University of Greenwich School of Design: Book 2022

Design Anthropology: Designing with and for Others Anastasios Maragiannis In creating the space for social inclusion, improvements in ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration are essential in considering “the other”1 in creative practices [1]. Since ancient times most disciplines focused on problem-solving for human needs; for example, architecture interacts with physical space as well as with digital; our daily engagement with media technology becomes more and more essential; not only it is empowering our communications, but in addition, is stipulating for those most vulnerable or in need; whereas visual communication satisfies aesthetics and the desire for the “beautiful”, and it creates unadorned but sophisticated ways of seeing and understanding complexity. In a way, “the other” is becoming a vehicle to inform and often liberate obscured information critical to our lives [2].

This introductory writing briefly discusses the amalgamation of design (+) anthropology concerning the ‘other’. However, it only scratches the surface between the two terms and defines how designing “with and for others” could empower participatory methods2 in every creative and non-creative practice [3].

This association is, from the beginning, hesitation about the relationship between the Designer and the end-user and everything surrounding both.

As a discipline itself, anthropology focuses on studying what makes us human.

Colomina and Wigley will argue that questioning if we are humans? “Is both urgent and old” is embedded in our lives through interaction with the self, human sciences, and technology [4]. In a broad spectrum, Anthropology takes a comprehensive approach to understanding the many different aspects of our experiences, with a focus on holistic theory. Anthropologists traditionally will consider the past {time} through an archaeological perspective to see how “human societies” lived in previous times ages ago and what was the most important to them at each period of {time}. Aristotle once mused, “{Time} is irrelevant” in the measure of change. It does not exist as a container to put things into; rather, it depends on shifting, reshaping, and what remains the same, always from an inclusive philosophical perspective (Aristotle 384–322 BC).

We all have our philosophies, whether or not we are aware of this fact, and our philosophies are not worth very much. But the impact of our philosophies upon our actions and our lives is often devastating. This makes it necessary to try to improve our philosophies by criticism. This is the only apology for the continued existence of air which I am able to offer (Popper, 1974: 33) [5].

As Popper describes in the above quote, the philosophical approach is associated with actions. Design Philosophy arises in this debate. The relatively adolescent field of design practice and research is briefly presented by asking what the “Philosophy of Design” is about and what its use may be [6]. In almost every discipline, philosophies and routes are questionable based on personal knowledge, experiences and understanding.

When focusing on the place of design aesthetics, designs related to peculiar 9