices being taught or even guided, the key responsibility was for them to actively learn the occupation… There was evidence of arrangements for novices to engage in work activities incrementally and progressively in developing the capacities required to practice the particular occupation” (Billett, 2014, p.vii). One challenge with work-integrated learning or placements today, however, is familiar to any design student who has been told by his or her employer to “forget everything they’ve learned at University”. This is particularly problematic when the
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program of study purposely sets out to redefine and reinvent the vocation for which the student is being prepared. Yet as Billett argues, in the history of mimetic learning it is inconceivable that the apprentice would not, in some way, remake the practice while learning it. This idea echoes Rancière’s case for the emancipated spectator and the student of the ignorant schoolmaster, the student who learns by comparing and verifying what she has seen. The anthropologist Tim Ingold argues that skills are not in fact passed on by learning rules or pre-formed representations, but by “placing novices in situations where they engage in active processes of perception, action and attention; this remaking takes the form of guided re-discovery” which is analogous to Billett’s concept of remaking and potential transforming. “That remaking can comprise the mere rehearsal and remaking of what has gone on before, albeit in changing circumstances, or it can contribute to the transformation of what constitutes that occupational practice” (Billett, 2014, p.13). To support such a transformation, argues Billett, an educational program needs to prepare students for the work-integrated learning experience, (including the kinds of “forget everything you’ve learned” contestations) and also to provide opportunities for students to compare and contrast their work experiences during and after the event. This, as Rancière noted, is a part of learning, to say what you have seen and what you think of what you have seen, to verify it and have it verified. In many ways, this account of reflective learning provides for the missing portion of the idealistic educational reforms discussed earlier in the paper; because it allows for the individual to reinterpret knowledge – whether it is the knowledge learned on the job, in the lecture theatre or from the designed artefacts that designers have sent out into the world. Rancière, Ingold and Billett, in this sense, are providing a better account of how design works in the world – rather than how it works on the drawing board or in the computer. Acknowledgements: The case study in this paper is adapted from research with colleagues at Griffith University Queensland College of Art
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Fry, T. (1999). A new design philosophy: an introduction to defuturing. Sydney: UNSW Press. Fry, T. (2007). Redirective practice: An elaboration. Design Philosophy Papers 5(1) 5-20. Fry, T. (2011). Design as politics. Oxford; New York: Berg. Gee, J. (2003). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan. Grady, M. (2006). Art and consciousness—the pedagogy of art and transformation. Visual Arts Research 32 (1), 83-91 Gronberg, T. (1984). William Richard Lethaby and the Central School of Arts and Crafts. WR Lethaby 1857-1931: Architecture Design and Education. Edited by Sylvia Backemeyer and Theresa Gronberg. London: Lund Humphries Hinson, D. (2007 ). Design as research: learning from doing in the design-build studio.” Journal of Architectural Education, 23-26 Illich, I. (1971). Deschooling society. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Luhmann, N. (1989). Ecological communication. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Manzini, E & Jegou, F. (2003). Sustainable Everyday: Scenarios of Everyday Life. Milan: Edizione Ambiente. Marx, K. (1844). Economic and philosophic manuscripts of 1844. Web, accessed 15 November 2015. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm PBS. (2013). “Digital media: New learners of the 21st century.” Tuesday September 3, 2013. Web https://vimeo.com/20018135. Accessed 15 November 2015. Potter, N. (2002). What is a designer? London: Hyphen Press. Rancière, J. (1987). The ignorant schoolmaster. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Rancière, J. (2014).The emancipated spectator. London and New York: Verso Books. Wingler, H. (1978). The Bauhaus. Cambridge Mass and London, England: The MIT Press.
About the Author: Peter A. Hall is a design writer and course leader of the BA Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. He was previously head of the Bachelor of Design Futures at Queensland College of Art, Australia
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(Re)working the Past, (Dis)playing the Future. Italy: The New Domestic Landscape at MoMA, 1972 Ingrid Halland Rashidi University of Oslo, Norway i.h.rashidi@ifikk.uio.no DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.359
Abstract: Would a work—a painting, a building, a chair or a display—always operate within the framework of human intention? To bring thinking into the future, there is a need for future-focused methodologies. In this paper I will re-work the past by addressing the agency beyond human intention. By using the 1972 MoMA exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” as the empirical case, the paper will show how not only humans conceptualize reality, but things themselves have the capacity to display the future. Keywords: nonhuman agency; ontology; display; climate change
In July 1972 journalist Bill Marvel of The National Observer visited the most talked about NYC event of the summer, the groundbreaking exhibition at the MoMA, “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” (INDL).1 The exhibition displayed both the achievements and the problems of Italian design, it displayed objects and environments, it displayed utopia and dystopia, it displayed both the past and the future, and, it displayed the making and unmaking of—in the words of The New York Times—“…our ultimate environment, the planet earth” (Skurka, 1972). In Bill Marvel’s review, this uncertainty and ambiguity of what exactly was on display permeated the text. In the ingress of the review Marvel captured not only an uncertainty of the role of designers, but also an ontological uncertainty of the role of things:
1
As described in the press, INDL was hitherto the largest and most expensive exhibition at the museum: “On the morning of May 26, 1972, anyone passing the New York’s Museum of Modern Art in West 53rd St., would have seen a great many people excitedly awaiting the opening of the biggest and most expensive exhibition ever given at the Museum. The exited wait for this colossal event was not at all dampened by the news spread by the press” (Natalini, 1972). “There is no doubt that ‘Italy: The New Domestic Landscape’ is a dazzling show, perhaps the most complex and ambitious that the Museum of Modern Art has mounted so far” (Degener, 1972).
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“Are designers the solution, or are they part of the problem? Can designers bring on the millennium by creating objects that are rational humane, or have designers already cluttered our lives with too many things we don’t need, things that waste resources and space and that end up owning us?” (Marvel, 1972, my emphasis)
Design is not simply a series of stylistic operations, but conveys a more fundamental, a more encompassing understanding of the relations and interactions between humans and the world. Design mediates a play between human and nonhuman objects. Also, a temporal notion is at work. Design is working with the past and playing with the future. Yet, this definition must be followed by a political one. Design is always in conflict between moral, political and even ontological disputes. Is it so, then, that designers make things that end up owning us? The world in which we now live is different than before. This arguably banal statement is not, however, meant in a metaphorical and general sense but rather in literal one referring to the geological era of the Anthropocene in which human presence and impact into the world is now an irreversible matter of fact.1 Furthermore, an indisputable fact is that this geological change will have vast ontological implications. In the Anthropocene, the longheld barriers between nature and culture are breaking down. The subject/object dualism inherited from the Enlightenment, subtly but radically shifted thought about reality from questions of ontology (being) to questions about epistemology (knowing). Knowing was placed before being, epistemology before ontology, and this privileged humans over all other objects, which were defined in terms of their relationship to human subjects. Put briefly, objects existed only by the virtue of how they were known and signified by human subjects. Within recent years, however, certain fields of research within the humanities have objected to this Cartesian dualism, and movements within ‘the material turn’ such as new materialism/thing theory, ANT and object-oriented ontology have suggested a corrective. Humans have exploited natural resources to the point of catastrophe. Scholars such as Timothy Morton, Jane Bennett and Manuel DeLanda have suggested that in order to confront the catastrophe there is a need to destabilize the ontological hierarchy inherited from Western Enlightenment philosophy that established humans as the superior power in the world. Global warming is inflicting every aspect of the world, also within academic research. How do we establish a posthumanist approach to design history? In design research ANT has received severe resonance, and within the last two decades many scholars have contributed to show how designed objects is constituted by both human and nonhuman actants—with the special issue of CoDesign “Designing Things Together: Intersections of Co-Design and Actor-Network Theory” as the most recent example. In ANT, the world exists of both humans and nonhumans who in turn are connected through a network of relations—a dynamic immaterial structure where nothing starts and nothing ends: only connections and relations in motion. The actors in actor-network theory can be 1
“The Anthropocene” were coined as both concept and term in the year 2000, by the Nobel Prize-winning Dutch chemist Paul J. Crutzen.
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compared to knots in this complex rhizome and can be either human or nonhuman. In ANT all entities (human and nonhuman) are seen as active contributors that possess agency to act the same way humans do. Action is thus an effect by the relations in the network and all action must be considered relational and intertwined in social practices. As such, entities are a relational effect of its association with other entities, as John Law explains: “…entities have no inherent qualities: essentialist divisions are thrown out on the bonfire of dualisms… there are no divisions” (Law & Hassard, 1999, p. 3). Echoing Law, this approach is utilized to connect ANT and participatory design in the special issue of CoDesign: “In ANT, things do not have essential or absolute qualities. On the contrary, they are formed in collectives of other things, of actor-networks and are always intimately entangled in practices” (Andersen, Danholt, Halskov, Hansen, & Lauritsen, 2015). However, as suggested by Bill Brown in the anthology Things, things exist independently of—or adjacent to—human perception of the things (Brown, 2004). This argument is also the kernel of a recent development in philosophy, object-oriented ontology. Things are not dependent on how they appear to us, they are not constructed by human behavior or are a result of social relations. Things are entities which exist in their own right, and are not confined by human intention. By the act of emphasizing being—and not knowing—theorists within object-oriented ontology argues that nonhumans will then exist in their own right and not as mere backgrounds for human representations. This theoretical approach evokes a posthumanist reality where humans become one thing among all other things. However, this does not necessarily imply ontological equality. Different objects in different contexts can assume greater or lesser importance, but essentially, this philosophical approach decenters humans. In the Anthropocene, the relationship between design and nature needs to be reworked. We need a deeper understanding how both human and nonhuman agents is working and playing in different situations. For no object exists merely as a representation for some other object. No object exists by virtue of its correlation to some subject. Objects are agents, existing and acting in their own right, and if we want to explore and understand an event, for instance, a display, we must give an empirical account for the agency of both humans and nonhumans. In this paper, Brown’s approach will form the outset of the inquiry which in turn aims to explore how design historical research can advance towards a destabilization of human hierarchy. Research conducted in the theoretical framework of a posthumanist reality, is often criticized for not have much to offer except to say that nonhumans have as much agency as humans do. In humanistic research over the last decade there have been many attempts to locate nonhuman agency, and many attempts have been made to move beyond what Quentin Meillassoux calls correlationism (Meillassoux, 2008).1 Do things; a mug, my computer, a house, waste, the ozone layer, a display, Harry Potter, and absence, have as much agency as humans do? If this rule holds true, it must be somehow possible to locate it, even also prove it historically. My claim is that it is not enough to emphasize being over knowing, and it is not sufficient to merely establish the ontological fact. This article will 1
See also (Barad, 2007; Bogost, 2012; Olsen, 2010).
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claim that the display at MoMA brought a new ontology into the world, and that this bringing into the world happened beyond human conception. To give a persuasive account of agency and how it is displayed through materials there is a need to go back in time. In this paper I will attempt to locate the nonhuman agency in INDL on two different levels. First, in one of the works on display: Gaetano Pesce’s environment The Period of the Great Contaminations and then, in the exhibition itself. In this paper I will go back to the future, or at least, where the future was displayed, back to an elevator shaft at the MoMA in 1972, where the nonhuman agency of the material evoked both climate change and a posthumanist reality.
Human agency “Everybody who designed every chair you ever sat in or every house you ever heard of came to the invitational opening Tuesday night” (Conroy, 1972). The vernissage of “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” was, according to the press, the event of the summer. The designer Marcel Breuer was cited in The Washington Post describing the display “clever, imaginative and playful.” Charles Eames, I.M. Pei and Philip Johnson were quoted by the same newspaper as impressed by the exhibition’s bold theoretical postulations (Conroy, 1972). The New York Times described the exhibition as the largest in MoMA’s history: “… the provocative ideas represented in the Italian show at the MoMA, may well make this the most exciting and controversial design and architectural exhibition seen in many decades” (Reif, 1972). The exhibition was hitherto one of the most visited shows at MoMA: “That so many people came back to see this Supershow so many times is a fact that the museum is proud of […] an unusually high percentage of the total 266,206 ticket buyers were on their second—or more—time around” (DeNeve, 1972). Curator of Design at MoMA, the young Argentinian architect Emilio Ambasz—who had planned the exhibition for several years—used Italy as a micro-model where a wide range of possibilities, limitations and critical issues of design were brought into sharp focus. As stated in the exhibition catalogue: “The purpose of this exhibition, therefore, is not only to report on the current developments in Italian design, but to use these as a concrete frame of reference for a number of issues of concern to designers all over the world” (Ambasz, 1972a, p. 19). The exhibition addressed the ever more pressing global challenges concerning consumption, poverty and pollution. One reviewer even criticized INDL for being too concerned with the problems of the world: “But the whole works—exhibit, catalog, items on display—is also an example of the hubris that reigns these days in the design profession, both conservative and radical wings. Anyone who has attended one of the big design confabs at Aspen has been caught up in the sweaty atmosphere of save-the-world evangelism” (Marvel, 1972).
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In both design and architecture history INDL is often referred to as a pioneering and controversial exhibition.1 The exhibition marked a final end to the sleek Scandinavian design idiom and introduced and established Italian design—with its bold colors, playful idiom, synthetic materials and advanced molding techniques—as the most significant design discourse (Coles & Rossi, 2013). The exhibition title led one to expect a display of objects and pragmatic design solutions for the domestic, everyday environment. However, the press described the objects as futuristic solutions that nobody would want in their home. There were many reasons why the display was considered controversial. First, the exhibition had a clear political agenda. The design groups Superstudio, Archizoom and Gruppo Strum opposed the act of design: the world did not need more objects, and all three design groups participated in the exhibition with radical anti-design. Second, curator Emilio Ambasz had turned MoMA into a ‘cybertopia’ where TV screens, projectors, movies, sound installations, music, and digital texts invited audience into an encompassing multimedia experience. And finally, the exhibition was founded on an ambitious theoretical premise that had been articulated at Ambasz’ symposium “Institutions for a Post-Technological Society” at MoMA 8-9 January 1972. The notable list of conference participants included the most distinguished scholars in European and American intellectual discourse at the time.2 The theoretical framework that suffused the exhibition was cybernetics, theories of networks, social psychology, semiotics, and as stated in the catalogue “the metaphysics of the nonhuman environment.”3
Dark is the atmosphere. The finality of history The exhibition was divided into two sections, the exhibition started in the MoMA Garden with the section entitled “Objects” and ended inside the museum with the “Environments” section. The “Objects” section in the Garden displayed 180 commercial products of the most acclaimed Italian designers of the late 1960s until 1972 (Figure 1). The objects were mounted in tall mini-skyscraper wood cases, behind glass windows. Several reviewers questioned the meaning of the evident commodity fetishism of luxury products in an exhibition that problematized consumer society. Although reviewers almost unanimously gave critical acclaim to the innovative, creative, elegant and irresistible Italian products, the display in the Garden was interpreted as an ironic comment on the present-day consumer society.
1
For research on the exhibition see: chapter 5 “Italian Design and the New Political Landscape” in (Scott, 2010, pp. 116149). 2 As described by Scott: The Advisory Board for the conference, who also functioned as the peer-review committee, included Stanford Anderson, Rosalind Krauss, Carl Schorske, Peter Eisenman, Joseph Rykwert, Abraham Moles, Suzanne Keller and Emilio Ambasz. Conference participants were Henri Lefebvre, Alain Touraine, Michel Foucault, Martin Pawley, Octavio Paz, Tomás Maldonado, Umberto Eco, Hannah Arendt, Jean Baudrillard, Christopher Alexander, Gyorgy Kepes, Manuel Castells, Gillo Dorfles, Ronald Dworkin, Meyer Schapiro, Sheldon Wolin, Anatol Rapoport, Richard L. Meier. Those who reluctantly declined the invitation on account of other commitments included Louis Althusser, Roman Jakobsen, and Roland Barthes. 3 See (Scott, 2010).
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Figure 1: Installation view of the exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape”, MoMA, New York, 26 May to 11 September 1972. Photo: Ingrid Halland Rashidi/MoMA Archive.
As Adolfo Natalini, one of the founders of Superstudio, noted: “Italian design, shut up in the wooden towers of a parody of Manhattan […] is shown in these pharaonic chambers through a series of heroic acts, of grand gestures perhaps, bravura pieces that under the spotlights become the last act of a mysterious melodrama” (Natalini, 1972, p. 469). Ambasz was, together with his assistant Thomas Czarnowski, responsible for the design of the wooden skyscraper cases that according to critic Rose DeNeve was “to symbolize the transitory yet beautiful nature of the Objects, and created the illusion of a giant and grotesque Fifth Avenue of Italian design” (DeNeve, 1972). Although the individual commercial objects were admired by both visitors and the press, there was a general impression amongst the reviewers that the objects were too avant-garde. The objects on display were not relatable to ordinary people, as one visitor uttered: the objects “dehumanized the furnishings.”1 The second part of the exhibition was 11 specially commissioned full-scale environments displayed in the entire East Wing of the museum. Ambasz had put together a ‘Call for participation’ which had been sent out to invited designers such as Ettore Sottsass, Joe Colombo, Gae Aluenti, Mario Bellini and Marco Zanuso. The design process commenced
1
Textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen quoted in (Huxtable, 1972).
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with the designers elaborating their designs in drawings and texts. Then Ambasz responded to almost all of the propositions with a request of moving further into the unknown. 1 He demanded more radical solutions and more futuristic thinking. The final 11 environments presented in the museum answered Ambasz’ directions in a highly diverse and multifaceted way, but although environments were uttermost diverse and multifaceted design solutions, they all seemed to have references to a futuristic dystopia. One upset visitor wrote to the museum: “The exhibition is cleverly installed […], but it seems to me horrible and repulsive. I would not been caught dead in any of those ‘environments’, and I would certainly not live in any of them.”2 A journalist reported that the display “tends to recall astronauts’ descriptions of the Moon as a lonely and dangerous place” ("Letter from America," 1972). The reviewers’ references to outer space and to Sci-Fi movies, such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork’s Orange, were frequent. The Building Design described the exhibition as a stunning spectacle, however “’Clockwork Orange’ is its parallel. Dark is the atmosphere; chill the air. Cool, plastic and flashing” (Kay, 1972). Likewise, in another review the exhibition “resemble[d] nothing [more] as a lunar landscape—or furnishings out of some futuristic spaceship” (DeNeve, 1972). Furthermore, one reviewer commented that humans apparently didn’t belong in this environment: “[The display] is admirably efficient. But, like so many of the immaculate living spaces on display and the sterile little plastic things meant to furnish them, it leaves very little room for human cussedness” (Marvel, 1972). And finally, Vogue recommended the exhibition to their readers: “For a glimpse of, in H.G. Wells’s words, ‘Things to come’, see Italy: The New Domestic Landscape. It’s a shocker, an eye-opener, and an informative, beautifully conceived show that defines the esthetic of the space age for the first time” (Rose, 1972). The “Environments” section was considered ambiguous, intriguing and complex. As written in Casabella: “[…] the environments functioned as an instrument of criticism to reinforce doubts of the finality or relativity of history. The projection into the future goes beyond predictable future goals and utopia itself” ("Radical Design," 1972). The projection into the future was emphasized by a pervasive techno-utopia that seemed to cause a somewhat disturbing effect: “The very layout of the show is a sign of the problem, for it is itself grossly overdesigned. Visitors are not invited in to take a look around and form some ideas; they are firmly directed through a program” (Marvel, 1972). The program in question was a brand-new multimedia system by the manufacturer Olivetti. The Implicor System was present in several parts of the “Environment” section and was put together by the artist Umberto Bignardi, who had selected photographs of varied architectural, anthropological and political content—refined them into line drawings, and converted them into 2500 slides. The slides were programmed onto 32 slide projectors and rear projected on numerous special mirrors, which both served as viewing screens and reflected light from the opposite 1
Ambasz’ response to Joe Colombo initial design was as follows: “The Review Committee has met to consider the proposals submitted to it. Although they liked the approach that yours represents, they are aware that it belongs to an already known family of solutions.” Letter from Ambasz to Colombo, 06.13.1971. The Museum of Modern Art Archives, NY. MoMA Exhs. 1004.10. 2 Letter signed ‘Your cantankerous Member’. The Museums of Modern Art Archives, NY. MoMA Exhs. 1004.147
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walls. The projections were synchronized by a studio tape unit, one track regulated the slide feed, and the other carried the audio portion to the amplifier and the speakers.1 Finally, in the review entitled “Home Was Never Like This” the journalist Norma Skurka concluded with the following postulate: “[The environments on display] are meant to shock us into changing outmode ideas about the way we live. Their message? Our very lives depend on curbing consumption and limiting expansion in order to preserve our ultimate environment, the planet earth” (Skurka, 1972).
The Period of the Great Contaminations One of the environments on display was a two-level room cast in brown polyurethane designed by Gaetano Pesce (Figure 2). The structure was isolated from the other environments and mounted at the bottom of an elevator shaft on the ground floor in the East Wing. Audience could enter the claustrophobic square bunker, and apart from two video screens that showed two naked people walking around in the bunker, the environment didn’t contain any objects or furniture. The work played with the notion of temporality. The bunker was discovered underground in northern Italy in an archaeological excavation in the year AD 3000 and the archeologist was Pesce himself. After researching the underground shelter, the archaeologist assigned the structure to the year 2000 and the room was then completely excavated and moved to MoMA. The reason why humans had to seek shelter underground in the year 2000 was not quite clear—but the archeologist concluded that an immense cataclysm must have been a factor. The archeologist stated that it somehow had become impossible for humans to breathe, and they had to withdraw from the surface of the earth. The New York Times quoted the wife of the Italian ambassador, Mrs. Egidio Ortona, who described her feeling when experiencing the environment: “…an extreme point of view—a warning of what might happen if we are not careful”(Huxtable, 1972).
1
All information on Olivetti’s Implicor System, see MoMA Exhs, 1004.15.
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Figure 2 : Reproduction of Gaetano Pesce’s environment, scale 1:10. Photo: Centre Pompidou.
Nonhuman agency Would a work—a painting, a building, a chair or a display—always operate within the framework of human intention? To bring thinking into the future, there is a need for futurefocused methodologies. In this section I will re-work the past by addressing the agency beyond human intention. By using “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” as the empirical case, I will show how not only humans conceptualize reality, but that things themselves have the capacity to display the future. As it happens, the environments in INDL are allowing this approach through their design. In the previously mentioned “Design Program” Emilio Ambasz wrote the following beneath the subtitle “The metaphysics of the nonhuman environment”: “[…] the environment[s] should be so designed as to permit us to improvise ceremonies and gestures, the meaning of which we need not to be conscious of at the time of their spontaneous performance, but of which we may become aware afterward, when we reinterpret them. Underlying the proposal of such a feasible, nonrepressive environmental arrangement is the basic premise that man’s actions and visions are irrational; only after the word is pronounced and the deed committed can we assign it a possible logical structure to describe its purposes and explain its laws.” (Ambasz, 1972b, p. 145, my emphasis)
In the INDL exhibition the metaphysics of the nonhuman environment takes its departure from this statement. Inscribed in the design, then, is the basic premise that man’s actions and visions are irrational. This premise allows for an inquiry of the nonhuman agency of Gaetano Pesce’s environment and in the exhibition itself. According to Ambasz, both his
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own and Pesce’s actions are thus irrational, and only when the deed of designing the environment (and the exhibition) is committed, it becomes possible to “describe its purposes and explain its laws”. To depend solely on human agency when scrutinizing the purposes of the INDL exhibition, would therefore lead to an irrational conclusion. In the following, I will advance towards describing and explaining the metaphysics of the nonhuman environment, in respectively, Pesce’s environment and in INDL itself. My claim will be that the nonhuman agency is not necessarily confined by human intention, and that the material did something on its own that both Pesce and Ambasz did not anticipate.
To evoke a situation In Gaetano Pesce’s dystopian environment humans had to withdraw from the surface of the earth by the year 2000. Pesce’s intention of the exact reason to why humans had to withdraw from the earth’s surface was unclear. The archeologist from the year 3000 could only speculate on why it was impossible to breath and humans had to isolate themselves in a plastic bunker. In the catalogue Pesce (or is it the archeologist from AD 3000?) is listing possible, but vague, situations. Amongst many situations, we can read: “Incompatibility between human environment and the atmosphere”, “Need for isolation”, “Rejection of human contact”, “Non-communication as a characteristic of life”, “Decline of the technological dream”, “Insecurity as the prospect of the future”, “Tendency to overcome fear through inflating the idea of death” (Ambasz, 1972a, p. 216). However, the brown polyurethane bunker, unintendedly, confirmed that the situation in question was in fact global warming. Humans had to withdraw from the surface of the earth, and isolate themselves in the plastic bunker because human beings had destroyed our ultimate environment—planet earth. Moreover, Pesce himself confirmed this in a talk, recorded on video, with Peter Lang at The Architecture Foundation in 2013: “When I presented this project, I presented it as an archaeologist. Not as a designer, not as an architect. I am an archaeologist from the year 3000 discovering in north of Italy, underground, in a huge cavern, an empty cavern. Supposedly from oil. This cavern is empty. Three years later in Europe, there was the crisis of oil. [...] I said 'people had decided to go and live inside earth.’ Why? Maybe because outside [it] is impossible to breath. Interesting, later, it came out, the story of the pollution—it was interesting. Because with a project you are able to evoke a situation that was coming two or three years later.”1
At a first glance, this statement might not seem very controversial. Pesce is saying that pollution was not one of his (the archeologist) situations of why people needed to withdraw from the surface of the earth. He had suggested that one of the possible situations was an “incompatibility between human environment and the atmosphere”, but at the time, pollution was not thought of as one of the reasons for the incompatibility. However, the crisis of oil emerged, and the story of pollution became more pervasive, and the work itself came to display its own intentions. Yet, in this quote, Pesce is not only adding and confirming 1 Gaetano
Pesce in conversation with Peter Lang. “Architecture on Film: Italy – The New Domestic Landscape, MoMA, 1972 + Q&A with Gaetano Pesce and Peter Lang.” The Architecture Foundation 28.11.2013.
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something unintended, he is re-working causality. Pesce is saying that the project “evoked a situation that was coming two or three years later”. Evoke, meaning to draw forth, or produce, or to summon—that is to request to appear.1 Did the environment cause global warming? Did the agency of the polyurethane bunker at MoMA itself evoke the oil crisis, pollution and global warming? Then, the causality would be reversed. The effect then causes the cause. In that situation, The Period of the Great Contaminations evoked the period of the great contaminations. This conclusion would not be that far-fetched if we take the design of Pesce’s environment into consideration. The environment was, in fact, designed so that actions at the time would be irrational, but when the deed was committed, it became possible to describe its purposes and to explain its laws. Through design, then, through Pesce’s dystopian environment, the environmental future was evoked.
People pollution In August 1972 journalist Fred Steckhahn wrote a review of INDL in the journal After Dark entitled “Art, Ecology and the Future”. After describing the outset and the premise of the exhibition, the criticism became harsh: “It’s not the subject matter, the different approaches [to] design concept[s] or the effective display I critize [sic.], but the purpose. If this exhibition is to illustrate the design concepts, the entire show is spurious and a complete waste of time. It’s obvious that these Italian designers are ignorant of the basic laws of ecology, since practically every object is made from a synthetic or plastic” (Steckhahn, 1972). Steckhahn then refers to two articles in The New York Times, (Sept 25th and October 2nd 1971) by the ecologist Barry Commoner, who had warned the public that all of earth’s ecosystems were threatened. Echoing Commoner, Steckhahn wrote that manmade materials, such as plastics “require tremendous amount of energy to produce […] and this energy will never re-enter the eco-system”. Therefore, argues Steckhahn, plastics are indestructible and cannot be recycled: “Whatever the future brings us, we can only hope it won’t be more plastic” (Steckhahn, 1972). Steckhahn ended the review with a most gloomy conclusion: “I’m pessimistic as to whether man’s drive to procreate will abate in ensuing decades. I hope so. More people, of course, mean more ‘people pollution’ and more polluting products. It’s not funny, but Italy: The New Domestic Landscape is a killer” (Steckhahn, 1972). INDL was a killer. Like the reviewers had pointed out: this was no place for humans. Nobody would want to live in those environments. The use of synthetics and plastics dehumanized the objects. The furniture—modular systems of latex foam, steel frames, molded plastics shells, stacking plastic chairs and molded plastic tables—were polluting the world. ‘Domestic pollution’, as one of the newspaper reviews was titled. However, humans were not only polluting the world with things, but in Steckhahn’s words, with our selves. The exhibition removed humans from the environment. Journalist Meredith Palmer, titled her review “Environmental Future Shock at MoMA“, and suggested that through design, humans
1
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=evoke&searchmode=none
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had degenerated the ontological status of ourselves: “Emilio Ambasz has put together an exhibition that changes our ideas of design, and in this prophetic implications of life in the 21st century further reduces man’s feeling of importance on this planet, by design solutions focused on encapsulated living spaces” (Palmer, 1972, my emphasis). The intended theoretical framework of INDL was semiotics, cybernetics and communication theories, in this paper I’m re-working the past, and claim that the display, unintendedly—had a posthumanist theoretical framework and hence—evoked such a reality in itself. The posthumanist theoretical framework manifested itself through the exhibition layout. The museum display offered a micro-model of the environment, or rather; it displayed the future of the environment ontology. First, in the Garden, it displayed the state-of-the-art situation. How things were at the time. Sleek, plastic objects were literally encapsulated into the man-made wood mini-skyscraper cases. Just as the ‘Objects’ section of the exhibition was an ironic postulate of the present-day consumer society, the micro-model of the environment ontology projected an ironic postulate of the present-day Cartesian dualism where humans dominate the Garden, conceptualize the objects—and thus make the environment. Humans moved around in the man-made Garden where objects existed only by the virtue of how they were known and signified by human subjects, and this privileged humans over all other objects. Then the audience entered the museum. The walls and ceiling were painted black, and the floor was covered with black felt. A dark atmosphere; a chill ‘cybertopia’ of the future. As a journalist in St. Louis Post-Dispatch pointed out: “Inside the Museum in a dark labyrinth—where the visitor is educated by virtual messages in movies or in television screens” (Degener, 1972). Adolfo Natalini noted: “The environments appear to us under strong and unreal lighting as funeral presences. Each is presented as a definitive testimonial on a contradictory and fluid situation. […] And each one of the eleven episodes is quite alone, with muddled history behind it, and an uncertain future” (Natalini, 1972). Not only was the design future on display, additionally, the ontological future was displayed. In the “Environments” section, the audience became immersed and overpowered by nonhumans. Olivetti’s Implicor System, the isolated dark environments that floated in space, “voices from the TV films; confusing cacophony from all sides” (Scott, 2010, p. 127), the technologies and the machines evoked a posthumanist reality where humans became one thing among all other things. By exiting the man-made Garden, and entering the ‘cybertopia’, the future became real: the future was displayed as a result of nonhuman agency of INDL. “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” problematized what humans were doing to the planet and the answer was rather dystopian. Humans polluted the planet with both things and ourselves, and as a result objects ended up owning humans. Would it be irrational, then, to suggest that these two situations are connected? That the posthumanist reality in humanistic research was evoked because of climate change?
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Things to Come Humans had such an immense effect on the earth that we are now considered not only a biological agent, but also a geological one.1 Nature does not exist anymore (Morton, 2007). Humans are now entangled with nature. There is no return; we have polluted the world with our presence. As a result, there is no other way then to withdraw ourselves into the ontological plastic bunker, beneath the surface of the earth where humans are one thing among all other things. Gaetano Pesce’s The Period of the Great Contaminations showed us a vision of the reality in year 2000. It seemed irrational at the time, but years later, in 2013, Pesce confirmed that the environment had evoked climate change. The environment’s structure and laws became evident after the deed was committed: The Period of the Great Contaminations is not just the period of pollution, but the period of ‘people pollution’. Pesce’s environment did indeed evoke the future; something happened when we approached the millennium. The term Anthropocene was coined, and as a consequence of ‘people pollution’, humans had to withdraw from the earth’s surface—namely; the ontological reality. Thinking within the humanities took a different direction and resulted in a paradigm shift with vast ontological implications. ‘The material turn’2 removed human agency as the essential force, and scholars such as Bruno Latour, Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari and Donna Haraway laid the foundations for a new understanding of being that is further elaborated by authors such as Annemarie Mol, Karen Barad, Jane Bennett, Benjamin Bratton, Graham Harman, Eduardo Viveiros de Castro and Timothy Morton. They have all contributed to evoke a posthumanist reality, where the agency of human beings have the same ontological status as the agency of a chair, an exhibition, climate change or nothingness. An exhibition doesn’t conclude anything. The fixed relations it displays are only temporarily fixed. When the material manifestation of the temporarily fixed relations were broken— that is, when the exhibition closed and the environments were destroyed, and when MoMA’s concluding press release were filed in archive box 1004.166—it wasn’t finished. As I have shown in this paper, the exhibition continued to work. With Ambasz’ own words: only when the deed is committed can we assign it a possible logical structure to describe its purposes and explain its laws. Things themselves; machines, chairs, plastic environments, Gaetano Pesce’s environment, Gaetano Pesce himself, Olivetti’s Implicor system, “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape”, evoked themselves. My claim is that design conveys a more fundamental, a more encompassing understanding of the relations and interactions between humans and the world. And yes, Vogue was spot on: “For ‘things to come’, [go and see] ‘Italy: The New Domestic Landscape’’ (Rose, 1972), and as it happened—the things didIcome. The future was evoked through the display. Environmental future shock at MoMA3: Triumph of plastic over wood, of machine over man.1
1
See e.g. Catherine Malabou, “Anthropocene, a new history?” European Graduate School, 2015. As explained by Jane Bennett, the paradigm shift draws on philosophical concepts by amongst others Spinoza, Bergson, Heidegger and Latour. See (Bennett, 2010, pp. 1-10). 3 Referring to the title of the review “Environmental future shock at MoMA” (Palmer, 1972). 2
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References Ambasz, E. (1972a). Italy: the New Domestic Landscape: Achievements and Problems of Italian Design. New York: Museum of Modern Art. Ambasz, E. (1972b). Italy: the New Domestic Landscape: Achievements and Problems of Italian Design: New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Conn. Andersen, L. B., Danholt, P., Halskov, K., Hansen, N. B., & Lauritsen, P. (2015). Participation as a matter of concern in participatory design. CoDesign, 11(3-4), 250-261. doi:10.1080/15710882.2015.1081246 Barad, K. (2007). Meeting the universe halfway : quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham: Duke University Press. Bennett, J. (2010). Vibrant matter : a political ecology of things. Durham, N.C: Duke University Press. Bogost, I. (2012). Alien Phenomenology, or What It’s Like to Be a Thing. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Brown, B. (2004). Things: University of Chicago Press. Coles, A., & Rossi, C. (2013). The Italian avant-garde, 1968-1976. Conroy, S. B. (1972). Triumph of Plastic Over Wood; of Machine Over Man The Washington Post. Degener, P. (1972, 30.07.). Mini-environments for Megalopolis. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. DeNeve, R. (1972). Supershow in Retrospect. Print. Huxtable, A. L. (1972, 26.05). Italian Design Show Appraised-Ambiguous but Beautiful. New York Times Kay, J. H. (1972, 1.09.). La Dolce Vita. Building Design. Law, J., & Hassard, J. (1999). Actor network theory and after. Oxford: Blackwell. Letter from America. (1972, 1.06). Daily Telegraph. Marvel, B. (1972, 15.07). Italian Designers Prophesy (gulp) The Future. The National Observer Meillassoux, Q. (2008). After finitude : an essay on the necessity of contingency. London: Continuum. Morton, T. (2007). Ecology without nature : rethinking environmental aesthetics. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Natalini, A. (1972). Italy: A Domestic Landscape. Architectural Design, 42(August), 469-473. Olsen, B. (2010). In defense of things: archaeology and the ontology of objects. Lanham, Md: AltaMira Press. Palmer, M. (1972). Environmental Future Shock at MoMA. The Harvard Crimson. Pickering, A. (1995). The Mangle of Practice: Time, Agency, and Science: University of Chicago Press. Radical Design. (1972). Casabella, July(367). Reif, R. (1972, 22.05.). MOMA Mia - That's Some Show. The New York Times. Rose, B. (1972). From Italy: Mind-opening designs for living in the future Vogue, July. Scott, F. D. E. (2010). Architecture Or Techno-utopia: Politics After Modernism: MIT Press. Skurka, N. (1972, 21.05.). Home Was Never Like This. The New York Times. Steckhahn, F. (1972). The Art Scene: Art, Ecology and the Future After Dark, August.
1
Referring to the title of the review “Triumph of plastic over wood, of machine over man” (Conroy, 1972).
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About the Author: Ingrid Halland Rashidi is a Research Fellow in Design History at the University of Oslo. She is a part of the research project Back to the Sustainable Future. Her research interests include exhibition theory, Posthumanism, New Materialism and Speculative Realism.
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Recommendations to rebuild the body of feminist work in industrial design Isabel Prochner* and Anne Marchand UniversitĂŠ de MontrĂŠal *isabel.prochner@umontreal.ca DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.255
Abstract: Feminist work exists in industrial design and contributes to society, the feminist movement and the industrial design field itself. Though much of the work dates from the 1980s and 1990s, which leaves the contemporary industrial design field without much feminist critique and intervention, and without the many contributions of this body of work. Thus, there is a need to rebuild the body of feminist work in industrial design. However, the feminist movement in industrial design is difficult to grasp and it’s hard to know how to move forward and contribute to this rebuilding. This paper provides recommendations to inform this complex task based on readings on the topic of feminism and a literature review on feminism in design. The recommendations touch-on how to address the limited presence of feminism in industrial design, the contemporary relevance of older feminist work in industrial design and how contemporary feminism could inform newer work. Keywords: feminism; industrial design
Introduction This paper introduces the feminist movement in industrial design, its contributions and its major challenge - the shortage of feminist work in industrial design. It argues that there is a need to rebuild the body of feminist work in industrial design, but that this is a difficult task given that feminism in industrial design is a complex topic. This paper addresses this problem by providing perspectives on how to inform the rebuilding of the body of feminist work in industrial design. This paper helps respond to the DRS 2016 question: How can design research help frame and address the societal problems that face us? Feminism in industrial design contributes to society by identifying feminist concerns in the industrial design field and proposing and adopting solutions to address them. It contributes to the feminist movement by adding to This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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its reach and grasp of the depth and complexity of feminist concerns. Finally, it offers ethical contributions to the industrial design field by highlighting issues and helping to advance industrial design theory and practices for increased equality.
Context Feminism There have been significant gains in the rights and status of women in the last century. However, inequality, injustice and oppression of women remain present in contemporary societies. This includes issues like gender-based violence, gendered employment and difference in pay, and social discrimination (Walby, 2011). Feminism is an emancipatory political activity assumed by women or men for women (Jardine & Smith, 2013; McCann & Kim, 2010). It is based on the view that women live in unjust conditions, which can and should be changed (McCann & Kim, 2010). Feminism has a dual goal of identifying and exploring these issues and establishing and carrying out plans for change with the goal to improve the lives of women (McCann & Kim, 2010) and to achieve equality between women and men (Rich, 2014). Feminism has been integral to the advancement of the rights and status of women and remains a critical component in the fight to address the remaining concerns. Problems of inequality, injustice and oppression permeate all levels and parts of society including politics, the economy, the media, the medical field and sports (Walby, 2011). There are feminist projects in each of these areas to identify and address them (Walby, 2011). It follows that these issues also seep into the industrial design field and there is a discipline-specific feminist movement to identify and address them.
Feminism in industrial design Feminist work in industrial design exists in research and in practice. Industrial design theorists, often historians, typically present the feminist concerns. Resolutions are mostly found in industrial design practitioners’ writing, especially when they discuss their own feminist design practice.
Problem The bulk of the feminist work in industrial design dates from the 1980s and 1990s. Though, at that period, it was acknowledged that there was little work on the subject, both in theory and in practice (Rothschild, 1999). The presence of the feminist movement in industrial design has deteriorated even since then. There have been few examples of feminist work in industrial design since the year 2000. This shortage limits this body of work by preventing depth and breadth of discussions. This problem is compounded by the fact that feminism is context dependent: its priorities and perspectives change across time and place (McCann & Kim, 2010). As such, the
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concerns and resolutions presented in the existing work might not be relevant today. This leaves the contemporary industrial design field without much feminist critique and intervention, which is detrimental to society, the feminist movement and the industrial design field itself. Thus, there is a need to rebuild this body of feminist work in industrial design. My doctoral research and the work of several other recent design researchers and doctoral students in design contribute to this end. Yet, in the earlier period, the feminist movement in industrial design was relatively unified and organized. There were anthology publications (for instance, Attfield & Kirkham, 1989 and Rothschild, 1999) and conferences on the subject like the “Re-visioning Design and Technology: Feminist Perspectives” conference in New York in 1995 (Rothschild, 1999). This would have helped contributors to understand where the movement’s been and to discuss where it’s going. Today, researchers and practitioners in the field work separately and in parallel. These discussions don’t seem to take place. Further to this, the feminist movement in industrial design is difficult to grasp. There are many intersecting and complex topics (feminism, industrial design and feminist work in industrial design) and factors (changes over time and the limited presence of feminist work in industrial design) at play. At present, each contributor to the movement would need to grapple with the topic on their own. Combined, this situation makes it difficult to know how to move forward and contribute to this rebuilding, and is likely detrimental to the feminist movement in industrial design itself as it could lead to an overlap of work, prevent collaborations and limit outreach to individuals outside the movement.
Research focus The goal of this text is to inform the rebuilding of the body of feminist work in industrial design. To this end, it dissects the complex topics and factors related to the feminist movement in industrial design. The text starts with a rough history of feminist ideological strands and notes on the changing visibility of feminism. This provides a framework for the discussions that follow. The next three sections are the heart of the paper. The first proposes why feminism in industrial design has had and continues to have a limited presence and how this can be addressed moving forward. The second introduces the older feminist work in industrial design and discusses its contemporary relevance. Finally, the last section proposes new directions for feminist work in industrial design based on contemporary feminism. This paper is the culmination of three years of extensive research on the intersections of feminism and industrial design. It is based on many readings on the topic of feminism and a broad literature review on the feminist question in design. Here, the discussion of feminism in industrial design is centred on literature that explicitly mentions feminism and industrial design to enable a precise and discipline-specific understanding of the topic.
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Feminism Feminist Ideological Strands Within feminism, there are “numerous [feminist] ideological strands that differ in the scope and the change sought, the extent to which gender inequality is linked to other systems of domination- especially class, race, ethnicity, and sexuality- and the significance attributed to gender differences (Dahl Crossley et al., 2012, p. 500). These provide “guidance as to the actual positions one should take within specific cases” (Blattberg, 2001, p. 194). The following is a rough history of Western feminism to showcase key arguments and trends, and changes over time. Feminism first emerged in the mid or late 19th century and lasted until the early 20th century (Lanius & Hassel, 2015). It was largely focused on achieving “rights for women as citizens” like the right to vote and to education (Lanius & Hassel, 2015, p. 12). Feminism re-emerged in the 1960s with the understanding that “equality in daily life cannot be obtained through simple legal, political or institutional modifications” (Eichler & Lavigne, 2015). There were two major branches of feminism during this period: liberal feminism, a reform movement, and radical feminism (Ryan, 1992). Liberal feminism was inspired by Betty Friedan’s critique of women’s role in the home in The Feminine Mystique (Ryan, 1992). As Deborah Wills explained, “Friedan’s solution for women’s emotional enslavement to being mother and wife is to promote the view that women become educated and work outside the home” (2000, p. 214). Thus, the liberal feminist ideology argued that women can improve their position by working outside the home and entering politics (Taylor, Whittier & Pelak, 2004). Its followers also critiqued sexism, which they associated with gendered socialization like how parents interact with female or male children (Krolokke & Scott Sorensen, 2006). While liberal feminism focused on progress in the lives of individual women, radical feminism focused on women as a group and large-scale change (Taylor, Whittier & Pelak, 2004). Radical feminism was inspired by The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir (Taylor, Whittier & Pelak, 2004), especially the arguments that women are oppressed as ‘other’ and “the only authentic moral action is women’s collective struggle for their own liberation” (Davis, 2000, p. 39). The radical feminist ideology holds that patriarchy is a universal system (Hines, 2015) that emphasizes power, competition and hierarchy (Tong 2014) and results in the “systematic male dominance of women” (Hines, 2015, p. 24). Patriarchy is based in institutions like the family that exploit women through domestic work and keep them from entering the public world (Hines, 2015). Patriarchy is so entrenched that it “cannot be reformed but only ripped out root and branch” (Tong 2014, pp. 2-3). There are several divisions within radical feminism. For instance, cultural feminism holds that women’s subordination can be resolved by assigning a higher value to feminine gender or by inventing a new understanding of femininity or ‘femaleness’ (Tong, 2014). Some even
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believe that “women’s essential nature was better than men’s and that women ought to govern men” (Tong, 2014, p. 53). Ecofeminism is an offshoot of cultural feminism (Henwood, 2007). It associates ecological destruction with male power, where men “subordinate both women and nature, seeing themselves as ‘masters of both’” (Henwood, 2007, p. 277). In contrast, it argued that women are naturally closer to nature because of processes like childbirth and values toward cooperation and nurturing (Henwood, 2007). Feminism transformed in the 1980s and 1990s as new ideologies developed and became dominant (Krolokke & Scott Sorensen, 2006). These represent greater diversity and explore how “women’s lives are shaped by race, nationality, class, and sexuality, as well as by gender” (McCann & Kim, 2010, p. 22). The term intersectionality refers to the overlap between these different systems (McCann & Kim, 2010). The following are examples of these new streams of feminism. Postcolonial feminism is “an exploration of and at the intersections of colonialism and neocolonialsm with gender, nation, class, race, and sexualities” (Sunder Rajan & Park, 2008, p. 55). It is strongly inspired by “Can the Subaltern Speak?” by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (1988), which argued that Western thought is entrenched in the colonial legacy and doesn’t see the ‘subject position’ of other populations (Tong, 2014). Postmodern feminism draws on postmodern and poststructuralist theories (Mehta, 2000), which show that gender, class, race and ethnicity “can no longer be regarded as an essential or even a stable category” and, thus, puts into question the ‘category of women’ (Waugh, 1998, p. 185). These theories can be applied in a variety of ways and to varying extremes (Flyn, 2002). Patricia Waugh points to Donna Haraway’s “Manifesto for Cyborgs” as an example of this strong application of postmodern feminism (1998). In this work, the cyborg is “a creature in a postgender world” (1987, p. 3; Waugh, 1998) and is a metaphor through which Haraway critiques limited visions of concepts like woman, man, race or identity (1987). This diversity of feminist streams heralded a ‘third wave’ of feminism in the 1990s, which continues to this day (Hines, 2015). The third wave was led by a new generation of women (Orr, 1997) that respected the diversity of different feminist theories and had open views on “who could be a feminist and how” (Marecek, 2000, p. 474). The third-wave is “consequently not one, but many” (Krolokke & Scott Sorensen, 2006, p. 17). It also places a strong emphasis on contemporary issues like technology and mass media (Snyder, 2008).
Changing Visibility of Feminism In The Future of Feminism (2011), author Sylvia Walby explained that feminism has become less visible over time (Walby, 2011). It transitioned from a public protest movement to a more institutionalized movement with its own agencies in governments and organizations (Walby, 2011). These agencies’ activities are less frequently publicized in the media compared to those of a protest movement (Walby, 2011). Further, feminism is increasingly combined with other projects like the environment and human rights, and may not be
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identified in these situations (Walby, 2011). Finally, feminism is stigmatized: “[it] has acquired connotations of separatism, extremism, [and] men-avoiding lesbianism” (Walby, 2011, p.2). As such, individuals may avoid using the term feminism, in favour of a related term like equality (Walby, 2011).
Limited Presence of Feminism in Industrial Design Several authors in the 1980 and 1990 period hypothesized about why the feminist movement in industrial design had a limited presence. Cheryl Buckley hinted that the shortage of feminist work in industrial design research was because feminism is a challenging and controversial subject (1999). She said: “Questions about women’s role in design remain tangential to the discipline and are tackled with reluctance” (Buckley, 1999, p.109). In turn, the shortage of feminist work in industrial design practice could have been because “[industrial] designers who are women-and who identify as feminist-still remain relatively few ... [and] they have yet to write extensively about their work” (Rothschild & Rosner, 1999, p.23). These limitations probably still hold true today. Feminism remains a challenging and controversial subject and there are likely still few feminist designers. Several polls published online show that only a small percentage of Americans consider themselves feminist: the number ranges from 18% (Perry Undem, 2015) to 28% (YouGov, 2013). Further, according to the survey by YouGov, more women consider themselves feminist than men: 38% compared to 18% (2013). This difference is significant to industrial design. In Canada, only about ¼ of industrial designers are female. In 2006, women represented 27% of Canadian industrial designers (Service Canada, 2013) and, according to a 2011 report, 24% of members of an industrial design association in the province of Quebec (ADIQ; Tison, 2011). Thus, a renewed body of feminist work in industrial design would not necessarily surpass the level from the 1980s and 1990s, but might be able to match it. The changing visibility of feminism likely also plays a part in the limited presence of feminism in industrial design today. It is unlikely that feminist work in industrial design is merely hidden, as this research involved an extensive literature review. Instead, feminist work in industrial design is probably not identified as such. One example is the work of Sputniko!, a design researcher and practitioner based at MIT. Many of her critical design projects align with feminist goals, but none are directly associated with feminism, either in her writing or in reviews of her work. As an example, Nanohana Heels (2012) is a critical design product by Sputniko! in response to Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 (Sputniko!, 2015). It is a pair of high-heeled shoes that automatically plant Rapeseed plants, which are known to help absorb radioactivity. The project is a commentary on the relationships between female empowerment, femininity, sexuality and the national psyche (Sputniko!, 2015). The situation that feminist work in industrial design is not identified as feminist has advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, it’s positive that researchers and practitioners continue to support the position of women through their work. Further, avoiding the term
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feminism might encourage greater support and collaboration on these projects. The survey by Perry Undem, cited earlier, shows that 78% of respondents “believe in social, political, legal, and economic equality” for women and men, including those that do not consider themselves to be feminist (2015, p. 15). Yet, it’s problematic that avoidance of the term feminism could be motivated by a negative stigma. As such, efforts moving forward should support any industrial design project aligned with feminist goals, but, at the same time, strive to improve understanding of feminism and its image.
Older feminist work in industrial design Feminist Concerns in Industrial Design The industrial design field is a male domain: In their 1999 article, Clegg and Mayfield explain that product design is a ‘male thing.’ This is attributed to the “gendering of technical competency” where women are made to feel that they can’t do certain technical things like hammering (1999, p. 9). These “gendered perceptions shape the choices of men and women in design education” (Clegg & Mayfield, 1999, p. 15). Thus, there are less women in technical fields like product or furniture design than in (apparently) less technical design fields like fashion design (Clegg & Mayfield, 1999). This could be seen as a liberal feminist critique given Clegg and Mayfield’s emphasis on equality in the workplace. The industrial design field is rooted in masculine values: Amelia Amon explains that industrial design is rooted in masculine values, which is demonstrated, for instance, through the alignment of designers with corporations and an emphasis on cost savings (Amon, 1999). This dominance of masculine values neglects feminine values like those that emphasize compassion and prioritize the environment or users (Amon, 1999). Amon appears to draw on cultural feminism and possibly ecofeminism in her discussion. Women had limited and gendered roles in industrial design: In historical discussions, Buckley (1989) and Kirkham (1989) explain that, in the rare cases that women did participate in design, they often had gendered roles. Their roles were assigned based on perceived female traits of being physically weak (Kirkham, 1989) and suited to delicate tasks (Buckley 1989). Women decorated pottery in the pottery industry (Buckley, 1989) and upholstered furniture in the furniture industry (Kirkham, 1989). Based on their focus on equality in the workplace, these articles are likely aligned with liberal feminism. Female industrial designers are not diverse: Buckley (1989) and Gorman (2001) briefly note that class and race also mediate women’s participation in design. These authors draw implicitly on intersectionality in their texts.
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Women’s roles in industrial design are devalued and ignored: Cheryl Buckley explores these points in “Made in Patriarchy: Toward a Feminist Analysis of Women and Design” (1986). As she explains, “[in] a patriarchy, men's activities are valued more highly than women's” (1986), so the role of furniture upholsterer would have had a lower status than furniture maker. Second, she explains that women’s interventions are ignored through methods including the definition of design (1986). Historically, “craft allowed women an opportunity to express their creative and artistic skills outside of the male dominated design profession” (Buckley, 1986, p. 7). Thus, “[to] exclude craft from design history is, in effect, to exclude from design history much of what women designed” (Buckley, 1986, p. 7). Buckley proposes to expand the definition of design to include craft (1986). Yet, Carma Gorman disagrees with this last point, as “[s]uch a redefinition can do absolutely nothing to change the fact of past inequities” (2001, p. 79). Indeed, understanding these inequalities is important to move forward (Gorman, 2001). Cheryl Buckley’s arguments appear to be based on radical libertarian feminism given her focus on patriarchy and challenge to divisions between female and male activities. Designer-consumer relationships are patriarchal: The primarily male industrial design workforce controls female consumers through the products they create (Partington, 1989). For instance, designers make products with a specific vision of how they should be used (Partington, 1989) and these products frame consumer’s lives (Lupton, 1993). Yet, in “The Designer Housewife in the 1950s,” Angela Partington notes that female consumers do have some agency in this process, as products are “invested with other meanings and values by female consumers” where they can apply their own knowledge and creativity (1989, p. 211). These critiques seem to draw on radical feminism given their focus on patriarchy and the distinction between the public and domestic worlds. Designer-consumer relationships reinforce patriarchy: Patriarchy “defines the designer’s perceptions about women’s needs as consumers” (Buckley, 1986, p.8) and designers exploit and perpetuate women’s gendered roles by drawing on these perceptions (Schwartz Cowan, 1983). This can be especially the case when designers try to help female consumers through ‘labour saving’ household equipment. Angela Partington explains “it is well known that the introduction of ‘labour saving’ equipment has coincided with an increase in the average amount of time women spend on housework” (1989, p. 212). This could be explained through Philippa Goodall’s 1983 discussion of the microwave: while the microwave is meant to improve convenience, for the housewife “it is a duty, a duty to provide food at all times, even when the shops are shut or the market closed and most of the family has already eaten” (Goodall cited in Buckley, 1986, p.8). Once again, these works seem to draw
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on radical feminism because of their focus on patriarchy and the public and domestic worlds. Male designers might not understand female users: From a likely cultural feminist perspective, Nancy Perkins argues that female designers are best able to understand female users, and “when women are absent … criteria for what is comfortable, appropriate, and appealing to women may be overlooked” (Perkins, 1999, p. 120). International exportation of products has been harmful to and controlling of other populations: In “Representations of Women and Race in the Lancastershire Cotton Trade,” Mumby is critical of the export of cotton from Britain to India and China in the 19th century (1989). She explained that this process destroyed local cotton industries in India (1989). Further, prints on the cotton and its advertising had caricatures of Indian women that showed them as “poor, passive or sexual objects” (Mumby, 1989, p. 27). Mumby saw these representations as a form of oppression and cultural control (1989). Mumby’s arguments seem to draw on postcolonial feminism by critiquing power relations between Britain and India and China, and by focusing on how the textile makers ignored the subject position of Indian women. Different points of view on gendered products: There are conflicting views in literature about the value of gendered products. In “Objectifying Gender: The Stiletto Heel” (1989), Lee Wright provided a counter argument against the typical feminist critique of the stiletto heel, a highly ‘feminine’ product and one that restricts women’s mobility (1989). Wright argued that the stiletto shoe is empowering to women because of its femininity and because it represents ‘a new woman’ that has a life outside the home (1989). Her discussion likely draws on cultural feminism given her focus on the female/feminine alignment.
Feminist Resolutions in Industrial Design The resolutions presented here were identified in a series of three essays written by industrial design practitioners for Joan Rothchild’s book, Design and Feminism: Re-visioning spaces, places and everyday things (1999). In one essay, Angela Partington suggests that feminist design practice “should be exploring the ways in which femininity is celebrated through women’s use of commodities” (1989, p. 212). Another writer, Amelia Amon proposes that it should emphasize users’ needs and wants and employ “appropriate technologies [and] alternative energy sources which use natural systems” (1999, p. 126). Amon applies this vision in her practice (1999). An example is a solar-powered ice-cream cart she designed for Ben and Jerry’s (1999). Finally, Wendy E. Brawer sees feminist design practice as “ecologically and socially responsive” (1999, p. 129). She also applies feminism in her practice (1999). An example is the Deposit Bank, which is a public bottle and can recycling box accessible to ‘bottle pickers’ (1999). This product was installed in New York
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City and provided bottle pickers healthier and more dignified access to recyclables (1999). These discussions are based on cultural and sometimes ecofeminist perspectives.
Contemporary Relevance of this Older Work The older literature draws on many different strands of feminism and its feminist alignments change over time, reflecting changes to feminism more broadly. Yet, the literature is quite old; the bulk of it dates from the 1980s and 1990s. Further, in many cases, the feminist streams in design literature align with feminism from about a decade earlier. Thus, feminist perspectives and priorities from about the 1980s onward are minimally represented. That being said, contemporary feminism is open to different perspectives and priorities. While older feminist streams are less popular today, they still represent legitimate perspectives. Nevertheless, this work could be limited by its relevance to the current context. Goodall’s critique that the microwave creates more work for housewives is a case in point (1983/1996). A discussion of working women’s experiences might be more relevant now. Thus, this literature could be applied in the renewed body of feminist work in industrial design if its content were screened for contemporary relevance.
Intersections of Contemporary Feminism and Industrial Design New feminist work in industrial design could apply more contemporary feminist streams like postcolonial and postmodern feminism, which were minimally represented in the older work. Mumby’s application of postcolonial feminism hints at the potentially valuable contributions of this more contemporary feminist stream to reimagine elements like production, trade and markets (1989). Further to this, contemporary feminism would support the co-existence of a diversity of perspectives. As mentioned earlier, today, feminism places a strong emphasis on contemporary issues like technology and mass media (Snyder, 2008). Industrial design research and practice is closely aligned with these two topics. Thus, the feminist work in industrial design could contribute to these existing discussions. Finally, it was mentioned that feminism is increasingly institutionalized in agencies and combined with projects on related issues like the environment or human rights. This new work in industrial design could follow these models. It could aim to inject a feminist perspective in industrial design institutions like professional associations, education institutions, or research societies. Further, potential alignments between feminism in industrial design and other movements like design activism, critical design or even sustainable design could be explored.
Conclusion This paper presented the value of the feminist work in industrial design as well as the challenges facing this body of work: its limited quantity and its contemporary relevance. The major goal was to develop some recommendations to inform the rebuilding of this specialization. I explained that it is probably not reasonable to expect the quantity of
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feminist work in industrial design to surpass the level from the 1980s and 1990s, but it might be able to match it. Efforts moving forward should support any industrial design project aligned with feminist goals. This could include translating the older work to the contemporary context or applying the multitude of contemporary feminist streams to industrial design research and practice. This could equally involve less intuitive projects like contributing to feminist discussions on technology and mass media from an industrial design perspective, injecting a feminist perspective in industrial design institutions, and exploring the alignment between feminism in industrial design and related design movements, provided that improving understanding of feminism and its image remain a focus. Much of the new feminist work in industrial design is already moving in these directions. The following are some individuals that I’ve encountered in person or through readings working in this area. Sandra Buchmüller is a researcher associated with the Berlin University of the Arts in Germany (Design Research Lab, n.d.). She is working on a model of feminist design research and practice that merges feminist standpoint theory and the gender theories, performing gender and undoing gender, with human-centred design (Buchmüller, 2012). Karin Ehrnberger is a doctoral student at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden (KTH, 2015). She has published several feminist critiques of industrial design norms. As an example, she co-authored an article with professors Minna Räsänen and Sara Ilstedt, on gendered industrial design products and the harmful implications of a gendered approach (2012). Finally, Sarah Fox is a PhD student at the University of Washington in the United States (Dub, n.d). She has co-authored papers on the phenomenon of feminist hackerspaces, “workspaces that support the creative and professional pursuits of women” (Fox, Ulgado & Rosner, 2015, p.1) and the intersections of feminism and critical design (Ulgado & Fox, 2014). Their work touches on many of the topics discussed above and often blends several areas of emphasis like applying contemporary feminist theories in design and exploring the alliances between feminism and other design approaches like universal design or critical design. Nevertheless, their work also leaves many subjects open for exploration. Hopefully this paper will be a step toward reinvigorating the valuable feminist movement in industrial design by informing and inspiring new contributions.
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About the Authors: Isabel Prochner researches alternative frameworks for industrial design with a focus on feminism and sustainability. At present she is a doctoral candidate at the Université de Montréal. Anne Marchand is trained as an industrial designer and holds a PhD in environmental design from the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on cultural consumption as a new manifestation of responsible consumption, and on the valuation of heritage
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Design practice and design research: finally together? Kees Dorst University of Technology Sydney and Eindhoven University of Technology Kees.Dorst@uts.edu.au DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.212
Abstract: Early design research was driven by the ambition to create a coherent Science of Design – an ambition that was later abandoned in favour of a more pluralist approach. But despite great progress in the last 50 years, Design Research can still be criticised for being (1) too disconnected from design practice, (2) internally scattered and confused (3) not achieving the impact that was hoped for. In this paper we will discuss possible solutions to these conundrums by learning from three professional and academic fields: Marketing, Art Theory and Management, respectively. Based on these three discussions an attempt will be made to create an integrated answer by considering how design research and practice might come together in the creation of a new field, “Academic Design”. Keywords: design research; design practice; academic design
Introduction In the 1960’s and 70’s, at the moment that design research was first formulated as a separate and worthwhile pursuit, the aim was to create a true Science of Design that would be at a par with the Natural Sciences. Herbert Simon and others set out to create a body of work on a ‘science of the artifical’ [Simon, 1992] that would be based on a fundamental understanding of the man-made world, and of the processes that all humans would have in common to create it [Hatchuel, 2001]. Through their logical analyses they were seeking to create a deep, underlying shared body of work that through its coherence would be the bedrock for more ‘applied’ (practice-oriented) knowledge, and that through its depth and rigour would demand recognition as an equal to the ‘hard’ academic disciplines [Cross, 1984]. Fifty years and many attempts later ([ Suh, 1998][Roozenburg, 1995]) we have to confess that apart from some delightfully stubborn exceptions (C-K Theory), much of the design This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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research community has more or less given up on this quest. It is hard to say what sparked this turnaround – it could be the fact that the proposed fundamental theories of design turned out to be divisive rather than unifying, pitching the art-and-design discourse against the engineering-design discourse and the academic researchers against the practitioners [Cross, 1984]. But perhaps the project to create a grand theory of design was abandoned simply because it had become irrelevant in more post-modern times where the other sciences were steadily becoming less monolithic themselves. But still, the ambition to provide a pure, strong and coherent basis for design research has been immensely valuable in its day and there is merit in keeping it alive (although today we might be better off not striving for a single, but multiple theories of design). A coherent basis for design research would help design researchers learn from each other’s studies and better build on each others knowledge. The emancipatory agenda is also still open - a stronger theoretical basis for the field would definitely help to further the recognition of design in academia [Dorst, 2013]. The author has earlier attempted to address some of these issues in the 2008 paper “Design research – a revolution waiting to happen” [Dorst, 2008], which has become an oft-quoted critique of developments in design research. In this paper we pick up the thread again, seven years later, and reflect on where design research has come to in these years, and map out the current challenges to the field. We will do this by carefully considering three lines of critique that have been prevalent in discussions, and find inspiration/borrow solutions from other academic discplines to come up with at least a new set of (con)temporary answers. The three common lines of attack to design research are: (1) Design research is disconnected from design practice (2) Design research as field of inquiry is scattered and confused, (3) Design research is using the wrong paradigm: it is too analytical, and not future oriented. Based on these three critical discussions an attempt will be made to create a partial answer by considering how the body of design research is actually contributing to the creation of a new field of “Academic Design” – and we end with ideas on how this could be done more effectively.
The missing link Design practitioners often complain that design research seems to be disconnected from the day-to-day reality of their profession. And although this is inevitable to a degree (research is in the business of abstracting away from everyday details), it is worth taking this critique seriously. One could rephrase the critique slightly more neutrally by saying that knowledge of design resides both in practice and in academic research – and that the problem is that there is little common ground or communicaton between the two. If we take written text as a repository of knowledge, then we can see that on the practiceside, professional design magazines show the newest designs, richly illustrated to spark inspiration, and they publish interviews with leading designers to further reflection and understanding. On the research-side, knowledge resides in academic journals, which are
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almost purely text-based, and that are looking to support the development of decontextualised knowledge such as processes and procedures. They aim for rigorous insight rather than inspiration or reflection on practice. They are oriented towards an academic audience, with some lipservice to conclusions for practice. Again above this level of academic research sits a level of philosophical reflection, which harbours the metadiscussions on the epistemology and ontology of both design and design research. It is useful to compare this situation with other fields of practice that do seem to have a better knowledge flow between academia and practice. If we look at the case of Marketing, for instance, there is an interesting layer of publications that sits between the journals of the practitioners and academic writings that are focused on creating models and theories that further the understanding of the field. That layer consists of a body of well-described extensive case studies, both rigorously gathered and described (so that they can be used as a basis for serious academic study), well-written and amply illustrated (so that they can be used as a basis for reflection and inspiration by practitioners). The layers of knowledge in a field can be pictured as a ladder, and to support a lively and current discussion, knowledge and insights need to travel up and down. The disconnect between design practice and academic design research could be repaired by creating this new, in-between rung of the ladder (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: The ladder of design research
From the field of Marketing we can learn that these could be semi standardised, well described cases (like the Harvard Business Cases), consisting of at least 10-15 pages, that describe the design activity and the outcomes achieved in great detail, and (most importantly) include the complete context in which the design project took place. Such a thorough and detailed description of the facts of the matter could be supported by graphic material that allows a practitioner- reader to be inspired and develop his/her own insights based on the material, while the academic reader would find a validated case study (data set) that is open for multiple analyses‌
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For design there might be other forms than case studies that would support the knowledge transfer equally well – see for instance [Horlings, 2015] for an interview-based approach to expressing this intermediate level of knowledge.
Scattered and confused Design as a notion and as a field of mutiple professions is incredibly broad, and scattered. As a result the small body of knowledge that has been built up over 50 years of design research is also spread very thinly. What doesn’t help is that design research has developed quite haphazardly – one gets the sense that decisions on what to investigate in design research tend to be based on the opportunistic question where there is a theory from another field that can be borrowed to elucidate an aspect of design, rather than strategic considerations on what would most help design research – or indeed, design practice. As a result, design research conferences can be acutely confusing experiences, with an avalanche of unconnected studies and theories thrown at the participants. And design is only becoming broader these days, as design practitioners address more and more types of problems (e.g. ‘service design’, ‘social design’, etc) design research could be stretched even further. How can we still make sense of these developments? How can we keep design research together when the idea of a single model that would connect all of these studies has had to be abandoned? This is more or less the same question that Rosalind Krauss tried to answer in her seminal paper on the revolutionary developments in sculpture, ‘Sculpture in the expanded field’ [1979]. At that time, modern sculptures had (literally) left the pedestal, and had moved beyond the usual materials (from bronze and stone to butter), shapes (from the human figure to radical abstraction), even giving up on the sense of permanency (throw-away materials, performances) and object orientation (e.g land art). In brief, sculpture had moved away from being a set profession to become a conceptual field, and this sparked an acute sense of crisis among artists and art schools. In her essay, Krauss attempted to describe these radical steps away from traditional sculpture as part of a logical development, a dialectic of sculpture with and against its defining characteristics. She showed that in its core modern sculpture was still dealing with the deeper issues of classical sculpture (place, materiality, 3D relationship to the body). The fact that these new objects and experiences were still part of that same discussion qualified them to still be called ‘sculpture’ in an expanded meaning of that term. Contemporary developments in design can be described and understood in much the same way. The professional field that we so easily label ‘design’ is complex, and full of inner contradictions. These inner tensions feed the discussions in the field. To name a few: (1) the objectives of design and the motivation of designers can range from commercial success to the common good. (2) The role and position of the designer can be as an autonomous creator, or as a problem solver in-service to the client. (3) The drive of the designer can be idealistic, or it can be more pragmatic (4) The resulting design can be a ‘thing’, but also immaterial (5) The basis for the process of designing can be intuitive, or based on knowledge
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and research… Etcetera… The development of the design disciplines can be traced along these lines of tension - with designers in different environments and times changing position relative to these fundamental paradoxes, but never resolving them. Ultimately, the real strength and coherence of design as a field of professions comes from recognizing these contradictions, and the dynamics of the field is a result of continuous experimentation along the rifts defined by them. Rather than a common set of practices and skills that designers might have [Cross, 1990] it is these inner contradictions in design that define its culture, its mentality. Design research should be an active force in these discussions, building bridges between them where possible. Not to resolve them into a monolithic Science of Design, but advancing the discussion in this dynamically shifting set of relations.
The wrong paradigm? In his book ‘Managers, not MBA’s’ [2004], the economics Nobel laureate Henry Mintzberg expresses his extreme displeasure at the type of research that is currently being done in Business Schools around the world. He criticises them for their overwhelming emphasis on positivistic, analytical research. He argues that the choice for this research paradigm inevitably leads to the study of practices that have worked in the past, which to his mind is too backward-looking and limiting for a dynamic field like Business, that at its core is concerned with creating new possible futures. He proposes that business schools should switch to what he calls ‘design research’ – but interestingly, his main example of ‘design research’ is actually medical research. He sees medical research as a good model as it is curative (trying to make the world better), and hence inherently active and forward looking. He then points out how medical research consists of many different layers, that reside with different parties in the medical ecosystem. Practitioners like your local General Practitioner, medical specialists, surgeons, nursing staff, R&D departments at university hospitals and in the pharmaceutical industry all hold specific knowledge and contribute to the field. They do vastly different kinds of research, using different methodologies, techniques and create a wide array of outcomes that finds its way to a myriad of outlets. The stated aim of all this diverse research activity is to improve medical tools and practices. Comparing this to design research, we can see that like in Business Schools a large part of the research over the past decades has been analytical, trying to create a theoretical underpinning of design and understand the current practices of designers. With Mintzberg I would argue that as a research agenda for a field that is concerned with creating better futures, an exclusive focus on analysis would be too limited. Design research should be forward-looking, seeking to future-proof tools and practices in a world that is changing so quickly that the value of ‘best practices’ (as examples of what worked in the past) is actually rather questionable. A more pro-active stance would put design research in the position to do the ‘R&D’ of design itself: reflect on the forces at play on the design professions, the challenges faced by them (globalisation, increasing complexity, etc) and use academic theories and discussions (e.g. complexity theory) to devise a possible response, effectively developing new design practices. In an ideal scenario the strength of such an academic
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approach would be that through the comparative distance from practice, overiew and access to theories and practices from other fields, an academic design research community could come up with fundamentally new practices for design that would not be easy to conceive by design practitioners as they respond to these forces on a more day-to-day, practical basis.
Academic Design: integrating design practice and research So far, these three critical discussions have led us to quite different solution directions: (1) reducing the distance between design practice and research by creating a body of work that is attractive to and can be accessed by both; (2) addressing the scatteredness by seeing design as a field of dynamically interrelated discussions (3) reconsidering the appropriate paradigm for design research, from analytical to curative. Behind all of these attempts to ‘bridge the gaps’, lies the silent assumption that design and research are fundamentally separate as ways of thinking, and as entities in the world. Yet it could be better to look at ways in which the two could actually come together, intertwined in a new hybrid that could be called “academic design” [Dorst, 2013]. Such a new field of academic design would have a few distinguishing features. (1) Academic design would sit between the field of design practice/ problem solving and the field of academic discussion. Thus academic design has a dual nature: it can be seen as the use of theory for the framing of a real world problem when we look from the side of practice, while from the side of academia, it can be seen as a design experiment that has been derived from academic thoughts and discussions, translated into potential (experimental) action. Academic design, then, is the locus where theory and practice interact (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: the position of Academic Design.
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Thus academic design transcends real-world design practice by not just dealing with extant situations and discussions, but delving deeper and creating a position from which we can propose scenarios that project further into the future than professional practice can normally see. This could lead to radically new designs. (2) Academic design is very much an artifically constructed field, rather than something that evolves naturally from design practice. Its position between practice and academia means that it can be criticised from both of its ‘parents’, and will often be required to answer to their two very different sets of quality criteria until it has grown its own set of criteria and has worked to get them accepted. (3) This dual nature means that at its core lies discourse, discussion and debate; it is neither research or theory purely for its own sake, although for stretches of the academic design process, when a deeper understanding is needed, this type of thinking can be quite dominant. Nor is it applied research, as in the mere application of academic knowledge to design problems. (4) Academic design is also fundamentally nomadic. Academic designers have a foot in practice as well as in universities. With more and more design researchers working in companies, design research has already found multiple homes. A good deal of the best academic design takes place in companies like IDEO, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, XEROX PARC. A good example of such a new academic branch of the design family tree is the development of Emphatic Design [Mattelmaki et al, 2014]. At the end of the nineties, the rise of new information technology posed industrial designers with novel challenges: they had to find ways to understand software and interaction as materials, and they had to develop processes for achieving a much more detailed and dynamic understanding of users. When searching for new ways of designing, empathic designers in practice and in design schools turned to several sources – they learned ethnographic methods from anthropology and sociology, which they sought to combine with the tools for conceptual design that came from design practice. This gave rise to the development of cultural probes, and the recasting of data gathering, interpretation and analysis as an iterative process in which observations lead to questions that lead to further observations and so on. Empathic Design is explicitly informed by theories such as symbolic interactionism [Battarbee, 2004], and could not have been developed without them. Empathic design simultaneously negotiates its way through academia and practice, and its frameworks are used by academic researchers and industry alike. What does this look like on the ground, on a project level – let’s turn to a different branch of Academic Design, more associated with the developments in Social Design, for an example of design practice with a difference. The following project was done by André Schaminée (consultant at Twynstra Gudde), Vera Winthagen (TU Eindhoven/ Van Berlo Design) and Tabo Goudswaard (artist) - see [Dorst et al, 2016]. The case study will first be described from a practice-perspective.
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The A9 highway around Amsterdam is one of the busiest roads in the Netherlands. To provide better accessibility, improve air quality and reduce sound levels a new 12-lane tunnel will be built and on the roof of the tunnel, a new park will be made. The planned construction time is 5 years, and these works will heavily impact the adjoining residential neighbourhood, the Bijlmer (a poor, multicultural district of 80.000 people from 186 nationalities). A tightrope-job for the ‘Stakeholder-manager” whose task it is to communicate the program to those impacted and to handle complaints. The context in which they have to operate is one of hard facts and figures: these engineering works require strict planning and control. Communication with the external stakeholders is professionally handled through extensive consultation processes, to prevent costly delays. In mapping out the problem, its existing context and the broader field, the designers/researchers immersed themselves in the Bijmer area to glean what underlying Themes that were important in the lives and minds of the people, municipality and companies. This was a very rich process and many fruitful Themes were identified, leading to frames and solution directions. Just an example: the researchers uncovered that there are many small and excellent entrepreneurs in the area, but that a good many of them are semi-legal. Many conversations in the Bijlmer circled around jobs, and how to get by economically. This theme led to the development of a new frame, that captures the needs of the people and organizations in the area: what if you could see the building of the tunnel as a new ‘temporary economy’? What new connections could we make then? The framing of the five years of construction work as a welcome time for experimentation and renewal also strikes a chord in the local community. Welcoming the workers as temporary inhabitants of the area and supporting them with small entrepreneurial activity that can spring up around the works (food stalls, childcare, repair services, airbnb, etc) is a great way to prototype the facilities that can eventually populate the park that eventually will cover the tunnel. In the process, these firms can be helped to professionaise and become legal, opening them up to investment for the first time.
Please note that the approach taken in this project is very designerly, a far cry from the normal problem solving approach which centers on consultation and complaints management. From an academic perspective, this experimental approach is based on research into design practices, in particular Frame Creation [Dorst, 2015] and problem solving in the networked society [Boutellier, 2013]. Its broader academic context is anchored in contemporary public sector management theory [Stacey and Griffin, 2000, 2006], and the proposed solution is inspired by Nussbaum’s capability building approach to aid and development issues [Nussbaum, 2011]. The knowledge gained through this experimental project is circled back into the development of theoretical frameworks, and broadly disseminated into the practice community through lectures and the written word [Dorst et al, 2016]. Thus this academic design project in its own small way addresses the three critical disucssions that are explored in this paper: it reduces the distance between design practice and research by creating a body of work that is attractive to and can be accessed by both: the project has sparked keen interest from major engineering firms, and the opportunity has arisen to create a body of work to explore this approach more deeply. The project addresses the scatteredness of design by the integration of social aspects into a major infrastructure
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project. This opens up the discussion in Engineering Design about the conventional limits of that field. Risk is a central notion in engineering, but if the nature of the risk in these projects is social rather than technical, aspects of social design will need to be integrated into the engineering approach. The project is seeking to create new knowledge by pro-actively experimenting with a proposed methodology, in this case ‘Frame Creation’. In doing so it moves away from purely analytical research, that would have led to a description of current best practices, and seeks to further theories and methods from design research, problem solving and change management through an experimental practice.
Conclusion: as design matures… As design matures, bridges are being built that in the end will create a new connected field that naturally includes design and research. Perhaps the early idealism in design research to strive for the creation of a ‘Science of Design’ was more based on the eagerness to fit into the mould of the sciences than based on confidence in the designers and designing disciplines themselves. What should have been unifying theories created a rift between design research and design practice that we are still mending – see the three critical discussions that form the basis for this paper. This rift would have been largely unnecessary if we, as an academic design research community, had realised then that over the years, design would gravitate towards an academic status once the developing design practices would need academic knowledge to address new and complex challenges.
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References Battarbee, K. (2004). Co-Experience. Helsinki: UIAH. Boutellier, H., (2013) The Improvising Society; Social Order in a World without Boundaries, Eleven, The Hague. Cross N.G., (1990) The nature and nurture of the design ability, Design Studies Vol 11, No 3 Cross NG (1984) Developments in Design Methodology . Wiley, Chichester Dorst, K., Kaldor L., Klippan, L., Watson, R., et al. (2016) Designing for the common good, BIS Publishers, Amsterdam Dorst, K. (2015) Design Innovation – create new thinking by design, MIT Press, Cambridge MA Dorst, K., (2013) Academic Design, published inaugural lecture at the TU Eindhoven, Tu Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Dorst, K. (2008) Design Research: A revolution-waiting-to-happen, Design Studies, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 4-11. Hatchuel, A., (2001) Towards Design Theory and Expandable Rationality: The Unfinished Program of Herbert Simon Journal of Management and Governance September 2001, Volume 5, Issue 3, pp 260-273 Horlings, H., (2015) Design lessons from practice, Amsterdam Academy of Architecture, Amsterdam Krauss, R., (1979) Sculpture in the expanded field, October, Vol 8 (Spring 1979), pp 30-44 Mattelmaki, T., Vaajakallio, K., Koskinen, I. (2014). What Happened to Empathic Design. Design Issues, 30(1), 2014 Mintzberg, H., (2004) Managers, not MBA’s., Berret-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco. Nussbaum, M.C., (2011) Creating Capabilities., Belknap, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA. Roozenburg, N.F.M., Eekels, J., (1995) Product Design: Fundamentals and Methods, Wiley, Chichester. Simon, H.A. (1992) Sciences of the Artificial, The MIT Press, Cambrigde MA. Stacey, R., Griffin, D.,Shaw, P., (eds) (2006) Complexity and the experience of managing in public sector organizations, Routledge, New York. Stacey, R., Griffin, D., Shaw, P., (2000) Complexity and management – fad or radical challenge to systems thinking? Routledge, London. Suh, N.P., (1998) Axiomatic Design Theory for Systems., Research in Engineering Design December 1998, Volume 10, Issue 4, pp 189-209
About the Author: Kees Dorst is professor of Design Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney, and director of the Design Innovation research centre there. He also holds a professorship at Eindhoven University of Technology.
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Design Research is Alive and Kicking… Paul A. Rodgersa* and Joyce S.R. Yeeb a
Lancaster University Northumbria University *p.rodgers@lancaster.ac.uk DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.23
b
Abstract: This paper explores the current situation of design research with a particular emphasis on how emerging forms of design research are framing and addressing contemporary global issues. The paper examines how design research can be a creative and transformative force in helping to shape our lives in more responsible, sustainable, and meaningful ways. Today, the plurality in design research is clearly evident given the wide range of conceptual, methodological, technological and theoretical approaches adopted. Moreover, various forms of design research now routinely appear in a vast array of disciplines in and around modern design praxis, including business, engineering, computing, and healthcare. This paper reviews a rich selection of the state-of-the-art design research that exemplify the range of approaches, methods, applications, and collaborations prevalent in emerging forms of design research and presents 10 characteristics of ‘good’ design research that will support design researchers in addressing the complex global issues we face. Keywords: design research; practice; interdisciplinary, plurality
Introduction This paper explores the current situation of design research with a particular emphasis on how emerging forms of design research are framing and addressing contemporary global issues. The paper examines how design research can be a creative and transformative force in helping to shape our lives in more responsible, sustainable, meaningful, and valuable ways. In fact it has been said that design is now the best tool we have available to us in making sense of the increasingly complex situation we find ourselves in (Sudjic, 2009). In a similar vein a decade earlier, Nigel Cross claimed in his seminal paper Design Research: A Disciplined Conversation (Cross, 1999, p.5) that: “Design research is alive and well, and living in an increasing number of places.” Today, this plurality is clearly evident given the wide This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Paul A. Rodgers and Joyce Yee
range of conceptual, methodological, technological and theoretical approaches in contemporary design research pursuits. Moreover, various forms of design research now routinely appear in a vast array of disciplines in and around modern design praxis, including business, engineering, computing, healthcare and management. Based on the authors’ earlier work (Rodgers and Yee, 2015) and building on previous reviews of design research (Roth, 1999; Bayazit, 2004; Sevaldson, 2010), this paper seeks to determine the nature of contemporary and emerging forms of design research and propose future directions for how we might best cultivate it. As such, the paper reviews a rich selection of the state-of-the-art research ‘into’ (about), ‘through’ and ‘for’ design (Frayling, 1993) that exemplifies the wide range of approaches, methods, applications, and collaborations that are prevalent in current design research. In so doing, the paper will identify new emerging forms of design research and present 10 characteristics of ‘good’ design research that echo Dieter Ram’s enduring 10 principles of good design.
A Recap of the Past 50 Years Design research is now almost 50 years old. During this time, it has gone through considerable change and development. Reviewing the informal histories of design research, we can generally identify three major intellectual waves. The first wave (started in the 1960s) is sometimes referred to as ‘Design Science’ (Hubka and Eder, 1996) where researchers generally took a scientific approach to the study of design methods. Rittel (1972 cited in Bayazit, 2004) labels this embryonic phase as the ‘First Generation Design Methods’ movement. Much of this early design research was focused on studying and codifying design activities and processes and was largely dominated by the field of architecture, engineering and industrial design. Design research at this time mainly looked at ‘rational methods of incorporating scientific techniques and knowledge into the design process to make rational decisions to adapt to the prevailing values, something that was not always easy to achieve. They were attempting to work out the rational criteria of decision making, and trying to optimize decisions’ (Bayazit, 2004, p.19). Two of the leading figures in British design research movement around this time were Bruce Archer and John Chris Jones. They were among the organizers of the initial conference on design methods, which was held at Imperial College, London in 1962. Jones’ motivation was to see designers working at higher levels of system and community design as well as making designers’ methods more transparent, changing the common belief that design arose from a black box of inspiration. Archer was more flexible than some of his contemporaries in characterizing design as a practice that lay somewhere between science and art. Archer’s establishment of the Industrial Design Research Unit at the RCA in the early 1960s was a major step forward for design research. Upon becoming the Department of Design Research, design research became a central feature in the RCA’s other departments and in 1981 he published a seminal article in the proceedings of the 1980 conference, Design: Science: Method, which provided a long list of design research projects noted for their emphasis on products for special users rather than
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on consumer goods and for their attempts to deal with values, methodology and related issues. The second wave came about in the 1970s as a reaction against the prescriptive nature of the earlier design methods movement. Horst Rittel criticised the first wave as simplistic, immature, and not capable of meeting the requirements of complex, real-world problems. At this time, Rittel introduced the term ‘wicked problems’ and argued that designers often face ‘ill-formulated’ and ‘confusing’ problems (Buchanan, 1992, p.15). Design researchers here posited that design should be understood through its own terms rather than through the lens of a positivistic approach – a model still dominant in the Sciences. Donald Schön, in particular, disputes this positivistic approach by arguing that design functions in situations of uncertainty, uniqueness, and conflict which makes it difficult to approach in a scientific manner. Schön challenges Simon’s (1969) view that designing is based on well-formed problems, arguing instead that professional design practice has to deal with uncertain, illdefined, complex, and incoherent problems (Schön, 1987). Instead, Schön proposes to search for “an epistemology of practice implicit in the artistic, intuitive processes which some practitioners do bring to situations of uncertainty, instability, uniqueness, and value conflict” (Schön, 1983, p.49). The founding of the Design Research Society (DRS) in 1976, with Bruce Archer as one of the original members, questioned how we should characterize design. Was it a science or something else? What made design knowledge unique and different from other kinds of knowledge? What constituted design knowledge and how could design be characterized as a discipline? All of these questions persisted at DRS conferences and were continued in Design Studies, the DRS journal that was founded in 1979. The move away from positivistic models and scientific approaches in design research has finally come full circle in the current third wave, where design is acknowledged as a distinct discipline, neither an art nor a science. Cross (2006) calls for a balanced approach to the development of a design discipline, on the one hand recognising that design has its own appropriate culture but on the other hand not completely disregarding other cultures. Cross terms this as a ‘designerly way of knowing’ and the current variety of types and forms of design research are evident of how far this idea has developed. Design research’s recent past is littered with attempts to rationalise and articulate various approaches to define a range of design activities. But what does design research look like today and how might we best describe it?
Current Context Research is Expected in the Academy The number of designers pursuing postgraduate research programmes has been increasing since the late 1990s. This has happened for a number of reasons. The restructuring, national assessments and general academicisation of design research in the UK, Australia and Western Europe has led many Art and Design colleges to be merged or subsumed into large comprehensive multi-disciplinary universities (Melles, 2008). This has introduced a research
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dimension to the subject and an expectation of a research culture. It marks a paradigm shift in design education, especially in the UK. Research is now often more valued in teaching and professional practice, and increasingly, a PhD qualification is the basic requirement for an academic post in higher education institutions around the world.
Research is Now a Key Skill in Professional Practice This shift mentioned above has also coincided with growth and expansion of user-centred and participatory practices such as interaction, service and social design. These new practices in design require additional skills that are focused more on research, user studies and evaluation. The trend to use design as an innovation and a change management tool has also brought more scrutiny to the practice, requiring designers to be more transparent, open and co-operative in how they work. Unsurprisingly, the job title of ‘design researcher’ has begun to emerge in the last few years in design consultancies, businesses, government agencies, research institutions and policy organisations. A search on the Linkedin.com site (in October 2015) using the term ‘design researcher’ returned 1,333 results featuring designled companies like IDEO and Uber, large multi-national corporations like Yahoo and Samsung and technology companies like Microsoft, IBM and Facebook. While many of the job postings do not explicitly state a PhD qualification for the role, there is an expectation that whoever applies must be able to demonstrate familiarity with well-known research methods and have the ability to analyse and synthesise data and communicate findings in objective and compelling ways. These are all expected traits and training provided by a research degree. These jobs are the most direct representation and evidence of how academic research training can and is being used to inform professional practice in design. However, research for innovation is not just reliant on traditional quantitative and qualitative research but that it requires both “evidence and intuition; evidence to become informed, and intuition to inspire us in imagining and creating new and better possibilities” (Fulton-Suri, 2008, p.53).
What Does Design Research look like Today? Having set the scene, we now move on to highlight trends that we have seen in recent design research projects, specifically focused on PhD studies and on occasions referring to funded research. The selection of the PhD projects included here is based on the authors’ comprehensive survey of contemporary design research published recently (Rodgers and Yee, 2015).
New Topics of Inquiry and Applications There are increasing numbers of studies focusing on service design, design thinking and social design, representing new practice areas for design (Yee et al, 2013). Recently completed PhD studies on service design (Warwick, 2015; Yu and Sangiorgi, 2014; Rao, 2012), design in social innovation and social design (Amatullo, 2015; Tan, 2012) demonstrates a growth of interest in these new areas of practice. There are also increasing
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studies exploring the realm of design as critical practice, most notably Matthew Malpass’s study into the field of critical design in product design (2012) and more recently Tobie Kerridge’s PhD (2015) on role of speculative design in generating upstream public engagement in a science and technology context. Much of this research encompasses a political dimension that is intended to be both useful and impactful. Laura Warwick’s PhD (2015), for instance, explored how design can effect transformational change in a voluntary community sector (VCS). Her study reveals five organisational factors that are critical for the Design for Service approach. Additionally, establishing trust and operating as a ‘critical friend’ is crucial in increasing the influence of design in the organisation. Her study represents a first in the application of the Design for Service approach in a VCS context and provides detailed evidence and insight into the capacity for transformational change using design. She has also developed a prototype ‘design-readiness’ self-assessment tool to help VCS organisations evaluate if design is right for them. Mariana Amatullo is the Co-Founder and Vice President of Designmatters, the awardwinning social impact department of Art Center College of Design in the USA. She is a practitioner-scholar involved in social innovation projects directly through her work at Designmatters and an example of a design practitioner who is using research to ground and enrich her practice. Her PhD, Design Attitude and Social Innovation: Empirical Studies of the Return on Design takes a different tack to current popular qualitative approaches in design research. Her study has sought to explain the phenomena of ‘design for social innovation’ in a broad context and to systematically address the question of “how might we elucidate the value designers bring to the field of social innovation?” Her analyses rely on original empirical evidence, collected and framed in a ‘mixed methods’ exploratory design sequence that combines elements of qualitative (grounded theory and ethnographic) and quantitative research approaches. Her study is also interdisciplinary – relating to our next point as it integrates theories of social innovation, organisational culture, institutional logics and design and eventually builds on the construct of ‘design attitude’ (Bolland and Collopy, 2004; Michlewski, 2008). Her theoretical contribution is a new framework that conceptualizes what she calls the ‘return on design’ (ROD) for social innovation.
Inter/multi/cross/trans/alter Disciplinary Studies In the recent national assessment of research excellence in the UK (REF, 2014) that comprised all areas of design, including all forms of practice and the historical and theoretical study of design, the list of other disciplines that featured included medical and engineering science, computer technology, philosophy, history, anthropology, and ethnography. Similarly, a significant number of research outputs were of an interdisciplinary nature and were in the form of collaborative projects. A significant part of this interdisciplinary activity entails collaboration with disciplines such as media studies, literature, engineering, medicine and history. As is the case with new areas of inquiry, many of these studies have focused on exploring the professional culture, defining the range of activities, establishing measurements of value, identifying ethical issues and establishing
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professional legitimacy within a wide range of context such as business, public sector, healthcare, voluntary community sector and government. Thus, design now is well established in and across many new sectors and contexts (Marshall, 2008). Consequently, design research is increasingly an inter/multi/cross/trans/alterdisciplinary pursuit. Graham Pullin’s PhD (2013a), combines speech, disability and design. It focuses on pioneering more expressive communication for people who cannot speak and currently find themselves limited by text-to-speech synthesis. His study, 17 ways to say Yes, exploring tone of voice in augmentative communication and designing new interactions with speech synthesis explores an often overlooked issue of voice output communication aids with the “sensibilities and skills––of interaction design” (Pullin, 2013b, p.14). The activities of exploration and design practice were used to visualise tone of voice, in order to catalyse new conversations, through two original design research projects (Figure 1). Due to the subject matter, his research is not only relevant to design research but has made important contributions to the augmentative and alternative communication field through publications, projects and keynotes.
Figure 1. Six Speaking Chairs by Pullin and Cook (Photo: Andrew Cook).
New Ways of Looking at Old Things As well as new topics of enquiry introduced in the previous section, we have observed new ways of exploring the more established topics of design research. For example, Anthony Forysth’s ongoing PhD study examines the poetic quality of design objects. His study is concerned with what Bayazit (2004) would call, “the physical embodiment of man-made things” and how they work. Rather than take a historical or critical approach to the research, Forsyth is using his practice as the platform for his investigation, informed by expert interviews and a contextual study. He is creating a series of new lighting objects to challenge and define his poetics framework (Figure 2).
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Figure 2. Work-in-progress images depicting early, functional prototypes of Anthony Forsyth’s “Flicker” lamp concept (Forsyth et al, 2015). “Flicker” is inspired by the play of candlelight on the surrounding environment and employs a wind sensor coupled to an Arduino board. With programming to modulate the effect, an LED array dims and brightens in response to air currents passing across the sensor.
Studies concerned with design as “construction as a human activity, how designers work, how they think, and how they carry out design activity” (Bayazit, 2004, p.16) can be argued as one of the earliest subjects of interest for design researchers. Early design researchers relied on a strong ‘positivistic’ philosophy, in which they worked on the premise that there is an objectively correct method for designing, which could be described by theoretical models (Holness, 2000). This was in part driven by researchers who were not trained as designers but rather from ‘other’ disciplines more at ease with this approach. However, with increasing researchers coming to research from a design background, the turn to more sympathetic and introspective way of researching is becoming increasingly common. Phil Luscombe’s PhD thesis, Making Things Up: Workshop Practice as a Place of Design, considers workshop practice, specifically the production of three-dimensional wood, metal and plastic products, as a place of design (Figure 3). Luscombe’s exploration into the nature of tools, techniques and material engagement during the making of designs is based around a reflective, autobiographical account of the making process (Schön, 1983). A practitioner’s use of tools has been a key interest for design researchers for many years. Luscombe’s thesis builds on existing approaches of anthropological studies of productive work (Rosner, 2012; Ingold, 2011) and practice-based design research by investigating, both practically and theoretically, the tools (including hammers, saws, files, laser cutters and CNC milling machines) and techniques of workshop practice.
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Figure 3. Making Scissors (Luscombe et al., 2013).
The aim of Luscombe’s PhD research is to explore how design practitioners might think about, and subsequently think through, the process of making. Drawing on sources from the fields of anthropology, archaeology, craft and philosophy, the research explores theoretical understandings of the process of making and posits that the act of making is best understood not as an attempt to realise a pre-existing design, but as an improvisatory engagement with tools and materials – an act of discovery rather than transcription. The research presents a collection of concepts that allow contemporary designing and making practice to be interrogated in novel ways, offering new insights into: the relationship between designing and making; the epistemic potential of workshop processes; a practitioner’s engagement with tools and materials; and the nature of workmanship.
A New Criticality and Responsibility The social potential of design has become a key research concern due to new applications of design within the strategy, social and policy space. Design is no longer just about the orchestration of material, but increasingly about the manipulation of people and other vital resources. Human behaviour as the object of design is the focus of Ben Singleton’s PhD (2014) in which he explores how designers might approach human behaviour as a material to be worked on. He was critical of the lack of debate and discussions on what he saw as a potent potential of design to ‘design’ human behaviour, especially pertinent in light of the emergence of service design as now an established design discipline. This questioning of the role and ethics of design is really important if design is to flourish and gain professional legitimacy in other disciplines. There is a sense that if design wants to ‘play’ in these new social spaces, it has to learn to understand and be responsible for its impact.
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The research of Daniel Carey provisionally entitled Developing and Delivering Innovative Disruptive Design Interventions in Health and Social Care involves exploring the potential of design disruption within the context of informal health and social care. Carey’s ongoing Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded PhD research in collaboration with Newcastle Carers seeks to map and understand better the experiences of people caring for people living with dementia (Figure 4).
Figure 4. A Small Part of a Carer’s Journey.
The aim is to identify and define the interactions between informal carers and governmental and charitable support organisations, their perception of the services available to them, and other informal methods employed to cope with the caring role. Carey’s maps offer a valuable new way of visualising the complex interrelationships between support organisations, and they highlight a number of significant problems faced by informal carers and their families.
More ‘Messiness’ on Show Design research can be messy and complex without comprising rigour. This acknowledgement of complexity and messiness in a research project is especially important in research studies focused on understanding how design influences and impacts on people’s behaviour. This awareness is evident in a number of ways. Firstly, the research
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methodology used in many recent Design PhDs have been focused on allowing new ideas to emerge through the use of an abductive approach to researching. Abduction, compared with deduction and induction is a process of forming explanatory hypothesis through linking ideas together when there is no clear hypothesis or principle available. As the ‘what if’ questions are becoming more common in design research, it makes sense to see a growing use of abduction in research projects. As abduction has been closely linked to the activities of designing (Kolko, 2010; Dorst, 2015), it is unsurprising that abduction would work just as well for design research. Abductive reasoning may not be ‘true’ but produces insights and ideas that are plausible (enough) but provisional to help move a project forward (Kimbell, 2015). These insights require further exploration and elaboration before the switch to more traditional inductive or deductive reasoning at the latter stages of the research. For that reason, there is usually an exploratory phase in the research design to explore a number of possible research directions based on the initial research questions. For example in Michael Leitner’s 2014 PhD on mobile interaction trajectories, he framed his first research stage using Binder and Redström’s programme and experiment approach (2006) and explained that each programme (stage) acts as a conjecture, rather than a hypothesis (Figure 5). This open and exploratory research design offered him a flexibility in the way he approached his next research stages and subsequently helped direct his two design experiments.
Figure 5. Micheal Leitner’s Hanky Probe package created to study mobile relationships.
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Messiness in research tends to be ‘swept under the carpet’ and cleaned up through the rationalization process of writing. As a result, the nuances and intricacies of the research activities and decisions often get lost in the final reporting of the research. Pullin (2013b, p.5) attempted to address this problem by creating a guide to his thesis framed as ‘navigational notes’. He states that while a strong narrative thread is established through a more traditional thesis format, the “interwoven navigational notes provide a means to capture important complexities that might have been lost…. free to act as reflections on the main text, the navigational notes are an opportunity to be more transparent––and more honest––about what happened and when.”
Social Dimension and Context Design researchers are increasingly recognizing the importance of individuality and context in their research approach. Many questions asked in design research cannot be simply answered with a binary yes/no or true/false answer and instead sit on a continuum of interpretations that will change based on any given context. Tommy Dykes’ PhD is focused on understanding how design might improve day-care facilities for the elderly. He has created a number of evocative and thoughtful interaction objects that aims to foster conversation and curiosity (Figure 6). Dykes chose to create objects that allowed openended and playful interactions between people. Dykes’ research highlights the bias of always using focused problem solving approach, since it can often lead to products that represent a very narrow range of experiences and usage. Instead, he chose to make objects that help make life richer instead of easier.
Figure 6. ‘PhotoScrabbler’ (Dykes, 2014) is a prototype that slowly transitions and gently fades in a slideshow of Flickr images that change to reflect the words created with wooden Scrabble tiles on a letter holder. It was designed as a way of bringing joy of exploring Flickr to small groups of people living with dementia in an Adult Day Centre.
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Lizette Reitsma’s PhD (2015), Dynamics of Respectful Design in Co-creative and Co-reflective Encounters with Indigenous Communities, deals with the often-problematic area of designing with indigenous communities. Because of design’s overarching aim to ‘improve’ things many design approaches are often guilty of ‘colonising’. Reitsma’s research has explored ways to deal with such concerns. Adopting a ‘Respectful Design’ approach that seeks to ensure that the indigenous community benefits from design projects, Reitsma has developed a framework so that the designer has space for dialogue to guarantee such benefits (Figure 7). Reitsma’s co-creative and co-reflective encounters with indigenous communities have led to a model of “respectful design space” and recommendations on how to reach such a space.
Figure 7. Analysis tool to explore “Respectful Design” (Reitsma, 2015).
Different Ways to Communicate Research With the growing practice of using design as a vehicle of research, an area that is in constant debate is how to document the realities of practice-based research more analogously. Whilst the traditional conference paper, journal or essay format is still the dominant format of dissemination, more multi-layered and dialogical forms are being proposed and trialled by a number of different researchers. For example, in the interdisciplinary field of HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) (Gaver, 2011; Gaver, 2012) and Bowers (2012) have articulated strategies for communicating practice-based research that privileges provisional and contingent expressions through the creation of ‘annotated portfolios’ and ‘workbooks’. This shift to practice has also been recognised by academic conferences (e.g. Research Through
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Design, Making Futures, All Makers Now, PhD by Design) that offer a more synergistic platform to support and encourage experimentation, interdisciplinarity and visual argumentations. There are also a number of doctoral studies that challenge the current convention of research communication. For example, Daria Loi’s doctoral thesis (2004) was presented in the form of a suitcase. Her research was focused on exploring ways to foster organisational spaces where collaborative activities can be undertaken using design tools and methods. The thesis was presented as a suitcase containing participatory devices to enable readers to have a discourse with the thesis, while at the same time actively demonstrating some of the concepts that the thesis discusses. In a more recent example, Nick Sousanis submitted a doctoral dissertation in a graphic form titled ‘Unflattening (Figure 8). Sousanis’ ‘Unflattening’ concept relates to “multimodality, about interdisciplinarity, about image-text, that is both public and scholarly. It’s saying that we need to dimensionalize the kinds of conversations we have rather than coming at them head-on” (Sousanis, 2015). Considering the subject matter, it made sense for Sousanis to represent and communicate this concept through the multi-modal form of a graphic novel. While there is current debate (as seen on the PhDDesign List email archive) as to whether the graphic form sufficiently demonstrates and evidence a method of scholarly, scientific or professional analysis, it is nonetheless an interesting example that challenges our perception on accepted modes of design research communication.
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Figure 8. Excerpt from Nick Sousanis’ ‘Unflattening’ PhD thesis, page 91 (2015).
Design research is also increasingly presented, discussed and influenced through a co-design and participatory process. Cobb’s design research project entitled The 100-Mile Suit
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explored regional supply chains with the aim of reintegrating and reconnecting the wearer of clothes to local trades and economies (Cobb, 2015). Cobb’s research intends to introduce a dialogue about resources and community in an attempt to unravel disconnect between consumer and producer. Cobb’s project was disseminated as part of a museum exhibition focusing on local communities and collective gestures where a regional garment supply chain was simulated so that the community could witness the process of making clothing, talk to the makers and touch the materials (Figure 9).
Figure 9. 100-Mile Suit – Materials, Exhibition Shot, Detail (Cobb, 2015).
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This range of research dissemination format is also reflected in the range of outputs submitted in national research assessment exercises. For instance, the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) of 2014 recorded over 20 forms of output submitted. The UK REF (2014) for Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory, one of the largest sectors in the exercise, reported on the: “…range, energy and vitality of the submissions it received.” Adding that: “…over 60 per cent of the submitted work was considered to be world-leading or internationally excellent” and that “…this quality of work was found across the discipline range, and at all career stages of submitted staff.” (Figure 10). The REF (2014) also found that design research “…has been a pioneer and supporter of practice-based research through previous RAEs, and the increasing quantity and quality of practice-based research in REF2014 confirms that the sector is a leader in this mode of research activity.” Much of this focus has “…produced a large quantity of high-calibre research outputs.” These are most notably in “…digital design; design and the business process; product modelling; transport design; and health.” REF (2014) also noted that much of this activity is undertaken with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger-scale industrial producers, and collaboration across other organisations and institutions. It is acknowledged, however, that not all countries allow the range of submission types accepted by the UK's REF exercise.
Figure 10. Research Output Types in Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory REF 2014 Submission.
Ten Characteristics of ‘Good’ Design Research This paper has highlighted that design research is alive and kicking and residing in a number of places by examining recent design PhDs drawn from the UK and USA. We began by contextualising current developments of design research in relation to its past and have reflected on and highlighted emerging trends in how design research is practiced, discussed and communicated. We now conclude by summarising these trends into ‘characteristics’ of design research.
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Design research is not only alive and kicking, it continually challenges research conventions. The plurality in emerging forms of design research is clearly evident in the wide range of conceptual, methodological, technological and theoretical approaches. Furthermore, many forms of design research regularly appear in a vast array of cognate disciplines, including business, engineering, computing, healthcare and management and many techniques and approaches from those disciplines are often altered and exploited in design pursuits such as Graham Pullin’s PhD (Pullin, 2013a). We maintain that design research that purposely blurs distinctions and has challenged existing academic models, from being disciplined to being irresponsible, will be best placed to make connections that generate new ways to identify ‘other’ dimensions of design research, activity and thought that is needed for the complex, interdependent issues we now face (Rodgers and Bremner, 2011). Moreover, developments in digital technologies have dramatically modified extant models of design thought and action, and design research must now transform itself from a convention domesticated by the academy (disciplined) to a reaction to globalisation that is yet to be disciplined. In these conditions we introduce 10 characteristics of design research (Figure 11), based loosely on Dieter Rams’ 10 principles of good design, (Klemp and Ueki-Polet, 2010) that not only represent the variety of current design research but can also act as a reference point moving forward. Table 1. Ten Characteristics of ‘Good’ Design Research (based on Dieter Ram’s 10 Principles of Good Design). Dieter Ram’s 10 Principles of Good Design
Rodgers and Yee’s 10 Characteristics of Good Design Research
Good design:
Good design research:
is innovative
is disruptive
makes a product useful
is useful
is aesthetic
is messy
makes a product understandable
is political
is unobtrusive
is impactful
is honest
is critical
is long-lasting
is enduring
is thorough down to the last detail
does not need qualification
is environmentally friendly
is thoughtful
is as little design as possible
is clear
These characteristics should not be used to ‘label’ or ‘qualify’ different types of design research and in this respect, the authors agree with the tenet in Cameron Tonkinwise’s recent essay entitled Just Design: Being Dogmatic about Defining Speculative Critical Design Future Fiction when he says:
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“Every time you qualify design with, or add design to, some other quality or practice, you are claiming that design does not already do that. All these phrases are redundant and/or appropriative of design: Design Futures, Design Fiction, Speculative Design, Critical Design, Adversarial Design, Discursive Design, Interrogative Design, Design Probes, Ludic Design. Designing that does not already Future, Fiction, Speculate, Criticize, Provoke, Discourse, Interrogate, Probe, Play, is inadequate designing.” “Thinking that these need to be added to design reinforces the mistaken belief that design is just an instrumental technical task – styling. These qualifiers are precisely what allows (commercial) designing to not (have to) do all those things, or, ironically, constrains (commercial) designing from doing all those things. Calling out all these specialist versions of designing benefits only the artificial ecosystems of academic design research, especially the bubble that is HCI.” (Tonkinwise, 2015).
Conclusions This paper puts forward 10 characteristics of ‘good’ design research, based loosely on Dieter Rams’ 10 principles of good design, that not only represent the variety in current design research pursuits but can also act as a reference point for the next 50 years. To move towards achieving relevant, valuable, and responsive research in an uncertain era, this paper posits that design research needs to be: 1) Disruptive – Design is very good at offering new ways to view the world through alternative futures. In this respect, good design research should disrupt the status quo and offer new perspectives. 2) Useful – Research is practiced in order to be useful. It must serve a defined purpose. However, the most important task of design research is to optimise the utility of its own usefulness (Rodgers and Bremner, 2011). 3) Messy – Good design research makes you think, it makes you question and because it is not clear-cut, it is inherently messy. Messiness does not negate the fact that research still has to be rigorous but that it requires untangling using approaches that do not oversimplify nor merely seek to reduce. 4) Political – Design research needs to acknowledge its political dimensions and direction. Design research must now respond to new globalised perceptions and clarify its stance on the world’s significant challenges – poverty, mass migration, ageing, isolation, conflict, security, and many others. 5) Impactful – The regular (every 4 or 5 years) United Kingdom Research Excellence Framework (REF) national assessment of the quality of research in UK higher education institutions, assesses the impact of research outside of academia and is defined as: “…an effect on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia.” Thus, design research should consider how it will contribute to having impact in one or more of the following walks of life – Civil society (including in regional and local contexts), Cultural life, Economic prosperity, Education, Policy making, Public discourse, and Public services.
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6) Critical – Design now starts from a globalised state of culture, so contemporary forms of design research must not only comprise an understanding of historical, cultural, and social perspectives but also be critical and challenging of these perspectives. 7) Enduring – Design research should avoid the trap of only focusing on current ‘hot’ topics. Well-structured design research should reflect a profound evolution in our vision of the world and our way of inhabiting it. 8) Does not need qualification – There is less need to define particular types of design as ‘practice-based’ or ‘research-through’ or ‘research-into’ and so on. The importance of design research now lies in its rigour, relevance, quality (questions asked, methodology, results), and impact. Distinction between ‘research-through’, ‘research for’, ‘researchinto’, etc. should no longer be used to defend a particular way of doing design research. 9) Thoughtful – Design research must be serious about what it is doing as design looks to address difficult issues which includes “…economy as well as ecology, with traffic and communication, with products and services, with technology and innovation, with culture and civilization, with sociological, psychological, medical, physical, environmental, and political issues, and with all forms of social organization.” (Rams et al., 1991). 10) Clear – Design research should bring clarity to the processes, activities, meanings, roles, value etc. of design. At best, design research is self-explanatory. These 10 characteristics of ‘good’ design research will support design researchers in framing and addressing the complex global issues we now face. It will help ensure that emerging forms of design research play a major creative and transformative role in shaping our future living in more responsible, sustainable, meaningful, and valuable ways.
References Amatullo, M. (2015) ‘Design attitude and social innovation: Empirical Studies of the Return on Design’, PhD Thesis, Case Western Reserve University. Bayazit, N. (2004). “40 Years of Design Research”. Design Issues, 20(1) pp 16–29. Buchanan, R. (1999). ”Wicked Problems in Design Thinking”, Design Issues, 8(2), pp 5–21. Binder, T. and Redström, J. (2006). Exemplary Design Research. In Design Research Society Wonderground International Conference 2006, 1-4 Nov 2006, Lisbon, Portugal. Boland, J., Richard J, and Collopy, F. (2004). Managing as designing, Standford University Press. Bowers, J. (2012). The logic of annotated portfolios: communicating the value of' research through design'. In Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp 68–77). The ACM Press. Cobb, K. (2015). “The 100 Mile Suit Project” in P.A. Rodgers and J. Yee (Editors), The Routledge Companion to Design Research. Routledge, pp 504–515. Cross, N. (1999). “Design Research: A disciplined conversation”, Design Issues, 15(2) pp 5–10. Cross, N. (2006). Designerly Ways of Knowing, Springer-Verlag. Dorst, K. (2015). Frame Innovation: Create New Thinking By Design, The MIT Press. Dykes, T. (2014). Photo Scrabbler, http://tommydykes.com/archives/1125#more (Accessed 23 October 2015).
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Forsyth, A., Yee, J., Duncan, T. and Thomas, J. (2015). Seeing the light – finding the poetic content of design objects. In Proceeedings of the Research Through Design conference. http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.1328002, (Accessed 23 October 2015). Frayling, C. (1993). “Research in Art and Design”. Royal College of Art Research Papers, Volume 1, Number 1, pp 1–5. Fulton Suri, J. (2008). ”Informing our Intuition: Design Research for Radical Innovation”, Rotman Winter Magazine, pp 53–57. Gaver, W. (2011). Making spaces: How design workbooks work. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp 1551–1560). The ACM Press. Gaver, W. (2012). What should we expect from research through design? In Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on human factors in computing systems (pp 937–946). The ACM Press. Holness, A. (2000). 'The Analysis of Design Methods by a Comparative Study of Award-winning Industrial Architecture since 1970’, PhD thesis. Northumbria University. Hubka, V. and Eder, W.E. (1996). Design Science, Springer-Verlag. Ingold, T. (2011). Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge and Description, Routledge. Kerridge, T. (2015). ‘Designing Debate: The entanglement of speculative design and upstream engagement’, PhD Thesis, University of London. Kimbell, L. (2015). Applying Design Approaches to Policy Making: Discovering Policy Lab, Report, University of Brighton, https://researchingdesignforpolicy.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/kimbell_policylab_report.pdf. (Accessed 23 October 2015). Klemp, K. and Ueki-Polet, K. (2010). Less is More, The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams, Gestalten Verlag. Kolko, J. (2010). ”Abductive Thinking and Sensemaking: The Drivers of Design Synthesis”, Design Issues, 26 (1) pp 15-28. Leitner, M. (2015). ‘Mobile interaction trajectories: A design focused approach for generative mobile interaction design research’, PhD Thesis, Northumbria University. Loi, D. (2005). ’Lavoretti Per Bimbi: Playful triggers as keys to foster collaborative practices and workspaces where people learn, wonder and play’, PhD Thesis, RMIT. Luscombe, P., Rodgers, P.A., Wallace, J. and Whittingham, R. (2013). “Moving Target: The Modification of Intent when Making a Pair of Scissors”, Proceedings of the Praxis and Poetics Research Through Design Conference, The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 3rd – 5th September 2013, pp 147 – 150. Malpass, M. (2012). ‘Contextualising Critical Design: Towards a Taxonomy of Critical Practice in Product Design’, PhD Thesis, Nottingham Trent University. Marshall, J.J. (2008). ’An Exploration of Hybrid Art and Design Practice using Computer-based Design and Fabrication Tools’, PhD Thesis, Robert Gordon University. Melles, G. (2008). “The Academization of Design and its Consequences for the Visual, Textual and Artefactual Production of Practice-based Research”. In Swiss Design Network Symposium, Berne, Switzerland. Michlewski, K. (2008). ‘Uncovering design attitude: Inside the culture of designers’, Organization Studies, 29(3) pp 373-392. Pullin, G. (2013a). ‘17 ways to say yes, exploring tone of voice in augmentative communication and designing new interactions with speech synthesis’, PhD Thesis, Dundee University. Pullin, G. (2013b). ‘Navigational Notes to 17 ways to say yes’, PhD Appendix, Dundee University. Rams, D. et al., 1991, “The Munich Design Charter”, Design Issues, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp74–77.
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Rao, P. (2012). ‘Connecting the dots: A design approach to services for the poor’, PhD Thesis, Northumbria University. Reitsma, L. (2016). ‘Dynamics of respectful design when co-designing with indigenous communities’, PhD Thesis, Northumbria University. Rittel, H. (1972). The DMG 5th Anniversary Report, Design Method Group. Rodgers, P.A. and Bremner, C., “Alterplinarity – ‘Alternative Disciplinarity’ in Future Art and Design Research Pursuits”, Studies in Material Thinking, Vol. 6, December 2011. Rodgers, P.A. and Yee, J. (Editors) (2015). The Routledge Companion to Design Research, Routledge. Rosner, D.K. (2012). “The Material Practices of Collaboration”, Proceedings of Computer Supported Cooperative Work Conference, February 11–15, 2012, Seattle, Washington, USA, pp 1155–1164. Roth, S. (1999). ‘The state of design research,’ Design Issues, Vol. 15 (2), Design Research, pp 18–26. Schön, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner. How professionals think in action, Temple Smith. Schön, D. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner, Jossey-Bass. Sevaldson, B. (2010). ‘Discussions and Movements in Design Research: A systems approach to practice research in design’. FORMakademisk, 3, 1. Simon, H. (1969). The Sciences of the Artificial (3rd ed), MIT Press. Singleton, B. (2014). ‘On craft and being crafty’, PhD Thesis, Northumbria University. Sousanis, N. (2015). Unflattening, Harvard University Press. Sudjic, D. (2009). The Language of Things, Penguin. Tan, L. (2012). ‘Understanding the Different Roles of the Designer in Design for Social Good. A Study of Design Methodology in the DOTT 07 (Designs of the Time 2007), PhD Thesis, Northumbria University. Tonkinwise, C. (2015). Just Design: Being Dogmatic about Defining Speculative Critical Design Future Fiction, https://medium.com/@camerontw/just-design-b1f97cb3996f, (Accessed on 14 September 2015). Warman, M., (2011) “Dieter Rams: Apple has Achieved Something I Never Did”, The Telegraph, 7 June, 2011, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8555503/Dieter-Rams-Applehasachieved-something-I-never-did.html (Accessed 11 March 2014). Warwick, L. (2015), ‘Can Design Effect Transformational Change in the Voluntary Community Sector’, PhD Thesis, Northumbria University. Yee, J., Jefferies, E. & Tan, L. (2013). Design Transitions, BIS. Yu, E. and Sangiorgi, D. (2014). ‘Service Design as an approach to New Service Development’. The 4th ServDes Conference on Service Design and Innovation.
About the Authors: Paul A. Rodgers is a Professor of Design at Imagination, Lancaster University, UK. His research explores the discipline of design and how disruptive design interventions can enact positive change in health and social care and elsewhere.
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Joyce S.R. Yee is a Reader at Northumbria University, UK. Her research focuses on the role of design in service design and social innovation, the role of practice as a form of inquiry, and the inherent ‘messiness’ of design.
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Reverse Innovation: How Has Design in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region Changed the World Ningchang Zhoua and Tao Huangb* a
South China Agricultural University Southern Illinois University at Carbondale *thuang@siu.edu DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.153 b
Abstract: After more than 40 years of rapid development, industrial design in Mainland China is due for a thorough documentation and examination. In particular, design in the Greater Pearl River Delta region has played a crucial role in this process and must be studied carefully to help us understand what could transpire in the future. This paper aims at deepening the understanding of the cultural context of innovations in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region. Based on years of direct involvement with the growing of the industrial design profession, the authors started a research project to document significant design companies that marked the trajectory of development of the profession and business of industrial design. The paper further aims to uncover culturally significant design innovations and innovations that have gained great international success that could be categorized as “reverse innovation�. Both have played a role to the advancement of the profession. Keywords: reverse innovation; industrial design; Chinese design; design history
Introduction Design in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region Since 1979, the Greater Pearl River Delta region has been at the front and center of the extraordinary development of manufacturing and design in China. The Pearl River Delta region encompasses nine major cities in the southeast part of Mainland China, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan (including Shunde), Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Jiangmen, and Shaoqing. The Greater Pearl River Delta region also includes Hong Kong and Macau special administration district (The Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, 1993). Collectively comprising one of the most densely populated region and the most
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License
Ningchang Zhou and Tao Huang
economically dynamic regions in the world, the cities in the Greater Pearl River Delta region were the first to open their market for international trade. Toh Mun Heng and Shandre Thangavelu stated that: “The Pearl River Delta has become the world’s manufacturing base for products such as electronic goods, toys, garments, and textiles, plastic products, and a range of other merchandise. Much of this output resulted from the large amounts of foreign direct investment and is geared towards the export market. In 2001, approximately five percent of the world’s goods were produced in this region, with a total export value of US$289 billion. The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone accounts for approximately onethird of China’s trade value.” (Saw & Wong, 2009, p. 102)
Alongside the great expansion of manufacturing capacity for both domestic and export goods, the region’s need for all forms of design services has increased dramatically. This is especially noteworthy in the area of industrial design and visual communication design. In 1980, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts became one of the first Chinese universities to establish an industrial design undergraduate program. In 1991, Guangdong Industrial Design Association was established, indicating the beginning of the governmental effort to organize and develop the profession. A great number of manufacturing, consumer goods, and high-tech companies, such as Midea Global, TCL, and Huawei Technologies, were established in the region and many of them have achieved international success. More and more, these companies have begun to recognize the value of design and rely heavily upon design to enhance their competiveness in the market. Chinese design from the Greater Pearl River Delta region are increasingly being recognized by the international design community. In 2014 alone, Chinese companies won 124 IF Design Awards in the category of industrial design. Designers based in Shenzhen (a major design hub in the region), for example, won 37, nearly 1/3 of the awards (iF Design Forum International GMBH, 2014). In this unique environment, industrial designers in the region are highly entrepreneurial and productive. Throughout the years, designs in the region have progressed from imitation to creative solutions to satisfy local and international needs.
Recent Recognition of Industrial Design in Mainland China There has been an unprecedented increase of both recognition and understanding of the value of industrial design in Mainland China. In the Manufacturing in China 2015 report released in May 2015, the Chinese government recognizes many challenges facing its manufacturing sector and clearly states that technological innovation is one of the most important driving forces for this sector to enable to successfully compete in the global market in the near future (State Council of the People's Repulbic of China, 2015). The report also clearly goes on to point out that industrial design is one of the most important industries that helps advance the manufacturing sector. The industrial design community
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rejoiced when the report was released because it clearly identifies the values of design and therefore provides support for the business’ continued growth. Therefore, at this crucial moment of the development of industrial design in mainland China, there is a great need to reflect upon how design in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region, one of the design centres in the country, has changed the world. To achieve this, the authors have studied the evolution in design thinking and process followed by a selection of several design companies that succeeded in solving culturally specific problems with originality, but also saw their culturally specific solutions transferred and adopted by other cultures in other parts’ of the world.
Reverse Innovation While there are numerous approaches that could be taken while studying the contemporary design history in Mainland China, this research project has its focus on “Reverse Innovation”. In recent years, researchers and designers in developed countries started to notice what they call “Reverse Innovation” (Govindarajan & Trimble, 2012), the phenomenon that innovations that happen in developing countries trickle UP to the developed countries. These innovations might be creative new uses of traditional methods or technologically advanced solutions. They might be rooted deeply in the local culture and aimed at fulfilling local needs, but subsequently become noticed by other cultural groups as providing a new and different approach to design that proves to be useful for those consumers outside the region (Huang & Anderson, 2013). Though this term might be viewed as a patronizing or even slightly pejorative description of these innovations from developing countries, it calls people’s attention to the fact that innovations originate all over the world and should be treated with equal respect. The Greater Pearl River Delta region has provided numerous such examples.
The Research Team Our team consists of practicing designers and educators with deep understanding of the local design profession and with broad view of the design education in the Greater Pearl River Delta region. In 2014, the team was formed after continual discussions on WeChat (a social media app that is extremely popular in China, which in itself an excellent example of culturally sensitive innovation). Common interests in the subject drew the team together, despite the fact that we live on two continents and have never met in person. We all agreed that there is a need for an in-depth research survey of historically important industrial design companies in the Greater Pearl Delta Region that have contributed to the shaping of the practice from 1979 to 2015 to demonstrate how designers in the region have elevated the importance of design with their collective efforts. There is in an urgent need to document witnesses’ accounts and collect and study artefacts before they disappear amidst unprecedented economic and social changes. Our case study will provide a snapshot of the Chinese design industry in general. Their successes and failures will be documented and provide lessons learned valuable for generations to come.
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Methodology This paper is the first publication of a longitudinal research project that might span over several years. This research project will be conducted using historical research methods. We will collect four types of data: archival data, secondary sources (literature review), running records, and recollections through interviews. When possible, the research team will also collect artifacts to study. In the first phase of this project, which is discussed in this paper, the team focuses on literature review and establishing parameters and protocols for the project. The research team has started the interview process using social media, with more interviews planned for summer 2016. We have identified several key interviewees, whom might lead us to create a map of individuals and significant projects to link many local design companies together through their careers, then uncover the trajectory of development of the local industrial design business. The list of interview questions is as shown below: Individual Context: What were the main projects you worked on while at these companies? What were the most significant in your opinion (both success and failure)? Project Context: How was the problem(s) of these projects framed? Who proposed the problem (the client or your design team)? What kind of research was conducted to define the problem, if any at all? What was the social and cultural context for this problem(s)? The initial solutions: Who proposed these solutions? What were the testing methods for these solutions? How were the final solutions selected? What worked and what didn’t? The final solutions: How were the final solutions perceived by the users? Were there any more improvements on the design based on the feedback? What were the numbers of production? What were the price points? What were the non-design related criteria if any? When did the product cease production and why? Contributions: with the benefit of hindsight, could you tell us if the final solutions influenced any social or cultural trend and vice versa in any way? There have been hundreds of design offices in the Greater Pearl River Delta region. It is critical that we establish a clear set of criteria for selecting a few to study. The criteria for selection for cases as defined as followed: We select one or two important companies for each decade from 1979 to 2015 as the main focus of our project. We aim at selecting design companies that succeeded in solving culturally specific issues with originality, while over time, their solutions were adopted or have the potential to be adopted by other cultures in other parts’ of the world.
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We include both in-house design units of large companies and pioneering small design companies to provide an overview of the industrial design industry. We select companies that have long lasting influence on the business and practice in industrial design in the region. This paper provides a short summary of these case studies. In the complete report, the case studies will be written in this manner: Summary This part will summarize the rationales of selecting this company and their key design projects (their historical significance), the research process, the outcomes, and the conclusion. Back story This part will include: the details of when and how these companies were established; the main contributors to the companies; the main successes and failures; the trajectory of development and the future of the company (for still existing companies), etc. Key projects Focusing on the key projects of this company, this part will include an analysis and interpretation of the interview data. Conclusions/Reflections This part will include our critical analysis of the design contribution of these companies.
Case Studies Initially, we have identified these design companies to be studied, categorized by decades: Midea Design Center (1979-1990); South Industrial Design Office (SID, 1990-2000); Guangdong Xingbao Electrical Appliances Holdings, Co. Ltd. /Donlim Brand (2000-2010); and Echom (2010-2015). Our rationales, short summaries, and highlights of these companies are introduced in Table 1. Table 1 Summary of Selected Companies. Company Name
Year Active
Size
Type
1995-present
Large (300+)
In-house design office
1988-1994
Small (10-20)
Private design office
Guangdong Xingbao Electrical Appliances Holdings Co. Ltd.
1988-present
Large
Corporation
Guangzhou Echom Science & Technology Co. Ltd.
1997-present
Large
Corporation
Midea Design Center South Industrial Design Office
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4.1 Midea Design Center As a subsidy of one of the top ten electronics companies in Mainland China, the Midea Design Centre was founded in 1995 (Ann, 2008). According to the corporation’s website (Midea Global, 2013), it was the first manufacturing corporation in Mainland China to create an internal design centre. We choose it to be the representation of industrial design business of the decade of 1979 to 1990 because Midea is one of the earliest appliances companies (founded in 1968 as a plastics manufacturer and entered the small appliances business in 1980) established in Mainland China (Midea Global, 2013). Midea’s longevity as a small appliances company is highly unusual in a volatile market such as the one that has characterized Mainland China over the past 40 years. Midea has a long tradition in manufacturing for both the local and global market. Though their main products sold in the US are their space-saving window air conditioners and refrigerators (according to their US website), their Chinese line-up is far more diversified. Some of the highlights of recent innovations include: the WFZ4011XM smart rice cooker. By connecting to the Alibaba Cloud Computer App (Chinese name: 阿里小智) using WIFI, the rice cooker tremendously expands the capacity of a traditional and essential product in every Chinese household. By moving most of its controls from hardware to software, it solves the problem of user-unfriendly, complex and difficult controls common to many multifunctional products (Midea China, 2015). Through the app, users can download recipes, send them to the rice cooker, set a timeframe for it to get ready, and get notification when it is done. The overall user experience has been enhanced and the same thinking could be applied to Midea’s entire product portfolio. Midea commissioned Hangzhou Delan Technology Co. Ltd to develop another app MSmart for their air conditioner units, setting the stage for a possible innovation. These recent innovations show that Midea is making bold moves towards creating “the internet of things” of home appliances. In this highly competitive sector, design and innovation have helped Midea stay in the business for over 30 years. Today, the design centre is dismantled and the approximately 300 designers are now dispersed into many departments in the corporation (according to one of our interviewees, Yongyun Feng, a current industrial designer at Midea). Nonetheless, industrial design has played a crucial role in the company’s success and continues to be valued. Midea’s designs have won the Red Dot, IF, and IDEA multiple times in recent years.
South Industrial Design Office (SID) When researching design history in the Pearl River Delta Region, South Industrial Design Office is one of milestones that cannot be overlooked by anyone. It was established in October 1988 as the first private industrial design office in Mainland China. During its six years of operation, it worked with numerous local companies, while also experimented with commercializing their own designs (Zhang & Ye, 2003). Through relentless efforts, designers at SID spearheaded the industrial design revolution in the region.
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Due to the manufacturing needs locally, SID focused mainly on small electronic appliances, which remain the bread and butter for design companies in the Greater Pearl River Delta region even today. Their primary clients were small to medium size local companies, such as Polaris Watch (established in 1915 as the first Chinese watch manufacturer) (Yantai Polaris Holdings Limited, 2014), and Kaiwee radio, just to name a few. Besides educating clients in the value of design, SID was also experimenting with design management. As the pioneer in design business, SID established a client management department, industrial design department, engineering department, model making shop, and testing department (Zhang & Ye, 2003). In many ways, SID could be compared to Unimark International, the short lived but influential American design firm that operated from 1965 to 1977 (Conradi, 2009). The influence of SID cannot be overstated also because over a dozen designers and engineers who worked for SID became founders of their own design offices, or became professors in top design schools in the region, such as Huiming Tong of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Chongxi Tang of University of Guangzhou, and Jinguang Wang of Guangdong University of Technology. They in turn mentored generations of designers who are currently the core components of design professions in the region.
Guangdong Xingbao Electrical Appliances Holdings, Co. Ltd. /Donlim Brand As a little known electrical appliances company in Shunde (an affluent district in the middle of the Greater Pearl River Delta region), Guangdong Xingbao Electrical Appliances Holdings is one of the many local companies that specialize in ODM (original design manufacturer) and export to the western markets. However, this particular firm stands out because their design innovations have sold extremely well overseas and have won many awards for their original designs. The most successful product is their Donlim XB-8002 toaster and egg poacher combo. It was originally designed for West Bend’s Back to Basics brand (circa 2006) by Donlim designer Zhiwen Liao1. It is still on the market today, selling for about $50 in the US and about $35 dollars (200 RMB) under the Donlim brand in Mainland China. According to Liao’s interview with Hidesigncloud (a design service provider platform established by another important Chinese electronics producer, Haier) (Hidesigncloud, 2015), this breakfast combo machine has sold over 5.5 million units both overseas and in China. Another successful design is the EC-1655 steam iron. Its Chinese name means “Stand on its own when put down”. The iron is heavy on one end and lighter on the iron end, which means as soon as the user puts it down, it would automatically rest on its heavy end and lift the hot surface off the table. This safety feature proves to be popular with users. In our interview with Liao, he told us that this model was ordered by Sunbeam in the US and over 630,000 units have been shipped, clearly another example of reverse innovation. 1
Zhiwen Liao went on to establish his own design office SixVector, which was awarded as one of the top 10 best industrial design companies in Mainland China in 2012 (SixVector, 2012).
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Donlim’s unusual success defies the usual low quality image associated with “Made in China” products and instead established good examples for the success of “Designed in China”. Few Western consumers know that these products were not only made in China but also designed in China. Though the EC-1655 iron solves a universal need, in the case of the breakfast machine, the concept was not based on traditional Chinese breakfast needs, but rather based on research on the Western breakfast preparation process. It is generally used to make breakfast egg muffins, which is not a traditional nor common breakfast item for Chinese. As there are many design offices working on design for foreign companies, we need to investigate how these innovations came about, especially how the cultural barrier was crossed.
Guangzhou Echom Science & Technology Co., Ltd Echom was founded in 1997 as one of the few large companies that hold industrial design as its core service, while at the same time provide complete services for the entire manufacturing process, “forming a service model combined design with manufacturing and providing customers with excellent design industrial programs and excellent industrial design products.” (Echom, 2015) Its clients can expect to receive services from Echom from conceptual design, prototyping, mold making, all the way through the final production of the products. Its clients range from Fortune 500 companies to small and medium-sized local companies. Echom is also unusual for other reasons: Headquartered in Guangzhou, it has 10 subsidiaries around the country with a total asset of RMB 2.7 billion (about 400 million USD)1. It is also publicly traded which is highly unusual for an industrial design office. Indeed, it claims to be the first industrial design company in Mainland China to became publicly traded (held its initial public offering in 2010)2. Its core business is to design and manufacture structural external components for flat screen televisions, relying heavily on advanced mold making technologies. Though Echom’s design works might not be as well known as those of the previously mentioned three cases, Echom’s business model alone is worth more investigation. The transformation of a traditional design company to a high tech and publicly traded company that provides full service to the entire production chain must offer many lessons to other companies that might they be inspired to explore the “design + capital = exponential growth” model.
Further Research This initial phase of this research project also includes documentation of the process, the establishment of a database to share with the team, and initial literature review (to compile 1
According to their most recent financial report of the third quarter in 2015, their total asset is 4.047 billion RMB (Echom, 2015) 2 Hangzhou R&D Design PLC also claimed to be the “first publicly traded industrial design company”, which held its IPO in 2014 (Visual China, 2015).
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and analyse available quantitative data). The team plans to begin the field work in mid May, 2016, mainly in Guangzhou, Shunde, Dongguan, and Shenzhen. To continue our inquiry, the team will continue to review historical documents, interview key designers for their key projects, compare these cases to major events in design during the same period, and based on these evidence, contextually analyse their impacts on the society at large. The list of our case studies might be expanded slightly but no more than eight companies will be included. This research project will provide researchers in the region and beyond with an in-depth analysis of local innovations through the analysis of key design companies and their projects. Through the study of history, it will shed light on future trends in design, especially in the area of design management, design innovation, design within specific cultural context, etc. We also anticipate that the findings from this project will be used to uncover some insights of the local design business’ success and failure. These should serve to help us understand the unique challenges of creating, managing, and sustaining design companies in the Greater Pearl River Delta Region. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank our colleagues in Hong Kong Kowloon M+ Museum and Hong Kong Design Trust for their discussions with us on the topic. We would also like to thank our colleagues in our institutions and our interviewees for their contributions in this process.
References Ann, E. (2008, 04). The Top 10 Myths & Truths about Design in China. Retrieved 10 29, 2015, from core77: http://www.core77.com/reactor/08.04_china.asp Conradi, J. (2009). Unimark International: The Design of Business and the Business Design. Zurich, Switzerland: Lars Muller. Echom. (2015). Company Profile. Retrieved 11 9, 2015, from Echom.com: http://www.echom.com/en_index.php?typ=gsjj Echom. (2015). Echom Third Quarter Financial Disclosure Report. Guangzhou: Echom. Govindarajan, V., & Trimble, C. (2012). Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere. Boston, MA, USA: Harvard Business Review Press. Hidesigncloud. (2015, 9 30). Interview with Zhiwen Liao. Retrieved 11 3, 2015, from hidesignclooud: http://www.hidesigncloud.com/News/Detail/eef34468dd864f9b941a5c758f2811bd Huang, T., & Anderson, E. (2013). Reverse Innovation: DISRUPTIVE MINDSET CHANGES IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT. IDSA Education Symposium Conference Proceeding. IDSA. iF Design Forum International GMBH. (2014). iF Design Awards 2014. Munich, Germany: Prestel. Midea China. (2015, 10). Product Introduction. Retrieved 11 5, 2015, from Midea Mall : http://mall.midea.com/detail/index?id=74943&icid=109057&mtag=40003.12.2 Midea Global. (2013, 5 31). Summary of Industrial Design. Retrieved 10 29, 2015, from About Midea: http://www.midea.com/cn/about_midea/technological_innovation/201305/t20130531_12225.sh tml Saw, S.-H., & Wong, J. (2009). Regional Economic Development in China. Singapore, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
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SixVector. (2012, 9 15). Awards. Retrieved 11 3, 2015, from SixVector Company Website: http://www.sv-id.net/awards.htm State Council of the People's Repulbic of China. (2015). Manufacturing in China 2015. State Council of the People's Repulbic of China. Beijing: State Council of the People's Repulbic of China. The Encyclopedia of China Publishing House. (1993). Encyclopedia of China. Beijing, PRC: The Encyclopedia of China Publishing House. Visual China. (2015, 7 13). Interview with the CEO Qi Li of R&D Design PLC. Retrieved 11 9, 2015, from Visual China: http://shijue.me/show_text/55a311488ddf875c7c05a653 Yantai Polaris Holdings Limited. (2014). Introduction. Retrieved 11 3, 2015, from Polaris Company Website: http://www.polaris.cn/CompanySite/company_qyjj.aspx# Zhang, X., & Ye, Z. (2003, July 5). Dream, Collision and Success An Article about South Industrial Design Co. Art and Design: Product Design (7), pp. 57-59.
About the Authors: Tao Huang, PhD has taught and practiced in multiple design fields for over 15 years in mainland China and the United States. Her research interests include: sustainable design, design for disaster resiliency, and reverse innovation. Ningchang Zhou, has taught and practiced design in Guangzhou for 10 years. He has won several international design awards and is the organizer of one of the largest online design educator community in Mainland China. His research focuses on furniture design.
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Beautiful Nerds: Growing a rigorous design research dialogue in the Irish context Adam de Eytoa*, Carmel Maherb, Mark Hadfieldc and Maggie Hutchingsc a
University of Limerick Institute of Technology Carlow c Bournemouth University *adam.deeyto@ul.ie DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.268 b
Abstract: Ireland is a country with a small and emergent design research community. Relative to other countries, the practice of design itself in Ireland is a recent development with the first formal design courses materialising in the mid-1970s. Without historical legacy and sustained coordinated support from design specific state development agencies, the progress of this nascent Irish design sector has been fragmented and unfocused. Irish Design 2015 (ID2015) a yearlong government backed initiative sought to address this lack of coherence in tandem with increasing the visibility and profile of Irish design. This article reflects on the historical context Irish design research and practice sits within and explores the early success of the ITERATIONS Design Research and Practice review as one of a series of initiatives launched as part of ID2015. It makes the case for robust dialogue and advocacy in addressing the needs of an emergent community of practice.
Keywords: Irish Design, Design Research, Design Practice, ITERATIONS Design Research and Practice Review.
Irish Context Ireland in the 1950s was a poor and underdeveloped country. In an effort to maintain and honour its newly found independence the government had adopted a stance of selfsufficiency and isolationism which did not prove conducive to economic growth and while other capitalist countries were experiencing increasing economic growth, Ireland’s economy was on the verge of disaster (Tobin 1984; Brown 1987). The industrial revolution did not happen in Ireland as it did in other countries. There was little understanding of design and its benefits and as outlined by Marchant and Addis, “there were few industries, fewer designers This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License
Adam de Eytoa, Carmel Maherb, Mark Hadfieldc and Maggie Hutchings
and almost no innovation in Ireland” (Marchant and Addis 1985). Credit for the introduction and early development of industrial design in Ireland is unequivocally attributed to the Irish Export Board, (Córas Tráchtála Teo, CTT) and its then general manager Mr W. H. Walsh. At this point in time responsibility for ‘design in industry’ was assigned to the newly instituted (1951) Arts Council of Ireland. Design at this time was defined as ‘applied arts’ and as defined would have appeared to fit naturally under the remit of the Arts Council. However, as outlined by Hogan, “despite its best efforts, the Council was not equipped to build bridges to industry”(Hogan 2005). In 1960, the responsibility for ‘design in industry’ was transferred solely to the Irish Export Board as the government came to recognise “the problematic positioning of industrial design in the sphere of cultural provision” (Walker 2013). Mr. Walsh, the then general manager of the Export Board was fast to act on his new responsibility. In 1961, he orchestrated a survey of Irish design by a group of eminent Scandinavian designers. “The five-man team spent two weeks visiting factories, colleges, museums and shops” (Marchant and Addis 1985) in Ireland and their evaluative survey report ‘Design in Ireland’ (Franck et al.) was published in 1962. The authors were critical of standards of design in Irish industry, commerce and education but optimistic in the potential they saw for development. Particularly, they noted the lack of art and design education in Irish schools, noting that this was where an informed and appreciative public, so necessary for design development is shaped. Expanding on this point, they outline how, “A remarkable feature of Irish life which we noted, even after a few days, is the manner in which today’s Irish culture has developed a distinct leaning towards literature, theatre, the spoken word and abstract thinking, rather than creation by hand or machine and the visual arts-the other side of human activity in civilisation” (Franck et al. 1962, p1).
This continues today to a lesser extent. Art is part of the school curriculum now, but design specific subjects have only just begun to be introduced. For Walsh and his team, the ‘Design in Ireland’ report provided an impartial international assessment, while also endorsing his future programme for development (Hogan 2005). Purposeful and fruitful development did happen in the form of the setting up of the Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW) which was instigated by Walsh in 1963 as part of his development plan. Marchant and Addis describe how “The organisation would be a missionary centre of influence, but its emphasis would be on practical demonstration. It was to be a community of experienced designers, with craftsmen and technicians who would prove their work in prototype before it was adopted by industry. Irish staff were to be recruited where possible but it was accepted that many of the professional designers and other specialist staff would be recruited from abroad, with Irish craftsmen and trainees working alongside them to gain experience and confidence (Marchant and Addis 1985, p 10)”.
Established in 1963, and by bringing craft and design expertise from abroad, it utilised the proven apprenticeship model for developing a broad selection of design disciplines, from
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craft to visual communications and industrial design. It was unique in that it was registered as a private company, providing it with autonomy, while also benefiting from complete state financial support at the start to develop the premises and employ the necessary expertise, making Ireland the first country to establish a state design service. A retail outlet on the premises provided a further source of revenue, but more importantly a test bed for prototypes and a platform to promote good design. Kilkenny Design Workshops (KDW) operated successfully between the years 1963 – 1988. Its early operations focused almost exclusively on craft as it was “seen as the quickest and least expensive means of increasing public awareness of design” (Marchant and Addis 1985, p20) while also developing craft skills and craft based industries. However, its primary objective was to cultivate design for industry, and consequently in 1971, the Crafts Council of Ireland (CCoI) was set up as it was hoped that this might free KDW up to concentrate on this main objective, design for industry (Hogan cited in Quinn 2005). Now with less responsibility to crafts, KDW conducted a survey of the design needs of the rapidly growing Irish engineering industries. The survey, which took place in 1973, was followed by a targeted expansion plan to provide model making, prototyping and technical support for these industries. Conversely, the expansion plans coincided with cutbacks in state expenditure and the first international oil crisis which left them short of the necessary capital (Marchant and Addis 1985; Walker 2013). Yet, the focus of the Kilkenny Design Workshops did change over time from individual designer-craftsmen “to a multi-disciplinary design team active and influential in most sectors of industry”(Marchant and Addis 1985, p36). This was to be short lived however, because the workshops closed in 1988. They closed for a variety of reasons, but mainly financial due to a phasing out of government grant aid and the recession of the 1980s. Nonetheless, the KDW legacy remains undisputed, having put in place a strong foundation for the development of the craft, industrial design and graphic design industries in Ireland. Particularly, it raised design awareness and set standards of excellence for design practice in Ireland. Following the closure of the workshops, the Crafts Council of Ireland (CCoI) took over the mainly craft training element of KDW. While the workshops were in operation, the first industrial design undergraduate courses had also been founded. Funding from the European Union led to the establishment of Regional Technical Colleges (RTCs) around the country (Turpin 1994) and Carlow Regional Technical College established in 1970 put in place the first National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) accredited course in Industrial design in 1973. (Broderick et al. 2004). The National College of Art (NCA) renamed The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in 1971 also introduced an Industrial design course in 1975. These courses continue to provide design education in Ireland along with a large number of others. The Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI, 2015), a voluntary body set up in 1972, continues to represent the interests of Irish designers along with the publically funded Crafts Council of Ireland now called the Design and Craft Council of Ireland (DCCoI, 2015). In the following years, the Irish design industry continued to develop and grow but as outlined in a report on the industry commissioned by a government agency, Enterprise
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Ireland, in 1999, it has suffered from a lack of cohesion and leadership (Bradley and Mc Gurk 1999, p11). This report, ‘Opportunities in Design: Strategies for Growth in the Irish Design Sector’ identified a number of issues and factors impacting upon the development of design in Ireland.
The positioning, structure and cohesiveness of the Irish Design Industry The marketing of Irish design internationally Awareness of the value of design Skill base and training Organisational and operational effectiveness of design businesses Design education (Bradley and Mc Gurk 1999, p11-13)
Many of the issues identified in the 1999 report still exist today. The low level of design integration within locally owned Irish companies needs to be addressed and with increasing pressure from international markets the need for design specialisation has become even more pressing. Ireland is taking its time, unfortunately, catching up with the European trends having only in the last few years established government funded design centres in Shannon (Design Shannon, est. 2000), Sligo (Centre for Design Innovation Sligo, est. 2005) and Dublin (Design Ireland est. 2000). The remit of these groups is to increase awareness amongst Irish industry about the implementation and utilisation of design as a resource and strategic tool in product and service development, whilst also establishing a profile for Irish design in the international context. At time of writing all of these centres had closed or declined significantly due to lack of funding in the economic downturn of 2009-13.
The Institute of Designers in Ireland, The Design and Craft Council of Ireland and Irish Design 2015 As outlined Ireland has had a series of initiatives over the past half century which have sought to elevate the visibility and profile of design and to capitalise on the benefits that design can bring to society and industry. For continuity it has relied on a number of special interest bodies whose remits often overlap and it can be challenging to support design research under any of these bodies. Two of the leading bodies over the past two decades have been the professional body which represents designers and design educators, the IDI, and the government supported DCCoI which represents and promotes the interests of largely craft based designers. The IDI relies mainly on membership fees and volunteers to support its activities. It is now the largest representative body for designers on the island and it has a strong tradition of advocating for policy development, recognition and promotion of design. It holds annual graduate design awards and well-respected industry design awards along with providing a travel bursary for students. More recently the IDI introduced a voluntary register for designers who wish to have their experience and qualifications recognised in a formal manner. It is expected that this may be a first step towards chartership. The IDI is run by an
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elected council and nominates a president on an annual basis. It is the IDI that has recognised the need to support the emergent design research community. The DCCoI (DCCoI 2015) is supported by the state development agency Enterprise Ireland and is mandated to promote and support craft and more recently design. The DCCoI is set up as a client-serving agency that works for the interests of its members. It runs a variety of training and business support programs and has some liaison with education. Traditionally the DCCoI has focused its energies on the craft sector however in the past number of years it has moved to widen its remit to cover the design sectors also. While this has caused some duplication of representation the practicing designers and design educators largely decide themselves which of the bodies they engage with. It was the DCCoI who initiated Irish Design 2015 (ID2015) initiative and secured the funding from the government departments. ID2015, is a yearlong programme for the development of Irish design, it aims to foster dialogue and collaboration and to bring a public awareness around design and the contribution it can make to the Irish economy, society and everyday lives of citizens. This is perhaps the first time in the history of design on the island that such an ambitious project has been undertaken to embrace all the stakeholders. “Through our year-long programme of events, we’ll work towards: Raising the profile of Irish design, at home and abroad. Increasing awareness of the value of design in all aspects of life. Building on the international reputation of Irish design. Encouraging links between local and global Irish designers. Showcasing the importance of design to success in business and as a driver of economic growth” (ID2015)
There is currently a palpable sense that this initiative has gained traction with the general public and with policy makers and business leaders. For the first time there is widespread dialogue through national media, television and print journalism about the value rather than just the content of Irish design. Vibrant discussions are developing on a variety of social media platforms and there is almost an overload of conference, niche events and showcases that are generating a collaborative dynamic around design that few of the design community have previously experienced. “ID2015 aims to foster dialogue and collaboration by encouraging investment in design as a key component of competitiveness and innovation, the overall objective is to sustain and grow employment opportunities and sales and export potential for the Irish design sector into the future.(DCCoI 2015)”
The opportunity to build an all island design research network dovetailed naturally in to this initiative as it allows the convergent themes of design practice and design research to bring a more rigorous dialogue to the fore. Subsequently, one of the projects ID 2015 provided funding for was ITERATIONS Design Research & Practice Review (ITERATIONS, 2015)
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ITERATIONS Design Research and Practice Review The formation of an idea The idea was born from one of those frustrating discussions around the limitations of the support structures available for design and design research in Ireland. Marc O’Riain, the then incoming president of the IDI and one of the authors here (de Eyto) discussed the opportunity to develop a design research journal back in 2013. However it was not until Irish Design 2015 (ID2015) made a call for project proposals in Autumn 2014 that it was acted upon. As is often typical of a funding call the idea was not fully formed but what was clear was the need and interest from various stakeholders in developing a platform for design research and practice An outline draft proposal for a review style publication was developed by de Eyto and O’Riain and the core group of collaborators from across the country were asked to support the bid. These included design academics and researchers in research centres and groups who had a clear track record of promoting design research. These included: Design Factors (University of Limerick), The Architecture Factory (Cork Institute of Technology), Design CORE (Institute of Technology Carlow), Letterfrack Furniture College (Galway Mayo Institute of Technology), Limerick School of Art and Design (Limerick Institute of Technology),The School of Creative Arts (Dublin Institute of Technology), School of Design (National College of Art and Design), SAUL (University of Limerick), RIAD (University of Ulster).
Context As far as could be established there had never been a formal review of this nature in Ireland specifically addressing design research and practice. Other publications such as CIRCA (CIRCA, 2015) and the Irish Arts Review (IAR, 2015) have published articles on design but they remain predominantly art and visual culture focused. Architecture Ireland, the journal of the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland (RIAI) also publishes opinion pieces and features on Irish architecture and some design related material but critically it is not blind peer reviewed. Design has had a number of predecessors in professional body publications such as Creative Axis and Ratio both produced by the IDI. There are of course numerous international examples of well-established academic design journals such as Design Issues, Design Studies, The International Journal of Design & The Journal of Design Research. Irish researchers have and continue to publish in these with some success. The ITERATIONS team also looked to regional examples of best practice such as the Swedish Design Federation (SVID) Design Research and publications such as the Journal of the Service Design Network, Touchpoint. There is a specific challenge faced by Irish design researchers who work within the university sectors and this is one of defining the impact of their research. As in many countries, the Irish universities and Institutes of Technology (IoT’s) are requiring design researchers to publish in predominantly international scientific and humanities journals in order to increase their own profile and that of their institutions. This creates a culture of strategic positioning
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of design research and is affecting the type of research outcomes that are being expressed. Practice led and practice based design research is in an emergent state in Ireland and consequently few researchers feel confident enough to publish in the high profile international design research journals. The tendency has been therefore for many Irish researchers to angle the research that they undertake to target other niche disciplinary journals which have a high impact rating. In the absence of any REF (Research Excellence Framework) style impact assessment in southern Ireland, design researchers have to justify their activities arbitrarily using metrics largely designed in house in the universities & IoT’s. These metrics are heavily dictated by the established Scientific, Business and Humanities disciplines and often do not reflect the needs of design research. The proposition therefore was to develop an open access review/journal that provided a platform for the emergent design research community on the island of Ireland. From the outset double blind peer review and the inclusion of design practice was deemed essential to the mix. The bid for seed funding from ID2015 was successful and with that the challenge of setting up the review proper commenced. The reference to ‘Beautiful Nerds’ in the title of this paper comes from the sentiments of the working group who began developing ITERATIONS early in 2015. Very quickly the conversation around the nuances of the review, its conventions and its focus became passionate, nerdy and of course design focused, akin to the 99% invisible podcasts of Roman Mars (Mars, 2015). A sense of humour mixed with a passion for what design research could be in the Irish context developed.
The Co Design of ITERATIONS A clear proposition had been made to ID2015 for seed funding, however the nuance of the review and its conventions had to be developed. The consortium sought to co design the review by working collaboratively and seeking views and opinions from the wider design research and practice community. There was a strong sentiment that something locally appropriate had to develop. Our academic colleagues in the north of Ireland are subject to the rigours of the UK REF (Research Excellence Framework) while in southern Ireland a similar framework is only in development by the Higher Education Authority (HEA). With this in mind the consortium chose to work towards a ‘Green open Access’ model (Harnad et al, 2004 & Laakso et al 2011) as this would future proof it for consideration under the UK REF evaluations and also for any developments within the south of Ireland. In line with best practice rigour was considered essential to the long-term credibility of the review. While the Irish design research community is small it was felt that a double blind peer review process could be developed where robust critique could be sought and given without prejudice. There is evidence (Ware 2008) that double blind peer review as practiced internationally is less than perfect however, for now, it seems the closest workable mechanism to achieve un-biased feedback. The ITERATIONS board decided that the edition editor holds the position of being the sole individual who knows the identity of both authors
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and reviewers. It is not always possible to anonymise all submissions, especially those relating to practice where the artefact, design consultancy and or context inevitably signals who the author might be. The editorial board therefore developed a set of guidelines for reviewers in an effort to ensure that consistency and impartiality can prevail. The mixes of articles on both design practice and design research emerged as a key tenet of the new review. It was observed that some of the most relevant research work being done within the Irish Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) is practice facing, practice led or practice based (Frayling, 1993). In addition many practicing designers and design consultancies had expressed the need to have their work expressed on a rigorous public platform. The first two issues have managed to achieve this balance with a slight bias towards research articles. The call for the third edition has addressed this with a preference for reflections on practice and or monologues or interviews based on design practice work.
Fig 1: ITERATIONS First Issue, Published June 2015
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ITERATIONS (Fig 1) was formally launched in June 2015 in conjunction with another initiative of ID2015,the first Irish design research conference entitled Faultlines- Bridging Knowledge Spaces. The review was very well received with 500 print copies of the first issue released for sale and distribution over the following weeks and months. The interest from the design community reinforced the need for such a platform and this was backed up by offers of follow on long term funding from the board of the IDI, extra seed funding from ID2015 and institutional subscription. At the time of writing this paper the second issue (Fig 2) has again received widespread interest and the third issue has called for submissions. The developments to date ensure that the review has a sustainable open access model which gives access to readers from a national and international audience. More importantly perhaps it has contributed to the collaborative nature of design research and design practice in a small emergent community. It has increased the level of discourse to the extent that the editorial board now has the task of enlarging the reviewer panel. Clearly the amount of interest in submission publication has grown as authors take example from previous issues and articles. The review has received critical acclaim locally by being shortlisted for the prestigious IDI annual design awards in the ID2015 Special Award for Collaboration category.
Fig 2: ITERATIONS Second Issue, Published November 2015
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Conclusions At the time of writing the ID2015 year is drawing to a close however plans have already been developed to continue the legacy through a series of initiatives led by the IDI, DCCoI and the state agencies. The Irish design community is small and scattered in various locations on the island however ITERATIONS has created a platform for dialogue to occur within this scattered and fragmented community. This has happened formally through the publication itself but more importantly informally as designers and researchers meet to collaborate on the various activities required to make the publication a reality. The editorial board meetings provide for lively discussions that establish a common consensus on what constitutes ‘good’ design research and practice in an Irish context. International benchmarking is constantly to the fore in these discussions and the inclusion of the Northern Ireland design research community helps provide a bridge to the UK models. A series of conferences and seminars such as Faultlines, Déanta (Déanta, 2015) and the IBEC CEO conference (IBEC, 2015) have formalised the dialogue but perhaps in a more encouraging development, there is evidence that collaborative design research projects, MA & PhD co-supervision across institutions and collaborative paper writing is becoming the norm rather than the exception for Irish design researchers. Design practitioners have also embraced the change publishing formal reflections on their process to share with the wider community. It is too early to tell if this legacy will have long-term effect however the signs are positive. The ‘beautiful nerds’ will have to reevaluate this impact in the years to come! Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the ITERATIONS editorial board who continue to support the review; Barry Sheehan – Head of Design, Dublin School of Creative Arts, DIT Colin Deevy – Lecturer / Researcher, DesignCORE, IT Carlow Con Kennedy – Lecturer, DIT Grainne Hassett – Hassett Ducatez Architects, Senior Lecturer SAUL School of Architecture, University of Limerick Prof. Ian Montgomery – Dean, University of Ulster Jeremy Madden – Lecturer / Researcher,Letterfrack, GMIT Prof. Karen Fleming – Director of Art, Design and Architecture Research Institute, Ulster University Liam Doona – Head of Department, School of Creative Arts, IADT Dun Laoghaire Marc O’Riain –President of the institute of Designers in Ireland Martin Ryan – Programme Director for Product Design, Maynooth University Dr. Muireann Mc Mahon – Lecturer and Course Director, Product Design/Design Factors, University of Limerick Pamela Heaney – Fashion, Limerick School of Art and Design, LIT Dr. PJ White – Principal Investigator, DesignCORE, IT Carlow Sam Russell – Head of Industrial Design, NCAD Dr. Simon O’Rafferty – Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Design Factors, University of Limerick Dr.Tracy Fahey – Head of Fine Art/Head of Centre of Postgraduate Studies,LSAD, Limerick Institute of Technology, Trevor Vaugh – Lecturer, Department of design innovation, Maynooth University Prof. Alex Milton – Programme Director, Irish Design 2015
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About the Authors:
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Adam de Eytoa, Carmel Maherb, Mark Hadfieldc and Maggie Hutchings
Dr.Adam de Eyto Lectures in Product Design and manages the Design Factors research group at the University of Limerick. His research expertise is in Design for Sustainability, New Product Development, Sustainable Product Service Systems, Transdisciplinary education, Medical Devices, Behavioural Change and Soft Product Design. Carmel Maher lectures in Industrial Design in the Institute of Technology, Carlow. Currently she is investigating the nature of creativity, its impact on design research and the benefits of conducting research in a creative environment for her PhD with Bournemouth University. Dr. Mark Hadfield is Professor of Design and Technology at Bournemouth University. He leads a Tribology and Design Research Unit with the Department of Design and Engineering. He has research interests concerned with the durability of products. Dr. Maggie Hutchings is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences at Bournemouth University with research interests in practice-based education, interprofessional learning, technology enhanced learning, and lifeworld-led approaches for transformative learning and humanising care.
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Design Research in the East – at Universities and the Board of Industrial Design of the GDR between the 1960s and 1990 Sylvia Wölfela and Christian Wölfelb* a
TU Berlin TU Dresden *christian.woelfel@tu-dresden.de DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.370
b
Abstract: This paper focuses on design research in the GDR. There, the Board of Industrial Design (Amt für industrielle Formgestaltung, AIF), a commission reporting directly to the government, promoted and subsidized design research that was adequate to the policy of the board. Besides, the (state-owned) industry, universities as well as art and design schools closely cooperated on design research projects. The economic design policy of the GDR has largely been developed in the PhD thesis of the board's head Martin Kelm, who pursued his functionalist approach to design at different levels. On the other hand, there was critique and a public debate about the design approach in the GDR and in the Soviet bloc in general, accompanied by constant exchange between designers and design researchers of the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany. With the recurring interest in functionalism, the East German design approach is getting more attention. Furthermore, teachers and academic approaches of design research survived the political (and economic) turnaround of 1990 and are now part of the pan-German design landscape. Keywords: design history, design research history, GDR, functionalism
Introduction Germany has a long tradition in design and design research as well. After 1945, the professionalization and institutionalisation of design in both parts of Germany was largely based on the heritage of the inter-war modern movement and the confrontation with the devastating consequences of the NS era. Whereas Bauhaus and Werkbund or Ulm and Braun as modernist icons have received enormous interest in the sub-disciplines of architectural history and theory or art history, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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East German design after 1945 still remains a marginal topic for some specialists. East German designers took part in an East-Western functionalist debate and considerable efforts were being made at giving the GDR a modern appearance, which were informed by a close look at contemporary precedents from Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Great Britain or Western Germany and which could draw on the legacy of the modern movement in Dessau, Halle, Magdeburg or Weimar. Parallel developments with Western design as well as divergences related to the politically intended integration of COMECON states and the construct of a specific socialist modernity demand an explanation and call for further research. This is why we conceptualize design as an integral part of the modern project. It was part of the modernist vision of technology-driven endless social and economic progress that transcended political borders. The search for a new, an “organic” or a fair society characterized various high modern concepts of how to deal with permanent socio-economic change from the 1880s to the 1970s. Design, more precisely the design of industrial goods, can be seen as a specific answer to challenges of the industrial society. Designers claimed a “healing” function as a profession with technical and creative competencies and with organising power. The term “Functionalism” served as a keyword in East and West Germany, implying hopes and dreams of a better future with functional and aesthetic products serving the needs of people from all social classes and improving their quality of life from the spoon to the city. This particular design approach connected designers across borders and was deeply rooted in modernism as a cultural movement originating in the late 19th century. Early ambitions to reconcile the potentials of mass production with product quality and aesthetic value led to the formation of the Werkbund in Germany in 1907, where substantial issues such as social and cultural consequences of the machine age or the relationship of usefulness, a rational use of materials and beauty had already been discussed. Principles of functional design and a social commitment were central to the self-understanding of its members linking it to a strong belief in science, technology and social progress that was fundamental for Western and Eastern high modern societies. The claim of functionalist designers, to create products for the common good and the development of a modern society mirrored this belief in progress and development in both German states. Design was part of that modernity project as a profession concerned with how (good) things for a new society should be and involved in the “aesthetic coding” of future worlds. Design in the GDR was furthermore understood as being part of a political project to build up a modern socialist society superior to capitalist competitive struggle and consumerism. However, as in various economic and societal domains, there was a clear gap between political ambitions and the reality of design. Especially in the late GDR, the “modern socialist society” turned out to be an ideological fallacy. And those few remaining designs which could be implemented were intended for export to Western markets. Design was part of the economic system of the GDR, hence its aspirations largely failed due to economic realities in the 1980s. However, industrial design in the GDR had some impact during the early years of
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reconstruction, when visions of a peaceful society, raising cultural standards, or “good design” for a better society inspired designers, consumers and politicians alike. On that basis, the foundation for a differentiated school and university system, advanced training programs, employment opportunities as well as support and funding structures had been laid in the 1950s and early 1960s and these structures had an influence on how some actors in this field thought about design and design research until the 1990s. In sum, we argue that Eastern and Western design research built on similar traditions and developed in parallel for a certain period of time, promoting a science based and systematic design approach with a strong social and technical determination. However, in contrast to Western debates on functionalism and postmodernism that started in the late 1960s, East German design research did not experience such a deep rift with functionalist design. Consensus was maintained that functionalism was best suited to meet the needs of a socialist society even though it needed modification and advancement. West German or Italian postmodern experiments failed to win general approval and were regarded as formal games or “formal noise” (Hückler 1996: p. 69). Thus, the subsequent fragmentation (and weakening) of the West German design research community had no equivalent in East German design research.
Design in the GDR between reconstruction and the Formalism Campaign Young designers in the late 1940s and early 1950s were inspired by a post-war optimism and at the same time there was a deep-seated uncertainty. They felt that it was on them as designers to create new and better products for the reconstruction of a largely destroyed country. But after the moral collapse and total breakdown of civil society in 1945, a simple recourse to role models of the Bauhaus and Werkbund in the German interwar period seemed unthinkable. Hence, Heinz Hirdina1 described these designers as restless seekers, seeking for valid reference points and an appropriate position in times of change. The post-war landscape of industrial design had to be built from scratch and a handful of designers established new degree courses and business relations. In Weimar and Dresden actors of the pre-war modern movement started with first attempts to develop industrial design for the East German economy (e. g. Gronert 2012). In Weimar, the Professor of industrial design and interior design Horst Michel and his students mainly focused on furniture design and in Dresden, the former Bauhaus guest lecturer Mart Stam tried to revive pre-war efforts to establish close connections between academic design and the industry. These early beginnings lost their importance in favour of institution-building in Berlin and Halle in the 1950s. East Germany’s first industrial design curriculum had been developed by Rudi Högner, architect and wood carver, and colleagues at the college of art in
1
Heinz Hirdina: One of the most renowned experts in East German design, long-standing chief editor of the East German design journal “form + zweck” and author of the 1988 standard reference “Gestalten für die Serie. Design in der DDR 1949–1985”, which he published under political censorship but with support of the AIF.
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Berlin-Weißensee since 1953. The first class graduated in 1958. One of them, Erich John, later became assistant and professor at the same college. The three remaining, Martin Kelm, Horst Giese and Jürgen Peters later became influent in the the Board of Industrial Design (Amt für industrielle Formgestaltung, AIF) and its predecessors, as designers for the industry and as design officials. Following graduates had a great impact and responsibility as designers working for the industry because companies reported a rising demand for welldesigned products and the developing design schools could not yet meet the needs. It resulted in student designs being implemented and mass produced or young professionals being responsible for an entire product range. Most prominent was Högner's graduate Karl Clauß Dietel, who worked as a freelance designer and was honoured with the design award of the Federal Republic of Germany for his lifetime achievements in 2014 as one of the most important product designers of the former GDR1 (cf. Kassner 2010, see figure 1). Starting in July 1950, design had to face the implications of the notorious debate on formalism therein following the Soviet attacks on the freedom of the arts. The underlying consideration was to force back American influences and to stress the subordination of artistic expression to political interests. According to the party ideology, formalist art (and design) did not meet the needs of a socialist culture (e. g. Pugh 2014). Political hostilities were directed against modernism and a “decadent” Western art market. Even though ideological attacks against formalistic furniture or ceramics marked the late 1950s and early 1960s, functionalist design remained the dominant design approach. In contrast to architects and artists, designers could point to the economic relevance of “good design” especially for industrial goods and Western exports.
figure 1: left: car body, designed by Karl Clauß Dietel under supervision of Rudi Högner, plaster model, ca. 1960. The design had been developed at the college of art in Berlin-Weißensee and essentially specified the shape of the later Wartburg 353 car body. Right: Wartburg 353, designed by Fischer and colleagues, followed a rather functional design approach and has been produced from 1966 to 1988 (sources: SLUB/Deutsche Fotothek; Wikimedia).
1
Karl Clauß Dietel: Professor and 1988–1990 chairman of the Association of Fine Artists of the GDR (Verband Bildender Künstler der DDR, VBK-DDR), that also served as a professional association of industrial designers since the 1960s.
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Design, research and education – institutional set-up 1965–1990 As one of the first industrial design graduates, party member and convinced socialist, Martin Kelm was being sent by the Socialist Unity Party (SED) to restructure the arts and crafts school (Werkkunstsschule) Halle Burg Giebichenstein into a University of Industrial Design (Hochschule für industrielle Gestaltung) according to the educational approach of BerlinWeißensee. The aim was to provide the industry with skilled design experts to meet the growing economic need (a problem that existed until the late 1980s). With Kelm as the leader of the Institute for Research and Development (Institut für Entwurf und Entwicklung) of the Burg Giebichenstein, the team developed hundreds of products mainly for the rapidly growing plastics industry around 1960. That decade generally experienced a high level of acceptance of new technologies and product innovations. This applied especially to plastics as a new material opening up a number of great opportunities to designers. A whole new world of objects within the reach of all people could be developed due to low prices. Heinz Barth, Günter Reißmann, Horst Giese, Manfred Heintze, Albert Krause and Martin Kelm designed numerous products for public and domestic use that had been produced until 1990 (in some cases beyond 1990) and could be found in literally every household. Thus they were highly influential on bringing new materials and modern design into the material culture of the GDR. They focused on cheap, but simple, useful and stackable products in a friendly and lucid colouring, therefore utilizing a functionalist design approach. Similarly, at the colleges in Dresden, Weimar and Berlin, industrial projects were part of the developing design education. As early as 1950, the Institute for Industrial Design (Institut für Industrielle Gestaltung) had been outsourced from the college in Berlin-Weißensee due to tensions within the college. This institute, founded by Mart Stam, was the nucleus of the later AIF and primarily conducted industrial design projects. Following the debate on formalism, the institute was renamed and reoriented towards folk art under the leadership of Walter Heisig. In 1962, Martin Kelm had been appointed as the new leader of the institute, being politically rewarded for his work in Halle. Step by step, Kelm reorganized and strengthened this institute as the central design authority in the GDR. Besides the cultural value of design, Kelm began to emphasize the importance of design as an economic factor. He managed to bypass the largely cultural debate on formalism by transferring his institute as Zentralinstitut für Gestaltung into the economic sphere, joining the board of standardization and quality assurance (DAMW) for nearly a decade. Eventually Kelm managed to establish the Amt für Industrielle Formgestaltung as the central design authority directly subordinated to the government of the GDR in 1972 (figure 2). As such, the AIF as well as the VBK (see footnote 1) had been part of the centralistic and totalitarian political system. This organizational integration led to difficult conflicts within the design community regarding the relationship between innovativeness and central planning, self-employed and employed design work or creativity and bureaucracy. Like any institution in the GDR, the AIF had been observed and to some extent been infiltrated by the Ministry for State Security Stasi (e. g. Sorg 2014). As a peculiarity, the AIF and some
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designers were under surveillance by two divisions of the Stasi, one dealing with economic affairs, the other one observing dissident movements in arts.
figure 2: Institutional development of non-academic state institutions for the promotion of (industrial) design.
Functionalism and beyond – objectives and practice of design research in the GDR In his PhD thesis, Martin Kelm (defended in 1968, published in 1972; for a detailed historical analysis cf. Sudrow 2014) illustrates the contemporary design approach of the 1960s with a strong focus on a functionalist understanding of product quality and practical value (Gebrauchswert). In coherence with functionalist approaches in general, the design approach of Martin Kelm and the AIF denied styling, a rapid adoption to trends or planned obsolescence. These factors were perceived as an American or capitalistic way of design focusing on generating new or unnecessary consumer needs. Instead, an emphasis on longevity, the practical value, utility and reparability of products was considered as desirable and suitable with respect to the limited financial and material resources of the GDR. In an official brochure the East German AIF referred to this context and listed “objectives for design quality and valuation criteria for various commodity groups and environment spheres according to the following principles”, which reflected the functionalist design approach:
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“Optimation of useful values according to the aspects of envisaged use and the relationship of investment and use, Compliance of forms, colors, surface effects, material combinations comprising the complex design of housing [private] environment and work environment and other spheres, with cultural and aesthetical requirements Consideration of psycho-physiological demands of commodities, i. e. favourable operation, sight, precision indication of machines and implements, maintenance and safety aspects, etc. [sic!]” (AIF 1976) While industrial design in the GDR still had its close affiliation to fine arts, the official approach also stressed the scientific character of design. Hirdina characterizes the 1960s and early 1970s as the scientific design era in accordance with industrial standardization, concentration and specialization processes (Hirdina 1988). To master the so-called scientifictechnological revolution, engineering but also design processes had to be analyzed and systemized to provide the possibility of teaching and learning. In this context, there was a strong emphasis on ergonomics. In coherence with the official design approach of the Soviet Union, promoted by the AIF pendant VNIITE, ergonomics were seen as the scientific basis of design (Azrikan 1993; Cubbin 2012, Soloviev 1973/1980, cf. figure 4). Since 1974, a COMECON joint research program tried to develop a scientific foundation for ergonomic standards and requirements and in 1978 the development of a scientific foundation for standards and requirements of technical aesthetics (Soviet term for industrial design) complemented this framework program. Key elements were the advancement of a coherent terminology, a basic methodology of complex design tasks, scientific principles of standardization, methods for the assessment of consumer products and principles for the design of working environments. Hence, socialist cooperation in design issues particularly referred to the scientific and technical dimension of design with ergonomics at the center. Technical aesthetics in this narrow perspective should primarily identify and exploit considerable rationalization potential regarding the simplification of product ranges, the application of standards and types or modular principles on an industrial scale (Formgestaltung im RGW, 1980; Soloviev 1980). Key political driver to promote industrial design as a rationalization and modernization factor was the aim to catch and overtake the West in terms of production and consumption figures. Design should help to build up a modern socialist country with “good design” for the home, public spaces and working environments. But, referring to western standards contained risks. Due to multiple transfer processes, the population of the GDR permanently compared Eastern and Western standards of living, with Western products defining the norm (on East West exchange of designers see also Höhne 2011). The Western, more precise, the American way of life set the standard for a “good life” from the 1950s onwards. In consequence, the definition of a specific “socialist culture of consumption” was an ideological construct of a “rationality of human needs” that did not meet the needs of many
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East German consumers and failed at the consumption junction in the light of Western abundance. However, the AIF functionalist design approach had at least some impact on the material culture of the GDR and on the general orientation of the design (research) community. As the leader of the AIF, Kelm was able to shape design policies according to his functionalist and political convictions in the political and economic system of the GDR. One of the supervisors of his design PhD thesis was Günter Mittag, the powerful leader of the economic commission of the SED party. Accordingly, Mittag was Kelm's principal in the political hierarchy of the GDR for many years. In the 1950s and early 1960s, design still needed powerful advocates and intense lobbying to explain the effect of design and to legitimize governmental support.
figure 3: “Guidance and Control” – this scheme of design evaluation in any product development process within the state-owned industry of the GDR has been developed in Martin Kelm's PhD thesis and later became policy of the AIF. Translated from Wölfel et al. 2014, p. 14.
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Kelm rapidly expanded the board to a network of institutions with more than 200 employees that should “control and guide” design in the economic system of the GDR. One of the core duties of the AIF was to implement design issues in any product development process within the state-owned industry. Industry and trade managers as well as leading engineers were more likely to be skeptical about design as an innovation factor and acceptance increased only slowly. The corresponding scheme regarding the integration of design in product development is shown in figure 3. Not only from a review standpoint, this scheme had been criticized for being overly bureaucratic and rigid. However, many designers working in the industry remembered the involvement of the AIF as helpful for asserting design quality in product development and convincing technical experts of the usefulness of design (e. g. Roeder 2014). Although universities and schools of design had no direct dependencies with the AIF, there were also collaborations in the field of design research. The AIF subsidized academic design research especially when it promised impact on the aims of the AIF. These research projects were characterized by close interdisciplinary cooperation between designers, psychologists, ergonomists and others. At the VEB Designprojekt, a state-owned design studio subordinated to the AIF with more than 100 employees in six regional studios, there were facilities and competences for design research on an academic level (figure 4).
figure 4: design research at the VEB Designprojekt Dresden – an interdisciplinary approach involving designers, psychologists, ergonomists and others. Source: Archive of Designprojekt Dresden GmbH
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Besides the orbit of the AIF, design research had been conducted at art colleges and universities, e. g. in Halle, Berlin or Dresden. At the University of Industrial Design in Halle, international symposia took place on theoretical and methodological issues of design. Also, academic institutions were involved in design research and development for the industry. Figure 5 illustrates the involvement of various universities in transportation design projects. As with the work of professional designers, the outcome of academic design research was more likely to end up in the drawer than to be implemented especially since the deteriorating economic situation of the late 1970s. These developments led to a high level of frustration and intense debates on the state of design in the 1980s. The AIF carried out surveys that showed the level of dissatisfaction with actual working conditions on the one hand and the great commitment of many professionals to their work as designers on the other hand (Kahl et al. 1987).
Figure 5: A snapshot of design research at a university. Car and caravan design models are tested in the wind tunnel of TU Dresden in the 1980s. Source: Archive of TU Dresden.
A large number of designers still agreed to consider functionalism with a strong social determination, a focus on usability and a careful use of natural resources as being a key element of their professional self-conception. Proof of this was a series of articles in the East German design journal “form + zweck” in the 1970s and 1980s with contributions by Karin Hirdina, Horst Oehlke, Clauss Dietel, Heinz Hirdina, Chup Friemert or Bruno Flierl. In answer to Western debates on postmodernism, the AIF had also organized a seminar on
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functionalism in 1982 to discuss whether functionalism should be seen as a (then dogmatic) theory or as a (rather flexible) approach on design methodology. Some authors reflected a possible neglect of the aesthetic dimension in product design and whether design had ignored its roots in arts and craft while overemphasizing science and technology. However, amid all the criticism on functionalism as a style (grey, square and stockable), they opposed the postmodern project as superficial styling and adequate philosophy for affluent societies. The postmodern accusation of “technicism� was rejected as the dismissal of the sociopolitical program of functionalism to design products of high quality for all. Karin Hirdina stated that functionalism meant the utopian anticipation of a non-capitalistic order of relationships between man and his material environment (K. Hirdina 1975). Broadly speaking, postmodernism had been criticized as reactionary and antisocial, as a subjection to a capitalistic logic of exploitation.
Across the wall: pan-German exchange before 1990 East German industrial design has always been integrated in international design debates and institutions and cannot be explained in an exclusive national framework. It operated in an area of tension between the tight framework conditions of the GDR as part of the socialist Eastern bloc and the transnational dimension of design discourse and design development. The formation of functionalism as the prevailing design approach in the GDR was based on an intense and lasting interest for (among others) Scandinavian functionalism, the policy of the British Design Council, the influential Ulm Design College or Austrian, Italian, Polish and Czechoslovak product design. Despite all political measures to stress relations with Eastern European partners and to emphasize the leading role of the Soviet Union, Northern and Western influences were of particular relevance. Scandinavian, especially Finish and West German industrial design remained central reference points for designers in the GDR until the late 1980s. Due to a lack of substantial research, we would describe working relations within the COMECON only with all due caution as more selective than systematic. Especially Czechoslovakian, Hungarian, Yugoslavian or Polish design knowledge and design methods were highly appreciated in the GDR and there has been a lively exchange of objects, technologies and knowledge at congresses, exhibitions or fairs in the Eastern bloc. But the Soviet design authority VNIITE did not achieve the status of a leading design institution and cooperation remained on a rather theoretical level. Soviet design officials considered East Germany to be one of the most developed industrial countries within the socialist sphere. East German industrial design expertise concerning quality assurance or range streamlining was thus appreciated whereas little is known about collaborative design projects with Soviet involvement and tangible results. Design as a specific field of activity has enjoyed a remarkable degree of communication, mobility and cooperative work and at the same time it was faced with travel restrictions, political paternalism and surveillance for those considered politically unreliable. Only selected designers were able to travel to the West, some of them on behalf of the AIF,
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others on behalf of the VBK-DDR, which was regarded by designers as the more liberal institution. Also, in product development an international state-of-the-art analysis (Weltstandsvergleich) was part of the required design briefing (detailed documentation published by the AIF (Ed.) 1984). Due to the need to export products to Western markets, any newly designed product had to compete with Western standards. This also fostered an intensive evaluation of Western design developments (even though only a small number of competitive design concepts eventually went into series production). The Bauhaus building in Dessau can be seen as another space within the GDR for exchange between Eastern and Western designers. Retarded by the ideological debate on formalism until the late 1960s, the Bauhaus and its heritage had only been rehabilitated in the GDR of the 1970s. By then, the AIF was pushing the reconstruction of the Bauhaus building in Dessau, later using the site for international workshops and exhibitions and selling the GDR as the legitimate inheritor of the Bauhaus idea. Scandinavian, Dutch, American or West German designers took part in international and inner-German Bauhaus seminars. In 1978, an international seminar in Dessau was led by American designers with the slogan “Industrial Design Education in the United States”. In return, Erich John, Professor in Berlin-Weißensee, was invited as Visiting Professor to the US and selected students of the college of art BerlinWeißensee were allowed to study in the USA.
figure 6: the Bauhaus Dessau building in a 1980s English leaflet of the AIF, illustrating East West Exchange in the field of design during the cold war.
Especially the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), founded 1957 in London, became an important international stage for East West exchange. In the 1960s, ICSID grew to include design societies from non-capitalist countries and the AIF joined ICSID in 1967, two years before the Soviet counterpart VNIITE. As a member, the AIF enjoyed
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equal rights at a time when the diplomatic status of the GDR was still contested by West Germany. Design was seen as a profession that could transcend political borders and build bridges between East and West. Martin Kelm was elected into the ICSID Executive Board in 1971, entrusted with the subject areas environment and design and design as state policy. Though, the high aiming policy of exchange and cross-border professional cooperation of ICSID in the Cold War period has to be contrasted with travel and speech restrictions and censorship on the Eastern side. Western designers also spoke about a mere theoretical presentation of Eastern design efforts on ICSID conferences, wondering how and when especially Soviet concepts and plans would be realized. On the ICSID-stage, East German design gained some relevance regarding the design of playgrounds and toys, the design of capital goods, the re-opening of the Bauhaus as well as the structure and organization of design funding. Still, there was a huge gap left between theoretical aspiration and claims on one side and everyday experience of designers and the public on the other.
What is left After the wall came down, East German design had to face deep structural changes. New positioning was necessary in order to cope with the meltdown of industrial structures. The AIF and most of its sub-institutions were closed in 1990. Even though East Germany’s industry recovered to a notable degree in the following years, there is still little industrial research and development due to a lack of big companies and scarce financial resources of small businesses. At the universities and colleges of art, specific design approaches adopted more slowly to the new situation. As explained above, design research in the GDR was not disconnected to western developments, accordingly many designers and design researchers were able to continue their work under new market conditions. Today, there is a co-existence of empirical design research and design research inspired by cultural studies. The roots in the specific East German functional design approach can still be traced in departments focusing on the design of industrial goods. The University of Industrial Design in Halle has been renamed to College of Art, accompanied by a shift to more artistic approaches of design. However, there is an increasing interest in functionalist design approaches, which might provide a useful framework for actual challenges. Here, the adjusted functionalism of the late GDR may be of interest, since it had been developed in order to cope with critique against functionalism or to merge different views into one (centralistic) holistic functionalist design approach, while a strong shift to postmodernism more or less stopped the development of comprehensive functional design approaches in West German design research. The legacy of design and design research of the GDR may provide considerable material for further investigation, since a large number of the documents, photographs and even design objects, models and prototypes are preserved in the archives of federal institutions, museums and universities.
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References AIF (Ed.) (1984) Weltstandsvergleiche und Design. Materialien fü r das Vergleichen und Bewerten, Planen und Prognostizieren des Designs. Berlin. AIF (Ed.) (1976) Industrial Design in the German Democratic Republic. Industrial Design in the Sign of State Attention. Berlin. Azrikan, D. (1993) VNIITE, Dinosaur of Totalitarianism or Plato’s Academy of Design?, Design Issues, 15 (3), pp. 45–77. Cubbin, T. (2012) From Technocracy to Techno-Utopia: Futurology and the Soviet Home at VNIITE 1964–1974, History of Design MA Dissertation, London. Dietel, K. C. (1982) Funktionalismus entstand und lebt nur mit Kunst, form + zweck 6/1982, pp. 33– 35. Flierl, B. (1986) Postmoderne und Neo-Historismus, form + zweck, 18 (5), pp. 4–9. (without author) (1980) Formgestaltung im RGW, form + zweck, 12 (3), p. 2. Friemert, C. (1982) Zur Entzauberung des Designs, form + zweck, 14 (5), pp. 44–49. Gronert, S.: Horst Michel und das Institut für Innengestaltung. Der Weimarer Beitrag zur industriellen Formgebung in der DDR.,F. Simon-Ritz, K.-J. Winkler and G. Zimmermann (Eds.): »Aber Wir sind! Wir wollen! Und wir schaffen!« Von der Großherzoglichen Kunstschule zur Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 1860–2010. pp. 147−174. Hirdina, H. (1982) Seminar zum Funktionalismus. Ziel und Ergebnis, form + zweck, 14 (4), p. 40. Hirdina, H. (2008) Rückwärts zur Avantgarde, vorwärts zur Kunst. Zum Designverständnis im Osten Deutschlands zwischen 1950 und 1954, D. Nehls, H. Staubach and A. Trebeß (Eds.): Heinz Hirdina: Am Ende ist alles Design. Texte zum Design 1971–2004. Berlin 2008, pp. 96–105. Hirdina, K. (1975) Der Funktionalismus und seine Kritiker, form + zweck, 7 (3), pp. 9–12. Höhne, G. (2011) Look but don't copy, K. Ueki-Polet and K. Klemp (Eds.): Less and more: the design ethos of Dieter Rams. Berlin. Hückler, A. (1996) Deutsches Design in Ost und West – Weißensee und Ulm?, Design Zentrum München (Ed.): Szenenwechsel. German Design Goes Rocky Mountain High, International Design Conference in Aspen 1996: Gestalt: Vision of German Design, Frankfurt a.M. 1997, pp. 58-69. Kahl, A., Bernhard, G., Koch, W. and Wilsdorf, Ss (1987) Der Formgestalter in der Industrie – ein soziales Porträt. In: AIF and Designzentrum (Eds.), Designforum 1987, Design und Qualität. Berlin. Kassner, J. (2010) Ostform: Der Gestalter Karl Clauss Dietel. vollbart.communications Kelm, M. 1972. Produktgestaltung im Sozialismus. Dietz Berlin. Oehlke, H. (1982) Visualisierung als Aufgabe funktionaler Gestaltungsweise, form + zweck, 14 (6), pp. 36–40. Pugh, E. (2014) Architecture, Politics, & Identity in Divided Berlin. University of Pittsburgh Press Roeder, R. (2014) Zur Situation der Formgestalter im Raum Dresden zwischen 1960 und 1989 – eine persönliche Sicht, in C. Wölfel, S. Wölfel and J. Krzywinski (Eds.) Gutes Design – Martin Kelm und die Designförderung in der DDR, Dresden, Thelem, pp. 175–185. Soloviev, J. (1973) Greifbare Modelle für die Zukunft, form + zweck, (4), pp. 3–6. Soloviev, J. (1980) Designaufgaben, form + zweck, 12 (3) pp. 10–14. Sorg, B. (2014) »Grundsätzlich hatten wir das Ziel, Spitzendesign zu machen.« Ein Gespräch über Designprojekt Dresden mit Bernhard Sorg, in C. Wölfel, S. Wölfel and J. Krzywinski (Eds.) Gutes Design – Martin Kelm und die Designförderung in der DDR, Dresden, Thelem, pp. 143–165.
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Stade, R. (1993). Designs of Identity: Politics of Aesthetics in the GDR. Ethnos, 58 (1993), 3–4, pp. 241–258. Sudrow, A. (2014). Sozialistische Produktgestaltung oder »Produktgestaltung im Sozialismus«? Eine historische Re-Lektüre von Martin Kelms programmatischer Schrift von 1971, in C. Wölfel, S. Wölfel and J. Krzywinski (Eds.) Gutes Design – Martin Kelm und die Designförderung in der DDR, Dresden, Thelem, pp. 119–131. Wölfel, S., Wölfel, C. and Krzywinski, J. (2014) »Gutes Design«, Martin Kelm und die staatliche Designförderung in der DDR – eine Einführung, in C. Wölfel, S. Wölfel and J. Krzywinski (Eds.) Gutes Design – Martin Kelm und die Designförderung in der DDR, Dresden, Thelem, pp. 7–19.
About the Authors: Sylvia Wölfel, Ph.D. is a historian of technology, researcher and lecturer at Technische Universität Berlin, Germany. Her research interests include the environmental history of engineering, the history of relationship between engineering and design and Eastern Europe’s history of economic and political transformation. Christian Wölfel, Ph.D. is a trained industrial designer, researcher and lecturer at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. His research interests include, among others, product experience in professional domains. His own design practice focuses on industrial goods and medical devices.
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International Norms and Local Design Research: ICSID and the Promotion of Industrial Design in Latin America, 1970-1979 Tania Messell University of Brighton, UK t.messell@brighton.ac.uk DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.461
Abstract: The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) was founded in 1957 to raise the professional status of designers and to establish international standards for the profession. While the organisation expanded to include member societies from developing economies in the 1960s and 1970s, it was predominantly led by Western members, and design mainly promoted as a tool for industrial development, due to ICSID’s close collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). Examining ICSID’s early promotional activities in developing countries, in particular its first congress in Latin America ‘Industrial Design for Human Development’, held in 1979 Mexico, this paper appraises the reception of Western design precepts by a circle of Latin American designers and theorists, whose design methodology, which promulgated the primacy of local needs, resources and expertise, paved the way towards a more multifaceted understanding of design within ICSID and beyond. Keywords: ICSID; Promotion; Latin America; Local/Global
Introduction The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design was founded in London in 1957 by designers from Europe and the United States, to raise the professional status of designers and to establish international standards for the profession, at a time when a collective need existed for a “greater recognition of [designers’] value to business, commerce and society” (Woodham, 1997, p.175). ICSID’s expansion from members from eight countries in 1957 to 37 countries by 1980 included the entry of member societies from developing countries, whose diverse expectations, coupled with the international community’s heightened concern for development in the 1970s, resulted in ICSID’s growing interest in the contribution of design in the peripheries. The council as such established the Developing Countries Working Group, and through its close collaboration with the United Nations This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), set out to promote the benefits of industrial design to countries in the course of industrialisation. However, ICSID was primarily governed by Western designers and its alliance with UNIDO, whose agenda aimed at accelerating industrial development on a world basis, led the organisation to promote industrial design as a close ally of science and technology, within a Western narrative of progress.
Figure 1
ICSID’s membership in 1980, Working Group on the Future and Structure of ICSID, 1981, p.40, ICD/6/10/12, ICSID Archives, University of Brighton Design Archives.
Diverging visions on the contribution of industrial design in developing countries however emerged in the same period, particularly in Latin America, where the profession’s Western ethnocentrism and ICSID’s vision of developing countries were a source of growing discontent. These critiques culminated during ICSID’s first congress held in a developing country, in 1979 Mexico, where a circle of Latin American designers promulgated the need for a design approach answering the diversity and specificities of the Latin American context, in line with local needs, resources and expertise. The group’s discontent resulted in the creation of the first Latin American design association, ALADI (Asociación Latinoamericana de Diseño), which alongside the establishment of other regional groupings, led to ICSID’s decentralisation in the late 1970s. Thus at a time when debates on regionalism and identity prevailed, ICSID’s expansionist endeavour aimed at the “global development of industrial design”, as its President Kenji Ekuan expressed in 1977 (Ekuan, p.32, 1977), had reached its limit, and ICSID’s survival lay in the fragmentation of its activities. The development of local design research, which countered the dominant design approach, promulgated by industrialised nations, in turn reverberated upon design institutions, through which it played a key role in promoting a multifaceted understanding of the profession.
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For Bruce Archer, one of the founders of the discipline of design research, whose systematic approach of the discipline assisted in theorising the practice (Pavitt, p.2012, p.131), design research is a “systematic search for and acquisition of knowledge related to design and design activity” (Archer, 1981, p.47). For the design historian Jonathan Woodham, the study of ICSID on the other hand has “much to offer to historians seeking to research a more comprehensive and inclusive geographical and cultural spread of industrial design activity” (Woodham, 2005, p.263). This paper, through a close examination of the production of ICSID’s design precepts and their reception in Latin America, specifically in Mexico, thus posits that the production of design knowledge acted as a key articulation of power in the meeting between developed and developing nations in the 1970s, and that the examination of ICSID’s activities in developing countries allows for a better understanding of these dynamics. The production of international design standards indeed assisted ICSID in raising its status, in reinforcing the young profession, and in legitimising its activities in developing countries, a process which took similarly place in the latter. Indeed, while ICSID’s design precepts were “translated”, and thus actively assimilated in the peripheries, as the design historian Anna Calvera suggests (Calvera, 2005, p.374), this paper argues that the development of new local design methodologies impacted upon ICSID’s aims and functioning, where they challenged the supremacy of a design research arising from industrialised nations. This paper will start by examining how the development discourse produced by international agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) after the Second World War impacted upon ICSID’s mission in developing countries, alongside its attempt to establish industrial design as a fully-fledged profession. The mixed reception of ICSID’s presence in Latin America will thereafter be treated through an examination of ICSID’s congress in Mexico, where the redemptive powers of foreign expertise were both praised and shunned, and ultimately led to the creation of ALADI, which reinforced the position of advocates of independent design research. It must be noted that although terms such as ‘Third World', 'Less Developed Countries', and 'Periphery' have been used to designate the area that includes the larger parts of Africa, Latin America, South and South East Asia, and the Middle East (Er, 1994, p.8), as ICSID employed the term ‘developing countries’, the latter will be used in this paper. This decision arises from the anthropologist Arturo Escobar’s vision of terms such as First and Third World, which for him reinforce ‘the production of differences, subjectivities, and social orders’, ultimately preserving dynamics of colonialism (Escobar, 2011, p.9). The use of ICSID’s terminology will thus assist in highlighting the binary understanding ICSID’s nurtured towards the peripheries, where the organisation regarded its contribution in the act of assistance.
Development and the Rhetoric of Assistance Recent scholarship on international non-governmental organisations often presents NGOs under a neo-colonial light, as organisations furthering Western thinking and interests. For the sociologists John Boli and Georges Thomas, NGOs are indeed “transnational bodies
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employing limited resources to make rules, set standards and propagate principles […] vis-àvis states and other actors” (Boli & Thomas, 1997, p.172). Development furthermore offered a key arena in the 20th century for international organisations to “raise their profiles as actors in their own right, build legitimacy and thereby extend their authority” (Frey, Kunkel & Unger, 2014, p.4). As a consequence, the involvement of NGO in developing countries intensified after the Second World, and their discourse, as the historian Kevin O’Sullivan writes, “like colonialism carried [a] familiar subtext: that western agencies were bringers of all that was “modern” and “advanced”” (O'Sullivan, 2014, p.301). For Escobar, this discourse lay in a very western imagining of the Third World, in which “poverty became an organising concept [which] brought into existence new discourses and practices that shaped the reality to which they referred. That the essential trait of the Third World was its poverty and that the solution was economic growth and development became self-evident, necessary and universal truths.” (Escobar, 2011, p.24)
Such a politic of truth relied on areas in which “the generation, validation and diffusion of development knowledge” was organised, which included professional practices (Escobar, 2011, p.45). Professionalization and development were in fact closely intertwined and together, as Escobar suggests, constituted “an apparatus that organises the production of form and knowledge and the deployment of forms of power”, through conferences, consultancy and local implementations (Escobar, 2011, p.46). For Boli, Thomas, Meyer and Ramirez, the development of normative expertise is a central component of professionalization, as experts “develop transnational accounts and models, yielding a selfreinforcing cycle in which rationalization […] institutionalizes professional authority” (Meyer, Boli, Thomas & Ramirez, 1997, p.166). The development of rationalized and universalistic knowledge in turn strengthens a professional discourse as by “turning local and parochial practices into universally applicable principles [it can be] rationally adopted […] and copied by modern entities everywhere”, as such securing its perpetuation (Meyer & David Strang, 1993, p.502). At a time when ICSID aimed at becoming the leading international organisation, and design remained a relatively young profession, its promotion of design as a “universal problem-solving activity” (General Assembly Minutes, 1963) was coupled with a rhetoric of assistance, which implied that design knowledge originated from industrialised nations. Indeed, as ICSID’s Secretary General, Josine des Cressonières, expressed at an Executive Board meeting in 1970: “The only justification of ICSID is to help. We must do it with all the assets and means particular from ICSID which derive from its international status and allow for: A) exchange and information (which we can do better than anyone). B) a channel of assistance of more advanced countries, no longer in need of help (Sweden for instance) towards those who need (sic) it acutely.” (Des Cressonières, 1970)
As found in the meeting’s minutes, ICSID’s Past President Henri Viénot furthermore suggested that as ICSID acted as “a platform favouring comparisons, it could give more assistance to countries where industrial design is least developed” (Viénot, 1970). The
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board member André Ricard similarly employed a vocabulary of assistance and emergency, and described ICSID’s educational mission using military terms. Indeed for Ricard, “It is ICSID’s duty and privilege to make people think of what they are doing- we must intensify the reasons, philosophy and direction of their work. In this connection, particular assistance must be brought to countries where industrial design is in course of development. These people badly need contacts, they need to discuss and communicate. We should send “ICSID commandos” [sic] where they are most needed, organise seminars and small regional meetings in between congresses, especially in developing countries.” (Ricard, 1970)
The council in turn rapidly set out to assist developing countries by subsequently establishing the Developing Countries Working Group to produce events, exhibitions and publications promoting the benefits of industrial design in developing countries, as well as with establishing closer ties with UNIDO. While a shift from ‘good design’ to ‘scientific operationalism’ had taken place in ICSID under Tomas Maldonado’s presidency in the late 1960s, which favoured the close collaboration between designers and industry, mixed opinions towards a design model adapted to developing countries existed within the organisation. For Gui Bonsiepe, while industrial design ought to act as an instrument for industrial development, it was not to be developed for the peripheries but rather in and by the peripheries, which for him constituted the only path towards the regions’ technological independence (Bonsiepe, 1976). Spearheaded by Victor Papanek, a second group privileged the sociocultural needs of developing countries, in stark contrast with the “high-tech bias of design expansionism felt to be desirable by some in ICSID” as Papanek recalled a few years later (Papanek, 1983, p.46). Indeed while Bonsiepe located the liberation of developing countries in indigenous technology, Papanek’s condemnation of the West’s mass production, brought him to promulgate the development of designs answering the real needs of men and women, in harmony with local resources, in a primarily grass-root approach (Papanek, 1972). ICSID’s close collaboration with UNIDO, which culminated in the signing of the Ahmedabad Declaration in 1979 towards design promotion in developing countries, however led the council to present design as an ally of industrial development. For UNIDO, whose 1975 Lima Declaration aimed at increasing industrial output in developing countries from 7% to 25% by 2000 (Osmańczyk, 2003, p.1325), the “historical role” of the designer lay in his capacity to apply “design creativeness to increase production” in developing countries (Kayalar, 1977). Thus the experts dispatched to developing countries by ICSID and UNIDO in the 1970s introduced methods to rationalise and increase the production of goods, with the ultimate aim for these to enter international markets (Soloviev, UNIDO-ICSID Meeting, 1979, p.21). As seen below, this rhetoric of growth was countered by a group of designers during ICSID’s congress in Mexico, whose design method, by turning its gaze to the local with the aim to answer ethnic specificities, offered an alternative path to capitalist growth. However, as seen below, for the committee charged
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with organising ICSID’s first congress in Latin America, foreign expertise constituted the cornerstone of a successful design implementation.
‘Industrial Design and Human Development’ Many reasons prompted Mexico to be selected as the host of ICSID’s 1979 congress. To begin with, the country could boast an active design scene, ranging from two design organisations, the College of Industrial and Graphic Designers of Mexico (CODIGRAM) and the Technical Political National Institute, a national Design Centre, and thirteen design programmes (Mullin, 1978). These developments were followed closely by ICSID and were well regarded upon, such as by its Secretary General Yoshio Nishimoto, for whom “watching the young designers of Mexico is like watching the latent energy of an unerupted [sic] volcano. There is a future in design in this country” (Nishimoto, 1979). Mexico was also a good location as it bore similar traits to the Indian context, which was to come under scrutiny during the Ahmedabad Declaration. The country similarly faced the need to spur collaboration between manufacture and industrial production as 75% of Mexican products remained hand-made, and craft was Mexico’s second source of income (Novelo, 2003, p.29). As ICSID’s president, Yuri Soloviev, shared in the event’s opening address, holding the congress in Mexico represented a decisive step for the organisation and “a new step in the history of industrial design in developing countries, [in which] the unity of industrial design experience and national cultural traditions become a very important factor for further success”. ICSID’s president subsequently informed the audience that: “at present it is possible to use design much more efficiently. This is due to the new level of technological basis, provided by modern scientific and technological revolutions [of which] it is particularly important that countries with growing economies can profit” (Soloviev, 1979).
As such, while the cultural heritage of developing countries was to be preserved, industrial design could only be implemented through the import of scientific and technological innovation modelled in developed countries. The congress’ organising committee was headed by the president of the Technical Political National Institute, Alejandro Lazo Margáin, under the supervision of the architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez. Both men had close ties with the Mexican government as Margáin’s father, the architect Carlos Lazo was the recipient of numerous national commissions and his godfather was the minister of Tourism and past president, Miguel Alemán Valdés. The Instituto had acted as a political party and lobby group for industrial and graphic design since 1973, whose main aim was to create social designs through means of technical and industrial development, in allegiance to the Partido Revolucionario Institutional, which since 1928 ruled the country (Lazo, undated). Vázquez on the other hand was a central figure in the fields of architecture, whose career included the orchestration of Mexico’s image in numerous World Fairs and of the highly mediatised 1968 Olympics (Almeida, 2013). By the time Mexico was to host ICSID’s XIth congress, Vázquez had designed the political campaign
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of the president José Lopez Portillo, and acted as Minister of Public Settlements and Public Works, underlining his strong ties with the head of state and active role in national policies. The congress thus quickly received support from the President and from the majority of the state secretaries, whilst financial support was granted from Alemán Valdés (Lazo, 1977). The organising committee’s close bonds to the party thus secured financial resources, prestigious locations and the inauguration by the President Lopez Portillo, which resulted in the high visibility of the event. The theme of the congress ‘Industrial Design and Human Development’ was selected by the organising committee under the supervision of ICSID’s Board in 1976 (des Cressonières, 1976). As the designer Claudio Rodriguez, member of the organising committee, stated in interview, the topic was chosen as it resonated with the wider interest in development, and reflected ICSID’s humanistic ideals, as such securing a wide attendance to the congress (Rodriguez, personal communication, 7 May, 2015). Incidentally, the topic also answered the Mexican government's agenda, which, while it may have moved closer to the interest of the middle class, was awash with social discourses and programmes aimed at gathering the support of workers and peasants (López, 2010, p.278). This inclination is reflected in the event’s promotional materials sent to the press, companies, travel agencies, airlines, and embassies, which displayed a populist aesthetic through hand-drawn images of craftsmen and a logotype inspired from pre-Hispanic Huichol designs. The sovereignty of foreign design expertise however loomed over the event’s preparation and unfolding. To begin with, Margáin and Vázquez publicised the benefits of design and the congress as closely related to the government’s extensive industrialisation plans launched in 1976, of which the Alliance for Production plan had constituted the core of Lopez Portillo’s presidential campaign (Mirón, Pérez & Fernández del Castillo, 1988, p.35). Margáin indeed presented industrial design as the ‘fundamental element for the success of the Alliance for Production plan’ to design students in 1979 (Lazo Margáin, 1979), while Vázquez stressed the relation between designers and “all the areas where they can serve the country with proper technology, as is essentially the National Industrial Development Plan” in the paper he presented at the congress (Vázquez, 1979). However, whilst these plans aimed at the country’s economic independence, they relied on the import of foreign technology purchased through the revenue of newly discovered oil reserves in Mexico (Small, p.14, 2004). This strategy had existed since Echeverría’s presidency between 1970 and 1976, during which a new legislation had been adopted which facilitated the purchase of foreign technology and technology transfer agreements (Haas, 1997, p.238). The government favouring the export of technical products such as transportation equipment and other machinery, capital-intensive methods were thus imported to Mexico (Grayson, 1981, p.106). Indeed, “Mexican elites, bitter over a legacy of U.S. discrimination [saw] in shiny new equipment a sign of the country’s technological machismo, while labor-intensive techniques betoken backwardness” (Grayson, 1981, p.107). A joint exhibition promoting the interchange of technology, engineering and research between the United States and Mexico, Techno-Transfer '79, was thus organised and publicised during the event, revealing the
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congress’ instrumental role in the government’s industrial policy (Mexico ICSID Oct ’79, black brochure, p.89). Also of significance, the committee’s promotional travels were mostly undertaken in Europe and in North America, where its members prioritised visits to national chambers of commerce and industry and well-established companies such as Philips, Braun, Knoll International and Olivetti, later invited to exhibit their most innovative products at the congress’ Exhibition of Technological Innovations (Lazo Margáin, First Preparation Report, 1978). Indeed while the event’s social character was addressed by the international student competition which featured projects around the topics of education, health and childhood, objects such as the newly released Mercedes Benz C-111 3 were displayed, which embodied the height of Western technical achievements.
Figure 2
Pedro Ramírez Vázquez sitting in the Mercedes Benz C-111 3 at the Exhibition of Technical Innovations, 1979, Personal archive of Alejandro Lazo Margáin.
Finally, although the conference aimed at favouring exchanges between designers from developed and developing countries, the selection of speakers for plenary sessions, undertaken once again under ICSID’s supervision, featured a majority of well-established designers from Europe and the United States, with one contribution only from a national of a developing country, by Vázquez himself (Mexico ICSID Oct ’79, golden brochure, p.24). This phenomenon was replicated in the panel sessions, in which only four out of 26 coordinators were nationals from developing countries. Of great significance, the American designer Arthur Pulos was appointed to lead the round-table on professional practice (Mexico ICSID Oct ’79, golden brochure, p.24), which further implied that design experience remained the monopoly of industrialised nations, and which, by suppressing professional dialogue, positioned designers from developing countries as mere recipients.
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Design for Latin America The large scope of the event however offered a forum for diverse design visions to meet, at a time when wider doubts existed towards the profession’s capacity to act beyond a Western-centric perspective and commercial interests (Clarke, 2015, p.3). Critics included the designer Ettore Sottsass, for whom the congress’ focus on development was irrational as it promoted the idea that design could surpass the logic of markets to answer the “real needs” of society, while for the designer Oriol Bohigas, developing countries were to avoid the trap of mass-consumption, if a sustainable future was to be achieved (Press Release n°16, 1979). Bonsiepe on the other hand warned against the belief that the centre possessed the “universal magic formulae of industrial design”, which prevailed in both developed and developing countries (Bonsiepe, 1976, p.18). This vision was shared by some of the Mexican speakers who attended the event, whose discourses were informed by the Appropriate Technology movement and the Intermediate Technology Development Group, which alongside Alternative or Radical Technology, promulgated the use of second and third rate technology (Madge, 1993, p.153). The concept of appropriate technology, born from 1960s counter-culture, had indeed gathered a wide interest in former colonies since the mid-twentieth century, where the introduction of foreign production systems, grounded in energy-intensive machinery, were regarded as resulting in pollution and unemployment (Oropallo, 2014, p.533). In his paper titled ‘The Role of the Industrial Designer in the Framework of a New Productive Structure’, the founder of the left-wing National Autonomous Metropolitan University’s design programme, Horacio Durán, promoted the teaching of intermediary technology to produce semi-artisanal capital goods, which ultimately could be exported to developing countries in large quantities. For Durán, who mainly produced furniture using local materials, drawing from traditional Mexican forms, this production was to take primarily place in the rural context, where cheap manpower existed and employment would be secured, as such countering Mexico’s lack of advanced technology and exploitation of the country’s resources (Press Release n°2, 1979). A more radical proposition was voiced by the head of the university’s graphic design programme, Jesús Virchez, for whom the development of national design expertise could only by achieved by limiting the entry of foreign designers in Mexico and through the use of national design curriculums. In his view, the country’s widespread lack of self-confidence had resulted in the prejudice of "malinchism" (Mexican term for a preference for all things foreign), which prevented it from developing a design practice beyond ‘factors of power and speed’ (Press Release n°13, 1979). As seen next, these ideas informed the creation of a regional association by a group of Latin American designers, which beyond favouring collaboration, aimed at circumventing the grip of industrialised countries on Latin American design practice.
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The formation of ALADI A growing disbelief towards ICSID’s activities in Latin America had spread amongst a group of designers from Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, Peru, Salvador, Brazil in the 1970s, for whom the former did not answer the regions’ diverse sociocultural and economic conditions. Many of them met during ICSID’s first Interdesign workshop in Latin America in 1978, titled ‘Alternative Energy Sources: Wind and Solar Energy for Use in Rural Areas in Mexico’, where the creation of the Asociación Latinoamericana de Diseño, the Latin American Association of Industrial Designers (ALADI) was discussed. Its future members indeed regarded the workshop as ill fitted for communities where acute poverty and lacks of expertise prevented the installation of alternative technology, which furthermore did not reflect the larger Latin American context (Polo, personal communication, 10 June 2015). For ALADI’s future president, the Colombian designer Rómulo Polo, the event provided an “utopian or idealistic” solution to such communities, which revealed how “the priorities and approaches of some international forums, did not match the situation of developing countries” (Polo, 1980, p.17). The Argentinian Basilio Uribe, Brazilian José Abramowitz, Polo and Bonsiepe consequently met in Bombay during the Ahmedabad Declaration and together drafted the association’s objectives, many of which formed part of its constitution. In their views, the association needed to offer a communication network to Latin American designers, promote industrial design policies to governments (Polo, 1980, p.18) and intensify technical cooperation between developing countries, while acknowledging the specificities of each nation (Buitrago, 2014, p.160). Members of the group met during the congress in Mexico, and as one of ALADI’s founders, the Chilean designer Fernando Shultz stated in interview, the 1979 congress was highly problematic in their views, as it “did not address the Latin American reality in its regional diversity” and assisted ICSID in importing a Western lifestyle, ultimately serving the interests of multinational corporations (Shultz, personal communication, 10 May, 2015).
Figure 3 Photograph of the meeting of ALADI’s founders during the Mexico Congress, 1979, Personal archive of Alejandro Lazo Margáin.
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Shultz then taught at the Autonomous Metropolican University, where most of the group’s representatives in Mexico worked. With colleagues, he had published the book Against a Dependent Design (Contra un Diseño Dependiente) in 1976, which defended the need for a place-based design methodology, and which included a contribution by the philosopher Enrique Dussel, for whom the liberation from the centre's cultural, military, and economic domination could only be attained by reclaiming the cultural inheritance of developing countries. Indeed for its authors: “If we take into account the operational or functional criteria governing technological processes that produce industrial design in the "centre", we discover that these were born from a well-defined cultural and economic context. Take for example the operational criteria of design and of highly developed technology: the scarcity and high price of labour causes these designs to use the maximum of capital and technology, which impacts on scientific research and technical discoveries of the countries from the “centre". This criterion aims to be universal and imposed on the international market. Therefore, accepting this technology […] means implicitly accepting this criteria which, when applied, would fall into contradiction in countries where there is abundant fairly skilled labour to low price. Even if the indiscriminate use of imported technologies would be fruitful, […] the immediate effects being unemployment and social pressures, make it a sufficient reason to dismiss it.” (Gutierrez et. al., 1977, p.2)
The text subsequently encouraged designers to make use of local technology, materials, and expertise applied to large and small-scale industry and to craft, and most importantly offered a design methodology titled the ‘General Model of Design Process’, grounded in an interdisciplinary approach. For its authors, a design problem was indeed to be approached through an initial analysis of factors ranging from the anthropometric to the technological and the social, rather than by the product itself, in order for the artefact to answer the specific needs of the producer, the designer and the users (Rodríguez Morales, 2004, p.36). This method was most certainly applied by the UAM’s design students at the aforementioned student exhibition, as reflected in the conception of a didactical appliance aimed for young children, most certainly made out of locally sourced materials (see figure 10).
Figure 4 Display of the UAM Student projects at the International Student Exhibition, 1979, Personal archive of Alejandro Lazo Margáin.
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The UAM’s ‘General Model of Design Process’, which counts as one of the few developed in Mexico, remains in use today, as it constitutes the base of the university’s design programme (Rodríguez Morales, 2004, p.38), and has since 2009 encouraged the development of Mexico’s national design policy (Frı ́as, 2010, p.35). The aspiration of ALADI’s members to produce a local design knowledge, challenging the dominant model was in turn reinforced through the organisation, whose impact upon ICSID, paved the way to a more place-based understanding of design. The congress resulted in the signing of a proposal for the regional design organisation by 98 attendees (Buitrago, 2014, p.160), and epitomised a wider movement within ICSID towards the creation of regional groupings, at a time when wider doubts existed towards the council’s centralised structure and capacity to answer local specificities. Regional groupings were indeed formed in Asia and Europe at the time, leading ICSID’s Executive Board to face the shortcomings of its universalising mission. It consequently set up the Working Group on the Future and Structure of ICSID in April 1980, which a few months later reported that “the difference of culture, need and orientation of our membership have to be recognised and harnessed, not eliminated and submerged” (Working Group on the Future and Structure of ICSID, 1980). ICSID’s Executive Board was in turn urged to distribute responsibilities to member societies and to facilitate regional activities (Working Group on the Future and Structure of ICSID, 1981, p.43), recommendations which were implemented throughout the 1980s (ICSID, 1987). The primacy of locality remains today, as although ICSID’s current project ‘Renew ICSID’ promotes the role of design for a “Better world”, it is grounded in “what is happening at a regional level” as its current president, Brandon Gien, announced in February 2015 (Gien, 2015).
Conclusion To conclude, this paper has shed light on the dissemination and reception of ICSID’s design precepts in Latin America, which as it has revealed, were inextricably linked with the rhetoric of assistance produced by NGOS and international agencies in the post-war period. As it has shown, ICSID’s understanding of its role in developing countries was heavily affected by these discourses, which led its members to disseminate a design approach grounded in raised industrialisation or inadequate alternatives to assist developing countries to “catch up” with Western standards, to use the term of the design historian Guy Julier (Julier, 1997, p.2). In this context, the production of design research which grappled with local specificities was crucial in countering Western design doctrines in the 1970s, and the creation of ALADI participated in shaping a more cosmopolite design vision within ICSID, which continues to influence contemporary practices. Indeed, the methods developed by ALADI’s members participated in challenging the traditional boundaries of the profession along other movements which called for increased “relocalization, decentralization and local cosmopolitanism” (Clarke, 2015, p.3), the approaches of which crystallised in larger institutional formations, as this paper set out to highlight.
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Acknowledgements: This research has been conducted thanks to the generous support of the School of Humanities of the University of Brighton, which allowed for a research trip to be conducted in Mexico in April 2015.
References Almeida, M., (2013). Argentina ‘78 World Cup and the Echoes of Mexico ‘68: Internationalism and Latin American Design. An Intellectual History of Design in the 1960s and 1970s: Politics and Periphery, Journal of Design History, 27, pp 58-75. Archer, B., (1981). A View of the Nature of Design Research, in R. Jacques and J. Powell, (eds.), Design: Science: Method, Westbury House/IPC Science and Technology Press, pp.30-35. Betts, P., (1998). Science, Semiotics and Society: The Ulm Hochschule für Gestaltung in Retrospect, Design Issues, 14, pp 67-82. Boli, J.; Meyer, J.; Thomas, G.; Ramirez, F.; (1997). World Society and the Nation-State, American Journal of Sociology, 103, pp 144-181. Bonsiepe, G., (1977). Precariousness and Ambiguity: Industrial Design in Dependent Countries, in Bicknell, J.; McQuiston, L. (eds), The Social Contribution of Design. An Anthology of Papers Presented to the Symposium at the Royal College of Art, London, April, 1976, Oxford: Pergamon Press, pp. 13-19. Buitrago, J.; Da Costa Braga, M., (2014). ALADI. Algunas hipótesis sobre su configuración (1980-1995), Colombia Nexus, 15, pp 158-171. Calvera, A., (2005). Local, Regional, National, Global and Feedback: Several Issues to Be Faced with Constructing Regional Narratives, Journal of Design History, 18, pp 371-383. Comisarenco, D., (2006). Diseño Industrial Mexicano e Internacional: Memoria y Futuro, Trillas Des Cressonières, J.; Viénot, H.; Ricard, A. (17-18 January 1970). Minutes of ICSID Executive Board Meeting Vienna (DES-ICD-04-1). University of Brighton Design Archives. Des Cressonières, J. (19 July 1976). Letter to Philip Guilmant (DES-ICD-02-9-1). University of Brighton Design Archives. Ekuan, K., (October 1977). General Assembly Minutes (DES-ICD-3-9-16). University of Brighton Design Archives. Er, A., (1994). The Emergence and Development Patterns of Industrial Design in Newly Industrialised Countries with Particular Reference to Turkey (Doctoral Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, United Kingdom), http://tinyurl.com/p88y4ml, (Accessed 13 January, 2015). Frey, M.; Kunkel, S; Unger, C.R., (2014). International Organizations and Development: Shifting Visions of a Contested Paradigm, Palgrave Macmillan Frı ́as, J., (2010). Designing a National Design Policy for Mexico, Design Management Review, 21, pp 32-37. Gien, B. (2015, 25 February). Introducing Renew Icsid, http://tinyurl.com/puyhtyz, (Accessed 12 May, 2015) Grayson, G., (1981). The Politics of Mexican Oil, University of Pittsburgh Press Gutiérrez et. al. (1972). Contra Un Diseno Dependiente. Edicol Haas, E. B., (1997). Nationalism, Liberalism, and Progress: The dismal fate of new nations, Cornell University Press ICSID. (1987). Long Term Policy 87+ (DES-ICD-06-10-12). University of Brighton Design Archive.
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ICSID. (September 23-24 1977). Minutes General Assembly, Dublin (DES-ICD-03-9-16). University of Brighton Design Archives. Julier, G., (1997, April). Re-Drawing the Geography of European Design: the Case of Transitional Countries. Paper presented at the 2nd European Academy of Design Conference, 'Contextual Design - Design in Context', Stockholm, Sweden. Kayalar, A. (23-24 September 1977). Minutes General Assembly, Dublin, (DES-ICD-03-9-16). University of Brighton Design Archives. Lazo Margáin, A. (1978). Primer Informe del Avance de Organización del XI Congreso y Asamblea del ICSID. A2-11 (Pedro Ramírez Vázquez Archives) Lazo Margáin, A. (23-24 September 1977). Speech at Dublin Congress 1977 (DES-ICD-03-9-5). University of Brighton Design Archives. Lazo Margáin, A. (undated). Letter to ICSID Secretariat (DES-ICD-10-17-6). University of Brighton Design Archives. Lazo Margáin, A. (14 February 1979). ‘El Diseño industrial es factor de éxito en la Alianzia para la Producción’, Universidad (Pedro Ramírez Vázquez Archives). Lazo Margáin, A. (May 1978). Congress First Preparation Report (Pedro Ramírez Vázquez Archives). Mexico ICSID Oct ’79 (golden brochure). (1979). (DES-ICD-2-9-7). University of Brighton Design Archives. Mexico ICSID Oct ’79 (black brochure), p.89. (1979). (DES-ICD-2-9-7). University of Brighton Design Archives. López, R. A., (2010). Crafting Mexico: Intellectuals, Artisans, and the State after the Revolution, Duke University Press Madge, P., (1993). Design, Ecology, Technology: A Historiographical Review’, Journal of Design History, 6, pp 149-166. Mirón, R. M.; Pérez, G.; Pérez Fernández del Castillo, G. (1988). Lopez Portillo: Auge y Crisis de un Sexenio, Plaza y Valdés Mullin, M. (1978). Industrial Design in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil & Argentina: Report of a Pilot Survey under Memorandum of Understanding between UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) and ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design). Personal Archive of M. Mullin. Nishimoto, Y. (January 1979). ICSID News article, p 15 (DES-ICD-9-1-5). University of Brighton Design Archives. Oropallo, G., (2014). Design for the Real Lifespan: Comparing Two Twentieth-Century Strategies for Social and Economic Sustainability through Life-Cycle Planning in Blucher Design Proceedings, 9th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies, pp. 531-535. Osmańczyk, E. J., (2003). Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M, Taylor & Francis O'Sullivan, K., (2014). Humanitarian encounters: Biafra, NGOs and imaginings of the Third World in Britain and Ireland, 1967–70, Journal of Genocide Research, 16, pp 299-315. Papanek, V., (1972). Design for the Real World, Thames & Hudson Papanek, V., (1983). For the Southern Half of the Globe, Design Studies, 4, pp 61-64. Pavitt, J., (2012). Input/Output: Design Research and Systems Thinking, in MacCarthy, F. (ed), The Perfect Place to Grow: 175 Years of the Royal College of Art, Royal College of Art, pp. 129-139. Polo Flóres, R., (1980). Interdiseño 78, Valle de Bravo, México: Documento de Intención, La Carrera 3 Del Diseño, pp 17-18.
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Press Release n°2. (1979). Mexico ICSID ’79 folder. (Pedro Ramírez Vázquez Archive) Press Release n°13. (17 October 1979). Mexico ICSID ’79 folder. (Pedro Ramírez Vázquez Archive) Press Release n°16. (18 October 1979). Mexico ICSID ’79 folder. (Pedro Ramírez Vázquez Archive) Ramirez Vázquez, P. (October 1979). Urge a México Impulsar su Tecnología, El Universal. (Pedro Ramírez Vázquez Archive) Ramirez Vázquez, P., Lazo Margáin, A., (1980). Industrial Design and Human Development. Proceedings of the XI ICSID Congress, Mexico City, Excerpta Medica. Rodríguez Morales, L., (2004). Diseño: estrategia y táctica, Siglo XXI Soloviev, Yuri, (January 1979). Message for the Mexico Congress’ preliminary programme, in Industrial Design and Human Developmen, p.14, (DES-ICD-02-9-2, Design Archives) Soloviev, Yuri, (14-24 January 1979). ‘Evolution of Industrial Design in Developed Countries’, UNIDOICSID Meeting, (DES-ICD-06-4-1 Design Archives) Strang, D.; Meyer, J., (1993). Institutional Conditions for Diffusion, Theory and Society, 22, pp 487511. Novelo, V., (2003). La Capacitacion de Artesanos en Mexico, una Revision, Plaza y Valdes Woodham, J. M., (2005). Local, National and Global: Redrawing the Design Historical Map, Journal of Design History, 18, pp 257-267. Working Group on the Future and Structure of ICSID (1980). Letter to ICSID’s Member Societies, (DES-ICD-06-10-2 Design Archives) Working Group on the Future and Structure of ICSID (April 1981). Report on the Working Group on the Future and Structure of ICSID authorised by the XIth General Paris Assembly, February 1980, (DES-ICD-06-10-2 Design Archives)
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About the Author: Tania Messell is a PhD Candidate investigating the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) at the University of Brighton. Her thesis, due to completion in October 2017, focuses the organisation’s promotional activities between 1957 and 1980.
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SECTION 17 DESIGN-ING AND CREATIVE PHILOSOPHIES
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Introduction: Design-ing and Creative Philosophies Betti Marenko University of the Arts, London DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.602
As this strand concerns an encounter between design as a process (designing) and philosophy as a creative act, the question we wish to ask is: what might emerge as these practices collide, fuse or repel? To answer this we will map some of the ways of bringing together design and creative philosophies. We recognise that the term ‘creative philosophies’ might not be common usage, however. For us organising and participating in this strand it highlights philosophy as a pragmatic activity of creating concepts that have material affects in the different milieus in which they are deployed. As such, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari – thinkers for whom philosophy was a profoundly creative practice – write that philosophy is determined not by truth or falsity, but by success or failure. Similarly, we think about design as a creative enterprise that needs creative conceptual inputs to evolve and expand, because once we open philosophy up to the creative, the creative is also affected by the philosophical. Let’s name some names, as with these, we will locate some ways of thinking and doing creativity that are resolutely intertwined. So in the roster of creative philosophies we will find Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari (as mentioned), Michel Serres, Alfred North Whitehead, Baruch Spinoza, Isabelle Stengers, Gilbert Simondon, Georges Canguilhem, Jane Bennett, Bruno Latour, Brian Massumi, Peter Sloterdijk, Rosi Braidotti, Manuel De Landa, Sanford Kwinter, Lars Spuybroek, to name but a few, and also Jorge Luis Borges, William Burroughs, Alfred Jarry, Lucretius and many more. What all these thinkers have in common is an affinity to an explorative, nonlinear, affirmative, creative thought. Why, then, might it be so important to think differently about design? Design as a set of disciplines, discourses, practices, concepts and ideas, acquires tangibility in its own making. Further, design, even as a set of diverse things is mutating and expanding. Which is why we insist on the gerund form – designing – to indicate its inherently processual and future-related nature. In a way we have no choice but to think differently about design, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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as it is already thinking, doing, making, practising, and so on, differently about itself. A philosophy that creates successful (or otherwise), impactful (or not), memorable (or forgetful) concepts is ripe for an encounter with a practice, thinking and discourse-set that is a mutating, processual designing. We have noted that, with Deleuze and Guattari, we consider philosophy as the practice of creating concepts; to this we add designing as the practice of materialising possibilities. It can be said, then, that both philosophy and design are concerned with expressing the not yet in many impactful and creative ways. Design and philosophy are already profoundly entangled and it is time, therefore, to investigate some of the ways in which this entanglement occurs, while offering new and unexpected trajectories. Both design and philosophy are creative practices: each a way of doing the other, using materials, skills and experiences particular to each, as well as engaging with discourses, themes, practices and concerns that cross them both. In so doing, they amplify the creative in the other, and allow for the unfolding of a creation that unfolds at once both in practice and in theory. In these ways, the possibilities of new futures can be thought and materialised: creatively designed in thought and materially philosophised in practice. Indeed, we believe in the creative power of philosophy to inform design in a myriad of ways: for example, seeping through matter while allowing forms to emerge; mapping topologies of future actualisations; creating space for unforeseen creations to run wild and free. It is a matter, then, of putting in place the conditions for an unexpected encounter between designing and creative philosophies to occur. An encounter between ways of thinking and ways of doing, so that through such an encounter theory gets redesigned and design gets rethought: a two-pronged reboot. For if we follow Deleuze and Guattari’s assertion that a philosophy can only be pragmatic if it creates concepts that can always be intertwined with other practices, then the creative, pragmatic philosophy that ensues will itself also be disruptive and intensifying: it cannot help but have a feedback affect upon the multitudes in which it is embroiled. One of the key concerns underpinning this strand is to explore ways to interrogate the rapidly evolving world of design. As such, design demands new and flexible bodies of theorisations capable of articulating its mutating nature and propensity to capture the future. This does not mean to say that current or past theorisations are redundant. On the contrary, what it suggests is that an exploratory adventure into creative philosophies can supplement, expand and recraft design, keeping pace with emerging discourses within design, and ultimately, with design’s appetite for changing the world, one project at the time. Neither an approach to design nor philosophy should be used to totalise the other, we posit; so finding ways of colliding philosophies into mutating designs to see where each cluster might go seems to respect the differences in possibilities that we see. Sure, the coming together of creative philosophies and designing does not produce easily defined relationships. Their encounter is not, and cannot be, a linear affair. Rather, what is envisioned is a series of ripples, swerves, strange hybridisations and collisions that are as
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unpredictable as potentially enriching – as well as disruptive. It must be clear that there is no prescription in force here. We do not propose a superior philosophy supervising what design is doing; neither are we looking to extract ready-to-use ideas from established thoughts to apply them to design; nor do we want to produce a branded, scholastic form of design loyal to a specific school of thought. Instead this is about thinking design with creative philosophies, inspecting the points where they touch and repel, and exploring the possible alignments, discordances and crosspollinations between them. This is a processual way of proceeding (albeit not a method), a way of redesigning the relationship between thinking and doing from a nonlinear, emergent, open perspective. This echoes what Deleuze asserts about philosophy: that philosophy is always concerned with the outside, it exists only through the outside. Which does not mean that philosophy needs to appeal to outside disciplines to seek for authority or validation. On the contrary, as the practice of creating concepts, philosophy possesses a performative force that acts in the world, with concepts becoming thought-experiments unleashed in the world, cascading from one practice to another, requiring risk and adventure. What philosophy does in its relations to its outside – such as designing, we claim – is to extract potential, to recraft it, to push it in unexpected directions, trafficking it across disparate territories. Practised in this way philosophy is utterly metabolic, it is about provoking change and inducing transformative effects: an alchemical laboratory, a fablab of thoughts. This is a striking view of what philosophy is, and what philosophy can do: philosophy as an inventing machine, as designing. Unlike a philosophy that tries to establish truth or falsity, a creative philosophy is concerned with the how. The key question becomes: what can philosophy do? To which we add: what can design do with it? And we might answer: it can cast new light on future making and articulate the conditions under which the new is created. If all this rings plausible, then philosophy needs designing as much as designing needs philosophy. Designers, practitioners, critics and theorists, operating in contexts increasingly marked by complexity and contingency, are coming together to reflect on, and to respond to, the changes traversing established modes of practice within design, either by rethinking the economic models upon which design is predicated (planned obsolescence, anyone?), pushing the technological boundaries within which it operates, or questioning the traditional top-down attitude of designers and manufacturers towards end-users. Design is shifting its loci of impact on the world, and at the same time undergoing further ontological disruption. What is remarkable is that this shift we are witnessing (and are part of) is no longer based on what design is, but on what design is becoming because of what it can do: a shift from design as problem solving to design as problem finding. The former is a rational and linear interpretation that evaluates design’s activities in terms of efficiency and performance, and has dominated the world of design since the advent of modernity. In this sense, design is a task-oriented, performance-measured, linear exercise that ultimately reduces uncertainty by promoting functional competence. This is the conventional view of design as enforcing and reproducing market ideologies and working as a technology of affective capture. On the
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other hand design as problem finding has to do with increasing complexity: problematising the existent, developing a critical and conceptual perspective, first of all on design itself. For example, design for debate and critical design use their materials, whether objects or concepts, to raise discussion on specific issues and to frame new problems. The interdisciplinary nature of design and design research has been highlighted many times, we have already underlined the ways in which it is never quite able to inhabit one set of rules, practices or agendas. By advocating an open-ended enquiry that reflects the participation with the practices of ‘making worlds’ and ‘creating futures’ found in designing, the encounter with creative philosophies will highlight those aspects of designing that are both ontologically dynamic and create dynamic ontologies. Designing as we are envisaging it here, is a creative act that has the possibility to disrupt the present. It becomes an articulation of myriad creative responses to any (proposed) opportunity space: in other words, the tangible embodying of speculative operations upon possible futures. Thought in this way, designing as creative process comes close to philosophy as creative process. This is not to demand that they operate under one, allencompassing schema, but that they allow for their possibilities to connect – even momentarily – to see what might happen, what could be done. Design has done well throughout its history in incorporating within itself, its selves, a multiplicity of different thoughts, activities, processes and outcomes. This strand situates itself within such an activity, so to emphasise and intensify it. The more design changes, expands and broadens its scope and field of action, the more it needs to collide with what philosophers, critical thinkers, theorists, and designers of concepts are developing. And to catalyse this encounter is precisely what this strand aims to do.
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Probing the future by anticipative design acts Annelies De Smeta* and Nel Janssensa,b a
KU Leuven Chalmers University of Technology *annelies.desmet@kuleuven.be DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.79 b
Abstract: We discuss anticipation as a particular type of future focused thinking. Based on our own design and research practices we position the anticipative mode of thinking and acting in relation to design approaches that are oriented towards qualities of becoming and sense-making. We argue that the act of anticipation in a design context holds the aspect of making artefacts that create openings in the fuzzy reality and act as imaginative probing instruments in the complexity of continuously evolving transformation processes as they occur in our research field: the field of urbanity. In this context, we feel that developing tactics of attentiveness and the competence to anticipate can enhance both the capacity of 'seeing' (as a creative, imaginative act) so-called Kairotic moments and grasping the opportunities to construct and actualise possible futures. Keywords: anticipation; presencing; sense-making; becoming
Reader's guide This paper features two voices, both expressing design thinking. One talks discursively, grappling and toying with concepts, in an attempt to draw a frame of thought (part 1-4). Independently from the discursive voice, the other voice narrates visually and associatively, in an attempt to instantiate the concrete design acts that belong to this frame of thought (part 5-7). Together, they construct an argument on anticipating gestures in artefactual realities. The argument is developed from lines of inquiry that originate in two different research practices. One is a solo research practice that operates on the level of direct embodied immersion in messy urban conditions, adopting a micro perspective. Here, carefully instructed and rigorously enacted close encounters with an environment are developed to bring forward latent tangible and intangible aspects of urbanity (instances 5-6). The other research practice is based on design projects developed within multidisciplinary collectives and involves modeling on a macro, i.e. regional, scale and scope to question current urbanization concepts and principles by critical, utopian design. (instance 7). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Annelies De Smet and Nel Janssens
Although, being very different in scale, scope (micro - macro) and overall set up (solo team), the design projects developed within both these practices aim to act as probing instruments that carve out openings in the present and with which we attempt to access and activate the hidden layers of what can be considered the future present. "How can we learn to better sense and connect with a future possibility that is seeking to emerge? How can we act from the future that is seeking to emerge, and how can we access, activate, and enact the deeper layers of the social field?" (Scharmer, 2009, p.8)
The quality of design as anticipative mode of thinking. Generally, the broad field of design - being concerned with change - seems to relate seemingly natural to the equally broad field of future-focused thinking. In this paper we focus on a more specific aspect of this broad field and relate it to a specific design approach. We discuss anticipation as a particular type of future focused thinking. Based then on our own design and research practices we position the anticipative mode of thinking and acting in relation to design approaches that are oriented towards qualities of becoming and sensemaking. Etymologically "to anticipate" comes from “acting in advance”, and is based on “anticipare” from “ante-“ “before” and “capere” to “take”(Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Anticipation is taking something in advance and acting before something might happen. The term is linked to notions of preparation, expectation and valuing something probable. Different modes of anticipation can be distinguished in which different types of design can play a role. One might argue that the success of an anticipative act is dependent on reliable information about evolutionary trends. Scientific analyses of different phenomena then come to the fore as a privileged partner. It has been said that sciences have an interest in the future that is predominantly explanatory and oriented towards gaining understanding in what the future will bring. Therefore the methodology in (natural) sciences aims at controlling reality by emphasizing systematic procedures of actions, in order to develop stable knowledge. This stable knowledge is meant to be the resource for prediction. Wolfgang Jonas states in that respect that "science is aiming at predictability, thus needs stable models, which deliver 'the same'. Science has to purify its models in order to transfer them from vague hypotheses into prediction machines." (Jonas, 2012)
In contradistinction, design, according to Jonas aims at "single new phenomena that have to fit various unforeseeable conditions" (Jonas, 2012). He emphasizes that "design has to intentionally create variations, differences, because the 'fits' dissolve, fade away, get oldfashioned" (Jonas, 2012). In this light, we argue that the competence to anticipate is not only dependent on the availability of data, facts and knowledge but equally requires a designerly capacity to work confidently with the unknown and the unpredictable. This latter capacity is essential when operating in conditions of complexity, uncertainty, and dynamics of continuous transformations that involve people and their environment. Apart from the
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necessary stable explanatory knowledge people also need to be able to engage in processes that allow them to make sense of and give significance to the environment they inhabit, based on the continuous evolvement of experiences, emotions and values. These so-called secondary-sense data are the primary resources to generate meaningful interactions between the environment and its inhabitants. Secondary-sense data are geared towards interactions that focus on transformations in the world. This implies that what is at stake here is not really prediction but rather a preparing, in the generative sense, of some things that might happen in the future. And this is a matter of anticipation. Transformations that involve people and their interactions are always only partially predictable. In our experience, in design and artistic research a lot of expertise is being developed in actively involving secondary-sense data. Therefore, we suggest that developing the anticipative mode of thinking and acting in a design context can meaningfully contribute to future-oriented research and can complement the prediction-oriented mode of thinking in the sciences. In this context, anticipative acts aim at dealing with shape-shifting aspects of reality. Design and design research then offer a fertile context to enrich and strengthen anticipative competences and actions that enable to access, embrace and navigate through that what is fuzzy, slippery and changing. In such fuzzy conditions, anticipating the 'to-come' or the 'notyet' is considerably depending on the strength of imagination as the mode of thinking that can deal with the gaps in the explicitly known and with latent and hidden aspects. The imaginative mind departs from a different attention to the world, one that is able to construct a dialogue with the unknown and hence, enables to learn from the future, and to anticipate on different grounds than prognosis. In our research practices we construct a kind of designerly 'spectacles' and 'binoculars' to study phenomena of urbanity. They allow to 'see', in the imaginative sense, latent aspects of the urban condition and to observe different states of becoming and as such, they serve as instruments of anticipation. In the field of urbanism the research approach is often guided by scientific analysis, prognosis, and extrapolation of different trends into the future. This approach risks being insufficient because in urbanism the complexity of overlapping timeand scale frames create a problematic that, in our opinion, is impossible to grasp by mere analysis, engineering and explicit knowing. Therefore, we suggest to add the strength of imagination to analysis to access seemingly closed or absenced perspectives on the urban future. In this situation, anticipation requires the development of a specific tactic of attentiveness. We are surrounded by multiple 'becomings' in which we, wittingly or unwittingly, take part. A conscious tactic of designing can help to intensify our attention to these becomings. Making artefacts is then a way to open up our minds for things that might happen. The projects and artefacts, we make, are conceived to frame openings through which latent aspects of urbanity emerge and invite us to participate in a process of continuous reattribution of meaning and value. The focus is on making latent aspects of our current reality present such that they enable us to connect to and make sense of the future urbanity that erupts from the present urbanity in a continuous process of becoming. “When you cut into the Present the Future leaks out� (Burroughs, 1976)
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Anticipation and attentiveness: flirting with Καιρος Throughout its existence, mankind has developed many concepts of time. Future-focussed thinking assumes sensitivity for these differentiated concepts of time and how they influence our thinking and acting. Future comes via Old French from Latin “futurus” and is the future participle of “esse”, “being”. It goes back to the stem “fu-“, which ultimately comes from “to grow, to become” (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Future indicates a time of not yet (completed, fulfilled…) and still to come. Therefore, future can be understood as the time to come and as particular form of becoming because it closely connects to a state of prior to, and in front of being. In a design context we are particularly intrigued by the spatial and embodied dimensions of time, how these 'becomings' get materialized and embodied. For instance, while we consider the future to be in front of us and the past behind us, the ancient Greeks stood facing the past, the future being behind them. We experience concepts of time generally as being quite abstract and intangible but the ancient Greeks impersonated different types of time by creating gods. More specifically, we are thinking of the Ancient Greek personifications of two complementary modes of time Καιρος (Kairos) and Χρόνος (Chronos). The former is referred to as ‘the god of just the right moment’ and ‘god of the opportune moment’, while the latter is ‘the god of chronological time’. A clear introduction to these concepts of time is provided by Hermsen (2014) on the basis of their figuration: Καιρος, the youngest son of Zeus, is regularly portrayed with winged feet and shoulders holding a pair of scales. His posture attentively bows towards the balance, while a strand of hair from his otherwise bold head falls forward. This glinting lock suggests that whenever Καιρος passes by, one has to be able to grasp him before the opportune moment elapses. As a result, until the sixteenth century, Καιρος sparked imagination as the embodiment of time that holds chances, of time that is significant. Moreover, his figure is closely related to a profound encounter with beauty, insight and creativity. Fundamentally, Καιρος is a strategic concept to break free, interrupt and transgress the chronological time of Χρόνος. This god, who is the grandfather of Καιρος, has a long beard and holds a sandglass in his hands. He is counting; measuring the time that continuously ticks away. Relating back to modes of anticipation the Kairotic concept of time can be considered to be active in anticipating the unknown and the unpredictable; while the Chronological concept of time then seems to be more related to anticipating to what is (at least partially) known by means of predicting. Χρόνος describes a quantitative time that structures our lives by endless repetition in contrary to “the critical time of opportunity where something could happen” (Cocker, 2010). Since classical antiquity, moments "wherein something could happen" are connected to chance, contingency and unpredictability. When opportune moments transgress chronological time, unstable characteristics of reality – and our experience of it – become present. In this interval, the known, the routine and the predictable are transgressed by that what is unknown, unstable, and incalculable. As a result, we do not longer experience a chronological line but we are confronted by an intertwinement of past, present and future. In the kairotic moment all times are present simultaneously.
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The unpredictability of the kairotic moment brings to anticipation a sense of excitement and beckons to pleasure-full, adventurous and sensual ways of relating. By the pre-stage of acting beforehand, it is likely that bounds are still ‘in the air’, delicate and young. This position requires tactics of attentiveness that relate to competences of sensing, encountering and interrelating. In this context, it is important to notice that anticipation is not only taking action upon something that might happen, but that it is simultaneously a form of exposing oneself to the desirable. Thus, anticipation is also linked to excitement, hope, hopefulness and suspense while being outwards oriented. As a result, anticipation is an outwards and future oriented act driven by desire. As such, it is a strong force that propels the anticipating designer and thereby the anticipative design practice into multiple becomings. Even though this venture is not without risk, obstacles, failings and defects, the temptation - Καιρος - is too strong to resist. We propose that anticipation as a form of becoming that is based on external forces, located in the confusing, blurry and messy world we live in, is a kind of flirting with Καιρος, with the opportune moment, with chance and risk. The etymology of flirting learns that “fl-“ and “-irt” “suggest sudden movements” (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). In that sense, flirting requires a feel for the sudden and opportune moment, while requiring courage towards the open-endedness of it. Gavin Butt pointed out how flirting can offer alternative ways of relating to “serious matters” in general and especially to seriousness in the context of scholarship and academia (Butt, 2006). Butt emphasizes, based on Adams Philips book On Flirtation (1994), not to oppose flirtation to the serious but rather grasping it as an “odd or unusual engagement” with it (Butt, 2006). This frivol, playful and pleasurable way of acting and relating is powerful because of the sustaining desire in it. We consider Butt’s plea for flirtatious ways of doing (art, performance, writing and research) to be a specific style of anticipating because of the interest it takes in contingency and because it encourages a specific way of knowing. “So, flirtation puts into play what it knows. Indeed this play is the very way in which it knows what it knows. It is not that flirtation is antithetical to epistemology but rather that what it knows it does so through the promise of this Perhaps. […] Or, in Phillips formulation, we can understand the epistemology of flirtation by understanding the ways in which it ‘eroticizes the contingency of our lives by turning doubt – or ambiguity – into suspense’” (Butt, 2006).
In our research practices, the anticipative design projects and anticipative design acts aim to materialize this suspense. They attempt to create a window of opportunity through which a view on what otherwise remains invisible and hidden is offered. They probe and poke the present in attempts to invite the opportune moment for the creation of future possibilities. An opportune moment is not powerful in itself. It is Nietzsche who warns us, that we will need "five hundred hands" to grasp Καιρος (Hermsen, 2014). Nietzsche’s metaphorical instruction underlines the active role of the subject, as well as the requirement of a skilful body and mind in a kairotic moment. Therefore, grasping Καιρος demands actions and perceptions that allow a subject to notice and to respond to the potentials of the moment. It seems then that a strong tactic of attentiveness is needed here and we suggest that such a tactic involves making things present in the form of anticipative designs that act as
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invitations to encounter and connect with a future yet unknown in a flirty, that is - openended and risk-taking, manner.
Presencing the future Flirtatious anticipative acts are not only future and outward orientated, they also express our ability to encounter and connect with possible futurities and with others “including nonhuman others” (Braidotti, 2006). By these anticipative gestures we explicitly and deliberately reach out for, and thereby practice the, bumping into anything or anyone that is new, unknown, unseen and unheard of. Each stretch towards this trains a form of try-out sensing and engaging that is in any case situated and situational. As a result, an anticipative act should not be conceived in isolation or abstraction. Nor it should be considered without any erratic aspect connected to it. Rather, anticipative gestures and movements are latent until situations and sites entice them. They mess up reason, by appearing unannounced and without clear reasonable motive from the outside. Precisely this specific characteristic of anticipative acting and thinking resonates well with latent possibilities and potentialities of the unknown future. The desire to respond by flirty, anticipative gestures to an unknown future connects the practitioner to the latent while it dissociates him/her from the urge to pin down thoughts into hermetic constructs of logics and neat synthesis. In our research we are driven by the desire to access the latent, which we imagine to run like a layer of fluid magma underneath the manifest stony reality. By creating little openings in this already formed reality, we stimulate our imagination to form other realities. The latent however, is elusive and basically formless. So, in order to grasp its potentials it needs to be made present in an imaginative way. Hence, what is at stake in anticipative making of the unknown, the unheard of and the new is the problem of form. This problem lies of course at the heart of every design practice. However, and especially in anticipative acting, form must not be interpreted too narrowly. Sanford Kwinter says that "the use of the term ‘form’ must not be interpreted in the poor sense as in ‘formalistic’, but in reference to the largely unthought-of dimension of all active patterning processes in the universe, comprising linguistic, social, political, and biological behaviours and forms, in addition to aesthetic ones." (Kwinter, 2001, p.6)
Kwinter discusses the emergence of form in relation to the notion of 'virtuality', which is based on Bergson’s concept of the virtual. The term 'virtual', although it has also an aspect of being hidden and invisible, has a more active or activating aspect than the term ‘latent’, which bears a more passive connotation. Kwinter says about the virtual that "it does not have to be realised, but only actualised – activated and integrated – and that the actual does not resemble the virtual as something preformed or pre-existing itself. The relation of the virtual to the actual is therefore one not of resemblance but rather of difference, innovation or creation." (Kwinter, 2001, pp.9-10).
In this context, we conceive the latent as the virtual potentiality that drives, guides, and generates form in actual and physical reality. Designed artefacts then offer a very concrete and materialized medium for latent possibilities to come into being and to become
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knowledgeable through the act of form-giving. Consequently, form-giving is essential in our (research) practices precisely because the latent reality that is anticipated comes into being through the act of making. In other words, each act of anticipation holds an aspect of sensing the latent through making and bringing into 'artefactual' reality. We adopt here Scharmer's term presencing, "the blending of sensing and presence" (Scharmer, 2009, p.163). The anticipated reality is a presenced, made and artefactual reality that "mediates between the abstract and the concrete, between the real and the virtual, between present and future" (Janssens, 2012). This kind of mediating can be conceived as a particular form of becoming. The reality that is designed, projected, drawn...is not real, yet present in the etymological sense of being at hand and before being, from "prae" "before" and "esse" "to be"(Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). In other words, in the act of presencing, external influences are incorporated and internal affects are ‘ex-corporated’, or brought outwards. ‘In’ and ‘ex’ mediate and emulsify. As a result, the anticipator and that what is anticipated remain in the open-ended state of becoming, keeping a sense of suspense and longing. In a design context, presencing, like we described it above, seems to us a vital component of researching the future. Presencing is a process that needs to be kept open and running in order to provide a fertile breeding ground for anticipation. This requires the anticipative designer to have a specific skill and intelligence that keeps thinking and acting supple and agile. Consequently, one of the mayor challenges in this type of research is to create and work with a kind of propelling, ever shifting hypothesis that allows a form-giving that does not close off and annihilates the contingency and complexity of the moment but rather reflect it in a heterogeneous, unexpected and imaginative manner. The specific skill and intelligence we are looking for in this anticipative context can be brought in relation to the earlier discussed Ancient Greek rhetoric of Καιρος. ‘The opportune and right time’ (Καιρος) can be connected to mêtis, a skilful and intuitive intelligence, and to techné a knowing-when knowledge: “Techné is thus a practice of mindfulness, which — against the reactions of impulsive habit — holds back, bides it time. It is the art of knowing-when, of catching the limit off-guard. Techné is associated with an attendant form of cunning intelligence (mêtis) and a mode of time characterized by opportunism, the ‘right time’ (kairos). ” (Cocker, 2012)
Techné is here not conceived in the strict sense of practical and technical knowledge. Rather, it is an unsettling kind of knowledge that comes into being by responding to situations that are new, contingent and unpredictable. Techné is “a model of known-not knowledge” (Cocker, 2012), that allows us to work within and with the indeterminacy of presencing. As a result, techné is also situational and continuously changing. Techné’s companion mêtis, is especially interesting because of its concrete orientation towards seizing opportunities. According to Cocker, mêtis: “implies a complex but very coherent body of mental attitudes and intellectual behaviour which combine flair, wisdom, forethought, subtlety of mind, deception, resourcefulness, vigilance, opportunism [...].” (Cocker, 2012)
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Frequently, mêtis is understood as feeling one’s way and as a form of guessing. Though, mêtis is more specific. It is an improvisational adaptability to the logic of the moment, “like the catching of the wind or turn of the tide” (Cocker, 2012). In the logic of mêtis and techné opportune moments are actively searched for, created and grasped. Therefore, we consider presencing the future and the unknown as creating the opportune time and space for rehearsal of realities to come. Anticipative gestures therefore, in presencing should be considered as 'kairotic' acts, “since they create a brief opportunity within the continuum of everyday life, whose latent potential needs to be actively seized or else lost” (Cocker, 2010). Together, mêtis and techné set conditions wherein each kairotic act itself might arise as a new beginning, turning point and disruptive momentum. Simply, because these acts do not spin out in all directions, “but signals towards the opening of an invitational encounter, which produces a rupture or aperture in habitual ways of thinking and being” (Cocker, 2010). We are convinced that these anticipative moves guided by mêtis do not only keep thinking and making supple, but also imagination by means of ‘maybes’, ‘ifs’ and ‘perhaps-es’. In our opinion, this is particularly fruitful for research in the field of urbanity. For instance, for those research practices concerned with unsystematic driftings at work in the processes of design, or for studying the manifoldness, messiness and paradoxical-ness of our daily urban reality as well as for researching futurities by prefiguring utopian urbanisation models. The challenge then is to move carefully through this undercurrent of possible, emergent futures and to surface the value and meaning we attribute to urbanity by imaginatively probing the unimagined layers of the urban condition. It must be clear that in our research this particular time and space of presencing and making artefactual realities, navigated by anticipation, brings forward materialized suspense’s, unprogrammed mutations and disruptions. These abysses on which the anticipator walks the tightrope, are moving and challenging because from this uncertain and plural setting, new sense-making ventures might arise.4. Future oriented Sense-making: cherishing the state of becoming. We have argued that the act of anticipation in a design context holds the aspect of making artefacts that create openings in the fuzzy reality and act as imaginative probing instruments in the complexity of continuously evolving transformation processes as they occur in the field of urbanity. Research can provide analytic knowledge on the many different aspects involved in these processes, while design then is often used to bring analyses back to a new synthesis, which can be considered as a type of closure. Our design and artistic research is not situated on this analytic knowledge or synthesis level. Instead, the purpose of our research is to contribute to and inspire sense-making processes that involve emotions, experiences and values, while relating to the uncontrollable and unpredictable nature of becoming. Sense-making in the general sense is a process of giving meaning to experience. Often this is considered on the individual level, i.e. how an individual frames his or her experiences into what might be considered a personal theory on matters. Gary Klein et al. have presented a theory of sense-making as
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"a set of processes that are initiated when an individual or organization recognizes the inadequacy of their current understanding of events. Sense-making is an active twoway process of fitting data into a frame and fitting a frame around the data. Neither data nor frame comes first; data evoke frames and frames select and connect data. When there is no adequate fit, the data may be reconsidered or an existing frame may be revised." (Klein et al., 2006a)
This disruptive moment of recognizing the inadequacy of our understanding and dysfunctional fits might be considered a kairotic moment, a moment where things suddenly start to move and shift, a moment of uncertainty and opportunity. In this time-space of unsettlement, things seem to have lost their sense. Things that were (known, framed, stable) are propelled into a state of becoming (other, yet unknown, unstable). In this situation we are challenged to imaginatively look for a renewed significance, to re-sign as re-attributing meaning and value in order to make sense again. We therefore consider future oriented sense-making as a dynamic and continuous process of becoming. Never completed, never fixed‌ In the poststructuralist philosophy of Braidotti, and of many others, becoming is an important ontological concept to counteract Being. As a consequence, ideas and concepts become mobile entities and thereby alive. "Becomings are the sustainable shifts or changes undergone by nomadic subjects in their active resistance against being subsumed in the commodification of their own diversity. Becomings are un-programmed as mutations, disruptions, and points of resistance. Their time frame is always the future anterior, that is to say a linkage across present and past in the act of constructing and actualising possible futures." (Braidotti, 2006)
Kairotic moments offer the time of opportunity for constructing and actualising possible futures. In the field of urbanity changes happen slowly but frictions and disruptions happen all the time (between individuals and their environment, between society and its environment). The city is in a permanent state of becoming. Sense-making thus is on-going, so individuals simultaneously shape and react to the environments they face. As they project themselves onto this environment and observe the consequences they learn about their identities and the accuracy of their accounts of the world (Thurlow & Mills, 2009). More exactly, sense-making is the process of creating situational awareness and understanding in situations of high complexity or uncertainty in order to make decisions. It is "a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections (which can be among people, places, and events) in order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively." (Klein et al. 2006b, p.71)
In this context, we feel that developing tactics of attentiveness and the competence to anticipate can enhance both the capacity of 'seeing' (as a creative, imaginative act) Kairotic moments and grasping the opportunities to construct and actualise possible futures. Our argument is that design can play an important role to enable such sense-making processes. John Forester states that in design as sense-making the communicative character is fundamental, and with it the embodied and situated character of the design process. What is at stake in these practical conversations, according to Forester, is "a process in which the
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giving of form and the making of sense are profoundly coterminous" (Forester, 1985, p.19) In such processes of sense-making, plausibility is favoured over accuracy. Sense-making is put in evidence through narratives and (pre)figurations that convey the sense that is made of a situation. As (pre)figurations the design projects then aim to inspire rather than to inform. Karl E. Weick states that "in an equivocal, postmodern world, infused with the politics of interpretation and conflicting interests and inhabited by people with multiple shifting identities, an obsession with accuracy seems fruitless, and not of much practical help, either." (Weick, 1979).
Sense-making processes are, in our opinion, inextricably bound up with time, space, and the intensity of being affected. Moreover, what matters in sense-making processes is the affective space and time that activates a sense-making process. In this affective time and space our desire to construct something else, to become something else is incited. We would like to state that sense-making processes driven by anticipative gestures and tactics do not only take place in, but also create, a different temporality. It is a temporality that is deeper, more discontinuous and connected to the time of transformation, resistance and becoming. It is therefore a time of cherishing our becoming and embracing the uncontrollable because the only certainty we have is that the future still remains unpredictable because the future does not concern revealing or predicting but rather anticipative imagining and presencing.
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Acknowledgements: We wish to show our gratitude to Gerard De Zeeuw for sharing his thoughts on instructions, anticipation and the incorporation of secondary-sense data in research. And we also thank Charlotte Geldof for generously supplying the material of 'The Future Commons 2070' project and for formulating valuable and constructive feedback on the 'Three Instances'.
References Braidotti, R. (2006). Affirming the Affirmative: On Nomadic Affectivity. Rhizomes, 11/12(Fall 2005/Spring 2006). http://www.rhizomes.net/issue11/braidotti.html (Accessed August 4 2015). Braidotti, R., & Van Rossem, K. (2004). Op doorreis: nomadisch denken in de 21ste eeuw, Boom. Butt, G. (2006). Scholarly Flirtations. The Serious Scholar. http://summit.kein.org/node/234 (Accessed September 1 2014). Burroughs, W. (1976). Origin and Theory of the Tape Cut-Ups, [lecture at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics], Naropa University, 20 April. Cocker, E. (2010). R.S.V.P.: Choreographing Collectivity through Invitation and Response. Rhizomes, 21(Winter 2010). http://www.rhizomes.net/issue21/ (Accessed July 8 2015). Cocker, E. (2012). Tactical Research: Practices for Thinking (Oneself) Differently [personal blog],http://not-yet-there.blogspot.be/2012_01_01_archive.html, (Accessed June 12 2015). De Smet, A. (2016). Anticipative Drawing, forthcoming in Tracey Journal, Drawing and Presence. Forester, J. (1985). Designing: Making Sense Together in Practical Conversations. Journal of Architectural Education, 38(3), pp.14–20. Geldof, Ch., Janssens, N., Goossens, C., Goris, E., Dagmar, P., Labarque, P. (2011) The future commons 2070, Map C01 Harwich to Hoek van Holland and Dover Strait, Ghent, magnificentsurroundings.org Hermsen, J. J. (2014). Kairos: een nieuwe bevlogenheid, Singel Uitgeverijen. Ignaz, G. (1765-70). Chronos, Sculpture, 52 cm x 62 cm x 27 cm, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munchen. Janssens, N. (2012) Utopia-driven Projective Research. A design approach to explore the theory and practice of Meta-Urbanism. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Architecture, Chalmers University of Technology. Jonas, W. (2012). Mapping Design Research. Essay 1: Exploring the swampy ground - an inquiry into the logic of design research. In Grand, S., Jonas, W. & Michel, R. (eds.) Mapping Design Research: Positions and Perspectives, ActarBirkhäuser. Klein, G., Moon, B. & Hoffman, R.R. (2006a). Making Sense of Sensemaking 2: A Macrocognitive Model. IEEE intelligent systems, 21(5), pp.88–92. Klein, G., Moon, B. & Hoffman, R.R. (2006b). Making Sense of Sensemaking I: Alternative Perspectives. IEEE intelligent systems, 21(4), pp.70–73. Kwinter, S. (2001). Architectures of Time toward a Theory of the Event in Modernist Culture, MIT Press. Oxford Dictionary. (Ed.) (n.d.) (2005-2011 ed.). Salviati, F. (1552-1554). Kairos, Wall Painting, Palazzo Sacchetti, Rome. Scharmer, C.O. (2009). Theory U. Leading from the Future as it emerges. The Social Technology of Presencing, Berrett-Koehler.
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Thurlow, A. & Mills, J.H. (2009). Change, talk and sensemaking. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 22(5), pp.459–479. Weick, K. (1979). The Social Psychology of Organizing, McGraw-Hill. About the Authors: Annelies De Smet: Holds a master degree in Visual Arts and Architecture. Her graduate research “Wandering off in the urban: to move towards being moved” is supervised by Prof. J. Verbeke and Dr. N. Janssens. Nel Janssens Obtained a PhD in Architecture: 'Utopia-driven Projective Research, a design approach to explore the theory and practice of Meta-Urbanism'. Currently, she is assistant professor at KU Leuven and visiting scholar at Chalmers University. Member of the non-profit design collective magnificentsurroundings.org.
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Making polychronic objects for a networked society Jane Norris Royal College of Art Jane.norris@network.rca.ac.uk DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.251
Abstract: In the light of current debates on materials and the future of making, the polychronic object research combines temporal theories with material experimentation to identify possible paradigm shifts in making for a networked society. The research interrogates a triangulation of concepts. Firstly, digital aerial viewpoints proposed by theorists such as Amelia Groom and James Bridle. Secondly, the application of non-linear time in making through the act of mapping and crumpling as defined by Giles Deleuze, Félix Guattari and Michel Serres. Thirdly, a practical translation of speculative realist approaches to materiality through the writing of Jane Bennett, Levi Bryant and Timothy Morton. The knowledge gained from these three positions aids navigation through the practical experience of making, producing pleated material history as polychronic objects. This is then contextualized through a polychronic re-reading of the history of technology and an exploration of different design approaches that offer appropriate models for this practice. Keywords: polychronic, aerial-view, materiality, crumpling, mapping.
Making Polychronic objects This research into making polychronic objects, uses time based making strategies to combine materials from different historical eras, integrating these material times into one polychronic object. This approach opens up a different set of making possibilities by folding together materials and techniques unlikely to have been combined in previously historically linear and hierarchical approaches to materiality. My research proposes multi-temporal making strategies such as the crumpling and pleating of time, referencing Michel Serres’ use of the term polychronic: “An object, a circumstance, is thus polychronic, multi-temporal and reveals a time that is gathered together, with multiple pleats” (Serres 1995 p60). The term ‘polychronic’ was first used in anthropology by the cultural theorist Edward Hall in his book The Silent Language (Hall 1959) to describe a societies or individual’s ability to attend to This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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multiple events simultaneously, as opposed to monochronic individuals and largely western cultures that handle events sequentially. The polychronic objects in this research operate as actants in a digitally networked polychronic global society, extending Hall’s use of the term polychronic from anthropology to include approaches to making, materials and objects. The conceptual framework for my research is structured across three contrasting but overlapping fields of knowledge: digital visual cultural theory; the philosophical writing on time by Deleuze and Serres; and elements of speculative realism such as Actor Network Theory and Object Oriented Ontology, all explored and folded together through emergent making strategies. Across all fields of design currently, there is what could be described as cultural vertigo and an anxiety in relation to making and progress. Will our unstoppable consumption of global resources inevitably lead to humanities downfall? Is our designing and making just contributing further to this problem? How should we progress as designers? Where should we be positioning ourselves? Embedded in this anxiety about development and progress is a reappraisal of the future itself. The visual culture blog by Ross Wolfe: Memories of The Future states: “Today it is well known that the future has become a thing of the past” (Ross 2012). This revision of ‘futurism’ has gathered momentum, bringing about a growing critique of a linear concept of time. This model of time, associated with Enlightenment ideas of endless progress and which through Modernist ideals drove mass production; has become linked to the growth of capitalism and the rise of consumerism. The nineteenth century narrative that the future would automatically bring progress, improvement and endless development has lost authority today. The Modernist dream of our democratic access to objects has in reality become a tidal wave of cheap mass-produced goods. Today these are perceived as low quality, as they often fall apart and are poisoning the planet. The wisdom of mass manufacturing’s over-production is now under question and is requiring us to re-think this mantra of progress. Meanwhile, we have shifted our sense of time to a new orientation. Amelia Groom, editor of Time (Documents of Contemporary Art) observes that: “the dislocation and non-fixity of networked digital space is both symptom and catalyst of the broken, multifarious time that we find ourselves in.” (Groom 2013, p13) This digital ‘dislocation’ uncouples us from a linear viewpoint of time, shifting us to experience an aerial view that connects many different times and events laterally. We suffer a growing temporal dizziness as we adjust to this fresh viewpoint. James Bridle champion of The New Aesthetic, has described the aerial view as the view of our age (Bridle 2012). He suggests that our default perspective has become aerial images from Sat Navs, Google maps, drone targets etc, that offer us an apparent abundance of reference points within a sea of digital content. However, Bridle prompts us to ‘remember, digital maps are animations on pause’ (Bridle 2013). This aerial view of time is itself a time-based perspective that is distracting, disorientating and disturbingly difficult to adjust to. What does it mean to approach materials from this aerial view of time? This radical shift offered by an aerial view of time, opens up the possibility of an ahistorical map of materials that pulls everything into the present. The resulting unfolding of this overview allows every
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material to become available for use in the present, combining to make polychronic objects. This is in contrast to using a reduced palette of materials from a limited historical proximity that has often been used in design. The selection of this reduced set of materials seen as ‘desirable’ having largely been driven by aspirational forces, rather than a materials effectiveness for the job As part of the polychronic research, a global map of selected materials and an approximation of their earliest use was produced and used as an interactive tool at the Polychronic Objects stand at designjunction 2014. Members of the public were invited to crumple up this time / materials map, then to read the material combinations resulting from the creasing, to discern unusual polychronic material options for themselves to make objects from. Through papers given at the Research Through Design Conference 2015 and the Making Futures Conference 2015 this materials map has continued to develop, informed by the feedback from delegates and by further material experiments in the studio. Emergence theory has been a key approach to the polychronic objects research when combining seemingly unrelated theories and considering significant shifts in strategies for making objects, as it points to unimaginable change being achieved by small iterations that bring about a critical mass. As Eugene Holland describes in a paper on non-linear historical materialism: “Emergence is a key concept in non-linear mathematics, complexity theory, and contemporary science: it refers to the spontaneous self-ordering of physical as well as social systems. Order emerges from chaos, without that order being imposed from above or pre-determined from before.” (Holland 2011 p531)
The introduction of an aerial view of all materiality from all of history, inevitably results in an excess of information and a level of complexity that appears to be chaotic and unstructured. It is important however to resist forms of proscribed order that result from cultural trends. These simplistic selections informed by contemporary styles are often the result of a semiotic use of materials. A material as a signifier that is valued for its appearance alone rather than the properties that it has imbedded within it. Materials viewed in this way transport a pre-imposed set of social values, that are often at odds with the task at hand. Louis Althusser coined the term ‘becoming-necessary’ to characterise the form of immanent self-ordering that is required (Althusser, 2006 p163–207). This becoming-necessary emerges as a set of localised material solutions. The complex range of choice that crumpled time offers through this wider material possibility and access to more technical experience, becomes self organised through the necessity of a specific need. The economical and ecological necessity for a change in how we view and use materials is increasingly calling out for an immanent self ordering, an ecological ‘becoming-necessary’ solution. New approaches to techniques and materials used in fabrication are need to emerge to unlocked designers from twentieth century linear ideas of material hierarchy, speed and volume of production. The shift in perspective from a linier view of time to an aerial one, facilitates the move from a localised sense of progress with global generalised manufacturing, to a globalised sense of development together with localised specialist making.
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The polychronic bowl experiments followed an emergent pattern of development, where the combination of theoretical influences and localised materials in the studio resulted in the development of a series of different polychronic strategies for making. This process is often difficult to articulate, and it is always tempting to identify patterns retrospectively. However, it is crucial to recognise the value of this unstable phenomena. Deleuze and Guttari in A Thousand Plateaus refer to the need to retain complexity and the non-linearity of pre-existing conditions, so that an object’s present being is understood as temporary, unstable and is a contingent expression of its becoming (Deleuze et al 1987 p361-374). A significant element of learning in this research has been the importance of resisting an early closing down of processes to secure clear definitions and the temptation to retrospectively fit the material experiments into existing patterns and models of making. Whilst this would have achieved consistent results, it would however have prescribed the outcomes and reduced the possibility of accessing new paradigms of making.
Figure 1. Plastic 1856 UK + Felt 6500 BCE Turkey
The polychronic making strategies for combining materials in the bowls attempted to retain this complexity by using an aleatory approach to sidestep the researcher’s experience and conditioning. Themes have emerged through making such as employing a system of ‘perverse partners’, focused on dissonance to highlight the strangeness of the material combination. An example of this is wiping setting plastic round the edge of handmade felt bowl (Figure 1 Plastic 1856 UK + Felt 6500 BCE Turkey). These two materials, usually kept apart, contradict a view that their contact is a contamination and a failure in the object. This
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bowl produced a particularly strong reaction from a number of textile designers who visited the research when exhibited at designjunction 2014, and the feedback suggested that this combination would have been taboo in the textile industry.
Figure 2. Concrete 800 BCE Italy Nylon 1939 USA Rubber 15th C Mexico
Another emergent technique for object making centred around ‘triple crumpling’ which pleated three different strata of time together. An example of this is the bowl, (Concrete 800 BCE Italy Nylon 1939 USA Rubber 15th C Mexico) where concrete, 800 years BCE Italy is combined with nylon (1939 USA) and rubber (pre 15th century Mexico) but used by Europe and America in the nineteenth century and therefore viewed as modern. This bowl seems to highlight our inconsistent perceptions of material time, with materials in contemporary use being regarded as modern, and a collective colonial amnesia silting over their historical origins. Another theme that exemplified a similar approach is ‘historical stretch’ evidenced in the bowl (PLA 2011 USA, Shellac 3000 BCE India) which perhaps demonstrated the biggest span of historical time crumpled together. The result of this particular material combination is interestingly difficult to place visually, experienced designers have expressed surprise at the bowl’s 3D printing origins but also struggled to recognise the shellac exterior. It is almost as if both materials transform each other through their temporal combination.
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Figure 3. PLA 2011 USA, Shellac 3000 BCE India
A theme that perhaps pushes against the simple idea of historical stretch is ‘competing cousins’ identified in the bowl (Boiled Leather 13th C France, Plastic 1856 UK) Here material properties are replicated and overlaid in a single object. The use of plastic with leather for example layers up two materials that have been employed for similar functions historically. Many of the objects currently used such as plastic water bottles would previously have been made from boiled leather, and both the materials share similar properties. The combination of these two in one object questions both material’s function and historical position.
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Figure 4.Boiled Leather 13th C France, Plastic 1856 UK
The polychronic bowls were formed largely by casting from generic plastic bowls. This process of casting from mass produced plastic bowls suggests a Deleuzian iteration, a stuttering development from plastic mass manufacturing, a generation of the next generation. This approach also repositions the plastic bowls as a valuable tool rather than an end product, having progenerative value rather than being merely a consumable object. This in turn suggests a more horizontal and rhizomatic relationship between objects, shifting the relations between these objects towards a network of actors. This way of working with materials seeks to map crumpled time through making. The importance here is not tracing by returning to pre-existing materials and techniques or histories of crafts, or illustrating pre identified concepts, but proposing through material/time experiments in functional objects such as bowls, ways to discover different making relations. As Deleuze and Guttari observe: “What distinguishes the map from the tracing is that it is entirely oriented toward experimentation in contact with the real.� (Deleuze & Guttari, 1980:13). It is only through actually making these experimental bowls that this contact with the real is made. Deleuze and Guttari’s use of the map as a motif re-emphasises the need for an aerial view to democratise the material and object plane, and to spatialize time. Kevin Clayton, writing in Time Folded and Crumpled: The Methodology of Michel Serres, suggests that Deleuze presents a more technical description that explains time as a self organising emergent phenomenon, Serres, whilst agreeing with the description of the
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emergent process, contrasts traditional forms of knowledge organisation that groups elements translating them into a unity, with a more experiential fluid textured approach. “The former method produces stasis, stable objects and “processes”, linear logic, statues; the latter produces fluid and turbulent patterns – patterns, ... that can actualize into any number of different forms in different spatial and temporal locations, patterns that are relational in a topological or non-Euclidian sense rather than relational in a conventional geometrical sense, patterns that are fluid, turbulent, non-linear and very adaptable.” (Clayton 2011: 955)
The polychronic research seeks, through making, to reveal textures and patterns in material combination that are relational in this fluid and non-linear sense. That are adaptable enough to be relevant to personal and localised situations, whilst informed by a digital global field of information. This approach favours a bricolage strategy that improvises with materials at hand, and leads to localised emergence. The result of this is an extended customisation, a flexible globally informed relevance that maps against the local real. Jane Bennett and William Connolly in The Crumpled Handkerchief raise the question: “What initiates the congealing that makes objects? Is it possible to identify phases within formativity, plateaus of differentiation? If so, do the phases/plateaus follow a temporal sequence? Or, does the process of formation inside Becoming take the shape of a non-chronological kind of time?” (Bennett and Connolly 2011, p 3419)
This research suggests that polychronic making may indeed be a form of non-chronological time as referred to by Bennett and Connolly. Serres uses this description of a crumpled handkerchief as a different form of temporal map. He presents a crumpled handkerchief as a model of crumpled time that then could be extended as a model to produce polychronic objects: “Time can be schematised by a kind of crumpling, a multiple, foldable diversity... this intuition is clearer than one that imposes a constant distance between moving objects, and it explains more... An object, a circumstance, is thus polychronic, multi-temporal, and reveals a time that is gathered together with multiple pleats.” (Serres 1997, p16)
The time pleated together in polychronic objects offer a map-like aerial view, connecting knowledge and experience of materials, cultural forms, and historical functions from many different times crumpled or folded into one object. The third reference point in this research is speculative realism. Objects from this view are no longer on the end of a long, narrow, evolutionary chain of improvement, but sit side by side in horizontal relationships. As Bruno Latour states in We Have Never Been Modern: “I may use an electric drill, but I will also use a hammer” (Latour 1993, p166). We are accustomed to viewing objects in terms of function, cost of materials, or by their semiotic reference to cultural values. Valuing the combination of different ‘material-times’ within an object offers a different paradigm for both making and consumption. Time as a reference point significantly shifts our value systems, displacing humans at the centre, and shifting to a crumpled present tense that folds materials and humans into new links as relational actants. As Levi Bryant, the founder of OOO, states:
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“In short, the difference between humans and other objects is not a difference in kind, but a difference in degree. Put differently, all objects translate one another. Translation is not unique to how the mind relates to the world. And as a consequence of this, no object has direct access to any other object.” (Bryant 2011 p26)
The selection of materials for the polychronic bowl experiments is based on a personal contact with and experience of materials during my time of making, and as such reflects the impact of these materials on my experience and my knowledge of them. The bowls therefore reflect a community of materiality and actants, of which I am one element. The maker is then an element to be crumpled with any number of locally available materials and construction techniques to produce a polychronic object that utilises time as experience, time as making, time as material knowledge and time as visual historical language. The growing interest by Western society in hand making and localised customisation, means it is increasingly important to develop a thorough critique of the resurgence of artisan craft and localised design making situated in places such as Fab Labs. This is a vital current task for designers and makers. Dunne & Raby, writing on the collapse of Utopian design that explored alternative options for the future, identify 80’s neoliberal capitalism as responsible by defining Speculative Design as “economically inviable and therefore irrelevant” (Dunne & Raby 2013, p8). In our 2008 post-financial meltdown, what are the alternative options to this model? Franco ‘Bifo’ Berardi in After The Future observes: “In the Middle Ages, perfection was placed in the past” (Berardi 2011, p167). Perhaps today objects can be constructed from the futurability that is all around us. So what does it mean to approach making from this aerial view of time? Is this just extending our consumerist thirst for disappearing materials and skills, re-packaging them as the new and the interesting? This research would suggest not: crumpling together materials and techniques from different times, from an informed overview, stabilises the rush for the next trend, and offers localised solutions in post mass-manufacturing societies. The same object can be made from different time combinations in different places, reorienting historical making practices. Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges offers an aerial approach: “Every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future” (Borges 1962, p195). This suggests that making and objects have a dynamic relationship to time, and that material combination has the potential to rearrange the past and re-construct the future. This perhaps indicates a more fundamental shift in making. By crumpling materials and time, we can incorporate the dynamic scope of the aerial view, and potentially withdraw from a linear hierarchy of materials.
Making in a Networked society It is important to put material use into context by considering the impact of social attitudes to manufacturing. It is of little use proposing polychronic material selection if society as a whole does not shift from a linier developmental viewpoint that prioritises a developmental modernism. Increasingly elements of manufacturing in different countries are restructuring as global networks, connecting different time zones and a range of cultural approaches to
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time. However, the predominantly western modes of manufacturing that have been exported around the globe are still prioritising historically linier modernist models of production. The benefit of viewing these historical modes of production from a polychronic perspective is that this highlights how anachronistic a linier approach is, and it enables us to see some of the strange anomalies that a relentlessly modernist approach to manufacturing has produced. The craft writer Tanya Harrod, discusses social influences on manufacturing in her book The Real Thing. She describes how it is social attitudes that have driven the choice of materials and modes of production in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and identifies a strange conflict between aspiration and reality: ‘In the early twentieth century, part of being modern was to be anti-modern.’ (Harrod 2015 p329) During that time there was a considerable concern expressed about the ‘lost domain’ of craft skills. This was due to an anxiety about the changes in material use and production skills that mass-manufacturing was engendering. Alongside this there was a concern about the disappearance of specialist knowledge embedded in previous ways of making. Harrod identifies the bias that underpinned these fears: ‘Our ideas about the effectiveness of goods and materials are skewed in the favour of newness’ (Harrod 2015 p332) This may be easier to understand now, but it was only felt as a vague unease at that time and not fully articulated. As the social historian Jose Harris observed there was ‘a sense that change was inevitable, in many respects desirable, but that its gains were being purchased at a terrible price’ (Harris 1994 p36). This contradictory behaviour led to strange decisions in many areas of manufacturing. The most serious of which was the abandoning of particularly useful materials, processes and skills because they were not deemed modern enough; whilst as the same time publicly mourning the loss of this tacit knowledge and the mode of production that went with it. Sociologist David Edgerton’s book The Shock of the Old highlights the mismatch between our perceptions of technological progress, and the reality that happens in day to day manufacturing. Edgerton stresses the importance of terminology and the way that it reveals the perspective of the viewer. He compares the perspective of invention and innovation with a user perspective. To consider technology from a broader use-based history, gives a different perspective on the history of technological development. As Edgerton stresses ‘alternatives exist for nearly all technologies… but to often histories are written as if no alternative could or did exist.’ (Edgerton 2008 pxiii). With a linier developmental view of technology, the range of alternatives that sat alongside the chosen processes have often been disregarded and written out of our manufacturing history. When this happens equally valid options or combinations of materials and making processes are lost to this incessant drive for the new with the result that ‘our accounts of significance have been peculiarly invention-centric, and tied to particular accounts of modernity where particular new technologies were held to be central.’ (Edgerton 2008 pxii). This has given us a warped and inadequate historical account of invention and innovation, as only technologies and materials that were perceived as modern were the ones that became recorded. Edgerton suggests that when considering the history of invention and innovation we ‘need to focus on
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all inventions and innovations at a particular time, independent of their later success or failure’ (Edgerton 2008 pxiv) This underlines the need to move from a linier modernist viewpoint to an aerial overview of invention and innovation to gain a more realistic understanding of the history of technology. As a prime example of this, Edgerton describes the transition from using wood to metal in aircraft construction in the interwar years, describing how material choice and manufacturing process was hijacked by cultural perception: ‘Moving to metal was often taken as an index of technical progress – metal was obviously better, and the quicker designers switched to metal the more advanced they were made to appear. Conversely, the late use of wood was seen as the result of some eccentricity. But the assumption that wood was inferior to metal does not hold. What drove the shift from wood to metal was the belief that metal was the material of the future and thus inherently more suitable for aircraft, an ideology later subscribed to by historians of aviation’ (Edgerton 2008 p10)
it is interesting to note that successful aircraft such as the British de Havilland Mosquito of the second world war continued to be manufactured with wooden sections until the1950s. Automobile designers at Toyota have recently returned to considering the benefits of using wood for cars, and are due to debut the Setsuna concept car made primarily out of wood at the Milan Design Week 2016. In other forms of transportation such as bicycles, the fast growing wood bamboo, which was used for frames in 1896, is finding popularity again in public projects such as the Ghana Bamboo Bike Initiative and in local projects the US and Brazil. The increased danger today of a linier approach to materials and manufacturing based on perceptions of newness, is that Web 2.0 has speeded up communication and with it the consumption of this perceived ‘new’. This has let to an accelerated privileging of the new. There is a now an enlarged global networked demand, driving inflated consumption of an increasingly skewed range of desirable modern materials and technology. With the result that this has accelerated consumption into an ever narrower and more rapacious beam, threatening a global depletion of this narrow range of modern materials such as oil based plastics and rare minerals. In the mainstream narrative of a history of technology, this acceleration of development is perceived through Moor’s Law as an increasing rate of technological improvement throughout history. In the #Accelerate Manifesto by Alex Williams and Nick Srnicek, there is an attempt to take this narrow beam and focus it in an even more concentrated way to enact a recovery of the future. Through doing this, they are seeking to push ‘the process of technological evolution’ beyond what Williams and Srnicek view as the constrictive horizon of capitalism. The manifesto states ‘an accelerationist politics seeks to preserve the gains of late capitalism while going further than its value system, governance structures, and mass pathologies will allow.’ (Williams and Srnicek 2013 03.2) Their perspective is one of highly linier modernism, and their stated wish is to accelerate what they view as ‘technical evolution’. In this manifesto they discuss the need for a legitimate vertical authority to avoid
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a ‘capricious emergent order beyond our control’ (Williams and Srnicek 2013 03.22). This traditional linier and hierarchical model of manufacturing and economics will inevitably be threatened by new material combinations and modes of manufacturing that are emerging in a horizontal and polychronic plane. Dispersed models of making that emerge in an unpredictable way through a becoming-necessary coalition of forces are however much more likely to address diverse need, as they emerge from it. Rather than the old authoritarian models that impose solutions from the top down, without understanding localised context. Writing on these accelerationist proposals, economist Paul Mason speculates about economic futures after the linearity of capitalism has faded. Possible futures in a postcapitalist global economy. Mason refers to postcapitalism as an emergent process that will become-necessary and find its form from within the current modes of production: ‘technology has created a new route out, which the remnants of the old left – and all other forces influenced by it – have either to embrace or die. Capitalism, it turns out, will not be abolished by forced-march techniques. It will be abolished by creating something more dynamic that exists, at first, almost unseen within the old (capitalist) system, but which will break through, reshaping the economy around new values and behaviours. I call this postcapitalism. (Mason 2015)
Mason suggests that signs of new modes of production are already emerging, using approaches and techniques that have existed alongside capitalism throughout history. He proposes that these familiar modes of manufacture and exchange might yet offer solutions to the approaching problems of rising population, market instability, and job losses through automation. Mason’s model of recuperative postcapitalism operates in a horizontal plane similar to the polychronic treatment of materials that have been cast to one side in the linier rush for modernity. ‘Almost unnoticed, in the niches and hollows of the market system, whole swaths of economic life are beginning to move to a different rhythm. Parallel currencies, time banks, cooperatives and self-managed spaces have proliferated, barely noticed by the economics profession, and often as a direct result of the shattering of the old (capitalist) structures in the post-2008 crisis. (Mason 2015)
One such example of the contemporary recuperation of older forms of making is ‘Distributed production’, a theme in Ezio Manzini’s book When Everyone Designs, which considers the democratising of digital knowledge and skills. Manzini identifies key relationships between multiple social crises, social innovation and models of a sustainable society; all informed by emerging design tactics such as design for innovation in projects such as ‘Riace a welcoming village’. Here a depopulated village in Italy has welcomed Syrian migrants and in the process, reopened local schools, shops, craft businesses, reinstated regular refuse collection and restored public parks. (Manzini 2015 a). Manzini differentiates between the ‘diffuse design’ done by everyone at a local level and ‘expert designers’ who have been trained. Manzini comments that ‘Experts’ are needed to assist and enable the solving of localised requirements through linking global special interest groups. Forming a ‘distributed
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globalization’ (Manzini 2015 p23). They do this through connecting historically embedded local knowledge that can be brought to bare on the design issue. The role of the specialist designer here appears to be operating as a polychronic connector and communicator in a democratic horizontal field of production. The media activist Franco Berardi, in his book AND draws attention to the concern that the hyper capitalist accelerationist model is inherently toxic. He criticises Acceleration for impoverishing experience saying wehave become stressed to the point of exhaustion. The speed and volume of information on the internet superhighway is beginning to outstrip human neurological capabilities the cause of many of the current anxieties and psychological problems experienced by the generations that are digital natives. He observes that ‘Beyond a certain limit, the experience of acceleration leads to a contraction of the time available for conscious elaboration and thus to a loss of sensibility – which also has ethical consequences.’ (Berardi 2015 p44) The faster you travel in a straight line, the less you see around you and the less time you have to assess options effectively. In contrast an aerial overview slows down the speed of travel, but allows comparisons to be made across a bigger landscape of options. An aerial view offers the opportunity for a more informed and qualitative assessment of a wider range of material properties, manufacturing techniques and social innovation opportunities. This is due to a far grater critical distance. It is important then for the sound mental health and functioning of society, as well as the future of manufacturing and social innovation that a more polychronic perspective is adopted.
References Adamson G, (2013) The Invention of Craft V&A publications UK. Bennett J, Connolly W, (2012) The Crumpled Handkerchief in Herzogenrath B, (2012) ed Time and History in Deleuze and Serres UK Bloomsbury Academic Publishing. Berardi F, (2011) After The Future ed Gary Genosko & Nicholas Thoburn, trans Arianna Bove USA AK Press (2015) AND Phenomenology of the end Semiotext(E) Foreign Agent Series CA USA Borges J L, (2000) Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writing UK Penguin Classics; New Ed edition Bridle J, (2012) http://www.riglondon.com/blog/2011/05/06/the-new-aesthetic/ (accessed 1.5.13) Bridle J, (2013) http://booktwo.org/notebook/new- aesthetic-politics/ (accessed 20.2.14) Bryant L, (2011) The Democracy of Objects USA Open Humanities Press Clayton K, (2012) Time Folded and Crumpled: Time, History, Self-Organization and the Methodology of Michel Serres, in Herzogenrath B, (2012) ed Time and History in Deleuze and Serres UK Bloomsbury Academic Publishing. Chan P (2010) A Time Apart ed Klaus Biesenbach Greater New York pub MOMA PS1 Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (1980), A Thousand Plateaus Minneapolis University of Minnesota Press. Dunne A, Raby F, (2013) Speculative Everything UK MIT Press Edgerton D, (2008) The Shock of the Old Profile Books London Ferguson N, (2012) Civilization: The Six Killer Apps of Western Power Penguin; First edition UK pi.
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Green J, (2011) Going beyond hierarchy - and why it is important Presentation delivered at the Danish Design Centres Conference ‘Challenge society’. Denmark. You Tube recorded. Groom A, (2013) ed Time – Documents of Contemporary Art co-pub UK Whitechapel Gallery, MIT. Harris J, (1994) Private Lives Public Spirit: Britton 1870 – 1914 Harmansworth Penguin Books. Harrod T, (2015) The Real Thing Hyphen Press London Herzogenrath B, (2012) ed Time and History in Deleuze and Serres UK Bloomsbury Academic Publishing. Holland E, (2011) Non-Linear Historical Materialism; Or, What is Revolutionary in Deleuze and Guattari’s Philosophy of History? in Herzogenrath B, (2012) ed Time and History in Deleuze and Serres UK Bloomsbury Academic Publishing. Keevil B, (20160 Chair in Environmental Healthcare at Southampton University: http://www.southampton.ac.uk/weareconnected/story/copper-takes-on-superbugs/ (accessed 17.3.16) Latour B (1993) We Have Never Been Modern trans Catherine Porter UK pub Cambridge University Press. Lévi-Strauss C, (1966) The Savage Mind Chicago: University of Chicago Press USA Luhmann (1996) Modern Society Shocked by its Risks Social Sciences Research Centre Occasional paper 17 Department of Sociology University of Hong Kong Manzini E, (2015) The Long Journey a talk at Central Saint Martins on 11th November. (2015) Design, When Everybody Designs – an introduction to design for social innovation trans by Rachel Coed MIT publishers USA Mason P, (2015) The End of capitalism Has Begun in The Guardian online, Economics Friday 17th July 2015. Morton T, (2014) Here Comes Everything: The Promise of Object-Oriented Ontology [forthcoming in Qui Parle] Serres M, (1995 ) Conversations on Science, Culture, and Time: Michel Serres Interviewed by Bruno Latour USA Studies in Literature & Science pub Serres M, (1997) Science and Humanities: The Case of Turner UK SubStance vol 26, Scott J, (2014) Are these England’s last traditional craftsmen and women? BBC programme (accessed 18.7.14) Steyerl H (2011) Free Fall e-flux journal Williams A, Srnicek N, (2013) ACCELERATE MANIFESTO for an Accelerationist Politics in Critical Legal Thinking – Law & the Political Wolfe R, (2012) Memories of The Future [Blog] 8th August http://thecharnelhouse.org/2012/08/10/memories-of- the-future/ (accessed 20.2.14) About the Author: Dr Jane Norris Adjunct Associate Professor at the American University at Richmond. Currently undertaking a post doctoral PEP in Critical Writing at the RCA. Writes opinion pieces for Fiera. Writing up Making Polychronic Objects as a book. Previously, Program Leader for the BA in 3D Design Craft at Havering College for ten years.
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Responsibility in design: applying the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon Sander Mulder a Eindhoven University of Technology *s.s.mulder@tue.nl DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.266
Abstract: The notion of technical mentality and transductive reasoning described by the French philosopher Gilbert Simondon is applied on a concrete design case in order to investigate responsibility and design. The design case relates to the development of a portable artificial kidney. The historic invention of the artificial kidney is woven into the philosophy of Simondon in order to mobilize his work. For designers, the risk of reduction is at stake when applying the technical mentality to domains beyond the technical such as the psycho-social. This risk can be avoided by transductive reasoning, i.e. reasoning by means of analogy, but this is not sufficient as additional research is needed on responsibility and taking action. Correlating machines remains a human responsibility. Designers cannot hide behind the borders of their task or project when it comes to responsibility. Suggestions for further research are shared a.o. on aesthetics, ways of reasoning in design and design education. Keywords: Responsibility, Gilbert Simondon, Design, Transduction, Way of Reasoning
Introduction As a professional in the field of design I have been working on a design case where I had the opportunity to combine commercial work with a more inquisitive stance as a researcher. While working for a client on an issue with sound coming from a medical device, I realized that the reasoning I used to come to an advice for the client was hampered. What I suggested felt contradictory to the routines we thought would benefit the patient’s relation with the machine. After consulting team members from our design team and having raised the issue with the client, I still was dissatisfied. This paper is a search for how we can think responsibility of
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
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designers. Responsibility is not well thought of in terms of methodology or approaches.1 The approach is not so much the search for a new method, but rather raise informed questions about responsibility and design from a philosophy rejecting the whole idea of general methods or principles. How do a specific kind of mentality and a way of reasoning relate to the responsibility of designers?
Why try to apply the philosophy of Simondon on design? The contribution of this paper lies in the application of the philosophy of the late French philosopher Gilbert Simondon (1924-1989). His philosophy has had a strong influence in other (scientific) fields and has been applied in performative arts a.o.2 This paper also aims for finding a voice how to move away from a tradition of moral reflection during design work or moral reflection after design work has been finished. Simondon is ethical in his approach right from the beginning and so is the application of his philosophy.3 Technical objects, nature and the human race should be investigated in the same manner with a specific kind of attention. His philosophy gains renewed attention, but, as of yet, is hardly used to rethink design approaches. Trying to bring his philosophy into operation within design practice is not an easy task. His work has hardly been translated from French into English making it difficult for me, let alone that Simondon rejects any overarching method or principle in his philosophy making it difficult to work towards a design method. The paper called “Technical Mentality” has been translated into English recently (Simondon, 2009b). His paper serves as a crystallization point in my attempt to apply the philosophy of Simondon and let informed questions emerge regarding responsibility and design at the end of this paper. Before we ‘immerse ourselves’ in the philosophy of Simondon, some approaches towards responsibility and design are shared. Then the design case is introduced including some moral reflections. Having raised the research question in that reflection, the philosophy of Simondon is mobilized by means of a historic invention. As Simondon is using the successive development of technical objects, it makes sense to use a historical case. After being informed by aspects of his philosophy, I will come back to the design case again where I try to apply his philosophy. This leads to implications about the responsibility of designers and their way of reasoning. I will conclude that the application of the philosophy of Simondon to the question of responsibility of designers is worthwhile and requires further research.
1
I took this bold opinion from the recently established Delft Design for Values (DD4V) Institute website http://www.design4values.org ("Design for Values | Methodology for Design for Values," 2016). 2 Gilbert Simondon has been picked up mostly by way of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze. Implications and resonations are shared recently from the fields of philosophy, gender studies, new media and culture studies, sociology (cf. De Boever, Murray, Roffe, & Woodward, 2012). In performative arts Erin Manning works with the philosophy of Simondon (cf. Manning, 2013). In the field of technology management and economics e.g. Alexander Styhre is rethinking entrepreneurship elaborating on transduction (Styhre, 2008, 2010). 3 The author thanks Tom Coggins for bringing this point to the fore.
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A limitation of this paper is that it focuses on a way of reasoning, or a mentality in terms of Simondon. Taking this mentality into account is necessary to research the responsibility of designers, but it is not sufficient. Actions that designers take are an inherent part of their responsibility and this aspect will be covered in future research of the author. Gilbert Simondon’s philosophical project has something to contribute to our understanding of design and responsibility. His philosophical project is ethical right from the beginning.1 We cannot make grand generalisations to understand the world. We should approach the world as processes and our knowledge is not advanced enough yet to understand how we can relate to technical objects. Furthermore technical objects develop in order to have an equal relation with man in the end, rather than one being servant and the other being master (Combes, 2013, p. 60). Below, a more detailed discussion is shared aiming to convey what technical objects are in the philosophy of Simondon and how we can relate to them. His philosophy has a very distinct vocabulary e.g. using concepts from thermodynamics, using own punctuation, and relying on French conjugation. Given the lack of integral translation, I’ll explain a number of notions in more detail to clarify how I take his philosophy. But first, let us look into responsibility and design from an approach as a reflective practitioner.
Responsibility in design: examples of contemporary approaches Understanding design practice from within & the issue of responsibility As a response to Herbert Simon’s positivist perspective on design, Donald Schön introduced a constructivist perspective in order to describe the practice of design from within (Schön, 1983, 1984). The issue of responsibility was left to reflective practitioners themselves, either as individuals or institutionalized in companies, engineering societies or design schools.2 3 A number of approaches have been developed since and they could be categorized under the term ‘early engagement’ where professionals try to include and engage those affected by a new development, either in science or more applied as an innovation (Doorn, Schuurbiers, van de Poel, & Gorman, 2013). The approaches Doorn et al. collected ‘have a normative element and aim at encouraging ethical reflection’. The normative element is a future goal to work towards to that is better than the existing situation: e.g. “better technology in a better society” (Doorn et al., 2013, p. 9). An inherent element of these approaches is to anticipate future events and take them into account in decision making and strategies for action (Doorn et al., 2013, p. 246). Van Doorn et al. consider the approach ‘Value Based Design’ (VBD) as being part of an early engagement approach. The Delft University of Technology recently established an institute called ‘Design for Values’ that wants to explore VBD further. The founders indicate the 1
The author thanks Tom Coggins for bringing this point to the fore. The author wants to thank Kees Dorst for clarifying this. 3 A.o. Findeli rethinks design education taking responsibility into account (Findeli, 2001). 2
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reason why they established the institute: for ‘basic values, such as responsibility, there are hardly any dedicated design methods or tools’ (Design for Values Institute, 2016). 1 A first handbook has been published (Van den Hoven, Vermaas, & Van de Poel, 2015). Based on a very limited overview, there are indications that there’s room for research on responsibility and design.
From constructivism to ‘inventivism’ It is likely that there hardly are methods in the realm of design and responsibility. Design practice is now explained from two philosophical paradigms: ‘positivism’ and ‘constructivism’ (cf. Dorst, 1997) and methods aiming for design and responsibility should ‘work out’ in both paradigms. The duality that comes along is hard to resolve. Simondon’s philosophical project contributed not so much by adding a third paradigm or by replacing the two existing paradigms, but rather by trying to reconcile paradigms. Brian Massumi describes the shift Simondon made as one from ‘constructivism’ towards ‘inventivism’ (De Boever et al., 2012).2 Before “unpacking” inventivism, I will start in Schön’s tradition of the reflective practitioner raising some research questions within a real design case. Then I will introduce Simondon and mobilize his philosophy by means of a historic invention. Then we’ll get more informed back to the design case again to finalize with implications and conclusions.
Design case: Portable Artificial Kidney Background The design case below revolves around the early engagement of those affected by a new and innovative medical device. At the time we started I had no methodology selected deliberately except an implicit notion of ‘early involvement’. I will now introduce the case. The Dutch Kidney Foundation (DKF) is a Netherlands based non-profit organisation aiming for a higher quality of life for people with lethal kidney failure. The foundation collaborates with strategic development partners by means of a social enterprise called NeoKidney. NeoKidney was founded by the DKF and aims to introduce an innovative medical product into the market in a few years from now: the Portable Artificial Kidney (PAK). 3 The PAK will be developed in close collaboration with two medical device development companies. It will be designed to enable patients to do blood purification (by dialysis) at home without direct supervision of a health care professional. This gives patients more freedom and flexibility and increases their life quality. 1
See http://www.design4values.org including an extensive list of publications on this approach. Massumi continues: “a move that “seeks to think the natural processes involved in any and all constructions” (De Boever, Murray, & Roffe, 2009) 3 NeoKidney commissioned our assignment. NeoKidney is a development company founded by the Dutch Kidney Foundation. NeoKidney is also a social enterprise, initially funded by the Dutch Kidney Foundation. NeoKidney holds the intellectual property rights on new invention. After the PAK is licensed to a third party that will introduce the PAK in the market, profits will be reinvested in development activities (revolving fund). 2
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The management team of NeoKidney realized early 2015 that they were coping with a number of medical, technical and regulatory hurdles, but that the people in need of the PAK were so far underrepresented in the innovation process. The management team decided to commission a small team of professionals to explore the demands and wishes of future users of the PAK, derive functional requirements for the machine and convey advice for future steps in the development process in appropriate ways.1 The assignment was finalized in February 2016 and presently an additional assignment is being negotiated. Together with three professionals I became part of a team that worked on the questions that were ultimately issued by the Dutch Kidney Foundation. We collaborated from the Netherlands based design agency Design Innovation Group. The team conducted contextual interviews, took pictures and filmed at some points ‘in situ’, made audio recordings and introduced a dummy to discuss the size and shape of the PAK. Based on the contextual interviews, the team synthesized future scenario’s envisioning future use. We have discussed those scenario’s with people involved e.g. patients, their partners, health care professionals, our client (Dutch Kidney Foundation), NeoKidney and the collaborating partner responsible for the systems engineering and prototyping. Soon after the start I identified opportunities for research as an external PhD-candidate. After sharing a research interest, and coming to an informed consent with NeoKidney, the author worked on this assignment from a research perspective in addition to a commercial advisory perspective.
Design Case: the sound of the portable artificial kidney2 Contemporary artificial kidney equipment is large and needs permanent connections to electricity and water lines in order to function properly as a renal therapy. There are many innovations related to the development of the portable artificial kidney, but in the light of this paper it suffices to mention that NeoKidney aims for miniaturization of the machine and aims for the implementation of advanced algorithms to regulate hard- and software. A person needs to regulate the machine during therapy varying from turning it on, adjusting parameters like the duration of the dialysis and so forth. In a domestic context the person in need of treatment also has to respond to deviations from a normal dialysis session. Alarms may go off and ideally there is a partner present or an alarm centre monitors remotely, as some exceptional situations can be life-threatening. The PAK can be used at different times e.g. during a daytime treatment or during the night while sleeping. While conducting interviews our team of four professionals saw a wide variety of how people organized their relation with their current dialysis machine. Some people were 1
How to convey the advice was left open at the start of the assignment. Examples mentioned in the proposal were e.g. a short film or a report. Ultimately the team chose for a report, a poster and interactive presentations with a lot of room for discussion a.o. with the governance structure of NeoKidney including the commissioning management team, the personnel of the involved organisations, patients in need of renal therapy, their partners and care professionals like nurse practitioners and nephrologists. 2 Besides sound the design case covered a lot of other topics, thirteen at least. These will not be shared here for reasons of confidentiality and briefness.
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connected to the machine and seemed to ignore it until an alarm would go off. Others were, both during day- and night-time, peripherally aware of the machine’s status, for instance because they knew by heart the sequence of sounds made by bloodpumps, valves, etcetera. During a daytime dialysis session one person indicated that he deliberately adjusted the preprogrammed settings depending on how he perceived his own condition and the connection to his vascular system.
Reflection on the design case & exemplifying the research question NeoKidney is planning for a machine that runs through a continuously varying scheme during a therapy session. From a medical point of view this facilitates optimal treatment. As a design team we anticipated that unpredictable changes in sound conflict with how people want to organize their relation with the machine. A machine that ‘hums and buzzes’ in a predictable and rhythmic way is perceived as a machine that is functioning properly. Any deviation is then associated with an exception, even peripherally being aware e.g. when performing another task and or when at sleep. At present a requirement was stated to lower the sound to a certain level of decibels, yet with a varying scheme leading to continuously varying sounds. We discussed our concern that people may not be able to get used to the sound of the machine in case it would vary continuously. The NeoKidney management team was positively surprised. They had not considered the varying sound scheme from that perspective. Given the notion that the PAK will produce sounds from mechanical parts like a pump, we conveyed in our advice that the machine should make sounds with constant intervals and run through a standardized scheme. Our reasoning about this issue was largely based on a surprise resulting from a careful examination of the current usage of artificial kidneys. As of yet, we did not test a machine with varying schemes to verify whether people would actually not get used to it during treatment. Obviously, we could advice our client to conduct studies in this realm. We could also advice to aim for a trajectory to diminish sound until one would not hear the machine at all. The question is whether we can reason in a different way about the sound of the machine and tied to that, in what ways might we think responsibility of designers? How we can reason in a more responsible way as designers? These questions have been raised from a constructivist perspective. The philosophy of Simondon is now introduced by ‘unpacking’ two lines of thought. ‘Inventivism’ in the next section and ‘transduction’ in the section thereafter. A historical case will be interwoven to mobilize the philosophy of Simondon. After these theoretical sections, I will go back to the design case of the artificial kidney being more informed and coming from a different philosophical tradition than constructivism (or positivism).
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Unpacking ‘inventivism’ Part 1: Technical mentality Introduction To introduce the philosophy of Simondon a historic event will be interwoven with theory: the invention of the artificial kidney and the application in a working prototype. The invention took place between 1943 and 1945 in the Netherlands by the Dutch inventors Kolff and Berk. This invention is illustrative as it serves to further understand the portable artificial kidney of the design case. The invention will also carry a vocabulary that resembles the one that Simondon uses as both deal with thermodynamics.1 This paragraph is based on Drukker’s historical overview (Drukker, 1989). People who suffer from kidney failure experience the problems that come with nourishment within a few days: the removal of toxics and water from their blood and tissue hampers.2 Kidney failure leads to lethal levels of toxics in the body and the retaining of excess fluids in bodily tissue. An artificial kidney is able to remove toxics from the blood and extract excess water. In addition medicine is required. To help patients who suffer from kidney failure, Kolff improved existing ideas about dialysis and artificial kidneys. In 1943 he built a first prototype of an artificial kidney together with Berk, leading to a working treatment and the first human survivor after therapy in 1945. Kolff’s invention made it possible for a part of the blood cycle to be filtered outside the body. An important part of his invention was the use of a semi-permeable membrane made of cellophane for sausages, which he obtained from a local butcher. The membrane allowed toxics to pass. By means of osmosis — a difference in concentration — the toxics diffuse into a saline solution on the other side of the membrane. Kolff tested the speed of the osmotic process by filling ‘sausages’ with water and a concentration of urea and rocked them immersed in salted water. Later on he repeated comparable setups by filling the sausages with blood and urea. He needed to enlarge the surface of the membrane, so Kolff wound up the tubular cellophane on a drum while the lower half was immersed in a bath of dialysate. By copying a rotating coupling from a Ford automobile water pump Kolff was able to connect the bloodline from the body to the rotating drum. Berk suggested to place the drum horizontally “thereby making it possible to propel the blood along the cellophane tubing by rotation of the drum, eliminating the use of a bloodpump.” (Drukker, 1989), see Figure 1.
1
Artificial kidneys make use of thermodynamics a.o. and this is vocabulary that is important in the philosophy of Simondon. Terms like ‘meta-stability’ for instance are shared in both fields. 2 As Simondon phrased it ‘the nourishment of the living poses problems’ (Combes, 2013, p. 28; Read, 2015).
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Figure 1 : Willem Kolff and his invention: the artificial kidney, artist impression. Image still from whiteboard animation, 1m41s. © 2014, Nierstichting.
I will introduce now the philosophy of Simondon and weave it together with the invention of the artificial kidney including the application of the invention. The paper called “Technical Mentality” is used to gain traction. I will start with two postulates that Simondon conveys in his paper.
Two postulates of technical mentality The invention of the artificial kidney illustrates Simondon’s notion that “there exists a technical mentality, and that this mentality is developing, and therefore incomplete and at risk of being prematurely considered as monstrous and unbalanced” (Simondon, 2009b). Simondon’s philosophical project is to repair this risk by closely investigating it. Technical mentality has two conditions or postulates: 1. ”The subsets are relatively detachable from the whole of which they are part.” (Simondon, 2009b). With this first condition Simondon means that “the technical object can be repaired” and that “at the moment of its very construction, the technical object is conceived as something that may need control, repair, and maintenance, through testing, and modification, or, if necessary, a complete change of one or several of the subsets that compose it” (Simondon, 2009b, emphasis removed).
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This kind of mentality can be observed in the invention of the artificial kidney by Kolff and Berk. The tubular membrane is approached as a subset that was taken from the butcher and it was tested extensively in isolation, then it was wound up and modified in such a way that it could connect to the rotating coupling. The second condition or postulate of the technical mentality is: 2. “if one wants to understand a being completely, one must study it by considering it in its entelechy, and not in its inactivity or its static state” (Simondon, 2009b).1 Simondon further explains that most inventions tend towards fewer subsets “by reducing the number of primitive elements to a minimum, which is at the same time an optimum”. Simondon’s point here is that with many inventions, by thinking about them or drawing them on paper, we suppose “the conditions of their functioning realized” (Simondon, 2009b, emphasis removed). A leap is made, not so much while thinking or putting an idea on paper, but rather when assembling the invention. As Massumi explains, at the moment when two or more “sets of potentials click together” into one system it “has achieved a certain operational autonomy […] to continue functioning independently without the intervention of an outside operator to run or repair it.” (Simondon, 2009b). “A ‘threshold’ has been crossed” and this led Massumi to coin that “the designer is a helpmate to emergence.” (De Boever et al., 2009). The second postulate of the technical mentality can be seen in the invention of the artificial kidney as well. Kolff supposed that the tubular membrane from the butcher would work in a dynamic setting with blood flowing through it. Only when he tested it, the tubular sausage skin realized its potential as both a membrane and hose reducing the number of subsets (else he would have needed a hose and a membrane). The same technical mentality can be seen in Berk’s invention by suggesting that the tubular membrane could serve as a pump by tilting it. Berk supposed it and reduced the amount of subsets in his thought (leaving out a blood pump), but only when ‘clicking together’ of the tilted hose, the dialysate and the rotating drum were the potentials realized. Simondon points out the potential of industrial production: “It is the standardization of the subsets, the industrial possibility of the production of separate pieces that are all alike that allows for the creation of networks.” (Simondon, 2009b). Simondon sketches an ideal type of network in the form of a ‘laboratory’ that brings together information and energy. As explained by Jean-Hugues Barthélémy, what Simondon means is that in the end the machine made within the factory and leaving the door converges — by means of knowledge — towards a machine that is as unique as a living being (Simondon, 2009b). Muriel Combes quotes Simondon’s secondary thesis: ‘the establishment of a new relation to machines, which would no longer consist only in serving them or commanding them. Above and beyond the role as assistant to or commander of machines, “the human can be coupled with the machine as equal to equal, as a being that participates in its regulation” (MEOT, 119120)’ (Combes, 2013, p. 70).
1 The notion of entelechy in Simondon’s philosophy is hard to convey briefly. It suffices here to take it as “the realization of potential” (Oxford Dictionary).
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Technical mentality in domains that have to do with affect The technical mentality has been used in many other domains besides the mere physical by means of “analogical interpretation”. Technical mentality allows that kind of transfer. E.g. the balancing between predator and prey is seen as a regulation problem (Simondon, 2009b). Simondon addresses here one of the main risks of technology, “that of the reduction of society to a machine of a particular type” (Simondon, 2009b). It is the risk of “reducing any crisis—even social crises—to a problem of regulation, and presenting as the only ideal, homeostasis, that is, stable equilibrium of attendant forces.” (Simondon, 2009b). Simondon indicates that the technical mentality is problematic in those domains that have to do with affect, e.g. psycho-sociology, activity and so on. When inventors like Kolff and Berk crossed the aforementioned ‘threshold’ while the clicking together of subsets, they were working apart from “the social field of the usage of products” (Combes, 2013, p. 60). That moment was value free – or a “neutral field” as Simondon phrases it (Simondon, 2009b) – as this clicking was required for the invention to become autonomous. We do not have enough knowledge at present to make such advanced technical objects that they allow for every person in daily use a similar kind of value free moment – or ‘inventivism’. Simondon saw design as “an external layer […] which ‘materializes’ human values and fashions” on top of a functional internal layer (Simondon, 2009b). The internal layer cannot be altered without performance changes, the external layer can. The external layer disturbs the functioning of the internal layer.
Unpacking ‘inventivism’ Part 2: Transduction Let’s focus now more closely on Simondon’s notion of information before elaborating on his approach, transduction, as a fundamental way of reasoning, that could work out in design labour and that deals with the aforementioned risk of reduction.
Information & transduction Information in the philosophy of Simondon is far removed from the idea of transmission which implies a sender and receiver. He sees information first as an ordering process within a metastable milieu. This is an “amorphous milieu rich in energy but lacking structure” (Simondon, 2009b, fn12). As Pascal Chabot phrases it, this milieu is ‘not yet’ ordered, it can undergo “the passage from a metastable system to a stable system” (Chabot, 2013, p. 85). Information is seen by Simondon as an “operation of taking on form” (Simondon, 2009a). He uses an analogy from physics to explain this notion of information. In a metastable solution, after a shock (an information-event) or the insertion of a spec of dust, the ordering process starts, as an emerging crystal that serves as a 'platform’ for further ordering. In this analogy, coming from physics, only a crystal grows irreversibly. Technical objects are different with respect to information. They could also suspend or delay information or “maintaining or continuing the process of formation, so that the ensemble remains information, as in the case of life.” (Combes, 2013, p. 5). So technical objects and the living are different because
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“rather than being formed once, they are information. They are continuous, variable processes of matter-taking-form” (Mackenzie, 2002, p. 50). The on-going structuring operation propagating on the limit of a metastable milieu and an ordered structure is called transduction in the philosophy of Simondon. Transduction operates in physics (e.g. the formation of a crystal), and in biology (e.g. an ant moving away from it’s existing colony to start a new one, ‘being information’ and structuring the milieu at the location where it starts a new colony). In psycho-sociology transduction brings a new problem to the fore: how can we know about these operations as we are at the same time an on-going process and a result of this process? “Our knowledge of relations is itself a kind of relation between thought and existence, and this commonality frames Simondon’s approach.” (Hayward & Geoghegan, 2012). In the philosophy of Simondon, transductive reasoning deals with the problem of thinkability of relations.
Ways of reasoning, transduction versus abduction Transductive reasoning could be seen as an argument by analogy, so a single process is similar to another single process (MacNeill, 2009). Simondon further developed transduction as “a method of proceeding through analogies” and this “analogical method turns out to be constructive” (Combes, 2013, p. 12, emphasis in original). As Jason Read paraphrases Combes: “Simondon’s method of progressing is neither inductive, drawing from discrete phenomena to formulate general principles, nor deductive, proceeding from a general principle to specific cases, but transductive as it focuses on the operation, and the transformation of the operations, that individuate thinking and being.” (Read, 2015)
Simondon makes use of analogies as a stepping-stone from one domain to another, e.g. from physics to biology and from biology to the socio-psychic. He chose physics as a founding analogy as it has “a capacity for constituting the concrete from the abstract, for producing a concrete on which one may act” (Combes, 2013).1 The aforementioned crystal is an example that Simondon uses from physics towards biology and the socio-psychic in a constructive way. It is common to introduce abduction as the form of reasoning that is needed in design practice to account for new knowledge. Peirce explained abduction as “creating new rules to explain new observations” (MacNeill, 2009). A comparison of both forms of reasoning requires a different paper. I conclude for now that Simondon’s notion of information together with the structuring in a domain that was not yet ordered can account for the emergence of new knowledge as well. He reserves a role for operations within materiality in his notion of information.
1
Combes refers here to Simondon’s use of a physical paradigm as his first analogy building further upon and his use of physics as it ‘has for some time shown its “capacity for progressively transforming theory into hypotheses and then into almost directly tangible realities” (IG, 256; IL, 554)’ (Combes, 2013, p. 13)
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Application: Going more informed back to the design case Now that I am more informed and may be able to come back to the design case from another philosophical approach, what should we do now with the sound of the portable artificial kidney? We could try to make it as silent as possible, since sound has no technical function in the artificial kidney. As our client is aiming to miniaturize the machine, heat dissipation may form an issue (as this is a common problem when making things smaller).1 Sound could be seen as losing energy, so reducing sound may be seen as supporting ‘the solidarity’ of the subsets. If we make it silent, the machine still needs to generate alarms. But isn’t there a quality in the artificial kidney making sounds as a reminder that it is still working fine for someone’s health? Should we have the person experiment with the sound level that suits his or her need? As of now we think of constant intervals and running a standardized schedule, but aren’t we heading towards the pitfall of reductionism with a sequence of sounds that is too regular? An advanced machine would not make constant sounds, but respond in a sensitive way, subtly varying according to the changing condition of the person in need of therapy.2 If we want that kind of sound, we need to work on the sensing ability of the portable artificial kidney as it is now limited to vital signs like blood pressure, coagulation of blood, measuring levels of a few toxics and keeping track of the amount of extracted excess fluid. Since I, as a member of the design team, am a transducer, together with the client and the target group, we decide with which other machines the PAK will communicate. We are responsible what correlations the machine will have with other machines. As transducers, we could correlate the PAK with a remote monitoring system combined with a skilled nurse practitioner to assist when in doubt or when a new alarm goes off. How can we proceed in our studio with reasoning by means of analogies? While working on more insights about the machine, we have come up with some analogies, but we have not dived into this really.
Implications and future research Having coming back to the design case, we can now derive some implications. If we accept that technical mentality is present, then responsibility of designers would be to avoid the risk of reductionism in their work and to investigate it. Analogical reasoning is one approach that tries to avoid reductionism, thus addressing responsibility and design. Simondon sees here a task for philosophers to bring this method of investigating the world further. So, designers and philosophers could further investigate and develop transductive reasoning as a method of proceeding and constructing through analogies and try to bridge 1
A miniaturized machine is better suited to ‘sense’ according to Simondon, but this line of thought is not further discussed here. 2 In line with Simondon’s thinking the anthropologist Tim Ingold wrote on the difference between rhythmic and metronomic oscillation in relation to machines and human perception (Ingold, 2011).
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that method towards design cases. Transduction is suggested as a way of reasoning while designing along or instead of abduction. Can this be done at all? Designers are used to working with analogies, but should they start, like Simondon does, always in the physical domain and then move towards biology and the socio-psychic? Or can designers move back-and-forth? Can we proceed at all with transduction as a way of constructive reasoning in design? Machines are not that advanced yet that they link themselves to other machines without human interference. Muriel Combes phrases it as follows: “It is as living beings that humans are declared responsible for technical beings” basically because we have a past and we are able to “modify the forms of problems to be resolved” […] “Thus we might say that the human plays the role of transducer between machines” (Combes, 2013, p. 60). Until our knowledge is that elaborate that we built machines that can act as transducers and correlate other machines, designers, together with other stakeholders, are responsible for the linking together of machines. Thinking technological progress in terms of evolution, as can be observed in Simondon’s technical mentality, does not go without debate. Besides Simondon being normative from the beginning in his approach of the world, his normative stance towards progress and equality of man and machine must be investigated further. This paper did not elaborate on Simondon’s notion of (immanent) ethics. 1 This could be a line for further investigation. This paper did not build on Simondon’s aesthetics. This may be an interesting line for further elaboration as he sees unifying qualities in aesthetics and it seems relevant for design. The work of Muriel Combes may serve as a first step to explore the action’s of designers as she investigates the significance of labor.2 Why the labor of design exists in the first place is explained by Simondon as well when he discusses the historic separation of energy and information. Together with Simondon’s demarcation of invention versus application, this is a line of investigation as well. Simondon argues that materiality takes over and becomes ‘autonomous’ while inventing or producing a technical object. A ‘threshold’ is crossed during the moment of invention and that moment is value free according to Simondon. As designers we do not cross such a threshold, we work with a functional core, a ‘nucleus’ that is already invented in the past. Designers work on performance of that nucleus and relate it to affect. The division between a functional core and an external layer in the philosophy of Simondon seems problematic in researching design practice. Yet, the field of design thinking may need to take materiality more into account.
1
Simondon’s ethics is immanent. Immanent ethics could be phrased like “The fundamental question of ethics is not ‘What must I do?’ (which is the question of morality) but rather ‘What can I do, what am I capable of doing (which is the proper question of an ethics without morality). […]’ (cf. O'Donnell, 2001) 2 Combes underscores the political implications of Simondon’s philosophy. Taken from the Preface written by Thomas Lamarre, who translated a.o. some of Combes’ work (Combes, 2013, p. xiv).
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In design education we should address and further develop responsibility, work with attention to dive into the machine and, as Simondon would like to do us: liberate machines.1
Conclusion Can we reason in a different and more responsible way as designers? The philosophy of Simondon, and especially his notion of technical mentality and transductive or analogical reasoning shed new light on these questions. A responsibility of designers is to avoid reductionism in their thinking. Within a design project you make many decisions on parts, but you cannot ‘hide’ behind the borders of your task or project.2 Designers cannot ignore that people will regulate machines themselves, but you are responsible for correlating machines together with other people. The approach of this paper, diving into a design case and raising more informed questions by means of philosophy, is on the verge of being a reflective method itself within the constructivist tradition. That must be rethought as well. Acknowledgements: I want to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback. I want to thank my supervisor Kees Dorst for his patience and guidance. I want to thank everywone who read earlier versions of this paper: Dirk Snelders, Daniëlle Arets, Tom Coggins, Jelle van Dijk, Sander van der Zwan (student), Sander Hermsen, Thomas Koet, Ehsan Baha and Annemieke Lamme for carefully reading and discussing earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks to Pieter Vermaas and Lambèrt Royakkers for informal talks on the subject matter. I would like to thank our clients John Stooker and Jasper Boomker for their assignment, but moreover their trust that my curiosity would actually lead to something. Last but not least I thank the team I was part of. Their strategic and empathic approach in the assignment allowed room for the emergence of the paper above. So thank you Lianne Polinder, Nathalie Waser and Marieke Rietbergen from the Netherlands based design agency Design Innovation Group. This research was conducted as part of an external PhD trajectory. No direct funding is associated to this study.
References Chabot, P. (2013). Philosophy of Simondon: between technology and individuation. London [u.a.]: Bloomsbury. Combes, M. (2013). Gilbert Simondon and the philosophy of the transindividual: The MIT Press.
1 2
The notion of “the education of attention” was inspired by Tim Ingold’s work (Ingold, 2001). I want to acknowledge Kees Dorst for suggesting this conclusion.
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De Boever, A., Murray, A., & Roffe, J. (2009). "Technical mentality" revisited: Brian Massumi on Gilbert Simondon. Parrhesia, 7, 36-45. De Boever, A., Murray, A., Roffe, J., & Woodward, A. (2012). Gilbert Simondon: Being and Technology: Edinburgh University Press. Design for Values | Methodology for Design for Values. (2016). Retrieved from http://www.design4values.org/themes/methodology-for-design-for-values/ Doorn, N., Schuurbiers, D., van de Poel, I., & Gorman, M. E. (2013). Early engagement and new technologies: Opening up the laboratory (Vol. 16): Springer. Dorst, K. (1997). Describing design: a comparison of paradigms. Kees Dorst, Rotterdam. Drukker, W. (1989). Haemodialysis: a historical review. In J. F. Maher (Ed.), Replacement of Renal Function by Dialysis: A Text Book of Dialysis (3rd ed., pp. 20-86): Kluwer Academic Publishers. Findeli, A. (2001). Rethinking Design Education for the 21st Century: Theoretical, Methodological, and Ethical Discussion. Design Issues, 17(1), 5-17. doi:10.1162/07479360152103796 Hayward, M., & Geoghegan, B. D. (2012). Introduction: Catching Up With Simondon. SubStance, 41(3), 3-15. Ingold, T. (2001). From the Transmission of Representations to the Education of Attention. In H. Whitehouse (Ed.), The Debated Mind: Evolutionary Psychology versus Ethnography: Berg Publishers. Ingold, T. (2011). Being Alive. London/New York: Routledge. Institute, D. f. V. (2016). Methodology for Design for Values. Mackenzie, A. (2002). Transductions : bodies and machines at speed. London; New York: Continuum. MacNeill, A. (2009). TIDAC: Identity, Analogy, and Logical Argument in Science. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/obgc3qt Manning, E. (2013). Always more than one: individuation's dance. Durham: Duke University Press. Nierstichting (Producer). (2014). De draagbare kunstnier. [Information film] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB-C9gL5cqY O'Donnell, A. (2001). An ethics of the pre-individual. (PhD dissertation), University of Warwick. Read, J. (2015). Relations of Production: Combes on Transindividuality. Historical Materialism, 23(3), 201-214. doi:10.1163/1569206X-12341430 Schรถn, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: Basic Books. Schรถn, D. A. (1984). Design: a process of enquiry, experimentation and research. Design Studies, 5(3), 130-131. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0142-694X(84)90001-2 Simondon, G. (2009a). The position of the problem of ontogenesis (trans. Gregory Flanders). Parrhesia, 7, 4-16. Simondon, G. (2009b). Technical Mentality, trans. Arne de Boever. Parrhesia(7), 17-27.
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Styhre, A. (2008). Transduction and entrepreneurship: A biophilosophical image of the entrepreneur. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 24(2), 103-112. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scaman.2008.03.004 Styhre, A. (2010). The Concept Of Transduction And Its Use In Organization Studies. Emergence: Complexity & Organization An International Transdisciplinary Journal of Complex Social Systems, 12(3), 115-131. Van den Hoven, J., Vermaas, P. E., & Van de Poel, I. (2015). Handbook of Ethics, Values, and Technological Design: Springer.
About the Author: Sander Mulder has been working between 1998-2003 in two Dutch companies as a consultant for innovation and growth. Since 2003 he works from his own company Yppah. He combines his entrepreneurship with teaching at the Eindhoven University of Technology (since 2004) and Delft University of Technology (since 2015). He started an external PhD trajectory in 2012 at the Eindhoven University of Technology
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Space as a Becoming: Fresh Water Expo Pavilion as a Creative Practice for an Architecture to Come Emine Görgül Istanbul Technical University gorgule@itu.edu.tr DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.267
Abstract: In relation to the affective introduction of the post-structuralist paradigm particularly the Deleuzeian discourse to the agenda of architectural theory and praxis, as well as the rising influence of digitalization and its immense penetration into even everyday life, the last decade of the 20th Century addressed to a critical threshold in the successive transformation process of the spatiality in its long-term run. So, by interacting with the Deleuzeian Philosophy and their notions like lines of forces, folding, becoming, smooth space, territory, spatium, this article aims to reveal the relevance of these notions in architectural discourse, as well as discusses the shifting perspectives of design thought and the creative practice, where architectural embodiment becomes a multitude of intensities and an open-ended production. Furthermore, this paper argues the applicability of Deleuzeian thoughts within the architectural design and the notion of space as a “becoming”, by opening up the Fresh Water Pavilion of NOX Architecture into question in terms of unfolding the essences of a transformable-evolvable architectural spatiality. Keywords: space as a becoming; Deleuze; augmented space; Fresh Water Pavilion
Introduction The penetration of the post-structuralist paradigm particularly the Deleuzeian discourse to the agenda of architectural theory and praxis after the late-‘80’s, paved the way to an essential transformation that architecture had been longing for change for some decades of time. So, bifurcating its way from the Deconstructivist unorthodox language, and heading straight to the unknown/unexplored plateaus that are yet to come; the architecture of the late 20th Century has initiated the path of transition to explore the never-ending limits of the architectural ‘becoming’ -the multitude that gathers all the multiplicity of diverse intensities of thought, embodiment, extension, spatio-temporalities etc.- through
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Emine Görgül
hybridizing itself with the contemporary technology and material advancements, where the fine borders between the actual and the virtual, the real and the possible may start to blur into one another. Similar to the Post-War Era of the late 50’s, where again the technological advancements and their immense questioning affect to the architectural realm played the major role in the transformation of that epoch; the late-20th Century’s technological advancements has shifted the turn into higher level this time, where the thought and the tool have redefined the materiality (leading the discourse into new materiality recently) and the existence (departing from the ontological parallelism of flat-ontologies of post-, in- and non-humans), so that we have faced with the ontological shift, where this initially-minor but then quite affective turn of ‘becoming’ in contemporary discourse has need to be addressed. So, with the increasing influence of digitalization and its immense penetration even into everyday life, the last decade of the 20th Century addressed to a critical threshold in the successive transformation process of the spatiality in its long-term run. The advanced digital technologies of ubiquitous computing and generative design, as well as the invention of smart materials in late 90’s (particularly the nano-technological materials that emerged as the programmable matters with their ability to evolve continuously) have all provoked the fluid characteristics of spatiality, and strengthen the transformative capacities of the architectural space through the emergence of computer-augmented territories. Additionally, as becoming body extensions, the advent of novel apparatuses further enhanced the integration of the corporal and incorporeal bodies with the spatio-temporal multiplicities, where the hyper-dimensionality of the space has been triggered to its outmost range, in relation to the ‘soft and smart technologically augmented immanent milieu’ (Spuybroek, 1997). Thus, like Spuybroek points out as the ‘haptonomist’ presence of the body merges itself with these diverse bodily extensions on one hand; On the other hand, as the rising influence of nomadic view of the world further stimulates the unboundedness and endless fluidity of space (Spuybroek, 1997), so that the spatiality becomes a landscape of successive transformations, a topology of emergence or a plane of becoming, which is merely defined by lines of forces, and occurs as an alive territory rather than a limited space of predefined boarders. Therefore this evolvable territory, which is affectable, and being affected by the lines of forces -inner and outer forces-, emerges as an animated existence, an interactive organism. Doubtlessly, like Deleuze and Guattari discuss, ‘this’ novel spatiality emerges as a smooth, transformable space of affection that comes into being under the influence of inner and outer forces acting upon it. They define this space as ‘....a space of contact, of small tactile or manual actions of contact, rather than a visual space like Euclid's striated space.’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 409). Like they also mentioned; being as the space of smallest difference, homogeneity would no longer exist, but only the linking of the proximate points are essential in the formation of the paths (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 409).
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On the other hand, the penetration of more sophisticated devices of ubiquitous computing into the space in general terms have further influenced the generation of these novel spatialities, which depend on more complex synchronized experiences involving multi-modal (push and pull) interaction, so that spatial embodiment could perform endless possibilities of events through maintaining the ever-imagined correlations between the virtual and the actual. Therefore, un-akin to the passive synthesis of virtual procedures, the novel spatiality emerges from open-ended active synthesis of augmented interactive procedures of both the virtual and the actual. So, like Burry mentions, with its ‘pre-‘ and ‘post-‘ becomings (Burry, 2001), this ever-evolving spatiality could also be described in relation to the notion of metastability, and appears as a ‘delicate balance between forces from within and forces from without’ that both are ‘sculpturing’ the flow of information that defines the temporal-spatiality (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 105). Since, these force fields appear as the sources of the ‘information flow’ (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 104) or lines of forces, the novel architectural embodiment becomes a ‘vectoral body’ that could be ‘stretched in a particular direction’ or expandable into further territories (Oosterhuis, 2011, pp. 98-99). Thus, in the contemporary realm, the ‘...design process [could be] perceived as a transaction...’ where/through which the architectural embodiment becomes a transaction milieu ‘facilitating transaction between the users and their immediate environment’ (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 140). In this regard, Fresh Water Pavilion project of NOX Architecture by Lars Spuybroek has been asserted as the critical step in terms of addressing the initial phase of augmented space and the affect of ubiquitous computing in the emergence of spatial becomings. On the other hand, methodologically the design story and the physical formation process of the pavilion have been dismantled to frame the milieu of the discussion. Pursuing this initial step, critical readings of this innovative work have been performed through a Deleuzeian perspective as well as interacting with his notions of machinic assemblages and smooth space, in order to map and to debate the transfiguring perception of architectural space from a static enclosure into an evolvable spatiality of becoming under the multi-modal interaction.
Constructing the Water Pavilion Fresh Water Pavilion was designed within the framework of the ‘water pavilion’ project, which was commissioned by the Ministry of Water Management and Delta Expo in year 1993, by being as a private-public partnership and constructed in Zeeland in the Netherlands in 1997 (Spuybroek, 1997). The initiation was split into two design teams, so that Lars Spuybroek and NOX Architecture was responsible of building the fresh water pavilion Figure 1, while at the same time, again another Dutch architect-Kas Oosterhuis was responsible of building the sea water half of this ‘water pavilion’ project (Spuybroek, 1997).
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Figure 1 The Fresh Water Pavilion, NOX Architecture, 1997.
Like Spiller mentions that Spuybroek’s work focuses more on the ‘interrelationship between real and virtual space and the phenomenology of simply being in and alive in the world’ (Spiller, 2006, p. 54). Spiller defines the pavilion as a synthesis of materiality and immateriality, and also highlights that the categories of real vs virtual, as well as material vs. immaterial are not opposing categories nor ‘metaphysical disagreements’ of the design ideology, but in fact they are ‘…electroliquid aggregations, enforcing each other, as in twopart adhesive…’ and keenly proposing ‘…metastability to induce animation.’ throughout the pavilion (Spiller, 2006, p. 54). Spiller further acknowledges that the interior environment of the pavilion that Spuybroek has generated was a liquid unity that successfully merges ‘hardware, software and wetware’ all together, and ‘…the design of the interactive installation was based on the metastable aggregation of architecture and information.’ (Spiller, 2006, p. 56). In addition to these, Spuybroek also mentions that without detaching the ‘architecture from the exhibition’ and ‘form information’, the pavilion was designed as a ‘medium’, where the ‘material form [was] directly related to the movement of the visitor’ (Spuybroek, 1997). Therefore, basically the connection of ‘behaviour of human beings [the visitors] to the behaviour of the building system’ was the driving concept of the pavilion design (Spuybroek, 1997). Thus, creating an affectional space, or in Deleuzeian terms the smooth space, which is under the various influences of inner and exterior stimuli, has been the key strategy in the configuration of the architectural space, together with the idea of constitution of a temporal territory for multi-modal interaction that leads into transitive subject-object relations. Besides, like Spuybroek points out that the pavilion space not only juxtaposed the movements of the visitors and the animated form of the pavilion, but also blended the ingredients of the various spatio-temporal multiplicities of this heterogeneous space such as; the corporal and incorporeal existences of movements of visitors, or the water, as well as the ‘interactive electronic installation that creates the movement of light, sound and projections, that were activated by actions of the visitors.’ Figure 2 (Spuybroek, 1997).
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Figure 2 The Fresh Water Pavilion, plan, NOX Architecture, 1997.
Visitors entered to the pavilion through a hydraulically operating ‘three dimensional door’, which was opening meanly of a few degrees from its pivot, letting them to confront with the frozen entrance corridor-the ‘glacier tunnel’ Figure 3 (Spuybroek, 1997). Since the existence of the water was the main theme of the design of the architectural space, it was also configured to aggregate gradually within the space, reciprocally as the visitor cascades from outside to inner space, where it further appeared through ‘little wells and springs and mist coming from the ground’ within the space (Spuybroek, 1997). After the entrance tunnel and the emerging water elements; visitors experience a ‘rain-bowl’, where they saw the sky, the formation of the clouds and atmospheric becomings of rain etc. in a time-lapse, and experience the falling rain through the haptic processes (Spuybroek, 1997). In addition to all, a ‘crystal clear water well’ of 120 tones of water was also located to create ‘hallucinatory, sensorial feeling of vertigo’, which was manipulated by the projectors and the gas-releasing mechanisms that were placed under the water, while serving to strengthen the sense of instability and the major concept of water’s environmental closed cycle at the same time Figure 4 (Spuybroek, 1997).
Figure 3 The Fresh Water Pavilion, glacier tunnel, NOX Architecture, 1997.
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Figure 4 The Fresh Water Pavilion, interior atmosphere, NOX Architecture, 1997.
On the other hand, as mentioned above, a ‘...very complex interactive installation, combining different electronic systems of sound, light and projections....’ was designed and configured to ‘....extend the concept of deformation related to action.’ (Spuybroek, 1997). Moreover, ‘as the building tries to liquidize people-“[the visitor] become water”...’, this interactive installation further opened up the program and function to the instability and dynamism (Spuybroek, 1997). Spuybroek also acknowledges that the interior space of the pavilion was consisted of continuous surfaces and were covered with different sensing devices like; light sensors-WAVE, touch sensors-RIPPLE and pulling sensors-BLOB Figure 5 (Spuybroek, 1997). He explains that every group of sensor operated in three levels of interaction. In the first level they operated in the level of ‘topological deformation of a project wireframe grid in real-time’ (Spuybroek, 1997). On the second level they operated in the real-time interaction with the visitors’ acts and reacts within milliseconds by changing the ‘...overall lighting in the interior space and the sound’, and on the third level the three of them operated on the same moment (Spuybroek, 1997). Although, the design of the pavilion addressed a great innovation in conceptualization, yet the system was built up with wetcable technology, where the audio-visual devices were ‘connected through a cable way, that runs through out the building’ (Spuybroek, 1997).
Figure 5 The Fresh Water Pavilion, sensor structures, NOX Architecture, 1997.
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Thus, the Fresh Water Pavilion emerges as one of the preliminary examples of the ‘architecture of variation’, which has been developed under the initial systems of interactive processes that were mechanically triggered and hydraulically operating mechanisms. They merely constitute the literal transformation of the architectural space with their ‘capacities to be affected’ (De Landa, 2009). By all means there is no longer a single definition of spatiality might be possible, nor a spatiality might exist without the experiencer, but a transitive spatiality of subject-object has emerged.
Multi-modal interaction and machinic assemblages The augmented spatial becoming of the pavilion is an interactive environment that works with impulse and reaction oriented systems of sound, light and mechanical systems affecting the form. Similar to Oosterhuis’s definition, the major intention in the design is the ‘art of building bi-directional relationships in real-time’ (Oosterhuis, 2011, pp. 120-121). So, un-akin to the passive synthesis of virtual relations or responsive spatialities; novel spatial relations that have emerged with these contemporary technologies, provide a two-fold interaction a ‘bi-directional dialogue’. They transform the spatio-temporal becoming into a proactive existence, where the received information has been processed and send back in a slightly adjusted or differentiated form (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 114). As Oosterhuis further mentions, this is totally a transitive process that transforms each actor within the dialogue, where the ‘two-way communication’ changes the involving parties ‘after having sent back their response’ (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 114). Meanwhile, it could be also discussed that, since the notion of space, and consequently both the context of architectural space and knowledge of architecture have been altered into evolving spatialities of bi-directional dialogue, as well as the transaction and data-flow; then the novel role of the architect also shifts somehow into a programmer -rather than a creator. Associating with the notion of mutual subjectivity once again, the architect briefly introduces the preliminary correlations and network structure of the potential relations by defining the possible parameters. Furthermore, s/he configures the space as a virtual embodiment of all spatial relations, which might be actualized through the processes of never-ending or unpredictable events. So, in the light of augmented mediators the spatio-temporal becoming emerges in the multiple assemblages of the bodies: the architectural embodiment of the pavilion space, the corporal presence of the visitor, the incorporeal existences of the motion as well as light, sound and tactile experience. Yet, the spatial becoming majorly occurs through the machinic assemblages of the bodies without organs. Like Deleuze and Guattari define the characteristics of the BwO as a spatium, which could be also perceived as intense as an egg (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 169). BwO is a ‘non-stratified, unformed, intense matter, matrix of intensity’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 169). It is ‘production of the real as an intensive magnitude’, that starts from the level of zero (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 169).
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In their discussion on BwO, Deleuze and Guattari refer Spinoza’s book of Ethics as the ‘great book of the BwO’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 170), in terms of the problem of unity and ‘uninterrupted continuum’ of BwO in relation to plane of consistency (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 170-171), where the desire-all the process of production emerges immanent within the system itself (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, pp. 170-171) as well as the influence of the exterior agencies. In addition to this, they also emphasize that BwO is not the enemy of the organs, but the organism, any ‘dominant and hierarchized organization’, a dictating totality, or over-ruling system (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, pp. 175-176). It is a ‘disarticulation of an organism, while opening the body to various connections of matter and energy flows of different intensities’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 178). Besides, BwO exists in the strata, ‘swinging between the surfaces that stratify it, and the plane that sets it free’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 178). Deleuze and Guattari explains that by existing in the plane of consistency through constructing its little machine of assemblage, BwO reveals itself as a connection of desires, conjugation of flows and continuum of intensities (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 178). BwO is not a fragmented body or organs without body. It is a ‘milieu of experimentation’ or a ‘creative involution’ and intensive spatium (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 181-182). It is a ‘map of comparative densities and intensities as well as all the variations’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 182) BwO is a ‘distribution of intensive principles of organs with their positive indefinite articles, within a collective or multiplicity, inside an assemblage, and operating according to machinic connections.’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 182). So that the body becomes multiple, whose ‘function or meaning no longer depends on an interior truth or identity, but on the particular assemblages it forms with other bodies.’ (Malins, 2004); just in the case of the Fresh Water Pavilion, where the ‘transitive subjectivity’ (Bourrioud, 1998, p. 23) transforms the pavilion space into an objectile and further into an extension. So, the BwO is a multiple body that is open to connect with all rhizomatic multiplicities (other corporal and incorporeal multiplicities and intensities) through the process of machinic assemblages. And obviously this is exactly the moment when the transitive body becomes the ‘nexus of variable connections’, which is multiplicity, and that ‘…is not a form, but a complex relation between differential speeds, between slowing and acceleration of particles’ in Spinozian terms (Healy, 2006, p. 128)
Spatial transformability and emergence of smooth space “The sun had not yet risen. The sea was indistinguishable from the sky, except that the sea was slightly creased as if a cloth had wrinkles in it. Gradually as the sky whitened a darkness lay on the horizon dividing the sea from the sky and the grey cloth became barred with tick strokes moving one after another, beneath the surface following each other, pursuing each other perpetually.” (Woolf, 1931, p. 639)
As it has been discussed earlier, the fundamental idea of the pavilion derives from the principle of interactivity, where the architectural space becomes constantly re-configurable in terms of functional, environmental and conditional re-configurability of the physical space
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(Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 8). Since this new spatiality ‘is based on invasion of digital technologies such as parametric design, generative components, file-to-factory production, the process of mass customization and embedded intelligent agents’ (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 13), the spatial components could ‘instantly change their mutual positions’, where the ‘floors can become protoDECKs, wall can become interactive walls, and building bodies can become Muscle Bodies’ (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 137). Indisputably this evolvability and transformability of the space could not be projected apart from the notion of the smooth space. Deleuze and Guattari defines the smooth space as a heterogeneous spatiality that is consisted of non-metric multiplicities (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 477), a nomos a continuous variation and development of form (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 478) Using the example of felt, contrary to a fabric, they define the smooth space as a model of entanglement rather than intertwining. So while distributing a continuous variation, this felt wise structure of smooth space is infinite, as well as open and unlimited in every direction, so that it could be constructible in every direction, without possessing a centre, top or end (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, pp. 476-477). In addition to these they also assert the smooth space as a directional space, which is constructed by ‘local changes of direction’, where the line becomes the vector or the direction of this change (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 478). It is an amorphous and unformed space of affections; a space of haptic perceptions, where ‘materials resemble the acting forces’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 528). Thus, smooth space is a ‘space of distances, which is also occupied by intensities of diverse tactile qualities’, such as sounds, senses etc (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 533); so that the division of this distances concludes in the change of the nature each time (p. 533). Briefly the smooth space is consisted of multiplicities that are non-metric, qualitative, acentered, rhizomatic, flat and directional (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 534). It is a transforming and transmutating system, which is continuously evolving. It is a Spatium, a body without organs (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, p. 528). Besides, contrary to Cartesian algebraic geometrical pre-defined space, smooth spaces operates in a relational system through ‘amorphous accumulation of vicinities or situations of determinations’ (Deleuze and Guattari, 1987, pp. 534-535). In the light of smooth spatial relations, the contemporary ontology of space emerges as a ‘multiplicity, a differentiation while maintaining a continuity.’ (Krissel, 2004). This is a process of becoming, that is no longer a unity of predefined systems or a crystallized structure, but a continuous evolving mechanism of folding and unfolding processes of enliven territorial temporalities that beget under the influence of various affections. As it is known, in relation to their concept of smooth space, Deleuze further introduces the concept of fold, which has been extensively used in the earlier phases of evolvable spaces of generative architecture. He discusses the concept of folding in relation to ‘degree of development and difference’, un-akin to a ‘metric dimensional change’ (Deleuze, 1988, p. 10). Besides, he further explains that fold is not the contrary of unfolding, neither does the tension-release or contraction-dilation mechanisms (Deleuze, 1988, p. 8). However, folding and unfolding are intertwined processes of ‘enveloping, developing, involution-evolution…’
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(Deleuze, 1986, p. 8). Deleuze states that; ‘to unfold is to increase, to grow; whereas to fold is to diminish, to reduce, to withdraw into the recesses of a world. Yet a simple metric change could not ‘...account for the difference between the organic and the inorganic, the machine and its motive force’ (Krissel, 2004). It would be inadequate to resemble that movement does not simply transverse from one greater or smaller part to another, but from fold to fold (Krissel, 2004). When a part of a machine is still a machine, the smaller unit is not the same as the whole.’ (Deleuze, 1986, p. 8). Like Krissel points out, the process of foldingunfolding ‘…encompasses a continuously differentiating entirety’ where evidently the whole does not occurs as ‘…a matter of separate folded “parts”…’, but the ‘…“whole” has also been complicated with the many “parts”…’ (Krissel, 2004). Moreover, Deleuze mentions that these processes of folding and unfolding occurs ‘independent of scale’ (Krissel, 2004), where they become merely a ‘general topology of thought’ (Deleuze, 1986); so that the ‘… “inside” space is topologically in contact with the “outside” space...’ (as the out-side to inside) and ‘...brings the two into confrontation at the limit of the living present’ (Deleuze, 1986) Therefore, the process of folding and unfolding is a ‘...flow from outside to inside...’ and vice versa, ‘...across different scales and independent of distance, where neither is fixed but rather in a constant exchange...’ (Krissel, 2004). As a result, due to this ‘constant exchange’; an architectural embodiment is no longer ‘one space and one site, but many spaces folded into many sites’; ‘a folding of space into other spaces’; ‘a multiplicity where everything is always read and re-read but we never see it in its entirety’ where this ‘reading of space’ becomes the reading of ‘variable intensities of movement’ (Krissel, 2004). Indisputably, the configuration of the architectural space, emerges through unpredictability of the becoming, where as Krissel also points out ‘...new and unanticipated possibilities (between folded, enfolding and yet to be unfolded) occur without predetermined outcomes’ (Krissel, 2004). Thus, within this foldable topological space, or similar to the earlier definition of the topology of becoming/plane of becoming, ‘…where connections acquire vitality, with emerging possible interactions implying multiple fluid thresholds.’; and ‘…the folds become the events themselves.’ (Krissel, 2004).
Fresh Water Pavilion as a becoming and the architecture to come “one can actually feel that one is living inside evolution. One feels the progress of evolution by observing the evolving products.” (Oosterhuis, 2011, p. 146).
Evidently, the major impulse of the post-structuralist paradigm of fluid and dynamic envisioning of the spatial relations have emerged with the indispensable texts of Deleuzeian interpretations that have broken the surface and make the transformation of the discourse and praxis visible particularly with the AD accomplishment of its special issue Folding in Architecture around 1993. By advocating the concepts of fluidity, viscosity and resolvability of spatiality, the transformative capacities of architectural existence through its heterogeneous embodiment has been asserted as the essence of the contemporary
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architectural space of the late 90’s. This has been pursued with the initiations and realizations of literally animated architectural embodiments, which further emerged as the machinic assemblage of organless bodies, and comes into being through heterogeneous synthesis of plug-in’s and prosthesis. They emerge as affectable topologies of becoming, which could be both acting-performing and being acted on. As it has been limitedly discussed within this representation, but immensely has been discussed even beyond architecture, through resonating almost every field of production for decades; the transformative capacities of the spatial becoming, the emergence of smooth space and dissolving properties of striated space, abolition of the Cartesian spatiality, processes of deterritorialization and reterritorialization of the spatio-temporal multiplicities and the engagement of corporal and incorporeal bodies through the process of machinic assemblages have been the essential points in revealing the evident presence of Fresh Water Pavilion project as a becoming. Besides, apart from being diminishing the complex spatial relations, however with an intention of briefly depicting the accompanying concepts and architectural interventions in terms of discussing the architectural space of Fresh Water Pavilion case as a becoming can be summarized like the diagram below Figure 6.
Figure 6 Concept-pairs diagram for the Fresh Water Pavilion Project (Görgül, 2013).
When, getting ahead of the ubiquitous computing and their inclusion into the space, the progressive trans-material based experiments, related to biological models of the recent decade, evidently call the emergence of a novel generation of architectural embodiment that could produce its prospect tissues that might further pleat it into its other embodiments, from which “each being in its turn to unfold its own parts at the right time” (Deleuze, 1988). With its self-organizing capacities, and its encapsulated vital impetus, this autopoetic emergence resembles no longer an augmented embodiment, but a differentiated one, which folds, unfolds and refolds itself to its prospect becomings of its species. As a result, departing from the mechanical modes to topological models and recently to the biological models, and in the light of contemporary paradigm we could state that, the space emerges as a dynamic system ‘where infinite ‘product’ possibilities, processes and virtuality could unfold across a diverse architectural landscape with no definable beginning or end; rather, an evolving continuum.’ (Krissel, 2004).
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References Bourriaud, N. (2002). Relational Aesthetics. Les Presses du Réel. org.: (1998). Esthétique Relationnelle. Burry, M. (2001). Beyond Animation. In M. Burry (Ed.), Animation in Architecture, Architectural Design Special Issue. London: AD Publications. De Landa, M. (2009). Material Evolvability and Variability. In L. Spuybroek (Ed.) Research & Design The Architecture of Variation (pp. 10-17). London: Thames & Hudson. Deleuze, G. (2006). Foucault. London & New York: Continuum Books. org.: (1986) Foucault. Deleuze, G., Guattari, F. (2004). Thousand Plateaus. London & New York: Continuum Books. org.: (1987) Mille Plateaux-Capitalisme et Schizophrénie. Görgül, E. (2013). Space As A Becoming: A Discussion On Transfiguring Ontology Of Space Ad Emergence Of Spatial Mediators. ITU Graduate School of Science, Engineering and Technology, un published Ph.D. thesis. Healy, P. (2006). The Stoical Body. In D. Hauptmann (Ed.), The Body in Architecture (pp. 115-129). Rotterdam: 010 Publishers. İşbilen, E. (2012). Body, Interaction Architecture. In Betonart, Beton, Mimarlık ve Tasarım (No: 35, pp. 38-43). Istanbul. Krissel, M. (2004). Gilles Deleuze: The Architecture of Space and the Fold. Digitalprocess. Retrieved April 1, 2011, from http://digitalprocess.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/gillesdeleuze_fold.pdf. Kwinter, S. (2001). Architectures of Time: Towards a Theory of Event in Modernist Culture. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press. Malins, P. (2004), Machinic Assemblages: Deleuze, Guattari and an Ethico-Aesthetics of Drug Use. NY Amherst: Trivium Publications. Retrieved from http://www.janushead.org/7-1/malins.pdf. Oosterhuis, K. (2011). Towards a New Kind of Building: Tag, Make, Move Evolve. Rotterdam: NAI Publications. Spiller, N. (2006). Visionary Architecture: Blueprints of the Modern Imagination (pp. 54-57). New York: Thames & Hudson. Spuybroek L. (1997). Motor Geometry. In Arch+ 138. V2 Organisation (Ed), Rotterdam: TechnoMorphica. Woolf, V. (2007), The Waves (org. 1931). In H.Trayler (Ed.) The Selected Works of Virginia Woolf (pp. 639-779). London: Wordsworth Editions.
About the Author: Associate Professor Dr. Emine Görgül is an associate professor and vice-chair in Istanbul Technical University-School of Architecture and viting professor in Auburn University Alabama. She has received her B.Sc. (1999), M.Sc. (2002) and Ph.D. (2013) degrees from ITU on Architecture and Architectural Theory and Criticism.
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The Foam: a Possible Model for the Motion Graphic Design Anamaria Galeottia* and Clice Mazzillib a
Anhembi Morumbi University University of São Paulo * argaleotti@me.com DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.276 b
Abstract: This paper discusses the elements of motion graphic design language as a complex system of visual, verbal and sonorous signs, which are simultaneously transmitted and correlated in time and space. Born out of the cinema, the motion graphic design was improved by the television and thereafter the informatics, incorporating the elements of the graphic design. As the technologies of preproduction, production and post-production progressed in the field, a more complex digital audio-visual design could be conceived, enabling an experiment such as the Audio-Visual Foam Model – the main object of this research – to be done. It consists of an immersive and interactive 3D installation where one can experience how these fragile and hybrid elements of language interact between themselves, just like foam bubbles. Entitled “Passion and Violence”, the experiment clearly demonstrates the role played by the motion graphic designer and suggests a contemporary methodology for working with this audio-visual design. Keywords: audio-visual design; multimedia interface; motion graphic design; audio-visual semiotics
Introduction In cinema, television and Internet, the still image that is photography earns a sonorous state, as there are dialogues, music and noises added to it. The image that was once static is now fluid, and because of that new meanings and relations can be established, connecting with the viewers: “que, manipulada, emociona mentes híbridas, consubstanciadas em redes de conhecimento, de sentimentos e redes de memórias”1 (Santaella, 2007, p.194). This
1
“[…] when manipulated, it [the image] touches hybrid minds, consubstantiated in knowledge, feeling and memory networks.” (Author’s translation).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Anamaria Galeotti and Clice Mazzilli
“touching image” (Aumont, 2005) uses the typical language of the audio-visual field, that is, a language originated from constant interchanges and intersections between images and sounds. Another aspect of the image in the audio-visual field is the movement it gains. Deleuze (2005) uses the expression “time-image” to describe it, understanding it implies a complex, stratified time, in which we move simultaneously in various plans (present, past(s) and future(s)). This happens not just because we get our memories and expectancies to arise, but also because the cinema – and even the audio-visual as a whole –, insisting on the length of events, makes us actually feel the time passing itself (Machado, 2009). Taking the same approach, Walter Murch (2004) believes there are two dimensions of the passage of time in the audio-visual field: the horizontal one and the vertical one. In the horizontal dimension, the visual and sonorous events follow each other in a linear, analogue way. In the vertical one, on the other hand, they happen at the same time, in layers. Combined, these two dimensions form various networks, intersecting the linear and the non-linear occurrences to form a liquid and hybrid language. Nowadays, thanks to a collaborative work and the constant development of new software and equipment, the interaction between these audio-visual elements can be explored in infinite ways. The technology invites the user to experiment new possibilities of content creation that are, at times, more real than the actual reality.
Figure 1 The Foam Model at M.I.D.E.N (Michigan Immersive Digital Experience Nexus – University of Michigan).
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Therefore, assuming that the digital audio-visual design is composed of hybrid elements of language (verbal, visual and sonorous ones) that can be arranged in unlimited ways, it is only natural to say that the outcomes of these relations are mutant ones. Any kind of modification in these arrangements will be unique, but also unpredictable, as it generates new possibilities of interaction between the elements. This condition creates a rich, fragile and multifocal structure similar to that of a foam, in which every single bubble can appear or disappear at random. Because of the volatility and the complexity it suggests, the foam was thus chosen to be the model of study of this research, in which the elements of the audiovisual language correspond to the foam’s bubbles. This model – the Audio-Visual Foam Model, as it was called – is based both on Peter Sloterdijk’s Spheres Theory (2009) and Lucia Santaella’s studies on semiotics of language (2005). It was developed in 2014 during a Sandwich Doctorate scholarship at the Stamps School of Arts and Design – University of Michigan and takes the form of an immersive 3D installation.
The Hybrid Language Foam The “hybridity of languages” (Santaella, 2005, p.24) that form the audio-visual design make it as volatile and mutant as the world of the living. If, at first, they lose the stability and firmness provided by the flat media, the graphic elements can now interact with movement, sounds and other “invisible” elements such as the narrative, the montage and the metaphors, creating new kinds of content. Using the foam’s bubbles analogy, it is as if the old bubbles incorporated the new ones, thus growing and increasing their life expectancy 1. The audio-visual design elements work pretty much the same way, as they act simultaneously and don’t have a central cell (referring to Peter Sloterdijk’s2 (2009) line of thought).
A Common Axis3 between Matrices This project never aimed to establish a precise parallel between the audio-visual design and the Foam Model, but to suggest a possible comparison of these two systems. If we assume there is simplicity of complexity (Deleuze, 1995), any parallel made with the audio-visual design – a rhizomatic and pivotal structure – can be considered relevant and plausible. 1
Foam is constantly changing its structure in order to better allocate its cells and provide them stability. Inside these chaotic structures, the new bubbles pop inside the “old” and bigger bubbles, which grow in volume and are then capable to live longer (Sloterdijk, 2009, pg.43). The video “Zero Gravity Water Bubbles” (available at <https://goo.gl/CcDd1K>) illustrates this mutant condition. 2 According to the German philosopher, the world isn’t structured in a mono-spherical way, but in a multi-spherical one. This requires a new vocabulary for the contemporary discourses, one that expresses the volatile relations of the liquid and unpredictable substances that constitute our lives. Sloterdijk’s theory is useful here because it helps us understand the overlap of languages that takes place in the audio-visual design. That is, a set of languages that, without losing their identities, are related in a complex but at the same time fragile way – just like the bubbles. And it is precisely this fragility that grants beauty and delicacy to the whole set. Sloterdijks’s ideas on this particular issue can be found in the last volume of the trilogy Spheres Volume III: Foam). 3 When three bubbles get in contact, an angle of 120° is formed between their sides, defining what we call a “Plateau border” or “Plateau Chanel” (according to Plateau’s laws).
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In terms of semiotics, when a sound is added to an image, it acquires a new meaning in its firstness level and, after that, in its secondness level. A vivid red combined with a sharp, piercing sound abandons its material character (firstness) to be associated with blood and a pointed metal (secondness). In a third stage, it might insinuate the sharp cut of a blade (thirdness).
Video 1 The Movie Seven, from Steven Spielberg, is a good example of the interaction between visual and sonorous elements. Link to the movie’s opening credits: <https://goo.gl/yv4isY>.
Taking that to the foam’s structure, whenever a bubble gets in touch with another bubble, new and irregular dimensions arise, carrying within them a great set of perspectives. Nonetheless, even if this union generates a more complex system, one cannot forget its individual parts – each of the bubbles or, in our case, the various elements of the audiovisual language –, for they are indispensable to understand the structure as a whole.
Figure 2 The foam’s structure (retrieved from <http://goo.gl/BpM1A7>).
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Furthermore, even if each of these elements lose their original shape, it is also true that this new condition – a fragmented and mutant one, just like Mandelbrot’s fractals (1997) – creates a new significance. Therefore, we should not lament the fragmentation brought by the digital technologies, as it provides a new set of interpretations to the audio-visual design. All in all, since this research doesn’t justify itself in a mere theoretical, contemplative way, we can now focus on how the Foam Model was actually conceived and put to test, investigating its creative process1. The whole experiment intended to bring forth an aesthetic experience by deconstructing and then reconstructing the relations between the foam structure and the audio-visual design languages. The process of meta-design (Moraes, 2010) has been an important method during this pursuit, in which every stage was characterized by a great set of questions, just like Bairon suggests: “[…] no mundo das espumas o perguntar define o pensar. Perguntar significa suspender todos os prós e contras.”2 (Bairon, 2010, p.21). There is no linear method that can accompany the act of asking, because asking presupposes a knowledge that is not known (Hillis, 1999 apud Bairon, 2010).
The Foam Model: An Audio-Visual Design Installation As presented before, the basis for the experimental project was the Audio-Visual Design Foam Model, which assumed, in the end, the form of a 3D installation. This installation was designed to take place in a Virtual Reality (VR) space commonly known as “CAVE3”, where a computer is constantly generating tri-dimensional and stereoscopic images and monitoring the user’s geographical position in space. The experiment was developed in 9 months during an International Doctorate Program with a CAPES/Fullbright Scholarship at the Stamps School of Arts and Design – University of Michigan. It was conceived as part of the Doctoral Thesis defended in December 2014 at the School of Architecture and Urbanism of University of São Paulo, which goes by the name of “The Foam: a Possible Model for the Elements of the Audio-Visual Design Language and its Relations”.
1
During the DRS2016 presentation, a Mobile Virtual Reality Headset (http://www.beenoculus.com/en) will be available for the participants to experiment the immersive and interactive 3D installation. 2 “[…] in the foam world, the asking defines the thinking. Asking means suspending all the pros and cons.” (Author’s translation). 3 The name “CAVE” (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) is actually property of the University of Illinois, who, in 1991, conceived this VR space in its Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL). In the case of University of Michigan, their VR space is known as “M.I.D.E.N” (Michigan Immersive Experience Nexus).
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Figures 3-4
Laboratory where the experiment was developed (left) and cube-shaped room (right) where the stereoscopic images were projected.
The Concept behind the Foam Model In her book Matrizes da linguagem e pensamento [Matrices of Language and Thought], Lucia Santaella (2005) categorizes language in three matrices: the sonorous one, the visual one and the verbal one, each of them represented by a specific axis. For the sonorous matrix, a syntax axis; for the visual matrix, a form axis; and for the verbal matrix, a discourse axis. These three matrices and their respective axes are what support the Audio-Visual Design Foam Model. They served as the main guides for the whole creative process and execution of the experiment, helping to build, analyse and improve the Model in a dynamic way. At each stage the system was rethought aiming a better balance between the three matrices. As a consequence, the installation could get consistent in itself. Taking that into consideration, in order to build this experiment, a very particular set of pictures and sounds was selected, all of them directly related to what Brazil was getting through during the 2014 Fifa World Cup. There was an overall suffering permeating our passionate country, a suffering brought by violence in different forms and levels. What this set of images and sounds does is gather these emotions in a narrative, transmitting how the various Brazil’s regions/cultures were dealing with the issue – like a liquid that keeps all the bubbles of a foam united. In this great mass, all the facts, speeches, pictures, songs and textures are thus translated into poetry, innocence and passion. That being said, we now present the six stages – A, B, C, D, E and F – in which the experiment was developed.
Stage A: Planning The first ideas on how to structure the Foam Model included dividing it in three axes (the three matrices of language), which would all be connected by the bubbles forming the Foam.
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Figures 5-8
First conceptual sketches of the Foam Model showing its structure and the bubbles’ layout around axes.
Given the primordial state of the sonorous language – which is under the firstness domain –, the entrance to the installation would be done by the sonorous axis, whose surfaces wouldn’t have any images. The first bubble would be 100% opaque and filled with noises, while the other bubbles would be 50% opaque and carry instrumental sounds and voices
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(this way, bubbles in distant layers could be seen). The next set of bubbles would be translucent (more instrumental sounds and noises), followed by a bubble carrying sounds of voices and surrounded by other bubbles filled with written poems and voices reading them out loud. As for the visual axis, three bubbles filled each with a primary colour of light (the RGB system) would grant unity to the set. Connected to them would be images of both urban and rural scenes, which, by their turn, would be linked to two other groups of bubbles: one with people expressing themselves without gesturing and another one with people dancing (therefore using gests). In another bubble, still connected to the visual axis, there would be images of nature (as a way to explore the many visual textures). Finally, for the verbal axis, the bubbles would either be filled with some kind of speech – poetry and dialogues, for example – or with typographic images such as written texts and concrete poetry. By building the model this way, the goal was to generate a transparency between its elements (the sounds and the images, whether formal or textual) as the user navigated through the Foam, establishing himself new relations, textures and layers of significance. This navigation would be the one to bring formal coherence to the Model, since this was not a traditional audio-visual work. After all, these elements – movement, rhythm, passage of time etc. – are basic elements of the audio-visual language.
Break Time: Reflections and Meta-project This first proposal soon revealed many inconsistencies and technical limitations. In the first place, the idea of an entrance wasn’t interesting at all to the experiment purposes. If the goal was to grant flexibility and diversification to everyone exploring the installation, an opaque entrance bubble wouldn’t let this happen, blocking the view of the many different layers – the one thing that would keep the users navigating through the Foam and help them build a narrative. Therefore, aiming for a more coherent system, a structural decision was taken regarding the Foam. From then on, the bubbles would be built using the dodecahedron’s form, in which every face would be filled with images, rather, plain and translucent photographic references (“the bubble’s film”) through which the viewer’s eyes could navigate freely. By doing so, a great set of visual readings could take place simultaneously, in layers, so as to generate new scenarios. That is to say, the same materials would be able to produce many different outcomes. Furthermore, it would be easier for the users to explore and find their way through the Foam, since the different colour, texture and sound layers would arouse their interest. Choosing where to go and how long to “stay in each sound”, they would command their own immersive experience, taking care of the “movement” element as well.
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Figure 9 Development of the first dodecahedron-shaped bubbles using the software 3DMax.
Another decision was to explore each of the three language axis in nine sub-modalities, thus demonstrating the potential relations and arrangements between sounds, visual forms and verbal discourses. As for the passage of time, adding music to the experiment solved the issue, while the spectator took care of the movement using an Oculus Rift™.
Figures 10-11
Lateral and perspective views of the foam’s structure in Stage A. Each chromatic set would be treated according to its respective axis (verbal, visual or sonorous). The bubbles’ sizes refer to their “purity” level.
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Figure 12 Lateral view of the Model in its final stage (image taken with Autodesk3DMax).
Video 2 Test video done via 3DMax. Available at https://youtu.be/J9mcRmjoM5c.
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Stage B: Dialogues and Experimentations Once the Foam’s structure and the guiding concepts were defined, it was time to develop the elements that would figure in the Model. One of them was the narrative. Just like the general audio-visual works, the audio-visual design requires a common thread, something that grants it coherency. In other words, besides sonorous and visual solutions, the Foam Model needed a script. As mentioned earlier, the chosen theme for this narrative was “Football in Brazil: Passion and Violence”, referring to what the country was experiencing moments before and during FIFA’s 2014 World Cup: a general anxiety mixed with acts of violence towards many football team supporters and popular manifestations against the event. By selecting this theme, not only the experiment’s concept would be defined but a metaphoric scenario would also be achieved, representing Brazil’s atmosphere in that particular moment.
Figure 13 Maps application on the three bubbles’ sets in attempt to “translate” the three language axes and develop the narrative.
Accordingly, in the search for reference images1 and sounds, the following themes were used:
Football; The Brazilian people; Colours; Urban and rural scenarios; Nature; Written language;
1
Photographers and journalists authorized the use of their images for academic purposes. Christopher Pillitz, an Argentinian photographer settled in England, also let some of the pictures presented in his most recent book, Brazil: The Beautiful Game, be used in the experiment.
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Music; Noises; Oral language; Contrasts; Textures;
Besides each and every form of violence and passion.
Figures 14-20
Samples of the reference images used to build the experiment.
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Another important aspect at this point was solving the three primary colours’ representation, both in theoretical and practical terms. Assuming they are the basic colours forming each and every image, how would we represent them as individual concepts, as unique bubbles that had nothing to do with the images contained in them? Moreover, if the idea was having a mutant scenario defined by the user’s point of view, where a certain “filter” could completely modify the project’s visual quality, the colour bubbles would need to be revisited.
Figures 21-23
Figures 24-25
Preliminary studies on the foam’s structure using the reference images and the coloured bubbles.
Studies on the Model’s proportions and scale.
Stage C: Selections Since we are constantly interpreting and signifying the visual world around us, every image carries within it aspects of the verbal matrix. This condition enables new descriptions, relations, narratives and analysis to be created. As a consequence, the images chosen for the Model were, already in their pure state, screaming, shouting ideas. There was no silence in them at all, no blank space. And the sounds weren´t even added yet! What we had by
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then was a pretty disturbing, inefficient syntax. There was too much violence for so few passion.
Figures 26-28
Editing process of a Christopher Pillitzâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photo (discolouring, crop, graphic synthesis and saturation of red).
Figure 29 Sketches for the visual, verbal and sonorous composition of each set.
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Stage D: Revaluations “O metaprojeto, enquanto metodologia da complexidade, pode ser considerado o projeto do projeto, ou melhor, o design do design.”1 (Moraes, 2010, p.25).
As time passed by, the intimacy with all those elements grew, and so did the perception of what each image’s essence was and how they interacted between them. It was getting clearer how to assign a significance to that great set of visual and sonorous forms.
Figures 30-31
In the first sketches, the bubbles’ sets were conceived in a linear narrative, an idea that was soon abandoned in order to give the users freedom to move.
After analysing and revisiting the initial proposals for the Audio-Visual Foam Model, the results were finally translated into new experimentations, setting the beginning of Stage D. It was necessary to achieve a synthesis of the concepts and elements forming the Model, turning it into a coherent system. In the audio-visual works, this is usually done by the montage, an element at first invisible to the viewers, but crucial to the work’s execution. Comparing it to the foam’s structure, this would be equivalent to the liquid permeating every inch of the foam and keeping all the bubbles together, even if hidden behind them. This is precisely what makes the audio-visual design a complex process, since we don’t actually “see” or “hear” what is being created, that is, the tensions inherent to the audiovisual work. After all, there is no narrative without conflict (Santaella, 2005). 1
“The meta-project, as a methodology for the complexity, can be defined as a project of the project itself, rather, a design of the own design.” (Author’s translation).
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Taking that into account, a possible solution for the Model was to create a one and big “background” bubble that settled the experiment’s physical limits, helping the users to navigate through the installation. Other ideas also came to mind concerning this matter, such as a coloured “bubble belt” forming a continuous background or a bubble of big proportions covered by a single 360°-image.
Figures 32-37
First sketches of the foam’s edges (above). The colours blue (“azul”) and grey (“cinza”) were chosen as a reference to the sky and the city’s concrete, suggesting a dichotomy between nature and city. Below, reference images for the “blue” and “grey” edges and photomontages applied to the bubbles’ structure.
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In addition to that, another strategy was adopted for building the Model’s structure: every set of three bubbles would now have the three language axis represented in it. Regarding the sonorous aspect, the issue was always considered having in mind its importance to the audio-visual work. According to Michel Chion (2008), because of their expressive and informative character, the sound “adds value” to the images. Sometimes, when these two elements are successfully connected, the sound even seems to go unnoticed, as if it had always been there. Referring Chion, “that sound merely duplicates a meaning which in reality it brings about, either all on its own or by discrepancies between it and the image.” (Chion, 1994, p.5). To select which kind of sounds would figure in the Model (common and natural noises, Foley-like sounds1, dialogues and music), three parameters were used: the syntax of random events (the act of “feeling” in itself, in which the sounds can keep our interiors moving and establish counterpoints between joyful and melancholic tunes); the syntax of sonorous body (in which voices, instruments and sonorous textures cause different reactions in our bodies, as if the sound penetrated our interiors through the diaphragm); and the syntax of conventional music (a delight for the more sensitive ears). In step with the new proposal for the Model’s structure, the idea was to have a specific sound representative – three of them, in total: one for music (type 1), another for noises (type 2) and one more for speech/dialogues (type 3) – at every set of three bubbles. By this arrangement, equivalent sounds wouldn’t touch or get overlapped. In the first sketch, 27 different sounds were conceived. Assuming, though, there would be a total of nine sets of three bubbles each and that each of these bubbles would represent one of the three language axes (sonorous, visual and verbal), this would cause a disproportion in the whole system. In other words, the higher number of sonorous representatives would get mixed. Therefore, the scheme was rebuilt in order to achieve a total of nine sounds (from three base sounds2), as shown in Table 1.
Figures 38-39
1 2
Studies for the nine groups of sounds (left) and their respective locations/relations (right).
Jack Foley was known to create sound effects while watching movies’ excerpts in an absolutely silent recording studio. Human voice, music and sound effects.
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Table 1 Scheme for the Model’s sounds considering the three bubbles’ sets previously conceived. Sound/
Type 1
Type 2
Type 3
Music
a
b
c
Noises
d
e
f
Voices
g
h
i
Figures 40-41
On the left, sketch of the sonorous sets’ basic structure (already considering the new number of sounds). The letters refer to the sound connecting three bubbles together. On the right, sketches of each sound’s range zone in every set of three bubbles.
At this point, aiming a synthetic system, the criteria for editing the visual and sonorous elements included their inner strength, emotion, rhythm and plot, using the minimal to express their maximum. The sonorous axis then revealed itself to be a central part in this process, helping to maintain each set’s unity. The primary colours, in their turn, placed between the bubbles, would take the role of the “Plateau channels”, also called “Plateau borders” in the Foam, demonstrating how they could function as a language in the audio-visual field. Depending on where the user was, he would see the images through different colour filters, once the three colours of light would be mixed. In the end, this would also determine the experiment’s physical limits, helping the users to know where the course – and therefore the installation – ended. At first, conceived as
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segments of curves, the colour bubbles werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t doing their job efficiently. Now, as whole bubbles, they could define an enclosed space for the Model.
Figures 42-44
Sketch and rendered images of the RGB colours working as Plateauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Channels in the Foam Model.
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Figure 45 Rendered image of the RGB bubbles functioning as border lines for the experiment (the other bubbles are inside them).
Figure 46 Sketch of the RGB bubbles.
Stage E: Post-production Referring back to section 3.2, it wasn’t interesting for the experiment’s purposes to have a fixed entrance. To solve this matter, a sonorous arrangement was settled: at every three bubbles’ set, its sound representative would be located in a specific coordinate, which would indicate whether the user was close to it or not. The sound would be played in a looping, varying its intensity according to where the person was placed: if close, the volume would be louder; if distant, the sound would get lower, eventually vanishing. Only one music would be located in the centre of the installation, playing the whole time. It would hardly be heard when overlapped by the other sounds, but it would be clearly audible when alone. As such, this one music would integrate all the bubbles – the audio-visual design elements – together, reinforcing the passage of time.
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Figure 47 The colours vary depending on the angle the users position themselves.
Finally, for the Stage F, the final results will now be presented.
Stage F: The Final Stage At each three bubbles’ set, the first thing to be seen is a synthesis scheme with every image and sound used (and its respective authors and fonts). The tables below summarize these schemes, presenting the three reference images (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3 etc.) used to build the bubbles in each set and which sound accompanied them (A.S, B.S, C.S etc.). Table 2 Set A – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author A1. Christ the Redeemer
A.S. “Roda de Samba”
“clemmesen”/image ID 883680 www.freeimage.com
A2. BOPE in action
Urbano Holanda, image ID 883680 www.freeimage.com
A3. Rocinha (favela)
Christopher Pillitz
Reinhard Meissner (recording) http://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/164344
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Table 3 Set B – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author B1. Copacabana Beach
Victor Santos/image ID 965702 www.freeimage.com
B2. Rio de Janeiro’s pavements
Cricava Technologies www.freeimage.com
B3. Close-up of BOPE
Christopher Pillitz
B.S. Sounds of the sea and the beach
PGSilva (recording) http://freesound.org/people/pgonsilva/sounds/182113
Table 4 Set C – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author C1. Police/young people
www.anonymousbr4sil.net
C2. Avenue’s asphalt
Joao Trevisan/image ID 1117091 www.freeimage.com
C3. Police/journalist
C.S. “Tu vai sentar quando eu mandar”
Rodrigo Paica/RCPI/Folhapress www.folha.uol.coom.br
Mc K9/Dj Edy https://soundcloud.com/nanyeloisa22/sets/dj-edy
Table 5 Set D – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author
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D1. Supporters fighting
JAFP Photo/Heuler Andrey http://on.rt.com/q3h6p1
D2. Poster “Nosso patriotismo vai além de futebol”
Santini Iskra http://noticias.terra.com.br
D3. Police/supporters
Gazeta Press http://espn.uol.com.br/noticia/362766
D.S. Supporters in a stadium
Danilo Horio http://tinyurl.com/o4mxepb
Table 6 Set E – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author E1. Poster “Tem tanta coisa errada que nem cabe em um cartaz”
NETFLU/Paulo Brito www.netflu.com.brw
E2. Street football
Christopher Pillitz
E3. A street of blood
E.S. Children in the water
ARG/Crop and Drawing
Reinhard Meissner (recording) http://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/20008
Table 7 Set F – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author
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F1. Sunset
Marina Avila/image ID 1430035 www.freeimages.com/profile/donzeladef
F2. Poster “Tem tanta coisa errada que nem cabe em um cartaz”
NETFLU/Paulo Brito www.netflu.com.brw
F3. Ball with no children
Author’s intervention/Mask applied to a picture
F.S. Sounds of randomness (SP)
RFAche (recording) http://freesound.org/people/rfhache/sounds/96037
Table 8 Set G – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author G1. Waterlily
Felipe Daniel Reis/image ID 1211326 www.freeimages.com/photo/1211326
G2. Football in the mud
Christopher Pillitz
G3. “Metafavela”
Christopher Pillitz
G.S. Forest sounds
Reinhard Meissner (recording) http://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/13725
Table 9 Set H – Images and Sounds Image/Sound
Author
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H1. Bahia bracelet
Julio Babin/image ID 571361 www.freeimages.com/photo/571361
H2. “Mãe de santo”
Christopher Pillitz
H3. Flag
Christopher Pillitz
H.S. “Paz, Carnaval, FutebolInsolação do Coração”
Agatha Vitória (composition) Marcella Galeotti (cover) https://goo.gl/WOHEua
The installation course happens as follows: Christ the Redeemer looks down and embraces a “favela” (slum) that dances innocently in a “Roda de Samba” (people gathered in a circle to play music). A Special Police Operation Battalion (BOPE, in Portuguese) suddenly appears to “protect” the society, and we then jump to a beach full of people enjoying life (in a carefree way). While “Que bonito é” plays in the background, we take a close look at a policeman attacking a journalist, who ends up in many newspapers’ front pages (poor him!). We can even hear the official voices ordering the “overheated” young people to sit down (“Sit down! Sit down! Sit down!”). The angels then speak to us, and their colourful manners hold our attention. A sad one says everything will be fine and gives us his blessing. We continue our course feeling our souls lighter (but in fact what we really want is to stay there forever…). But then the children rolling in the water make us feel deeply ashamed, watching that street full of blood and silent posters. We then enter a violent and cruel uproar shrouded in the supporter’s drum beats and it scares us. Knocked down, we leave it just to find ourselves looking in the eyes of proud and simple boys, whose faces demonstrate a miserable happiness. We then hear a water lily telling its love story to a group of boys playing football – our country’s flag watches them – and to supporters fighting policemen in a grandstand. Exhausted, we end up in the streets, where distant sounds tell us that nothing ever stops. Fireworks invade our ears and we say goodbye to that scenario, at the same time wishing to cry and to be back to it.
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Video 3 Young people inside the 3D installation. Available at https://youtu.be/SROMp9R1Ulc
Video 4 Inside the 3D Installation “Passion and Violence”. Available at https://youtu.be/w3KVqLAfq3g
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Immersion registers
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Figures 48-57
Photographic images taken during the Audio-Visual Foam Model Installation.
Figure 58 Video recorded during the open show of the Audio-Visual Foam Model Installation. It contains all the interviews that were made with the users on the occasion (available at: <https://vimeo.com/passionandviolence/passionandviolence>).
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Final Considerations “Passion and Violence” could be the name of every motion graphic designer’s creative process in the 21st century, since these two words summarize what is going on in the present and future times: the simplicity of the complexity. The brainstorming process works pretty much like the immersive experience in the 3D Model Installation, where the foam is constantly dealing with filled and “empty” spaces. If there is something that holds our interest, we detain ourselves in that specific spot. If, on the other hand, something else draws our attention, we go after it even if it defies our “comfort zone”. In any case, we never actually abandon the experiences we just left. We keep in touch with them in a passionate state instead, and this dynamic attitude helps us keep our thoughts connected in our minds. Just like the transparent bubbles and their tridimensional overlaps, we, too, navigate through transparent layers of events, combining memories, music and other people’s voices, for example, to form a complex and hybrid narrative – a complex and hybrid language, that is. And so we immerse in a design of relations. Hopefully, this experimental project will be able to help other audio-visual designers from the present (and possibly the future), who are constantly dealing with “violent” creative processes that transform and rip apart barriers. Among the alternation between past and present, between new ideas and old statements, passion must be the one to overcome violence. “[…] the sounds are really beautiful and beautifully layered […] the transparency of imagery brought it to the complexity of the narrative […] for me it was really amazing go through different sounds and there is something about imagery and the transparency of the bubbles that works very beautifully with the immersive experience. The imagery is not flat as just a photograph, […] it is not an experience as just photograph but now it is actually something vibrant and came to life ” (Multimedia artist Natasa Prljevic’s declaration after experiencing the 3D Foam Model Installation).
Life. This is what a designer offers to a spectator using the elements of motion graphic (audio-visual) design language.
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Deleuze, G. (2005). A imagem-tempo. São Paulo: Ed. Brasiliense. Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1995). Mil platôs: capitalismo e esquizofrenia. São Paulo: Ed. 34. Hollis, R. (2000). Design gráfico, uma história concisa. São Paulo: Martins Fontes. Ivanov, V. V. (2009). Dos diários de Serguei Eisenstein e outros ensaios. São Paulo: EDUSP. Lupton, E., & Philips, J. C. (2008). Novos fundamentos do design. São Paulo: Cosac Naify. Machado, R. (2009). Deleuze, a arte e a filosofia. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar. Maturana, H. (w/d). Las Organizaciones en la Era del Conocimiento. Available at: <http://autopoiesis.cl/antecedentes.htm>. (Accessed 7 Oct. 2014). Metz, C. (1977). A significação no cinema. São Paulo: Editora Perspectiva. Moraes, D. de. (1997). Limites do design. São Paulo: Studio Nobel. Moraes, D. de. (2010). Metaprojeto: o design do design. São Paulo: Blucher. Morin, E. (2000). A inteligência da complexidade. São Paulo: Peirópolis. Morin, E. (2007). Introdução ao pensamento complexo. Porto Alegre: Sulina. Murch, W. (2004). Num piscar de olhos. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editora. Obrist, Hans U. (2010). Uma breve história da curadoria. São Paulo: BEI Comunicação. Parente, A. (2004). Tramas da rede: novas dimensões filosóficas, estéticas e políticas da comunicação. Porto Alegre: Sulina. Santaella, L., & Noth, W. (1998). Imagem: cognição, semiótica, mídia. São Paulo: Iluminuras. Santaella, L. (2007). Linguagens líquidas na era da mobilidade. São Paulo: Paulus. Santaella, L. (2005). Matrizes da linguagem e pensamento – sonora, verbal, visual: aplicações na hipermídia. São Paulo: Iluminuras, FAPESP. Sloterdijk, P. (2009). Esferas Vol. III: Espumas. Madrid: Siruela. Todorov, T. (1970). As estruturas narrativas. São Paulo: Perspectiva. Weis, E., & Belton, J. (Ed.). (1985). Film sound: theory and practice. Nova York: Columbia University Press.
5.2 Magazine and Newspaper References Bairon, S. (June/Aug. 2010). A comunicação nas esferas, a experiência estética e a hipermídia. Revista da Universidade de São Paulo (n. 86). São Paulo: USP. Branigan, E. (1976). The Articulation of Color in a Filmic System. Wide Angle (v. 1, n. 3). Machado, A. (1993). Fotografia em Mutação. Jornal Nicolau (n. 1). Retrieved from www.uel.br/pos/.../wp.../downs-uteis-fotografia-em-mutacao.pdf (Accesed 10 May 2011). Moran, J. M. (2011). Influência dos meios de comunicação no conhecimento. Revista Ciência da Informação (v. 23, n. 2). Retrieved from http://revista.ibict.br/index.php/ciinf/article/viewArticle/1186 (Accessed 4 April 2011). Murch, W. Dense Clarity – Clears clarity. Transom Review (vol. 5/issue 1). Retrieved from http://goo.gl/Hkh2dC (Accessed 8 May 2014). Pontes, R., & Niemeyer, L. (2010). Matrizes de Linguagem e Pensamento como Análise da Identidade Televisiva. Revista Triades Transversalidade, Design, Linguagens (vol. 1). Retrieved from http://goo.gl/UfDRwB (Accessed 7 July 2014). Rossi, D. C. (2007). O Audiovisual Digital como Design de Relações. Retrieved from www.cibersociedad.net/recursos/art_div.php? id=228 (Accessed 3 March 2011).
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Salles, F. S. (2008). A Trilha Sonora no cinema. Retrieved from www.scoretrack.net/trilhas.html (Accessed 11 Nov. 2011). Schincariol, Z. (2006). Design Grรกfico e design em movimento: tipografia e expressรฃo. VII Congresso Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento em Design. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/hiwRr5 (Accessed 10 Apr. 2011). Silva, W. O., & Sousa, M. C. S. McLuhan, Deleuze e a linguagem do cinema: a imagem. Retrieved from www.bocc.ubi.pt/pag/bocc-mcluhan-deleuze-oliveira.pdf. (Accessed 1 Jun. 2011). Wade, N. J. (1994). Hermann Von Helmholtz (1821-1944). Perception (v. 23), 981-9.
5.3 Movie References Kopelson, A. (Producer), & Fincher, D. (Director). (1998). Seven [Motion Picture]. Los Angeles: New Line Cinema.
5.4 Image References <http://goo.gl/akhgd2> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <www.folha.uol.com.br> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <www.freeimages.com/photo/654835> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://http://goo.gl/YkYgG1> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://goo.gl/dxJPnL> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/logjam)>. (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://goo.gl/CKYOgK> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <www.freeimages.com/photo/1198739> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://goo.gl/TRjTx1> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://www.henripousseur.net/bio.php> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http:// www.freeimages.com> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-40422010000900028> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://espn.uol.com.br/noticia/362766> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://filmsound.org/foley/jackfoley.htm> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://freesound.org/people/pgonsilva/sounds/182113> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/13725> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/164344> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://freesound.org/people/reinsamba/sounds/20008> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://freesound.org/people/rfhache/sounds/96037> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://goo.gl/7Hgg9L> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://goo.gl/CKYOgK> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://goo.gl/TRjTx1> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://noticias.terra.com.br> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://noticias.terra.com.br> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://on.rt.com/q3h6p1> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://tinyurl.com/o4mxepb> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://www.ccba.com.br/asp/cultura_texto.asp?idtexto=371> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1211326> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015).
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<http://www.freeimages.com/photo/571361> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://www.freeimages.com/profile/donzeladef> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://www.netflu.com.br> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <https://soundcloud.com/nanyeloisa22/sets/dj-edy> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <http://goo.gl/dxJPnL>. (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015). <www.freeimages.com/photo/1198739> (Accesed 8 Nov. 2015).
About the Authors: Anamaria Galeotti Professor, researcher and Undergraduate Coordinator for the Graphic Design Department at the School of Arts, Architecture, Design and Fashion of Anhembi Morumbi University (SP, Brazil). Her interests are Language, Audio Visual Design, and Design as Interactive Experiences, Experimental and Creative Processes. Clice Mazzilli Associate Professor, researcher and PhD advisor at the School of Architecture and Urbanism of University of SĂŁo Paulo. Coordinates the Editorial Production Laboratory and has experience in the following subjects: Visual Design, Experimental and Creative Processes, Playful and Interactive Spaces.
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Experience – A Central Concept in Design and its Roots in the History of Science Johannes Uhlmann, Christian Wölfel* and Jens Krzywinski Technische Universität Dresden *christian.woelfel@tu-dresden.de DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.365
Abstract: This paper traces the roots of theories on experience and experiencing in the history of science of the 19th and 20th century. From the concepts of Wilhelm Dilthey (1833–1911) and others, a phenomenological model of experiencing has been derived for industrial design around 1990, which is to be published internationally for the first time in this paper. From a current view, this model does not provide new opportunities on designing or evaluating user experience. However, it can be used to bridge theories and findings from the late 19th and early 20th century with current models of user experience, which are more comprehensive and can be used beyond the description of experiencing. These models also offer methods for designing, evaluating and even quantitatively measuring user experience, or have a stronger focus on emotions. Keywords: product experience; experiencing; history of science
Introduction Since about the year 2000, there is a notable increase of considering experience and experiencing being core issues in design (see Bargas-Avila & Horbaek, 2011 for a review). Accordingly, design itself is being referred to the concept of experience as one of its bases. What design actually is, can then be explained from this reference. The question that arises is whether the choice of the term experience as a central one for design is a temporary phenomenon, or whether the term is truly suitable to provide the field with a conceptual foundation that is epistemologically valid and empirically verifiable. In the still short history of design as an institutionalized discipline, the conjunctures of basic terminologies and underlying concepts followed the rules of the market in recurring characteristic cycles, as concisely described by Jonas (1994).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Johannes Uhlmann, Christian Wölfel and Jens Krzywinski
Already in the 1980s, experience has been cautiously introduced as a core concept in the academic engagement with industrial design (e. g. Uhlmann 1986). After the Millennium, the concepts of user experience (UX) became more prominent in research as well as in practice of design. Today, there is a broad agreement on experiencing being a fundament of design, thus being part of many design curricula (see Jordan 2000, McCarthy & Wright 2004, Desmet & Hekkert 2002, Desmet 2003, Hassenzahl 2004, Thüring & Mahlke 2007, Roto et al. 2011, Wölfel & Thoring 2014). As it is the case for design research in general, there is also a special notion of experience in the German academic and design practice. The German translation for experience, both as the verb erleben and the noun Erlebnis, has a notable etymological background. Its root refers to the word Leben (to live or life). Erleben and Erlebnis are considered untranslatable into other languages, leading them to become loanwords for other languages in their heyday at the beginning of the 19th century (cf. Gadamer 1960/1991, Pongratz 1967). At the end of the 19th century both terms made their way into the world of science, and until the 1930s they were a central focus of academic work in several fields. In German everyday culture and language, the term experience, in the sense of its German equivalents erleben and Erlebnis, is used to designate particular, mostly sensual events that stand out from the undifferentiated happenings in everyday life. It is used as a synonym for feelings. The term has become a value-based one as the zeitgeist caused its clear and rigid meaning to transform into an amoeba-like notion, which is flexibly usable according to demand and capable of a diversity of meaning (cf. Bischof 2008:38). Equally noteworthy as the etymology of erleben is its current standing in academia. If referred to scientifically outside the design domain, erleben or experience, will most likely be associated with the discipline of psychology as the science of human experience and behaviour. Anyone outside the field of psychology will likely expect to find an ample amount of information on this topic in the field's current literature. However, one might be disappointed. According to Sichler (1998), the meaning of the term is hardly taken into account today by the discipline itself, »...in spite of it being a basic concept« of psychology. He argues: “...currently, academic psychology does not concern itself either conceptually or empirically with the human experience. ... Neither today's basic theoretical discussion nor the current prominent research or inquiry reflects an understanding of this problem.” (Sichler 1998: 68).
In contrast, prior to the middle of the 20th century, the use of the term of experience or erleben was flourishing. Researching relevant literature from this period, a third noticeable feature occurs: the academic preoccupation with erleben or experience has essentially been a German concern. This aspect may limit the scope of research, but does not truly facilitate finding a comprehensive overview of research to date and the scope still remains unclear. Figure 1 depicts a rough historical timeline of academic preoccupation with the concept of erleben.
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The Trowel – an example for product experience Prior to further detailing of historical research on experience, one example of product experience from the literature is referred to. The chosen example for product experience relevant to design is the trowel by Gert Selle (1997): “From a time when I had to earn my money as a labourer in construction I remember that quarrels would sometimes arise for seemingly petty reasons. If, in the morning or after the break, someone had by mistake picked up the tools of another – a shovel or a trowel –, they would raise their voices, even fists. The reason became apparent to me when I realized what that meant: your own tools. A mason needs his trowel and no other. The handling of a tool of the same type, with a hardly distinguishable or even identical form, is not at all the same. Apart from the unconscious, emotional attachment to a tool that was long-tried in the use of one's own hand there are physical distinctions which are to be respected: the grip of the fist around the smoothworn handle of the trowel, the unmistakable notch in the wood, the hardened rest of cement on the crank. And then there is the peculiarly ground edge on the metal, shaped by the countless individual movements of smoothing layers of plaster. The weight of the heavy, wet material in need of been being tossed exactly at the right spot requires a well-balanced tool which is suited to allow for that single unerring tilted hurl by the wrist. With another trowel – that is as if one had to change tennis racks in the middle of a match. A mason knows immediately whether he is holding his own or another man's tool in his hand.” (Selle 1997)
The terms experience and behaviour in the definition of psychology are polar and complementary terms at their extremes. Superior to them is consciousness which includes the unconscious. There are transitions between conscious and unconscious processes, wherein the unconscious captures activities that exist in reality, but are not attended by consciousness (Städtler 2003: 1132f.). At the centre of consciousness between the pair of polar opposites experience and behaviour, stands the ego with its integral parts of the unconscious's super-ego and id. The ego is the centre of experience and behaviour (Scharfetter 1991: 61), or the core of consciousness, which everything refers to. The terms ego-proximity and ego-distance are to designate the distance of contents of consciousness to the core of consciousness. Relations, as described in the example with the trowel, can be deciphered for an analysis of experience through intentionality. The term intentionality refers to the basic characteristic of consciousness to always relate to something. In doing so, it is entirely irrelevant for consciousness whether this reference point is an outer or an inner object (Brentano 1874). With regards to content, the intentional relationship between Gert Selle and his trowel is differentiated and rich in the variety of its references. All single intentional events as well as the intentional relation altogether, hold a considerable positive significance for his ego, from which the meaning of these events for this ego is derived. The term ego-proximity is meant to describe the distinctive evaluative aspect of intentional events, which in the given example carries a positive connotation. Any event with ego-proximity is experienced as a direct involvement and with a certainty that cannot be doubted.
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From an analytical outside perspective, there are nineteen intentional events in the description of the trowel experience that are characteristic for direct (pathic) involvement. One can imagine Gert Selle before he took up his job at the construction site. At that time he naturally knew that construction sites, trowels and much more existed but he was not yet personally implicated. All of these held a status of ego-distance. It was experience outside myself. The number of comparable intentional events to the trowel would be zero. If this example could be generalized, then the criteria for successful design would be the highest possible ego-proximity, and ego-proximity would be the categorical imperative of design. Objects with a status of ego-proximity are integrated into the total individual intentional multiplicity of relations that a person is capable of. With great ego-proximity the object becomes an essential part of the person. The objective of ego-proximity in design makes the personality the reference point or system for customer-oriented and experience-centred design.
A timeline of engagement with experience in the history of science The timeline in figure 1 reveals that experience, or Erleben, appears only once, namely as psychology of experience (Erlebenspsychologie). This name sums up four trends in psychology between 1890 and the 1930s. All of them have contributed significant research on the subject of experience, but in the designations of their respective approaches, the term experience does not even appear. It is also likely that psychology of experience did not exist as such, but was instead used by Pongratz (1967) in order to summarize various psychological schools that had emerged at the time. Those fields with academic relevance to experience are depicted on the timeline. It can be noticed that psychology of experience only had a limited historical duration. In other fields the term experience remained in use. Outside the field of psychology, phenomenology and psychiatry and psychopathology are to be named. Within the field of psychology, it is psychology of emotions with its concepts, which researches emotions in relationship to the entirety of consciousness – for example in the cognitive theories of emotions. A further example within psychology is the development in modern neurosciences since the 1980s. At the time it was recognized that emotions and feelings had been scientifically neglected, so that the period was occasionally referred to as emotional revolution (Dörner & Stäudel 1990, cf. Städtler 2003). In neurosciences, this interest was fueled by the possibilities of modern medical imaging, and from then on the number of popular scientific publications on the subject, particularly on the relationship between the emotions and the brain, has constantly increased. One of the influent authors is the American neurologist and neurobiologist Antonio R. Damasio (1994, 1999). His books contains a neurobiological theory of experience which is classified, however, under the general terms of emotions and feelings: here he deals with experience as a subject, but it is not labeled as such. Taking into account the older literature on experience, one will be surprised not to find major findings in today's scientific mainstream compared to earlier research. Each of these trends, the ones illustrated on the
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timeline being just examples, as well as the psychology of experience, emerged around 1890 (figure 1).
Figure 1 selected concepts of experience in a timeline of history of science
In the psychological schools of experience (including those shown in figure 1 but also others) before 1950, experience, as in the German word Erleben, was a basic term with a singular and non-exchangeable significance, used to make sense of life, the world and humans, including oneself. Looking at the timeline, it becomes clear that not everything that is about experience is labeled as such, and it has to be added that, not everything labeled as experience actually refers to experience in that sense. The later statement applies in particular to the colloquial use of the word in present everyday culture, as has been pointed out above. Irrespective of different fields, there existed a common basic understanding about the phenomena of consciousness and experience during that period. Consciousness was understood as the collective designation for sensing, perceiving, imagining, thinking, memory, feelings, motivation etc., thereby including physical processes that one can become aware of in one's mind. Experience refers to the fact that one can become aware of this totality of consciousness only through self-reflection, because it can be accessed in its entirety only by the individual human possessing that consciousness. The one factor or unifying principle which reveals that experience really is the subject matter, though it may not be labeled as such, is holism. The term holism (Ganzheit), along with Gestalt, first appeared in psychology around 1900, and both terms were to some extent used
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synonymously (Pongratz 1967: 286, 301). Holism, the full breadth of consciousness, in that it contains all capacity for human consciousness, including the unconscious and physical processes, and the fact that experience is characterized by its direct and implicit involvement, thus only accessible to the experiencing person, are the most important attributes in the common understanding of the concept of experience. It was Wilhelm Dilthey who first coined a valid conceptual formulation for experience as a process (erleben) and as an event (das Erlebnis). Even after one hundred years his approach still remains viable. He first formulated an elaborate philosophical and psychological concept for a scientific theory of experience, one that is based on an empirical foundation and free from any theoretical presuppositions and transcendental positing (CW I, VI). Dilthey established the human sciences as an experiential science of cognitive perception and thus also became the founder of an epistemology of the humanities (Schischkoff 1991: 142). For him, a psychology of experience is correlated to this purpose and is the empirical foundational discipline for such an epistemology. Dilthey's empirical maxim is »to strive to understand life out of itself« (CW V: 4). His superior principle is holism, which he viewed in relationship to experience more decisively than any other predecessor of the later gestalt psychology or holistic psychology (Ganzheitspsychologie, Pongratz 1967: 260). From the year 1883 stems a very concise definition of experience by Dilthey himself that sums up his approach while giving it concise expression. Dilthey defined: »Experience is consciousness as it is here for me« (Dilthey 1883/1982, cf. Riedel 1978: 72). For him, experience is the personal encounter with life of the individual human in his or her respective society and in the historical context by means of his or her own consciousness from the inside out. Experience is life, one's own life as well as that of others and of the world at large from the inner perspective. Next to holism, temporality is a second defining category for life and experience in Dilthey's approach. »This life contains temporality as its first categorical determinant which is foundational to all others.« (CW VII: 192). According to Dilthey, experience is a process (a stream of events, a happening, a procedure) and not a static seizable event. The temporal character of this process can be demonstrated through a self-experiment by applying a mechanical process model, which makes it differ in complexity compared to the real experiencing. One may imagine the concepts of past, present and future with the intention to determine with the results of this experiment just what the past, present and future are. You can start with the present that may be imagined as now. Try as you might, you will not be able to grasp the contents of either one of these three concepts. If you think that you ›caught‹ the present, it is already gone and has become future, and likewise with the past, before one has been able to seize it, it has become the present, etc. Already this simple experiment, despite its simplification compared to reality, hints at fundamental differences between physical time and experienced, inner time. Common to both is the observable process effect, which, however, in the ›real‹ and non-simulated experiencing emerges in a different manner. In the ›real‹ experience, the parts are not causally connected but, just as in fiction writing, they are connected through content via
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events. ÂťThe time which separates and binds them is not measured by clocks but by that which happensÂŤ (CW VI: 221). The process of experience or experiencing occurs in two structural types: as a structure of succession and structure of simultaneity (Pongratz 1967: 261). The structure of succession describes experience as a continually passing process. The structure of simultaneity refers to everything that happens simultaneously in any given moment of this process. It is like a cross-section through the structure of succession. Dilthey himself called the structure of simultaneity a state of consciousness, status conscientiae (CW V: 201ff.). In varying proportions it contains will, cognition (thinking) and emotions. In figure 2 this structural correlation is depicted by the interpenetration of the two structural types. The relationship between the structure of succession and the structure of simultaneity and their parts is established through contents. Unlike in the self-experiment they are not formally and causally connected with each other but are connected by a common meaning of these parts to the whole of greater units of experience and the course of life. Meaning is an evaluation method which selects, bundles and combines parts according to their significance in any moment of life in reference to the entirety of the life course. The essential factor of life is the now as a part of the present in the sequence of past-presentfuture of which it is the center. The now rests upon on the past and is oriented towards the future. The material that it uses from the past depends on its evaluation in the moment in reference to the whole of the life course. What has been experienced can lie far in the past or be very close. The extent to which the now reaches into the future depends on the meaning of the anticipated goal in the context of greater units of experience and the overall life course.
Figure 2 simplified scheme of the theoretical framework of Dilthey
Dilthey defined the experience as the smallest unit of the process of experiencing. It is the smallest unit which possesses a coherent meaning within the course of life. Its structural
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setup is the same as the one of the process of experiencing – a structural parallelism that also holds for any action as a unit of activity as described by Hacker in his modern theory of action regulation (1986, 2005). The permanent effectiveness of both structures takes place unnoticed in the background of the conscious experiencing and acting for example, as a kind of primal experience. This primal experience may be imagined by comparing the dreamless state of deep sleep or that of unconsciousness with a pain-free waking state. In both instances we are alive, but we are only conscious of it in the waking state. Compared to the other two states, in the latter we will be able to at least make out a sort of background noise in the interiority of the mind. This is where experience begins. Some attributes of the primal experience are
its non-conceptual quality in the sense that it has not yet been conceptually processed or is not conceptual at all, its irrevocability and incorrigibility. Thoughts can be revoked and revised, experiencing and the experienced cannot, its capacity to accumulate, its passive and unquestionable character. One is under the impression that it came into being and exists without one's own efforts or somehow comes from the outside. Moreover, it gives the sense that what one experiences is in itself true. Doubt of this being so is only possible through reflection, when one no longer abides in that state of primal experience, the certainty that one has experienced it him- or herself its fugitiveness, frailness and vulnerability (corruptibility in Dilthey's terms, CW VIII: 79, 140, CW VII: 229, 325).
In the primal experience, it is not details which are captured but greater units of meaning. Heidegger gave the well-known example of the lectern according to which, upon entering an auditorium one conceives the lectern not by the number of its brown wood panels, its geometric or other features but as a whole unit of meaning as the lecturing desk in this auditorium. Notable for the primal experience is that within it the subject-object separation of one's normal and habitual perception seems to disappear; suddenly it does not exist any longer. In the intentional state of greatest ego-proximity (as in the trowel example) the object seemingly dissolves in the ego or merges with it. The primal experience is immediately disrupted by the reflection of consciousness on itself, which is the reason why it cannot be accessed at the time of its occurrence by the experiencer him- or herself, as is the case with experiencing in general. Experience that is describable in speech and written is always based on remembered and reflected experience. What is called primal experience here should not be confused with the unconscious, for its characteristic is that it is accessible to the state of conscious being (or consciousness) since its capacity for consciousness is an inherent attribute.
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All these characteristics taken together reveal that experience is an inner, highly private and intimate matter. The form of communication of this inner to the outer is the expression. Leibniz provided a conceptual definition that remains relevant even until today describing an expression as the ways and means with which the soul conveys what is happening within it (Schischkoff 1991: 52). Through the performance of expressions, the human is able to assure him- or herself of his or her own individual existence. The expression also is the interface via which experience becomes communicable. Expression can mean many different things – facial expression, gestures, body language or odor, a scientific work, a technical construct, art, and so forth. For the reader of this article, the expression of experience in the design object will be of interest. With the triad of experience – expression – understanding, Dilthey developed a basic model for a general theory of understanding (hermeneutics, from the Greek word hermeneutiké: the art of interpretation). This methodology is for him the counterpart to the methodology of explaining in the natural sciences. In the natural sciences the focus is to reveal relationships in the form of laws regarding mechanical, causal and deterministic structures so as to control and predict them. Dilthey's hermeneutic interest lies particularly in literature and poetry. Also, in general it would seem written text and natural language as the means of expression are of high scientific interest not just in the field of hermeneutics. The relationship between experience and expression is immediate because their characteristics are identical. What is revealed outwardly of the experience is expression. The expression is the medium by which experience shows itself outwardly. The expression makes the participating in the experience of the other or others possible. Dilthey formulated markedly: »Understanding is the re-finding of the I in the you; ...« (CW VII: 191). His perception scheme for this is: »Only what the mind has created, it will understand.« (CW VII: 148). During the last years of his life Dilthey began, though never completed, the attempt to delineate a typology of worldviews based on his concept of experience and on the methodological triad of his hermeneutic approach. According to his conception, world views are the result of effort that became historically effective in striving to combine the three fundamental forces of world-relation – cognition, will and emotionality – into a coherent interpretation of reality as a whole. It is in this context that the question of experience as a stable, lasting and fashion-independent basic term in the design appears. Several reasons may account for the cessation of the psychology of experience which is shown as the freestanding white block in the lower middle of the timeline. Later on, the psychology of experience was labeled as typically German and stigmatized as a philosophical, speculative, subjectivistic and ultimately unscientific psychology (Pongratz 1967: 255). From 1913 onwards, psychology of experience was accompanied by behaviorism, which had emerged in the United States. The school of behaviorism was historically the most important school of psychology and dominated academic psychology worldwide up until the cognitive revolution in the 1960s (Städtler 2003: 115). Behaviorism was the attempt to explain the human as well as the animal by biological mechanisms that can be observed, registered and
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measured from an outside perspective. In its first and most radical phase, consciousness was not taken into account at all. Also other familiar concepts such as perceiving, imagining, thinking, wanting and feeling had to be dropped (Pongratz 1967: 312). Two trends in psychology with comparable goals, one being the so called psychology of consciousness (Bewusstseinspsychologie), which historically preceded psychology of experience, and the other being behaviorism, form a temporal frame around the psychology of experience. Psychology of consciousness was the first scientific psychology as such. With its emergence, psychology liberated itself from philosophy to become a discipline of its own. Psychology of consciousness arose from 1850 onwards in Germany following the standards of the successful sciences, with physics being its vanguard. Its research aimed at discovering causal laws of nature in the psyche through experiment, as had been done in physics with inanimate nature. Conclusively, it is altogether likely that the psychology of experience became the victim of ideological prejudice and the temporal framing of positivist and rationalist trends in science.
The term experience and its structure Measured by the citation rate in the course of history since the 17th century, the most popular approach to verify experience as a basic term has been the method of doubt employed by mathematician and philosopher René Descartes (1637). Descartes asked himself what it is that he can know to be true, since he is able to doubt everything. He finds that everything can be doubted, the world as perceived by the senses, even god – but he cannot doubt that it is he himself who doubts. What he is left with is cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am), a conclusion which he arrives at by having applied his capacity for thinking according to the laws of logic and by drawing on his entire knowledge base. But the Cartesian cogito ergo sum may also be interpreted as I have consciousness, or I have a soul, therefore I am (cf. Eckhard 2010: 36, Husserl 1985: 147f.). The cogito ergo sum of Descartes includes any »I perceive, I remember, I fantasize, I reason, I feel, want, will. The I or self that all these properties refer to or that lives inside them in various ways: active, suffering, spontaneous, receptive or otherwise behaving« (cf. Husserl 1985:1 48), is the content of cogito ergo sum. When applying the core characteristics of experience, including in particular the structure of simultaneity and the attributes of the primal experience, an interpretation of the cogito ergo sum as I experience, therefore I am is entirely plausible. Interpreted in the sense of experience, the cogito ergo sum is given a much wider scope of meaning and becomes inclusive of the faculty of cognition as in I think, as well as the will and the emotions. The various interpretations of Descartes« cogito... were apparently caused by the then current interests in the prevailing socio-historical environment. In the context of Kant's epistemology which has a strong influence well into the present, as well as the accomplishments in mathematics and natural sciences since the 17th and 18th century, the reading of cogito as thinking would be the »correct« one at the time.
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Karl Jaspers (1883–1969) called the certainty regarding experience that Descartes found basic knowledge. This is the knowledge which »... is the prerequisite for all other knowledge«, and it »... is also called a priori. As such, it is the universal a priori of consciousness per se …«, »it is the historical a priori of the present humanness in its world as it has passed down in tradition, [with each individual human being] as a unique gestalt, as an incarnation of the general, gaining its meaning and weight not through the general but from the infinite This.« (Jaspers 1913/1948: 275). This general a priori from Jaspers, this fundamental knowing regarding the nature of one's own existence, was described by the mathematician and philosopher Edmund Husserl (1859–1938) in his phenomenology as an essential attribute of the human species (Husserl 1985). With this distinction, Husserl carries on Descartes' approach but also considerably transcends him methodologically. In the movement of existentialism in the 20th century (with Jaspers, Heidegger, Sartre, Camus being some of its proponents for example) this a priori was the fundamental certainty from where all philosophising started.
A Structural model of experience From the above it may be concluded that experience is the comprising designation for the common, daily, significant as well as insignificant, mostly private, unforeseen processes of consciousness that unceasingly occur within our minds as an unbroken stream of content. Experience is the world, as perceived in the interior of one's mind, including the perceiver himself. Experience is the most comprehensive term for everything we perceive in our minds. However, experience is a very wide-ranging concept which comprises the entire being of the human with his or her capacity for consciousness. What has been discussed so far with regards to the primary features of the concept of experience emphasises this statement. For daily use, for example in design practice, a readily applicable, universal, stable and lasting conception of experience is sensible and necessary in order to determine whether that which is labelled as experience is truly about experience. Based on what has been presented so far, Dilthey's structure of simultaneity seems to be a possibility. It describes the makeup and composition of experience in their entirety according to the characteristics or elements that constitute it, i.e. the thinking, perceiving, wanting and feeling at a given moment in time. It this, that Dilthey called a state of consciousness or status conscientiae. In the language of engineering, this model describes the structural makeup of experience at that particular moment.
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Figure 3 a »compass model of experience« for navigating through experience
Because of its function for navigation and finding out whether that which is labelled as experience is truly about experience, this structural model may serve as a »compass model of experience« (figure 3). The structural model has been derived from the classical theories of capacity in the Western world which comprise age-old experiences and reflections of humanity on its existence (Eisler 1904, Städtler 2003, et al.). Here, the model is referenced to Dilthey and will subsequently be outlined in further detail in its historic context. The theories of capacity start from the fact, that as of old, humans have contemplated whether and how their psychic abilities, or in modern terms, cognitive capacities, can be structured and classified. In Eisler's philosophical encyclopedia (1904) more than one hundred authors in Western culture are mentioned in this category since the time of the Pythagoreans. The most prominent classification for modern times is the one by Johann Nikolaus Tetens (1736–1807). From him stems the trichotomy of psychic abilities, later called forces of consciousness, as will (conation or volition), reason (cognition) and feeling (emotion) (Tetens 1777), which remains valid in psychology up until today. Tetens' trichotomy was adopted by Kant in his Critiques (Kant 1790). Before and still during the time of Tetens and Kant, it was assumed that will, reason and feeling were separate autonomous activities because they were not deducible according to the principle of sufficient reason. Therefore Kant was able to prioritize reason, whereas he compared the effects of emotions with diseases. The view of will, reason and emotion as autonomous activities was overcome at the end of the 19th century. Early experiments in gestalt psychology, among others, already showed that it was not possible to reconcile this assumption with the results of the experiments. What they revealed was that no process of
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consciousness consists of pure thought or conception, or pure will or pure emotion alone. Rather it became obvious that will, reason and emotion are dispositions within one and the same process of consciousness which also includes the unconscious (Stern 1911/1994). In this process either one psychic factor will outweigh the others. Hence it is always to be kept in mind that reason, will and emotion should be treated as separate functions only for analytical or didactic purposes. If the compass-model is applied to the reductionist definition of experience as it is used in contemporary everyday language and culture, one will end up with an outcome as shown in figure 5. This exaggerated scenario suggests that reason was almost amputated from experience.
Figure 5 the model applied to contemporary common understanding of experience â&#x20AC;&#x201C; deprived of cognition part
Figure 6 the concept of experience reduced to intellect as practice in functionalism at the time.
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Applying the compass model to the doctrine of functionalism, the use of experience, in its widened definition, would lead to a scenario as depicted in figure 6. Unaware of the fact that experience in its wholeness effects consciousness at all times, whether one wishes it to or not, concept and design objectives were directed towards a mere cognitive perception. It was assumed that design had to be as rational and objectively justifiable as is technology. Efficacy of emotions was denied except for basic reactions of the sense organs to external stimuli. Again somewhat exaggerated, figure 6 aims at showing how experience was understood in the context of functionalism at the time. In the compass-model in figure 3, instead of reason, will and emotion, their modern day designations, cognition, conation or volition and emotion are used. The modern term cognition comprises the entirety of non-emotional and non-volitional functions of the psyche. It thus refers to those processes that are active in the formulation of understanding and knowledge, particularly to perception, imagination, thinking, comprehension and reasoning (Städtler 2003: 544). The terms conation and volition describe psychic functions connected to the will. They stand for directed psychic activities, for aspirations, drive and, in general, for desire (Dorsch 2004: 4987). Emotion is the summarising designation for changes in the psycho-physiological state induced by outer and inner stimuli and/or cognitive processes (Fröhlich 2002: 148). The functional feedback relationship between the various parts of the compass-model, indicated by the reversible arrows in figure 3, may be imagined in such a way that cognitions embody knowledge material as well as its related processes, which are connected with the two other parts in a regulatory relationship. The cognitive processes analyse, break down and singularize. Conation provides the impetus and is the directing faculty for goals and their variable handling according to circumstances. The emotions are located between them as evaluative entities, and they have the task to integrate the actions of the person via a multitude of moderator signals. By means of mechanisms of evaluation and adjustment the emotions assure the integrity of action which otherwise may be lost as a result of singularising (Dörner & Stäudel 1990).
Discussion The aim of this paper was to bridge the historical findings of academic research on experience with the current debate on product experience and user experience. Especially before 1945, the English language was not as predominant in academia as it is today. Hence, the differentiation between the verb erleben and the noun Erlebnis became more attention then and may enhance current research. Since there were (and are) different academic disciplines being engaged with the concept of experience using different terminology, there are theories and findings that are worth being considered relevant for design. Although Freud's concept of ego, super-ego and id are discussed controversially (if not disproved as »non-scientific«), the aspects of the conscious and the unconscious (cf. tacit and implicit knowledge) are still an issue in current psychological research and may be linked to design research as well.
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In this paper, a phenomenological model of user experience has been presented, which was derived especially from the Work of Dilthey in the early 20th century. This model can be used to understand and describe product experience in a contemporary sense. It does not provide any assistance for designing or evaluating particular user experiences. However, due to its similarities with other current models of user experience, it links these to comprehensive theories in the history of sciences, which engaged with the concept of experience between the middle of the 19th and the middle of the 20th century. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Martina Dietrich, who helped to translate parts of this paper from German language.
References Bargas-Avila, A., Horbeak, K. (2011) Old Wine in new Bottles or Novel Challenges? A Critical Analysis of Empirical Studies of User Experience. CHI 2011, Vancouver. ACM Bischof, N. (2008) Psychologie. Ein Grundkurs für Anspruchsvolle. (Psychology. A Beginners Course for the Sophisticated Reader). Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer Brentano, F. (1874/2009) Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint.London Routhledge. Damasio, A. R. (1994) Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain. NY: Avon. Damasio, A. R. (1999) The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness. NY: Harcourt Brace. Desmet, P. M. A. (2003) A Multilayered model of product emotions. The design journal, 6(2), 4–13. Desmet, P. M. A., Hekkert, P. (2002) The basis of product emotions. In W.Green, P. Jordan (Eds.), Pleasure with Products, beyond usability, pp. 60–68. London: Taylor & Francis. Descartes, R. (1637) Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences (Discours de la méthode). Available: www.earlymoderntexts.com/ assets/pdfs/descartes1637.pdf (Accessed 25 February 2016). Dilthey, W. (1883/1982) Gesammelte Schriften (GS) [collected works], Vol. 1 (1883/1922), Vol. 5 (1924), Vol. 6 (1924), Vol. 19 (1982). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Dörner, D. Stäudel, T. (1990) Emotion und Kognition. In: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie. Psychologie der Emotion, Scherer, K. R. (Ed.), S. 293–344. Göttingen: Hogrefe Dorsch (2004) Psychologisches Wörterbuch [Psychological Dictionary] Bern: Hans Huber Eckardt, G. (2010) Kernprobleme in der Geschichte der Psychologie. [Core problems in the history of psychology]. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften Eisler, R. (1904) Wörterbuch der philosophischen Begriffe, 2. [Dictionary of psychological terminology, Vol. 2]. Berlin: Mittler und Sohn Hacker, W. (1986) Arbeitspsychologie. Psychische Regulation von Arbeitstätigkeiten. [Psychology in the workplace. Psychic regulation of activities in the workplace]. Berlin: Deutschmark Hacker, W. (2005) Allgemeine Arbeitspsychologie. Psychische Regulation von Wissens-, Denk- und körperlicher Arbeit. [General psychology in the workplace. Psychic regulation of knowledge work, cognitive work and physical work]. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber Hassenzahl, M. (2004) The Thing and I: Understanding the relationship between user and product. In M. Blythe, C. Overbeeke, A. F. Monk, P. C. Wright (Eds.). Funolog: From Usability to Enjoyment (pp. 31–42): Kluwer Academics Publishers.
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Husserl, E. (1985) Die phänomenologische Methode, Ausgewählte Texte I. [The Phenomenological Method, Selected Texts I]. Stuttgart: Verlag Philipp Reclam Jun. Jaspers, K. (1913/1948) Allgemeine Psychopathologie. (General Psychopathology). Berlin und Heidelberg: Springer Jordan, P. W. (2000) Designing pleasurable products. London: Taylor & Francis. Jonas, W. (1994) Design – System – Theorie: Überlegungen zu einem system-theoretischen Modell von Design-Theorie. [Design – System – Theory: Reflections on a system-theoretical model of design theory]. Essen: Verlag Blaue Eule Kant, I. (1790/1914) Kant's Critique of Judgement. Macmillan & Co London. Available: http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/1217, accessed 25 February 2016. McCarthy, J., Wright, P. C. (2004) Technology as experience. Cambridge: MIT Press. Pongratz, L. (1967) Problemgeschichte der Psychologie. (The History of Problems of Psychology). Bern, Munich: Francke Verlag Riedel, M. (1978) Verstehen oder Erklären?: Zur Theorie und Geschichte der hermeneutischen Wissenschaft. (Understanding or Explaining?: On the theory and history of hermeneutic sciences). Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta Roto, V., Law, E., Vermeeren, A., Hoonhout, J. (2011) User Experience White Paper. Bringing clarity to the concept of user experience. Available at: www. www.allaboutux.org/files/UX-WhitePaper.pdf. Scharfetter, C. (1991) Allgemeine Psychopathologie. (General Psychopathology). Stuttgart, New York: Georg Thieme Verlag Städtler, T. (2003) Lexikon der Psychologie. (Encyclopedia of Psychology). Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner Selle, G. (1997) Siebensachen – ein Buch über die Dinge. [Odds and Ends – A book about things]. Frankfurt, New York: Campus Verlag Sichler,R. (1998) William Stern und das menschliche Erleben. Historische und terminologische Anmerkungen zu einem vergessenen Grundbegriff der Psychologie. [William Stern and the human experience. Historical and terminological commentaries on a forgotten basic term in psychology] In: Psychologie und Geschichte. 8 (1/2), pp. 67–84. Stern, W. (1911/1994) Die differentielle Psychologie in ihren methodischen Grundlagen. (The Differential Psychology in its Methodological Fundamentals). Bern: Verlag Hans Huber Tetens, J. N. (1777) Philosophische Versuche über die menschliche Natur und ihre Entwicklung. (Philosophical Essays on Human Nature and its Development). Leipzig: Weidemann Thüring, M., Mahlke, S. (2007) Usability, aesthetics and emotions in human-technology interaction. In Interantional Journal of Psychology, 42(4), 253–264. Uhlmann, J. (1986) Industrielle Formgestaltung für Studenten technischer Grundstudienrichtungen. habilitation thesis, TU Dresden. Wölfel, C. & Thoring, K (2014) From Gestalt to Experiencing – 2d/3d Design Fundamentals Education in Different Contexts, in: E. Bohemia, A. Eger, W. Eggink, A. Kovacevic, B. Parkinson & W. Wits (Eds.) Design Education & Human technology Relations, Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education, University of Twente, Enschede, pp. 20–25. About the Authors: Johannes Uhlmann was trained as an industrial designer at the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin. He holds a PhD and habilitation in design from Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, where he was
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full professor in industrial design engineering between 1992 and 2007. Christian Wölfel, PhD is a trained industrial designer, researcher and lecturer at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. His research interests include, among others, product experience in professional domains. His own design practice focuses on industrial goods and medical devices. Jens Krzywinski, PhD is junior professor in industrial design engineering at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany. Based on the users’ experiencing as well as needs of all stakeholders, enterprise and market he conducts research and development of products, systems and services for professional scenarios of tomorrow and beyond.
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SECTION 18 EMBODIED MAKING AND LEARNING
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Introduction: Embodied Making and Learning Marte S. Gulliksena*, Camilla Grothb, Maarit Mäkeläc and Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainenb a
University College of Southeast Norway Helsinki University, Finland c Aalto University, Finland *marte.gulliksen@hit.no DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.605 b
Theory on the embodied mind has evolved rapidly in the past decade, influencing research on cognition in all strands of science. Also the field of Design has started to investigate the implications of understanding the Mind as fundamentally dependent on the embodied interaction with our environment for development. Design- and craft researchers have for long consulted theories close to phenomenology in the search to understand the implicit and experiential knowledge that emerges in the act of making. Theories on Tacit Knowledge (Polanyi, 1958, 1966), Affordances (Gibson, 1986; Norman, 1988) and Knowing-in-action (Schön, 1983) may all be directly linked to the theory on the embodied mind (Damasio, 1999; Johnson, 2007, Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, 1999; Noë, 2004, 2009; Thompson, 2010; Varela, Thompson, & Rosch, 1991). Although there are different strands, the general theory on the embodied mind may be summed up to the following four E:s - The mind is Embodied, thus we are situated and our understandings are Embedded. Our mind is Enacted through the body. We offload meaning on external objects, thus our mind is Extended (Damasio, 1999; Johnson, 2007). For design research, this theoretical framework opens up issues of practice for theoretical pondering. If all knowing is facilitated by the body and emerges in interaction with the environment, making with materials appear as a fundamental way of gaining knowledge. As making is contributing to intrapersonal sense making and development it may be used as a platform also for interpersonal sense making and communication in education as well as in the design practice. In this thematic session papers explore the phenomenon of embodied making and the conditions for it within the wide spectrum of design processes, and how embodied making contribute to learning during the design process. Papers presented in this additional theme considers the basic conditions and consequences of being a body in the world, experiencing This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Marte S. Gulliksen, Camilla Groth, Maarit Mäkelä and Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainen.
and learning through working in materials. The term ‘design processes’ is used in a broad sense: the focus is on the act of making, and the maker could thus be everyone engaged in creative processes making objects in a material. Understanding making processes and cognitive processes as embodied, has consequences for our understanding of learning and knowledge, supporting previous research drawing on an epistemological stand of knowledge as activity (Dewey, 1958; Eisner, 2002; Molander, 2015; Schön, 1983). Such accounts can now be referred to as embodied learning (Juelskjær, Moser, & Schilhab, 2008). An embodied learning perspective highlights the link between the body’s activity and cognitive development in learning, expanding the traditional view of learning as an abstract, mental process (Bengtsson, 2013; Engelsrud, 2006; Moser, 2014). This has the potential to contribute to the debate in the present global educational situation, where engagement in making processes is not readily aligned to international tests, standardization, or educational accountability (Bamford, 2006). The thematic session provides both an incitement and a platform for presenting and discussing various aspects of embodied making and learning. The papers presented in this track discuss core issues of embodied making and learning through various theoretical and methodological means. The first presentation, The role of sensory experiences and emotion in craft practice by Camilla Groth, links sensory experiences with emotion and sense making in craft practice. Drawing on new knowledge on embodied cognition that upgrades the importance of emotions in risk assessment and decision making process, she presents a practice-led study in clay throwing. Groth’s analysis of how emotions and experience guided her risk assessment, decision making and problem solving expand current knowledge of the role of emotions and sensory experiences in the embodied making processes in craft practice. In our second presentation, Learning what it means to learn: first-hand experience in the process of material transformations, By Biljana Fredriksen we dive into the sense making process of children and learn how their embodied material exploration aids in new understandings. The paper present specific examples of three year old children’s first-hand experiences in material transformation, and discusses how these experiences relate to their learning. Fredriksen proposes that even adult learn through such experiences, and that it even could be an arena for learning how to learn. After these two introductory presentations we will hear about two research projects that combine design research with neuroscience. Traditionally the mind has been studied separately from the body, but as a new understanding about the embodied mind has emerged there is a need to research the embodied mind in action. The first of these two presentations, Why making matters—developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning by Marte S. Gulliksen, envisions a new project development that would be truly interdisciplinary. Knowledge from the rapidly developing neurosciences shows promise to generate insight that could be useful for confirming and expanding current knowledge on how embodied making contribute to
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learning. Gulliksen has taken on the challenge to write about relevant neurobiological knowledge from a woodcarver and craft teacher perspective through a series of articles. In her paper, she presents this strategy and the aims for such a project development, tentative ideas for future interdisciplinary studies that has been put forth in the series of articles and the methodological framework for the project: an integrative applied research approach. The next paper presents a project combining the study of mind and body in design and craft practice, the Handling Mind project. The results of this three year project are presented by Marianne Leinikka, in the session on Physiological measurements of drawing and forming activities. In the Handling Mind project, psychophysiological experiments were designed and conducted to study the relationship between making and feeling, handling creative situations and the embodied mind. Through a careful design comprising visual and material design in three different tasks, the study’s findings present new knowledge expanding current knowledge on embodied activities. In the following three presentations the theme of embodied making are further expanding the topic from other perspectives. In her presentation Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing knowledge through making Anna Louise Piper bridges the gap between implicit and explicit knowledge. The paper presents a practice-led study of the development of composite woven garments, and uses this study to demonstrate how process object analysis advance creative practice, in particular in regards to the transition from hand production to digital production. Piper’s paper is in the form of a 'visual essay' to bridge the gap between implicit and explicit knowledge. The situatedness of a practice put demands on the design process to be embedded in real world situations and to consider the lived experiences of the users. The following presentation; Experience Labs: co-creating health and care innovations using design tools and artefacts by Tara French, Gemma Teal, and Sneha Raman, presents the project “Experience Labs”. Experience labs are an approach developed to facilitate meetings between those receiving and delivering healthcare. The labs are means of co-creating new solutions by shared insights from participants from both ends of the health care, to engage in the design process and experience new concepts. This paper brings in a new perspective on embodied making through design for healthcare.
5. References Bamford, A. (2006). The Wow Factor: Global Research Compendium on the Impact of the Arts in Education. Münster: Waxmann. Bengtsson, J. (2013). Embodied experience in educational practice and research. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 32(1), 39–53. Damasio, A. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York. Hartcourt Dewey, J. (1958). Art as Experience. New York: Capricorn. Eisner, E. W. (2002). The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Yale University Press. Engelsrud, G. (2006). Hva er kropp? [What is body?]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
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Fredriksen, B. (2016). Learning what it means to learn: first-hand experience in the process of material transformations. Paper presented at the DRS2016, Brighton. French, T., Teal, G., & Raman, S. (2016). Experience Labs: co-creating health and care innovations using design tools and artefacts Paper presented at the DRS2016, Brighton. Groth, C. (2016). The role of sensory experiences and emotion in craft practice Paper presented at the DRS2016, Brighton. Gulliksen, M. S. (2016). Why making matters—developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning Paper presented at the DRS2016, Brighton. Gibson, J. J. (1986). The ecological approach to visual perception. New York: Psychology Press. Johnson, M. (2007), The meaning of the body. Chicago: Chicago University Press. Juelskjær, M., Moser, T., & Schilhab, T. (2008). Learning Bodies. Åarhus: Aarhus University Press. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1999). Philosophy in the flesh: The embodied mind and its challenge to western thought. New York: Basic Books Leinikka, M., Huotilainen, M., Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P., Groth, C., Rankanen, M., & Mäkelä, M. (2016). Physiological measurements of drawing and forming activities. Paper presented at the DRS2016, Brighton. Molander, B. (2015). The Practice of Knowing and Knowing in Practices. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Moser, T. (2014). Læring og kropp. Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk Noë, A. (2004). Action in Perception. Cambridge: The MIT press. Noë, A. (2009). Out of our heads. New York: Hill and Wang. Norman, D. A. (1988). The Psychology of Everyday Things. Basic Books, New York. Piper, A. L. (2016). Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing knowledge through making Paper presented at the DRS2016, Brighton. Polanyi, M (1958). Personal Knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. New York, NY: Doubleday. Schön, D. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books. Thompson, E. (2010). Mind in Life: Biology, phenomenology and the sciences of mind. London: Harvard university press. Urquhart, L. W. R., & Wodehouse, A. (2016). Form as an abstraction of mechanism Paper presented at the DRS2016, Brighton. Varela, F.J. & Thompson, E. & Rosch, E. (1991). The Embodied Mind: Cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge: The MIT Press.
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About the Authors: Marte S. Gulliksen Professor of Culture Education, Culture Production and Aesthetical Practice at University College of Southeast Norway. She is leader of the University’s Embodied Making and Learning research group and a member of the Human Ingenuity Research Group, Western University. Camilla Groth Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Design. Her main interests lie in haptic experiences and embodied cognition in design practice. Maarit Mäkelä Associate Professor of Practice-Led Design Research. Mäkelä also works as an artist at the junction of ceramics and fine art. Her main interest is the creative process. Pirita Seitamaa – Hakkarainen Professor of Craft Studies. Her main interest is to analyse expertise in design, the nature of the design process and the role of external representations such as drawings.
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The role of sensory experiences and emotions in craft practice Camilla Groth Aalto University. camilla.groth@aalto.fi DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.337
Abstract: Emotions have traditionally been overlooked in the practice of scientific research. In the field of design and craft research, too, personal feelings and emotions have been considered as interfering with the rigour and validation of the research. However, as a result of findings in neuroscience, a new understanding has emerged, providing emotions a central role in risk assessment and decision making processes. This has implications also for how we understand craft practice. In this practice-led research, a craft practitioner analysed five video-recordings of herself while throwing clay blindfolded. The researcher-practitioner specifically studied critical incidents in the throwing process and made a detailed analysis of how felt experiences and emotions guided her in her risk assessment, decision making and problem solving processes during the throwing sessions. The research suggests that sensory experiences and emotions moderate and guide the making process and are thus important factors in craft practice. Keywords: Craft-practice, critical incidents, emotions, decision making
Introduction Emotions and feelings have traditionally been overlooked in science (Damasio 1994; 1999; Niedderer & Townsend 2014) and thought of as interfering with logical thinking and an objective stance (Damasio 1999, p. 39). In the field of Design, too, it has been said that general accounts on experiential feelings are less interesting than the meaning of that experience, that is, the content (Biggs 2004, pp. 3-4). However, research work on the theory of somatic markers by neuroscientist Antonio Damasio (1994) in particular indicates that feelings, which arise in the body of the subject, are important in decision making processes (pp. 173-175). This aspect is also interesting from a design- and craft research perspective, as there are now several examples of research where emotions and feelings are elaborated on as contributors to knowledge in the field (Groth, Mäkelä & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen 2015; This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Camilla Groth
Niedderer & Townsend 2014; Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Laamanen, Viitala & Mäkelä 2013; Mäkelä & Latva-Somppi 2011 etc). Although it is natural to talk about emotions in an art context, and emotions are generally accepted in craft practice, the connection of emotions to the felt experience of a material are less elaborated on in design research. In user-experience tests and in co-design contexts, the felt feel and associations of the feeling of a product are considered important and well researched. However, in research on design and craft practice, the subjective sensory experiences of the maker are not recognised as important contributors to generalizable knowledge. Connecting emotions to decision making and problem solving in design and craft practice is perhaps elaborated on in general speech, in a studio setting, but not well documented in research. However, due to the relatively new possibilities for craftsmen to conduct research on their own practice in a systematic way, new knowledge now has an opportunity to emerge. This present research investigates the role of emotions in the risk assessment and decision making process in clay throwing practice. The research questions were: 1) What are the emotions that arise from the tactual sensory experiences of a throwing event, especially during critical incidents? 2) How do these emotions, affect: A Risk assessment? B Decision making? C Problem solving? It is an analysis of the critical incidents (Flanagan 1954) occurring during five clay-throwing sessions, recorded during an earlier case study (Groth et al 2015). The original case study was conducted in order to research the ways in which a crafts person thinks through her hands – in other words, aspects of embodied cognition in craft practice. The research design included blindfolding as a means to enhance the tactile aspects of the throwing experience. The idea for enhancing the tactile aspects and the whole research context is grounded in the author’s basic doctoral research on tactile and embodied knowledge in crafts, and the related previous study on deafblind maker’s ways of making sense through their enhanced tactile sensitivity (Groth, Mäkelä & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen 2013). This research is situated within a larger research project called Handling Mind, funded by the Academy of Finland, which aims to link together art- and craft research and neuroscience, focusing on the socio-emotional, embodied and brain-functional aspects of making with hands. Methodologically, the study uses traditional methods for researching practice in design, such as activity sampling (Muukkonen, Hakkarainen, Inkinen, Lonka, & Salmela-Aro 2008), thinking aloud and protocol analysis (Ericsson & Simon 1993) and critical incidents (Flanagan 1954), coupled with less traditional and more experimental methods such as blindfolding. The use of video analysis software helped in studying the rapid progress of the throwing sessions and the thinking aloud accounts given by the researcher-practitioner during the events. By detecting the situations where emotions surfaced – the critical incidents – emotions connected to the felt experience of the material during the events were coded and analysed in connection to risk assessment, decision making and problem solving. This research aims at exposing a fragment of this process and is seeking general aspects that
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could be applied to craft processes in a wider context. In the following, some theoretical starting points are first discussed and the general research setting and methods described. The data analysis is then discussed in greater detail, and, finally, the results are presented.
Embodied cognition and somatic markers In design and craft practice, a great portion of knowledge making happens in the contact between body and material. In order to research this space, we need a theoretical frame that includes the body as a provider of information in this context. Phenomenology and embodied cognition theory introduce the body as a contributor to knowledge making. According to embodied cognition theory, we are a psychophysical whole, and all our knowing is reflected in and by our sensory experiences (Merleau Ponty 2013; Lakoff & Johnson 2003; 1999; Johnson 1987). The philosophical strand of neuroscience that has embraced this idea is called Enactivism (Varela, Thompson & Rosch 1991). Enactivism applies the embodiment theory and explains that a person learns in action and accumulates knowledge through her embodied experiences with her surrounding environment (Varela et. al 1991; Noë 2009). This also means that without our body we cannot have any experiences; thus, the body is integral in all knowing (Johnson 1987; Varela et. al 1991; Noë 2009; Lakoff & Johnson 2003). Emotions are enacted through the body, in, for example, facial gestures and body positions. Emotions are also felt in the body as cognitive neuroscientists Nummenmaa, Glerean, Hari, Hietanen (2014) have displayed in their seminal research on where in the body we feel different emotions. According to neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, emotions also arise in the body (1994, 1999). Feelings and emotions might be confused of being the same, but they are rather related and causal: emotions leads to feelings (Damasio 1999, pp. 31 & 36). Damasio is a researcher often referred to in embodied cognition theory as he also speaks for the embodied mind. He and his wife Hanna Damasio showed that decision making is connected to emotions in their article on Phineas Gage (Damasio, Grabowski, Frank, Galaburda, Damasio 1994). Phineas was hit by a metal rod, which injured his front lobe, and could not make decisions after his injury. Damasio et al. (ibid) made a reconstruction of Phineas’ injury and through research on subjects with similar injuries today, found that emotions were affected or even absent in these subjects, subsequently their ability to make even simple choices were complicated (ibid. pp. 44-45). This fact gave reason to believe that emotions are crucial in decision making processes and gave us a new understanding of the role of emotions within rational thought (Damasio 1999, p. 41). One of Damasios’ central claims is also that bodily experiences generate emotions (gut feelings) that guide us in intuitive decision making, especially when the problem is closely related to our personal or social space (Damasio 1994, p. 169). Damasio calls this the ‘Theory of Somatic Markers’ (ibid, p. 165) and he explains it as follows:
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In short, somatic markers are a special instance of feelings generated from secondary emotions. Those emotions and feelings have been connected, by learning, to predict future outcomes of certain scenarios. When a negative somatic marker is juxtaposed to a particular future outcome the combination functions as an alarm bell. When a positive somatic marker is juxtaposed instead, it becomes a beacon of incentive. (Damasio 1994, p. 174, italics in the original)
Somatic markers ( Soma means body in Greek language) are important in the study at hand, because it seems that those experiences that are felt in the body of the maker are closely connected with the emotions that guide the maker in her risk assessment and decision making process and thus help her solve problems in her practice. This is not to claim that sensory experience and emotions are the same, but that they are closely linked and affect each other. Previously such knowledge, related to subjective bodily or sensory experiences and emotions during craft practice, has been out of the scope of research in the crafts. Recently, due to the inclusion of art schools in the academic realm, craft practitioners themselves have also had the opportunity to research the tactile and tacit aspects of their profession in a practice-led setting. Some examples are Almevik, Jarefjäll, Samuelsson (2013) a research group who researched the tacit knowledge of craftsmen in the 1970s through enacting their actions in a documentary video. Erin O’Connor (2007) made an autoethnographic study on glass blowing by starting her apprenticeship in a glass blowing studio and reflecting on her experiences learning the craft. A practice-led self-study research setting (Pedgley 2007; Ellis & Bochner 2000; Pinnegar & Hamilton 2009) provides valuable new insights into what matters in craft, including emotions, sensory experiences and experiential knowledge.
Methods This research analyses data collected during my practice-led, self-study research event performed in my studio as a researcher-practitioner. Over the course of five days, I threw 12-24 kg of clay, each day, on my potters’ wheel, blindfolded. This was done in order to test the augmentation of my tactile sensibility and ability to control the clay throwing process entirely without eyesight, as visual input distracts awareness of tactile experiences (Gallace 2012). To further enhance the challenge of the task, and thus to highlight the expertise and amount of embodied knowledge needed to master the task, the clay chosen was specifically difficult to handle and the amount of clay was unusually large. I used a multi-method for collecting data during the event, including video-recordings with thinking aloud accounts, diary notes and a contextual activity sampling system (Cass Q), as described in a previous article (Groth et. al, 2015). In the act of observing and reflecting on an activity, whether it is another person’s or one’s own, there are more and less important events mixed over time. It may be challenging to pay proper attention to the relevant issues: the incidents that change the situation or the course of the event. These events are called critical incidents, and the technique for studying critical incidents in human experience was developed by John C. Flanagan (1954). The
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technique consists of ways to identify incidents that have either a positive or a negative effect on the experience or on the outcome of an event. In the research at hand, the focus is placed on critical incidents that were producing a negative effect, as in the specific process of throwing the positive effects go quite unnoticed and do not create a researchable event as described above. The Interact video analysis software was used and it allowed for the critical incidents to be indicated, and connected to the risk assessment and decision making activities. The video material from the five-day throwing event, 10h of 5 x 2h sessions of throwing clay was used. The part of the process where the clay was centred on the throwing board was omitted, due to there being no critical incidents detected, leaving only 5 x 1h sessions to analyse. From these videos, the critical incidents were separated and categorised into severity grades of 13.
Data analysis When analysing the videos, it became clear that the critical incidents had different severities. Some were less severe, and the problems were solved easily, while others were of a more serious kind. The incidents were also either expected or unexpected, some started abruptly and some developed over time. The critical incidents were coded as following; ď&#x201A;ˇ Slow or Quick. ď&#x201A;ˇ Unexpected or Expected. ď&#x201A;ˇ Severity 1, 2 or 3. The tactile experiences that were found in the analysis of the critical incidents were to do with the density of the clay material, that is, how hard or soft it was, and the wetness of the surface, that is, the stickiness of the clay at different times during the throwing process. Further, the position of the clay on the wheel, whether centred or not, was a clear factor in the critical incidents that would affect emotions in a negative or positive way. When it came to emotions, the most central involved confidence, stress levels or spirits. The activities of risk assessment, decision making and problem solving were known to play a part in the throwing process from the previous study of the same case (Groth et. al 2015). The analysis process was helped by the frequent thinking aloud accounts. Emotions were also re-lived through the tactual memory that I had in connection to the events and knowledge of similar events in the past. Stress was physically experienced during the analysis process, and I went through the emotions of the events multiple times during the analysis process while tagging the codes to the video clip. Video and spoken accounts have been analysed simultaneously as they affected the coding during the video-analysis, but spoken accounts or thinking aloud accounts have also been noted separately. The thinking aloud accounts were useful especially in the analysis of decision making, risk assessment and problem solving activities. They naturally occurred at different intensities and simultaneously throughout the whole process, but in the analysis conscious effort was made to separate them into order of intensity. The thinking aloud
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accounts helped in differentiating which activity was noted as the strongest of the three at any specific moment. These verbal accounts also spelt out what the immediate problems were and gave suggestions on dealing with them. The codes used in the analysis process were thus as shown in Table 1.
Table 1: List of classes and codes used in analysis of video data.
All codes were provided with a code key that included a description for when the code would be applied. Also the coding of the video material was aided by the thinking aloud accounts that verbally described emotions and events as well as exclamations when things were either not working out as expected or when a problem had been solved. In the examples below, the types of critical incidents and some notes and quotes are displayed.
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Examples of critical incidents on day one, two and five. Day 1, 12 kg Incident nr 2) Starting at 00:32:06, lasting for 1:12 min. A slow starting, unexpected, severity level 2 critical incident. Notes: The clay is too wet and soft to handle, it has gone soft while being centred and should have been harder to begin with. The pot is moving too quickly from side to side in an uncontrolled manner while being thrown and the clay is already losing its plasticity, giving me only a short time to work it. I stabilise the clay shape into a cylinder and solve the immediate risk of it collapsing but conditions are not good. Quote at 00:33:54 “This is the point where I have to start working quickly, because the water, which I have to add quite a lot now, will make the clay so soft that I soon cannot work with it anymore. So, this is the critical moment I would say.”
Incident nr 4) Starting at 00:33:56 lasting for 2:50 min. A slow starting, expected, severity level 3 critical incident. Notes: The clay is now so soft and un-plastic that it cannot adjust to my pushing at all. Quote at 00:34:45 “The next actions will determine whether it is going to fail or succeed, because it’s already quite an ugly pot.”
Figure 1: Screen shot, day one, collapsing clay wall.
Notes: One side of the clay pot stretches out (see Figure 1) due to the centrifugal power from the spinning wheel, and I turn down the speed to be more in control, but it is too late. The clay starts tilting down on one side, the piece is lost and the process is interrupted. Day two 12 kg
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Incident nr 5) Starting at 01:19:52, lasting for 5 min. A quick starting, expected, severity level 3 critical incident Notes: Learning from yesterday’s mistake of using too soft clay, I had wedged today’s clay on a plasterboard to make it dryer and harder. Now this clay is much stiffer to work with and considerable pressure has to be applied to the clay to be able to move it. This affected the throwing board, making it loosen its grip from the actual wheel head and the whole board and clay piece became un-centred (Figure 2). I managed to push the board back into place and to press down on the whole piece to try to fasten the board again. Although this incident happened quickly it was expected as the clay that keeps the board attached to the wheel head has been drying overnight and the weight of the clay is very heavy.
Figure 2: Screen shot, day two, feeling the condition of the clay.
Day five 24 kg Incident nr 18) Starting at 00:16:36, lasting for 1:10 min A quick starting, unexpected, severity level 3 critical incident. Notes: The board is not very well stuck on the throwing wheel, and the area of the thrown piece goes outside the area of the wheel head, so when throwing on the edge of the wheel the board tilted heavily, making the whole board and 24 kg of clay jump. Luckily, it did not move far out of place, and I solved the problem by pressing the clay down and avoiding pressing from the sides. Quote at 00:16:43 “That was so scary. The board almost tilted. The clay is now a little bit un-centred, but… That was a major critical point. I definitively should be more aware of pressing from above at the same time as moving the clay sideways, otherwise that will happen again.”
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Incident nr 20) Starting at 00:37:06, lasting for 1.20 min A slow starting, expected, severity level 1 critical incident. Notes: The edge of the pot was becoming uneven due to the slightly un-centred position of the clay, but, more importantly, the edge was also becoming a bit too thin. I wanted to keep the edge thick so that the rim of the pot would not get a weak look. To solve this problem, I needed to cut off the edge, because pushing it further down just made it more uneven, it being un-centred. Looking for the needle with which I could cut it took a while, but cutting the rim was easy (Figure 3) and did not create any further problems.
Figure 3: Screen shot, day five, cutting the rim of the clay pot.
Incident nr 23) Starting at 00:57:21, lasting for 1:16 min A slow starting, expected, severity level 3 critical incident. Notes: The clay is too soft to be thrown anymore (Figure 4). The wall of the pot is starting to sway from side to side, and the centrifugal force can easily bring the pot down if I continue to touch the clay. I make a last widening of the base to adjust the shape of the pot so that it becomes more cylinder-like.
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Figure 4: Screen shot, day five, making decisions.
Quote at 00:58:33 “I think that’s all I dare to do.”
Results The throwing process usually consists of the agenda of throwing a pot that includes the different stages from centring the clay, making a hole in the top of the clay, widening the form and shaping the base and then throwing the sides of the pot upwards. Critical incidents of differing severity occur within this process, and if these incidents are not too severe they may be dealt with and solved so that the process may continue until the next critical incident occurs. Some critical incidents are severe enough to affect the conditions of the process over the long term, even though the immediate problem is solved, thus making the following process prone to more frequent critical incidents. The average critical incident during the measured period of five days, was slow, expected and rate 1. It was coupled by a relaxed and confident state of mind and problems were being solved in good (high) spirits. The clay was mostly soft and wet, and the clay was almost centred. It was only in the more severe critical incidents, of rate 2 or 3, where stress emerged and confidence was lost. My reflection is that the 1 or 2 level critical incidents are critical enough to affect a novice’s process, perhaps even to terminate it. The more severe level 3 incident may threaten the success of the throwing process of even a more advanced thrower. The general rule was that if the critical incident started quickly, it was also unexpected, and if it started slowly it was expected. Only one case was slow starting but unexpected, and that was when the clay was too wet on the first day, and it had gone soft while being centred as it should have been harder to begin with. Similarly, only in one case did the critical incident start quickly but remain expected, and that was when the board came loose, and the whole piece became un-centred. A quote from that incident: “I kind of expected this”.
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Out of the 23 detected critical incidents:
14 were expected 9 were un-expected 14 were slow 9 were quick 15 were severity class 1 3 were severity class 2 5 were severity class 3
In this table below (Table 2), the progress and coding of a level 3 critical incident is shown from beginning (left) to the end (right), displaying both the tactile experiences and emotions together with related actions. Stress, un-confidence and low spirits go hand in hand with risk assessment, followed by decision making and the attempt to solve the problem. In this incident, the problem is solved and spirits are recovered.
Table 2: Visualisation of concurrence of tactual feel, emotions and problem solving activities during a critical incident, day 5, incident 2.
In this table 3, another level 3 critical incident is presented. However, this particular incident is so disruptive that the making process is stopped.
Table 3: Visualisation of concurrence of tactual feel, emotions and problem solving activities during a critical incident, day 5, incident 7.
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Discussion Generally, the felt experiences, emotions and activities followed a pattern: stress was almost always connected with low spirits and un-confidence, and these were present during the start of the critical incidents, especially so in the unexpected incidents and to a greater degree as the severity of the incident was higher, that is severity 2 or 3. In some of the expected and less severe incidents, the problems were solved without stress and in confidence and high spirits. At the beginning of an incident, risk assessment was coupled with either decision making and / or problem solving. As the incident proceeded, more of problem solving and occasional risk assessment occurred. Risk assessment was generally combined with stress and un-confidence, but problem solving also appeared together with confidence and high spirits. During risk assessment, a slowing down of activities was observed. After a period of risk assessment, the decision making and problem solving face generally took over in a more active manner. Risk assessment continued occurring simultaneously with the problem solving process; the author reflects over this as a way to ensure that the decisions and problem solving strategies were still accurate and appropriate for the situation. Generally, it was found that when the clay is centred, of a hard to semi-hard density and the surface is wet, conditions are optimal and small incidents are not experienced as severe. When conditions are the reverse, the activation of stress is closer at hand as a high risk of reoccurring critical incidents was expected. Previous critical incidents also work as a background reminder in a form of enhanced readiness and vigilance to avoid new incidents and to respect the conditions and the material. One example is this quote: “The tilting of the board really made me much more focused, and much more careful. Which reminded me of having to respect the conditions and the materials more.” Low spirits were accompanying risk assessment and problem solving but could be understood to reflect the serious intent that I had to solve the problem, and reflect the worry and stress that was experienced until the problem was solved. Although negative emotions, they helped me to concentrate and to make a proper effort in order to solve the problem and to avoid further risks. A quote from day four runs as follows: “I just have to be really careful and not make any mistakes”. It is not surprising that we use the same word “feeling” for both tactile sensations and emotions as they are very closely linked. The way something feels (tactile) affects the way we feel (emotional). This is an important aspect in the field of design and craft, and sensitive practitioners use this aspect in their careful selection of materials (Groth & Mäkelä 2014). We have many shared notions of the feel of materials that are triggered as mental images even when only mentioned in speech, such as velvet, skin or wet clay. We may even feel the expected sensation in our bodies as we imagine what those materials feel like, because we have embodied this knowledge through previous experiences of these materials. Similarly, the feel of the material as it is actually touched give us both the tactile feel and emotion, and thus also the understanding of what this material has to offer us. For
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an experienced ceramist, the density of a bit of clay immediately gives an idea of what its possible uses are, together with an either positive or negative background feeling simultaneously. If the clay is too hard it is not good, it cannot be easily handed and needs to be soaked. If the clay is too wet it is also not good and it needs to be dried until workable. A perfectly smooth and dense bit of clay gives a good forecast for any project, and it is therefore experienced with positive emotions. This kind of notion may be linked to the theory of somatic markers and it was found that strong emotions connected to the possibilities of the material were experienced throughout the whole throwing process.
Emotions in the making When conditions turned bad in the critical incidents, negative emotions and stress emerged, prompting actions to put things right again. The author here makes a connection to the theory that emotions are important in risk assessment as they help survival (Damasio 1999, p. 42). According to Damasio, feelings and emotions guide us in order to make us choose wisely, in life (ibid.). On a larger scale, this is a life-saving ability that we have as humans, and something we also share with other organisms. In craft, it is not that serious, but in a similar way emotions are adjusted to the threat of losing a piece that one has invested time and effort in. Survival in this context is to be able to continue the process and the success of the piece that is being manufactured. A quote from day five gives an example of this: “So, it seems like I’m a bit braver now than before. Maybe I have lost respect for what I am doing. I should maybe take it easy and concentrate more, otherwise I will start making mistakes. I don’t want to lose this piece now after centring it for… I don’t know how long. It would be such a waste”.
Quite often claims of fear emerged in the spoken accounts. The actual fear emotion was not coded in this analysis as it was considered to be included in the stress and notions of low confidence and perhaps too strong in expression. However, the words “I’m afraid” or “that was scary” appeared frequently – especially when an incident was sudden and severe. Further, the balance of being brave and careful was elaborated on frequently in the spoken accounts, as exemplified in an account from day five: “It’s difficult to be somewhere in between brave and careful. But that just what it’s about. Brave can all of a sudden be too brave, and careful needs to be not too scared.”
Conclusion This research at hand has explored the role of emotions connected to tactual experiences and how they affect decision making and problem solving during a craft practice. The research was made possible by the practice-led self-study research setting, which opened up the experiential knowledge and possible expertise of the researcher-practitioner. Traditional methods coupled with more experimental ones provided new insights into the clay-throwing process, which, despite its long history, has been researched relatively little in depth. The results reveal that especially during critical incidents, emotions guide the practitioner in risk assessment and consequently aid the practitioner in the decision making and problem
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solving processes. The inclusion of emotions and subjective and bodily sensory experiences are thus highlighted as informants in the knowledge making process. In short, the emotions that became the points for analysis were to do with confidence, spiritedness and stress levels. These emotions affected A) Risk assessment in the way senses were alerted and caution was implemented when encountering a critical incident. Fear, during un-confidence and stress, was found useful in the way it facilitated the problem solving and decision making process through a heightened vigilance and when successfully managing the situation, enabled a continuation of the making process. Emotions also affected B) Decision making in the way the â&#x20AC;&#x153;gut feelingâ&#x20AC;? grounded in previous experiences gave intuitive reflections on how to act in this particular instance. Making the accurate (successful) decisions felt good. Finally, emotions affected C) problem solving by the slowing down of actions in order to give time for the proper movements needed for the particular situation. The actions for solving problems were grounded in previous experiences of similar events and their successful implementation in a new situation felt good. As a result of this research, the author claims that emotions are important in risk assessment and decision making, and consequently also in problem solving in a making process. It is proposed that sensory experiences and emotions be given a new status when it comes to contributing to knowledge in design and craft research. The emotions involved in craft practice are not always as pleasant as often assumed. The challenge of mastering a complicated process can include fear of failure, stress, and disappointment as much as pleasure and satisfaction. The study of how the body, sensory experiences and the emotions that arise from a making situation affect the practice, is new in craft research. The theory of somatic markers is a useful reference in this field as it supports the idea that emotions are valid informants. Through the inclusion of design and craft practitioners in the academic arena, there is an opportunity to access this aspect through the use of self-study or practiceled enquiry. It would be interesting to see a comparative study in a separate domain of making. Acknowledgements: A more elaborate version of this contribution has been published in Journal of Research Practice, under the name Emotions in Risk Assessment and Decision Making Processes During Craft Practice, 11 (2) Article M5, 2015. This research is part of the Handling Mind research project, funded by the Academy of Finland (project number 266125).
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O’Connor, E. (2007). “Hot glass: The calorific imagination of practice in glassblowing.” In Craig Calhoun and Richard Sennett (Eds.), Practicing culture. London: Routledge. Pedgley, O. (2007), ‘Capturing and analysing own design activity’, Design Studies, 28:5, pp. 463–83. Pinnegar, S. & Hamilton, M.-L. (2009). Self-study of practice as a genre of qualitative research: Theory, methodology and practice. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. Varela, F.J. Thompson, E. & Rosch, E. (1991). The embodied mind: Cognitive science and human experience. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
About the Author: Camilla Groth is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Design. She was trained as a potter’s apprentice for 3 years before conducting a Ba in ceramics and glass at the Aalto University and Ma at the Royal College of Art. Her main interests lie in haptic experiences and embodied cognition in design practice.
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Learning to learn: What can be learned from firsthand experience with materials? Biljana C. Fredriksen University College of Southeast Norway Biljana.C.Fredriksen@hbv.no DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.103
Abstract: A child cannot be taught how to walk â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it has to sense the balance of its body, the smoothness of the floor, the strength of its muscles, and respond appropriately. The author argues that the process of learning depends on embodied functions and subjective experiences of the one who is learning. This paper discusses the first-hand perspective in the process of material transformation. During such a process, the acting person has to be attentive and make innumerable adaptive choices. Examples from a doctoral study focusing on young children (3 year olds), illustrate how the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first-person experiences related to their learning. The author proposes that similar processes take place at all ages and that experience of learning through material transformation is an arena for learning how to learn. The paper initiates discussion about interactive relationships between the senses, attention, emotional engagement, responsibility, mastery, self-confidence and learning during material transformations. Keywords: Experiential learning, first-hand perspective, materials transformation
Introduction and methods The purpose of the paper In the present time in human history, when we regard our modern societies as well developed and superior to human life in past centuries, our brainsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; genetic character has not changed for ten thousand years (Mithen 1996). Our genes remain deeply grounded in our much older evolutionary past (Tunstad 2015). Evolutionary psychology posits the existence of innate interests, capacities, tastes and other universal features that have been, and still are, essential for human life (Dutton 2003). Competence to make sense of experience is one such feature essential for survival. Similar to other animals, we have biological, embodied
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Biljana C. Fredriksen
predispositions to learn through interactions with our physical and social environments (Gibson 1979). However, specific anatomic and physiological characteristics of the human body have made it possible to develop particular forms of reasoning (Egan 1997, Moser 2010); walking on two legs liberated hands and made material transformations possible, and in the next turn, the challenges that hands were exposed to, invoked development of the brain. Handcrafting has had, and still has an essential role in cognition. Cognition is embodied (Parsons 2007). Our movements and actions are in multiple ways connected to our brain activities (Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia 2008). Handling of an object or material activates many different functions in the brain (Damasio and Lie 2002). Behind any simple action, as for instance picking up a cup of coffee, “lies a complex intertwining of sensations (…), motivational connections, body arrangements, and motor performance, not to speak of postural adjustments (…) and the role played by the learning process and the know-how we have acquired in identifying, localizing, reaching for, and grasping objects in general” (Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia 2008, p 2).
Engaging with different forms of actions, movement and experiences, disregarding how small they are, the actions contributes to the building of an individual’s repertoires of sensations; the same repertoire is essential for recognition of actions of others (Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia 2008). Consequently, our embodied actions are both connected to our brain activities, but also decisive in directing the ways we function socially and emotionally. Biological, social, individual and cultural sides are intertwined – we are cultural by nature (Rogoff 2003) and our learning depends on both social and biological factors. I present cultural context, dazed by luxury of modern living and a narrow-focused view on human evolution, we often assume physical activities with tools and materials to be unnecessary. In a rush for “theoretical knowledge” 1 some educational systems don’t value children’s crafting activities. Few parents want their children to deal with “old-fashioned” manual labour when they get older. However, the main objective of engaging with art and craft in pre-schools and primary schools is not to prepare children to become a crafts person or an artist (which of course they can become), but to provide them with experiences that challenge their attention, choices of action, ability to solve problems and to help them develop creativity, ability to take initiative and responsibility. This paper intends to show how activities involving material explorations have the capacity to engage children in multiple ways. The complex processes are impossible to grasp and comprehend directly or describe in a single paper. Many questions will remain unanswered in this paper, but the paper will hopefully initiate curiosity about the complexity of the process of learning/meaning construction. Building on a qualitative study of educational settings with young children, I will present examples that show how simple actions of material manipulations can contribute to
1
I use quotes here because in my view theory and knowledge are deeply rooted in embodied functions.
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personal growth and awareness of what it means to learn. The paper suggests that it is specifically the self-initiated action that is a source of and a driving force behind learning 1.
Methods As a visual arts teacher on programmes for teacher education in Southeast Norway, one of my responsibilities is to facilitate studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; learning through processes of making, in such a way that they are capable of facilitating learning for young children. During the years, I have conducted research projects with young and adult students targeting the same theme: experiential learning through explorations of unstructured materials2. My doctoral study Negotiating Grasp addressed the research question: How do young children (3-5) make meaning during their play with three-dimensional materials? The methods applied in the study fit into arts-based education research methodology (Barone and Eisner 2006, Bresler 1994, Bresler 2006a, Eisner 1991). The data was collected while I interacted with children during visual art activities as an A/R/T-ographer (Irwin 2004, Irwin and Chalmers 2007) where roles of an artist, teacher and researcher merge. Nine educational contexts (cases) were filmed and analysed. Table 1 Overview of the cases Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s age: years, months, days
1 2
Materials
Video length
Case 1: Boy, Emil 3,4,25 Woodwork Boy, Morten 3,9,3
Branches, planks, string, tape
52 minutes 23 seconds
Case 2: Pink textiles
Girl, Eva 3,4,17 Girl, Marit 3,4,19
35 different types of textiles, in shades of pink
58 minutes 23 seconds
Case 3: Clay play
Boy, Helge 3,1,3 Boy, Tom 3,0,18
12 kg of soft clay
61 minutes 31 seconds
Case 4: Clay and yarn
Boy, Brede 4,5,8 Girl, Pia 5,5,23
Two similar installations, one made of clay, the other made of cotton yarn in the same color, shape and texture
57 minutes
Case 5: Boy, Even 4,11,2 White yarn Boy, Markus 5,6,22
11 yarn balls of the same size, different textures, softness, small, yarn thickness etc., and a circular knitting machine
59 minutes 15 seconds
Case 6: Cardboard boxes
78 cardboard boxes of different sizes and shapes
43 minutes 20 seconds
Boy, Thomas 5,5,8 Boy, William 5,4,9
Learning is here understood as individual (yet social) meaning negotiation/construction. Like wood, sand, clay etc.
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Case 7: White sand
Girl, Line 3,10,3 Boy, Are 3,10,12
White clay-like sand and normal sandpit-sand
50 minutes 40 seconds
Case 8: Boy, Alexander 5,5,11 Building Boy, Terje 5,2,16 with Wood
Large number of plank pieces in geometric shapes
60 minutes 4 seconds
Case 9: Blue wool
Brushed wool in 7 shades of blue
43 minutes 15 seconds
Girl, Stine 4,6,11 Girl, Pia 5,6,27
The close contact with two children at a time during the unfolding contexts, as well as detailed analysis of the films, uncovered the complex processes of the children’s experiencing and expressing. The data were first analysed using cross-case methods (Stake 2006), with the help of software NVivo9, and later analysed contextually in-depth. The specific interactionist approach, where a researcher seeks to understand a certain phenomenon on the basis of their own experience (Järvinen and Mik-Meyer 2005) made it possible to grasp the processes from the “inside” and understand the children’s embodied competences and biological urge to explore, find out, solve problems, welcome challenges and learn by doing. Empathetic engagement, shared activities and common experiences allowed a kind of “mutual absorption” (Bresler 2006b) between the participants (myself and the children) and led to new insights. The study was interdisciplinary and epistemologically grounded in social constructivism, which is a position where individual and social influences on learning are equally acknowledged (Freeman and Mathison 2009). The influence of materials’ advocacies was also considered as central. The study uncovered highly contextual and individual nature of the children’s learning processes. At the same time, it revealed embodied capacities that were similar among the children’s learning processes. When an adult deals with materials, tools or techniques one is familiar with, many movements and actions, which seem obvious to them and therefore pass unnoticed. While much of the knowledge developed in an adult’s process of making often remains tacit (Niedderer 2013), young children show how their learning processes unfolded during material manipulations. Even though they were not able to express verbally, the children expressed their thoughts in other significant ways. Unlike most adults, the children were not restricted by assumptions and expectations, and they were not embarrassed to share their discoveries - thus much of what they experienced were discoveries that surprised them and led to visibly excited expressions. The children did not act out of habit, but explored the materials with open minds. They did not constrain their expressions, on contrary, their vivid expressions mirrored their experiences and uncovered processes usually invisible, supressed or unconscious in studies with adults.
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Theory The theoretical framework of John Dewey has a central role in this paper. However, the framework is extended and up-dated with more contemporary research literature. Combining different theoretical views can become complicated, but was necessary to interpret this study in a holistic manner. We humans are biologically designed to be sensitive to nuanced qualities of objects and materials that surround us (Eisner 2002) and we know the world through our bodies (Shusterman 2008). Dewey described the process of transforming materials in the hands as intertwined with the process where internal “transformation takes place on the side of ‘inner’ materials, images, observations, memories and emotions” (Dewey 2005 [1934], p 77). He emphasises the close relations between physical actions and mental processes. The environments we inhabit provide us with sources of experience as well as potential for action (Sanders 1999); when we act we acquire experiences through our sensory-motor systems and our sensations influence our thinking and doing. Transforming material with the hands engages mostly the visual and touch senses. The sense of tough is our most subjective sense (Stenslie 2010). Activities of grasping, holding or touching cannot be performed without the engagement of this tacit sense. Also muscles, joints, tendons and other parts of the body are activated inside the person who is performing the activity so that s/he can experience somatic sensations1. Such sensations are only accessible from a first-person perspective. The first-person perspective allows meaningful dialogues between the person and his/her environment (Stelter 2008). All humans have an inner need to act upon their own environments (Merleau-Ponty 1962) young children express these needs openly. Through diverse activities they acquire and accumulate experiences in their bodies. In the next instance, their possibilities to think and make decisions depend on the repertoire of their accumulated experiences (Dewey 2009 [1909]). Personal understandings emerge from negotiations between present and past experiences; meanings are negotiated in a specific context. The concept of meaning negotiation can simply be translated into the concept “learning”, but not the form of learning that is a linear process of knowledge transmission between teacher and learner. The concept of negotiation refers to an ongoing process of constant attentiveness toward the inner and outer affordances and challenges. A person simultaneously “investigates” the momentary affordances and challenges and makes choices about how to act. Thus, negotiation of meaning can be seen as non-linear, fluid, improvisational process of developing understanding. During my study with young children, their negotiations of meaning often resulted in sudden, imaginative ideas accompanied by expressions of joy. Such expressions marked the children’s “micro-discoveries” (Fredriksen 2011). Eisner (2002) referred to micro-discoveries as small surprises during a process of art making, where the surprise itself was the reward and motivation for the work done. As I see it, micro-discoveries are signs of personal 1
Shusterman (2008) speaks of “somaesthetics”.
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discoveries through reconstruction of past and present experiences. Such discoveries can be small, but nevertheless important for the children, who come to understand something on their own. It is exactly the act of becoming aware of relation between own insights and own efforts that is essential; this awareness is a cornerstone of learning how to learn.
Analysis and discussion A few examples The children in my study were lifting the materials they were presented with, pressing them, cutting, tearing and carrying out many other explorative activities with them. They were becoming familiar with what could be done with the materials and getting new ideas about what the materials could be used for. I observed how the children used physical force and experienced the materials’ resistance to their actions. I could not know what they sensed or felt, but if something did not go as expected, they expressed their surprise verbally or asked me for help. Otherwise, they did not say much and I had to observe their actions attentively. It was mostly the straining of their muscles, the way of breathing and their body language that indicated their physical efforts and intentions. Other signs that some kind of negotiation with the materials was taking place were the children’s expressions at the moments of achieving what they intended. These moments were often sudden and joyful; a child would start laughing, shouting out or would get an instant outburst of self-confidence: “Look what I can do!”, “I can do it!” or “I am so clever!” Soon after they had solved the problem for the first time, they would start showing me and their peers how things should be done – suddenly they had become experts. The sudden growth of self-confidence indicated that some kind of new understanding had been achieved. The experience of gaining new understanding functioned as motivation for further searching for meaning. Young children are capable of reading body language and empathically engaging with the experience of other people while watching them (Stern 1998). Children’s observations of experiences of others are valuable second-hand experiences, however, second-hand experiences do not lead to self-confidence in the same way as first-hand experiences do. In my study, the children’s expressions of self-confidence were usually connected to their physical mastering– something they had had the chance to experience through their own negotiating with materials. Here is an example: I was showing Helge and Tom (case 3) how clay can be cut with a piece of thin string. I held a piece of string between my hands and I started to draw the string down on a large piece of clay. The string disappeared into the clay, slowly cutting its way through. The boys were so attentive that they were holding their breath. At the moment a slice of clay fell on the table in front of Helge, he started to breath and released a short laugh. I also laughed and Helge made a specific movement with his hands: he lifted both hands up in front of his chest and
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opened them quickly, at the same time as he exhaled and looked at his hands. Then he looked at me and laughed again. Helge seemed surprised at how easy it was to slice the clay. The hand movement he made was difficult to describe; I believe it was supposed to imitate the movement of the clay slice. His hands said: “Just like that!” Helge’s experience of the clay slicing was visual, but also multisensory, because he could hear the thudding sound of the moist clay falling on the table in front of him and he could sense the fresh earthy smell. The boys were suspicious: Could a string cut clay? They had experienced that the clay was heavy, while the string was thin and appeared weak. From my body language they could read patience and determination to cut; I was performing the activity extra slowly and with concentration in order to gain the boys’ attention. Even though the exact activity of cutting with string was unfamiliar to them, their past experiences from similar situations made it possible to empathetically connect with my physical struggles1. In this sense, their past firsthand experiences were essential for understanding of their present second-hand experience of watching me cut the clay. Through observation of my activity with string and clay, Helge became familiarised with the clay-cutting techniques, however, when he later conducted the cutting himself, more of his senses were engaged. His first-hand experience also involved his tactile sense and using his muscles. He now had to coordinate his muscles in the process of pulling between his arms, and at the same time, control his fingers which were holding the string. It was only when he was treating the material with his own hands that he could experience the material’s resistance, since it is only the direct, embodied interaction with a material that can initiate thinking through the material (Dewey 2005 [1934]). Thoughts are influenced by somatic conditioning and muscular contractions (Shusterman 1999). Coordination of own body movements from the position of an actor is therefore a significant cognitive achievement. Helge’s efforts can be compared to the example of lifting of a cup of coffee used by Rizzolatti and Sinigaglia (2008) to explain complex brain activities that accompany apparently simple physical actions. Another three year old boy called Morten (case 1), experienced cutting piece of wood with a saw. Although he had never done this before (but had seen other people and me using a saw), he was convinced that he could cut a piece of wood without any help. I did not try to interfere by helping him. I only held the branch steady with my foot on top of a larger log. While Morten was holding the saw with both his hands, he could experience using his muscles. He had to explore the right position of his body in order to counter the wood’s structure that challenged the movements of his saw. Once he managed a good sawing rhythm, I told him: “Oh, Morten, you have really learned how to cut with a saw!” He gave me a big smile and replied, “Yes!”, and continued cutting. Soon he showed me: “I managed to cut here”, he pointed to one of the marks he had made in the wood. While Morten was becoming competent, he was also becoming more self1
Helge earlier suggested that we should call his mother when he sensed that I was struggling.
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confident. His growing competence and self-confidence were highly significant in the way he treated the material and the tool, in the way he spoke and moved his body, and in the way he later instructed me how to hold the piece of wood he was sawing. Working with materials requires physical strength, both the grip of the hands and of the whole body. When Morten used the saw he had to coordinate a large number of muscles and embodied functions; how hard to press the saw against the wood, how firmly to hold the handle and so on. Through a range of different resistances, he was learning about his body, the wood and the tool, and could experience how the body-mind1 functioned as a whole. He was gaining understanding that his own action, his own efforts, persistence and choice led to his success. He was learning how to be director of his own process of learning. “How to saw straight”2 and “what is appropriately soft” (Illum and Johansson 2009) are apparently simple research questions, but indeed very complex. Mastering diverse motor challenges demands many small decisions in orchestration of muscles, body position, applying strength, breath and so on according to the tool and in relation to the material’s specific qualities. Physical efforts and deep attention need to be invested in such orchestration, and when the efforts and attention lead to mastery, they are rewarded by growth of self-confidence. It is through facing something challenging that we can feel the joy of succeeding. In my study, different types of resistance motivated the children to “fight” and even search for challenges. They were looking for problems that needed to be solved particularly just after they had experienced some kind of micro-discovery, mastery or success. A feeling of mastery from one successful first-hand-experience motivated further activities, explorations and making. The newly-acquired self-confidence led to further curiosity and motivation to negotiate meanings. Meeting a resistance, and not avoiding it, leads to development of thought (Eisner 2002). Visual art education includes a wide range of activities and materials that offer diverse forms of resistance. The process of working with challenging problems, against materials’ resistance, engages students emotionally. Suitable amounts of personal struggles are essential for negotiation of meaning and for personal growth that is transferable to other areas of life.
The significance of first-hand experience Experience is a medium of education, but it does not come automatically: it requires an attentive and constructive mind, as well as a slowing down of perception in order to be able to be truly attentive (Eisner 2002). The young children in my research did not rush to produce something, but concentrated on performing tasks such as cutting clay and wood. They had all the time they needed. The challenges they were exposed to motivated them to (maybe also scared them into) sharpening their senses and dwelling on relations between their actions and the ongoing material transformation. Exploration of a material: “…calls into
1 2
This concept was constructed by Dewey (1925) since a word that integrates body and mind does not exist in English. Jenny Frohagen in Sweden conducted a study with this title.
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play alertness of the senses and acuteness of observation; (…) it requires ingenuity and invention in planning; it makes necessary concentrated attention and personal responsibility in execution” (Dewey 1956, p 128). The experience of crafting in natural materials is not just important for developing skills, but also for the development of commitment, patience, love for nature, good morals and a sense of active citizenship (MacEachren 2004). First-hand experience with activities of crafting or with purposeless material transformation provide a valuable arena for learning to learn, because such activities teach that one has to invest effort in order to transform something – even in transforming one’s own understanding. When the children were more attentive to nuances in the materials’ qualities and to their own senses and actions they could learn faster and more safely (without hurting themselves). When they were attentive to what they were doing, they could become aware of the ongoing process of refining their own aesthetic attention. Eisner (2002) says that the process of refinement of perception leads to differentiation that in the next turn enables construction of diverse concepts. Furthermore, concept differentiation leads to a sharpening of the ability to notice details and discover possibilities imbedded in materials’ qualities. This is true for both younger and older craft-makers. There are many similarities between Helge and Morten’s attention and refinement of perception and some of my most dedicated teaching students. When my international students on the course Outdoor Education and Experiential Learning were building tree houses, many of them had never used a saw or a hammer before. One of our discussions considered their contradictory experiences of bending nails1. Working in three groups on quite different house designs, two of the groups experienced that long nails bended frequently, while the third group had a similar problem, but exclusively with short nails. The differences between the groups indicated that the quality of the nails could not be the only variable. The students discussed whether this would change if they used different types of wood or hammers. Was the way one held a nail significant? They discussed the angle of hammer and the way of hitting the head of the nails. They made suggestions and tested out new ways first-hand. They realised that the height of the houses was the most significant – actually it was the way their bodies related to the house, hammer and nail. The process of the students’ refinement of senses can be compared to Helge and Morten’s, however in the case of the challenge with the nails the process was shared, verbalised and made explicit through group discussions. The students also described their learning through crafting in reflection assignments. One of the students, Zack, described his experience of splitting a large oak with an axe and a hammer, while crafting of a replica of a Viking boat: “Each of us made our own micro-discoveries and adjusted accordingly. The weight of the hammer, how best to hold it, how hard to swing it and how to swing it in order to hit the axe, were all examples of how each of us adjusted for such individual factors as physical strength and hand-to-eye coordination.”
1
This event has been described on my blog page http://sculpturingwords.blogspot.no
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Both the young and adult students have shown that their first-hand experiences with materials provided them with possibilities to learn through experience and contribute to understanding of their own body in relation to the world. The first-hand experiences provided possibilities for mastery and increased self-confidence. Another student, Carolina, wrote the following: “I think that exploring different materials helps you to get to know your body better and even yourself, because you have to learn to be patient and you become more sensitive to all the feelings you experienced while doing the activity. Furthermore, using natural materials makes you feel closer to the environment and this creates a deeper respect for it.”
First-hand experience of crafting helps us understand that creating demands time and effort. It teaches us to respect both human labour and natural materials. Through the process we learn that we need to engage our own responsibility in order to initiate and carry out actions and choices. We get to experience what it means to learn and that our efforts, struggles and endurance are preconditions for any kind of change or growth. Finally, first-hand activities with material transformations make mastery possible, and it is the positive feeling of mastery that provides us with courage to face present and future challenges in order to find solutions for apparently impossible problems.
Challenges for the future Learning has for long time been assumed as the brain’s business, something disconnected from the actions of the rest of the body. Powerless against the neo-liberalist trends, evolutionarily inherited features necessary for individual construction of meaning, for instance inner will to act (Merleau-Ponty 1962), are exposed to the process of epigenetic changes – which is the process where genes attune to the circumstances in outside world, sometimes within the same generation (Tunstad 2015). I fear that depriving individuals of physical experience with hand-crafting threatens embodied functions (including certain brain functions) that have been necessary for survival for millennia. Developments in digital technology make many aspects of life easier, however easy living numbs our senses and the will to act. It also deprives us of direct contact with materials, since physical hardship seems unnecessary. Today’s youth seldom employ physical efforts to solve practical problems, and they miss out on opportunities for learning how to learn from first-hand perspective. They can pretend to move stones and build houses in digital games, but real straining with physical objects and materials cannot be completely replaced by digital images, in the same manner as images of food cannot satisfy hunger. Following Eisner’s (2002) suggestion that education should learn from the arts, I recommend adequately challenging crafting activities for every child or adult, who wants or needs to become aware of his or her own abilities to learn. As Carolina suggested, first-hand experiences with natural materials are especially valuable in order to appreciate, care for
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and respect the natural environment. This in turn is an urgent need with our present ecological challenges.
References Barone, T. and Eisner, E. W. (2006) Arts-based educational research, in Green J. L., Camilli G., Elmore P. B., Skukauskaitė A. and Grace E. (eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research, Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 95-109. Bresler, L. (1994) Imitative, complementary, and expansive: Three roles of visual arts curricula, Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issue and Research, 35(2), pp. 90-104. Bresler, L. (2006a) Embodied narrative inquiry: A methodology of connection, Research Studies in Music Education, 27, pp. 21-43. Bresler, L. (2006b) Toward connectedness: Aesthetically based research, Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research in Art Education, 48(1), pp. 52-69. Damasio, A. R., and Lie, K. A. (2002) Følelsen av hva som skjer: Kroppens og emosjonenes betydning for bevisstheten, Pax. Dewey, J. (1925) Experience and nature, Open Court. Dewey, J. (1956) The child and the curriculum, in Dewey J. (ed.), The child and the curriculum & The school and society, University of Chicago Press. Dewey, J. (2005 [1934]) Art as experience, Berkley Publishing Group. Dewey, J. (2009 [1909]) How we think, www.amazon.com (retrieved 16. December 2011) Dutton, D. (2003) Aesthetics and Evolutionary Psychology, in Levinson J. (ed.), The Oxford handbook of aesthetics, Oxford University Press. Egan, K. (1997) The educated mind: How cognitive tools shape our understanding, University of Chicago Press. Eisner, E. W. (1991) The enlightened eye: Qualitative inquiry and the enhancement of educational practice, Macmillan Publ. Co. Eisner, E. W. (2002) The arts and the creation of mind, Yale University Press. Fredriksen, B. C. (2011) Negotiating grasp: Embodied experience with three-dimensional materials and the negotiation of meaning in early childhood education, (doctoral thesis nr. 50), The Oslo School of Architecture and Design. Freeman, M. and Mathison, S. (2009) Researching children's experiences, Guilford. Gibson, J. J. (1979) The ecological approach to visual perception, Houghton Mifflin. Illum, B. and Johansson, M. (2009) Vad är tillräckligt mjukt?: Kulturell socialisering och lärande i skolans slöjdpraktik, FORMakademisk, 2(1), pp. 69-82. http://www.formakademisk.org/ (Accessed 10 September, 2011) Irwin, R. L. (2004) A/r/tography: A metonymic métissage, in Irwin R. L. and de Cosson A. (eds.), A/r/tography: Rendering self through arts-based living inquiry, Pacific Educational Press, pp. 27-38. Irwin, R. L. and Chalmers, F. G. (2007) Experiencing visual and visualizing experience, in L. Bresler (ed.), International handbook of research in arts education, Springer, pp. 179-193. Järvinen, M. and Mik-Meyer, N. (eds.) (2005) Kvalitative metoder i et interaktionistisk perspektiv, Hans Reitzels Forlag. MacEachren, Z. (2004) Function and aesthetics: Defining craftsmanship, Journal of Experiential Education, 26(3), pp. 138-151. Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962) Phenomenology of perception, Routledge & Kegan Paul.
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Mithen, S. J. (1996) The prehistory of the mind: the cognitive origins of art, religion and science, Thames and Hudson. Moser, T. (2010) Barns kroppslighet som del av barnehagens helhetlige dannelsesoppdrag, in Sandseter E. B. H., Hagen T. L. and Moser T. (eds.), Kroppslighet i barnehagen: Pedagogisk arbeid med kropp, bevegelse og helse, Gyldendal Akademisk, pp. 22-42. Niedderer, K. (2013) Explorative Materiality and Knowledge: The Role of Creative Exploration and Artefacts in Design Research, FORMakademisk, 6(2), pp. 1-20. Parsons, M. (2007) Art and metaphor, body and mind, in Bresler L. (ed.), International handbook of research in arts education, Springer, pp. 533-542. Rizzolatti, G. and Sinigaglia, C. (2008) Mirrors in the brain - How our minds share actions and emotions, Oxford University Press. Rogoff, B. (2003) The cultural nature of human development, Oxford University Press. Sanders, J. T. (1999) Affordances: An ecological approach to first philosophy, in Weiss G.and Haber H. F. (eds.), Perspectives on embodiment: The intersections of nature and culture, Routledge, pp. 122141. Shusterman, R. (1999) Somaesthetics: A disciplinary proposal, The journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 57(3), pp. 299-313. Shusterman, R. (2008) Body consciousness: A philosophy of mindfulness and somaesthetics, Cambridge University Press. Stake, R. (2006) Multiple case study analysis, The Guilford Press. Stelter, R. (2008) Learning in the light of the first-person approach, in Schilhab T., Juelskjær M. and Moser T. (eds.), Learning bodies, Danmarks Pædagogiske Universitetsforlag, pp. 45-64. Stenslie, S. (2010) Virtual touch: A study of the use and experience of touch in artistic, multimodal and computer-based environments (doctoral thesis), The Oslo School of Architecture and Design. Stern, D. N. (1998) The interpersonal world of the infant: a view from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology, Karnac. Tunstad, E. (2015) Evolusjon: Basert på en sann historie, Humanist.
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About the Author: Associate Professor Biljana C. Fredriksen has taught visual art at teacher education since 1998, mainly at early childhood teacher education. Her recent work relates to educational methods toward studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; environmental awareness, sustainability and responsibility in learning and teaching.
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Why making mattersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning Marte S. Gulliksen University College of Southeast Norway marte.gulliksen@hit.no DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.193
Abstract: This paper presents an ongoing project to develop a future study of embodied making, particularly when carving green wood. Making activities such as woodcarving have been studied using phenomenological, experiential, observational, analytical, and reflective methodologies, among others. These studies have documented many aspects of embodied making and its consequences for the person, product, and process. Neuroscientific methods have recently generated knowledge on the anatomical and functional aspects of embodied making. The project is built on the assumption that it is possible to develop an interdisciplinary study combining these different methods, with the potential to confirm and expand current knowledge on both the phenomenon of embodied making itself and learning in and through such making. The project aims to provide a coherent description of some relevant neurobiological knowledge as a starting point for developing an interdisciplinary research project on how embodied making may contribute to learning. Keywords: embodied making; learning; interdisciplinarity; neuroscience
Introduction Embodied making The carver making wooden objects initiates and experiences a making process (Michl & Dunin-Woyseth, 2001), in which a material is given a new form and/or function. This process is embodied (Rosch, Thompson, & Varela, 1991), in the sense that the physiological, bodily process and the abstract, cognitive process are intertwined and are not separable from each other. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Marte S. Gulliksen
Slowly, warmth spreads from within my body—hands soar, clutching the iron as shapes evolve. I fight the wood in the first phases; the gouge is pressed down and wriggled forward, resulting in notches left to be smoothed by a knife. This part of the work feels like an exhausting negotiation between two wills. The wood and I have to compromise. I introduce my original idea about figure and shape like a persuasion with gouge and club. The wood needs a long period of intense persuasion to accept my ideas, and my ideas need time to adjust to the wood. But when the shapes are found at last, the knife follows the directions of the fibers. When they meet—the fibers and the knife—they unite like rivers connect, gliding down through shallow valleys. (Gulliksen, 1997, pp. 64–65, my translation)
This description of a making process in wood was written during a previous study (Gulliksen, 1997, 2001). Through stringent analysis, supplemented by these poetic descriptions, I sought to understand the complexity of the making process. The study was situated within the design and craft education research tradition, which encompasses a variety of theoretical perspectives on making processes: phenomenology’s positioning of the body as vehicle for being in the world (Merleau-Ponty, 1962; Streeck, Goodwin, & LeBaron, 2011); the philosophy of Bergson (Bergson, 1988; Østerberg, 1995); and socially and culturally contingent perspectives like Bourdieu’s descriptions of habitus (Bourdieu, 1984; Bourdieu & Johnson, 1993). In that previous study, I described the activity of making as a negotiation between ‘the maker,’ understood as the embodied unity of mind and body (Bresler, 2004; Rosch et al., 1991; Varela, Vermersch, & Depraz, 2003) and ‘the material,’ understood as the unity of form and matter (Gulliksen, 1997, p. 41; Karlsen, 1994). In particular, I was curious about how sensory-motor and cognitive experiences seemed to melt together. I described situations where I was aware of the different elements separately—tools, material and body—and other situations where the focus was “on the totality and the connections between the materials possibilities, the appearing shapes, the tools and myself” (Gulliksen, 2001, p. 4). Drawing on Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology of perception (1962), I could understand these experiences as having a conscious and a preconscious mode, where the body interacts with the environment and integrates it in its own. We not only experience what the material is and what we are doing in the current situation but shape the phenomenon itself through our intentions: “It is a perceptual field opening to the human body” (Gulliksen, 2001, pp. 4– 5). This description aligns with other accounts; see for example O’Connor’s descriptions of learning to blow glass (2005) or Groth’s descriptions of throwing clay (2015; 2013). These descriptions of the intense internal focus of making processes, their immense joy, and the urge to overcome resistance match others found in the research literature, narratives, and personal accounts (see for example Crawford, 2009; Dahl & Dahl, 2015; Fredriksen, 2011; Ingold, 2013; Osborne, 2014). Although I did not use the concept at the time, the reported study employed an embodied cognition perspective (see Rosch et al., 1991, pp. 172–173). For further accounts of embodied cognition, see for example Shapiro (2014) and Streeck et al. (2011).
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Embodied learning My point of entry into embodied making is as a teacher and a learner. If we understand making processes and cognitive processes as embodied, this has consequences for our understanding of learning and knowledge. Building on epistemological foundations of knowledge as activity (Molander, 2015; Schön, 1983), the link between activity, experience, reflection, communication, and learning in making processes has intrigued researchers in craft and design education for decades (Dewey, 1958; Eisner, 2002). In craft and design education, learning in embodied making has been studied from several perspectives (e.g., Fauske, 2013; Fure, 1994; Halvorsen, 2007; Melbye, 2008; Nielsen, 2007). Such accounts can now be referred to as embodied learning (Juelskjær, Moser, & Schilhab, 2008). While many have considered thinking as a cognitive process and have therefore viewed learning as an abstract process, this perspective on learning highlights the link between the body’s activity and cognitive development. Today, we are experiencing a turn in the understanding of what learning is, in which the body has become central to learning processes (Bengtsson, 2013; Engelsrud, 2006; Moser, 2014), encompassing both individual biological aspects and the social, cultural and historical environment of the learning situation (Latta & Buck, 2008; Moser, 2014, p. 254). In the present global educational situation, engagement in making processes in schools is a challenging topic, as it does not readily align with international tests, standardization, or educational accountability. Woodcarving is a rare activity in the twenty-first century. Studies indicate that carving, like the aesthetical subjects in general, is regarded as a pleasant but not very important subject in schools (Bamford, 2006). Few people today carve in their everyday life, and introducing sharp tools into children’s education is regarded by some as dangerous and something to be avoided. There is, then, an urgent need to understand the role of embodied making in learning and to develop communicable knowledge about it. Further, such a perspective on learning invites reconsideration of the role of practicalaesthetical subjects in schools and in society, as it encompasses the possibility that embodied learning in making processes can have an impact on other subjects and domains of learning (Moser, 2014, p. 266).
Neuroscientific knowledge on embodied making and learning The study of embodied making and learning has benefited in recent decades from knowledge in the rapidly developing neurosciences. Research in these fields has provided important evidence that there is indeed a neural basis of embodiment. In explaining the physiological, biological, and cognitive aspects of these processes, the neurosciences have, to a great extent, confirmed the theories developed by phenomenologists, pedagogues, and philosophers throughout the centuries (see for example Chamberlain et al., 2014; Goguen & Myin, 2000; Juelskjær et al., 2008; Varela et al., 2003; Zaidel, 2005). Interdisciplinary research initiatives have also been crossing traditional borders to advance the study of embodied making, for example in the ongoing research of the Empirica research group in Helsinki (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, 2015; Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Huotilainen, Mäkelä,
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Groth, & Hakkarainen, 2014; Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Laamanen, Viitala, & Mäkelä, 2013). Such initiatives advance our understanding of the anatomical, biological, and functional bases of designers’ and artists’ experiences, beyond the phenomenological descriptions of the last century. Similar interdisciplinary perspectives can be found in other fields of study, especially with regard to complex human behaviors, development, and experiences (Ansari & De Smedt, 2012; De Smedt et al., 2011; Simons & Klopack, 2015). As such, neuroscientific and interdisciplinary research has also informed embodied learning and teaching (Downey, 2010; Gallagher, 2005; Juelskjær et al., 2008). Reviewing this research, it becomes apparent that much of the neuroscientific knowledge nuance and expand previous findings. It even carries a promise to confirm that some pedagogical values and methods may be better suited than others for learning through embodied making (Moser, 2014, p. 263). There have been few such interdisciplinary initiatives to date, and many areas remain to be addressed. For example, there are as yet few studies of the role of embodied making and learning in children’s school learning, or of the possibility of transferring skills learning from one domain to another requiring similarly nimble and skilled hands. In particular, I have still to identify any such study focusing on woodcarving.
Aim and limitations In this paper, I present an ongoing project to develop a foundation for future interdisciplinary research on the embodied making and learning of carving wooden objects, combining neurobiological, phenomenological, and educational knowledge. From a viewpoint within the making professions, I look to neuroscientific research, and in particular to neurobiology, for ways to integrate my own practical and theoretical knowledge with neurobiological knowledge. On completion, this project will ideally have generated a knowledge base for the development of hypotheses for future interdisciplinary research. This project is built on the assumption that research of this kind would have the potential to generate new insights into embodied making and learning, supporting and/or expanding our understanding of a) the phenomenon embodied making itself, b) the learning that goes on in and through it, and c) the possible transfer of learning in embodied making to other domains. That ambitious assumption will be further refined throughout this development project. The present paper describes the overall structure of this development project and some key findings from related work. Revisiting my previous knowledge of embodied making and learning within a new theoretical and methodological framework brings with it an attitude of uncertainty and an openness to the possibility that some of those previous studies may have been overly optimistic in their conclusions about why making matters, and were perhaps misconstrued in support of prior beliefs and expectations (Gulliksen, 2012; Kagan, 1992; Kahan, 2013; Kahneman, 2002).
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I have chosen to explore embodied making through carving in wood for several reasons, foremost of which is that woodcarving is my personal specialization and passion. Woodcarving is also traditionally an important part of many cultures, sharing many similarities with making processes in other materials. It may, however, be assumed that the knowledge derived is not necessarily confined to woodcarving. I am currently Professor of Culture Education, Culture Production, and Aesthetic Practice at University College of Southeast Norway. I have researched craft and design education for almost twenty years while following developments in the neurosciences through seminars and courses. I am therefore no neuroscientist, and there is an obvious danger in discussing neuroscience without full scholarly knowledge, as noted by De Smedt et al. (2011), Goswami (2006), and participants at the Minds on Minds Symposium on Education and Neuroscience at Western (2014), all of whom emphasize the risk of nonscientists tending to make overly strong claims on the basis of a weak understanding of concepts. Concerns have also been raised that neuroscience content or terms are used “purely to put a new, modern gloss on some very old ideas from 1970s psychology” (Wall, 2014). For that reason, this project aims only to bring together in a coherent way current neurobiological descriptions of prior findings about what the woodcarver does and experiences, with a view to identifying key points and tentative ideas for a possible future research study.
Method Interdisciplinarity and integrative applied research In the future project, the chosen approach will be interdisciplinary at its core, in the sense of “research that involves experts from various disciplines and stakeholders from relevant practice areas working on a common problem” (Bammer, 2013, p. 8). It may even be seen as transdisciplinary, transcending disciplinary boundaries. In bringing together persons from both disciplines and professions (and even laypeople) requires that experts are willing and able to give up sovereignty over knowledge to facilitate “the generation of new insight and knowledge by collaboration, and the capacity to consider the know-how of professionals and lay-people on equal terms” (Dunin-Woyseth, 2010, p. 65). Such an approach builds on a platform that has been called “Mode 2” or “new production of knowledge” (Gibbons, Limogens, Schwartzmann, Scott, & Trow, 1994; Gibbons & Scott, 2001; Nilsson & Dunin-Woyseth, 2011). This type of knowledge production entails a new perspective on the nature of knowledge, as well as its context, organization, rewards, and quality control. This ongoing project of developing a platform for a new interdisciplinary research study may not necessarily take on all these challenges itself but shares the same point of departure: The problem of identifying what to study does not begin from within a particular disciplinary body of knowledge but “is organized around a particular application” (Gibbons et al., 1994, p. 3) or a particular perceived occurrence: the phenomenon of embodied making in green wood. For instance, it does not seek to describe being a practitioner of woodcarving either from a phenomenological or a neurobiological point of
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view but circles the occurrence to bring together knowledge from both disciplines from the outset of being a practitioner of woodcarving. The future project will then be done in such a new type of knowledge production or as “integrative applied research” (Bammer, 2013, pp. 8–9). There are several obvious challenges with such an ambition, particularly regarding methodological soundness and quality control. From my prior experience as a woodcarver and culture education researcher, I hope to acquire enough competence to bring together current neurobiological descriptions of the woodcarver’s actions and experiences. As such, I may be seen to simultaneously assume the different roles of “lay-person” in the neurobiological field and “professional” in the field of craft education (Dunin-Woyseth, 2010, p. 65). This ongoing project involves an applied form of quality control, linked to social accountability and reflexivity, in order to systematically explore the key findings with various stakeholders and experts in related fields.
Approach I have approached these issues along two paths. First, I have reviewed my own previous research (Gulliksen, 1997, 2000, 2001), taken classes and attended seminars (Mason, 2015; Western, 2014), studied textbooks (e.g., Mason, 2011; Purves et al., 2012), and conducted structured searches and literature reviews of published scientific articles on neurobiology, neuroscience, educational neuroscience, and related areas. On that basis, I have written several papers and articles, each with a particular scope, making it possible to address smaller aspects of the phenomenon incrementally. I have also practiced woodcarving myself (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Wooden bowl inspired by the form of a cerebellar Purkinje cell. Aspen wood (35 x 7 x 3 cm).
On the other path, I have aimed to engage a larger area within craft and design research and craft and design educational research in critically assessing and discussing this developing project at conferences and seminars and in research groups.
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Results This section presents key points and tentative ideas for possible future research hypotheses developed in and through the papers and articles. These key points are necessarily somewhat speculative in nature, as their function is to initiate a discussion rather than to present answers; caution is therefore advised both in reading and interpreting them. In each paper, the key points represent knowledge supporting and/or expanding our understanding of three topics: a) the phenomenon of embodied making itself, in particular as linked to prior research findings about the woodcarver’s intense experiences and internal focus in the making process; how making processes have a conscious and a preconscious mode; the description of sensory-motor and cognitive experiences as melting together in embodied making processes; and the overcoming of resistance in the negotiation between maker and material; b) the learning that goes on in and through embodied making, in particular as linked to memory and learning in the combined efforts of the body’s physical and cognitive activity; and (to some extent) c) the possible transfer of learning in embodied making to other domains.
Role of the cerebellum in woodcarving The first paper focused on the cerebellum and its role in monitoring, relaying, and adjusting motor output and sensory input when engaged in woodcarving (Gulliksen, 2015). The article introduced the anatomy of neurons and neural communication, describing the neurons that transmit sensory input to and within the central nervous system, emphasizing the difference between sensation and perception. The neurons that transmit motor output to the peripheral nervous system and the basics of neuroplasticity (both synaptic and cell plasticity) were also described. The paper highlighted functional neural circuits and the “central pattern generator” (CPG)— the notion that single circuits of neurons interlinking can generate multiple movements without our conscious choice of action. As part of this CPG, the cerebellum monitors sensory input and modulates motor output, taking care, for example, of our hand/eye coordination, gait, and other voluntary and semi-voluntary movement. This function is sustained by processing of information from both peripheral and central nervous system. As it receives much more information than it sends out (a ratio of 40:1), the cerebellum plays a key role in the flexible and adaptable movement required in woodcarving and is therefore likely to be relevant for expanding our understanding of such activities. The paper presented three tentative ideas for further exploration. The first of these relates to the overflow of information into the cerebellum, which may be relevant in understanding the woodcarver’s experience of intensity and internal focus. When engaging in hard manual work (as woodcarving is), a lot of information travels through the nervous system, and the cerebellum constantly monitors every small detail as the nervous system is processing a wide range of information about what is going on in the world and possible actions.
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A second idea is that only some of the information processed in the nervous system is perceived; a person does not need to be aware of something to react to it. Sensory input and motor output is monitored and controlled by the cerebellum, guided only by our ideas about the desired shape and possible forms the material offers. This keeps much of the information away from the cerebral cortex. In this context, carving wood might perhaps be explained as cerebellar-controlled and monitored action, informed by general guidelines originating in intentions and thoughts in the forebrain that are sent and filtered by the cerebellum. This description would seem to support prior phenomenological descriptions of a preconscious state of mind of the carver (Gulliksen, 1997; Merleau-Ponty, 1962), a negotiation between maker and material (Gulliksen, 1997, 2001) in this preconscious state, and an understanding of learning processes as negotiations (Fredriksen, 2011). Third, the aware or conscious self, and in particular self-reflection – a result of processes situated in the pre-frontal cortex - is not a necessary partner in this activity. Rather, as most people have experienced, deliberately thinking about an activity, such as how we walk, makes that activity more difficult. This knowledge may confirm and expand our understanding of the maker’s experience of being tightly interwoven with the material.
Role of the hippocampus in working memory and long-term memory storage and retrieval The second article focused on the role of the hippocampus in the working memory and longterm memory storage and retrieval when engaged in embodied making (Gulliksen, forthcoming-a). The article also provided an introduction to neurons, neural communication, and neural circuits, as well as the neural basis of cognition and awareness. In particular, it looked at the relatively small amount of information that comes into a person’s awareness, how our preconceptions influence our perceptions, and how perception is a form of interpretation. To that extent, it addresses some of the same key points as the first paper. The neural basis of immediate memory, working memory, and variations of long-term memory was outlined, along with information about how working memory is stored as longterm memory. The paper centered on the role of the hippocampus in storing and recollecting declarative episodic memory. While semantic memories, such as facts and numbers, are recollected directly from their long-term storage in the cerebral cortex, episodic memories are remembered through the hippocampus—the same area of the brain that stores and re-stores memories. This means that each time an episodic memory is remembered, it is re-remembered and re-stored and could therefore be subject to change due to the new “here-and-now” experience. Several interesting studies of memory and learning have documented physiological changes (i.e., neuroplasticity) in the hippocampus. This experience-dependent neuroplasticity is a crucial function in our ability to learn. As defined by neurobiologists, learning is “the process by which new information is acquired by the nervous system and is observable through changes in behavior” (Purves et al., 2012, p. 695). Well known examples of neuroplasticity in the hippocampus are reported in studies of musicians (Elbert, Pantev, Wienbruch,
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Rockstrosh, & Taub, 1995) and taxi drivers (Maguire et al., 2000). Of particular relevance to the case of the woodcarver is a study of manual therapists (Mueller, Winkelmann, Krause, & Grunwald, 2014), in which more experienced therapists demonstrated more accurate haptic perception (active touch) than inexperienced participants. Several tentative ideas were advanced for further exploration, emphasizing three key points. First, declarative episodic memories are always complex and may be linked with implicit motor and emotional memories, suggesting a neural basis for the woodcarver’s ability to recall and relive making experiences in great detail, and perhaps even explaining why such memories are cherished and vivid. Second, the neural circuit in the hippocampus that retrieves, stores, and re-stores memories may provide another key to understanding how the woodcarver’s sensory-motor and cognitive experiences “melt together” in the negotiations between maker and material. When the woodcarver spends much time carving, negotiating with the raw materials and herself, the continuous circuit of retrieving and re-storing memories runs in parallel with the overload of sensory input and motor output of the cerebellum. This may also serve to expand current descriptions of the making experience as intense, in that it can be understood as a continuous circuit rather than as an independent event or an independent experience—that is, as an experience of being here and now combined with memories of previous experiences and future projections. Third, based on knowledge of experience-dependent plasticity, it is possible to hypothesize that the woodcarver’s hippocampus changes slightly in response to this activity. For example, one might expect experienced carvers to have more accurate haptic perception than those who are less experienced.
Role of the thalamus in directed attention in sensory experiences The third article focused on the neural circuits involved in directed attention, and in particular on the role of thalamus (Gulliksen, forthcoming-b). In both of the other papers, the topic of attention was touched upon. In this third article, a series of photographs served as a case study of directed attention. Although photography is not woodcarving, they both relies on sensory attention. The visual sense is important for the woodcarver, and while other sense modalities are as important, the neural circuits for sense reception and attention are the same for all sensory inputs other than olfaction. In the neural pathway between sensing and perception, the thalamus plays a key role. In translating signals from sensory receptors into a language understood by the cerebral cortex, the thalamus may “pump up the volume” to draw conscious attention to something. The cortex sends information to the thalamus about what it should expect to sense, which the thalamus in turn forwards to the sense receptors. This is the “mushroom-hunt” effect, where trained directed attention makes it possible to quickly identify a mushroom among the yellow leaves. In the article, this knowledge is used to discuss the difference between being attentive to something and being attentive to something as something.
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As tentative ideas for further exploration, one might study how the skilled eye or skilled hand of the woodcarver is developed, and expected differences in sensory awareness between novices and experts. Previous research provides several examples of such sensory expertise; see, for example, Groth (2015) or O’Connor’s account of her awareness of glass making tools—not as objects of attention but rather as instruments of attention (2005, p. 188). This again relates to the negotiations between ‘maker’ and ‘material’ in my previous study, and to the preconscious and conscious modes in the making process, where the body interacts with the environment and integrates it in its own (Merleau-Ponty, 1962)
Conclusion These three papers targeted neurobiological topics that are of relevance in understanding embodied making, from the viewpoint of an experienced woodcarver and researcher on craft and design education. In different ways, they explore some basic conditions and consequences of being a body in the world, experiencing and learning through working with materials. As such, they present knowledge that supports and/or expands prior knowledge. The three topics informed the presentation of results. Here, I will begin by drawing some tentative conclusions on the third topic—the possible transfer of the learning in embodied making to other domains. Clearly, while these short papers have not explored this topic in any depth, they all describe ongoing neurobiological functions of the body that are part of being alive. Because activities like woodcarving are similar to other making activities in other materials, and to many other activities as well, it seems likely that the experiencing and learning that occurs though woodcarving changes the anatomical structure of our nervous system probably influences our abilities in other domains as well. This lends weight to the idea of a possible transfer of learning from one domain to another; what this means, however, is as yet unknown. The first of the three topics—the phenomenon of embodied making itself—was described in the previous phenomenological studies as “a perceptual field opening up to the body” (Gulliksen, 2001, pp. 4–5); as intense experiences; as sensory-motor and cognitive experiences melting together in an internal focus; and as a negotiation between maker and material in conscious and preconscious modes. These ideas could be supported and expanded by the description of the overflow of information in the cerebellum, and of the cerebellum’s role in monitoring and adjusting the motor output, enabling us to take deliberate actions without any necessary involvement of the conscious self. Likewise, the descriptions of the experience of being-here, linking together past, present, and future, could possibly expand and support the description of how memory is relived when remembered. The second of the three topics—the learning that goes on in and through embodied making—was also discussed in all three papers. The experienced carver’s attention and the possible role of the thalamus supports prior knowledge on expertise (e.g., Chamberlain et al., 2014; Dreyfus, Dreyfus, & Athanasiou, 1986); the sensory-motor skills experienced
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through cerebellar learning may also be informative. In particular, the link between memory and learning as a result of the combined efforts of the body’s physical and cognitive activity is interesting in relation to the hippocampus’ role in retrieving, storing, and re-storing episodic declarative memories. Knowledge about this neural circuit supports and even expands our understanding of the salience of evocative and sensory-laden memories for experiencing and learning when carving. In particular, the neurobiological consequences of prolonged activity, which are linked to the activity-dependent plasticity of the hippocampus, expand current phenomenological and educational knowledge on skill learning. One obvious problem with the key points and tentative ideas presented here is that, for now at least, they remain speculative. Another problem with a project such as this is its narrow focus on specific parts of the interwoven nervous system. For example, it does not address the role of the basal ganglia in choosing which action to take, along with many other more or less influential systems and neurons that may be active in the woodcarver’s experience.
The way forward The themes identified in the papers above indicate possible directions for future studies of the short- and long-term consequences of making activities, using an integrative applied research approach (Bammer, 2013). Although the development project is still at an early stage, several possible directions can be seen for such a future study. For example, it seems possible to develop hypotheses to explore a number of questions: whether the haptic perceptions of experienced carvers are more accurate than those of the inexperienced, as in the case of manual therapists (Mueller et al., 2014); which types of carving cause what types of change (and whether there is any actual difference); and how long an activity must last if it is to make an impact. It might even be relevant to develop hypotheses concerning possible changes in the thalamic attention of experienced versus inexperienced carvers, or changes caused by learning to carve or actively carving over a period of time. It would also seem relevant to develop hypotheses about the possible implications of these neurobiological changes for a person’s abilities—why it matters, and how making skills are learned. Given the complexity of these topics, such studies would demand a targeted, integrated, applied approach with innovative and stringent research designs (Bammer, 2013; Mason, 2011, pp. 22–23). Any future study will also have to implement a range of quality controls, inviting practitioners, researchers from relevant disciplines, and other key stakeholders to lay the ground for social accountability and reflexivity. The knowledge generated from such studies can be expected to contribute to further advancing the field of design and craft education, and perhaps even to clarify its relevance in the twenty-first century. More generally, it seems crucial to develop more knowledge of embodied making and how skills are learned, given the global demand for skilled hands in occupations ranging from electricians, plumbers, and carpenters to robotics constructors and machine operators. Likewise, surgeons, veterinarians, researchers in advanced laboratories, and other highly educated professionals need nimble and skilled hands. Although phrases such as “active
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learning” and “experiential learning” are widely used when discussing education, they seem to have little impact on the choices of policymakers and school owners. If research on the actual neurobiological changes in children and adults engaging in embodied making can explain why making matters in developing these needed skills—and if so, how—it may lead to new approaches to learning, both inside and outside schools. In this way, understanding the woodcarver’s experience and the process of embodied making in green wood can help to clarify for policymakers and other decision makers the importance of embodied making. In discussing this project at the DRS conference, I hope to engage in fruitful discussion of possible ways forward, and I am open to possible collaboration in a future project on why making matters. Acknowledgements: This study has received funding from Telemark University College’s fund for research project developments.
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Halvorsen, E. M. (2007). Kunstfaglig og pedagogisk FoU: Nærhet-distanse-dokumentasjon. Kristiansand: Høyskoleforlaget. Ingold, T. (2013). Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture. London: Routledge. Juelskjær, M., Moser, T., & Schilhab, T. (2008). Learning Bodies. Åarhus: Aarhus University Press. Kagan, D. M. (1992). Implications of research on teacher belief. Educational Psychologist, 27, 65–90. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/zo9lgnu Kahan, D. M. (2013). Ideology, motivated reasoning, and cognitive reflection. Judgement and Decision Making, 8(4), 407–424. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/kbyr7fn Kahneman, D. (2002). Maps of bounded rationality: A perspective on intuitive judgement and choice. Nobel lecture. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/huz7mpm Karlsen, B. (1994). Det Stoffliges Estetikk. Notodden: Telemark lærerhøgskole. Latta, M. M., & Buck, G. (2008). Enfleshing embodiment: "Falling into trust" with the body's role in teaching and learning. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 40(2), 315–329. Maguire, E. A., Gadian, D. G., Johnsrude, I. S., Good, C. D., Ashburner, J., Frackowiak, R. S., & Frith, C. D. (2000). Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 4398–4403. Mason, P. (2011). Medical Neurobiology. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. Mason, P. (2015). Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life—Lectures 1–10. The University of Chicago. Melbye, E. (2008). To make form in the range between individual and culture. Dissertations in Arts and Crafts Education/(forming)—some deliberations. In J. Sandven (Ed.), Å forme og forske med fokus på skapende prosesser, Vol. 12, (pp. 103–137). Notodden: NordFo Techne A. Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Phenomenology of Perception. (C. Smith, Trans.). London: Routledge. Michl, J., & Dunin-Woyseth, H. (2001). Towards a Disciplinary Identity of the Making Professions: The Oslo Millennium Reader. Oslo: Oslo School of Architecture. Molander, B. (2015). The Practice of Knowing and Knowing in Practices. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Moser, T. (2014). Læring og kropp. Oslo: Cappelen Damm Akademisk. Mueller, S., Winkelmann, C., Krause, F., & Grunwald, M. (2014). Occupation-related long-term sensory training enhances roughness discrimination but not tactile acuity. Experimental Brain Research, 232(6), 1905–1914. Nielsen, L. M. (2007). Art, design and environmental participation: Norwegian research in art and design education 1995–2006. In L. Lindström, H. Illeris, L. M. Nielsen, & M. Räsänen (Eds.), Nordic Visual Arts Education in Transition: A Research Review. Stockholm: Svenska Vetenskapsrådet. Nilsson, F., & Dunin-Woyseth, H. (2011). Building (Trans)Disciplinary Architectural Research— Introducing Mode 1 and Mode 2 to Design Practitioners. Transdisciplinary Knowledge Production in Architecture and Urbanism. Towards Hybrid Modes of Inquiry (pp.79–96). Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/gw4ddeh O’Connor, E. (2005). Embodied knowledge. The experience of meaning and the struggle towards proficiency in glassblowing. Ethnography, 6(2), 183–204. doi:10.1177/1466138105057551 Osborne, E. J. (Producer). (2014, 01.06.2015). How to make a wooden spoon. TedXBrighton. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/op8yubm Purves, D., Augustine, G. J., Fitzpatrick, D., Hall, W. C., LaMantia, A. S., & White, L. E. (Eds.). (2012). Neuroscience (5th ed.). Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates. Rosch, E., Thompson, E., & Varela, F. J. (1991). The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. MIT Press.
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Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books. Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P. (2015). The promise of cognitive neuroscience in design studies. Paper presented at LearnxDesign2016—CUMULUS and DRS Conference, Chicago. Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P., Huotilainen, M., Mäkelä, M., Groth, C., & Hakkarainen, K. (2014). The promise of cognitive neuroscience in design studies. Paper presented at DRS2014, Umeå, Sweden. Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P., Laamanen, T.-K., Viitala, J., & Mäkelä, M. (2013). Materiality and Emotions in Making. Techné series—Research in Sloyd Education and Craft Science A, 20(3), 5–19. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/hvpqxbv Shapiro, L. (2014). The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition. London: Routledge. Simons, R. L., & Klopack, E. T. (2015). Invited address: "The times they are a-changing" Gene expression, Neuroplasticity, and Developmental Research. Youth Adolescence, 44, 573–580. Retreived from http://tinyurl.com/jug5wng Streeck, J., Goodwin, C., & LeBaron, C. (2011). Embodied interaction in the material world: An introduction. In J. Streeck, C. Goodwin, & C. LeBaron (Eds.), Embodied interaction: Language and body in the material world. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Varela, F. J., Vermersch, P., & Depraz, N. (2003). On Becoming Aware : A Pragmatics of Experiencing. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, PA: J. Benjamins. Wall, M. (2014). How neuroscience is being used to spread quackery in business and education. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/o7x3qsz Western University. (2014). Minds on Minds—Education-Neuroscience Symposium, Western University, London Ontario. Zaidel, D. W. (2005). Neuropsychology of Art: Neurological, Cognitive and Evolutionary Perspectives. Hove: Psychology Press. Østerberg, D. (Ed.). (1995). P. Bourdieu: Distinksjonen—en sosiologisk kritikk av dømmekraften. Oslo: Pax Forlag.
About the Author: Marte S. Gulliksen is Professor of Culture Education, Culture Production and Aesthetical Practice at University College of Southeast Norway. She is leader of the University’s Embodied Making and Learning research group and a member of the Human Ingenuity Research Group, Western University.
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Physiological measurements of drawing and forming activities Marianne Leinikkaa, Minna Huotilainena,b, Pirita Seitamaa-Hakkarainenb, Camilla Grothc* , Mimmu Rankanenc and Maarit Mäkeläc a
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health University of Helsinki c Aalto University *camilla.groth@aalto.fi DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.335 b
Abstract: The embodiment of tools and experiential knowledge of materials gained over time lies at the heart of both design and craft practices. However, empirical studies combining the study of mind and body in relation to design and craft practice is in its infancy. In the Handling Mind project, we conducted psychophysiological experiments in order to illuminate the relationships between making and feeling, handling creative situations and the embodied mind in thirty participants, both students and professionals representing expertise in various design fields, working with visual (drawing) or material (forming clay) tasks of 1) copying, 2) creating novel designs, or 3) freely improvising. Our findings highlight both the importance of the embodiment with respect to the material and the different physiological states observed in tasks differing in requirements related to following orders or creativity. We conclude that the embodied activities are both supported and altered by bodily and mental processes. Keywords: Design research, Neuroscience, Forming, Drawing
Introduction Research on design cognition can benefit from methods from cognitive neuroscience (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al. 2014). There is extensive neuroscientific research related to embodiment and motor activities, and these studies have analysed how motor processes are connected to cognitive functions. In a previous article (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al. 2014), we have described the possibilities and challenges of utilising neuroscientific research methods when studying design and making processes. This present study addresses relations between reproduction and innovation. In this paper, we report our results from the This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Marianne Leinikka, Minna Huotilainen, Pirita Seitama-Hakkarainen, Camilla Groth , Mimmu Rankanen and Maarit Mäkelä
psychophysiological experiments that analysed how designers handle different creative situations and how materials affect their embodied processes. We are particularly interested in how drawing and forming clay differ when carrying out tasks involving copying, creating novel designs or free improvisation. The present study relies on the multidisciplinary research project ‘Handling Mind: Embodiment, Creativity and Design’, which is one of 12 projects in the Human Mind research call given by the Academy of Finland. The project is conducted by a research consortium that includes Aalto University, the University of Helsinki, and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. This multidisciplinary research project aims to provide a bridge between the areas of neuroscience, psychology, design and educational research that are concerned with embodied activities, social creativity and the expanded nature of the human mind. Through four interlinked study tracks, we examine how participation in creative activities associated with crafts and design affects the participants’ socio-emotional experiences and the nature of the associated embodied knowing, with a focus on the interaction between mind, body and materials. Designing and making are multimodal processes that require complex problem-solving processes as well as hand, mind and eye co-ordination. They are based on the extensive use of various embodied senses, tactual, and sensor-motoric operations. Studies indicate that practitioners’ senses never operate on their own, but are always interrelated with one another (Gallace & Spence 2008). Using a variety of neurophysiological and neuroimaging methods, the neural mechanisms involved in perception or observation of motor activities have been intensely studied for two decades (for a review, see Rizzolatti & Craighero 2004). These studies have revealed activation of the sensor motor areas of the brain as a response stimulus of seeing other people working (Borghia & Cimattic 2010) or seeing hand-held tools (Witt et al. 2010). However, empirical studies that combine the study of mind and body in relation to design and craft practice are still extremely rare. Including the measurement of different physiological signals such as electrocardiogram, skin conductance, movement or brain activations in experimental setups hold great promise for a deeper understanding of these embodied actions. Only recently, some neuroscientific studies have been published that analyse the effects of drawing on alpha activity (Belkofer et al. 2014) and compare brain activity during drawing and sculpting (Kurk et al. 2014). These studies used EEG to examine the brainwave frequency patterns of participants engaging in art-making. In general, non-event-locked physiological and brain activity is represented in patterns of specific activity related to cognitive processes and in response to any stimuli present in the environment. Theta waves are shown to be related to imaginative states and creative processes. Alpha waves are revealed in relaxed and normal conscious awareness, and beta waves are expressed during active thought and alert states. Gamma waves are correlated with cross-modal stimulus integration, synthesis, and information-rich processing (Luck 2005). A previous study by Kurk et al. (2014) revealed that both clay forming and drawing increased gamma power in the right medial parietal lobe compared to general movement. Further,
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clay forming decreased right medial frontal gamma power and elevated theta power. Also, the study by Belkofer et al. (2014) indicated that alpha rhythm may play an important role in drawing. In other words, drawing and forming clay appear to be information-rich activities requiring simultaneous cognitive processing; however, drawing may provide a more relaxed state. The role of human creativity is a pivotal aspect in studies of designing. In the present study, we were interested in creating an experimental setting suited both for psychophysiological and neuroscientific measuring and with which we can compare how designers deal with differently framed tasks. In addition to comparing distinct tasks, we focus especially on the differences between the materials provided. Defining the role of the provided materials for mental functions is clarified when we proceed to the next phase of our research setting and conduct neuroscientific measurements. In the current paper, we focus only on the psychophysiological measurements.
1.1 Embodied making The mind has traditionally been researched separately from the body (Lakoff & Johnson 1999, 4). However, it has now become generally accepted that the mind is highly affected by the actions and experiences of the body, and vice versa (Hari & Kujala 2009). Cognitive, sensory motor, emotional and social aspects are all included when creating something new with the hands. The theory on embodied cognition (Merleau-Ponty 1962/2010; Varela et al. 1991; NoÍ 2004, 2009; Lakoff & Johnson 1999; Johnson 1987, 2007) includes the perceiving body in sense making and claims that human cognition is dependent upon its interaction with its environment, thus pointing at action and perception as keys in knowledge formation. Furthermore, studies in neuroscience have revealed that not only is the body relevant in making sense of the world, but it also affects our emotions and consequently our decisionmaking processes (Damasio 1994, 1999). Embodied cognition theory is also beginning to change the way research paradigms are constructed in cognitive science, taking into account the full organism-environment system and the situated and embodied nature of human cognition (Hari & Kujala 2009, 1). It has become relevant to address issues of the embodied mind in design studies, too, as design action and design cognition become closely linked through enactive thinking (Varela et al. 1991). Drawing as a thinking tool for designers has been rigorously studied (Goel 1995; Seitamaa-Hakkarainen & Hakkarainen 2004; Cain 2010; Kantrowitz et al. 2011), and particularly the field of interaction design and human computer interaction has taken on the philosophical strand of embodied cognition (Dourish 2001; Hornecker & Buur 2006; Hornecker 2005; HÜÜk 2010; Trotto & Hummels 2013; Hummels & Van Dijk 2015). However, relatively few have touched this issue within general design or craft research (for examples, see Poulsen & Thorgensen 2010; Rompay & Ludden 2013; Patel 2008). In learning a craft
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skill, the embodiment of tools and methods and the experiential knowledge of materials gained over time are pivotal and lies at the heart of both design and craft practices. The aim of the present study was to research embodiment via measuring physiological reactions during design processes while drawing and forming clay. By using heart rate variability (HRV) derived signals during the entire experiment, we expected to track not only the participant’s physiology, but also related mental states such as vigilance, attention span, the stress experienced and state of flow. Heart rate variability parameters are good indicators of the balance between the conscious central nervous system activities and the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activations including the demands of physical activity (Veltman & Gaillard 1998). Increased mental stress leads to the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and an almost simultaneous withdrawal of the parasympathetic nervous system. Several time- and frequency-domain parameters reflect these activities in detail (see Results). Previous studies (Cinaz et al. 2010) have shown that several HRV parameters are good measures to track the interaction between cognitive and physiological processes. The underlying hypothesis in such studies is that the cardiac activity shows detailed reactions to any mental or physical activity, consequently also during the creative process. The hypothesis is linked to the controversial discourse around the theories proposing that the way one thinks and feels is strongly influenced by feedback from the body. In our research, we follow the study line by Dunn et al. (2010), who showed in their recent study that cognitive-affective processing relates significantly to bodily responses. During the study, they showed affective images and recorded the participants’ heart rate (HR) to measure what their bodily response to the images was. In their study, Herbert et al. (2010) applied the same method. As they point out, cardiac activity is closely related to emotional experience and the sensitivity of cardiac signals can easily be measured. The specific research question for our study is: How do drawing and forming clay differ in tasks of copying, creating novel design or free improvisation with respect to different timings in creating physical and mental stress, frustration, or flow? This is the first experiment in which the effects of materials (especially important for the embodiment experience) are combined with the effects of the mental requirements of different creative tasks (copying, design, improvisation), and it lays a basis for future investigations in this field.
Methods Thirty participants, both students and professionals, representing expertise in various design fields participated in our study. They performed different drawing and clay forming tasks while wearing portable sensors (Faros, Mega Electronics, Finland) capable of recording the full electrocardiogram and accelerometers (Actigraph, GENEActiv, Finland) on their both wrists for hand movement detection (see Figure 1). All the measurements were conducted
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over the period November 2014 to March 2015 at the Aalto University, School of Art, Design and Architecture. The study had the ethical approval of the Institute of Behavioural Sciences of the University of Helsinki. The study was a 2x3x2 protocol with 2 different materials, 3 different tasks and 2 different timings, see details below and in Figure 2.
Figure 1. Participant wearing the measurement devices: Faros cardiac signal recording on the chest and Actigraph accelerometers on the wrists. Photo by Camilla Groth.
Figure 2. Experimental setting of the study. Panel A shows the timing of one task in the fast and slow blocks, panel B shows the replications of tasks in the fast and slow blocks, and panel C shows the composition of both whole blocks. Figure by Marianne Leinikka.
In the study, each of the three design tasks were approached by both drawing with a pen on paper and by forming clay. The three design tasks in the experiments were 1) a copying task
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– drawing a copy of a cup on paper or forming it from clay on the basis of a photograph of a cup, 2) a design task – creating a new design for a cup by either drawing or forming, and 3) a free improvisation task – a creative work on a self-chosen topic by drawing or forming clay according to personal ideas or imagination. The tasks of the study were executed with two different timing setups: fast and slow blocks, meaning that participants had either a short or a longer time to perform the required tasks during that particular block. Both fast and slow blocks were performed using both drawing and clay forming modalities and comprised each of the three tasks: copying, designing and improvising. Thus, each participant performed four blocks: fast and slow drawing blocks as well as fast and slow clay-forming blocks. The participants executed the tasks according to the timing and instructions presented on a computer screen. Prior to actual drawing or forming clay task, the participants were first shown a 5-second-long instruction on the upcoming task (i.e. “Next task is …”). Thereafter, the participants had 5 seconds to look at a picture of the cup (see Figure 3) and 10 seconds of an empty screen with a fixation cross to plan their work without moving. Finally, the actual drawing or clay forming started. In the fast block, the time available for drawing or forming was restricted to 45 seconds, whereas in the slow block, the time was 3 minutes. Therefore, in the fast block, one task (copy, design or improvise) lasted 65 seconds in total and in the slow block, 200 seconds, respectively. In all three tasks (copy, design and improvise), the participants were shown a picture of a cup as a stimulus, even though in the free improvisation task, the creative process was not limited in any way to the production of a cup.
Figure 3. The cups presented as stimuli in the study. Photo by Marianne Leinikka. Cups made by Camilla Groth.
In both the clay forming and drawing modalities, the fast block consisted of 30 separate tasks following each other in a forced-paced manner. In order to have a sufficient duration of physiological data, each task was repeated five times in a row, and these sets of five were repeated twice. Therefore, each of the three different tasks was repeated ten times in the fast block. In the slow block, there were 12 separate tasks, and each task was repeated twice, thus yielding four presentation times for each of the three tasks. The order of each block and each task was randomised across the participants to minimise the effects of novelty (first blocks) and fatigue (towards the last blocks). At the beginning of the study, the
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participants had the opportunity to practise all three tasks, both drawing and forming clay, and both timings. At the end of the study, each participant had made 84 pieces of design (see Figures 4 and 5).
Figure 4: Newly made clay objects according to the mixed copying, designing and improvisation tasks. Photo by Marianne Leinikka.
Figure 5: Shelves filling with clay objects, each of the 30 participants created 42 clay objects, resulting in a total of 1260 clay objects. Photo by Camilla Groth.
The challenge involved in the designing of this experimental setting lies in combining a design study with a study in which physiological signals are recorded. In traditional design studies, the experimental protocols can be arranged according to the requirements of the
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design process, whereas when recording physiological signals, all kind of excess movements or differences in timing are potential sources of noise for the data. Further, the fact that the recommended minimum length for calculating frequency-domain HRV parameters from an electrocardiogram is 5 minutes has to be taken into account (Task Force 1996). In order to be able to compare the results from this study with our future EEG measurements, we included a 10-second long planning window with a fixation cross in the research setting between the task assignment and the actual execution of the design task. This will allow us to determine the brain correlates of the mental process during the planning of different tasks (copy, design, improvise) without the noise caused by the bodily movements during the actual processes. At the beginning of the experiment, the participants reported their own level of expertise in drawing and clay forming on a scale of 0 to 100 and filled in the Profile of Mood questionnaire (POMS) both at the beginning and at the end of the research. In addition to the physiological recordings, the participants evaluated their subjective sleepiness using the 9-point questionnaire of the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (Ă&#x2026;kerstedt 1990) also and the task load experienced using NASA-TLX (Hart & Staveland 1988) assessment tool five times during the research: at the beginning of the research day, and once after each of the prior described blocks. The experimental setting was followed by a stimulated recall interview during which the interviewer watched the video privately with each of the participants. The participants had the opportunity to reflect and comment on their work by probing certain feelings, inspirations, disturbances and pressures. The interviewer noted their emotional comments as well as remarks related to the work itself. The stimulated recall session was also video recorded for subsequent analysis. The results of the stimulated recall interviews will be reported in detail in later publications.
Data analysis The heart rate variability (HRV) analysis of the electrocardiogram signal was performed using the Colibri software for R (version 3.2.2.; http://www.r-project.org/; R Core Team, 2015). The data was analysed with a segment length of 300 s without using segment overlap. Artefacts were detected using the modified method of Xu and Schuckers (Xu 2001) and removed. From the HRV, the most common time-domain parameters, mean heart rate (HR), standard deviation of RR intervals (SDNN), root mean square of the successive R-R differences (RMSSD) and the portion of the successive, consecutive R-R differences which differ by more than 50 ms (pNN50) were analysed. Further, we calculated in the frequencydomain the following parameters: the high frequency (HF) power, low frequency (LF) power, their ratio LF/HF, and the power of a specific frequency band of 0.01-0.08, which was recently shown to be more optimal for the analysis of electrocardiogram data in stress studies (Henelius 2014). Below, we are reporting only the strongest effects observed in the data.
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Results Of the total of thirty participants, the data of one participant was omitted due to technical difficulties. In addition, some of the data from two participants were omitted because of poor quality. The age range of the remaining 29 participants was 23-55 years (mean 33.8; SD 8.6). Their self-reported level of drawing expertise on a scale of 0 to 100 was 83.2 (SD 21.9) and for clay forming 59.0 (SD 35.7). The subjective sleepiness values (KSS-values) did not change dramatically across the experiment (see Figure 6). The task load experienced (NASATLX values) during the course of the study, are presented in Figure 7, showing a clear rise in mental effort and frustration across the experimental session. The general factors of POMS mental states were not found to differ between the beginning and end of the experiment, but the enthusiasm experienced decreased from 2.6 at the beginning of the experiment to 1.9 by the end of the experiment.
Figure 6. Karolinska sleepiness (KSS) values during the study. Scoring: 1 = extremely alert; 9 = very sleepy, great effort to keep alert, fighting sleep.
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Figure 7. Task load experienced, NASA-TLX values during the study. A score of 100 represents high Temporal, Physical, Mental, and general Effort, high Frustration, and good Performance.
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Figure 8. Mean HR, RMSSD and LF/HF ratio of the HRV signal with 95% confidence intervals presented across all participants in the three design tasks (copy, design, improvisation) separately for the fast and slow drawing and clay forming tasks.
When looking at the data from the mean HR values (see Figure 8, left column) across all participants, we can observe effects that are indicative of mainly bodily efforts. The mean HR, that is, the pulse in beats per minute across the 5-minute period, is a very sensitive measure of any physical effort or even posture. A clear effect of the material can be observed as a difference in physical activity according to the material: all tasks and all timings in the clay forming show a higher mean HR than those in the drawing tasks. The effect of the material (drawing vs. clay forming) is much stronger in the mean HR than any of the other two factors (task: copying, design, improvise or timing: fast or slow). Nonetheless, when separating the effects according to the fast and slow blocks, an interaction effect on mean HR between the material and the timing is observed: The physical effort is more pronounced in the fast blocks for the clay forming, but in the slow blocks in drawing. Indeed, 45 seconds to copy, design or improvise with clay seemed to be a very short time for the participants compared to the 3 minutes in the slow set-up, making the physical effort higher when the participants are trying to keep up with the required speed.
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The RMSSD of the cardiac signal measures the root mean square of the successive differences of the R-R-intervals in a 5-minute window. More variation, in other words, higher values of RMSSD, are indicative of a more relaxed mental state. In the RMSSD of the cardiac signal, we can observe that in the fast drawing tasks, the RMSSD is on average 40, while in the slow drawing and in the clay-forming tasks, it is around 35 (see Figure 8, middle panel). This is indicative of less stress and frustration in the fast drawing tasks compared to all other tasks, and especially in the design and improvisation tasks in fast drawing. In the frequency-domain measures of the HRV signal, especially the LF/HF-ratio, the ratio between the low and high frequency power in the cardiac signal, an estimate of the mental efforts can be drawn. The low LF/HF-ratio indicating the highest amount of attentive effort and smallest amount of free cognitive resources available was generally observed in the slow tasks. Vice versa, the faster tasks seemed to yield higher values, even above 3.5, thus indicating larger free cognitive resources. This was especially evident in the design tasks, but even more strongly in the improvisation tasks for both materials (see Figure 8, right panel). This finding was further supported by calculating the pNN50, which was the lowest for copying, slightly higher for the design task and even higher for the improvisation task, indicative of the smallest amount of free cognitive resources available in the copying task, slightly more in the design task and the largest amount of free cognitive capacity available in the improvisation task. This finding was supported by the interviews given by the participants. The above findings are evidence of differences between the two modalities, drawing and clay forming, highlighting the higher physical effort required by the clay forming compared to drawing – especially in the fast setup, which is exceptionally demanding. Interestingly, these effects are also observed when comparing the three tasks, copying, designing and improvising. The relevance of these findings for design and embodiment research is discussed below.
Discussion Our research assessed the interaction between the modality (drawing and clay forming) and the task (copy, design and improvise) as well as the two timing setups (fast and slow). We have found evidence for a higher physical effort in the clay forming task compared to the drawing task in general. We also found evidence of higher physical effort in the fast timing setups compared to the slow timing setups. These two effects did not interact with the task, in other words, the same phenomenon concerning material as well as timing was observed across all three tasks. The physiological parameters reflecting mental effort and cognitive resources are somewhat in parallel with the physical effort – higher effort in clay forming and especially fast clay forming – but also show interesting additional phenomena related to the task types. Most interestingly, the greatest amount of free mental resources was observed in the design and improvisation tasks in fast drawing compared to any other task. It may be concluded that
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free improvisation, especially involving drawing fast, improvised works, seems to be the most effective way of freeing mental resources. Similar benefits were also observed in fast, improvised working with clay. These effects when performing fast drawing tasks were also mentioned by the participants in the interviews, and we wish to direct our future analysis toward finding more detailed parallels between the physiological and interview data. In addition, we are also very interested in the central nervous system activity during the copying, design and improvising tasks. There are several phenomena that could be observed as differences between these types of tasks and with respect to the modality (drawing or clay forming). A previous study by Kurk et al. (2014) revealed that both clay forming and drawing increased EEG gamma power in the right medial parietal lobe compared to general movement, and, further, that clay forming decreased right medial frontal gamma power and elevated theta power. In addition, the study by Belkofer et al. (2014) indicated that alpha rhythm may play an important role in drawing. In our future EEG study with the same paradigm, we are planning to investigate similar phenomena in our participants. To conclude, we investigated the effects of material (drawing or clay forming) and task (copying, design and improvisation) from the point of view of both physical and mental processes. We found the physiological measurements reflecting physical effort to be highly correlated with both the material and the timing of the work. Namely, more physical effort was required by the clay forming tasks compared to the drawing tasks, and more physical effort was required when the task was performed more rapidly. These physical efforts did not have an interaction with the tasks; the physical effort was similar across copying, designing and improvisation. We also found that the mental effort, while being partially connected to the physical effort, showed interesting and important specific effects. In detail, the mental stress levels were lowest for the designing and especially for the free improvisation tasks, particularly for drawing. These findings will receive more detailed accounts in the next phase of the research, when we will analyse the stimulated recall interviews that were conducted after each experiment. In addition, these interviews will provide us with information on how the participants experienced the mentally and physically demanding research setting. The preliminary results from the interviews reveal that even if the participants â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who were professional designers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; felt the experiment to be demanding, they also felt it to be interesting and possibly also capable of revealing something about their own manner of approaching design tasks as well as their thinking patterns when starting a creative work. Design is a human process that involves the whole mind-body connective system. Research on both the mental and bodily components in synchrony, that is, physiological measurements of the bodily functions combined with interviews and questionnaires of the mental components, are the only means to fully understand the complexities of design actions. These first results presented in this paper pave the way for further studies. The paradigm is well suited for EEG investigations, and our future studies will bring more detailed information on these tasks at the cortical level.
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Future studies should be directed towards separating physical embodied effects (such as that of the material) in crossover designs from more mental embodiments (such as tasks with differing amounts of creativity or mental stress or effort). We believe that the measurement of physiological signals from cardiac effects to EEG can highlight the differences between the physical and mental characteristics in an embodied task such as drawing or clay forming according to specifications given concerning copying, designing new objects, and free improvisation with the material. Acknowledgements: this research is funded by the Academy of Finland, project numbers: 265922 and 266125. We would also like to thank all the participants of the study and the five students of the design department who acted as assistants during the measurements: Heli Juuti, Petra Leino, Anni-Marja Kuula, Anna-Miia Suominen and Eugenia Smirnova. Additionally we would like to acknowledge the two students from Helsinki University who conducted all the interviews: Anna Lohko and Aino Melkas.
References Belkofer, C. M., Vaughan Van Hecke, A. & Konopka, L. M. (2014) Effects of drawing on alpha activity: A quantitative EEG Study with implications for art therapy, Art Therapy, Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 31 (2), pp. 61-68. Borghia, M. & Cimattic, F. (2010) Embodied cognition and beyond, Neuropsychologia, 48, pp. 763– 773. Cain, P. (2010) Drawing: The enactive evolution of the practitioner, Bristol, UK. Intellect. Cinaz, B., La Marca, R., Arnrich, B., & Tröster, G. (2010) Monitoring of mental workload levels, In Proceedings of IADIS eHealth conference. Damasio, A. (1999) The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness, New York: Hartcourt. Damasio, A. (1994) Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason, and the human mind, New York: Putnam. Dourish, P. (2001) Where the Action is: The foundation of embodied interaction, Cambridge: MIT press. Dunn, B.D., Galton, H.C., Morgan, R., Evans, D., Oliver, C., Meyer, M., Cusack, R., Lawrence, A.D. & Dalgleish, T. (2010) Listening to Your Heart. How Interoception Shapes Emotion Experience and Intuitive Decision Making, Psychological Science, 21(12), pp. 1835-1844. Gallace, A. & Spence, C. (2008) The cognitive and neural correlates of “tactile consciousness”: A multisensory perspective, Consciousness and cognition, 17 (1) pp. 370-407 Goel, V. (1995) Sketches of Thought, Cambridge, MA: the MIT Press. Groth, C., Mäkelä, M. & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P. (2015) Tactile augmentation: A multimethod for capturing experiential knowledge, Craft Research Journal, 6, (1), pp. 57-81. Groth, C. & Mäkelä, M. (2014) The knowing body in material exploration Proceedings of The Art of Research V: Experience, Materiality, Articulation, International Conference 26-27 November 2014, Helsinki, Finland. Groth, C., Mäkelä, M. & Hakkarainen-Seitamaa P. (2013) Making Sense. FORMakademisk Journal, Vol 6, (2) pp. 1-12. Hari, R & Kujala M. M.(2009) Brain Basis of Human Social Interaction: From Concepts to Brain Imaging, Physiological Reviews. Vol 89, pp. 453-479.
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Hart, S. G., & Staveland, L. E. (1988) Development of NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results of empirical and theoretical research, Advances in psychology, Vol 52, pp. 139-183. Henelius, A., Sallinen, M., Huotilainen, M., Müller, K., Virkkala, J. & Puolamäki, K. (2014) Heart Rate Variability for Evaluating Vigilant Attention in Partial Chronic Sleep Restriction, Sleep, Vol 7, pp. 1257-1267. Herbert, B.M., Pollatos, O., Flor, H., Enck, P. & Schandry, R. (2010) Cardiac awareness and automatic cardiac reactivity during emotional picture viewing and mental stress, Psychophysiology, Vol 49, pp. 342-354. Hornecker, E. (2005) A Design Theme for Tangible Interaction: Embodied Facilitation. In Gellersen et al. (eds.) ECSCW 2005: Proceedings of the 9th European Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, September 18-22, Paris, France. pp. 23-43. Hornecker, E., Buur, J. (2006) Getting a Grip on Tangible Interaction: A Framework on Physical Space and Social Interaction. Proceedings of SIGCHI 2006, Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. April 24-27, Montreal, Canada. ACM New York, USA. pp. 437-446. Hummels, C., & Van Dijk, J. (2015) Seven Principles to Design for Embodied Sensemaking. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI'15), Stanford, CA. pp. 21-28 Höök, K. (2010) Transferring qualities from horseback riding to design. Proceedings of the 6th NordiCHI: Extending boundaries, Reykjavik, Iceland, October 16-20. New York: ACM. pp. 226-235. Johnson, M. (1987) The body in the mind, Chicago: Chicago University Press. Johnson, M. (2007) The meaning of the body, Chicago: Chicago University Press. Kantrowitz, A., Brew, A., Fava, M. Eds.(2011) Thinking through drawing: Practice into knowledge. Proceedings of an interdisciplinary symposium on drawing, cognition and education 28-29 October 2011. Teachers college, Columbia University, New York. Kurk, K. A., Aravich, P. F., Deaver, S.P., DeBeus, R. (2014) Comparison of brain activity during drawing and clay sculpting: A preliminary qEEG study. Art Therapy. Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 31 (2), pp. 52-60. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (1999) Philosophy in the flesh: The embodied mind and its challenge to western thought, New York: Basic Books. Luck, S.J. (2005) An Introduction to the Event-Related Potential Technique, Mass:The MIT Press. Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962/2010) Phenomenology of Perception, London: Routledge. Mäkelä, M. & Löytönen, T (2015) Enhancing Material Experimentation In Design Education, in Vande Zande, R., Bohemia, E., & Digranes, I. (2015) (Eds.) Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference for Design Education Researchers. June 28- July 1. Chicago, USA. Noë, A. (2009) Out of our heads, New York: Hill and Wang. Noë, A. (2004) Action in Perception. Cambridge: The MIT press. Patel, K. (2008) Thinkers in the kitchen: Embodied thinking and learning in practice, Ann Arbour (MI): UMI dissertation services ProQuest. Poulsen, S. & Thøgersen, U. (2011). Embodied design thinking: a phenomenological perspective, CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, 7 (1), pp. 29-44. R Core Team (2015) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL http://www.r-project.org/, (Accessed 16 Nov, 2015). Colibri can be downloaded from: www.github.com/bwrc/colibri (Accessed 16 Nov, 2015). Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004) The mirror-neuron system. Annu. Rev. Neurosci., Vol 27, pp. 169192.
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About the Authors: Marianne Leinikka M.Sc. (Eng.) – Marianne Leinikkas’ expertise is experimental work in physiological measurements, their technologies, and the analysis of physiological and brain data. Minna Huotilainen – Research professor, focusing on work-related neuroscience. Her interests include cognitive processes such as perception, memory, attention and the cognitive effects of sleep, work fatigue, attentive problems and embodied cognition. Pirita Seitamaa – Hakkarainen Professor of Craft Studies. Her main interest is to analyse expertise in design, the nature of the design process and the role of external representations such as drawings. Camilla Groth – Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Design. Her main interests lie in haptic experiences and embodied cognition in design practice.
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Mimmu Rankanen – Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Art. Rankanen is a qualified psychotherapist and art therapist, and her research interests include therapeutic, cognitive, emotional, embodied and material aspects of creative processes. Maarit Mäkelä – Associate Professor of Practice-Led Design Research. Mäkelä also works as an artist at the junction of ceramics and fine art. Her main interest is the creative process.
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Code, Decode, Recode: Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing knowledge through making Anna Piper Nottingham Trent University anna.piper@ntu.ac.uk DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.415
Abstract: In craft practice, embodied knowledge is constructed (‘coded’) through the hands-on experience of making and application of technical rules, subsequently deconstructed (‘decoded’) through reflection and analysis, before being rebuilt (‘recoded’) to further develop practice and outcomes. In this paper practice-led PhD research into the development composite woven garments is used to demonstrate the vital role that process and object analysis play in the advancement of creative practice and a successful transition from hand to digital production. Drawing parallels between hand weaving and computer use, it explores how the ‘digital thinking’ inherent in weaving can facilitate a productive relationship with digital weaving technologies. Presented as a ‘visual essay’ this paper aims to bridge the gap between implicit and explicit knowledge, using a predominantly visual method to maximise the reach of the research, communicating implicit and explicit knowledge with equal clarity and offering an alternative approach to the dissemination of practice-led research. Keywords: embodied knowledge; composite garments; hand weaving; digital production
Introduction Constructing, Deconstructing and Reconstructing Knowledge This paper builds upon Ulrich Lehmann’s assertion that analysis of existing techne (craftsmanship/making) can lead to innovations in practice and the creation of episteme (knowing/true knowledge) (2012, p.151), and Lambros Malafouris’ Extended Mind Theory gaining knowledge of the mind by understanding the physical object (2013, p.9). In craft practice, embodied knowledge is constructed (‘coded’) through the hands-on experience of making and application of technical rules, subsequently deconstructed (‘decoded’) through reflection and analysis, before being rebuilt and reconfigured (‘recoded’) to further develop This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Anna Piper
practice and outcomes (Lehmann, U, 2012; Dreyfus & Dreyfus, 1986; Polanyi, 1966). This is a complex process where the brain, body and material (the internal and external) intertwine (Malafouris, 2005), and the application of rules and tools provokes a cognitive process where memory, experience and intuition converge (Ibid.), enabling creativity and innovation to advance material outcomes. I use my own craft practice and PhD research, into the development of a Composite Garment Weaving system (CGW), to highlight the vital role that process and object analysis, along with technical documentation, play in the advancement of creative practice and a successful transition from hand to digital production. The CGW system is an innovative method of garment production whereby garments are constructed and integrally shaped on the loom. This involves adapting and challenging conventional fashion design and weaving techniques to design and simultaneously construct textile and garment (Townsend, 2004). My research explores the garment shaping capabilities of craft weaving techniques by developing 3D woven garment prototypes produced on hand and digital Jacquard looms. In describing the development of the Jacquard loom by Joseph-Marie Jacquard in 1801, Braddock, Clarke and Harris state, “The codification of the human weaver’s actions was converted to binary form” (2012, p.8), pattern data was transferred onto punched cards that facilitated the lifting and lowering of the warp; an operation that is now controlled digitally. The Jacquard loom, with its binary coding system and punched card mechanism, was the forerunner of modern computing (Kopplin, 2002, online). By drawing parallels between the embodied act of hand weaving and the “disembodied” (Philpott, 2012) experience of computer use, I explore how the ‘digital thinking’ inherent in weaving can facilitate a productive relationship with digital weaving technologies.
Visual Communication of Practice-led Research - Rationale “we can know more than we can tell.” (Polanyi, 1966, p.4)
Knowledge has been categorised as - learned explicit knowledge as articulated verbally or textually (e.g. theory, rules, facts), and knowledge acquired through experience (e.g. intuition, understanding, ‘knowing’) (Niedderer & Imani, 2008; Polanyi, 1966;). This experiential knowledge derived through experience can be impossible to articulate and therefore remains “largely tacit” (Niedderer & Townsend, 2014, p.633) – embodied in the craftsperson. “Verbal description, however detailed, can hardly capture phenomenological perturbations of real activity.” (Malafouris, 2005, p.59)
the
The growing body of practice-led craft-based research has highlighted the complexities of communicating craft knowledge (particularly experiential knowledge) within the constraints of the traditional academic written format (see for example Niedderer & Imani, 2008). Barrett, amongst others suggests, “there is a need for new ways of representing ideas and of illuminating the world and domains of knowledge.” (2007, online). Ann-Sophie Lehmann asserts that the image is capable of mediating “between the domains of implicit and explicit
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knowledge.” (Lehmann, A, 2012, p.13), whilst Pedgley cautions that visual outputs, such as sketches, prototypes and visualisations, “rarely provide a clear account of design thinking” (Pedgley, 2002, p.466). In response to this, I present my paper as a ‘visual essay’, using images to “capture the complexity and simultaneity of making” (Lehmann, A, 2012, p.13) and knowing. Quotations, captions and reflective journal excerpts are used to support the ‘visual’ narrative, as well as to guide the reader through the discussion. In doing so, I aim to bridge the gap between implicit and explicit knowledge, using a predominantly visual method to maximise the reach of my research, communicating implicit and explicit knowledge with equal clarity. My intention is not to devalue or underestimate the importance of the written word or to suggest that this method of visual communication can (or should) operate autonomously the textual narrative (the contextualisation above, and the positioning discussion below) is vital to the understanding of the subsequent ‘visual’ narrative. The ‘visual essay’ simply offers an alternative and flexible approach to the dissemination of practice-led research to function alongside other forms of presentation.
Code, Decode, Recode: Positioning the discussion This paper uses coding as a metaphor for the construction, deconstruction and reconstruction of knowledge through making; reflecting the parallels drawn between weaving practice and computer use, and the assimilation of hand and digital production and processes in my practice.
The first section ‘Coding’ begins by discussing the acquisition of experiential knowledge and its relationship with explicit knowledge and the senses in the context of hand weaving. It then explores the notion that the weaver is primed to ‘think digitally’ by the experience of hand weaving (Piper & Townsend, 2016, p.2). ‘Decoding’ investigates the transfer and translation of established fashion and knitwear processes for application to CGW, before describing the vital role of analysis and technical records (and the deconstruction of knowledge and techniques) in this process. Finally ‘Recoding’ focuses on the reconfiguring of ‘decoded’ knowledge and understanding, as well as the integration of hand and digital processes as a platform for innovation; explored through CGW’s simultaneous construction of fabric and garment and the integration of textile and fashion processes.
See Visual Essay (Appendix) References Albers, A. (2000) Anni Albers: Selected Writings on Design, University Press of New England. Albers, A. (1961). Anni Albers: on designing, Wesleyan University Press. Barrett, E. (2007). Studio Enquiry and New Frontiers of Research, Studies in Material Thinking, 1 (1), pp 1–3. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience, Harper Perennial. Dant, T. (2008). The Pragmatics of Material Interaction. Journal of Consumer Culture, 8 (1), pp 11–33.
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De Freitas, N. (2002). Towards a definition of studio documentation: working tool and transparent record, Working Papers in Art and Design, 2 pp 1–10. Dormer, P. (1994). The Art of the Maker: Skill and its Meaning in Art, Craft and Design, Thames and Hudson. Dreyfus, H, L., Dreyfus, S. (1988). Mind of Machine: the power of human intuition and expertise in the era of the computer, Free Press. Harris, J. (2013). Digital Skin: How developments in digital imaging techniques and culture are informing the design of futuristic surface and fabrication concepts, Textile, 11(2), pp 242-261. Holyoke, J. (2013). Digital Jacquard Design. London: Bloomsbury. Kane, F. (2013). Publication Review: Digital Visions in Fashion + Textiles: Made in Code, Sarah E. Braddock Clarke and Jane Harris 2012, Craft Research, 2(4), pp 289-292. Kopplin, J. 2002. An Illustrated History of Computers Part 2, http://tinyurl.com/ycjvvjg (Accessed 13 March, 2016). Lehmann, A. S. (2012). Showing Making: On Visual Documentation and Creative Practice, The Journal of Modern Craft, 5(1), pp 9–23. Lehmann, U. (2012). Making as Knowing: Epistemology and Technique in Craft, The Journal of Modern Craft, 5(2), pp 149-164. Lindqvist, R. (2013). On the Logic of Pattern Cutting, http://tinyurl.com/qdzcuou. (Accessed 21 July, 2015). Malafouris, L. (2013). How Things Shape the Mind: A Theory of Material Engagement, The MIT Press. Malafouris, L. (2005). The Cognitive Basis of Material Engagement: Where Brain, Body and Culture Conflate, in De Marrais., E. Gosden, C., Renfrew, C. (ed.) Rethinking Materiality: The Engagement of Mind with the Material World. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research. McCullough, M. (1998). Abstracting Craft: The Practiced Digital Hand, in Adamson, G. (ed.) The Craft Reader, Berg, pp 310-316. McNiff, J. (2013). Action Research: Principles and practice (3rd Edition), Routledge. Niedderer, K. & Imani, Y. (2008). Developing a Framework for Managing Tacit Knowledge in Research Using Knowledge Management Models, http://shura.shu.ac.uk/507/, (Accessed: 01 August, 2014) Niedderer, K. ,Townsend, K. (2014). Designing Craft Research: Joining Emotion and Knowledge, Design Journal, 17(4), pp 624-647. Parry-Williams, T. (2015). Made-by-hand: [Re]valuing traditional (Japanese) textile practices for contemporary design. Craft Research, 6(2), pp 165-185. Pedgley, O. (2007). Capturing and analysing own design activity, Design Studies, 28(5), pp 463–483. Philpott, R. (2012). Crafting Innovation: The intersection of craft and technology in the production of contemporary textiles, Craft Research. 3(1), pp 53-74. Piper, A., Townsend, K. (2016). Crafting the Composite Garment: The role of hand weaving in digital creation, Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice, 3(3), pp 1–24 (forthcoming). Polanyi, M. (1966). The Tacit Dimension, University of Chicago Press Ltd.
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Richards, A. (2012). Weaving textiles that shape themselves, Crowood Press. Schon, D, A. (1991). The Reflective Practitioner: How professionals think in action, Ashgate Publishing Limited. Smith, T. (2014). Bauhaus Weaving Theory: From feminine craft to mode of design, University of Minnesota Press. Townsend, K., Goulding, F. (2011). The Interaction of Two and Three Dimensional Design in Textiles and Fashion, in Briggs-Goode , A., Townsend, K. (eds.) Textile Design: Principles, Advances and Applications, Woodhead Publishing. Townsend, K. (2004). Transforming Shape: A simultaneous approach to textile and garment design (synthesizing hand and digital methods), PhD Thesis, Nottingham Trent University.
About the Authors: Anna Piper is a postgraduate researcher, textile designer and lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. She is currently undertaking a practice-led PhD into 3D and composite garment weaving, integrating hand and digital weaving technologies.
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Experience Labs: co-creating health and care innovations using design tools and artefacts Tara French*, Gemma Teal and Sneha Raman Glasgow School of Art *t.french@gsa.ac.uk DOI: 10.21606/drs.2016.458
Abstract: For healthcare innovations to be successful, the voices of those receiving or delivering such innovations need to be heard much earlier in the design process. This is not easy as there are likely to be multiple stakeholders involved, and their different backgrounds make it difficult to challenge or evaluate potential innovation in the early stage of development. This paper positions the Experience Lab as a means of co-creating sustainable, innovative solutions to healthcare challenges. The Experience Lab offers participants, both receiving and delivering healthcare, the opportunity to engage in the design process, share insights, experience new concepts and imagine new ways of responding to challenges. The material artefacts and bespoke tools provide the conditions through which to create new meanings and shared experiences. This paper presents the Experience Lab approach, artefacts and tools, providing examples of these in context. The paper concludes with the need for further research to understand the role of artefacts and tools in supporting detail design and implementation beyond the Lab, and the potential of the Lab approach for other contexts. Keywords: participatory; healthcare; creativity; material artefacts
Introduction In Scotland, one in four adults over 16 report some form of long term illness, health problem or disability (Scottish Government, 2009). We face increased care needs due to our ageing population, with a predicted rise of 38 per cent in the number of people who will be over 85 in the population by 2016, and a 144 per cent rise in the over 85s by 2031 (ibid). The challenges of increasing demand and costs are compounded by decreasing budgets, which are not predicted to climb back to their 2009-10 levels until 2025-26 (Christie, 2011). The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;2020â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Vision set out by the Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities states that by the year 2020 â&#x20AC;&#x153;everyone is able to live longer healthier lives at home, or in a homely
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.
Tara French, Gemma Teal and Sneha Raman
setting” (Scottish Government, 2011). To enable this vision to become a reality there is a need for the focus of healthcare to shift from one of treatment, to one of prevention, anticipatory care and supported self-care, encouraging people to take increasing responsibility and agency in their own health. The Christie Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services (Christie, 2011, p.vi) called for a significant transformation of public services to meet these challenges. It highlighted the need for reform to “empower individuals and communities receiving public services by involving them in the design and delivery of the services they use”, and the opportunity to use the talents and assets within communities to “support self-reliance and build resilience” (ibid, ix). The Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment Action Plan (2009, p.8) makes a commitment to support people and communities to have “more power and influence over what matters to them”. Lived experience of patients can often complement the expertise of healthcare professionals and involving “lay perspectives” in health research can lead to a number of benefits for the quality and impact of the research (Entwistle, Renfrew, Yearley, Forrester & Lamont, 1998, p.463). Government and policy makers place greater emphasis on involving the public in decision-making and therefore innovation in the health and social care sector is becoming increasingly participatory (Scottish Government, 2009). The key difference between participatory research approaches and conventional research approaches lies primarily in terms of the “alignment of power” within the process (Cornwall & Jewkes, 1995, p.1668). Various modes of participation exist including contractual, consultative, collaborative, and collegiate (Biggs, cited in Cornwall & Jewkes, 1995). In participatory approaches the researcher is no longer the person who conducts the research ‘on’ participants, but researches ‘with’ participants, becoming a learner and facilitator (Cornwall & Jewkes, 1995, p.1668). In this paper, we position Experience Labs as a participatory approach through which to harness the lived experience of participants in a creative environment to co-create sustainable innovation in response to healthcare challenges. We describe our participatory research approach and the design tools and bespoke artefacts used in the process. The tools and artefacts are illustrated with examples, and their role in embodiment and learning is discussed.
Participatory approaches to healthcare innovation The voice of research participants needs to be heard much earlier in the design process, i.e. prior to idea generation, in order to explore challenges and identify needs (Teal & French, in press). Participatory design is based on the premise that involving participants in the design of products and systems will achieve enhanced results in terms of efficiency and usability (Bowen, 2010). Engaging with participants at the early stages also allows for a deeper understanding of experience in order to identify unmet needs for ideation, and can lead to positive benefits (Sanders & Stappers, 2008) and create user-driven solutions.
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Pressure is increasing on healthcare services and digital technology is proposed as a potential solution to overcome many of the challenges. Design is increasingly concerned with the “future experiences of people, communities and cultures”, and increasing emphasis is placed on the role of generative design tools to imagine these (ibid, p.10). Employing participatory design is therefore important in developing innovation to ensure that the products and services designed will meet the future needs of the people they are designed for, i.e. those delivering and receiving healthcare services. There is a growing recognition of the role of design in shaping future services in the health and social care context. For example, the NHS has employed the use of design thinking within health improvement and increased adoption of approaches such as user-centred health design and evidence based co-design (Bowen et al., 2013; Robert et al., 2015). The development of toolkits and the availability of online design tools have made design processes more accessible to those who are not formally trained designers (Bevan, Robert, Bate, Maher & Wells, 2007). While toolkits may support healthcare staff to involve patients in ongoing service improvement, it is unclear whether these processes lead to transformative and sustainable service innovation in response to the challenges facing our public health and care services. These resources have also led to criticisms of a risk of devaluing the role of designers within the process. Healthcare is a complex adaptive system, and in addition to skills and expertise in developing new ideas, designers can provide a level of objectivity that people who are part of the system may find difficult to achieve.
Research approach: Experience Labs Experience Labs are a design-led approach to co-creating sustainable health and social care innovations. The Labs are developed and led by a multidisciplinary team at the Institute of Design Innovation, The Glasgow School of Art and are currently at the core of the Digital Health and Care Institute (DHI), an innovation centre based in Scotland. We are exploring the potential of our approach across a wide range of projects in health and social care in order to share our knowledge and learning with the wider design community. We hypothesise that our participatory approach can respond to the challenges faced in this context through the space we create for collaboration; supporting participants towards creating “preferable futures” (Dunne & Raby, 2013; McAra-McWilliam, 2014, p.25); through designing bespoke tools and artefacts to support design methods and activities; the skills of the team and the enlightened evaluation of the approach to share the knowledge and learning.
Creating a space for creativity and collaboration Experience Labs provide a safe space for creativity and collaboration among those who participate. The Lab offers the opportunity for new communicative spaces and experiential learning (Reason & Bradbury, 2013) leading to the development of collaborative relationships. Experience Labs are an emergent process, similar to Participatory Action Research (ibid), and as a result the environment needs to be flexible. Flexibility allows the
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research team to gain a rich understanding of participantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience, behaviours and attitudes as participants explore and experience digital technologies. Questions posed in the Lab are sometimes not fully developed. Developing the question is sometimes as valuable as finding the answer. This is all part of a creative process, which encourages participants to think broadly towards creating a preferable future. Flexibility is also an in built part of the planning of a Lab given that it is a creative process, predominantly focused on engaging participants to think creatively in terms of future experiences. Experience Labs are designed to operate primarily at the collaborative mode of participation, but can also cut across all modes of participation as the design process evolves. In the Labs the academic, business and civic stakeholders, together with relevant user groups assume the role of co-creators. Co-creation involves a broad range of activities that are undertaken through the entire research and design process. This means involving participants at an early stage in the process, as early as scoping and planning research; and keeping them involved at the latter stages of the design process, allowing ideas to evolve from a concept stage to developing prototypes in an iterative manner towards creating a proof of concept. While researchers, designers and the various stakeholders are experts in their respective domains, the users are experts of their own experiences. The Labs value the collective knowledge and shared motivations of all participants, and present outcomes that represent the interests of everyone involved. Overall, the Labs aim to empower those involved to feel a level ownership over what evolves as a result of the Lab process.
Experience Lab activities Preparation and early stages of Experience Labs aim to gain an understanding of the lived experience of users, in order to design bespoke activities, artefacts and tools to facilitate cocreation. Inclusion of end-users is considered as crucial to the success of the innovation being explored to ensure that the concept developed meets their needs and preferences (Kline & Rosenburg, 1986). Scoping activities might include ethnographic observations and interviews in the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home or work environment. Visual and experiential mapping activities are often used in the early stages of Experience Labs, aiming to explore the people, places, products and services involved to create a shared picture of the users current experiences. Experience Lab activities largely involve observation, brainstorming and the embodiment and testing of ideas as physical and experiential prototypes. Prototyping allows thinking and ideas to evolve through physical making and creates a safe space for failure leading to faster learning (Coughlan, Fulton & Canales, 2007). It also provides encouragement and permission to explore new behaviours (ibid). This supports rapid cycles of making and trialling experiential prototypes for new products, services or technology and extrapolation of future experiences in the new context. Prototyping often begins with low fidelity models and gradually leads to experimentation with a functional prototype as ideas are reviewed, adapted and refined (Swann, 2002). This reflects the experimental nature of the Labs with
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the term ‘laboratory’ representing the experimentation of new ideas and prototypes leading to user-driven innovation. Later stages of Experience Labs often use role play activities, and may involve testing prototypes in realistic environments to understand how participants interact with the prototypes and how it changes current working practices or experiences. Experience Lab activities are recorded and footage is later analysed to gain deeper insights into how participants engage with tools and with others. A videographer documents the experience of taking part as a key outcome of the research activity to accompany a full report detailing research findings and themes, user requirements and ideas, together with iterated prototypes.
Design tools and bespoke artefacts Experience Labs are experiential in that they allow and provide space for participants to experience new products or services in order to critically reflect and give feedback. The role of design within this process is to create both the environment and artefacts in order for participants to be able to do this. Design tools and bespoke artefacts create a ‘new reality’ (Niedderer, 2013 p.6), which allows participants to experience a concept that is unknown to them. In this way, there is no one method that fits all; each Lab is unique to the context, participants and collaboration. The Labs use a range of generative tools including, experience prototypes, scenario based tools, storyboards, and role-play. The tools can also be used in the Lab to explore current, near future, and speculative future experience (Sanders & Stappers, 2014) although it is a premise of the Labs to ensure that participants are guided to consider preferable futures. These tools are typical to collaborative activities facilitated by designers and can reveal underlying patterns (ibid), in addition to providing a rich understanding of participant experience. Design tools encourage participants to share their experiences and build on each other’s ideas. The tools help to open up the design process to multiple stakeholders (Koskinen, Zimmerman, Binder, Redstrom & Wensveen, 2011). Many participants come to a Lab with feelings of apprehension and uncertainty, but the tools and artefacts gently ease them into the process. Material artefacts are created and made by designers within the Lab team to supplement the tools and enable participants to gain a more realistic experience. Artefacts provide rich insights into people’s everyday experience, act as a mediator and coordinator of information and provide “an understanding of important processes, protocols or conventions” (Vyas, Heylen, Nijholt & Van Der Veer, 2009, p.106). Artefacts can be used at different stages of the Lab process to aid brainstorming and exploration of ideas, enhance interactions among participants, enable the design of concepts, and collaborative prototyping. The artefacts are crafted aesthetically but are not finished to a professional standard (Gaver, Dunne & Pacenti, 1999) and enable participants to understand and imagine how a proposed idea may work for them whilst having the flexibility or ambiguity (Gaver, Beaver & Benford, 2003) to be changed or manipulated by participants throughout the process of the Lab. The artefacts generate creative discussion amongst participants, the results of which are used to iterate
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the design. The artefacts and tools help to communicate experiential information to participants, and through the process of engaging with the artefact through the tool during the Lab, participants can begin to understand how the proposed innovation would cater to their needs and ‘fit’ with their everyday experience or practice (or not). Artefacts not only enable the tangibility of a possible solution but they also provide the opportunity to share ideas, reflect, envision and record (Vyas et al, 2009). Artefacts and tools can therefore be used as both a data generation method and a form of analysis and evaluation of what occurs during the Lab (Niedderer, 2013). The artefacts facilitate communication within the Labs by providing a common language that allows people to share and be listened to: overcoming barriers of discipline, hierarchy and culture. They allow participants to communicate visually and directly with each other (Martin & Hanington, 2012). The tools and artefacts, like the method, are open-ended. They help to keep the discussion focussed and provide a common means of expression. However, there is an additional level of interpretation and use that is involved in the creation of an artefact. Each artefact is therefore unique. An artefact projects the “thoughts, feelings, and desires that are difficult to communicate through more conventional verbal means” (ibid, p.94) and the shared motivation of the group involved in its creation. They embody the new knowledge that has been created through the collaborative process. The tangibility of possible future innovations allows participants to begin to discuss and explore how the concept could be embodied and implemented.
Role of the Lab team Within the context of Experience Labs, the design process is opened up to include end users, and the designer’s task is to ensure non-designers feel safe outside their ‘comfort zone’, enabling creative conversations to happen. At this early stage there are many unknowns, and the opportunity identified is likely to be difficult to articulate at the fuzzy front end (Sanders & Stappers, 2008) of the development process. All this uncertainty can be overwhelming to non-designers, and faced with the task of taking ideas forward, it can be tempting to revert to inductive problem solving, and tried and tested approaches that offer little scope for real innovation (Bate, Robert & Bevan, 2004). In his ethnographic study of designers, Michlewski (2015, p.53) highlights the distinctive design attitude of designers in positively embracing uncertainty and ambiguity in order to take “a creative leap" and innovate. In addition to this inherent attitude, designers ground creative exploration with a generic design process that is open enough to support emergence and ambiguity whilst ensuring timely decisions are made. The Labs bring together stakeholders from a range of backgrounds. This may involve the public, professionals, academics and businesses. It is therefore important for the designer to ensure that the tools and artefacts employed are supportive of the collaborations. When working with different stakeholders it is important to establish a common language and way of understanding, often supported through the tools and artefacts, which can break down barriers and provide a platform for communication. Within the Lab it is important that
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participants are made to feel comfortable and are encouraged to be collaborators engaging in open dialogue (Maxwell, Woods & Prior, 2013). It is also important that the researchers within the Labs have the ability to navigate roles (Maxwell et al. 2013) and alter these in response to the Lab activity e.g. facilitate, observe or become an active participant. The Lab team employ an asset-based approach to empower participants to be creative, share their skills and experience, towards identifying opportunities for healthcare innovation. Asset based approaches aim to promote health through the identification of health assets such as skills, capacities, interests, and networks, which foster health and wellbeing in individuals and communities. Participants are encouraged to become active agents in the process, tackling the challenges as opportunities rather than focussing upon problems and deficits (Foot & Hopkins, 2010; Morgan & Ziglio, 2007).
Evaluating the process In addition to developing digital, service and social innovation for healthcare challenges, the Experience Lab team document and research the design processes, methods and tools that contribute to effective collaboration and user-centred design. Within one current strand of inquiry we are exploring the role of artefacts within the Experience Lab to understand and share the key attributes of effective tools to enable non-designers to meaningfully participate in the design process.
Situating the tools and artefacts in context Designing the tools and making material artefacts plays a vital part in documenting the learning and helping to shape new and better questions, while at the same time embodying the new knowledge created and future opportunities for design. Whether an object functions as a tool or an artefact depends on the stage in the design process that it is being used. Design tools offer some structure to facilitate the design process and hence tend to possess a level of clarity and precision, while an artefact represents knowledge that does not yet exist and has a level of abstraction or vagueness. Tools help to set a common goal and offer a general direction for the co-creation process, and artefacts embody the outcomes that represent the lived experiences, shared knowledge, recognised needs and desires and mutually agreed opportunities. In order to illustrate the types of artefacts and tools that are used within the Experience Lab, examples are situated within the context and purpose they were designed.
Scenario-based design An effective way of bringing concepts to life is through storytelling. Scenario-based design is widely used within software development teams to make concepts ‘concrete’ and allow understanding of the activities that need to be supported, then allowing these activities to drive the design (Carroll, 2000). Within Experience Labs scenario-based design is used to illustrate a real life or mock scenario, which acts as a stimulus to generate discussion. Scenario-based design or ‘stories’ can also be a way to demonstrate proposed ideas, which
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may be unimaginable to participants (Muller, 2003). For example, a set of scenario cards presented possible options for a new system to assist older adults to remain independent at home (Figure 1). The illustrated scenarios brought options for system functionality to life and enabled meaningful conversation with the intended end users to explore usefulness and desirability. The concept is embodied through the stories, which are told through the scenario card artefact (Sanders & Stappers, 2014). The learning that occurs through this process is twofold. Through the sharing of the scenarios the research team are able to understand which scenarios were most appropriate to take forward to the testing phase for the system. For the participants, the scenario cards were able to make tangible the types of scenarios the system would be able to assist with.
Figure 1 Participants reviewing and voting on scenario cards describing options for system functionality (photo: Jeroen Blom).
Prototyping In Experience Labs, participants are often introduced to low fidelity prototypes to test a potential solution. Participants can be engaged both in testing the innovation, and in designing the innovation collaboratively. When designing and creating prototypes with participants we may use a variety of techniques or tools (Figure 2), including bespoke templates, or off the shelf equipment (e.g. electronic components, model making kits, dolls houses and toys).
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Figure 2 Materials for collaborative prototyping in the early stages of concept development (photo: Jeroen Blom).
Both creating prototypes with participants and designing in advance as a provocation involve a significant amount of collaborative Pre-Lab work and preparation. Innovation projects often involve a series of Experience Labs in order to gain context, test the concept and iteratively develop the prototype to the required level of resolution to enable commercialisation and secure further funding for software development. Prototypes help participants to think through doing and can be iterated to provide alternative ideas to be trialled. Learning about the desired functionality, physical attributes and interactive qualities of the concept explored and embodied in the prototype is obtained from studying the prototype as an artefact alongside transcripts of conversations during the prototyping activity and subsequent discussion.
Participatory bodystorming â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Bodystormingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Oulasvirta, Kurvinen & Kankainen, 2003) or simply designing in context, involves designers acting out technology scenarios and ideating products or interactions in the place where they are intended to be used. Experience Labs use role-play and bodystorming techniques to design and make prototypes with intended end users as participants. One example of such an activity involved embedding a co-design session within a role-play activity. Participants were first asked to enact a scenario of an ambulance attendance using current working practice. The facilitator then asked them to role-play it imagining they were using a new application to search for information to support them in determining where to transport the patient and describing the content of each screen they would access in order to find the necessary information; meanwhile a designer sketched the screens on paper. The deck of hand-sketched sequential paper screens were then inserted
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into a simple plastic frame creating a mock tablet, and the scenario was acted out once more using the low fidelity prototype (Figure 3). By breaking this user scenario down into individual steps and screens the participants were able to move from a vague concept to a well-defined prototype within one short session. It was possible to take this process a step further by using a software application to take photographs of the screens and link these together on a tablet. This made the application appear to work as intended (i.e. sketched buttons linked to the correct next page) and this functional prototype was used in another role-play activity to test whether the application met the needs of participants. The act of making in this example involved the construction of meaning by participants through enabling the participants to experience the way in which the concept could then be implemented (Sanders & Stappers, 2014). Learning about the structure, content and ordering of information, alongside requirements for navigation, interaction and system functionality were embodied in the prototype.
Figure 3 Participants using the hand-drawn paper screens in a plastic frame during the participatory bodystorming session (photo: Louise Mather).
Role-play Designers often create realistic settings to allow participants to experience the prototype in its intended environment and enable them to embody the experience, recognising how the proposed system would work and identify in what ways it would meet their needs. Later in the project described in 4.1, we were able to bring further resolution to the system by building a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;wizard of ozâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; prototype to enable participants to experience what the chosen
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scenarios would feel like in a realistic home environment, encouraging feedback and drawing out requirements. ‘Experience Prototyping’ enables first-hand appreciation of existing or future conditions through active engagement with prototypes (Buchenau & Fulton Suri, 2000); in this case through role-play based on our user scenarios. Participants were asked to react to the prototype system and a touch-screen interface on a tablet. The role-play scenario was largely the same for each participant although some aspects were personalised based on our understanding of their daily activities. The role-play was recorded using a specialist camera and viewed by the project partners in a control room set up. Through undertaking the role-play, participants were able to experience and envision how the concept would be implemented within the home environment. The tasks and actions within the mock home environment allowed participants to further understand the concept and their reactions to it (Vyas et al, 2009). The experience prototype enabled participants to embody the experience, and learning was obtained from both their instinctive reactions to the different system interactions and their reflections during group discussion following the role-play.
Figure 4 Role-play using ‘wizard of oz’ prototype recorded using specialist camera equipment (photo: Sanne Ree Barthels).
Design fiction Members of the research team enacted user scenarios for a new system to support people living with dementia in a series of short films, which demonstrated possible options for system functionality. This approach is termed ‘design fiction’ and has been used effectively in concept evaluation and development (Blythe, 2014). This approach can also be used as a generative tool by deliberately building ambiguity into the filmed scenarios to invite the participants to ‘fill in the blanks’ and articulate what they understand has taken place. Briggs et al (2012, p.534) term this approach ‘Invisible Design’ and argue that this technique creates “a space for critical and creative dialogue during participatory concept development”. In this example, design fiction suspended disbelief by enabling participants to
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imagine what the proposed system could offer and allow them to give feedback and make suggestions. Designers observed that despite the introduction of unfamiliar new technology participants were able to understand what was being proposed and discuss options for implementation. This discussion created learning around who the system should be targeted at, and the desired split between functionality that should be delivered by the system and functionality that should be delivered by a person prompted and facilitated by the system.
Assessing the tools and artefacts The design tools and material artefacts used in the Experience Labs provide the participants with a safe and creative way to engage in the design process. The tools and artefacts illustrated in the examples demonstrate the ways in which concepts can be embodied and ideas can be made tangible for participants. In addition, the tools and artefacts aid communication within the Labs through both allowing participants to externalise thoughts and feelings, and generate discussion. The examples also demonstrate the use of tools and artefacts at various stages of the Experience Lab approach. Vyas et al (2009) propose that material artefacts need to be assessed at three phases of design: exploration, at the early stage of design; communication, at the collaborative stage of idea and concept development; and use, where ideas are tested and evaluated with users. Material artefacts used early in the Experience Labs, at the exploratory phase (e.g. 4.1) enabled a deep understanding of participantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiences and everyday life. Visualisations used at this stage acted as a vehicle to allow participants to interpret, express, discuss and reflect their ideas (Sanders & Stappers, 2014), which allows the research team to take these insights forward into the design of the tools and artefacts for later stages of the Lab. Artefacts allow participants to consider challenges and turn these into opportunities for the future. Material artefacts used as forms of communication in the Lab (e.g. 4.2) allowed a two-way form of communication. For the research team, the artefacts provided a way to convey experiential information (Vyas et al, 2009) about the proposed idea to participants. For the participants, the artefacts provided a way to externalise and communicate their thoughts and reactions to the idea, allowing them to give feedback in a meaningful way. Finally, material artefacts used later in the Experience Lab approach, when ideas are tested with users (e.g. 4.3, 4.4), enabled participants to gain an understanding and experience using the proposed idea in a realistic environment. This allowed the research team to gain feedback on the idea in addition to providing information on key user requirements and system functionality.
Conclusion Experience Labs are a participatory approach to health and care innovation, involving stakeholders from across academic, business and civic organisations as co-creators in the process. Experience Labs use designersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; capabilities and tools to detangle the fuzzy front end
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of the development process to enable non-designers to feel comfortable exploring intangible or ambiguous concepts for collaborative innovation. The Labs involve designing a bespoke experience for participants using design tools and material artefacts, providing a platform for user-driven innovation. Material artefacts used within the Experience Lab embody the knowledge created from Labs but also build on our internal research processes, contributing to our understanding of what this means for the wider design research landscape. In the Labs we have completed to date, the benefits of using artefacts are already emerging, however we do not yet know the full extent of the possibilities of this approach. Future research will involve exploration of the potential reusability and application of artefacts and tools in other Labs and contexts, e.g. for projects in different areas, to explore whether the tool or artefact can be used in other ways, by different people, or can be altered in some way. We are also interested in the role of the artefact in much later stages of the projects to determine the transferability of knowledge embodied in the artefact and the potential of the artefact to become a tool in further exploration of the concept by developers and during testing and implementation. This will allow us to evaluate the tools and artefacts in greater detail and contribute to our body of knowledge. Finally, we aim to build in opportunities in future Labs to gather specific feedback on the tools and artefacts to explore whether participants experience other benefits than those intended. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank our colleagues, project partners and participants who have been involved in Experience Lab projects.
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Cornwall, A. and Jewkes, R. (1995) What is participatory research? Social Science Medicine, 41(12), 1667-1676. Coughlan, P., Fulton, S.J., and Canales, K. (2007). Prototypes as (design) tools for behavioural and organisational change, The Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 43 (1), p.1-13. Dunne, A. and Raby, F. (2013) Speculative everything: design, fiction, and social dreaming, MIT Press. Entwistle, V.A., Renfrew, M.J., Yearley, S., Forrester, J., and Lamont, T. (1998) Lay perspectives: advantages for health research, British Medical Journal, 316, p.463-465 Foot, J., and Hopkins, T. (2010) A glass half full: how an asset approach can improve community health and wellbeing, London: Improvement and Development Agency. Gaver, W.W., Beaver, J. and Benford, S. (2003) Ambiguity as a Resource for Design, Proceedings CHI â&#x20AC;&#x2122;03, p.233-240. ACM. Gaver, B., Dunne, T., and Pacenti, E. (1999) Cultural Probes, Interactions, 6(1), p.21-29. Kline, S., and Rosenburg, N. (1986) An overview of innovation. In Landau, R., and Rosenberg, N., (eds.), The Positive Sum Strategy: Harnessing Technology for Economic Growth, Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Koskinen, I., Zimmerman, J., Binder, T., Redstrom, J., and Wensveen, S. (2011) Design research through practice: From the lab, field, and showroom, Elsevier. Hanington, B., and Martin, B. (2012) Universal methods of design: 100 ways to research complex problems, develop innovative ideas, and design effective solutions, Rockport Publishers. Maxwell, D., Woods, M. and Prior, S. (2013) The pop-up ethnographer: Roles of the researcher in temporary spaces, EPIC Proceedings 2013. McAra-McWilliam, I. (2014), untitled, Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/odual6h Michlewski, K. (2015) Design Attitude, Farnham: Gower. Morgan, A., and Ziglio, E. (2007) Revitalising the evidence base for public health: an assets model, Promotion and Education, 14 (17), p.17-22. Muller, M.J. (2003) Participatory design: the third space in HCI, In The Human Computer Interaction Handbook, Erlbaum. Niedderer, K. (2013) "Explorative Materiality and Knowledge. The Role of Creative Exploration and Artefacts in Design Research", FORMakademisk 6(2): 1-20. Oulasvirta, A., Kurvinen, E. and Kankainen, T. (2003) Understanding contexts by being there: case studies in bodystorming, Personal and ubiquitous computing, 7(2), 125-134. Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (2008) The SAGE Handbook of Action Research, London: Sage Publications Inc. Robert, G., Cornwell, J., Locock, L., Purushotham, A., Sturmey, G., and Gager, M. (2015) Patients and staff as codesigners of healthcare services, BMJ, 350, g7714. Sanders, E.B.N. and Stappers, P.J. (2008) Co-creation and the new landscapes of design, CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, 4(1), p.5-18. Sanders, E.B.N. and Stappers, P.J. (2014) Probes, toolkits and prototypes: three approaches to making in codesigning, CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation in Design and the Arts, 10 (1), p.5-14. Scottish Government. (2009) Community Empowerment Action Plan, Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/puw4lkl. Scottish Government. (2011). 2020 Vision. Retrieved from: http://tinyurl.com/pycejd5
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Teal, G., and French, T. (in press) Designed Engagement, Proceedings of the Design Research Society 50th Anniversery Conference. Swann, C. (2002) Action research and the practice of design, Design Issues, 18 (2), p.49-61. Vyas, D., Heylen, D., Nijholt, A., and Van Der Veer, G. (2009) Collaborative practices that support creativity in design, ECSW 2009, p. 151-170. Springer London. Vyas, D., Heylen, D., Nijholt, A., and Van Der Veer, G. (2009, June) Experiential role of artefacts in cooperative design, Proceedings of the fourth international conference on Communities and technologies, p. 105-114. ACM.
About the Authors: Tara French is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Design Innovation, The Glasgow School of Art. Tara is a Primary Researcher on the Experience Labs, tackling health and social care challenges using Design Innovation approaches. Tara leads projects that are centred on enhancing wellbeing and quality of life. Gemma Teal is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Design Innovation at The Glasgow School of Art, working in the area of health and wellbeing. Her work focuses on opening up the design process to meaningfully engage academic researchers from other disciplines, industry partners, health professionals, people with health conditions or members of the public. Sneha Raman is a Research Associate at The Glasgow School of Art, and works on developing and delivering the Experience Labs. Her current research focuses on the role of spaces and artefacts in enabling collaboration and creativity, and the quality of co-creation by examining what makes some approaches more successful than others.
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Index of Authors
Abdelmohsen, Sherif, 1969 Aftab, Mersha, 3181 Ahmadpour, Naseem, 1457 Ahmer, Arif, 593 Aish, Robert, 111 Alhonsuo, Mira, 3069 Alshawaf, Eman, 959 Andrietc, Ekaterina, 157 Annable, Louise, 303 Arvidsson, Anna-Karin, 1411 Arvola, Mattias, 1089 Atkin, Ross, 2391 Atkinson, Harriet, 2583 Atman, Cynthia J., 593 Bachman, Leonard, 295 Baek, Joon Sang, 3943 Bailey, Jocelyn, 3619 Bakir, Ramy, 1969 Barbosa, Janaina Teles, 4045 Bastian, Michelle, 2107 Bauer, Birgit S., 569 Baule, Giovanni, 1039, 1047 Baur, Ruedi, 1139 Beck, Jordan, 17 Benford, Steve, 3033 Berghman, Michaël, 139, 277 Bingham, Guy, 2239 Bissett-Johnson, Katherine, 637 Bitterman, Noemi, 1433 Black, Alison, 2301 Blackler, Alethea, 2063, 3149, 3251 Blomqvist, Mikael, 1411 Bobroff, Julien, 555 Boehnert, Joanna, 2359 Boess, Stella, 625, 1573 Bofylatos, Spyros, 3449 Boggs, Charles, 513 Bohemia, Erik, 1699, 1881 Bonja, Susanne, 1411 Börekçi, Naz A.G.Z., 795 Borgford-Parnell, Jim, 593 Boyd Davis, Stephen, 2591 Boyko, Chris, 1677 Boztepe, Suzan, 1253 Braga, Mariana Fonseca, 1863 Brischke, Lars-Arvid, 3913 Broadley, Cara, 1737 Brooks, Judy, 539 Brown, Michael, 3033 Brulé, Émeline, 1985 Burnett, Dan, 1609, 1625 Burns, Kathryn, 303 Büscher, Monika, 1123
Buur, Jacob, 1723 Cadavid, Ana, 179 Cain, Rebecca, 1271, 1433 Calvo, Mirian, 3591 Canina, Marita, 2075 Caratti, Elena, 1039, 1047 Carmen Bruno, 2075 Casais, Mafalda, 1553 Castanedo, Rebeca Torres, 2163 Catoir-Brisson, Marie-Julie, 2285 Celi, Manuela, 2015 Ceschin, Fabrizio, 3731, 3785 Chamberlain, Paul, 1499 Chamorro-Koc, Marianella, 1643 Champion, Katherine, 1737 Chan, Jeffrey, 3539 Chatzakis, Emmanouil, 1881 Cheng, Peiyao, 215 Chiapello, Laureline, 17 Chou, Wen-Huei, 3133 Christensen, Anders, 1757 Chueng-Nainby, Priscilla, 969 Chun, Min Hi, 1935 Ciastellardi, Matteo, 1111 Ciuccarelli, Paolo, 941 Claxton, Stella, 3815 Coddington, Alicen, 781 Connor, Andy M., 83 Cooney, Richard, 2201 Cooper, Rachel, 1677, 1699 Cooper, Tim, 1277, 3831 Corrigan-Doyle, Emily, 1529 Coskun, Aykut, 1357 Côté, Valérie, 3669 Coulton, Paul, 369, 1609, 3019 Craib, David, 385, 2325 Craig, Claire, 1499 Craig, Mark, 609 Cranny-Francis, Anne, 2985 Dallison, Delphine, 609 Danahay, Evan, 2533 Darzentas, Dimitrios, 3033 Darzentas, Jenny, 3449, 3771 Darzentas, Jenny S., 2307 Darzentas, John, 3771 Dawes, Cecilie, 3435 de Eyto, Adam, 2709 de Kerckhove, Derrick, 1111 de la Rosa, Juan, 2121 de Lille, Christine, 2423, 2563 De Moor, Eva, 3435 De Paoli, Giovanni, 853 de Ruijter, Laura, 1473
Index of Authors
De Smet, Annelies, 2759 DeEyto, Adam, 3573 Del Gaudio, Chiara, 2121 Deni, Michela, 2285 Derksen, Gerry, 2121 Desai, Shital, 3149 Deserti, Alessandro, 2015 Desmet, Pieter, 1553, 1589 Desmet, Pieter M. A., 1999 Dhadphale, Tejas, 2415 Dias, Julia, 2121 Djaelani, Robert, 3705 Dong, Hua, 3199, 3229, 3247, 3263, 3279 Dorst, Kees, 2493, 2667 Downing, Niamh, 3485 Downs, Simon, 321 Dunn, Nick, 1677 Durrant, Abigail C., 2181 Duste, Tessa, 1589 Dziobczenski, Paulo Roberto Nicoletti, 705 Earl, Christopher, 3687 Earl, Christopher F, 2519 Eckert, Claudia, 2519 Edwards, Liz, 3485 Eftekhari, Farzaneh, 1389 Elliott-Cirigottis, Gary, 609 Elzenbaumer, Bianca, 4005, 4015 Emili, Silvia, 3785 Erbug, Cigdem, 1357 Escobar-Tello, Carolina, 1433, 1529, 3961 Evans, Mark, 813, 2239 Evans, Martyn, 97 Fassi, Davide, 3407 Feast, Luke, 3569, 3635 Felsing, Ulrike, 1139 Fenko, Anna, 3467 Fennell, Jac, 1441 Ferronato, Priscilla, 2121 Fisher, Tom, 3479 Flintham, Martin, 3033 Forlano, Laura, 927 Frankel, Lois, 3103 Franz, Fabio, 4015 Fredriksen, Biljana C., 2911 Freimane, Aija, 1271 French, Tara, 2965, 3653 Fundneider, Thomas, 401 Gabrielse, Gorm, 1211 Gagnon, Caroline, 3669 Galeotti, Anamaria, 2837 Galluzzo, Laura, 3407 Gamman, Lorraine, 3479 Garde, Julia Anne, 2043 Gardin, Astury, 969 Gasparin, Marta, 881
Gaved, Mark, 609 Gaziulusoy, Idil, 3731 Gentes, Annie, 555 Germany, Jason O., 3085 Ghassan, Aysar, 471 Giaccardi, Elisa, 3553 Giang, Colin, 781 Gideonsen, Hanne, 3435 Godin, Danny, 355 Görgül, Emine, 2825 Goworek, Helen, 3831 Gradinar, Adrian, 1609 Graf, Laura K. M., 203 Graham, Alexander, 781 Grangaard, Sidse, 3393 Gray, Colin M., 2549 Graziano, Valeria, 4005 Green, William, 881 Gribbin, John, 3181 Gristwood, Simone, 2591 Groth, Camilla, 2889, 2895, 2941 Grover, Shruti, 2391 Gudiksen, Sune, 1757 Gudur, Raghavendra Reddy, 3251 Guité, Manon, 853 Gullick, David, 3019 Gulliksen, Marte S., 2889, 2925 Hadfield, Mark, 2709 Håkansson, Lena, 1411 Hall, Ashley, 2481 Hall, Peter A., 2625 Hands, David, 2445 Hanington, Bruce, 729 Harland, Robert, 385 Harrison, David, 3785 Haslem, Neal, 2201 Hasselqvist, Hanna, 3929 Haug, Anders, 1903, 3873 Hazzard, Adrian, 3033 Heaton, Lorna, 853 Heiltjes, Sanne, 3467 Hekkert, Paul, 139, 277 Henriksen, Pernille, 1757 Hermannsdóttir, Hafdís Sunna, 3435 Hermansen, Pablo, 895 Hermsen, Sander, 1323, 1375 Hernandez, Maria Gabriela, 2089 Hesselgren, Mia, 3929 Heylighen, Ann, 3199, 3229 Hill, Helen, 3831 Hofmeister, Tobias Barnes, 3847 Hogan, Trevor, 3005 Hornecker, Eva, 3005 Hough, Simge, 751 Hrinivich, Ellen, 3103
4081
Index of Authors
Huang, Tao, 2699 Hung, Chung-Wen, 3133 Huotilainen, Minna, 2941 Hutchings, Maggie, 2709 Hyltén-Cavallius, Sara, 1411 Hyysalo, Sampsa, 3889 Imbesi, Lorenzo, 2325 Ingram, Jack, 303 Ings, Welby, 483 Ivanka, Tania, 2201 James, Meredith, 719 Janssens, Nel, 2759 Jernegan, Elizabeth, 2121 Johnson, Michael Pierre, 1737 Johnson, Simon, 2391 Jones, Derek, 295 Jonkmans, Anna, 767 Joost, Gesche, 3913 Joutsela, Markus, 259 Jowers, Iestyn, 609 Jun, Gyuchan Thomas, 1809 Jylkäs, Titta, 3069 Kaland, Lennart, 835, 2563 Kantorovitch, Julia, 2463 Karlsson, Monica Lindh, 4029 Keirnan, Alen, 1457 Keitsch, Martina, 3847 Kelly, Veronika, 425 Kempenaar, Annet, 2271 Kenning, Gail, 1441 Kerridge, Tobie, 1025 Ketola, Anne, 1179 Kettley, Sarah, 1277, 2985, 3121 Kim, KwanMyung, 1919 Kim, Sojung, 3943 Kimbell, Lucy, 3605 Kirk, David S., 2181 Knutz, Eva, 1827 Kocsis, Anita, 781 Kokotovich, Vasilije, 2493 Komatsu, Tamami, 2015 Koskinen, Ilpo, 1013 Kotlarewski, Nathan, 2533 Koumoundourou, Myrto, 2307 Koutsabasis, Panayiotis, 2307 Kristensen, Tore, 1205, 1211 Krzywinski, Jens, 2869 Kuijer, Lenneke, 3553 Kuys, Blair, 1163, 2533 Kuzmina, Ksenija, 1809 Kymäläinen, Tiina, 1627 Lahusen, Miriam, 3913 Laivamaa, Laura, 3069 Landwehr, Jan R., 145, 203 Langrish, John Z., 51
Lee, John, 969 Lee, Seong geun, 157 Leinikka, Marianne, 2941 Lenskjold, Tau U., 1827 Lewis, Huw, 3573 Liao, Cai-Ru, 3133 Liapis, Aggelos, 2463 Lim, Christopher Sze Chong, 3295 Lima, Verena, 3983 Linde, Per, 913 Lindley, Joseph, 369 Liu, Sylvia, 1205, 1237 Liu, Tsai Lu, 501, 1389 Lloyd, Peter, 3619, 3687 Lønne, Irene Alma, 1223 Loudon, David, 1515 Lu, Xiaobo, 3373 Lucas, Rachel, 3121 Ludden, Geke, 245, 1271, 1305, 1433, 1473 Lulham, Rohan, 1777 Ma, Xuezi, 3279 Macdonald, Alastair S., 1515 Macduff, Colin, 1515 Maciver, Fiona, 2463 Mackrill, Jamie, 1433 Mages, Michael Arnold, 3503 Maguire, Martin, 1809 Mahar, Doug, 3251 Maher, Carmel, 2709 Mäkelä, Maarit, 2889, 2941 Malins, Julian, 2463 Manohar, Arthi Kanchana, 3591 Marchand, Anne, 2653 Marenko, Betti, 2755 Margolin, Victor, 5 Markussen, Thomas, 1827 Marlen Dobler, Judith, 997 Marttila, Sanna, 4063 Mattila, Pauliina, 781 Mauri, Michele, 941 Maxwell, Deborah, 3485 Maya, Jorge, 179 Mayer, Stefan, 145 Mazzarella, Francesco, 3961 Mazzilli, Clice, 2837 McAra, Marianne, 3213 McGaw, Janet, 669 McGilp, Helen, 2519 Mcginley, Chris, 2391 McHattie, Lynn-Sayers, 1737 McLaren, Angharad, 3831 Mercer, Lisa, 2029 Messell, Tania, 2737 Meyer, Guilherme, 2121 Michura, Piotr, 2121
4082
Index of Authors
Micklethwaite, Paul, 2163 Mitchell, Cynthia, 2255 Mitchell, Val, 1809, 3961 Mok, Luisa Sze-man, 3889 Moncur, Wendy, 2181 Moreno, Mariale, 1809 Morris, Andrew, 1271 Mota, João Almeida, 4045 Moussatche, Helena, 513 Mugge, Ruth, 215, 1553 Mulder, Sander, 1375, 2809 Munro, Tasman, 2219 Murphy, Emma, 97 Murray, Lesley, 1123 Neira, José, 895 Nevay, Sara, 3295 Neven, Louis, 3553 Niedderer, Kristina, 1271 Nimkulrat, Nithikul, 3177 Ning, Weining, 3263 Noel, Lesley-Ann, 455, 501 Nordvall, Mathias, 1089 Norris, Jane, 2795 Ó Catháin, Conall, 125 O’Rafferty, Simon, 3573 Oberlander, Jon, 2991 Olander, Sissel, 985 Oppenheimer, Maya Rae, 2583 Orzech, Kathryn, 2181 Ou, Li-Chen, 233 Oxborrow, Lynn, 3815, 3831 Ozcan, Elif, 1433 Ozkaramanli, Deger, 1999 Paepcke-Hjeltness, Verena, 2415 Page, Rowan, 1487 Pahk, Yoonee, 3943 Paiva, Isabel, 3165 Palmgren, Marianne, 653 Park, Sumin, 3181 Parker, Chris, 1809 Pasman, Gert, 1659 Person, Oscar, 705 Peschl, Markus F., 401 Petermans, Ann, 1433 Pillatt, Toby, 3485 Piper, Anna, 2959 Pisanty, Diego Trujillo, 2181 Piscicelli, Laura, 1305 Pizzichemi, Catherine, 513 Plowright, Philip, 295 Plowright, Philip D., 339 Pohlmeyer, Anna E., 1573 Poldma, Tiiu, 295 Pollastri, Serena, 1677 Popovic, Vesna, 2063, 3149, 3251, 3373
Porter, Samantha, 1809 Potter, Eden, 2379 Prince, Anne, 781 Prochner, Isabel, 2653 Prytherch, David, 1441 Pschetz, Larissa, 2107 Pui Ying Lo, Kathy, 1529 Quam, Andrea, 3861 Radtke, Rebekah, 685 Raman, Sneha, 2965 Rankanen, Mimmu, 2941 Ranscombe, Charlie, 637 Rashidi, Ingrid Halland, 2637 Reddy, Anuradha, 913 Redström, Johan, 4029 Reimer, Maria Hellström, 4045 Renes, Reint Jan, 1323, 1375 Renner, Michael, 1073 Renon, Anne-Lyse, 555 Renström, Sara, 1339 Reumont, Marie, 853 Revsbæk, Line, 1723 Riccò, Dina, 1101 Richardson, Mark, 1487 Ritzmann, Susanne, 3913 Rive, Pete, 83 Rizzo, Francesca, 2015 Roberts, Maxwell J., 2341 Rochead, Alan, 609 Rodgers, Paul A., 2677 Rogel, Liat, 3407 Rontti, Simo, 3069 Rosenqvist, Tanja, 2255 Roto, Virpi, 259 Roy, Robin, 3755 Ruecker, Stan, 2121 Ruiz-Córdoba, Stefany, 179 Rytilahti, Piia, 3069 Sadkowska, Ania, 3521 Sadkowska, Anna, 3121 Sakurai, Tatiana, 3983 Salinas, Miguel, 1411 Salvia, Giuseppe, 2075 Sametinger, Florian, 3913 Santos, Maria Cecília, 3983 Sarmiento, Ricardo Mejia, 1659 Scaletsky, Celso, 2121 Schaeffer, Jennie Andersson, 653 Schifferstein, Hendrik N.J., 3427 Scupelli, Peter, 539, 729 Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Pirita, 2889, 2941 Self, James, 157 Selvefors, Anneli, 1339 Shroyer, Kathryn E., 593 Sice, Petia, 1291
4083
Index of Authors
Sissons, Juliana, 3521 Siu, Kin Wai Michael, 1793 Skjerven, Astrid, 43 Skjold, Else, 1223 Smith, Madeline, 3591 Smith, Neil, 1881 Snelders, Dirk, 767 Sosa, Ricardo, 83 Southee, Darren, 813 Speed, Chris, 1123, 2107, 2991 Spencer, Nicholas, 1291 St John, Nicola, 3349 Ståhl, Ola, 1191, 1411 Standaert, Achiel, 3329 Stappers, Pieter Jan, 1659, 3329 Stead, Michael, 3049 Steenson, Molly Wright, 31 Stergiadou, Zoi, 3449 Sterte, Marie, 1411 Stewart, Nifeli, 2201 Storvang, Pia, 1843 Strömberg, Helena, 1339 Sun, Qian, 1699, 1707 Sung, Kyungeun, 1277 Sustar, Helena, 3635 Svensén, Tobias, 1411 Taylor, Damon, 1123 Teal, Gemma, 2965, 3653 Tham, Mathilda, 1411 Thong, Christine, 781, 2533 Thurgood, Clementine, 1777 Tironi, Martín, 895 Tomkin, Douglas, 2611 Tovey, Michael, 419 Townsend, Katherine, 3521 Treadaway, Cathy, 1441 Trimingham, Rhoda, 3725 Trogal, Kim, 4005 Tromp, Nynke, 2141 Tsang, Kaman Ka Man, 1793 Tsay, Wan-Jen Jenny, 2423 Turns, Jennifer A., 593 Uhlmann, Johannes, 2869 Umney, Darren, 3687 Uri, Therese, 441 Urquhart, Lewis, 1951 Väänänen, Jenni, 3889 Vaeng, Ida C.N., 2341 Vaes, Kristof, 3329
Valentin, Frédéric, 1985 Valtonen, Anna, 525 van den Berg-Weitzel, Lianne, 3467 van der Bijl-Brouwer, Mieke, 2141, 2147 Van der Linden, Valerie, 3199, 3229 van der Lugt, Remko, 1375 van Dijk, Jelle, 3313 Van Essen, Anita, 1323 van Grondelle, Elmer, 1589 van Onselen, Lenny, 767, 835 Van Rompay, Thomas J. L., 245 Van Steenwinkel, Iris, 3199 Vardouli, Theodora, 65 Verhoeven, Fenne, 3313 Vernooij, Annelijn, 835 Vial, Stéphane, 2285 Victor, Ole, 1411 Voort, Mascha Cecile van der, 2043 Vuontisjärvi, Hanna-Riina, 3069 Vyas, Pratik, 1291 Walker, Sue, 2301 Wan, Susan, 1515 Warwick, Laura, 3705 Wasserman, Arnold, 539 Watkin, Thomas, 2285 Whitehead, Timothy, 2239 Wilkie, Alex, 873 Williams, Alex, 1699 Williams, Tim, 1643 Wodehouse, Andrew, 1951 Wölfel, Christian, 2721, 2869 Wölfel, Sylvia, 2721 Woodcock, Meghan, 513 Wurl, Julia, 767 Yee, Joyce S.R., 2677 Yilmaz, Seda, 2415 Ylirisku, Salu, 1723 York, Nicola, 813 You, Xinya, 2445 Young, Robert, 1291, 3181 Zahedi, Mithra, 853 Zamenopoulos, Theodore, 1123 Zhang, Wenwen, 1163 Zhao, Chao, 3373 Zhou, Ningchang, 2699 Zhou, Xinyue, 2121 Zi, BingXin, 969 Zingale, Salvatore, 1061
4084
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Over fifty years the Design Research Society has been fundamental to developing and supporting the field of Design Research. In that time many influential and innovative conferences have been held and the 50th Anniversary in Brighton conference continues that tradition. The breadth and depth of design research represented in these proceedings is extremely impressive and shows, I think, not only how important design research has become, but also the considerable potential that it holds for the future.â&#x20AC;? - Professor Nigel Cross PRESIDENT OF THE DRS
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