01 introduction & history
a look into critical and speculative design
PART ONE 00. introduction 01. what is critical design? 02. background histories
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PART TWO 03. methods & tactics
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introduction
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The field of critical (and speculative) design can be tricky to navigate: what does it mean to be “critical�, and what does the field hope to achieve? Where did it come from? What are the aspects that make up a work of critical design, especially those of a speculative nature? This publication is a two-part resource book that examines the definition and aims of the umbrella term, its history, its tactics and methods as well as examples of works, to provide an understanding into a design discipline that has potential to communicate possible futures in a sociotechnological context.
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what is critical design?
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What is critical design? The term was popularised in the 1990s by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby at the Royal College of Art (RCA), and at its core, it aims to be the opposite of design that “reinforces the status quo” - design that is “affirmative” and in the service of the industry.
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Dunne and Raby thus define critical design as: a mode of practice that “uses speculative proposals to challenge narrow assumptions, preconceptions, and givens about the role products play in everyday life.�
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Dunne and Raby, a/b (2009) In a/b, a “sort of manifesto”, Dunne and Raby compare what they define as critical design (“b”) with “affirmative design” (“a”). Being the opposite of affirmative design, they seek to use these qualities listed in here as a way to add dimension and comparison to how people normally view design.
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Critical design aims to challenge the status quo and encourage openmindedness by using artefacts that are often based on ambiguity. The motivation for critical practice in design is problem-finding; to locate issues or concerns within a discipline, and articulating them as a means for discussion. In doing so, it strengthens the discipline. Matt Malpass frames it from a product design view, stating that it also aims to reframe circumstances surrounding the discipline by using modes of investigation. This challenges prevailing perceptions of what design is and how it operates.
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“critical of what?” The term “critical” in critical design is a wide-ranging topic that holds a variety of meanings. For Dunne and Raby, critique in design is a way of action: to “pose question, encourage thought, expose assumptions, provoke action, spark debate, raise awareness, offer new perspectives, and inspire”, as well as an “intellectual” form of entertainment. By using critique, design is able to challenge conventional systems and values of production and consumption. Matt Malpass suggests that the difference between critical design and other forms of design is its criticality, in that it shares a relationship to critical theory – its concepts inform the inspiration and explanation of the discipline’s works.
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Critical design encompasses a number of forms of criticality, as suggested by design researcher and educator Ramia Mazé. Criticality in design consists of firstly a critical attitude towards practice, where a designer questions their role and actions in their practice. Secondly, designers are critical of their discipline, working towards developing and expanding its reach and challenging its traditions in what Mazé calls “criticality within a community of practice or discipline”. Lastly, the designer moves on to the broader scope of addressing issues in society, targeting the issues outside of design. Mazé notes that these three forms often work together, influencing and intersecting in practice. It is also the goal of criticality to reflecting on the development and role of technology in society.
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A designer & criticality
Diagram showing how the designer might adopt critical attitudes, as suggested by Ramia MazĂŠ. 19
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02 background histories Where did critical design come from? Critical design has roots in a few design and art movements, and these have influenced the way it operates and developed over the years. Use the critical design timeline to get a bigger overview of the historical background of this discipline.
late 60s / early 70s
It is unclear when critical design was first practiced; little reference is made to its history in product and industrial design, and less so for graphic design. Although critical design is informed by art styles like Dada and Surrealism, it owes its roots in criticality to the forms of industrial design in avant-garde practices of the 1950s. These have been termed ‘anti-design’, ‘radical design’ and ‘counter design’. These design movements arose as a result of disillusionment with the modernist ideals in design. The concept of challenging hegemony strated with the Linea Italiana, or Bel Design era, where product designers in Italy dissatisfied with solely serving production and consumption, generating a provocative design culture seeking critical discourse with a captialist consumer society. 26
Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Sella Stool with Bicycle Saddle (1957) 27
As an artistic and political discourse in design, studios like Superstudio, Archizoom, Gruppo and Archigram wanted to critique consumption, moving the studio’s function from servicing the industry to create practices with discursive ends. These studios were motivated by the economic conditions at the time. With little work available for designers, they spent their time experimenting instead. The political climate at the time was crucial as well, providing the atmosphere of protest and activism, which went on to influence design culture.
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Alessandro Mendini was the editor of casabella magazine in the 1970s, and was a siginificant contributor in developing critical practice. His work is an early example of a critical designer as an editor, curator and publisher. In Lassu Chair (“Lassu”, meaning “up there”), Mendini built an archetypical resting on a slanted surface in the form of a pyramid, as a form of commentary on functionalism. It is difficult to sit on, however the user gets a new perspective while seated because of its build and height. In the performance Destruction of Lassu Chair, Mendini doused the chair with gasoline and set it on fire, symbolising an act of liberation.
Alessandro Mendini, Lassu Chair (1974), left, and Destruction of Lassu Chair (1974), extreme left and bottom-left 30
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Academia also had a part to play in the critical practices of the studios and practitioners by supporting them. The educational institution facilitated and supported the ‘Bristol Experiment’ in The Construction School, an experimental design school developed by Norman Potter in the early 60s. In Italy, the University of Florence facilitated anti-design, Cranbrook Academy was instrumental in experimenting with the meanings of products, and the Design Academy Eindhoven supported Droog, which offered critique and discourse on consumer culture. Similarly, the Royal College of Art (RCA) and the Computer Related Design Studio allowed for the experimentation of platforms, combining the use of technology with design approaches that did not necessarily cater to a commercial market. Hence critical design practice is rooted within an established community of practices supported by institutional contexts. 32
Gijs Bakker, one of Droog’s founders (1993 - 2009) and head of the masters school at Design Academy Eindhoven (1987 - 2012)
The ‘Brsitol Experiment’ taking place in The Construction School, an experimental programme from Norman Potter in 1964.
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For Anti-design, its projects strived for the opening of intellectual design discourse. Design was used with the aim to engage consumers in dialogue about consumption, community and production. Ettore Sottsass was also cited as one of the key figures in critical design’s history – many artefacts that he created was associated with ritual and spirituality, as well as pop culture. This gave objects new meanings. Although he is most well-known for pioneering the Memphis design movment, Sottsass also made illustrations and sketches depicting utopian lands. These culminated in The Planet as Festival (1972 - 1973), a critique on hyperconsumer society of the 1970s. Italian radical design also had speculative elements in them. Superstudio developed scenarios that were utopic in nature, driven by their pessimistic outlook on politics in the 70s.
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Top: Ettore Sottsass, cover for Casabella magazine 1972 Left; Ettore Sottsass, The Planet as Festival: Gigantic Work, Panoramic Road with View on the Irrawaddy River and the Jungle (1973) 35
Top: Superstudio, The Continuous Monument (1969–71) Right: Superstudio, The Continuous Monument- New New York (1969) 36
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On the other end of the design spectrum was participatory design, which emerged in Scandinavia. Equally critical of hegemony, it advocated a new approach in industrial design. This discipline attempts to involve all stakeholders (employees, partners, customers, citizens, end users) in the design process. The result is an empowering and democratic process, as well as an enhancement in the agency of the user as they cooperate with the designer towards an end product.
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An illustration of participatory design (by David Casali)
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1980s / 1990s
Frank Schreiner, Consumer Rest Chair (1983) 43
Tejo Remy, You Can’t Lay Down Your Memories: Chest of Drawers (1991) 44
A German counterpoint to design emerged in the 1980s through Unikat Design (or New German Design), which set itself apart from functionalism. Unikat Design sought to open public debate through alternative design methods and a revival of ad hoc approaches seen in the Bel Design era. They were also heavily influenced by postmodern design, as well as seminal publications like Charles and Nathan Silver’s Adhocism: The Case for Improvisation (1972) to create design pieces that were made from waste materials, resulting in unique, one-off works. In similar fashion, Droog design in the Netherlands offered a critique of consumer culture while engaging discourse of environmental sustainability. Assembled by a group of furniture designers from Design Academy Eindhoven, Droog had a spirit that challenged the hegemony of design, combining design with a sense of irony. These two groups present a renewed spirit of criticality that referenced the practices of the avant-garde works of the Bel Design era.
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Product designers also started to incorporate more technology and electronics into their works, offering critique in a more technological context. An example of this is Daniel Weil with his work Radio in a Bag, which was a commentary on the treatment of electronics by designers. Packaging transistor radio components in a printed plastic bag, Weil parodied how designers were introducing transparency in the packaging and assembly of electronic items. Through Weil, the RCA’s Industrial Design department introduced more experimental and critical approaches to the design of electronic products. Similarly, institutions like the Cranbrook Academy of Arts also explored this approach. 48
Daniel Weil, Radio in a Bag (1981)
late 90s present
The integration of digital technologies and domestic products developed from the mid-1990s, and with it came experimental work in institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and research and development labs in Xerox and Philips. This work came about with an aim to problematize the relationship between digital communication technologies and human interaction with them. This field brought together experts from multiple fields, allowing for a multi-disciplinary practice. Through the Interaction Design department at the RCA’s Computer Related Design studio, the foundations were laid for critical design of the late 90s.
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Critical design as a term has been used as a method of working in projects in the Computer Related Design Studio at the Royal College of Art from 1994 to 2005. Since the term’s popularisation, critical design has been used to describe works that tries to establish criticality through design. It was first introduced by Bill Gaver and Anthony Dunne in their written work “The Pillow: Artist Designers in the Digital Age” in 1997. Discussing the role of the artist designer and challenging the public’s perception about their relationship with objects, the project also suggests the use of products as a form of provocation. Gaver and Dunne also talk about how critical design can employ methods associated with fine art practice.
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Anthony Dunne, Pillow Talk documentary still (1995)
The Pillow questions notions of privacy. Made to look like an “abstract� radio, it picks up mobile phones, pagers, walkie-talkies and baby monitoring devices, becoming a social invader through its radiation.
Since critical design’s popularisation, various projects from the late 1990s onwards have come to be represented under this term, ranging from product design, graphic design, to multi-disciplinary practices.
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Metahaven, Meta Haven Sealand Identity Project (2003-2004) Metahaven explored notions of nationhood, statehood, and contradictions of a self-proclaimed state in work for a visual identity for the self-proclaimed state of Sealand. The work includes passports, stamps and coins, subverting branding and corporate identity strategies.
Superflux, Our Friends Electric (2017), commissioned by Mozilla Open Iot Studio In Our Friends Electric, Superflux explores the relationship between humans and voice-activated artificial intelligence, as well as the potential of these relationships in the future. In the short film Superflux looks at the interactions, personalities, what goes on when they collect user data, and its learning abilities, among other functions.
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