E n D ®

E n D ® 

11-13 İL SDDV 

DAİ ITH DIBDRDERS DESİG DISCOURSE, DISASTE 

Edited by: 

TevfîkBALCİOĞLU 

Özlem ÇAĞLAR TOMBUŞ 

Derya IRKDAŞ

This EAD07 Proceedings 2007 edition published by Izmir University of Economics 

Address: Sakarya Caddesi No:156 Baîçova, İzmir-TURKEY 

Teİ:+90 232 2792525 

Fax: +90 232 2792626 

Website: http://www.ieu.edu.tr 

Copyright © İzmir University of Economics 

Ali rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any 

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. 

ISBN: 978-975-8789-21-4 

EDITORS: Tevfik BALCIOĞLU 

Özlem ÇAĞLARTOMBUŞ 

Derya IRKDAŞ 

DESIGNER: Derya IRKDAŞ 

Printed and bound in TURKEY 

Produced by Yılmaz Sürekli Form ve Matbaacılık, Engin YILMAZ 

Address: 2826 Sokak No: 52 Kat 3/301 1. Sanayi Sitesi, İzmir - TURKEY 

Tel:+90 232 4599600 

Conference website: http://fadf.ieu.edu.tr/ead07

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

We are grateful to those who have supported the EAD07 Conference: 

IZMIR UNIVERSITY OF EGDNDMICS 

TÜBİTAK 

Ekrem Demirtaş, President, Board of Trustees of IDE 

i I Prof. Dr. Attila Sezgin, Rector of IDE 

Photograph by Güven İncirlioğlu 

EAD Local organizing comittee, EAD Comittee, Reviewers, Authors, Assistants, Student Assistants, Technicians, ELDA, XXI.

LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 

A. Can Özcan 

Artennis Yagou 

Christopher S. Wilson 

Gülsüm Baydar 

Hakan Ertep 

Markus Wilsing 

Özlem ÇağlarTombuş 

Şölen Kipöz 

TevfikBalcİoğlu 

EAD COMMITTEE 

A. Can Özcan,Turkey 

Anna Calvera, Spain 

Artemis Yagou, Greece 

Brigitte Borja de Mozota, France 

Deana Mcdonagh, USA 

Hans K. Hugentobler, Switzerland 

Jacqueline Otten, Germany 

John Wood, UK 

Julian Malins, UK 

Lisbeth Svengren, Sweden 

Rachel Cooper, UK 

Silvia Pizzocaro, Italy 

Stuart Walker, Canada 

Tevfik Balcı oğlu, Turkey 

Toni-Mattl Karjalainen, Finland 

Tore Kristensen, Denmark 

Vasco Branco, Portugal 

Wolfgang Jonas, Germany 

INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD 

Alain Findeli, France 

Alpay Er, Turkey 

Anna Calvera, Spain 

Artemis Yagou, Greece 

Brigitte Borja de Mozota, France 

DagmarSteffen, Germany 

Deana Mcdonagh, USA 

Dirk Baecker, Germany 

Eckard Minx, Germany 

Fatlma Pombo, Portugal 

Fatina Saikaly, Italy 

Fatma Korkut,Turkey 

Franz Liebl, Germany 

Füsun Curaoğlu, Turkey 

Gülay Hasdoğan, Turkey 

Hakan Ertem, Turkey 

Hans Dehlinger, Germany 

Hans Kaspar, Switzerland 

Harold Nelson, USA 

John Broadbent, Australia 

John Langrish, UK 

Kari-Hans Kommonen, Finland 

Keith Russell, Australia 

Ken Friedman, Norway 

Klaus Krippendorff, USA 

Lisbeth Svengren, Sweden 

Maria C. L dos Santos, Brazil 

Maren Lehmann, Germany 

Matthias Gotz, Germany 

Michael Erihoff, Germany 

Mike Press, UK 

Mine Ertan, Turkey 

Nigan Bayazit, Turkey 

Ozlem Er, Turkey 

Rachel Cooper, UK 

Ranulph Glanville, UK 

Rosan Chow, Germany 

Silvia Pizzocaro, Italy 

Terence Love, Australia 

Uta Brandes, Germany 

Uwe von Loh, Hofthiergarten 

Tore Kristensen, Denmark 

Vasco Branco, Portugal 

Wolfgang Jonas, Germany 

Zuhal Ulusoy, Turkey 

EXTENDED LIST OF REVIEWERS 

Ali Cengizkan, Turkey 

Aren Emre Kurtgözu, Turkey 

Bahar Şener, Turkey 

Bernhard Rothbucher, Austria 

CliveDilnot,USA 

Daniela Sangiorgi, Italy 

Deniz Güner, Turkey 

Deniz Hasırcı,Turkey 

Eduardo Corte Real, Portugal 

Francesc Aragall, Spain 

Gül Kaçmaz Erk,Turkey 

Güven İncirlioğlu,Turkey 

Hakan Edeholt, Sweden 

Hilary Cunliffe-Charlesworth, UK 

JillyTraganau, USA 

Martyn Evans, UK 

Miodrag Mitrasinovic, USA 

Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi, Turkey 

NecdetTeymur, UK 

Nur Demirbiiek, Australia 

Oya Demirbiiek, Australia 

Philippe Gauthier, Canada 

Rabah Bousbaci, Canada 

Sara llstedt Hjelm, Sweden 

Suat Günhan, Turkey 

Tiiu Poldma, Canada 

Tomas Dorta, Canada 

Ulla Johansson, Sweden 

CONTRIBUTERS 

Alessandro Segalini 

Alkin Korkmaz 

Angela Burns 

Aslı Çetin 

Aylin Mavioğlu 

Bahar Kürkçü 

Berna Yaylalı Yıldız 

Burkay Pasin 

Christopher S. Wilson 

Deniz Hasircİ 

Duygu Kocabaş 

Elif Kocabiyik 

Ertan Demirkan 

Eser Selen 

Sonay Perçin 

Suat Günhan 

Tuna Yılmaz 

Xander Van Eck 

Zeynep Tuna Ultav 

Zuhal Ulusoy 

ASSISTANTS 

Argun Tanrıverdi (Photographer) 

Bahar Emgin 

Gülden Canol [Photographer) 

Sonay Ş. Perçin 

TECHNICIANS 

Eser Sivri 

Ünal Çiçek 

VİDEO 

Erkin Araz 

...and ali student assistants

INDEX 

Introduction 12 

Keynote Speakers: Eİif Akarlilar, Ayşe Birsel, Clive Dilnot and Gert Dumbar 14 

Theme: Discourse 

"I want disorder - get it?":The paradoxical representations in contemporary architectural narratives 17 

AçalyaAlImer 

On the relevance of blind-variation-and-selective-retention in creative architectural problem solving within the context of 23 

architectural education 

Hakon Anay 

Computer aided design (cad) and computer aided manufacturing (cam) in the jewellery sector in Turkey 28 

Dilek Ayyildiz 

From chaos to clarity: the central role of the designer's appreciative system in design activity 36 

Monique Josephine Bade 

New categorization for a virtual on-line poster museum 47 

Heieno Borbosa, Anna Calvera, Vosco Branco 

Developing the brand of a born global company from Turkey as a newly Industrialized country: The Gala&Gino case, 58 

İrem Bektoş, Özlem Er 

Directive, discreet, discriminatory: Modern signage and the design of gender 69 

Pedro Besso 

Crazy ideas or creative probes?: Presenting critical artefacts to stakeholders to develop innovative product ideas 77 

Simon John Bowen 

Competing with global players: The other side of the coin 87 

Suzan Boztepe 

The question of design aesthetics: Some thoughts on its formulation nowadays 98 

Anna Colvera 

Cultural diversity In product design and product usability 110 

Henri Christiaons, Jan Carel Diehl 

Dancing with design - a study of the national design policy and design support programmes in South Korea 118 

Young Ok Choi, Rachel Cooper, Sungwoo Lim 

Re-assessing assessment practices in design to support students' long-term learning 129 

Teena Clerke 

An alternative method of communication between client and designeratthe"fuzzy front end" of the design process 145 

Deborah Camming 

The role of the learning context and designer characteristics challenge and reveal the design process 155 

Nur Demirbiiek, Dianne Joy Smith, Andrew Scott, LesDawes, Paul Sanders 

Design intensive born global companies in Finland: Challenges of the designer as entrepreneur 168 

Zeynep Falay 

Sustainable design: A critique of the current tripolar model 179 

Alain Findeli 

The balancing act of product discourse and performance 190 

Josiena Gotzsch

"Interfaces of the real": Semantic discourse of object and consumption in interactive product design 199 

Ateş Gürşimşek 

Sustainable fashion 207 

Li Han 

Controlled disorder: Mental imagery and external representation in the creative design process 213 

Deniz Hasırcı 

Service-scape and white space: White space as a structuring principle in service design 224 

Stefan Hoimlid, Anni{

Signs of discourse: Site markers as places of cultural negotiation in Ladakh, India 409 

Angela Norwood 

How to add cultural attributes to the design process of a digital video library's user interfaces 414 

Metin Çavuş, Oğuzhan Özcan 

Lean design discourse: Searching for structure and eliminating waste in design 421 

Şule Taşlı Pektaş 

Cultural product design 428 

İrini Pitsoki 

Order, disorder, complexity 441 

Silvia Pizzocaro 

Drawing and images of design. Representation and meaning. 448 

Fdtima Pombo, Graça Magalhâes 

Strictly ballroom or dancing in the moment? Methods for enhancing the partnership of design and business 458 

Emma Murphy, Mike Press 

Today's illustration. Representations of a designer's way of design thinking 469 

Joana Quental, Fdtima Pombo 

An exploratory study of fashion design: Designer, product and consumer 477 

Osmud Rahman, Xiuli Zhu, Wing-sun Liu 

A footwear design project as a design discourse 488 

Seçil Şatır, Demet Günal Erîaş, Deniz Leblebici 

Designer's metis 498 

Osman Şişman 

From the universal to the particular: Emotional responses to pattern 507 

Frances Stevenson 

Limited utterances within journals: The functionality of architectural discourse on earthquake as disaster 515 

Zeynep Tuna Ultav 

An un-natural world:The designer as tourist 527 

Viveka Turnbull Hocking 

Devising the plot: Communicating designers thinking through storytelling 537 

Louise Valentine 

Design redux 544 

Stuart Walker 

Dancing with disorder: Synergizing synergies within metadesign 554 

John Wood 

Discourse through making:The role of the designer-researcher in eliciting knowledge for interactive media learning resources 563 

to support craft skills learning 

Nicola Wood 

Beyond disaster: On establishing a Greek-Turkish design research programme 572 

Artemis Yagou 

A general look at cross-cultural usability methods applied in interactive interface design: Localisation and Turkey 579 

Asım Evren Yantaç, Oğuzhan Özcan 

Intelligent product designs that involve convergence of multiple technologies: The examination of relevant applications in 586 

Turkey 

Sıla Yiğit

Technomethodology: Interface design as a hybrid discipline between system design and ethnomethodology 599 

Victor Zwimpfer 

Theme: Disorder 

Order and disorder in keyboards - IVlemetics of typing 608 

Aysur) Aytaç 

The dance of disorder: Can an understanding of chaos and fragmentation lead to a design approach for a socially inclusive 623 

public realm? 

Bradley Braur) 

Objects for peaceful disordering: Indigenous designs and practices of protest 632 

Tom Fisher 

Killer products in the market ecosystem, the role of design in killer products 642 

Melehat Nil Gülari 

Periodization in a research on the history of design in Turkey 653 

Gülname Turan 

The parody of the motley cadaver: Displaying the funeral of fashion 660 

Robyn Fieaİy 

How often do you wash your hair? Design as disordering: Everyday routines, human object theories, probes and sustainabillty 668 

Sabine Hielscher, Tom Fisher, Tim Cooper 

Overcoming the mental barrier: Social and environmental responsibility in design from a newly industrialized country 679 

perspective 

Çiğdem Kaya, Özlem Er 

Harnessing disorder and disaster in responsive narrative systems 688 

Donna Roberta Leishman 

Design against and for crime in urban life: Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) versus Design for Crime 699 

Deniz Deniz, A. Can Özcan 

Cities and the destruction of human identity 704 

Michelle Ann Pepin 

Inventing design idioms from the plurality of identities in South Africa 712 

Phillip John du Plessis 

Social mobiles and speaking chairs: Applying critical design to disruption, discourse and disability 726 

Graham Pullin 

Naqqal's gifts: The affects of external dynamics on computer games 733 

Tongue Ibrahim Sezen, Diğdem Işıkoğlu 

Design as a negotiator between self and its world - towards a reasonable state of disorder 743 

Ahmet Zeki Turan 

Dancing with displacement: The conditions of displacement in Athens 752 

EleniTzirîzilaki 

Social responsibility of design; contribution of design in development of national industry and economy 760 

Selen Devrim Ülkebaş 

Designer and consumer as victims in consumption culture 772 

5. Selhan Yalçın Usal

Theme: Disaster 

Design against disaster: Siıİftİng lifestyles to prevent environmental disaster 780 

Ln. EceAnburun 

The life cycle assessment of temporary housing 789 

Hakon Arslon 

Design disasters In the history of computing 797 

Paul Atkinson 

How to design for the base of the pyramid? 807 

Jan Corel Diehl, Henri Christiaans 

A local analysis of a global challenge; A step towards understanding mobile phone choice ofTurkish university students 813 

Mehmet Dönmez, Nigan Bayazit 

Postwar visions of apocalypse and architectural culture: The architectural review's turn to ecology 821 

Erdem Erten 

Liberty versus safety: A design review 831 

Adam Thorpe, Lorraine Gamman 

Fear and knowing: Design disasters 846 

Neal Haslem 

Darwinian Change: Design from Disaster 856 

John Z, Langrish 

The invisible shades of disorder 862 

Raja Mohanty 

Representing disaster: Significance of design in communicating social responsibility 871 

Şebnem Timur Öğüt, Hümanur Bağlı 

Does color drift design to disaster? 877 

Tülay Özdemİr Canbolat 

Fights and fires are the flowers of Edo 883 

Jennie Tate 

Profit from paranoia - design against'paranoid'products 894 

Lorraine Gamman, Adam Thorpe 

Information for people about medicines: Why is it so difficult to swallow? 910 

Karel van der Waarde 

Picturing and memorializing disaster in Japan: Visual responses to the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 916 

Gennifer Weisenfeld 

Visualising disaster: Environmental anxiety and the urban imaginary 922 

William M. Taylor, Michael P. Levine

European Academy of Design 

INTRDDUCTIDN 

The 7th Conference of the European Academy of Design took place on 13-15 April 2007 in Izmir, Turkey and was organised by Izmir 

University of Economics, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design. The context for the conference, the people involved and the themes are 

summarised below. 

The European Academy of Design (EAD) was formed in 1994 by a group of leading academics from around Europe to promote 

the publication and dissemination of research in design through conferences hosted by different educational institutions in 

Europe. EAD has also undertaken the publication of proceedings, newsletters and a journal, to improve European-wide research 

collaboration and dissemination. Although the word European sounds limiting, it has in face gone beyond the boundaries of Europe 

and contributors from all around the worid have always been welcome. For Instance, at the Izmir Conference, 12% of the speakers 

were from outside of Europe. This suits the aims of the EAD well, which are to encourage discussion across traditional boundaries 

between practice and theory, and between disciplines defined by working media, materials and areas of application. 

The Academy is headed by a committee of acknowledged academics from across Europe, as well as from the United States and 

Australia. The Academy has organised six International conferences organized every two years since 1995. The conferences previous 

to 2007, their locations, organisers and themes are listed below: 

1995 Salford, University of Salford (Rachel Cooper) UK: Design Interfaces 

1997 Stockholm, University of Stockholm (Elisabeth Svengren) Sweden: Contextual Design 

1999 Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, (Mike Press) UK: Design Cultures 

2001 Aveiro, University of Averio, (Vasco Branco) Portugal: Desire - Designum - Design 

2003 Barcelona, University of Barcelona (Anna Calvera) Spain:Techne: Design Wisdom 

2005 Bremen, University of Bremen (Wolfgang Jonas) Germany: Design - System - Evolution 

The Conference Theme 

Three thematic components of this design conference-disaster, discourse and disorder - indicate three interrelated but relatively 

autonomous fields that highlight various aspects related to contemporary issues in design. As one of the most ambitious design 

faculties In the country, the organising team in Izmir decided to choose an equally ambitious title for the conference.'Dancing with 

Disorder: Design, Discourse, Disaster'. The team particularly like the dances of the'capital' Ds In the title, but the selection was not 

accidental. Although no one never wishes it to happen, there are signs that human beings will face different kind of disasters in this 

century varying from terrorist attacks to global warming, from tsunamis to scarcity of water. We as designers have a duty, amongst 

others, to contribute to the prevention of disasters when possible, to alleviate any pain and to repair the damage. 

Definitions of design, a well-known and studied concept, include such terms as "plan," "purpose," "intention" and "function," In 

addition to others such as "artistry" and "creativity" that take central importance in the definition of art. Plan, purpose, intention 

and function are concepts related to predictability and hence systematic thinking. Systematic thinking in turn is related to order. 

Design brings order to the relationship between us and the objects that we use, see and perceive.

Design discourse involves the current language of design, i.e., the terms with which we conceptualise and talk about design. 

Design management, design research and current issues in design are some of the specific topics that can be addressed within 

this framework. This area of the conference included presentations that sought to go beyond the over-asked question of'what is 

design?'and advocate a re-appraisal of accepted design conventions. The role/position of design was particularly scrutinized from 

the viewpoint of design research, design and everyday life, images and representation, new materials and methods, and design 

management. 

Order, on the other hand, suggests a straightening out so as to eliminate confusion. The function of design then, is to eliminate 

disorder, i.e., confusion, chaos, unpredictability. All of this is based on a binary thinking which privileges purpose over idleness, 

function over dysfunction and order over disorder. Order is a desirable attribute, the failure of which ends up in disaster. But how 

are order and disorder defined at first place; by whom; on what basis; and In whose interests? What is the price that is paid in order 

to establish order and who pays for it? Is order a historical concept having acquired different meanings in different contexts? If 

so, what is the order of today's world, bodies, objects? Is it one or many or have we lost our sense of existence based on plan, 

predictability and order? What is the meaning and role of design in relationship to changing notions of order? All these questions 

are historical as well as universal to examine crucial relations at any given time. 

What can design do for physical and mental disorders: Dysfunctional bodies, schizophrenia and hysteria. How can design contribute 

to the end of social disorders, unrest, upheavals, wars, vandalism, crime, domestic violence and so on. How can design counteract 

virtual disorders: viruses, hacking, fake identities, deceptive information and information pollution.... Disaster is related to order 

because disaster may be defined as the breaking down of order. Presentations that were included In this theme addressed specific 

contexts when notions of order, control, social hierarchy and unity are rendered irrelevant. Like order, the identification of disaster 

may too be dependent on context. What counts as disaster for a particular culture, group or society may be regarded as victory 

for another. Also, disaster may be seen as a precondition for the birth of novelty, especially in the field of design. Hence the 

questions range from "what counts as disaster in design?" to "what is the place of design in a world of disasters?" The relationship 

between discourse, disaster, disorder and design calls for multi-disciplinary approaches and can be addressed from a variety of 

diverse theoretical perspectives such as science, metaphysics, phenomenology, post-structuralism, feminist and psychoanalytical 

theories, anthropology, evolutionary approaches, management, etc. 

Papers in this volume address contemporary or historical situations from clearly stated research experiences. Naturally, they do 

not respond to all of the questions raised above, but illustrate a convincing list of variety that design has much to contribute to this 

process - one of the reasons why we are publishing this book. 

Prof. Dr. Tevfik BALCIOGLU 

Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design 

Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, TURKEY

Elif AKARLILAR 

'Designing Maviterrenean' 

Elif Akarlilar (1969) studied at the University of Vienna and received her post-graduate degree in International Politics. She then 

joined International Human Rights seminars at Strasbourg University. As she worked for Mavi New York offices she completed her 

masters degree in the New York University in the Costume History field. 

In 1991, Elif Akarlilar started to work for her family company in the foundation process of Mavi Jeans brand. Since 1999 she has 

been working as the Global Brand Manager at the Istanbul and New York offices of Mavi Jeans. She acts as the creative head of the 

brand by managing the design teams in Istanbul and NY as well as the marketing and visual merchandisng teams. Her longtime 

collaboration with Adriano Goldschmied, known as the gold hand of jeans design, and her other projects including Rıfat Özbek for 

Mavi, Maviology magazine, Martin Parr's'Style Hunting in Istanbul'Photo-book, Organic Denim and Istanbul T-shirts all bear her 

signature. 

Designer, Birsel + Seek 

Ayşe BİRSEL 

'My Disorderly Mind' 

Ayşe Birsel grew up in Izmir, Turkey. In 1989 she received a Fulbright Scholarship to complete her Master's Degree at Pratt 

Institute, Brooklyn, NY 

Recipient of the 2001 Young Designer Award from the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Birsel was a finalist at the Cooper Hewitt National 

Design Awards In 2002. She was named a Fellow at the International Design Conference at Aspen, and has taught at Pratt Institute. 

Her work is in the permanent collections of Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum and the Museum of Modern Art. In 2002, a 

collaboration with Bibi Seek led to the creation of their studio Birsel -i- Seek. Fueled by curiosity, disrespect for existing solutions and 

a love for drawing as a way to think, they have designed products for Herman Miller, Hewlett Packard, HBF, Merati, Target and Acme. 

Their work was included in the National Design Triennial 2006.

CliveDILNOT 

'Dancing with Disorder: Design and the Overcoming of Disaster' 

Clive Dilnot is currently Professor of Design Studies at New School University, New York where he teaches both design and in the 

University Humanities program. Previously, he was Professor of Design Studies and Director of Design Initiatives at the School of the 

Art Institute of Chicago. He has also taught at Harvard University, in Hong Kong and in Britain, and has been a visiting Professor at 

the University of Technology, Sydney, the University of Illinois in Chicago and Rhode Island School of Design. Dilnot has lectured, 

given keynote addresses and acted as visiting critic at universities and conferences world-wide. He has written extensively on design 

history and theory. Recent publications include Ethics? Design? {Chicago, 2005) and a forthcoming study on design research. Outside 

of design, he has written on aesthetics and art theory photography {Pirelli Work, SteidI, 2006) on the decorative arts; on museums and 

their framing of objects and on architecture and architectural theory. He has served on the advisory board of The Journal of Design 

History and is now on the advisory boards of the journals Visual Communication, Design Research Quarterly, andThRAD (Portugal). 

Gert DUMBAR 

'Breakfast, lunch, dinner and disaster pictograms' 

Gert Dumbar (1940) studied painting and graphic design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. He studied in the 

post graduate graphic design program at the Royal College of Art in London. In 1977 he established Studio Dumbar, where he has 

completed numerous extensive corporate identity programs for many major national and international clients including: the Dutch 

Postal and Telecom Services {PTT), the ANWB (Dutch Automobile Association), the Dutch Railways, the Dutch Police, the Danish 

Post (together with Kontrapunkt a/s, Danmark) and the Czech Telecom. Studio Dumbar won numerous national and international 

design awards. Among these were two D&AD golden pencils, a prize that has never been won twice by any other graphis designer 

in the world. Since 2003 Dumbar has been teaching at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague. In addition to this he frequently 

lectures at art schools and international design conferences. Between 2000 and 2002 Dumbar was visiting professor at the Royal 

College of Art in London. From 1985 until 1987 he was visiting professor there as well and headed the graphic design department. 

Since 1980 he has periodically taught and lectured at the University at Bandung, Indonesia. From 1996 until 1998 he was visiting 

professor at the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar In Saarbrücken, Germany. From 1998 until 2002 he was a board member at 

DeslgnLabor In Bremerhaven, Germany. Dumbar has been the chairman of the Dutch association of Graphic Designers (BNO). In 

1987/1988 he was the president of British Designers and Art Directors Association and was a member of the Designboard of the 

British Rail Company until 1994. Gert Dumbar is a member of the Alliance Graphlque International (AGI). In 1990 the Humberside 

Polytechnic honoured him as Honorary Fellow. In 1994 the Asoclacion de Disenadores Grafaficos de Buenos Aires (ADG) appointed 

Dumbar to be a Honourary Member and in 1995 the English Southampton Institute honoured Dumbar with the title of Honourary 

Doctor in Design. Dumbar is the initiator of the travelling exhibition'Behind the Seen'about the work of Studio Dumbar, which has 

been shown in the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, the USA, China, Australia, Canada and The Hague in 2006.

E n D 

"I W A N T D I S O R D E R -- G E T IT?": T H E P A R A D O X I C A L R E P R E S E N T A T I O N S IN 

C Q N T E M P D R A R Y A R C H I T E C T U R A L N A R R A T I V E S 

Dr.Açalya Allmer 

Dokuz Eylül University 

Department of Architecture 

İzmir, Turkey 

acalya.allmer@deu.edu.tr 

Abstract: 

Underneath outwardly exhibited randomness and disorder 

in contemporary architecture today, there is a tendency 

towards greater organization for its representation. And this 

tension—between order and disorder—provides much of the 

narrative power of contemporary architecture. The seemingly 

chance encounters of surfaces, materials, or forms - which are 

generallyjudged to be negative - are today seen as immensely 

exciting. And yet, behind this seemingly disordered outlook, 

which demands the attention of the viewer, there is an 

enormous organization without which it would be impossible 

to build such designs in reality. To demonstrate paradoxical 

representations in contemporary architecture this paper turns 

toaSimpsonsepisode which features Frank Gehry as the guest 

architect who builds a concert hall in Springfield. This paper 

argues that playfulness, hollow virtuosity, and mystery are 

some of the conditions driving the language of contemporary 

architecture - but largely neglected in the current discourse. 

Exemplified by the scenes In the episode, the recent work of 

Frank O. Gehry will be studied for how it encourages, even 

impels, these conditions. 

Frank Gehry : ...And none of this would happen if 

it weren't for a letter written by a little girl. 

Marge Simpson: I wrote that letter. 

Frank Gehry : You wrote "You are the bestest 

architect in the world"? 

Marge Simpson : Well aren't you? 

{Simpsons, Season 16, Episode 14) 

Figure 1 

Underneath outwardly exhibited randomness and disorder in 

contemporary architecture today, there is a tendency towards 

greater organization for its representation. And this tension— 

between order and disorder—provides much of the narrative 

power of contemporary architecture. The seemingly chance 

encounters of surfaces, materials, orforms-which are generally 

judged to be negative - are today seen as Immensely exciting. 

And yet, behind this seemingly disordered outlook, which 

demands the attention of the viewer, there is an enormous 

organization without which it would be impossible to build 

such designs in reality. 

To accentuate myconcern with the paradoxical representations 

in contemporary architecture, I would like to draw attention 

to the Simpsons, the most favorite animated family in the 

world. In the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons' sixteenth

season (first aired on April 3, 2005 in the US), Frank O. Gehry 

is featured as a guest star. As the first architect to appear in a 

Simpson's episode, Gehry voiced the part and played himself. 

Let me narrate the episode briefly: 

TheSimpson family visits the neighbouring town ofShelbyville, 

the citizens of Shelbyville call Springfield's residents 'stupid 

hicks. 'This makes Marge very angry and when they return, 

Marge, as the Chairman of the Springfield Cultural Activities 

Board, proposes that the town builds a new concert hall so that 

Springfield would be seen as a cultured and refined place. And 

to upgrade Springfield's image she suggests Frank Gehry as 

the architect of course. We then see Gehry checking his mails 

in front of his house in Santa Monica, LA. He receives Marge's 

letter, asking him to design a concert hall in Springfield. 

Figure 2 

Although he is especially impressed by the Snoopy stationary, 

hedeniesherrequest, crumples upthe letter and throws it away 

on the sidewalk. But when he sees the paper's rumpled shape, 

he calls out: "Frank Gehry, you are a genius!" The crumpled 

paper transforms into a model for a new $30 million concert 

hall and Gehry then presents his design at the Springfield 

Town Hall. The town approves and the construction starts. 

First we see a regular, orthogonal steel system construction, 

and then cranes start swinging wrecking balls to knock and 

beat the structure into shape literally. Gehry gives his thumbs- 

up once the final form is achieved. However, the opening 

night of the Concert Hall was a disaster because apparently 

no one in Springfield but Marge likes classic music. And the 

building turns into a ruin soon. The town sells the building to 

Montgomery Burns who decides to turn it into a state prison. 

Figure 3 

It might be dubious to pick up the Simpsons to discuss Gehry's 

architecture. However, I believe, it can be particularly effective 

for illustrating the problems in contemporary architecture in 

a comedic narrative. Without argument one can assert that 

Gehry's architecture is known worldwide, and he is one of the 

few contemporary architects with little interest in theorizing 

his work. Needless to say, his work has been controversial. In 

many ways, his work speaks for the present problematic state 

of architecture and it deserves serious examination. 

Gehry in Springfield 

Figure 4 

Let's start with how Gehry shows up the first time in the 

Simpsons episode. At the Cultural Activities Board Marge 

mumbles desperately: "Think Marge think. Culture... vulture... 

birds of pray... pray In a church... the father, son, and Holy 

Ghost... ghosts are scary... scary rhymes with gary... that's it, 

architect Frank Gehry!" And she tries to convince the board

members by showing Gehry's Los Angeles Concert Hall seen 

on the cover of Concert Hall Weekly where it says: "So Good It's 

Gehry!"iVlarge convinces the committee to fund a new concert 

hall, designed by Frank Gehry. Sofarİtisstrangelyfamiİiar,asall 

the architect audience here would know, Simpsons illustrates 

'the Bilbao effect', a phenomenon entered into contemporary 

language ofarchitectural discourses afterGehry's Guggenheim 

Museum In Bilbao, Spain. The museum changed Bilbao, the 

former industrial city in economic decline, into one of the 

most popular destinations in Europe; virtually overnight. The 

Simpsons episode highlights the municipalities' attempts 

to get a Bilbao-esque architectural wonder in their cities to 

draw in visitors. Here, the city Is Springfield; the architect is, of 

course, Frank Gehry. 

Here comes the new concept of'Starchitect'or'Stararchitect', 

although giving celebrity status to architects is nothing new 

since Renaissance. However, since the popular success of the 

Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the media started to talk 

abouttheso-called'Bilbaoeffect'and a star architect designing 

a prestige building was thought to be the solution to produce 

a landmark for the city. I would like to cut short this discussion 

of starchitect, and'Bilbao effect'in an attempt not to reiterate 

what is known in current architectural narratives. And yet. It 

Is clearly seen that the Simpsons episode offers a relevant 

architectural commentary of the last decade, touching on 

issues like'starchitect', and'Bilbao effect'. 

I am a genius! 

Returning to the episode, we see how Frank Gehry gets his 

inspiration from a crumpled-up letter on the sidewalk. We 

should not forget that it is a highly satirical parody. And yet, it 

depicts his empirical design method, which famously begins 

at the very low-tech level of crumpled paper models and 

assemblages of found objects. Playfulness has been particular 

apparent In Gehry's oeuvre since the 70s. The consequences 

of this formal playfulness can best be observed, in the 

transformation of the architectural design process into a kind 

of game. Anthony VIdier (1992, p.102) explained the dilemma 

of the notion of play In its resemblance to Alice's playing 

croquet with the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland: 'She 

knew what the game was called, but there did not seem to be 

any fixed rule and to complicate matters the equipment was 

in continuous and random movement. From the flamingo- 

mallets to the hedge-hog-balls and the soldier hoops, 

everything was open to chance, deprived of the security of the 

articulated moves and their known consequences' Similarly, in 

Gehry's game, there seems to be no apparent rule. The formal 

implications of a design process informed by the aesthetic of 

playfulness are also demonstrated in Springfield Concert Hall, 

as in other Gehry buildings. 

The "bestest" architect in the world! 

The impact of technology on architecture Is not new and 1 have 

no intention of examining these issues in this paper. What I want 

to stress briefly, though, is the duality between construction and 

appearance, a crucial theme for today's architectural narratives. 

This duality can also been detected In the Simpsons'episode. 

Kolorevic {2005, p.n7) asserted that, 'in the new digitally- 

driven processes of production, design and construction are no 

longer separate realms but are, instead fluidly amalgamated.' 

In the episode we see Gehry at the construction site with his 

helmet on. Cranes start swinging wrecking balls to knock and 

beat the structure into the shape of a typical Gehry building. 

He gives his thumbs-up once the final form is achieved. It does 

not look like a digitally driven but a crane driven process, design 

and construction are done at the same time, amalgamated 

in a satirical way. It looks also as if it is very easy to build the 

Springfield Concert Hall. And later when the building turns 

into ruins, the mayor asks the town, 'Why did you tell that you 

did not like classical music?'They reply:'we did not have time, 

everything happened so quickly.'This dialog İsa parody of what 

happened in the construction of the Concert Hall in Los Angeles, 

which took 15 years to finish the construction. 

Mr. Burns'budget 

Looking at Gehry's architecture, what one sees is the display 

of extravaganza, Impetuousness, and technological virtuosity. 

But, there is another thing that exists behind the glossy surface, 

the unlimited budget of the cWent.lWis raises a number of critical 

issues. Perhaps the most obvious of these is that signature 

architecture requires rich clients who are able to afford it, such 

as Lillian Disney, the widow of Walt Disney, or Paul Allen, the 

co-founder of Microsoft, or the Guggenheim family, to mention 

only a few. Similarly, rich clients seem to preferGehry's work, as

they are able to represent their wealth through his architecture. 

In Walt Disney Concert Hall, for instance, when the 50 million 

dollars of Lillian Disney were not enough for completing the 

construction, the contribution of the donors saved the life of the 

building (Architectural Record, 1995, p.23). The donor names 

were etched onto floors and walls in letters proportionate in size 

to the amount they gave. The most generous donors had their 

names given to the parts of the building: hence, the Eli Broad 

auditorium, the Henri Mancini family stairway, and so forth. 

The Simpsons episode has a critical commentary on this issue 

as well. When the building turns into a ruin, the town sells the 

building to Mr. Burns, the fictional character on the Simpsons. 

He is the owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and 

Homer Simpson's boss. Mr. Burns is Springfield's richest and 

most powerful citizen, with an estimated net worth of $16.8 

billion USD (Montgomery Burns, wikipedia). He uses his power 

and wealth to routinely do whatever he wants. This time 

Mr. Burns has the power to buy the Gehry design-bankrupt 

Concert Hall and turn it into a federal prison. 

"Ha, ha! No Frank Gehry-designed prison can hold me!" 

Simpsons offer the biggest tragedy that has happened in 

a Gehry building: 30 million dollar Springfield Concert Hall 

ends up being converted Into a prison. Here we see another 

paradox. With a little effort, a concert hall can be turned into 

a prison. Is it not a known fact that Gehry's projects are all 

extremely similar in their sculptural language of curvilinear 

forms? From the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to the Walt 

Disney Concert Hall, the EMP, the Richard B. Fisher Center for 

Performing Arts at Bard College and the Ray and Maria Strata 

Center at MIT, they are generally undifferentiated given the 

program, cultural context or existing site context. 

There Is no Intention to discuss Gehry's complete work In this 

paper. Instead it is intended to focus on some of the conditions 

driving the language of contemporary architecture. Gehry's 

architecture finds its realization in its exploitation of the 

latest technological advances. No argument can be made 

against this. He takes pleasure In displaying the technological 

capabilities of contemporary architecture thus leaving the 

spectator in a state of wonder at the skill and technical mastery 

that lies behind its construction. 

Figure 5 

Here I want to Introduce the idea of virtuosity for its own sake 

as another theme important for Gehry's recent architecture. 

What seems to be neglected in the contemporary discussions 

of architecture, however, is that a certain display of technical 

virtuosity - virtuosity for its own sake - is taken for granted, it Is 

apparent that a certain principle of technological virtuosity is 

essential to the realization of Gehry's architecture. This pursuit 

of virtuosity for its own sake culminates In Gehry's architecture 

with an Intention to leave the spectator in a state of wonder at 

the skill and technical mastery that lies behind its construction. 

Gehry depends on playful virtuosity to send the visitor out of 

the building grinning with delight. 

Figure 6 

"Frank Gehry, you like curvilinear forms much?" 

Speaking of rich clients, 1 want to give another building as 

example: the Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, 

Washington (1995-2000), the ideal building for Gehry to test 

his ideas. A representative of the triumph of technology,

Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen acted as client with deep 

pockets for the EMP project. The private funding for this 

publicly accessible project meant the citizens of Seattle had 

no authority to be involved or influence on the design of the 

EMP {unlike Springfielders). Gehry's freedom is evident when 

looking at the plan of the EMR Lacking any of the traditional 

Gehry back of house budget-meeting boxes to which forms 

are draped; the EMP plan appears organic in nature. With the 

exception of "Sky Church", the remaining five programmatic 

volumes have seemingly chance encounters of surfaces, 

materials, or forms. 

Figure 7 

Behind this seemingly disordered outlook, there is an 

enormous organization without which it would be impossible 

to build such designs in reality. Gehry adopted a number of 

various advanced technologies to facilitate the construction 

of the EMR The most important tool being the CATIA 

(Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application} 

software used to model the building three-dimensionally. As 

an adaptation from aerospace Industry, this software has the 

ability to flatten complex multiple-curved surfaces which can 

then be used as a template to cut them into pieces. At EMP 

the flattened shapes of exterior panel cladding were cut using 

CAD/CAM and CNC (Computer Aided Drafting/Computer 

Aided Manufacturing, Computer Numerically Controlled) 

milling machines one by one and bending them back into 

their shape before mounting them in place on the building 

using GPS location devices and a highly customized mounting 

system which allows for adjustment (Linn, 2000, p. 175). One 

peculiar aspect in this construction process needs to be 

mentioned is the employment of custom-made elements, 

which represents an important change in the logic of building 

production. The use of custom-made pieces is one of the 

elements that makes Gehry's architecture unique, but at the 

same time makes it troubling. No two panels are similar out of 

the roughly four thousand panels covering the EMP exterior. 

Although the process of creating templates and cutting the 

shapes was highly automated by way of CATIA, these complex 

shapes had to be hand bent into their final shape and hand- 

assembled to include the necessary structural supportive 

metal fin framing. Each panel holds about seven shingles each 

of which has a unique shape and size. Each shingle is tailored 

to fit exactly in its designed location and each panel Is woven 

together in situ. As a result, the building's surface looks like a 

patchwork fabric. 

The notion of patchwork fabric, 1 have just Introduced, can be 

further studied considering a specific set of buildings. From the 

EMP, to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion In Millennium Park In Chicago 

(2004) (here 1 can add Springfield Concert Hall projecttoo), there 

is an apparent change in the surface treatment. The enveloping 

surface wrapping around the building, as in Bilbao, became 

continually {but unexpectedly) interrupted or broken in Gehry's 

later projects such as the Millennium Park pavilion. This frayed 

characteristic of the building's surface reveals the thinness of 

the surface, thus exposing the artificiality of his gesture. 

Figure 8 

The consequence of this series of interruptions on the 

metal surface is "the frayed and torn drapery," demanding 

the attention of the viewer and aspiring to the status of 

an autonomous sculptural object. Here, I would like to 

draw attention to the pattern of the draped surface. As

Leatherbarrow and Mostafavi (2002, p.l98) asserted, 'the 

patchwork of panels that makes up its surface is composed 

of pieces that have been cut from the same cloth, giving the 

building's novel geometries great regularity and cohesion.' 

This is evident in almost all of the buildings built after the 

EMP. Despite of their apparent formlessness, the pattern of 

their cladding appears to be cohesive and repetitive. Given 

the materiality and weight of the building, rendering such a 

surface is not an easy task. Nonetheless, it becomes a vehicle 

for displaying technological virtuosity, spectacle, and mystery, 

through which Gehry earns his appearance in the Simpsons. 

Figure 9 

REFERENCES: 

'The Seven-Beer Snitch', the fourteenth episode of The 

Simpsons' sixteenth season, 2005, television program. The 

FOX Network, US, 3 April. 

Kolorevic, B 2005,'Designing and Manufacturing Architecture 

in the Digital Age', Architectural Information Management, 

no. 3, p. 117. 

II • 

Leatherbarrow, D & Mostafavi, M 2002, Surface Architecture, 

The MIT Press, Cambridge. 

Linn, C 2000, 'Creating Sleek Metal Skins for Buildings^ 

Architectural Record, vol.188, no.10, pp. 178. ^ ^ 

'Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall -his Masterpiece- 

Dances with Death' 1995, Architectural Record, vol. 183, no. 

10, p. 23. 

'Montgomery Burns', wikipedia, viewed 20 December 2005, 

 

Vidler, A 1992, The Architectural Uncanny: Essays in the 

Modern Unhomely, The MIT Press, Cambridge. 

1

O N T H E R E L E V A N C E D F B LI N D-VARI ATI a N-AN D-S E L E C T I V E - R E T E NTI D N İN 

C R E A T I V E A R C H I T E C T U R A L P R O B L E M S D L V I N B W I T H I N T H E C O N T E X T O F 

A R C H I T E C T U R A L E D U C A T I O N 

Hakan Anay 

Middle East Technical University, 

Department of Architecture, Ankara, Türkiye 

hakananay@yahoo.com, anay@metu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

Blind-variation-and-selective-retention process is essential 

for ail genuine gains and achievements in epistemic activities 

such as thinking, learning, and general problem solving. This 

idea is fundamental to the conception of "creativity" and 

"creative thought" in "evolutionary epistemology,"and should 

be equally applicable to the epistemic activities concerning 

"creativity" and "creative thought" such as architectural 

problem solving. Taking this argument as its basis, the present 

study examines and discusses the relevancy and applicability 

of blind-varlation-and-selective-retention as a model for 

architectural problem solving, particularlywithin the context of 

architectural education, it underlines particular characteristics 

of the model that should be considered prior to its adoption 

to architecture which these characteristics also point to lines 

of research which should be considered in depth. 

The present paper is based on the idea that bllnd-variation- 

and-selective-retention process Is essential for all genuine 

gains or achievements in epistemic activities such as thinking, 

learning, and general problem solving. (See Campbell 1960) 

This idea Isfundamentaltotheconceptlon of'creatlvethought" 

in "evolutionary epistemology," particularly in the works of Karl 

Popper and Donald Campbell and should beequallyappllcable 

to the epistemic activities concerning "creatlvlty"and "creative 

thought"such as architectural problem solving.' The main aim 

of the present study is to examine and discuss the relevancy 

of blind-variation-and-selective-retention process as a modeP 

for creative architectural problem solving within the context 

of architectural education. Its main thesis is that we can 

expand this model for the (re)conception of problem solving 

and "creative thought" or "creativity" in architecture, with 

some reconsiderations and modifications. Consequently the 

model will be profitable for architectural design education, for 

teaching/learning how to design and for gaining architectural 

knowledge. 

The nature of blind-variatlon-and-selective-retention 

process 

Blind-variation-and-selective-retention process in problem 

solving Is fundamentally based on trial-and-error with an 

"evolutlonary"argument.The process has following essentials 

(See Campbell 1960,1974): 

' The present paper is based on the hypothesis that architectural 

design can be evaluated as a "type of" problem solving activity in the 

sense that it is a purpose driven or teîeological process where acts 

of making, evaluation and remaking take place towards the creation 

of a work that potentially fulfils the objectives, or provide a solution 

to the stated architectural problem. The activity has an "epistemic" 

nature since it concerns and requires utilization and production of 

various levels and types of knowledge. However this does not amount 

to architectural design equals to problem solving or reduction of 

architectural design to a mere knowledge activity. These uses are for 

convenience, for isolation and foregrounding certain aspects of a very 

complex activity such as design that helps the paper to clarify the 

main problem, set its main argument and discuss the relevancy of it. 

^ The use of the term "model" refers to "a simplified description of a 

complex entity."

1."a mechanism for introducing variation," namely a series 

of -blind- trials which attempt to make a forward move 

which potentially carry the process from one stage to 

another, towards the solution. 

2. a "consistent" intentional "selection process" which 

eliminates the unsuccessful trials while keeping the 

successful ones. 

3. "a mechanism" for preserving the successful-so-far 

variations, and a "mechanism"for transferring them to the 

next series of trials. 

The process has an evolutionary argument in the following 

accounts: trials are more or less accidental or blind gambits, 

varied from the previous successful-so-far moves. Each gambit 

is controlled by a selection mechanism, which eliminates 

erroneous or unsuccessful moves, while leaving the successful 

ones to continue the search process. 

Blind-variation-and-selective-retention process in 

architectural problem solving 

The architectural adaptation of the model is based on 

the following main assumptions: In architectural problem 

solving, like all other problem solving processes, a blind- 

variation-and-selective-retentlon process is fundamental to 

all "genuine" and "creative" achievements. This intrinsically 

implies that in creative architectural problem solving, making 

always comes before selection and modification. Any shortcut 

bypassing this process, such as adoption of an Initial solutlon- 

in-prlnciple, schemas, or use of patterns, is dependent upon 

already existing knowledge or wisdom gained earlier by blind- 

variation-and-selective-retention -in a great extent- from 

earlier solutions. This viewpoint also implies that architectural 

problem solving activity Is actually embedded in the world of 

architectural works and architectural problems. In this sense, 

these arguments also apply to adaptation of earlier knowledge 

or wisdom to the new conditions which -also- requires more 

or less blind-variation-and-selective-retentîon process.^ 

However, at first sight, blind-variation-and-selective- 

retention model ofarchitectural problem solving seems to be 

contrasting with the conventional view(s) of problem solving 

In two accounts. Dwelling on these widely accepted Issues 

may help us to clarify the model and adopt it to architecture. 

First, it is often argued that some sort of already achieved 

knowledge and wisdom reduces thefrequency of blind search, 

or trial-and-error Is not random or blind at all (See Campbell 

1960, Simon 1969, Akin 1986, Newell et'al 1958). For example 

in the Sciences of the Artificial, Herbert Simon (1969) argues 

that existence of previous knowledge or experience gained 

from "similar" or earlier problems affects the frequency of 

"trial and error" in the problem solving activity to the degree 

that it can be "altogether eliminated." Similarly, Newell et' a! 

(1958) argue that "trial-and-error attempts take place in some 

'space'of possible solutlons."Trials are controlled by some type 

of strategy that makes the progress "meaningful." A strategy 

"either permits the search to be limited to a smaller sub-space, 

or generates elements of the space in an order that makes 

probable the discovery of one of the solutions early in the 

process." (Newell et al. 1958) It is true that previous knowledge 

and wisdom provides a basis to begin with and proceed, 

and it provides shortcuts in creative search İn various stages 

and levels. In fact this is required, since no problem solving 

starts from a tabula rasa. But "knowledge" cannot altogether 

eliminate the "blind" search since what is creative and new 

Is what is -yet- unknown to us. If we reformulate, "creativity" 

means going beyond what was already known and achieved, 

therefore It should be blind. Knowledge of earlier solutions is 

essential to architectural problem solving, but even the use of 

earlier forms for the conception of new ones is not about basic 

repetition or imitation but requires interpretative/creative 

modification prior to their application to new conditions 

^ Architectural problem solving activity can be evaluated as 

"evolutionary" and "epistemîc" in two accounts: first, the activity is 

evolutionary since each work is somehow tied to tradition, earlier 

solutions, problems, and earlier body of knowledge. However, this 

type of "evolutionary" continuity is relatively more open to shifts, 

ruptures and discontinuities, and the "evolutionary" link might no be 

clear and observable at all. Second, the problem solving "process" 

itself is "evolutionary" since every new stage is successor of earlier 

stages and a modified or transformed version of them. This type of 

"evolutionary" continuity is generally not concern shifts and ruptures, 

and the "evolutionary" line is more clear or observable.

which also requires a type of blind-variation-and-selective- 

retention process. 

Simon (1969) further argues that problem solving activity 

"involves much trial and error" and "the more difficult and 

novel the problem, the greater is likely to be the amount 

of trial and error required to find a solution." However, "at 

the same time, the trial and error is not completely random 

or blind; as it was in biological evolution, but "...it is in fact, 

rather highly selective." (Simon 1969) He states that "the new 

expressions that are obtained by transforming given ones are 

examined to see whether they represent progress toward the 

goal. Indications of progress spur further search In the same 

direction; lack of progress signals the abandonment of a line 

of search." (Simon 1969) This might mean even if we do not 

possess any prior knowledge or experience related with the 

current problem situation, we can still determine the course of 

our search tovyards a goal: "problem solving requires selective 

trial and error." (Simon 1969) However, drawing a "search" 

direction Is also a trial, and precedes our evaluation of whether 

the line was progressive or not if it was not based on an earlier 

wisdom of some type. In addition, a currently progressive line 

does not guarantee that that it will remain so, or it will yield 

a successful solution, respectively a currently regressive line 

may turn into a progressive one if pursued further, and may 

lead to a successful solution. It is obvious that architectural 

problem solving Is not a random but a goal driven, intentional 

activity. Sut the source of intentionallty does not lie in the 

"making;' or in the "trials," but in the "selection" process. In 

other words, in architectural problem solving, goals are not 

totally attained through foreslghtful moves, but also by blind 

"trials," and the selection of unsuccessful trials followed by 

bearing on to explore the best-so-far trial lines. So we may 

reformulate the argument as follows; creative problem solving 

requires knowledge of earlier solutions and wisdom to start 

with and proceed, but at the same time it involves a blind trial, 

and selective error elimination, or more specifically, bllnd- 

variation-and-selective-retention process. 

Second account that seems to be conflicting with the idea of 

blind-variation-and-selective-retention is that architectural 

problem solving is purpose-oriented and teîeological.'' The 

main purpose of the architectural problem solving activity Is 

to construct a work that will -potentially- provide a solution 

to the formulated problem.Typicaliy, an architectural problem 

is stated in the form of a brief or a program. A popular view 

of architectural design, which was perhaps descendant from 

the functionalist doctrine in architecture, proposes that the 

program is the only legitimate and neutral source and origin 

of the form, an asset which directly implies, governs the 

formalization process and the solution: Form or the solution 

is something postulated as the purpose or posited at the 

expense of function or program. This view of architectural 

problem solving is problematic at least In two accounts: first, 

the program can neither be objective nor comprehensive. 

There will always be preconceptions and prejudices playing 

an active role In the preparation of a program, and for this 

reason, the program will always be selective and biased. (See 

Rowe 1996) Second, even If such a program exists, there is no 

algorithm, and no method that can guarantee a program to 

be directly translated into a meaningful form or solution. This 

problem was perhaps best stated by John Summerson (1957) 

as follows: "The conceptions which arise from a preoccupation 

with the programme have got, at some point, to crystallize 

into a final form and by the time the architect reaches that 

point he has to bring to his conception a weight of judgment, 

a sense of authority and conviction which clinches the whole 

design, causes the impending relationships to close into a 

visually comprehensible whole." But he confesses that there 

We may distinguish at least two main types of teîeological 

achievements which an architectural problem solving activity 

might concern: first is intrinsic to the activity or the process itself 

and actually embedded in it. It concerns construction or design of 

an architectural work that should provide a -potential- solution to 

an architectural problem which was stated in the program or the 

brief. In this sense "prog ram"or purpose is an element which actively 

plays a constructive or formative role in the process. Second resides 

beyond the process and the work. It concerns for example an 

intended change in the environment through architecture; better 

living conditions, a livable city, more accessible environment and 

buildings, etc. In this case, the control between the work and the 

intended modification or change is not direct and clear. The model 

proposed here particularly concerns the first category. However, an 

architectural work can still be considered as a "device" that has the 

potential and responsibility to make a change in the environment, 

which can be interpreted as a "trial."

is a "hiatus:""tinere is no common theoretical agreement as to 

whathappensorshould happen at that poinf'of crystallization. 

(Summerson 1957) It is true that program is a fundamental 

"constructive" or "formalizing" element in architectural 

problem solving, but the problem is that it is often misplaced 

in its widely accepted concept!on(s). Program or purpose 

neither implies the solution nor prescribes the formalization 

of the solution, but only good for selection and judgment: Any 

teleologica! achievement in architectural problem solving is 

notattained-fully-through direct formalization process, based 

on the program, plan, aim, purpose or something else similar, 

but through blind-variation-and-selective-retention, or more 

architecturally, through making, selection by criticism, and 

remaking. Program or aim is not good for directly "forming" 

the solution but only for "selection" and through the selection 

process for guiding the course of "search" and consequently 

determining the"so!ution." 

In a final analysis, conventional views of problem solving are 

compatible with blind-variation-and-selective-retention in 

these two seemingly-contradicting accounts. They rather seem 

to focus and foreground certain aspects of creative problem 

solving which are already contained by the proposed model. 

To sum up and reformulate, architectural adaptation of the 

proposed model has three essential points: 

First, creative problem solving in architecture, as in other 

problem solving processes, requires knowledge of earlier 

solutions and wisdom to start with and proceed, but at 

the same time it involves a blind trial, and selective error 

elimination, or more specifically, blind-variation-and-selective- 

retention process. We may adopt this process to architecture 

as follows: creative problem solving in architecture calls for a 

process of making, critical selection (or selection by criticism), 

and remaking. 

Second, knowledge of eariier solutions is essential in 

architectural problem solving, but the use of eariier forms 

for the conception of new ones is not about basic repetition 

or imitation but requires an in depth understanding and 

interpretative/creative transformationpriortotheirapplication 

to new conditions which also requires a blind-variation-and- 

selective-retention process. Since the solution already exists. 

the process of understanding can be interpreted as more of a 

hypothetical (re)construction. 

Third, any teleological or purpose-oriented achievement in 

architectural problem solving is not attained -fully- through 

direct formalization process which is prescribed in the purpose, 

program or problem formulation, but through making and 

selection by criticism, or by blind-variaîion-and-seiective- 

retention process. 

Conclusion: Things to (re)consider 

If blind-variation-and-selective-retention model will be 

adopted and employed for architectural problem solving, 

particularly within the context of architectural education, 

various essentials must be (re)considered. These essentials 

also point to various research lines or fields that should be 

studied in detail. 

1. There must be methods and strategies and also tools 

for the analysis and understanding of the existing works 

of architecture for gaining already existing knowledge 

and wisdom as the basis for creative investigation. In 

architectural problem solving, reliance on tradition Is 

inevitable: one must start where his or her predecessors 

left. This has the primary importance for the students 

of architecture since they barely possess the required 

background knowledge to start with, and proceed the 

search process. 

2. Variation-creation is essential to the proposed model. 

However, creation of many variations or parallel exploration 

lines seems to be contradicting the conventional making 

habits of architectural problem solving. Still it seems to 

be a viable approach particularly for education, but needs 

further investigation. 

3. Combined with the previous, there is also a need for 

methods and strategies and also tools for making and 

variation-creation process. Existence of methods and 

strategies-although they still do not guarantee the success- 

Is what makes the difference between "blind" search and 

"random" search. Tools help methods and strategies work 

or even make them available to this process.

4. Creation of many variations or parallel exploration 

lines seems to be harder and more complex than the 

conventional making habits seeming o follow a single 

line. It seems that computer software is a viable and 

powerful tool to be used for this purpose if they were once 

(re}considered and (re}designed particularly to support 

this process.They can further provide seamless control on 

the"evolutionary" process. (See Anay 2005) 

5. There is a need for experimentation and free play: the 

point is; an unblocked forward movement is essential for 

"creativity.'This must not be confused with "free expression," 

or a similar unmedlated making activity. Any forward 

movement should depart from the existing wisdom, or 

should be based on the criticism of what already existed, 

and should be controlled by rigorous selection through 

criticism. 

6. Combined with the previous, there Is a need for rigorous 

selection processes. In architecture this is generally tied to 

problem formulation, program and contextual forces. It is 

worth to restate that neither of these or similar assets imply 

or prescribe the solution. Critical selection (and retention) 

is the only way for reaching teîeological achievements in 

architectural problem solving. 

7. There Is a need for methods, mechanisms and tools 

enabling the continuity of the evolutionary process, for 

preserving the successful-so-far solutions, and Informing 

the next generation of variations. It must be noted that 

this is relevant for both within the unique problem solving 

process; from one stage to another, or without it; between 

the present architectural problem solving process and the 

problems and the solutions preceding it. 

Finally, It must be underlined that previous arguments also 

(re)locate the tradition (or the body of earlier knowledge) 

and the program (or architecture's Utopian or teîeological 

component) within the architectural problem solving process. 

This structure differs from most "accepted" approaches, 

but essential, and must be considered as such prior to Its 

application In any area Including education. 

References 

AKIN, Ö., 1986, Psychology of Architectural Design, London: 

Pion Limited 

ANAY, H., 2005, Towards a Reconsideration of Computer 

Modeling in the Idea-Creation and Development Stages of 

the Architectural Design Process In: New Design Paradigms, 

Conference proceedings of lASDR 2005 Taipei-Taiwan 

CAMPBELL, D.T., 1960, Blind Variation and Selective Retention 

in Creative Thought as in Other Knowledge Process, In: 

Psychological Review, Vol. 67, No. 6,380-400. 

CAMPBELL, D.T., 1974, Evolutionary Epistemology, In: P.A. 

Schtipp (Ed.) The Philosophy of Karl Popper, La Salle, Illinois: 

Open Court, 413-463. 

NEWELL, et'al., 1958, Elements of a Theory of Human Problem 

Solving, In: Psychological Review Vol.65, No. 3,151-166. 

POPPER, K.R., 1972, Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary 

Approach, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press 

ROWE, C.,1996, Program versus Paradigm: Otherwise Casual 

Notes on the Pragmatic, the Typical, and the Possible In: 

A.Caragonne (Ed.) As 1 was Saying: Cornelliana,The MIT Press 

SIMON, H., 1969, The Sciences of the Artificlal,Cambrldge, 

London, Mass.: The M.l.T. Press 

SUMMERSON, J., 1957, The Case for a Theory of Modern 

Architecture, In: R.I.B.A. Journal

G D M P U T E R A I D E D D E S I G N (GAD) A N D C D M P U T E R A I D E D M A N U F A C T U R I N G 

(GAM) IN T H E J E W E L L E R Y S E C T O R IN T U R K E Y 

Dilek Ayyildiz 

Industrial Product Designer 

Research Assistant 

Doğuş University, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, 

Industrial Product Design Department 

Istanbul, Turkey 

dilekayyildiz@gmail.com 

Abstract 

The jewellery sector in Turkey, which is the second most jewel 

exporting country in the world after Italy, gained dynamism 

by the use of computer aided design (CAD) programs. While 

previously the molds and the models were made in a small 

quantity by the craftsmen In the workshops around Grand 

Bazaar, now more designers have begun to work in this sector 

by using CAD programs such as Jewelcad, Rhino and Matrix. 

Now designers not only design the models and leave the 

production process to the craftsmen, they also draw the mold 

designs by using CAD programs. 

Jewellery sector has become a more innovative one by CAD 

and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) systems. Especially 

by designing much more models and molds, production gained 

a huge speed and the decrease in costs caused an increase 

in exportation. Besides, designs that have perfect finishes are 

produced by using CAD programs and CAM systems. 

This paper includes the process of jewel production by using 

CAD and the stages of CAM. Also there will be some examples 

of many jewels which were produced by CAD/CAM systems. 

CAD/CAM and the Sectors It Is Used 

CAD/CAM isdefined a5"a computer system used in engineering, 

combining design techniques and manufacturing principles, 

as in the creation of complex wiring diagrams and the design 

of coordinated machine parts" (Webster Dictionary, 1995). 

Computer Aided Design (CAD) was referred to a technique 

which employs the computer in the design process in order to 

increase the efficiency of the designer. By use of computer in 

design, labor and time reduce which are attributing towards 

producing a safer and a better design (Kim et al., 2002). 

CAD is a wide range of computer-based tools that assist 

design professionals in their design activities. In CAD, the 

use of computer could be very effective during the task of 

reproducing the drawings or drawing alternatives. For that 

reason, some people re-defined CAD as "Computer Aided 

Drafting". Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) are 

used for differentiating it from the traditional definition of 

CAD (Onwubiko, 1989). 

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is "in relation with the 

product lifecycle management computer-based software 

tools that assist engineers, in the manufacture of product 

components" (Wikipedia, 2006). By the help of CAD, the 

products firstly modeled in computer and then the data 

converted to generate CNC code to drive numerical controlled 

machine tools. Usually the CAD operator exports the data in 

one of the common data formats, such as IGES or STL, that are 

supported by a wide variety of softwares (Wikipedia, 2006). 

In jewellery sector the CAD-CAM programs especially use 

the .STL file format, for this reason operators exchange their 

drawings to this format. 

The first CAD systems were developed in MIT in 1963 by Ivan 

Sutherland and his professor Stephen Coons. They improved

the Sketchpad which allowed the designer to Interact with 

computer graphically. The design was fed into the computer 

by drawing on a monitor with a light pen (Kaftanoğlu, 2006). 

I 

The first applications of CAD were in automotive, aerospace 

Industries and In electronics. Also the first applications of CAM 

were in automotive and aerospace industries such as UNISURF 

In 1971 at Renault (Bezler) for car body design and tooling 

(Wikipedia, 2006). 

Today CAD is used in many sectors such as; 

• Industrial Design (Automotive, Fashion, Jewellery, 

etc.) 

• Building Engineering 

• Civil Engineering 

• Mechanical Engineering (Automotive, Aerospace, 

Consumer Goods, Machinery, Ship Building etc.) 

• Many other organizations where designers and 

engineers work together. 

The Jewellery Sector in Turkey 

Istanbul Is the core area ofgold jewellery production in Turkey. 

These firms were all close to Grand Bazaar, but In recent years 

these firms moved in a new region called Kuyumcukent In 

Istanbul. However, production In Ankara and Izmir Is also 

extensive. Jewellery making Is a traditional work for Turkish 

people; therefore, the handcraftsmanship in Turkey is better 

then the other countries. There are still small workshops 

and craftsmen that are producing handmade jewellery in 

Diyarbakır, Mardin and Trabzon. Filigree (telkari) -made in 

Mardin- and golden wickerwork bracelets -made in Trabzon- 

are some of unique arts used in handmade Jewellery. 

Filigree or telkari, as it is called In Anatolia, is a jewel work, 

which is made with twisted threads ofgold or silver (Figure 1). 

In this art, metal Is curled, twisted and plated and then united 

from their endpoints with each other (Filigree, 2007). Before 

making filigree, the silver is melted first and then poured Into 

a mold to make thin rods. Then, these thin rods are drawn to 

wires which are 1 millimeter in diameter. First the frame is 

made with 2 millimeter thick wire to attach the motifs, and 

then the motifs are welded to the frame with silver and borax 

mixture. Making filigree jewellery is a very hard work; for this 

reason, they are only made by talented craftsmen. 

Figure 1. (Wind of Anatolia, 2007) 

On the other hand, golden wickerwork bracelets - which 

are made of tiny golden or silver wires - are woven by hand 

at homes by young girls (Figure 2). Firstly gold or pure silver 

Is melted and then they formed into sticks. These sticks are 

then drawn to 0.3 millimeters; thus, silver or gold wires are 

obtained. Then they are given to the weaver ladies. There is no 

machine involved at any stage of this art. But It takes too many 

hours; such a bracelet could be weaved in 12 days. 

Figure 2. (Trabzon Culture and Tourism, 2007) 

In gold jewellery production, Turkey ranks among the top-five 

countries in the world. It has the total capacity to produce 400 

tons of gold and 200 tons of silver annually. For this reason, 

Turkey is pointed out as a rival to Italy in this field by world 

jewellery authorities. 

The gold jewellery sector of Turkey has turned Its attention 

to exporting its products in recent years. Jewellery produced 

by an intense accumulation of information and technology 

and ornate concept of design has been exported to a total of 

130 countries. In 2004, the US occupied the first place in our

jewellery exports, -by order of exportation ratios- the other 

countries are;The United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Germany, 

Russian Federation, Italy, Libya and Israel (IMMIB, 2006). 

Moreover, there are some foundations that are supporting 

the jewellery production and exportation In Turkey. Istanbul 

Chamber of Jewellery is making researches for companies 

about the new countries for exporting trade or promoting 

companies to attend the exhibitions in different countries to 

introduce the Turkish jewellery companies and their products 

(Karbeyaz, 2005). 

Turkish companies are attending international exhibitions 

suchas"Vicenza"in Italy and national exhibitions such as "Gold 

& Silver Expo Made in Turkey" in Istanbul. In these exhibitions, 

the companies advertise themselves with catalogues and 

their products. 

Another organization for jewellery is Istanbul Precious 

Minerals and Jewellery Exporters' Association which was 

founded in July 2003. Basic aims of Istanbul Precious Minerals 

and Jewellery Exporters'Association can be summarized as: 

• To increase exports, 

• To provide better promotion of the sector in the 

international domain, 

• To organize the professional relations and activities of 

exporters, 

• To find solutions to all types of problems, 

• To guide the export activities of member firms (IMMIB, 

2006). 

Use of CAD-CAM in Jewellery Sector 

As it is mentioned before, there are a lot of companies that 

are producing jewellery in Turkey. Also there are workshops 

where craftsmen make handmade jewels. A craftsman could 

make a piece of jewellery in 2 ways. He could make it by hand 

using many types of equipment to form the metal (Figure 3). 

The second way doesn't take a shorter time with respect to the 

first way, because the craftsmen make the same operations 

with wax. He makes the model with wax and then have this 

cast in metal. 

Figure 3. (Buccellati, 2000) 

Today there is another way for making jewellery. By using 

CAD/CAM, this process doesn't take a long time.The model of 

any complex design could be made in a day with its drawing 

and wax model. By using a computer program that is written 

for jewellery production, the designer or a CAD operator could 

draw the design's mold in a few hours. It also depends on the 

intricacy of the design. 11 

After the design's mold which is modeled by computer, 

the CAD data are converted to another file format which is 

compatible with the manufacturing machine's CAM system. In 

jewellery sector, especially a special type of machine is used 

which prints wax from its"jets"just like in an Inkjet printer. This 

machine prints wax to build up the form of wax jewellery. By 

the help of CAD/CAM the operator could calculate how many 

hours this process would take. In Turkey, designers involve 

all these processes of jewellery making. They could design 

jewelleryandthen model its mold in computer. After modeling, 

designers exchange the data to the format that is used in the 

manufacturing machine. For this reason, the designer could 

control every details of the jewellery. S/he could also calculate 

the weight of the jewellery so that s/he could change some 

parts of the model to make it a little bit weightless. The other 

advantage of the CAD/CAM approach is that the designer 

could render the model (Figure 4) to show the customer how 

the finaj piece vyill look like before producing the cast. 

Figure 4. (Author's Collection)

The Process of Jewellery Production 

Design software is the most important thing during the 

process of making jewellery by computer. There are lots of 

programsthatallowmodeling products, but in jewellery sector 

more detailed programs should be used. For this reason some 

special programs were written for jewellery. These softwares 

are; n i || 

• Artcam Jewelsmith, 

• 3Design Jewel, 

• Freeform, 

•Jewelcad, 

•Jewelspace 3, 

• Matrix 3D Jewellery Design Software Version, 

• Solidworks, 

• Rhinoceros. 

InTurkey especially Jewelcad, Matrix, Rhinoceros and Freeform 

are used. The operator using Jewelcad, begin drawing by lines 

and design all surfaces as a solid model. The program also 

allows the designer to see every sides of the design on the 

monitor. Figure 5 shows the interface of Jewelcad program. 

[ Figure 5. {Author's Collection) 

Rhino (Figure 6) and Matrix (Figure 7) are other softwares. 

These programs are especially used for taking photorealistic 

images of the jewellery. Maybe the most important advantage 

of using such programs is that the operator could show the 

clients the rendering before beginning production. So the 

client could imagine what s/he would buy. Furthermore, a 

web site of the company or the catalogue of the products 

could be prepared by using these images. Contrary to these 

programs, Jewelcad's rendering (Figure 8) is not as good as 

these software programs. 

Figure 6. (Rhinoceros, 2007) 

Figure 7. {Gemvision, 2007) 

Figure 8. (Author's Collection) 

In addition, in Rhino the operator could see the four sides of 

the design while drawing, and the most important advantage 

of Rhino with respect to Jewelcad is that the user could also 

write the command to the command line at the top as it is In 

AutoCad. On the other hand, the disadvantage is that the user 

should draw all the jewellery components such as gem stones 

before drawing a model. But in Jewelcad there are many 

kinds of gem stones in every shape and cut in the software's 

database. 

Freeform is another program which is very different from the 

other ones. In this program the operator should work like a 

sculptor. Another feature of this software is that the operator

doesn't draw by lines as in other programs but hew the solid 

form so as to give shape. Operator uses equipment for hewing 

which is working by touching sense. (Figure 9). Artistic designs 

could be made by this program. 

Figure 9. (CADEM, 2007) 

After drawing the model in the computer, the next step is 

converting the design format into another format that a CAM 

program can read. The .STL format is mostly used for files. 

Modelworks (Figure 10) is a program that converts the jcad 

file format to the .STL format. With the help of this program, 

it can be calculated how many hours does it take to complete 

the model before beginning to produce the mold, the process 

status of the wax model could be seen at any time. Furthermore, 

if there is an error, it could be controlled and changed before 

beginning manufacturing. 


There are also a lot of producing machines that produce wax 

models. Some of them use wax as an Inkjet printer. It forms the 

design slice by slice, as printing wax in every slice. 

InVision HR 3-D Printer: In this machine there are a lot of jets 

that spout hot photopolymer. There is also wax for support 

material. After the model finishes, the wax is melted and the 

model is taken. 

ThermoJet: In this machine there are 352 jets. The main 

advantage of this machine is that you can produce high 

amounts of models in a few hours, so the model could be used 

without taking their rubber or silicone molds. 

Viper Sİ2: This machine uses hard resin and doesn't use any 

support material. Because the model is produced by the 

machine using hard resin. It could be used for silicone mold 

to produce high amounts. However, in other machines the 

wax model should be turned Into a metal master piece. Then 

it could be put into silicone or rubber to take their molds and 

use them in next productions. |i| ; 

Solidscape-T66 (Figure 11): The main advantage of this 

machine is that the system delivers higher precision models, 

prototypes and patterns than any other pattern making 

systems with build layers as fine as 0005 inches. It has 2 jets, 

one for build, and one for support material. Therefore, this 

machine isn't as fast as the other ones. 11 i 

Figure 11. (4C Engineering, 2007) ; 

After all the process that could be done by CAD/CAM systems 

finishes, the craftsmen begin to work In the other processes. 

Because the wax should be held and then prepared for 

casting. First of all the wax molds are all collected and are put 

on to a wax body (wax tree) (Figure 12).Then they are sent to 

casting. There, the wax melts and the spaces are filled with 

metal (silver or gold), so the master pieces are gained for 

silicone and rubber molds. But in some machines the molds, 

which are produced In the modelmaker machine, could be 

used as the master for building the silicone rubber mold. As

a result, the process could be shortened by the help of those 

machines. 

Figure 12. {Author's Collection) 

After the master piece is taken, it is put into the rubber and 

pressed in a high temperature by a press machine. After a few 

hours, the rubber mold is cut and the master piece is taken out 

(Figure 13). In this process, silicone mold could also be used. 

White making silicone molds, the model is fixed in a small 

box and then silicone is poured around the model. After the 

silicone has solidified, it becomes a silicone bar with the metal 

master piece inside. Then the bar is cut by scalpel in order 

to separate the bar into two parts. The master piece is taken 

out from the silicone bar to create a cavity. At the end of this 

process a silicone mold is gained from the silicone bar. 


Now the silicone mold could be used for casting the wax 

pattern. By injecting wax into the cavity inside the mold, lots 

of wax patterns could be reproduced (Figure 14). 


After all of this process the stone setters put the gem stones 

on the jewellery (Figure 15) and the other craftsmen polish 

the jewellery. At last, it is ready for the customer. 

Figure 15. (Buccellati, 2000) 

The Importance of CAD/CAM for Jewellery Sector 

The main important role of the computer aided design 

is generating hard-copy engineering drawings; by its 3D 

representation it improves the communication between 

designers and the engineers, so this increases the efficiency 

of the design process (Kim et al., 2002). It also improves the 

communication between the designer and the customers. 

Contrary to handmade models, the jewellery made by CAD/ 

CAM systems brings more efficiency, time and profit to the 

producers. CAD softwares and CAM systems are improving 

day by day. In the next step the process of making rubber mold 

would be abolished and so the production process would be 

shortened. 

On the other hand, trying to make all the models with CAD/ 

CAM systems is not possible. These systems are beneficial 

for producing some technical and complicated pieces that 

are difficult to make by hand. There are still some pieces 

that should be made by the goldsmith. Hence, Molinari and 

Megazzini (2000) say that CAD/CAM isn't a substitute for 

traditional techniques, but as a complementary technique 

that helps the goldsmith to carry out some operations more 

rapidly and more accurately. 

In Turkey, jewellery designers are just like goldsmiths or CAD 

operators. Therefore, they already understand the factors, 

such as wall thickness or structural integrity of various 

lengths, which affect the molds. These effective factors give 

opportunity to the craftsmen and the jewellery designers to

collaborate İn this work. In some parts of these drawings the 

craftsmen could make recommendations to the designers 

about how the mold could be more efficient. 

In CAD systems, model can be viewed at any angle during 

the modeling process. This technique could be determined 

as virtual prototyping or digital mock-up (Kim et al., 2002) 

because It enables to control the finished design or the mold 

before production. Hence, this saves time, reduces the cost 

and helps to realize possible mistakes. In jewellery design 

during the computer aided design step the designer could 

calculate how many gem stones would be used or what would 

be the weight of the design. So before manufacturing the 

jewellery could be shown to the customer and their wishes for 

the design could also be applied. 

In addition, the communication between the design team and 

the marketing department is improved by CAD systems. In 

traditional design methods there was only the sketches of the 

design until a model was created, for this reason imagining 

the final product by marketing staff was very hard. With the 

addition of CAD, marketing staff could better visualize the 

final product, and make suggestions earlier in the process.The 

sales person could calculate the cost of design. Some revisions 

could be made on design before production. We could say 

that CAD/CAM is beneficial for every department of the 

company. It helps the relatalonship between the departments 

and enables the people intervening the design process If it Is 

needed. 

Due to the precise control of the computers, more complex 

and detailed jewellery designs could be manufactured. 

Sometimes the models could be made just like the handmade 

products. The machines that the CAM systems are used help 

the producers In this stage. 

As it is mentioned before, Turkey mostly ranks among the 

top-five countries in the world in gold jewellery production. 

Inevitably, jewellery sector in Turkey should produce much 

more jewellery. But the designs should be unique and 

excellent. Technological developments should be pursued by 

the people In this sector. In order to increase the production 

rate, sector should use CAD/CAD systems. These systems offer 

great benefits to the Jewellery industry from the design stage 

through manufacturing process. By the use of CAD/CAM 

much more models and molds could be produced so that the 

production and exportation could gain a huge speed. It would 

enable Turkish design and firms Increasing their export ratios. 

In this way, Turkish jewellery design could also compete In 

global market.

Author's Work Experiences in theTurkish Jewellery Sector 

CAD., 2006. In Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 

November 20, 2006, from Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia 

Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_aided_design 

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manufacturing#History 

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Language, Lexicon Publications, New York. 

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3, 2007, from Encyclopcedia Britannica Online: http://www. 

britannica.com/eb/artlcle-9034262 

IMMIB, "Jewellery", Retrieved December 26, 2006, from IMMIB 

Online: http://www.immlb.org.tr/Eng/MUCEVHER/INDEX.ASP 

Erişim 26.12.2006 

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Nasıl Başladı ve Gelişti?", TurkCADCAM, January-February 

2006, No. 1,pp. 8-12. 

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December 26, 2006, from E-Jewe!lery Online: http://www.e- 

jewellery.com/tr/haber.asp?VID=43 

KIM, H., QUERIN O.M., STEVEN G.P., 2002."On the Development 

of Structural Optimisation and Its Relevance in Engineering 

Design", Design Studies, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 85-102. 

MOLINARl, LC. and MEGAZZINI, M.C., 2000. "The Role Of Cad/ 

Cam In The Modern Jewellery Business", Retrieved February 

23, 2007, from Gold Organisation 

Online: http://www.gold.org/discover/sci_indu/GTech/ 

1998_23/Cadcam.pdf 

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Design", West Pubishing Company, St Pauls. 

References For Figures 

Collection of Author 

4C ENGINEERING, "Solidscape-T66", Retrieved January 03, 

2007, from 4C Engineering 

Online: http://www.4c.com.tr/en/solidscape.asp 

BUCCELLATİ, G., 2000. "Buccelati Arte in Oro, Argente e 

Gemme", Skira, Italy. 

CADEM, "InVision HR 3-D Printer, ThermoJet, Viper si2". 

Retrieved January 03,2007, from CADEM 

Online: http://www.cadem.com.tr/indexalt.php?s=14 

GEMVISION, "Matrix", Retrieved January 03, 2007, from 

Gemvislon 

Oniine:http://www.gemvlsion,com/html/products/matrix/ 

matrlx.html 

RHINOCEROS, "Jewellery Design", Retrieved January 03, 2007, 

from Rhineceros 

Online: http://www.rhino3d.com/jeweliery.htm 

TRABZON CULTURE AND TOURISM, "Golden Wickerwork 

Bracelets", Retrieved January 03, 2007, from Trabzon Culture 

& Tourism 

Online: http://trabzonkulturturizm.gov.tr/lngkultur.asp 

WIND OF ANATOLIA, "Silver Telkari", Retrieved January 03, 

2007, from Wind of Anatolia 

On line:h tt p://w w w. windofana t olia.com.tr/kumas. 

asp?lng-eng

F R O M C H A D S TD C L A R I T Y : T H E C E N T R A L R D L E D F T H E D E S I G N E R ' S 

A P P R E C I A T I V E S Y S T E M IN D E S I G N ACTIVITY 

Monique Josephine Bade 

College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 

Australia 

m.bacic@unsw.edu.au 

Abstract: 

Despite design situations becoming increasingly complex 

designers have the extraordinary ability to clarify ill-defined 

design situations and design meaningful and appropriate 

outcomes. Traditionally understood as a problem solving 

process, Donald SchÖn (1983) described design as a 

'reflective conversation with the situation', that is 'bounded' 

by the designers 'appreciative system' or persona! knowledge. 

Similarly, Kees Dorst's (2006) recent framework of 'design 

paradoxes' suggests design problems are 'unknowable' and 

that design Is a social process determined by the designer's 

capabilities. 

It has been suggested that Schon's true legacy was that he 

'legitimised informal knowledge'in foregrounding the agency 

of the designer within the design conversation (Sanyai 1997). 

This paper offers a contemporary re-reading of Schon's theory 

focused on the agency of the designer as evidenced by the 

use of their appreciative system. This is elucidated using 

description from case study research Involving a novice 

designer. These preliminary findings suggest that novice 

designers employ their appreciative systems to commence 

designing In the absence of repertoire knowledge and to direct 

and structure the acquisition of new repertoire knowledge. As 

domain-independent activity, this offers new perspectives 

toward design research, pedagogy and practice. 

Introduction 

Despite design situations becoming increasingly complex 

designers have the extraordinary ability to clarify ill-defined 

design situations and design meaningful and appropriate 

outcomes. Traditionally understood as a problem solving 

process, Donald Schön (1983) described design as a 'reflective 

conversation with the situation'. This conversation Is largely 

dependent, as Is any conversation, on the phenomena the 

designer decides to'attend to'(Schön 1992) and Is therefore 

largely directed by the agency of the designer. Despite 

offering a significant alternative, 'rational problem solving' has 

dominated both the conceptual framework and the language 

of design discourse since the 1960's (Dorst 2006:4). Within 

this dominant paradigm the designer seeks to resolve the 

'design problem' using an Information search process within 

a 'bounded' problem space (Simon 1969:58). The problem 

space determines the design task and the designer's activity, 

thereby reducing the designer to a conduit for knowledge 

determined by the design problem. The subsequent lack 

of focus on 'subjective' design activity, and informal design 

knowledge, has reduced the designer to a 'missing person' 

within design research (Dorst & Reymen 2004). 

Schon's epistemology of reflection-ln-action represents 

a direct attack on normative definitions of professional 

knowledge. Rather than focusing on 'systematlsed logical 

domain information' (Cross 2000: 94), it is a descriptive 

model of 'professional artistry' (Schön 1983:Vll), which 

validates the use of knowledge designer's cannot normally 

justify as 'legitimate' (Schön 1985:28). 'Reflective practice' 

depends on a combination of the designer's repertoire 

{domain knowledge), their appreciative system (personal 

experience, values and beliefs), and their stance (attitude). 

In marked contrast to a rationalist view of 'valid' design 

knowledge, Schön argued valid design activity results from 

an internally consistent design episode based on 'fidelity' 

to the appreciative system and a 'web-of-moves' (Schön

1983:94). Foregrounding the designer has been supported 

within Kees Dorst's (2006) new conceptual framework of 

'design paradoxes'where, he states the designer can never 

hold a complete mental representation of the design 

problem because it is constantly evolving and therefore 

'unknowable'. The 'ill-structuredness' of design problems 

may not be an a priori quality of the problem but a result 

of the designer's capabilities. Schön and Dorst's theories 

both highlight the role of personal knowledge within the 

qualitative interpretations or judgements necessary for 

socially situated design activity. 

In order to locate the 'missing' designer within design 

activity the most subjective areas of design activity need 

to be examined. This paper explores the correspondence 

between Schon's work and contemporary theory Including 

Dorst's 'design paradoxes' with the intention of illustrating 

the agency of the designer as evidenced In the use of their 

appreciative system within problem setting phases of design 

activity. The re-reading of Schon's work is elucidated using 

emergent findings from qualitative research exploring the 

design activity of a novice designer within a tertiary design 

degree. These preliminary findings indicate that novice 

designers employ their appreciative systems in order to 

commence designing in the absence of repertoire knowledge 

and to direct, and structure, the acquisition of new repertoire 

knowledge. The discussion and conclusion of the paper 

explore the ramifications of these emergent findings in terms 

of supporting design activity and facilitating new approaches 

within design research and pedagogy. 

Reflective practice 

Within Schon's theory of a 'reflective conversation' design 

activity involves an open-ended, transactional design 

situation rather than a 'bounded' problem space. 'Problem 

setting' involves the designer generating an initial 'frame' 

and undertaking 'move' experiments to fit the 'frame' to the 

situation, thereby simplifying the 'overwhelmingly complex 

reality' they face into something that they can manage 

(Schön 1979:265). Problem setting and problem solving 

work symbiotically with design activity. Schön saw problem 

setting as a form of'hypothesis testing'which was'bounded 

by the appreciations'or qualitative judgements made by the 

designer based on their appreciative system {Schön 1983:151). 

Rather than rejecting normative knowledge structures Schön 

suggested the 'designers artistry' mediated the use of research 

based theory in practice (Schön 1985:92). The designer's 

structured and motivated use of their appreciative system 

to mediate forma! domain knowledge is one of the least 

acknowledged aspects of Schon's theory. 

Viability as a form of validity 

Unlike rational problem solving, which is governed by validity 

of the solution, reflective practice rest on the designer 

establishing the viability of their frame. Schön & Rein 

{1994} describe 'framing' as the process by which designers 

clarify chaotic or 'complex' design situations as 'radically 

constructivist': 

There is no way of perceiving and making sense of 

social reality except through a frame for the very task of 

making sense of complex, information rich situations 

requires an operation of selectivity and organization 

which is whafframlng" means... 

{Schön & Rein 1994:30) 

Within radical constructivism, knowledge Is not Independent 

or absolute but an 'activity or a process'{Schwandt 2000:127). 

The validity of knowledge is not based on 'correspondence 

to an independent existing world', but is valid If it is viable, 

or establishes a functional fit with a goal. Whereas validity 

is based on elimination, on 'identifying and removing 

contradictions' (Dorner 1999:7) viability is based on 

establishing internal consistency based on the designer's 

initial sense of similarity between dissimilar situations. This 

is tested and confirmed through 'fidelity' (Schön 1983:91} 

to a 'web-of-moves' that is 'bounded' by their appreciative 

system (Schön 1983:151). 

Even where well defined, designers change the 'constraints 

and goals' of design problems (Restrepo & Christians 2004). 

Problem framing may not be about defining the problem or 

situation but about aligning it to the designer's appreciative 

system in order to establish 'viability'. In order to determine 

how designer's do this, it is necessary to understand why 

designer's do this.

Tolerating ambiguity 

Design activity can be perceived as journey from tiiaos to 

clarity' because design problems are ill-defined and design 

activity is 'ad hoc and surprise-ful' (Cross 1999). As a result 

design problems are often described as 'vague' (Dorst 2006, 

Restrepo & Christiaans 2004, Reymen et al 2006). Vague 

situations require different forms of knowledge to ambiguous 

ones and design activity is actually ambiguous. Qualitative 

research parallels design activity In dealing with 'ill-structured' 

persona! experiences (Stake 2000). Qualitative researchers 

Maykut and Morehouse (1994) offer the following distinction 

between vagueness and ambiguity: 

Ambiguity and vagueness as terms are often used 

Interchangeably; however, these words have different 

meanings, which might aid to understanding tolerance 

of ambiguity. An ambiguous situation is one, which can 

be understood in more than one way. A vague situation, 

on the other hand. Is one which lacks precision. (Maykut 

& Morehouse 1994:31) 

Vague situations are resolved with the addition of more 

Information but designers never hold ail the 'necessary 

Information'within lil-defined design situations (Cross 1982 

224). Several studies have found that Information 'gathering' 

is not a successful design strategy (Cross 1994: 50) and in the 

absence of reflection or processing, has been associated with 

an inability to cope with uncertainty (Cross 1994, Restrepo & 

Christiaans 2004). While 'the ability to tolerate uncertainty' 

and working with 'incomplete Information' Is identified with 

design expertise (Cross 1994:41) this Is poorly understood 

within design theory. 

Within qualitative research a 'tolerance for ambiguity' is the 

ability to negotiate'multiple perspectives'(Stake 2000:443) or 

'multiple Interpretations' of a situation while assessing which 

Is merited or most 'viable' (Maykut & Morehouse 1994:31). 

The agency of the designer In shaping the design situation is 

based on similar concepts such as 'parallel lines of thought' 

(Lawson 1994) or'double vision'(Schön 1983:281): 

At the same time that the Inquirer tries to shape the 

situation to his frame, he must hold himself open to 

the situations back-talk. He must be willing to enter 

into new confusions and uncertainties. Hence he must 

adopt a kind of double vision.'(Schön 1983:164) 

Designers re-define well defined design situations, because 

of the generative potential of maintaining 'double vision^ 

in 'restructuring' design situations (Casakin 2004:3) and the 

generation of 'novel ideas' (Mumford et al. 1994:24). This 

argument explains why designers re-define or frame design 

situations but not how. 

Organising principles 

The unique way designers work, known as a 'deslgnerly way of 

knowing' (Cross 1982: 221), Is based on domain independent 

forms of knowledge which constitute an 'awareness' within 

design activity (Cross 2000:97).This'awareness'is often alluded 

to across multiple design domains in the structuring activity 

of designers, which parallels Schon's concept of 'framing'. 

This type of design activity has been described as organising 

principles (Rowe 1987), primary generators (Darke 1979), 

interpretations (Goldschmidt 1988), placements (Buchanan 

1995), design gambits (Lawson 2004), early representations 

(Restrepo & Christiaans 2004) and problem representations 

(Mumford 2004) 

Organising principles are generally developed in action, 

enabling the designer to commence guided design activity 

in the absence of sufficient domain knowledge by 'providing 

a means to analyse and structure the design situation' (Darke 

1979:37). Organising principles structure activity without 

being prescriptive. They are designed to encourage multiple 

perspectives of the design situation and experimentation 

within a focus of Inquiry. Organising principles can change 

between design episodes and within a design episode. This 

allows for the 'conceptual repositioning' or altered perception 

that is fundamental for Innovative design thinking (Buchanan 

1992:13). 

Because organising principles do not appear to be generated 

from an 'objective analysis of the design problem' (Lawson 

2001:12), their actual genesis Is accounted for in vague terms 

such as 'Insight' (Restrepo & Christiaans 2004), 'Intuition' (Cross 

1994), and 'Imagination' (Dorst 2006), resulting In a creative

'accident' (Buchanan 1992), 'leap' (Dorst & Cross 2001) or 

'spark' (Goldschmidt 2003). This mystification of the genesis 

of organising principles has limited our understanding of the 

structured and motivated use of subjective knowledge within 

design activity. 

Organising principles have however, been described as the 

'necessary rationality for designing' (Cross 1994) and as an 

'ordered systematic approach to the invention of possibilities' 

(Buchanan 1995). Known for connecting new and extant 

knowledge (Restrepo & Christiaans 2004), they create a 

'principle of relevance' for knowledge that enables the 

designer to accommodate or 'filter' knowledge from multiple 

domains or disciplines (Buchanan 1992). The'ac/aptafa///t/of 

organising principles that enables designers to reformulate 

design situations (Buchanan 1992), is based on the use of 

personal and social knowledge in their construction. This is 

possible because the designers personal experience, and the 

situation, are both enculturated and therefore negotiable 

(Restrepo & Christiaans 2004). 

Goldschmidt (1988) suggests that an 'interpretation' (or 

organising principle) represent a 'personalised program' or a 

critical reading ofthe situation which transforms the'pieces Into 

a stable structure by achieving a unique relationship' between 

them (Goldschmidt 1988:235).The stabilising relationship offers 

a vital clue to the objective use of subjective knowledge within 

structured design activity. This idea is reinforced in Dorst's 

(2006) recent conceptual framework of design problems as 

'design paradoxes' in which designers address a 'network of 

local links' rather than an absolute problem. 

Socially situated design activity 

Dorst (2006) holds that designers can never establish a 

fixed mental representation of the problem at any one time 

because it is constantly evolving. Instead, design problems 

are approached as a 'local network of links' or sub-problems 

within a larger 'global' problem. These links (or local actions 

and decisions) are determined by the designer's subjective 

interpretation based on their personal experience. Design 

problems are essentially'unknowable' in a traditional sense, 

and are in fact 'paradoxical'. 'Design paradoxes' reflect the 

ambiguity of design situations and offer a contemporary 

framework of design activity, which focuses on the agency of 

the designer, as their solution often requires'the development 

and creative redefinition of that situation' (Dorst 2006:14). 

Paradoxical situations are understoodthrough theirunderlying 

'discourses', including embedded terms and relationships. 

The paradox is resolved when the designer 'transcends or 

connects'different'discourses' by'stepping out'of the familiar 

understanding of the'discourse'at points when design activity 

'breaks down'. In effect, this alters the designer's situational 

perspective using their 'personal experience' and a 'strong 

intuitive element' (Dorst 2006:14). 

'Paradoxical situations'correspond on many levels with Schon's 

'reflective conversation'. Design activity, based on 'discourses' 

as enculturated knowledge, Is socially situated and mirrors 

the transactional nature of the 'reflective conversation'. The 

alternative interpretations of normative discourses, resulting 

from'break downs'within design activity, parallel the vital role 

of surprise in generating altered perspective in Schon's model. 

Most significantly, Dorst's concept ofa'local networkof links'in 

which 'the linking behaviour of designers' relies on subjective 

interpretation, corresponds with Schon's 'web-of-moves', in 

which designers use their appreciative system to generate 

and evaluate subjective, local 'moves experiments'within an 

objective global frame. While Dorst's framework perpetuates 

the understanding that altered perception results from 

intuition, it supports a contemporary re-reading of Schon's 

theory based on the agency of the designer in generating 

these structuring relationships or links. 

Naming and framing 

While the use of informal and unorthodox knowledge in 

design activity sounds subjective and chaotic. It is structured 

and motivated and Schön argued,'objective'{Schön &Wiggins 

1992:138). Unlike intuition, 'professional artistry'is'learnable' 

(Schön 1983:18) and is based on the objective useof subjective 

knowledge in action. Schön saw 'artistry' as 'an exercise of 

intelligence' and a 'kind of knowing' (Schön 1986:13) which 

was most evident when frames are generated in response a 

feeling of surprise within'unique'design situatİons.Thİs activity 

has been summarised as'naming-faming-moving-evaluating' 

(Roozenburg & Dorst 1998). While helpful in understanding 

the basic principles of reflection-in-action this model vastly

oversimplifies Schon's theory.This paper draws on thirty years 

of Schon's writing to clarify and enrich this summary. 

Appreciative system in action 

The designer's appreciative system is evidenced In expressions 

of their likes and dislikes or 'appreciations' {Schön 1985:65). 

Appreciations are tacit judgments which guide the decisions 

that designers make within a 'web-of-moves' (Schön & 

Wiggins 1992:168) which is 'bounded' or determined by 

the 'appreciative system' (Schön 1983:151). Both the 'web- 

of-moves' and the 'appreciative system' are essential for 

establishing and evaluating the viability of a 'frame'. The 

designer begins reflectlon-ln-action when they form an 'Initial 

frame' which may be completely unrelated to the situation 

but is designed to make 'initial descriptions' to guide further 

investigations (Schön 1983).These descriptions elicit surprising 

'immersion triggers' (Schön 1979:259) which generate a sense 

of similarity, evoking the familiar in the unfamiliar. 

Significantly, reflection only begins when the feeling 

generated by a trigger is 'treated as Information' (Schön 

1985:26). This manifests itself in the 'qualitative judgments' 

that establish 'move experiments'. The designer's appreciative 

system guides what phenomena they'attend to', or consider 

relevant, and how they organise them. This transforms their 

situational understanding from chaos to clarity by establishing 

a 'coherence' or a stabilising relationship between the 

phenomena of the situation and 'sets a direction for action' 

(Schön 1987:5). Each 'move experiment' is based on previous 

moves and suggests future moves. This 'web-of-moves' 

corresponds with Dorst's (2006) 'local network of links', and 

also highlights the relationship between the 'web' and the 

appreciative system In maintaining internal consistency and 

structuring the designers activities. 

Fidelity and the structured and motivated use of 

appreciations 

Despite employing personal knowledge, 'reflective practice' Is 

not arbitrary when the designer maintains internal consistency 

within the design episode. Internal consistency is established 

within a design episode by maintaining 'fidelity' to a 'web- 

of-moves' and their 'appreciative system'. Fidelity enables 

the designer to 'recognise unintended consequences and 

qualities'of their actions through the continuous evaluation 

of previous and anticipated moves (Schön & Wiggins 1992). 

While moves are 'on-the-spot' experiments (Schön 1983:308), 

the appreciative system is generally stable during a design 

episode. The 'constancy of the appreciative system' allows 

frames to change within a design episode rather than 

reducing design activity to a series of'disconnect episodes' 

and Is essential for reflection (Schön 1983:272). 

As designers become aware of'mlstakes'through 'fidelity', they 

establish a'kind of objectivity'within the web-of-moves (Schön 

& Wiggins 1992:138). This structure enables the designer to 

maintain 'double vision'without 'disrupting the flow of inquiry' 

(Schön 1983:130) and It is this'sequential structure'of'seeing- 

moving-seeing' that enables the novice designer to manage 

complexity (Schön & Wiggins 1992:143). The designer's 

appreciative system is also employed to terminate design 

activity. A web-of-moves is finalised or becomes 'stable' as a 

results of a positive'feeling-clue'or sense of satisfaction {Schön 

1967:67) which effectively clarifies the viability of a frame 

and finalises a web-of-moves even though other "plausible 

alternatives'exist {Schön 1983:151). Although rarely discussed 

the evaluations or qualitative judgments made within a web- 

of-moves motivate and direct design activity: 

In the absence of such qualitative judgments, her 

designing would have no thrust or direction; it would 

be entirely unmotivated. She would neither be able to 

set problems nor to tell when she had solved them. 

(Schön StWlgglns 1992:137) 

The link between motivation and the structuring effect of a 

web-of-moves Is best understood through Mumford et ai's 

(2004) model of'creative problem construction', which bears 

striking similarities to Schon's model of reflection-ln-actlon. 

They argue that constructed 'representations' {or frames) are 

based on personally meaningful 'cues' (or triggers) and that 

representations Involving 'self-set' goals are more successful 

than those which are commonly accepted because they are 

highly personalised (Mumford et al 2004:24). The appreciative 

system Is intrinsic to design activity because of Its motivational 

role In directing what the designer attends to or deems 

relevant.

Seeîng-as 

The objective use of personal and social knowledge is not only 

structured and motivated, it accounts for what is generally 

understood as 'intuition'within design activity. Schön called 

this'seeing-as' (Schön 1967} and while rarely acknowledged 

it may be the single most important aspect of reflection-in 

action.'Seeing-as'accounts for the recognition of phenomena 

as information, the identification of patterns or similarities and 

the generation of meaning above and beyond the meaning of 

individual elements or concepts through a shift in perception 

(Schön & Wiggins 1992:135). 

Seeing-as begins with 'sensing similarity' or mapping one 

concept or description onto another in response to an 

'immersion trigger'. Well before the basis of this similarity is 

established,thedeslgnerattendstothisfeeling as information. 

'Sensing similarity' is generative when it involves concepts 

which are usually perceived as dissimilar or from different 

domains so that 'one thing has the capacity to change 

everything you know about the second and visa versa' (Schön 

1983:1984-85). What has previously been understood as 

intuition or imagination İs İn fact the 'judgments embodied 

In acts of seeing' or altered perception (Schön & Wiggins 

1992:137). Interpreting informal and unorthodox information 

as design knowledge through sensing similarity between 

different domains is essential for altered perception. Seeing- 

as, is therefore, a form of domain-independent knowledge 

which enables designers to move from 'chaos to clarity' in the 

absence of domain specific knowledge. 

Novice design activity 

It is often noted that Schon's model of reflective practice 

resonates more with design practitioners than models of 

'rational problem solving'(DorstS( Dijkhuis 1995}. Yetthecentral 

role ofthe designer's appreciative system in the early phases 

of design activity has been largely ignored. The excepts used in 

this paper to support the contemporary re-reading of Schon's 

theory are based on an 'intrinsic case study' (Stake 2000:437} 

of a novice design student studying within an Integrated 

cross discipline tertiary design degree over a semester. This 

unique program exposed the novice designer Halle to a range 

of design domains including the spatial, object, and graphic 

design studios. The study focused on Halle's experience of 

design activity not the creativity of her design outcomes. 

Several key patterns emerged within her design activity, which 

are common to al! three studios across multiple briefs. These 

emergent categories help exemplify the central role of the 

designer's appreciative system within design activity. 

Halle entered university directly following high school. Halle's 

parents and step-parents are 'arty and musical' and she 

Identifies with this creative legacy. For instance, she is proud 

that she sings In the alternative choir they helped found, 

and writes and performs her own music. This informs Halle's 

design activity with a strong sense of self-determination, 

independence and confidence. 

Halle Is motivated by differentiating her ideas from her 

peers admitting 'I don't like the idea of making something 

that I am not going to like and really sort of feel like "that's 

not mine"' She resists doing things that she 'has to do' or in 

the way 'they' want her to, and prefers choices based on her 

personal interests. Halle wants Ideas to 'have quiet a lot of 

information'embedded in them so that they are not'obvious'. 

Halles believes that her design activity begins chaotically 

but is clarified by developing 'random things, that could be 

anything, and that's how my mind will start working out what 

I am going to do, and how 1 am going to do It'. 

Random ideas 

One ofthe most elucidating aspects of Halle's design activity 

is her pervasive belief that her design concepts are based 

on 'random ideas' which she defines as 'things that seem 

unrelated or out of place'. Random ideas are a spontaneous 

response to a brief, often based on visual or verbal stimulus 

within her immediate vicinity. Although her attention is 

almost always drawn to something associated with her 

personal interests and memories, these connections are 

'tacit'. Halle's belief that her Ideas are 'random' enables her 

to be surprised. In fact Halle's initial response to a brief sets 

up what she attends to. When give a brief to design a box to 

hold'memories', Halle thought of a'mousetrap'that'snaps'on 

memories. Her initial response however, was an appreciation 

ofthe brief, based on an aversion to one ofthe design criteria, 

which called for an examination of'surface and texture':

You know, texture, surface, and all that kind of stuff, 

and I thoughf'Uhh It's really like crafty kind of stuff and 

I can't stand that kind of stuff. 

Halle depends on her appreciative system to sense 'random' 

ideas.They are only'random'because they are base on informal 

and unorthodox knowledge not domain knowledge. The 

'mousetrap' metaphor is based on Halle's personal interests, 

which Include a childhood fascination with mechanisms, a 

preference for making over drawing, for kinetic over static 

objects, and for form over colour, texture, and surface. Halle 

establishes self set criteria based on these preferences, 

which then Inform what she attends to as a 'random idea'. For 

instance, Halle perceived a 'limited colour palette' in a brief 

where it didn't exist. 

To stimulate'random ideas'Halie often conducts a literal key 

word search based on the title of the brief. Halle considers 

these to be 'random' searches because she actively seeks 

stimulus that amuses her because Is not logically connected 

to the brief. In this way 'random' searches maintain an open 

stance toward surprise and enable Halle to interpret her 

appreciations as information; 

I would find something really random that 1 thought 

was funny, that I could somehow link to the brief and 

then 1 would get more inspired to do It and then I'd 

start working on it a bit more. 

Halle believes 'random Ideas' are essential to move from 

'chaos to clarity' stating that she needs to 'get the random 

ideas before I can develop it into something that really 

makes sense'. Halle develops random ideas through activity 

she calls'branching'. 

Branching 

'Branching' is the means by which Halie connects disparate 

concepts to form a unique interpretation or frame. Branching 

usually Involves generating a metaphor which combines 

abstract ideas, basedon personal appreciations with situational 

information derived from the brief or domain research. While 

'branching'ls initially chaotic,'little branches'lead to'unity and 

clarity': 

Going through random stuff to find something to go 

through it. So like the chaos theory where everything 

looks chaotic, and then in the chaos you find the system 

and then the systems relates to the brief. 

Random ideas as 'Initial frames' structure 'branching' by 

directing her response to information. In the 'memory box' 

example, Halle conducted a key-word search on 'memory' 

resulting in'cognitive maps'. Her metaphor of a mousetrap led 

her to connect 'maps' with puzzles and a mechanical toy her 

little sister had been recently given. Halie framed the Idea of 

the memory box as a toy associated with childhood memories. 

She connected the toy to her understanding of branding 

based on the book 'No Logo' that her father had given her 

and arrived a fame for a hollow promotional toy which 

evokes memories. Haile thereby connected extant personal 

knowledge (of mechanisms) with new personal knowledge 

(of consumerism) and domain knowledge (cognition and 

packaging). This example liiumlnates how the appreciative 

system both structures and motivates design activity and 

connects formal and informal knowledge. 

Halle terminates 'branching' following a sensation of clarity 

with a concept, stating, 'as soon as 1 get some sort of 

clarification in my concept, that's when 1 start making' which 

mirrors Schon's theory of fidelity within a 'web-of-moves'. 

Whilst Halle believes her design activity is 'not really uniform' 

because of the use of 'random ideas' and 'branching', her 

design activity is in fact very uniform over her three studios. It 

only appears un-uniform because It depends on informal and 

unorthodox knowledge. Although Halle's concepts are very 

different in each studio they are often based on the similar 

triggers or'random'ideas. This cross-fertilisation corroborates 

Mumford et al's notion that representations are based on 

highly personal cues and goals. Neither Halle nor her tutor 

understand the determining role her appreciative system is 

piaying in her design activity. 

Relationship with origami 

Two significant events take place during the study which 

illuminate the central role of Halle's appreciative system within 

her design activity, both of which relate to legitimising the use 

of her strong personal interest in modular origami.

Halie believes her 'obsession' with modular origami is a 

personal interest because it was seeded by her father and is 

self-directed. It represents a meta-interest associated with a 

her fascination with mechanisms, mathematics, geometry, 

modular systems and making things. Halle has cultivated this 

interest through personal goals which she describes as 'trying 

to find new paths'and applied it {despite protests by teachers) 

to many art and design projects. The depth and duration of 

this personal knowledge corresponds with Schon's concept of 

'constancy of appreciation'. 

Halle describes the most significant event In her design 

education as the validation of her use of modular origami. 

Prior to this event, Halle was finding it difficult to 'connect' to 

her briefs. In a brief transaction Halle showed her tutor some 

sketch models based on modular origami analysing the design 

of a coffee pot. Halle suggested It'would have looked like it had 

nothing to do with it, but I found some sort of little way that 

it related', and that the tutor 'understood', and explained that 

she believed it was Halle's'way of visually communicating'. This 

affi rmationfinally legitimised her use ofthis personal knowledge 

and enabled her to personally connect with her briefs. 

In an inverse situation Halle's use of this personal knowledge 

is misunderstood by both herself and her tutor. When 

conducting a random search for stimulus for a shelter design 

Halle discovers the 'next level up' to modular origami in 

Santiago Calatrava's book on 'flexible geometry'. While aware 

of his work from lectures Halle associates this discovery with 

her 'obsession' because 'it just summed up everything that I 

was interested in'and interprets it as a'random'Idea that'just 

sort of appeared in front of me'. Halle identified a 'foldable 

cube'from his models as a potential form for her shelter and 

made a replica which she presented. Her tutor's reaction also 

marks a significant event for Halle: 

I was still really buzzing and I said 'I have something I 

have to show you' and 1 showed her this little model 

that I had made of what I wanted to make and she said 

'Yeah that's really cool but you have gone a step too far 

and 1 don't want you to do that 

Both Halie and her tutor interpret the model as a prototyped 

final design rather than an extension of the experimental 

medium of modular origami. Halle responded to the 'foldable 

cube' because of her personal interests and because the 

initial frame she had establish for her project of a portable 

shelter based on philosophical ideas of private space she had 

previously researched. The model could have functioned as a 

'move experiment' used to test her'initial frame' of a "portable" 

shelter leading to a stable final frame. Because Halle's tutor 

failed to demonstrate any kind of'move'for Halle to imitate, she 

was unable to connect her personal and domain knowledge 

and generate a strong solution from her initial frame. Halle 

was unable to manage a complex web without support. 

Interestingly, she remained motivated by the discovery of 

flexible geometry despite failing to fully resolve her project 

and for the first time associated her personal interest with 

legitimate design knowledge: 

I mean now It's good because I've actually still found it 

and I still have that knowledge in my mind 

Hallehasusedthis/cnow/edgeeffectively In subsequent projects 

suggesting personal interests seeds domain knowledge. 

Discussion and Conclusion 

A contemporary re-reading of Schon's theory of design as a 

'reflective conversation with the situation' offers an insightful 

model of design activity which accommodates ambiguity 

and the objective use of subjective knowledge. It highlights 

the agency of the designer as evidenced in the use of their 

appreciative system. This model corresponds with 'organising 

principles, 'design paradoxes' and the motivational aspects 

of 'creative problem construction' which help enrich our 

understanding of Schon's theory, and novice design activity. 

What often appears to be 'opportunistic' undisciplined design 

behaviour is the use informal and unorthodox knowledge to 

structure, motivate and evaluate design activity in the absence 

of sufficient domain knowledge. The emergent categories of 

'random ideas'and'branching', within thecase-study, illuminate 

the central role of the appreciative system within Halle's 

design activity. In the absence of domain knowledge,'random 

ideas' enable Halle form and understand interpretations as 

information and experience the altered perspective necessary 

to generate innovative frames. Subjective random ideas

are structured and rendered objective through 'branching' 

within an associative network of explorations, 'bounded' 

by her appreciative system. Branching enables Halle to filter 

and adopt new muiti-dlscipiinary domain knowledge in 

relation to her extant personal knowledge. Halle's design 

activity not only illustrates the central role of the designer's 

appreciative system but the need for it to be legitimised and 

supported In order for novice designers to resolve complex 

design situations. The 'particularised' design tutonng called 

for by Schön (1987) may require tutor to demonstrate 'moves' 

for 'Imitative reflection' which accommodate the designer's 

appreciative system In order to bridge the gap between 

domain and persona! knowledge. 

This new presentation of Schon's theory suggests design is 

a socially situated activity, that depends on the negotiability 

of enculturated personal and situational knowledge, which 

enables the altered perspective necessary for innovative 

design.This becomes objective within an evaluative structure 

such as 'local network of links', or web-of-moves, which 

maintains internal consistency within the design episode 

and enables the designer to generate a stable relationship 

for the phenomena of the situation or a 'frame'. The objective 

use of subjective knowledge in 'problem framing' offers a 

new perspective of domain independent knowledge. The 

appreciative system does not prescribe the outcome of 

design activity but enables designer to filter Information from 

multiple domains or disciplines. How designers structure and 

motivate the objective use subjective knowledge requires 

further research. While designers are as unique as design 

situations, the central role of the appreciative system is the 

basis of a domain independent 'deslgnerly way of knowing^ 

and the principle means by which designers move from chaos 

to clarity within design activity.

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NEW CATEGDRIZATiaN FDR A VIRTUAL ON-LINE POSTER MUSEUM 

Helena Barbosa 

Departamento de Comunİcaçâo e Arte da Universidade de 

Aveiro, Portugal 

helenab@ca.ua.pt 

Anna Calvera 

DİVİSİÖ de Clencies Humanes I Socials, 

Facultat de Belles Arts, Universltat de Barcelona, Spain 

acalvera@telefonica.net 

Vasco Branco 

Departamento de Comunİcaçâo e Arte da Universidade de 

Aveiro, Portugal 

vab@ca.ua.pt 

Abstract 

The University of Aveiro Is at present developing a project 

involving the construction of a virtual on-line poster museum, 

containing around 40,000 artifacts. 

Given the large number of posters In existence, and the 

great diversity of representations, this paper describes the 

development of the project and the reasons behind the 

creation of "key topics," which function as gateways to other 

related Information on the web - metadata. It also presents 

the proposed key topics, considered as a tool that allows the 

visitor access to contents, not only from the perspective of 

traditional classifications and catalogue, but also from the 

point of view of design. 

The categorization of topics Is essential to establish a particular 

order In the collection, and is a way of orienting the visitor. 

The exhibition is therefore no longer imposed by the museum 

but rather is constructed according to the visitor's own choice, 

allowing each visitor to effectively curate their own exhibition. 

It also proposes a new concept, relative to the access to and 

availability of contents, taking as a basis the creation of a 

classification system with particular characteristics that could 

serve as a reference for other virtual on-line poster museums. 

1. Introduction: 

Creating a taxonomy (the word comes from the Greek taxis ~ 

order + nomos - law) Involves establishing rules and order by 

means of a system that sets up species, groups, families and 

genres of subjects. A taxonomy can help In the classification 

of posters by setting up divisions, linked by topic, subject and 

graphic content. However, It is a complex task, since any single 

poster may deal with a number of different subjects, therefore 

allowing it to be categorized In a number of different ways. 

Given the large number of artefacts, It will be necessary to 

specify the criteria used In the creation and Implementation of 

the taxonomy. There are four processes involved: orientation, 

cataloguing, Indexing and classification itself. 

Orientation is based upon an indexed lexicon that is organized 

hierarchically, thereby enabling a prioritization of terms, from 

the generic to the specific. The poster thesaurus of the Library 

of Congress (which provides an exhaustive list of interrelated

terms, organized alpliabetically and systematically ordered) 

was used as a reference and indexation aid. 

Cataloguing involves the physical description of the 

documents. Many different descriptions can be used 

depending upon the specific characteristics ofthe document 

in question (author, title, printer, dimensions, etc), but the 

same descriptive model has to be maintained, always In the 

same order. In Portugal, the RPC and ISBD (NBM) are used. 

Indexing is the construction of terms relating to the concepts 

used in thedocument.ltinvoives the description of information 

contained and the allocation of keywords, which lead off to 

more detailed subjects, concerned particularly with the type 

of message and what this represents (eg. 25th April, yellow, 

flowers, gouache, off-set, etc.), always aiming to be user- 

friendly. Clip is a Portuguese example of a document-indexing 

tool, which standardizes topics for inter-library use, 

Classification involves attributing codes (a combination of letters 

and/or numbers) to subjects, resulting in an ordered division of 

information. The Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) system 

is used in Portugal. For the construction of the on-line virtual 

museum, theUnimarcstandard and Aleph system (partofSlNBAD 

Digital Library and Archive integrating System) were used. 

Given the variety of rules and methodologies available for 

the technical processing of documents, we hoped, with this 

selection, to obtain a degree of representativity similar to that 

used by International institutions and systems, while at the 

sametime taking into account Portuguese cultural matters and 

the specific nature of the artefacts existing in the museum. For 

this, it was necessary to modify, adapt, add and remove some 

of the information made available through the processes 

described above. However, we also felt the need to analyse 

other reference sources, particularly specialist publications 

about posters, in order to take account of the criteria used by 

those authors in the creation of their classification systems. 

As the construction of a thesaurus is very complex, it is hoped 

that this work might function as a platform from which such a 

project might be launched. The word 'taxonomy'was felt to be 

a more appropriate term than 'thesaurus'for the information 

included here. As indexing is related to the thesaurus and 

given the lack of a thesaurus of posters in Portuguese, the 

decision was taken to create a taxonomy for the museum. 

The main body of the text may or may not begin with a 

subtitle. The main text is also"! 2 point, normal, single space, 

Times New Roman. The text is aligned left, a single space is 

allocated between the paragraphs and the new one is again 

aligned left as you see below. 

2. Various systems used for the orientation, cataloguing, 

indexing and classification of artefacts. 

Although various thesauri exist, the one used by the Library 

of Congress was chosen for being the most extensive for the 

processing of non-book material, and also because it makes 

available all the information produced within the framework 

of library science. Considered to be the oldest and biggest 

library in the worid, the LoC is internationally respected for 

its preservation and technical processing of dilTerent types of 

artefact. The universality (as regards subject matters covered) 

and diversity of its collection have meant that this library has 

rapidly distinguished itself in the field of research. It provides 

an encyclopedia, or lexicon, of graphic materials in two parts, 

namely: TGM ! -Thesaurus for Graphic Materials I and TGM II - 

Thesaurus for Graphic Materials II. This term list Is organized 

hierarchically, facilitating use by museums, archives, libraries, 

collectors and researchers, and serves as a tool for the creation 

of taxonomies for graphic artefacts, with the purpose of 

standardizing the system used by different institutions. 

The thesaurus provides a controlled vocabulary for 

describing a broad range of subjects depicted in such 

materials, including activities, objects, types of people, 

events and places. TGM I includes subject categories 

only. Thus, proper names of people, organizations, 

events and geographic places areexciuded. Art historical 

and iconographical concepts are not included, butTGM 

1 does supply terms for abstract ideas represented in 

certain types of images {...Y 

' Library of Congress - TGMI. [On-line]. Washington: LoC, 1993- . 

[Consulted 1 Jun. 2006]. Available on WWW:

While the TGM 1 serves to index subjects based upon a 

specific terminology, giving rise to terms represented in the 

graphic material, the TGM II [Thesaurus for Graphic Materials 

it) adds information relative to the documents and allocates 

descriptive terms for different kinds of graphic materials, i.e. 

it distinguishes betw/een different types of material, setting 

up categories according to types, such as (in relation to 

posters): intention and objective (publicity); characteristics 

of the created Image (done by children, students, designers, 

etc); type of publication or occasion (censored of celebrated); 

type of representation (abstract, landscape, monuments etc). 

All artistic movements and styles are excluded. The physical 

characteristics of the graphic materials used have also been 

Included, such as production methods and techniques (off 

set printing, lithography); materials (photograph, airbrush, 

gouache), format and size (rectangular, square, etc, and 

respective dimensions). 'As graphic collections grov/ and 

catalog records accumulate, it Is clear that additional access 

points greatly facilitate research related to functional 

categories, production contexts, and artlfactual aspects 

of graphic materials'^ An online search of the LoC using 

the keyword "poster" results in 45 preferential and 27 non- 

preferential hits, making a total of 72 terms (with associated 

references in some of them). 

Posters 

Art exhibition posters 

Use Term: Exhibition posters 

Billboard posters 

Book & magazine posters 

Burlesque posters 

UseTerm:Theatrical posters 

Campaign posters 

Use Term: Political posters 

Carnival posters 

Use Term: Circus posters 

Circus posters 

Concert posters 

Dance posters 

^ Library of Congress - TGMII. [On-line]. Washington: LoC, 1993- . 

[Consulted 1 Jun. 2006]. Available on WWV^:

Stock posters 

Theater posters 

UseTerm:Theatrical posters 

Theatrical posters 

Tourist trade posters 

Use Term: Travel posters 

Transportation posters 

Use Term: Travel posters 

Travel posters 

Vaudeville posters 

UseTerm:Theatricai posters 

Wanted posters 

War posters 

Wild west show posters 

UseTerm: Circus posters"^ 

This list allows the librarian or researcher to retrieve the 

information required, functioning as a kind of guide through 

the various types of posters and other information available. 

For cataloguing, the RPC (Portuguese Cataloguing Rules) and 

iSBD/NB(lnternatlona! Standard Bibliographic Descnption for 

Non-Book Materials) were selected. The RPC (1984) operates 

through the application of cataloguing rules for the choice 

and form of headings, and may be used for the cataloguing 

of graphic material. The iSBD(NBM) specifies the Information 

necessary for the description of non-book material, orders 

that information and distinguishes Items using a point 

system. The objective is to achieve universal compatibility 

in cataloguing. Like other models. It alms to transcend the 

language barrier, allowing records to be exchanged between 

different Institutions, irrespective of culture. 

As regards Indexing, the Portuguese project Clip (1989) was 

selected. This alms to standardize indexing in various subject 

areas, including Design (1993), producing a hitllst of 56 

preferential terms and 24 non-preferential. It is presented In 

the form of a thesaurus In order to simplify the equivalence 

^ Library of Congress -TGM 1: summary of features [On-line]. 

Washington: LoC, 1993- . [Consulted 1 Jun. 2006]. Available on 

WWW:

structured form. It consists ofthe summarised description of 

the Unimarc records, where the information is stored in XML, 

allowing importation of Unimarc records available by Aleph. 

3. The classification system adopted by some leading 

publications 

Over the course of this research, some publications about 

posters were selected in orderto study the distinctions made by 

some authors in the creation of their own taxonomies, thereby 

furthering our knowledge of the subject and broadening our 

horizons as regards the existence of and reasons for different 

systems. 

Françoise Enel distinguishes three types of poster (commercial, 

propaganda and cultural), justifying this division on the basis 

of differences existing between them. The first, she claims, is 

related above all to business and thus links economics and 

society; such posters are not only informational in character, 

but also seek to influence consumers by stimulating desires 

and inciting them to buy. 'Arousing complex feelings like 

desire for prestige and respectability, the poster stimulates 

new needs and creates tensions in the individual, while at the 

same time suggesting how those tensions can be resolved' 

(Enel 1974:118) 

Normally, this type of poster is large format and has a simplified 

message and picture, using as few graphic elements as 

possible in order to cause the biggest impact. 

As regards the propaganda poster, she considers that this 

differs from the commercial poster in that there is no direct 

sale of any product, despite the fact that a message is 

transmitted between the organization and the public. 'This 

category includes all posters that could be considered to 

be "of public interest", in the sense that they do not 'sell' a 

product or doctrine as such, but function rather as a way of 

protecting the individual - against alcohol, the destruction of 

the environment, etc' (Enel 1974:119) 

The propaganda posterusessimilarresourcestothecommercial 

ones, Enel points out; it establishes communication in a similar 

way via image, text, colour, composition and rhetoric, and uses 

similar persuasive techniques that operate subconsciously. 

The differences reside only in the desired results. While the 

commercial poster seeks to arouse sentiments of possession, 

wellbeing, status, etc, the propaganda poster attempts to 

stimulate subconscious feelings or emotions of hope, life, 

death, rivalry, fear, sensitivity, etc, thereby changing people's 

behaviour. 

As regards the cultural poster, Enel considers alt those 

concerned with Intellectual and artistic activities, generally 

aimed at a more restricted audience and transmitting more 

specific information which does not need to be understood 

by everybody. Unlike other types of poster, cultural posters 

are related to cultural events. '(...) the concert, exhibition, 

conference... They scarcely use the persuasive techniques of 

the commercial poster. The cultural poster does not attempt 

to manipulate reality or to give It any kind of mythical charge' 

{Enel 1974:127-128) 

This category includes posters for shows and films. Abraham 

Moles reduces the number of categories to two, i.e. 

advertising/commercial posters and political/propaganda 

posters. Although the message and representation techniques 

are the same, he claims that the former is concerned with 

socioeconomic matters while the latter inclucies non- 

advertising organisations. However, he also considers that 

posters may be classified according to their message and 

representations, presenting the following classification 

system, to which he attributes the following characteristics: 

(1) poster that has been photographed or drawn 

(2) poster in black and white or in colour (two-colour, 

four-colour) 

(3) use of argumentation or seduction 

(4) primitlvist (- Savignac) or elaborate 

(5) poster of a recognisable "style", eg. 1900-style, 

1926 (Art Deco) style, or "modern", or no appeal to any 

definite date. 

(6) abstract, symbolic or concrete {high degree of 

iconiclty, eg. packed soups) {Moles 2005:199). 

In additiontothlsclassification, he suggests a system of records 

that could be applied to posters. The various classifications 

are presented on the same record card with the subjects 

listed above, from which one subject can be selected for each

classification. However, he considers that this information may 

be complemented by other subjects of interest, such as: 

- intensity of colour shock/dash; 

- retention rate on an empirical scale; 

- dimensions of poster; 

- length of text, etc'{Moles 2005:201) 

John Barnicoat provides yet another classification system, 

consisting ofthefollowingcategories:ArtisticPosters (including 

Arte Nouveau, those related to Symbolism, and Hippy Posters); 

Modern and Professional Posters (including posters related to 

Formal Artistic, Decorative and Contemporary Movements); 

Posters and Reality (Expressionism, Realism and Surrealism); 

Posters and Society (the People's Poster, Poster and Humour, 

Political Revolutionary Posters and War), and finally, theThree- 

Dimensional Poster. Throughout his publication, he describes 

posters using terms that could themselves be understood as 

categories and subcategories, such as the advertising poster, 

anonymous poster, film poster, tourist poster, war poster, 

recruitment poster, heroic poster, etc, finally including these 

different types in the examples already given.This often results 

in a certain overlap, such as the Realist Poster of Mussolini by 

Xanti Schawinsky (1934), which is also related to the Society 

Poster in the subcategory Political Poster. 

Finally, Müller-Brockmann and Shizuko Yoshikawa's system 

consists of the following categories: Illustrative Poster; 

Objective-Informational Poster, Constructivist Poster, 

Experimental Poster and Series Posters. 

Among illustrative posters we include those designs 

which represent situations, people or objects shown 

by straightforward graphic or photographic means. 

Objective-informative posters are those which impart 

factual information in as objective a manner as possible. 

Their designs suppress any subjective artistic feelings, 

and an almost anonymous expression is typical of 

these posters. The arrangement always forms the basis 

of a constructive poster {...). There is a harmonious ratio 

between the whole design and its constituent parts, and 

the'structural'aspects predominates.The experimental 

poster always surprises. Its forms, and variety of forms, 

appear strange at first because they still do not belong 

to the form-vocabulary of their time. The best of these 

posters are ahead of their time (Müller-Brockmann 

2004:9). 

As regards the Series Posters, they consider three types based 

upon colour, form and text. Any of these discourses or possible 

relationships between them may be included in this category, 

which is based upon the predominance and repetition of one 

or more of their characteristics, allowing people to identify 

them as belonging to a poster series. 

4. Creation of a taxonomy for the on-line poster museum 

None of the existing systems and models available for 

orientation, cataloguing, indexing and classification have 

really succeeded in providing a closed and stable structure for 

the poster. Language barriers may be overcome but cultural 

differences, those unique characteristics specific to a country 

or even experienced within a particular country itself, are not 

really accounted for. it was for this reason that we felt the need 

to create a new taxonomy for the on-line poster museum 

(while of course recognising it as one possible system rather 

than the definitive taxonomy). This taxonomy would have to 

be sufficiently open-ended to be able to adapt to the specific 

demands of the poster as the whole collection is gradually 

analysed and researched or as new posters are added, and it 

would have to be flexible enough to allow new information to 

be included, and avoiding a rigid or self-enclosed model. 

In orderto bring together different reference sources to create a 

terminology that is appropriate to the area of design, a specific 

methodology was sought that would enlarge the range of 

information available on this theme. Thus, the on-line poster 

museum serves as a vehicle by means of which other information 

may be introduced and accessed through specific headings. It 

does not propose to be a new thesaurus to rival the American 

one, but rather sets up a list of terms with a particular logic that 

can serve as indexes for the subject. The visitor may enter the 

museum through headings related with four main subject areas. 

What is new is the sheer diversity of information available upon 

entry to the museum, topics which function as access portals to 

other subjects. While a thesaurus excludes events and proper 

names (of people and organizations), this on-line museum 

includes these and other matters in its taxonomy, particularly

as regards the area of design and the graphic message existing 

in each poster. This maizes it into an innovative concept, which 

may be used as a model for similar museums İn the future. 

Thetaxonomydrawsclosertoexisting models in its treatment of 

representations, mobilizing conventional criteria from the field 

of Design as regards the study of form, which is perceived as an 

informational category in itself. The arguments represented in 

each poster allow for the creation of a new taxonomy. 

At present the collection contains around 40,000 posters, and 

is likely to increase In number. The inclusion of new posters 

may lead to new representations and consequently to new 

subjects, and so the taxonomy needs to be flexible in order to 

accompany the growth of the collection. 

If we look at Clip in the area of Design, we can see that the 

indexing terms are interrelated. It presents a vast list of topics, 

covering the whole field of Design, and thus served as an 

orientation tool for the construction of the taxonomy for 

the on-line museum, particularly as regards Design-related 

themes. Of the 56 preferential indexing terms, 19 were 

selected, and some of the headings were altered in order to 

adapt them to the particular needs raised by the poster. 

The CDU system was adopted for the classification of the 

posters, the Unimarc for the organization of records, and 

Aleph forthe cataloguing of those records in accordance with 

ISBN(NBM) and RPC standards. At present, the on-line poster 

museum is integrated Into SINBAD, which permits access to 

information In a structured way (although the presentation of 

Information in the museum is as yet provisional in character). 

As visits are expected from a wide range ofdifferent publics, the 

information may be accessed from five perspectives: 1 .History 

of the Poster; 2.Categories; 3.Authorship; 4.Exhibitions; 

and 5.0bservatlons. The information will be presented 

chronologically, and will cover topics ranging from history, 

politics and economics to Design-related subjects. It may also 

target more specific publics, as In the case of Categories, which 

is subdivided into the following main and subsidiary topics: 

2.1. Subject matter of posters (general topic concerned with 

the thematic characteristics of the poster): 

Performing arts posters (posters designed to advertise 

theatrical performances and other types of entertainment or to 

promote artistes without reference to any particular event). 

Film posters (posters for films and cinematic events). 

Circus posters (posters for circuses, festivals, shows, etc). 

Concert posters (posters for orchestras, solo instruments, 

vocalists and other musical performances). 

Sports posters (posters advertising sporting events, such as 

football, basketball, tennis matches, etc, or to commemorate 

spurring figures). 

Exhibition posters (posters for art exhibitions, inauguration 

ceremonies, trade fairs, etc). 

War posters (matters related to war, including military or civil 

support and propaganda). 

Books and magazines posters (posters that advertise books, 

magazines, newspapers, journals, etc) 

Educational posters (posters on education-related matters, 

or which instruct, educate orsensitlsethe public about specific 

issues). 

Political posters (including election campaigns, posters on 

social / political subjects or about environment, health, civil 

rights and propaganda). 

Protest posters (posters that comment upon or criticise social 

aspects, are related to propaganda or support a revolutionary 

movement). 

Rock posters (promotes concerts of rock or other kinds of 

popular music or musicians). 

Sensitization posters (posters that sensitize the public in 

some way, are concerned with social issues in the sense of 

protecring people or the cultural / natural heritage, or are 

related to a historical event, commemorating a political, 

narional or popular occasion, irrespective of subject). 

Souvenir posters (posters that can be purchased In specialist 

poster outlets, second-hand bookshops and antique shops, 

that are reprints or artefacts where the concept of the poster 

has priority over what it represents or communicates, or which 

are collector's Items). 

Theatrical posters (posters for theatre plays, singers, 

musicians, poetry recitals, comedy acts, burlesque, variety 

shows, opera, musicals, reviews, magician shows or other 

stage acts) 

Travel posters (posters promoring tourism generally, trips or 

means of transport, such as railways or boats). 

Others

2.2. Poster design (genera! topic relating to the design/ 

creative aspects of the poster): 

Abstract posters (includes representations of anything that 

does not exist outside the abstract realm). 

Artistic posters (posters with a strong artistic component, not 

only as regards the means of representation but also in the 

way the message is communicated, and which reveal artistic 

influences). 

Calligraphic posters (posters with manually executed text: 

with serif; sans serif; mixed). 

Concrete posters (posters with factual and objective 

representations, unlike the artistic poster, or which have 

characteristics that are almost non-expressive and which do 

not allow the author to be recognised). 

Colour posters (term relating to the use of colour in the 

poster: black and white; monochrome; two-colour; three- 

colour, etc.). 

Drawn posters (image created using lines or patches). 

Style posters (posters in a clearly-defined identifiable style: 

Arts & Crafts; Arte Nouveau; Wiener Werksatte; Futurist; Cubist; 

Constructivist; Bauhaus; Hyperrealist; Pop Art; Minimalist, 

etc.). 

Formal posters (posters in which the forma! aspect or 

composition is particularly important or where there is a logic 

between the parts). 

Experimental posters (posters with shapes that do not have 

any obvious logic, or which shock and surprise, particularly 

when decontextualised from the formal stereotypes of an 

era). 

Geometric posters (posters with mostly geometric shapes or 

shapes that are generally geometrically simplified). 

Illustrated posters (includes representations of anything that 

does not exist, although it has a realist presence). 

Pattern posters (posters consisting of repeated motifs). 

Symbolic posters (posters containing images that have 

become icons over time). 

Typographic (lettering) posters (posters with a 

typographically-executed text with serif; sans serif; mixed). 

Others 

2.3. Poster as Physical Object (general topic concerning the 

physical characteristics of the poster as three-dimensional 

object): 

Billboard posters (poster composed of a series of sequential 

sheets mounted in a particular order) 

Dual-sided posters (posters printed on the front and back). 

Stock posters (poster with generic pictures and spaces left 

blank in order to be reprinted later with new information). 

Sequential posters (series of several posters forming a 

sequence). 

Three-dimensional posters (posters that communicate their 

message three-dimensionally, ünlüce the traditional poster). 

Posters dimensions (large format; medium format; small 

format). 

Posters format (square; rectangular; other shapes). 

Others 

2.4. Production Technologies (general topic concerned with 

the technological characteristics used in the production ofthe 

poster): 

Posters in Adobe Illustrator (uses the computer as a 

production resource). 

Airbrush posters (uses airbrush as a production resource). 

Water colour posters (uses water colours as a production 

resource). 

Collage posters (uses collage as a production resource). 

Drawing posters (uses drawing as a production resource). 

Photographic posters (uses photography as a production 

resource). 

Photomontage posters (uses photomontage as a production 

resource). 

Freehand posters (uses the computer as a production 

resource). 

Gouache posters (uses gouache as a production resource). 

Pencil posters {uses lead, graphite or colour pencils as a 

production resource). 

Charcoal posters (uses charcoal as a production resource). 

Mixed posters (uses more than one production technique). 

Pastel posters (uses pastel as a production resource). 

Photoshop posters (uses the computer as a production 

resource). 

China ink posters (uses china ink as a production resource). 

Others 

2.5. Reproduction technologies (general topic concerned 

with the technological characteristics ofthe printing process

used to reproduce the poster): 

Xylographic posters (uses xyiographic printing as a 

reproduction resource). 

Lithographic posters (uses lithographic printing as a 


Serigraphic posters (uses silk-screen printing as a 


Off-set posters (uses off-set printing as a reproduction 

resource). 

Digital posters (uses digital printing as a reproduction 

resource). 

Others 

2.6. Design (general topic concerned with the design subjects 

presented in the poster); 

Designers associations (posters about or by designers 

associations). 

Posters & representations (feminine; masculine; objects; 

flowers, etc). 

Design centres (posters about or by design centres). 

Design competitions {posters advertising design 

competitions). 

Design conferences (posters advertising design conferences, 

including congresses, lectures, meetings, etc) 

Colour in the posters (access to posters by colour; how 

many blue posters exist; the most commonly used colour; the 

predominant colour, etc). 

Companies related to the posters (RED, JCDecaux; space 

rental; formats of spaces for the posters; who affixes them; 

affixation techniques, etc). 

Design education (posters relating to the teaching of design; 

courses; training schemes; workshops; polytechnic education; 

higher education). 

Spaces for posters (the development over time of spaces for 

the placement of posters). 

Design exhibitions (posters advertising design exhibitions in 

this area). 

Design offices (posters advertising designers' offices; design 

workshops; advertising agencies). 

Printers involved in the printing of the posters (list of 

printers that print posters; short history of graphics - when 

new printing technologies were adopted, etc; information 

may be presented geographically with the country divided 

into the northern, southern and central zone, and thus, 

gradually, a map will be developed presenting the density of 

printers per Km2). 

History of printing technologies used for posters 

(presentation of miscellaneous subjects, such as: how they 

developed; how they evolved; when they were adopted, etc). 

Brand image (covering various aspects, such as logotypes, 

which aim to give coherence and unity to the visual aspects of 

a company or institution's activities; often extended to other 

artefacts - flyers, advertisements In magazines, newspapers, 

radio and TV). 

Impacts of technology on poster printing (the effect of 

technological intervention or technological limitations upon 

posters). 

Logotypes (posters that present logotypes). 

Materials used in the production of posters (eg. paper ~ Its 

history; raw materials; manufacture; development of print sheet 

formats; formats most used for posters; papers most suitable for 

printing posters; papers selected by the designers, etc.). 

Materials used for the reproduction of posters (eg. inks 

- history; raw materials; manufacture; inks most used for 

posters, etc). 

Print runs (research into the numbers of copies printed at one 

time: 100,200, 500 copies, etc). 

Use of language (posters whose language has altered across 

time). 

Others 

3. Authorship (general topic concerned with individual or 

collective authorship); 

Advertising agencies (posters created by advertising 

agencies, where collective authorship is more important than 

individual). 

Design workshops (posters created in design workshops, 

where the author Is a collective rather than individual 

identity). 

Anonymous posters (posters of unidentified authorship). 

Author posters (posters identified by an author or where 

the authorship is Identifiable through the graphic language 

used). 

4. Exhibitions (general topic concerned with exhibitions 

organised by the curator): to be proposed

5. Observations (complementary topics): 

Collecting (collecting as a memory-recording action; 

motivations for collecting - monetary value (investment), 

rarity (exclusivity), pleasure (acquiring, i

References Electronic Documents 

ALMEIDA, A. C and SANTOS, M., 2005. CDU: Classificaçâo 

Decimal Universal: tabela de autoridade: ediçâo abreviada em 

lingua portuguesa com base no Master Reference FILF UDC 

Consortium. 3rd ed. Lisboa; Biblioteca Nacional 

BARNICOAT, J., 2000. Los carteles su historia y su lenguaje. 

Barcelona, Gustavo Gill 

ENEL, R, 1974. El cartel: lenguaje, funciones, retorlca. Valencia, 

Fernando Torres 

FEDERAÇÂO INTERNACIONAL DAS ASSOCIAÇÖES DE 

BIBLIOTECARIOS, 1990. ISBD (NBM): Descrlçâo BIbllografica 

Internacionai de Material Nao Livro. Colmbra, Sistema 

Integrado de Informaçâo Bibllogrâfica da Zona Centro 

MOLES, A., 2005 - O cartaz. Sao Paulo: Editora Perspectiva 

MULLER'BROCKMANN, J. and YOSHIKAWA, S. 2004. History of 

the poster. London: Phaldon 

RESENDE, J. M. and VENTURA, J. AND DUARTE, E., 1996. 

Terminologia controlada para indexacao de documentos na 

area do design. Lisboa: Instituto da Biblioteca Nacional e do 

Livro, 1996 

ESTADOS UNIDOS. California State University - Dewey 

Classification System [On-line]. Los Angeles: CalStateLA, cop. 

2006, actual. 19 Nov. 2002. [Consulted 6 Jun. 2006]. Available 

on WWW:

D E V E L O P I N G T H E B R A N D D F A B O R N G L O B A L C O M P A N Y F R O M T U R K E Y A S A 

N E W L Y I N D U S T R I A L I Z E D C O U N T R Y : T H E G A I A & G I N O C A S E 

İrem Bektaş 

Istanbul Technical University 

Industrial Product Design,Turkey 

irembektas@gmail.com 

Dr. Özlem Er, Assoc. Prof. 

IstanbulTechnical University 

Department of Industrial Product Design, Turkey 

ero@itu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

This paper reviews the development process of a design 

intensive brand, Gaİa&Gino, from a newly industrialized 

country' setting. The fact that the brand targeted the global 

market right from its inception makes it an interesting 

example to study in relation to the concept of "born global". 

The paper examines the strategic steps taken by the founder 

company Decorum Inc. to establish Gaia&Gino as a global 

brand. By examining these steps in terms of their potentials in 

creating an alternative path for gaining a share in the global 

market, the paper aims at discussing whether pursuing a 

born global strategy can be a viable strategy for growth for 

a company located in a newly industrialized country. The 

paper particularly focuses on how the design and production 

functions were organized and managed in the business model 

created for developing the Gaia&Gino brand. The findings 

' A Newiy Industrialised Country (NIC) is one which is a developing 

country but has not yet achieved the status ofthe advanced countries 

(The Penguin Dictionary of Economics, 1987). 

According to Er (1994) what makes NICs interesting in terms of 

design research is that they are the only developing countries which 

attempted and succeeded, at least in some sectors, to establish an 

industrial design activity.The most significant common characteristic 

of NiCs is that they have explicitly attempted to develop their 

economies on the basis of industrialisation (Dicken, 1986 quoted in 

Er,Ö., 1995) 

indicate that the brand is based on an original business model 

highly benefiting from international networks of production 

and communication. Another indication is that being 

positioned as high design value and price, the brand benefits 

from a global vision of operation. This is particularly important 

for a company operating from a newly industrialized country 

setting as such a country, would typically suffer from an 

unsophisticated consumer culture due to low income levels 

and limited product offerings. 

Introduction 

Since the early nineties, the emergence of dynamic, newly 

established small and medium-sized enterprises which 

internationalize right from their inception {or shortly after) 

and compete against well-established, large companies in the 

global markets have drawn great attention. Several studies 

were conducted to identify and explain these types of firms, 

whose internationalization behaviour fit into none of the 

existing models. Labelled as Born Globals, these firms have 

chosen different paths to become global players and their 

emergence has already grown into a big phenomenon. 

Born Global companies first emerged in small, open economies 

such as New Zealand and the Nordic countries. In these cases, 

rapid internationalization was essential for the survival of the 

companies. However, the emergence of these firms are not

specific to these countries. They exist in other places such as 

the USA, the UK, France and Israel (RIalp-Crlado, Rialp-Criado 

and Knight, 2002). The Born Global companies, that emerge 

from countries with different economic structures should also 

be investigated to contribute to the existing literature. 

Gala&Gino Is the brand of a design intensive Born Global 

company from Turkey. Since its launch In 2004, it has gained 

international reputation and Gaia&GIno branded products 

have been sold in prestigious shops in major cities. The fact 

that Decorum Inc. positioned Gaia&GIno as a global brand 

right from the beginning is the main factor which took our 

attention to it. Could this strategic choice be an example for 

other companies in Turkey v^hich face the problems of an 

unsophisticated consumer market due to the low-income 

level of the majority of Its population? In this paper we will try 

to investigate the Gaia&GIno case, which is a brand of home 

accessories, to reveal its way of doing business In becoming 

an internationally known brand. 

The Concept of Born Global 

The first researcher who referred to the "Born Global" term 

was Michael W. Rennie (1993). McKinsey & Co consultants, 

while doing a research on the emerging Australian high- 

value-added manufacturing exporters, discovered the rise of 

small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) that successfully 

compete against large, established firms In the global market 

starting from the beginning (Rennie, 1993).The data indicated 

that the export behaviour of these firms did not conform to 

the two models, which define internationalization as an 

incremental process starting with national operations: The 

Uppsala Internationalization Model (Johanson and Vahine, 

1977) and the Innovation Related Export Development Models 

(Bilkey and Tesar, 1977; Çavuşgil, 1980; Reid, 1981). The data 

was soon studied by Çavuşgil (1994) and the theory of Born 

Global v;as developed. 

Several definltons of the Born Global concept were made 

according to different criteria such as the firm's establishment 

date, export-to-sales ratio, time spent between the period of 

the first export and its founding and organizational behaviour. 

For instance, Rennie emprlcally defines Born Globals as the 

companies that 'began exporting, on average, only two years 

after their foundation and achieved 76 percent of their total 

sales through exports' (1993). Knight and Cavusgll define 

them as 'business organizations that, from or near their 

founding, seek superior International business performance 

from the application of knowledge-base resources to the 

sale of outputs in multiple countries' referring mostly to 

the technology-oriented companies (2004, p.124). Mika 

Gabrlelsson defines these type of firms as'those that from their 

inception pursue a vision of becoming global and that often 

globalise their business rapidly without an eadler longterm 

domestic or Internalization period'{2005, p.199). In this paper, 

the researchers refer to Moen's definition of these firms as 

companies'having export sales higher than 25 percent and an 

establishment date post 1990' (2002, p.l 56). 

The Characteristics of Born Globals and the Key Influences 

on These Firms 

There has been numerous studies, which identify and examine 

the internal and external influences on these firms and trends 

behind their emergence and continuous rise. These can be 

grouped as: (1) Globalization and the homogenization of buyer 

preferences around the world, (2) present market conditions 

(change in customer demands, the increasing importance 

of niche markets for SMEs woddwide), (3) the technological 

improvements in the areas of production, transportation 

and communication, (4) the increased number of business 

executives and enterpreneurs with international experience, 

(5) the Increased importance of international networks and 

alliances and (6) easier access to financing (Rennie, 1993; 

Knight and Cavusgll, 2004; RIalp-Crlado, Rialp-Criado and 

Knight, 2002; Falay,2006). 

The characteristics of Born Globals have been identified In 

several studies. These companies usually emerge from small 

and open economies, in which quick internalization is the 

way to survive (Falay, 2006). They are mostly SMEs, whose size 

give them the flexibility to internationalize faster. Born Global 

companies usually operate In highly specialized niche markets 

(Rasmussen and Madsen, 2002). Rennie (1993) states that they 

create a market where they have almost no competitors by 

understanding and satisfying the needs of a particular group 

of customers. Geographical distance is not a factor for these 

companies since they rely on international networks and

form strategic alliances. Born Globals have different branding 

strategies than traditional companies (Gabrielsson, 2005). 

The past experiences and global attitudes of their founders 

are also characteristics of them. As young enterprises, these 

firms need to compete with their limited sources (Falay, 2006). 

On the other hand, they rely more on a group of intangible 

knowledge-based capabilities (Knight and Çavuşgil, 2004). 

Although recent studies about the phenomenon seem to 

have been focused widely on high-technology businesses. 

Born Globals operate in all industries and In all major trading 

countries. Rennie (1993) asserts that to be successful, these 

companies need to compete on quality and value. Besides, 

Knight and Cavusgii (2004) mention that these firms tend to 

benefit from technological skills, relatively unique products 

and a great focus of quality to sell their products worldwide. 

The innovative corporate culture and proactive attitudes of 

Born Globals are also emphasized. 

Design Intensive Born Globals 

Born Globals appeartoexistinfivedifferent product categories, 

which are high- tech, high-design, high-service, high-know- 

how and high systems (Gabrielsson, 2005). Although, most 

of the studies address high-tech product groups, these 

companies have also found their place in the design industry. 

There are examples of companies which rapidly 

internationalized by using design as the main core 

competence to compete in the global markets. Falay (2006) 

states that design industry enables companies become Born 

Globals by providing an open arena where these companies 

can focus on highly specialized niches, make small volumes of 

production feasible and gain price advantage by the perceived 

value added by design. Gaia&Gino can also be considered as a 

company specializing in a global niche market with a distinct 

design identity. 

The Case of Gaia&Gino 

Gaia&Gino is the design brand of Decorum Inc. from Turkey. 

Decorum Inc., which was founded in the first quarter of 

the 1990s, has an export rate of %100 and design being its 

core competence, is an example of a design intensive Born 

Global company. Below we will try to explain its particular 

globalization experience on the basis of our semi-structured 

interviews with the founder and the marketing responsible 

of the company and our search of the secondary resources 

including newspapers, national and international magazines 

and the internet. 

From an Importer to the Creator of a Global Design Brand 

Decorum Inc. was founded In 1992 by Gaye Çevikel. The 

mission of Decorum has been stated as 'to develop design 

consciousness in Turkey and to orient customer tendencies 

in this direction' (Teoman, 2005). In line with this mission, 

Decorum initially became the agent of world-known textile 

design companies, such as Creation Baumann, Rubelli and 

Zimmer-i-Rohde and sold their products at Decorum stores. 

The company then started to sell the design products of world- 

famous design brands such as Aiessi and Kosta Boda. Having 

introduced numerous design objects to Turkey, Decorum has 

been one ofthe pioneers of design in the domestic market 

{Teoman, 2005). 

Gaye Çevikel did not have a formal design education. 

However, as her father is an architect, she had developed an 

understanding of aesthetics. She was educated on political 

sciences and has a master degree on international relations. 

After working at the World Bank for two years, she has decided 

to do her dream business and founded Decorum Inc. (Akgün, 

2006). 

By the year 1999, relying on the company's 8-years-experience 

in the sector. Gaye Çevikel decided not to continue only as an 

agent and a shop owner but to launch their own products 

which would be sold at Decorum stores. With this aim, they 

decided to collaborate with Defne Koz, a Turkish industrial 

designer who lives and works in Italy. She designed Liquids 

glassware collection that was launched in 2001. The company 

made its first export with this collection which was labelled 

under "Decorum I s"brand (Çevikel Interview, 2006). 

Gaye Çevikel, who has been attending seminars on brand 

management at Harvard Business School by the time Liquids 

glassware collection was introduced, decided that Decorum 

Inc. should make a new move to establish an international

and and launch Its own collections. Çevlkel believed at the 

time and still believes that a Turkish company can very well 

Invest in design and establish an International design brand. 

The company decided not to continue with "Decorum I s", 

since the name of the company and the brand was so close 

and could cause confusion (Bonofiyei Interview, 2006). 

The studies for the new brand continued between the years 

2001 and 2004. Defining the right brand name was the most 

difficult of them. Believing that the new brand which will 

operate in the global market should also represent their own 

story, they seeked forthe right brand name for two years and 

also got professional help. However, it was Decorum team 

who came up with the winning idea: Gaia&GIno. "Gala" is 

Gaye Çevlkel's nickname and "Gino" is the name of her dog. 

Gaye Çevlkel explains how they came up with the brand 

Gaia&GIno: 

All of my team voted for Gala since they believed 

that the brand should represent my values. Then 

came "GIno" because we wouldn't only launch home 

products. We made a research and found out that the 

most important product category in the USA was the 

pet products. My story Is that I have a dog and Gino 

symbollically appeared In the brand name. "Gala" 

represents people like me, people who are aware of 

design, look for differentiation In their lives and bound 

up in their Individuality. "Gino" represents their pets. We 

offer products which they can use at their homes and 

for their pets (Çevlkel Interview, 2006). 

The previous experiences of theteam with the Decorum stores 

have constituted a beneficial reference during the operations 

of Gaia&GIno. The team had intense knowledge about design, 

products and customers' preferences (Bonofiyel Interview, 

2006). Çevikel emphasizes that there wouldn't be Gaia&GIno 

If there hadn't been Decorum and adds with her own words; 

'If we weren't working with AlessI, I wasn't visiting that many 

glass factories of Kosta Boda and visiting that many design 

fairs, we wouldn't have this background' (Çevikel Interview, 

2006). 

Gala&Gino wasfirst launched during the NewYork International 

Gift Fair in August, 2004 (Bonofiyel Interview, 2006). Decorum 

Stores continued for a while afterwards. The company shut 

down the stores in September, 2005, because the team wanted 

to draw all their attention to Gala&Gino. Koleksiyon Inc. which 

is a prestlgeous home and office furniture manufacturer with 

its own stores became the distributor of the brand In Turkey. 

Decorum Inc. still continues to be the agent of Alessi in 

Turkey also sold in Koleksiyon and other stores such as Bill's 

in Turkey. 

The Aim of Gaia&Gino 

The aim of the Decorum team In creating the Gaia&GIno brand 

is to operate in the world's designer's home accessories market 

with a product range of global appeal. This aim however does 

not exclude the reference to theTurkish culture when it can be 

a rich source of Inspiration for new product ideas or styles and 

also the promotion of theTurkish cultural influence if it is seen 

as creating added value. According to Çevlkel, Gala&Gino aims 

to enter into the wodd's best stores with their tabletop home 

and pet accessories and become one of the worldwide known 

design brands (Çevikel Interview, 2006). 

Strategic Steps to Set Gaia&Gino as a Global Brand 

Positioning Gaia&GIno as a global brand right from the 

beginning, the company has taken strategic steps in branding, 

distribution and sales, production and design to achieve the 

aim of becoming an Internationally known design brand In a 

short period of time. Çevlkel defines theirfocus of investment: 

'We invest In design. Design investment is the biggest 

Investment. In addition to that, we invest In marketing, selling 

and branding as the most important of them. Brand value is 

the most difficult to achieve'(Çevikel Interview, 2006), 

International Organizational Structure of Gaia&Gino 

The organizational structure of Decorum Inc. was changed to 

operate more effectively with Gaia&Gino (Çevikel Interview, 

2006), 

At present, the administrative office Is located in Istanbul.The 

managerial organization has a horizontal structure. There are 

five responsibles working in the office who directly report to 

the founder and the president of the company, Gaye Çevikel,

They are responsible for (1) Marl

Strategic Steps to Promote the Brand Globally 

Gaia&Gino has been trying to increase its brand awareness witli 

Intense PR activities for their first five years. Çevil

Stores in the USA and "the Lucl

Reputed Designers of Gaia&Gino 

Gaia&Gino strategically prefers to work with world-known 

designers. In addition to contributing to the global branding 

efforts of the brand, Gaia&Gino designers also provide 

commercial knowledge about the brand's target markets, 

as they are outstanding designers of Gala&Gino's primary 

markets. 

Thirteen designers have worked or still working for Gaia&Gino, 

some of who are; Defne Koz, Karim Rashid, Arik Levy, Andree 

Putman, Yves Behar, Constantine Boym and Denis Santachiara. 

Çevikel believes that working with different designers is what 

differentiates their products (Çevikel Interview, 2006). 

Gaia&Gino chooses the designers according to some criteria. 

Çevikel definesthatthe most important common characteristic 

of Gaia&Gino designers is their having multicultural rootes 

(Çevikel Interview, 2006). They are used to different cultures 

and/or work with companies from different countries. Çevikel 

adds that, another common characteristic of Gaia&Gino 

designers is that none of them has a "geometric" design 

language. Gaia&Gino represent "softer lines" of life (Çevikel 

Interview, 2006). The fact that externa! designers work with 

different sectors in their professional lives is also another 

factor for their preference as they would use the knowledge 

and experience of these sectors for new product ideas (Çevikel 

Interview, 2006). 

Identity of Gaia&Gino Products 

Çevikel believes that its products should reflect the philosophy 

of a brand (Çevikel Interview, 2006). She defines Gaia&Gino 

products as "unconventional", having "a sense of humor" and 

"simple design but high concept". Çevikel emphasizes that 

every product has its own story (Çevikel Interview, 2006). 

Perception of Design within Gaia&Gino 

Gaye Çevikel defines design as "the heart of Gaia&Gino"(Yasak, 

XI! Magazine, 2006). She emphasizes that every individual 

of the company is aware of design. Gaia&Gino refers to the 

opinions of its team, consisting of individuals with different 

cultural and disciplinary backgrounds, at every level. They also 

get continuous feedbacks from its agents, distributors and the 

area manager. 

All the design activities of Gaia&Gino is personally managed 

by Gaye Çevikel. Also, the administrative team effectively 

contributes to the design activities. 

Gaia&Gino has a holistic design approach. Apart from product 

design projects, packaging design, exhibition and stand 

design and web and graphics design projects are undertaken 

by professionals. These designers are chosen according to 

the quality, contemporaneity and distinctiveness of their 

previous works. To name some, they have worked with Derin 

Sarıyer (a well known Turkish designer) for stand designs, 

the first product photographs were taken by Christopher 

Kicherer who is a famous architectural photograph artist and 

communication consultant of world- known brands and the 

logo of Gaia&Gino was designed by All Cindoruk, a Turkish 

designer living in the US. 

Managing Design in Gaia&Gino 

Gaia&Gino design projects are personally managed by Gaye 

Çevikel. Gaia&Gino follows a formal design management 

policy. The design and product development processes are 

controlled by comprehensive, written design briefs, which 

define each stage ofthe product development process and 

mutual responsibilities (Çevikel Interview, 2006). The design 

briefs consisting of projects goals, customers' identity, 

marketing and sales data, desired product identity, product 

typology, materials and production specifications and a 

detailed time table are constituted by the contribution of all 

the divisions ofthe company. 

Traditionally, the designers of Gaia&Gino are invited to Istanbul 

first. They spend two or three days in Istanbul, familiarizing 

with the company culture, philosophy of the brand, Turkish 

culture and the Gaia&Gino team. Meanwhile, they are given 

the design briefs (Çevikel Interview, 2006). After almost a 

month, designers send their sketches to Istanbul. Çevikel 

(2006) emphasizes that it is very important for her to see the 

skecthes in the early stages. These sketches are evaluated 

by Gaye Çevikel, the administrative office and the product 

development teams.

Fromthatpoint,GayGÇevikelworkswith designers. Proceeding 

on the sketches, they decide on the final design and compose 

the stories of the products. Çevikel, compares their system 

to Memphis' style and the relation between the owner of the 

Coca- Cola company and the designer Raymond Loewy in 

the 1970's (Çelikel Interview, 2006). She mentions that they 

develop right products within the synergy that arises between 

her and the designer. 

After the form of the design is approved by Gaye Çevikel and 

the materials are defined, product development team takes 

over and from that point Gaye Çevikel only participates in the 

process for topics related to dimensions, colors and quality. 

The product development specialists work with designers 

to optimize the designs. As the process evolves, the 3D CAD 

outputs and the prototypes produced by the partner factories 

are shared with the Gaia&Gino team. The production phase 

starts when the feasibility of the design is approved. 

Gaia&Gino's Success 

Launced in August 2004, the Gaia&Gino brand is in the process 

of growing. Although it has become self-supporting in the 

short period since its start, the brand has not brought the 

expected financial profit yet. Considering Its short existence, 

it is much more appropriate to measure the success of the 

brand with qualitative signs of achievement such as brand 

awareness, media coverage and the awards received. 

The four products that are listed in the Gaia&Gino product 

range won four prestigious design awards all of which evaluate 

both the quality of design and production: 

1. "Liquids" Glassware Collection, Designer: Defne 

Koz (1999), 2002 GOOD DESIGN Award In "tabletop" 

category (exhibited at the permanent collection of the 

Chicago Athenaeum Architecture and Design Museum). 

2."Morphescape"Tableware, Designer: Karlm Rashid 

(2002), 2005 DESIGN PLUS Award (became a part of 

the permanent collection displayed in the Museum 

of Applied Arts, in Frankfurt), nominated for the 2006 

DesignPreis Award. 

3. "Mistic" Cand!ehoider/Vase/Sculpture, Designer: 

Arik Levy(2004), 2006 DESIGN PLUS Award (became 

a part of the permanent collection of the Frankfurt 

Museum of Applied Arts) Nominated for DesignPreis 

2007. 

4. "Kari, Ari, Arim, 

Designer: Karim Rashid (2002), IDEA 2006 Bronze 

Award (featured In the the highly anticipated 2006 

IDSA National Conference's Design Gallery and Expo) 

(http://www.gaiaandgino.com/news„en,asp). 

Gaia&Gino has also been covered by the world's prestigious 

design and life style magazines. Although Gaye Çevikel 

complains about the lack of interest of the Turkish media, 

the interest of the international media in the brand is rising. 

Financial Times recommended "Kaz Candleholder" as one of 

the best ways of spending the money in its "How To Spend 

It"column in Febuary 2006. Wallpaper recommended "Liquids 

wine glass" as one of the twenty five ways of Improving one's 

life in its December, February 2006 edition. Karim Rashid's 

"Happy People Glassware Collection" was covered in Time's 

Style and Design 2006 Winter annex. Indeslgn magazine 

widely covered Gaia&Gino in its February 2006 edition. O At 

Home magazine has also covered the brand in its 2005 Winter 

edition. Besides these, many design and life style magazines 

have been praising Gaia&Gino as the "Turkish Delight" or 

"the Turkish Treasure" (http://www.gaiaandgino.com/press_ 

en.htm). 

Conclusions 

Before making any concluding comments, the researchers 

admit that the time period between the foundation of 

Decorum Inc. and their first export- which Is approximately 9 

years- may cause confusion about the company's Born Global 

Identity. Many researchers (Rennie, 1993; Knight and Cavusgll, 

2004) would expect a time period of approximately 2 years 

after the Initiation for starting the firm's export activities. On 

the other hand, other researchers (Gabrlelsson, 2005; Moen, 

2002) avoid giving a specific time period and mainly consider 

the export rates and behaviours of these firms. Focusing 

especially on Gaia&Gino operations, the company's behaviour 

overlaps with the defined characteristics of Born Globals.

As a result ofthe research, it was discovered that the company 

has structured itself on an original path to compete in the 

global markets. Its global vision, design intensive approach, 

strategic choice of markets and product groups, strong use of 

networks and strategic branding activities constitute a unique 

activity map {see Figure 1). 

The founder's global vision and personality have been 

effective on the company's decision to establish Gaia&Gino as 

a global brand. Besides, the team's previous experiences with 

Decorum stores were beneficial for making the right choices 

for the brand operations. 

Design is the core competence of Gaia&Gino. It was discovered 

that, they have generated a formal design management 

strategy, which is conducted personally by the founder with 

the assistance of other divisions of the company. The team 

has a holistic approach to design, which is another factor for 

developing unique products. 

Gaia&Gino has placed itself at the high end of the designer's 

home accessories market and targeted a highly specialized 

niche of customers with its unique product designs, high 

quality production and premium pricing. As the domestic 

market of Turkey for the high end ofthis sector is so small, the 

brand chose to operate globally and draw its attention to the 

unsaturated market ofthe USA, as its first primary market. The 

product grups of Gaia&Gino were also chosen according to its 

primary markets. Right positioning in the global markets leads 

to success. 

Operating in twenty five countries and five continents, 

Gaia&Gino has benefited from the strong use of networks 

for its production, design, distribution and sales, within 

its international organization. The brand has strategically 

chosen to make use of external design services, outsource 

its production and establish a network of distributors, agents 

and the area manager to control Its ditrlbution and sales 

activities. 

Gaia&Gino has delicately structured its branding and 

marketing operations to increase the brand awareness in the 

sector, ignoring any activity that may harm the brand in long 

term. 

To conclude, Gaia&Gino appears to be a successful design 

intensive Born Global from Turkey. Despite its short existence, 

the brand has mentioned to increase its brand awareness In 

the global markets and the media coverage about it has been 

expanding as four of its collections won prestigious design 

awards.

References 

AKGÜN, M., 2006. Tasarım Hikayelerimizi Aktarmak İçin Bir 

Araçtır. The official website of Referans Gazetesi, Available at; 

http://referansgazetesi.com/prlnt.aspx7HBR_KOD-33676 

ANONYMOUS A, 2006.The Results of Income Distribution, 2005. 

The official website ofTurkish Statistical Institute, Available at: 

http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/SONlST/GELIR/251206.doc 

BILKEY, W. J. and TESAR, G., 1977. The export behaviour of 

smaller-sized Wisconsin manufacturing firms. Journal of 

International Business Studies, 8 (1), 93-98 

BONOFIYEL S., 2006. Interview, April 19 

ÇAVUŞGİL, S. T., 1980. On the Internalization process of firms. 

European Research, 8 (6), 273- 281 

ÇAVUŞGİL, S.T., 1994. A quiet revolution in Australian exporters. 

Marketing News, 28 (11), 18-21 

ÇEVİKEL G., 2006. Interview, April 19 

ER, H. A., 1994. Industrial Design In Newly industrialized 

Countries: An Exploratory Study of the Factors Influencing the 

Development of Local Design Capabilities, IAS Research Papers, 

RP-72, institute of Advanced Studies, Manchester Metropolitan 

University, Manchester 

ER, Ö., 1995. The Use of External Design Expertise by Newly 

Industrialised Countries with particular reference to the 

Operations of British Automotive Design Consultancies, PhD 

Thesis, Institute of Advanced Studies, Manchester Metropolitan 

University, Manchester 

FALAY,2.,2006.DesignlntenslveBornGlobalCompanieslnFlnland: 

Role of Designers as Enterpreneurs. MA Thesis, Department of 

Design, University of Art and Design Helsinki, Helsinki 

GABRIELSSON, M., 2005. Branding Strategies of Born Globals. 

Journal of International Enterpreneurship, (3), 199-222 

iKlNCi, S., 2003.Turkey: Growing poverty and social Inequality. 

World Socialist website, Available at: http://www. wsws.org/ 

articles/2003/apr2003/turk-a24._prn.shtml 

JOHANSON, J. and VAHLNL J. E., 1977. The Internalization 

process of the firm: a model of knowlege development 

and Increasing foreign market commitment. Journal of 

International Business Studies, 8 (1), 23-32 

KAYNAK, E. and KARA, A., 2002. Consumer perceptions of 

foreign products. An analysis of product-country images and 

ethnocentrism. European Journal of Marketing, 36 (7/8), 928-949 

KNIGHT G. A. and CAVUSGIL S. T., 2004. Innovation, 

Organizational Capabilities, and the Born-Global Firm. Journal 

of international Business Studies, (35), 124-141 

MOEN, 0., 2002. The Born Globals: A new generation of small 

European exporters. International Marketing Review, 19 (2), 

156-175 Official Website of Gala&Gino, Available at: http:// 

www.galaandgino.com 

RASMUSSEN, E. S. and MADSEN, T K., 2002. The Born Global 

Concept. [Online] Available at: http;//www.sam.sdu.dk/'-era/ 

EIBA%20Rasmussen%202002%20.pdf 

REID, S. D., 1981. The decision-maker and export entery and 

expansion. Journal of International Business Stuidles, 12 (2), 

101-112 

RENNIE, M. W., 1993. Born Global. The McKinsey Quarterly, (4) 

[Online] Available at: http://www.questla.com/PM.qs?a-o&se 

^ggls&d=5000255254 

RIALP-CRIADO, A., RIALP-CRIADO, J. and KNIGHT, G. A., 2002. 

The Phenomenon of International NewVentures, Global Start 

ups, and Born Globals: What Do We Know After a Decade 

(1993-2002) of Exhaustive Scientific inquiry? Documents 

de treball [Online], Available at; http://selene.uab.es/dep- 

economla-empresa/documenîs/02-l 1 .pdf 

TEOMAN, A. M., 2005. On Gala&Glno. Unpublished Term pa per, 

Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul 

YASAK, T., 2006. Çılgın Fikirlere Uygun Yönetim Biçimi. XXI, 45,95

D I R E C T I V E , D I S C R E E T , D I S C R I M I N A T O R Y : M O D E R N S I G N A G E A N D T H E D E S I G N 

O F G E N D E R 

Pedro Be55a,PhD 

DeCA, Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal 

e-mail: pbessa@ca.ua.pt 

Abstract 

In this paper we intend to reflect upon the way pictography, 

as used in modern signage, far from being {as it was said 

to be, during the modernist optimism of the 70's) a sort of 

"universal", intuitive language on the contrary seems to have 

some limitations as a communication form. 

Not only signage pictography does not have a universal reach 

{as any other language, it relies on education and context), but 

its own "universalistic" pretensions, demanding a high degree 

of redundancy, tend to result in the use of caricature and 

stereotyping. Namely when it comes to represent gender. This 

unemotional,apparentlydetachedarea ofinformation design, we 

argue, has therefore its Ideological moment, ineluctable perhaps 

but one which Is important to understand and to document. 

Our study is based on a contents analysis of 49 signagesystems 

and 767 pictograms from different countries and periods. The 

results lead to the conclusion that female gender has always 

been underrepresented in signage systems, and also "marked" 

in relation to the generic male form or false neuter, with male 

figures being generally used to represent"people in general". 

1. Introduction 

1.1 from pictography to signage 

By the beginnings of the 20th century, with city growing, 

proliferation of administrative services, trade and leisure 

spaces; vv'ith economic globalisation and population mobility, 

situations began to occur where national languages (or rather 

their correlative typographic characters), were sometimes 

replaced vt/ith advantage by small pictures, i.e. pictograms.' 

The first serious attempt to create an organized system of 

grap/i/cs/gns Is duetotheViennesesociologistand philosopher, 

who later emigrated to London, Otto Neurath. In the earlier 

20's, Neurath was convinced ofthe possibility of creating an 

international pictographic idiom, which he would call Isotype. 

Through his system it would be possible to educate and bring 

together the different people ofthe earth - as with Esperanto, 

the artificial language created by the end of 19th century 

under the same Ideal.^ 

Isotype consisted basically of using simplified images 

(silhouette) to transmit information in the areas of economy 

and social statistics; it was used mainly In books, posters, maps 

and other didactic material (Fig. 1). 

But Neurath's project resulted also from his activity as a 

philosophen he was a leading-figure of Logical Positivism, a 

philosophical movement that developed initially in Vienna, in 

the years 1920-30, and had among its objectives the search 

of an ideal language, descriptive and logical, thus superior to 

current language, full of Imprecision and deficiencies.^ 

' On the faith in pictography as an easily understandable, intuitive 

language see KRUG, K.-H. et al., [undated], p.2; COSTA, J., 1998, p.89; 

DREYFUSS, H., 1984, pp.16 and ff.; AlCHER, O., and KRAMPEN, M., 

1995., pp. 5,129; OTA, Y., 1993, p.18; HORTON, W.,1994, p.6. 

^ZAMENHOF, L, 1887. Charles K. Bliss, who worked with Neurath 

till Second World War, developed a hierogjyphical system 

(Semantography) sometimes called "visual Esperanto" - see OTA, Y, 

1993, p. 218. According to lyiODLEY 1976, ix, "...we may well call 

Otto Neurath the'Father of Pictography'." 

^GRANGER, G.-G., [undated], pp.83-86; CORDON, J. M. and MARTINEZ, 

T., 1987, pp. 149-59.

Neurath believed to have discovered such a language in 

isotype, a sort of intemporai, hieroglyphic idiom, in which it 

would be possible to transcribe al! the languages ofthe worid 

-an optimism that remains at the very basis of present-day 

pictographic signage and, to a certain degree, continues to 

inform the teaching and the practice of design.'* 

i 960 

IS!,, 

1 I t'"' J L " I I I It 1^1 1 I |~ 1 1 1 I""' 

Figure 1. Isotype symbols. Top, from left to right: "shoe", 

"factory" "shoes factory", "industrial production" "handmade 

production"; bottom: car numbers in the USA {each symbol 

equals 6 million cars}. 

Neurath's researches are also contemporary of the first 

international conventions aiming at the unification of traffic 

signs, one of them held in Vienna, in 1927 (Fig. 3). The late 

1940's, on the other hand, mark the first attempts to use 

pictograms in sport events. At the first, though, these were 

more"illustrations"than true pictograms and it is only after the 

Mexico (1968) and Munich Olympics (1972;see Fig.2), that one 

finally arrives to signage systems as we know them today.^ 

Figure 2. some of the pictograms designed by OtI Aicher for 

the Munich Olympics of 1972. 

1.2 ideogranrss 

Some of the so-called "pictograms" are actually signs with an 

extremely conventional or even arbitrary basis - for example, 

three triangles inside a circle meaning "nuclear shelter". Most 

authors, in fact, hesitate when including this last category in 

the group of pictograms proper. At any rate, even in the case of 

figurativeorillustrative-type signs, one is faced with two different 

situations: the literal sense ofthe sign, and the derived sense.^ 

Examples of derived sense are the pictogram of a coat-hanger 

meaning "dressing room" {and not the coat-hanger itself), or 

the figure of a fork and a knife meaning "restaurant". Some 

authors prefer to call ideograms to this second type of signs, 

by the word meaning the use of figurative signs to express 

abstract concepts.' Most pictograms are in fact ideograms: 

another well-known case is the use ofthe pictogram of a man 

and a woman to denote "toilets"; as a pictogram is read "man 

and woman", as an ideogram it reads "toilets" (Fig. 3). 

Figure 3. pictograms of a coat hanger, car and key, man and 

woman; the same signs read as ideograms: cloakroom; car 

rental; toilets. 

In any of the cases, we will be always dealing with something 

whose interpretative rules imply pre-learning and some level 

conventionality-which contradicts the thesis of pictography as 

being an intuitive language, of universal reach, and absolutely 

neutral in terms of contents and meanings it transmits. 

^See, for example, COSTA, J., 1989, and COSTA, J., 1998; MOLES, 

A., 1989, pp.119-129; specifically on pictograms design, see THE 

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF GRAPHIC ART, ed., 1981; HORTON, W.,1994; 

PIERCE, T, 1996. According to LUPTON, E.,1989 (p.l47): "Logical 

positivism correlated the terms of a purely abstract system with units 

of direct experience, attempting to analyse language into a consistent 

and logical mirror of nature ...[on the contrary] Saussure taught that 

the significance of any sign is produced solely by its relations with 

other signs, and not by its correspondence with material objects." 

^See MEGGS, P., 1991, pp.399-406; AICHER O., and KRAMPEN, M., 

1995, p.l06-7;COSTA, J„ 1989. pp.54-61,144-6,192 and f. 

''Or dictionary-type meaning e derivative meaning (OTA, Y., 1993. 

p.nS). 

' FRUTIGER, A.,1999, pp.81 -83; LUPTON, E. and MİLLER, A., 1999, p. 48.

Therefore we have, on one hand, that the alleged" monosemy" 

of the pictograms ^ is Illusory - how can we know, in each case, 

if we are confronting a true pictogram, denoting the physical 

object thus represented, or an ideogram? Only context allows 

us to decide. In other words, no automatic link, based on some 

"natural" connection between a graphic sign and Its referent, 

does exist. On the other hand, even stricto sensu pictograms 

(i.e., the ones allegedly expected to be interpreted literally) do 

not seek to evoke a physical, specific and unique object, but 

the whole group of possible objects belonging to a class. The 

pictogram of a table does not represent a table, but the class 

"tables"(i.e. the group of all the existentand possibly imaginable 

tables). Now, as Plato used to say, every item, sample, or 

individualized object is limited towards the concept {eidos, idea 

In Plato's terminology) it intends to illustrate. Were the idea of 

"table" be Illustrated be means of a four-legged rectangular 

table, and the one-leg ouija table would be excluded; would 

the concept of "people" be illustrated (as it generally Is) by an 

adult male, and children and women will be out. 

Moreover, the same graphic sign (or extremely similar, almost 

Identical graphic signs) can, in a same signage system, 

accommodate different meanings. Thus, In Fig. 4, the first 

three pictograms refer to "people İn general", without gender 

specification, while the fifth refers to people of one sex only 

(males); in Fig. 5, the first pictogram reads "gents" (men's 

toilets), v^hlle the third, "no entry", refers once again to people 

in general, i.e. both men and women.This happens because in 

language (written or spoken) the masculine functions as a sort 

of universal signifier. 

Figure 4. Swiss Railways (1993), design by J. 

and RSpalinger. 

luller-Brockman 

^MASSfRONI, M., 1996, p.l 29; COSTA, J., 1989, p.l41, refers" absolute 

monosemy". It has been frequently argued that every picture is 

always inherently polisemycal (see, for example, ECO, U., 1997). 

Figure 5. Expo 70, Osaka (Japan,! 970), design by Eknan KenjI, 

GK industrial Design Institute, Isozaki Arata e Fukuda Shigeo. 

1.3 masculine and "false neuter" 

In fact, comparing the relation between the two sexes to the 

one of two electricities, SImone de Beauvoir said that man 

represented "both the positive pole and the neutral"; to the 

woman it was left to be the negative, the Other of the man. 

That is why one says "Man", or "men", meaning the human 

beings.^ 

In the 1980s, Portuguese writer Isabel Barreno, in her study on 

gender discrimination in school programs and manuals, used 

the expression "False Neuter" (false generic)'^, to condemn 

this abusive use of the male form as a universal signifier for 

the human species." (Figs. 6-8 show examples of this practice 

in books iilustration and pictography). 

Figures 6 . "The long evolutionary chain till modern man", in 

Historia do Homem [History of Man], Lisbon: Seiecçöes do 

Reader's Digest, 1975, pp.12 e s. 

^ DE BEAUVOIR, S., 1975, pp.11 and f. 

'° In Portuguese, de word neutro can function both as a noun 

("neuter") and as an adjective ("neutral"). 

" BARRENO, M., 1985.

MACHTE DER ERDE 

mmm 

wffilliiflpl^ 

Figure 7. Isotype statistic chart showing the ethnical diversity 

of European empires; O. Neurath, Die Bunte Welt (Vienna, 

1929). 

It is a phenomenon that - so have argued several feminist 

authors - cannot be interpreted purely in linguistic terms, or 

as the result of some "natural rule" of human language, for it 

embraces a wider discursive practice, in a patriarchal culture 

that excludes or devaluates women depicting them as deviant 

towards the masculine norm.'^ 

in the last few years there has been some effort for alternative 

forms of speech in the verbal/written language. Namely, 

replacing the male nouns and expressions by other, more 

genericterms,withoutgenderspecification:tosay,forexample, 

"people"or"the human beings"instead of "men""humankind" 

instead of "mankind", etc.'^ However, in pictography, this 

procedure becomes difficult. Collective nouns such as "people" 

are too much abstract in the sense that, properly speaking, 

pictograms of"people"do not exist; in pictography, all there is 

are men and women. 

Fig. 8 shows a Portuguese sign post which reads:"PEDESTRIAN: 

take the left side of the road". In this specific case, one can 

consider that the inclusion of the pictogram particularizes, 

reduces the universe of the message - in Portuguese, the 

word "pedestrian" as no gender (or rather, both genders have 

the same form), yet the picture shows a man. In other words. 

'=See CAMERON, D., 1985; SPENDER, D.,1985 

what we have here is a limitation, or disadvantage ofthe visual 

code when compared to the written word. 

2. content analysis 

Figure 8. Portuguese road sign. 

In 2005, an extensive survey of both late-modern (1960s to 

1980s} and contemporary signage systems was undertaken 

at the University of Aveiro. The study consisted in a contents 

analysis of 49 signage systems form various countries and 

periods: 2 808 pictograms and symbols on the whole, 

from which 767 showing one or more human figures were 

selected." 

See for example, MILLER, C. and SWIFT K., 1981. 'BESSA,P., 2005. 

This contents analysis allowed us to find a direct relation 

between the represented gender and its frequency. Tables 

I and I! show the total number of pictograms that were 

found depicting adult males and/or females. In some cases, 

a pictogram would show individuals of both genders; in 

others, it was difficult or even impossible to determine which 

gender was represented - these last cases were registered as 

"unknown". As it can be seen, the percentage of pictograms 

representing women is substantially lower than the one 

representing men. This results from the ambiguous status of 

universal signifier ("false neuter"), which is attributed to the 

male form. The same does not happen, curiously enough, 

in the cases of pictograms representing children (Tables 111 

and IV). Although the full amount of pictograms in which it 

is possible to identify a gender is relatively small, there is a 

balance between the two genders.

Table I - decades of 1960 to 1980: number of pictograms 

depicting adults (or adults accompanied by children); 

frequency analysis In terms of gender. 

adults 229 

61 

both gender 48 

unknown 125 

Table 11 - decade of 1990 to 2000. 

463 

Table III - decades of 1960 to 1980: number of pictograms 

depicting exclusively children, and their frequency analysis in 

terms of gender. 

children male 8 

female 7 

both qender 7 

unknown 25 

total 47 

Table IV ~ decade of 1990 to 2000. 

children male 1 

female 1 

both qender 2 

unknown 16 

total 20 

To reinforce this phenomenon of semi-invisibility, the female 

gender, when represented, always configures very specific, 

clear-cut situations of exception towards the male/generic 

form. Thus, In the analysed systems, we have found evidence 

of stereotyping taking place at two levels. Firstly, with the 

constant association between women and children, or 

professions which deal with children. Not only one founds 

a much higher frequency of the female sex among children 

than among adults- as we have seen, the number of children 

depicted Is almost identical in both sexes (the idea of'chlldren" 

is, in fact, typically illustrated through the pictogram of both 

a boy and a girl, as in traffic signs), but also adult women are 

frequently shown accompanied by babies or small children 

(see Fig. 9 and also Table V). It is always women who are 

chosen to Illustrate professions, activities and services such as 

"nursery", "kindergarten", "paediatrics", etc. 

Table V - decades of 1960 to 2000: number of pictograms 

depicting adults accompanied by children; frequency analysis 

in terms of gender. 

adults male 4 

accompanied female 13 

by children both qender 3 

unknown 2 

total 22 

I 

Figure 9. various pictograms showing adults accompanied 

by children (the last one denoting "compulsory path to 

pedestrians"). Although largely underrepresented in signage 

systems, women tend to be omnipresent went it comes to 

illustrate the interaction between adults and children. 

Butitisalsopossibletostumbleonstereotyping when analysing 

the way pictograms come to reproduce traditional gender 

roles and professional jobs. Besides the already mentioned 

professions dealing with children (e.g. kindergarten educator), 

one finds numerous examples of the so-called "female jobs" 

involving the performance of more or less subordinate tasks: 

receptionist, flight attendant, secretary, cleaning lady (Table 

VI). In a general way, positions of leadership and authority 

(or at least like thus considered) are always Illustrated by 

male pictograms. The profession of nurse, for example, is as 

feminine profession, while the profession of doctor Is almost

always represented by a man^^ The same happens with the 

profession of l

symbois design may also result in confusion {or even danger, 

as in traffic signs) and loss oftrust on thesideof the user. Does 

this mean that all that is left for signage designers is to carry 

on their job, playing with stereo-types (that is, "solid, fixed 

characters")? Or is it possible to modify this situation? 

In the study we made, it was possible to find some improvement 

in pictograms from the1990-2000s, both in terms of women's 

"invisibility"and gender stereotyping, due to the introduction 

of innovative solutions. It Is our conviction, however, that 

some of the problems raised by signage and pictographic 

languages are, in fact. Impossible to solve. 

Figure 11. various examples of alternative pictograms. From 

left to right:"paediatrlcs","no strollers","no entry" (the last sign, 

however, could be misleading: it also reads as"men only"). 

In Fig. 11 It was reasonably easy to re-design the first and third 

pictograms, in order to make them less sexist. However, It 

was no longer possible, for example, to modify the fifth one 

("no entry") without some confusion having occurred. If one 

intended to prevent the "false neuter" problem and feminine 

invisibility, the resulting sign becomes somewhat ambiguous, 

introducing a restrictive meaning which the original did not 

have. It Is not very probable that the new sign is interpreted as 

blocking the entrance to people in general ("no entry"), but as 

blocking It exclusively to women ("men only"). 

That Is to say, and I will finish, pictography has obvious 

limitations (as well as advantages) when compared to the 

written language. What is important Is to be aware of these 

facts, instead of idealizing visual language as if It was a sort of 

magical solution to all communicational problems. 

References: 

AlCHER, 0., and KRAMPEN, M., 1995. SIstemas de signos en la 

comunicacion visual, Cidade do Mexico: Gustavo Gili/Mexico, 

4.th ed. 

ARNHEIM, R., 1986. Arte e Percepçâo Visual, S. Paulo: Livraria 

Pioneira Editora, 3.a ed., 

BARRENO, M., 1985. O Falso Neutro: Um estudo sobre a 

discnminaçâo sexual no ensino. Lisbon: Ediçöes Rolim. 

BESSA, P., 2005. Representaçöes do masculino e do feminino 

na sinaletica, unpublished PhD thesis. University of Aveiro. 

CAMERON, D., 1985. Feminism & Linguistic Theory, London: 

The MacMillan Press. 

CORDON, J. M. and MARTINEZ, T., 1987, Historia da Filosofia, 

Lisboa: Ed.s 70, vol.3, pp. 149-59. 

COSTA, J., 1989. Sehaletica, Barcelona: Ediciones Ceac. 

COSTA, J., 1998. La Esquematlca: visuallzar la informacion, 

Barcelona: Paİdös. 

DE BEAUVOIR, S., 1975.0 Segundo Sexo, Lisbon: Bertrand, vol. 1. 

DEWAR, R., 1999,"Design and evaluation of public information 

symbols", in H. Zwaga et al., Visual Information for Everyday 

Use: Design and Research Perspectives, London: Taylor and 

Francis, pp. 285-303. 

DREYFUSS, H., 1984 [1972], Symbol Source Book, NewYork: 

John Wiley & Sons. 

ECO, U., 1997.0 Signo, Lisbon: Presença. 

FRUTIGER, A.,1999. Signos, Simbolos, Marcas, Senales, 

Barcelona: Gustavo Gill. 

GRANGER, G.-G., [undated],"Circulo de VIena", in Claude Imbert 

et al., Filosofia Analitica, Lisboa: Gradlva, pp.83-86.

HORTON,W.,1994.The Icon Book: Visual Symbols for Computer 

Systems and Documentation, New York: John Wiley & Sons. 

KRUG, K.-H. et al., [undated], Pictogramas, Sinais de 

Comunicaçâo: sobre a signifîcaçâo, a concepçâo e a aplicaçâo 

de signos grâficos em qualidade de sistemas de pictogramas 

da comunicaçâo visual - [catalogue], Instituto Cultural de 

Relaçöes Exteriores /ERCO. 

LUPTON, E. and MILLER, A., 1999. A. Design Writing Research, 

London: Phaldon. 

LUPTON, E.,1989."Reading Isotype", in V. Margolin (ed.). Design 

Discourse, Chicago and London: The Univ. of Chicago Press, 

pp.145-156. 

MASSIRONI, M., 1996. Ver pelo Desenho; aspectos tecnicos, 

cognitivos, comunlcativos., Lisbon: Ed.s 70. 

MEGGS, P., 1991.A History of Graphic Design. New York: van 

Nostrand Reinhold, 2.nd ed. 

MILLER, C. and SWIFT, K., 1981.The Handbook of Non-SexIst 

Writing, London: The Women's Press. 

MODLEY R., 1976.Handbookof Pictorial Symbols, Nova lorque: 

Dover Publications. 

MOLES, A., 1989, "The Legibility of the World" in V. Margolin 

(ed.). Design Discourse, Chicago and London: The Univ. of 

Chicago Press, pp.119-129. 

OTA, Y, 1993. Pictogram Design, Tokyo: Kashlwa Bijutsu 

Shuppan. 

PIERCE, T, 1996.The International Pictograms Standard, 

Cincinnati: St Publications. 

SPENDER, D.,1985. Man Made Language, London: Routledge 

and Kegan Paul, 2nd ed. revised. 

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C R A Z Y I D E A S O R C R E A T I V E P R D B E S : P R E S E N T I N G C R I T I C A L A R T E F A C T S TO 

S T A K E H O L D E R S TO D E V E L O P I N N O V A T I V E P R O D U C T I D E A S 

Simon Jolm Bowen 

Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK 

s.bowen@shu.ac.uk 

Abstract 

A number of design practices derive from and develop the 

notion of critical theory. Notable developers of such "critical 

design practices" are Dunne & Raby with "critical design", 

Sengers and colleagues at Cornell University's Culturally 

Embedded Computing Group with"refiectivedesign",andAgre 

with "critical technical practice" within artificial intelligence 

research. And there are an increasing number of designers 

who, whilst not specifically explicating their theoretical 

ancestry, include critical elements in their products. 

The reflection afforded by the products of critical design 

is generally seen as its endpoint. However I have used this 

reflection i nstru mentally within human-centred design activities. 

"Critical artefacts" have proved more useful as tools than direct 

questioning techniques; İn particular as a way of enabling 

stakeholders to engage with novel situations and consequently 

engage in creative thinking about future possibilities. 

This paper begins with a review of critical design practices. Two 

case studies are then detailed demonstrating my approach. A 

discussion ofthe commonalities and differences between critical 

design practices follows noting their relationship to critical social 

theory and the relationship of my work to them. Finally further 

research to develop generallsable methods is outlined. 

Critical Design Practices 

Calhoun has proposed that 'Critical social theory makes the 

very givenness of the world the object of exploration and 

analysis' (1995:8). This view questions that there is only one 

possible way the social world can exist and be theorised, 

arguing that this possibility reflects numerous historical and 

cultural influences. By recognising alternative possibilities 

and critiquing existing social theories it reveals implications 

for social change. Critical design practices are my umbrella 

term for a set of related approaches that aim for similar ends 

via the practice of design (in its widest sense) - by producing 

artefacts which afford critical reflection. 

Critical design practitioners point to the underlying values and 

assumptlonsofdesignpractices(anddesign research practices) 

and suggest problems In leaving them un-crltiqued. 

Dunne & Raby are concerned with the unrecognised 

ideological nature of design. In Hertzian Tales (1999) Dunne 

criticises the manner in which electronic products are 

designed. He argues that the products of design embody the 

ideologies that created them (they reflect the values of their 

designers and manufacturers) and that the nature of these 

ideologies makes it undesirable for products' users to accept 

them unthinkingly. In Design Noir (2001) Dunne & Raby 

develop this idea further, categorising the ideological nature 

of design as either affirmative or critical. Affirmative design 

reinforces the current situation by leaving the ideologies 

unchallenged and conforming to cultural, social and technical 

expectation. Critical design rejects the current situation as the 

only possibility, and provides a critique in the form of design 

outputs embodying alternative values and ideologies. 

Dunne (1999) proposes specific examples of the ideologies 

inherent in electronic products and the consequences of 

their adoption: That design generally serves a culture of 

consumption, leading to industrial design maintaining a 

society of passive consumers; That design outputs often 

portray didactic or Utopian situations with discrepancies 

between them and the everyday situations they are actually

encountered in; That approaches such as Human Factors are 

limited, producing "usable" products that 'will not confuse or 

disappoint! Dunne infers there are benefits to products doing 

more - in confounding expectations. He offers that affordances 

(after Donald Norman) are not fixed aspects of products to be 

understood; rather they are individually, socially and culturally 

dynamic. This leads to a form of design which is about more 

than just needs-satisfaction and ease of use. 

Dunne & Raby (2001) suggest industrial design's role in the 

design of electronic products is casting designers as mere 

semioticians, as illustrated by the example of the Sony 

Walkman.' The original Walkman created a new kind of 

experience (mobile, personal music) and redefined the role 

of technology In public spaces.^ The numerous subsequent 

designs of "waikmans" have not caused such fundamental 

changes, instead re-presenting the same product purpose In 

slightly different forms. Dunne & Raby feel that the majority of 

electronic product design suffers from this problem - dealing 

In the signs to communicate what a product does, rather than 

devising new product roles and purposes. They refer to this 

as one "genre" of product design, where 'the emphasis is on 

easy pleasure and conformist values'and which 'reinforces the 

status quo rather than challenging it'. 

Sengers et al. specifically focus on human computer interaction 

(HCI) practices, asking 'what values, attitudes, and ways of 

looking at the woHd are we unconsciously building into our 

technology, and what are their effects?' (Sengers et al. 2005:49). 

They note that there are gaps in design and research methods 

caused by the unconscious adoption of the values within them, 

for example a focus on cognition to the detriment of emotional 

aspects, and the dominance of work-centred approaches'rlsking 

' Referring to designers as makers and purveyors of "signs" rather 

than those involved in the study of signs. 

^ Dunne & Raby make great claims of the Walkman, '[offering] people 

a new kind of relationship to urban space' (p45), as being exemplar of 

what the design of electronic products can be. However to infer that this 

radical new social application of technology was somehow designed 

is problematic. There are several stories as to how the Walkman was 

devised, but none tell of Sony's desire to affect social change. The effects 

it produced were incidental and not consciously engineered. 

making all of life like work'. They suggest that 'critical reflection 

identified particular unconscious assumptions in HCI that might 

result In negative impacts on our quality of life'(p49). 

Sengers et al. are interested in critical reflection on practice 

within the practice Itself (by researchers and designers), and 

they argue that'critical reflection itself, can and should be a 

core principle of technology design for identifying blind spots 

and opening new design spaces' (p. 49, their Italics). Critical 

reflection is not just for opening up approaches for designers, 

'technology design practices should support botli designers 

and users in ongoing critical reflection about technology 

and its relationship to human life' (p. 50, their italics). In their 

reflective design strategies they suggest building technology 

as a probe to explore social practices and the practices of 

technology design and evaluation. 

Agre argues that the design of Artificial Intelligence (Al) 

systems is influenced and limited by the manner In which 

it is thought about ~ how it is discussed and how this is 

translated via the technical construction of its systems (1997). 

At his time of writing, he suggested that Al systems reflected 

limited concepts of what intelligence is and how we interact 

with our environment as intelligent beings. Recognising 

this, he argues, is therefore important In developing a more 

holistic conceptualisation and design of Al systems. Although 

discussing Al in particular, Agre notes that there could be a 

benefit in including such critically reflective elements in all 

technical practices: 'What Is needed [..] is a critical technical 

practice - a technical practice for which critical reflection 

upon the practice is part of the practice itself (pxii). 

Agre calls the Influencing aspects 'substantive metaphors', 

showing howtheyare expressed bythe language, terminology 

and attendant imagery commonly associated with particular 

disciplines. These metaphors'define a hierarchical opposition 

between central and marginal cases, that is, between those 

phenomena that are readily assimilated to the metaphor 

and those that are not' (p. 45). So reasoning based on any 

such metaphors will be unable to adequately account for the 

marginal cases. Agre sees the problem with existing technical 

practices is that they see Inadequately explained phenomena 

as further problems to be solved, not as limitations of the 

metaphorical underpinning of the practice Itself.

Agre suggests that Al has suffered from being organised 

around a substantive metaphor he terms 'mentalism', derived 

from cognitive science, where 'the mind is a space with an 

inside, an outside, a boundary, and contents'. Phenomena 

become either central or marginal according to whether they 

can be adequately explained by this metaphor. For example 

detached "cognition" and internalised "thinking" are central 

to this metaphor; complex interactions between individuals 

and the "outside" world are marginal, less easily described 

by the metaphor. The presence of a central/marginal divide 

highlights the shortcomings of substantive metaphors and 

the need to recognise and critically reflect on their influence 

on technical practice. To do so, Agre suggests focussing on the 

marginal phenomena to create new substantive metaphors 

- in this example'interactionism'. 

The exhibition 'Strangely Familiar: Design and Everyday Life' 

included several products of critical design practice including 

the work of Dunne & Raby. In his introductory essay to the 

exhibition, Blauvelt suggests 'design is both invisible and 

conspicuous, familiar and strange' (2003:14). He argues that 

the products of design surround us, but for most people the 

practices of design are unknown: '[Design outputs] tend to 

conceal rather than reveal the process of their making' (p. 14). 

Blauvelt goes on to unpick some of the "invisible" aspects of 

design. He suggests the 'relative invisibility of design is also 

a matter of perceptual survival', if new products didn't merge 

easily into our everyday lives, life would become "an ever- 

changing visual cacophony' (p. 15). 

Whilst Dunne & Raby, Sengers and Agre are conscious of and 

explicatethetheoreticaldriversoftheirwork,otherpractitioners 

operate in a more intuitive manner. There is a growing group 

of designers who direct some of their work towards satirising 

their own profession, appreciating a need to challenge design 

practice and products' roles within consumer society. The 

provocative and challenging concepts they produce could 

be comfortably described as critical design, but perhaps the 

thinking behind them and their ultimate aim is less driven by 

a conscious critique and exposition of contemporary values 

and more a desire to "poke fun" at the products of a rampant 

consumer society. 

For example the Human Beans partnership of two design 

professionals state their manifesto as: 'We make fictional 

products by hacking commercial culture [..] Our aim İs to 

challenge assumptions and point in new directions' (2006). 

Several of their'fictional products'seem to fit the definition of 

critical design:"Mr Germy"is a bacteria-infused chewing toy to 

boost infants'immune systems; in buyİng"Lİve Cigarettes" you 

collect points for the treatment of smoking-related diseases; 

"Mute" Is a hearing aid for the hearing able. These product 

concepts afford critical reflection on ideologies based around 

hygiene, healthy living and the roles of assistive technology. 

Human Beans are interested the experiences surrounding 

products in contemporary society - how we use products, how 

products are marketed to us, the identities and aspirations 

we develop around products. As designers working within 

design and marketing they are experienced in the tactics 

used to Influence these experiences. Their approach is a more 

"designerly" Intuitive application and satire of these tactics 

ratherthan a philosophically-informed and directed critique.The 

manner in which Human Beans present their fictional products 

illustrates this difference. Whereas Dunne & Raby concentrate 

on communicating the functional purpose of their concepts. 

Human Beans go beyond this to communicating the numerous 

ways of encountering their concepts as "real" products. Their 

concepts are presented via realistic packaging, advertising and 

other promotional materials (figure 1). Although theirtheoretlcal 

position may be less defined. Human Beans concepts' power 

is in their bel leva bility, which has been achieved through the 

intuitive knowledge of practicing designers. 

Figure 1. Mute (Photo: Human Beans).

The work of the designers who belong to the Droog Design 

collective could be seen as pioneers of'satirical design". Droog 

Design grew from an exhibition curated by Dutchmen Renny 

Ramakers and Gijs Bakker in 1993. The Droog designers are 

united by their "dry" mentality {droog meaning dry in Dutch). 

"Dry'as that essentially Dutch inclination to'do normal'and at 

the same time critically investigate what you're doing and the 

way you do it.^'[Droog designers] need to share a mentality that 

looks at design as both functional statement and conceptual 

discourse' (Droog Design 2007). But again the emphasis of 

Droog products is of presenting artefacts that could be (and 

often are) marketed and sold. 

Practices which apply critical reflection for similar ends to 

critical design have also been developed in other areas, for 

example Fuller has written about the Idea of "critical software" 

(2003). Fuller describes critical software as 'pieces of software 

designed expllcitlyto pull the rug from underneath normalised 

understandings of software'. They are intended to reveal and 

afford reflection on the underlying facets of software In both 

its design and use. 

In my work I have used critical reflection more instrumentally 

as part of human-centred design activities. Two case studies 

are now presented to Illustrate this approach. 

Case Study 1: Digital Photograph Collections 

This project explored how stakeholders could be involved 

in the development of new product ideas, in particular new 

ways of using digital photograph collections. 

Several ideas provided the impetus for the project. Others have 

recognised that the increasing number of digital photographs 

taken is creating an information management problem for 

many people, particularly if those photographs are stored and 

organised on a personal computer (Weinberger 2004). The 

developmentofnewtechnologiessuchaselectronicinkdispiays 

(e.g. E-Ink 2004) and computing paradigms such as ubiquitous 

computing (Weiser 1991) means that the organisation and 

display of images need not be limited to established paradigms 

of paper prints or a computer monitor as represented by the 

introduction of electronic photograph frames e.g. (Philips 2005). 

Consequently there was an opportunity to develop more novel 

digital photograph products.The challenge was to ensure that 

these product ideas were driven by a nch understanding of 

stakeholder needs rather than by technology alone. 

The needs of families with young children and older people 

were chosen to be investigated as both these broad categories 

of people make extensive use of photographs, specifically the 

idea of so-called "family album" photographs. Representatives 

of these two groups took part in the research activities. 

An initial approach was to use low fidelity prototypes (after Ehn 

& Kyng 1991) with stakeholders to develop an understanding 

of their needs. In conducting these activities a common 

limitation became apparent. Stakeholders had difficulty 

responding usefully to the prototypes as the novel application 

of technologies they illustrated was unfamiliar. People find it 

hard to articulate what they need if they don't know what they 

can have. 

Stakeholders were briefed about the potential of electronic ink 

displays and wirelessly networked devices (described as"magic 

paper" to remove potentially confusing technical jargon) and 

then encouraged to engage in creative thinking about future 

posslbiiities.To enable this, a variety of roughly-made cardboard 

frames, coloured label "buttons", and blue foam and plasticine 

"controls"were provided forparticlpantsto manipulate. However 

participants generally responded by devising systems based on 

their existing experiences. A participant from the families with 

young children group was observed devising a system where 

a moving pointer selected images from textual lists displayed 

on a screen, very clearly derived from her experience of using 

web browsers. A couple from the older people group rejected 

the prototypes altogether preferring traditional photograph 

albums, reluctantly offering that a numeric keypad could be 

added to select the date range of the photographs. 

Pnorto this, I had found that the use of more direct questioning 

strategies such as questionnaires and interviews had much the 

same limitations. Questioning strategies, whether they attend 

to responses to direct questions or responses to prototypes, 

have the same limitation - the responses are dominated by 

the experiences of the questioned. Novel products create 

new, unfamiliar experiences which questioning strategies 

have difficulty explonng. So to develop a rich understanding

of stakeholder needs to inform the development of novel 

product ideas, an alternative approach to questioning was 

required. 

Having chosen managing digital photographs as a vehicle for 

the research, I had set out to discover how stakeholders might 

best explore v>/hat forms of products could be developed, and 

the wants, needs and values they should reflect. In order for 

these product ideas to be novel they needed to go beyond 

familiar ideas of the use of photographs. Critical design 

offered a way to suggest alternative aspects and afford critical 

reflection on them. 

A set of six critical artefacts were designed and presented 

to two workshop groups of three participants (combining 

representatives of the older people and families with young 

children groups) as valid design proposals which they were 

invited to critique.The artefacts were presented via scenarios 

told using "photo essays". 

For example the Forget IVle iôt Frame (figure 2.) is a 

provocative design concept devised to explore issues of social 

etiquette and dynamic display of photographs. The frame has 

a lever on Its side that fades out the photograph, the lever 

also slowly descends over time and needs continually pulling 

up to prevent the photograph disappearing. The frame also 

communicates with other digital photograph devices. For 

example in the photo essay: my mother is on the phone to me; 

we have an argument and she slams the phone down; then 

walks over to the Forget Me Not Frame and pushes the lever 

down; this "disappears" the picture in the frame; but also any 

other photos of me displayed elsewhere. 

The artefact scenarios prompted illuminating discussions 

from the participants, which I videotaped to enable me 

to participate as designer and later step back as detached 

researcher observing the interactionsthattook place. Although 

participants could not imagine wanting the products, they 

did engage with the ideas and concepts expressed through 

them. For example the Forget Me Not Frame prompted that 

'the whole concept of wiping someone out [is] horrible', but 

participants went on to discuss the effects of changing family 

relationships and how being able to "edit out" particular 

photographs could be beneficial - i.e. with an increasing 

number of relationships ending in separation and divorce, it 

could be socially tactful to remove certain photographs on 

display during family visits. 

The workshop discussions informed the ongoing design 

exercise, creating a rich understanding of stakeholder needs 

relating to these unfamiliar situations. This was expressed 

as explicit themes to be considered in the design of digital 

photograph products. For example the emotional connection 

people have with personal photographs means that their use 

and display should be "open-ended" - people dislike such 

emotive material being automated or controlled. 

Thethemesweretaken a stepfurther and expressed via another 

series of artefacts. These "way marker" artefacts had a greater 

balance of practicality and novelty than the critical artefacts 

and indicated potential areas for new product development. 

For example the Picture Grabber way marker (figure 3.) 

developed the idea of tactfully changing photographs with a 

physical device to "drag and drop" images. 

Figure 2. Forget Me Not Frame. Figure 3. Picture Grabber.

This project showed that there was value in using critically 

designed artefacts within this design activity and that the 

approach might be usefully applied to other human-centred 

design contexts. 

Case Study 2: Design and Ageing in the Home 

This project fits within a broad enquiry theme with colleagues 

at Sheffield Hallam University into ageing, design and well 

being. The project was intended as a scoping study to inform 

future work in this area. It aimed to explore how domestic 

environments could adapt for ageing population needs 

whilst remaining attractive and satisfying places to be. It also 

provided another human-centred design activity in which to 

apply the instrumental use of critical artefacts. 

People are living longer and older people comprise an 

increasing proportion ofthe population. The United Nations 

reported that by 2050, 20% of us will be 60 years or older 

and 'the older population itself is ageing. The oldest old (80 

years or older) is the fastest growing segment of the older 

population' (2003). 

There are numerous research projects into the effects of 

ageing, and several design projects developing products and 

environments for an ageing population. However these often 

focus on the 'medical model' of appreciating stakeholders' 

needs (Newel! 2003) ~ treating the "symptoms" of ageing 

with design "cures". Design has the potential to reconcile 

older people's needs and aspirations - products could be 

useful and desirable to all in addition to alleviating the effects 

of ageing. We also recognise the opportunity to use design 

as a way of exploring the context itself - contributing to a 

rich understanding of the ageing population in addition to 

designing for them. 

Eight members of the Sheffield branch of the University of 

Third Age (U3A) participated in the study, aged between 60 

and 90 and all living independently in Sheflield. The study 

consisted of three phases of activity surrounding three 

stakeholder workshops lasting around one hour. 

1 described the series of workshops to participants as an 

ongoing "dialogue". In the first workshop participants would 

be talking to me, the primary aim being to gain some 

"inspiration" for the critical artefacts 1 would create for later 

workshops. Participants were asked to bring in examples of 

(or images of) two artefacts from their"!iv!ng rooms"that were 

a favourite and a nuisance (but necessary), which then formed 

the starting point for discussion. 

In the second workshop I would be "talking back" to the 

participants via a set of critical artefacts; with the aim of 

suggesting some new situations for reflection and discussion. 

Five artefacts were presented to the participants who were 

told to see treat them as "conversation starters". 

One of the themes that emerged from the first workshop 

was the problem of "clutter". Participants felt overwhelmed 

by a miscellany of items that seem to be an unavoidable 

part of everyday life: bills, letters, junk mail, newspapers and 

magazines. The Prioritiser concept was developed in response 

(figure 4.). All incoming post is placed on a shelf in the Prioritiser 

to be dealt with in future, most important items at the top. 

The shelves slowly descend and, when reaching the bottom, 

drop their contents into a paper shredder. The owner of the 

Prioritiser is given a certificate entitling them to shred any 

post that does not ensure their attention before it reaches the 

shredder. Participants related a common anxiety of needing 

to deal with their "clutter", the Prioritiser encouraged them to 

imagine a situation where this anxiety is challenged. 

Figure 4. Prioritiser. 

Another theme which emerged in the first workshop was the 

conflict between personal independence and community

dependence. Participants felt that the effects of ageing 

meant they were Increasingly dependant on others, but this 

dependence could be detrimental to their well being as their 

sense of personal independence was eroded. The decline 

of local feelings of community exacerbates the problem 

- participants were becoming less likely to seek the help of 

their neighbours.The CommunlTools concept was developed 

in response (figure 5.}. A block of apartments has a new type 

of celling light for easy, self-maintenance. The light has a tool 

to lower it, a tool to open the light fitting, and a tool to remove 

and replace the light bulb. However there is only one tool per 

apartment and none has all the tools. 

Figure 5. CommunlTools 

This artefact prompted discussion of the value of social 

Interaction for mental well being - combating loneliness, 

maintaining a sense of personal worth and developing 

support networks. However concern was expressed at the 

idea of having behaviour "designed" (to force situations for 

social interaction). 

In the third vôrkshop I presented a second set of critical 

artefacts to participants. Influenced by the discussions that 

took place dunng the second workshop. The aim being to 

explore some of the areas outlined in the second workshop 

in greater depth. Three artefacts were presented to the 

participants, again as "conversation starters", additionally 

they were told the artefacts demonstrated 'what I think you 

think...'. 

For example the response to the CommuniTools concept 

suggested it could be better to design social interaction "by 

subterfuge'" - i.e. in a less explicit manner, as a by-product 

of design rather than the main objective. This led to another 

concept CommuniCycle (figure 6.}. The main perceived 

objective is to replace the British system of numerous wheeled 

bins for collecting household waste (with consequent space 

and collection implications) with a mini-recycling station for 

every few homes, thereby creating numerous opportunities 

for social encounters with your neighbours as a by-product. 

Figure 6. CommuniCycle 

Again this project showed the usefulness of presenting critical 

artefacts to stakeholders within a design process. The study 

also suggested themes to be explored in further work, some 

of which were expressed as "way marker" concepts. 

Discussion 

My research is concerned with the implications of critical 

design practice rather than critical social theory. But it is useful 

to note how critical design practices can be mapped against, 

for example, Calhoun's description of critical social theory. This 

comparison highlights a common posirion that they all hold, 

although their specific interpretations vary, relating to the traits 

of critical social theory as described by Calhoun: 

• The "way things are" is not the only possibility and 

reflects underlying, often hidden, factors; 

• The unthinking acceptance of these factors causes 

problems; so 

• There is a need to recognise and crirically reflect on 

these factors; and 

•There is a need to explore other possibilities; and 

• Thereby affect an Improvement in the "way things 

are".

So the "way things are" is the design and use/consumption of 

eiectronic products for Dunne & Raby, the design and research 

practices of HCI systems for Sengers, and the design of Al 

systems for Agre. Each cite underlying factors: the ideological 

nature of design (Dunne & Raby), HCi's focus on cognition and 

work (Sengers) and the limitations of "substantive metaphors" 

(Agre). Each note problems in the unthinking acceptance of 

these factors: the continuation of passive consumption and 

the production of "unpoetic" products (Dunne & Raby), HCI 

systems' negative impacts on quality of life due to the "gaps 

in practice" (Sengers), and the development of Al systems' 

behaviour that does not adequately reflect real world 

phenomena (Agre).And each has their own way of exploring 

other possibilities: Dunne & Raby create "design noir", "para- 

functional" or user-unfriendly products, products as value 

fictions with poetic dimensions; Sengers builds technologies 

as probes and provides for open interpretation; Agre creates 

new substantive metaphors for Al by placing at the centre 

phenomena that were previously marginalised; Blauvelt 

suggests designers use aspects of the everyday to make the 

familiar strange; and "satirical designers" make believable 

products and promotional material with subversive content. 

In all the above points, the practitioners may differ on the 

details but they are broadly doing similar things. It is their 

approaches to the improvement in the "way things are", that 

varies greatly - where the improvement is afforded, how 

critical reflection is used to make this improvement, and 

consequently the roles ofthe artefacts produced from their 

practice. In this last respect my work differs and develops from 

these existing practices. 

Ail critical design practitioners are attempting in some way to 

make their respective practices more "effective" - whether it is 

a more holistic appreciation of practices'contexts or a greater 

public awareness of the impacts of practices. The difference is 

whether this improvement Is in the practitioners' own practice 

or their practice in genera! and/or the social world it affects. Is 

criticality used within their practice or produced outside their 

practice? Critical design and the work of satirical designers are 

about putting critical artefacts "out into the world". They aim to 

improve the practice of design in general by affording critical 

reflection in others. Critical technical practice and reflective 

design aim to improve their own practice by affording critical 

reflection within it. My approach is closer to the latter situation - 

using critical reflection instrumentally within a design process. 

Alongside this are the differences In the roles of the products 

of critical design practices. The role of Dunne & Raby's 

concepts (and, less explicitly, those of satirical designers) is to 

afford experiences of critical reflection. In this respect they are 

perhaps closer to art objects than designed products - they 

are intended to make us think. But it is rather too simplistic 

to classify these products as art rather than design. Most 

designers would be happy and familiar with designing certain 

of critical design's aspects into their work (affecting social 

change, countering passive consumption etc.). So perhaps 

Dunne & Raby are offering a new type of product, with a new 

way of consumption - experiences for rent? Either way they do 

not reflect the usual function of design - "mainstream design" 

as Dunne refers to it. 

A definition of mainstream design could be: making things to 

afford an improvement in our experiences of our environment. 

Dunne & Raby seem to be saying thatthere is little further work 

to be done improving things in this respect, so design should 

be making things to afford reflection on our experiences of our 

environment. Mainstream design is primarily about offering 

answers, Dunne & Raby suggest that design should now be 

about asking questions. 

Agre's critical technical practice produces Al systems that 

better represent real world phenomena. Sengers' reflective 

design produces HCI systems that offer a more holistic 

satisfaction of needs and afford some critical reflection of 

their use. In this respect they are both closer to what Dunne & 

Raby would term mainstream design. They are primarily about 

producing answers. 

The approach is also closer to the idea of mainstream design. 

The critical artefacts produced serve the role of "probes" 

within human-centred design activity - tools for exploring 

problem contexts and generating needs-focussed product 

ideas. The critical artefacts are instrumental in developing 

better "answers". 

Although the idea of critical theory provides a departure point 

for the practices described above, it is less useful for my own

work. More relevant here is the work of Ehn & Kyng (1991) 

who demonstrated a process that engendered new thinking 

in product development. Their use of low fidelity prototypes 

allowed stakeholders to engage with a novel situation in 

a manner that revealed knowledge about their working 

practice and how the design of novel systems might support 

it. Specifically a newspaper editorial team's engagement with 

"cardboard computers" informed the design of computer- 

based publishing systems before they were being used In the 

industry; it allowed them to engage with a novel situation in 

a way that usefully informed design thinking (see also Rust 

2004:78). My use of critical artefacts is In a similar vein. 

Gaver & Martin (2000) discuss an application of critical 

design within design practice for more instrumental ends. 

They produced a "workbook" illustrating twenty'conceptual 

design proposals'. These concepts express alternate values 

to 'functionality and usefulness' for digital devices, thereby 

suggesting that digital devices might embody alternative 

values but also affording reflection that they already embody 

a restricted set of values. They function as critical design, 

affording critical reflection. 

Gaver & Martin presented the workbook concepts to their 

collaborators as inspiration, to 'encourage people to imagine 

living with them, raising many of the sorts of reactions that might 

be encountered If they actually existed' (p215). They describe 

the concepts as 'placeholders, occupying points in the design 

space without necessarily being the best devices to populate it' 

(p216, their italics). So the concepts provided starting points for 

exploring these design spaces, defining the contexts for new 

digital devices. In concluding Gaver & Martin suggest critical 

design practices: 'might also form the basis for new kinds of 

user studies [..] concept proposals could introduce speculative 

new ideas to potential users in such a way as to evoke general 

Insights into their attitudes as well as more specific reactions' 

(p216).This Is the territory my work is exploring. 

Further Research 

The scoping study described above Informs a one year project 

extending the investigation.This new project includes a more 

diverse group of stakeholders associated with older people: 

active older people, frail older people, their carers and the 

"future old" - middle-aged people whose aspirations future 

products will need to satisfy. This larger study provides the 

context for developing a generalisable methodology for using 

critical artefacts Instrumentally within a design process. 

The above case studies both flagged potential conflicts 

between the roles of the designer as workshop participant and 

the designer as "ethnographic-like" observer. Ethnographies 

attempt to document a situation without changing it. 

However my approach Involves simultaneously manipulating 

a situation, participating In it and observing it (as Is often the 

case in designers' activities In research). There Is also a third 

level in which I am operating - as a researcher developing a 

methodology. The wider project will provide evidence of the 

methods' real world effects, from which the validity of such 

participation-observation activities could be reasoned. It also 

provides an opportunity for others to take the role of designer- 

participant and designer-observer and increase the breadth 

of perspectives used to develop the methodology. 

Conclusions 

There is a number of emerging "critical design practices" 

that develop the Idea of critical theory Into design activity - 

using critical reflection on their practices to make them more 

"effective". For Dunne & Raby and other proponents of critical 

design such as "satirical designers" the critical reflection 

Is the endpolnt. Their artefacts afford critical reflection in 

their audiences, and it is hoped that by contributing to the 

wider public discourse beneficial change might occur. Other 

practices use critical reflection In a more Instrumental way. In 

Sengers' reflective design and Agre's critical technical practice 

It is used by the practitioners themselves to ensure a more 

holistic, comprehensive appreciation of their design contexts. 

Critical aspects are used within these practices and they are 

less evident In their end products - unlike critical artefacts. 

Through my research I am developing another possibility of 

critical design practice - that there is an opportunity to use 

critical artefacts, not simply as agents for critical reflection, but 

more instrumentally within human-centred design activity as 

"creative probes" to explore novel problem contexts. In this 

respect my work is closer to the low-fidelity prototyping Ideas of 

Ehn & Kyng than the critical theory cited by other practitioners.

The two case studies presented here demonstrate that there 

is value in using critical artefacts in this way, although there 

is ongoing work remaining to develop generallsable methods 

to exploit this principle. 

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C D M P E T I N G W I T H G L O B A L P L A Y E R S : T H E O T H E R S I D E O F T H E C O I N 

Suzan Boztepe 

Middle EastTeclinical University, Ankara, Turl

advantage, grow/th and innovation possibilities that could be 

brought by design and technology. He argues that design in 

particular has an Important role to play in the development 

of peripheral countries. Today, although not many, cases that 

challenge dependency views exist. For example, the success 

of South Korean companies such as Samsung is largely 

attributed to the innovative and effective use of design 

skills and knowledge on a corporate wide level (Dong-Sung, 

2004; Hardy and Chung, 2000; Rocks and Ihlwan, 2004), It is 

the purpose of this paper to analyze such success stories in 

which design contributed to local companies'success against 

well established global players. The paper first reviews the 

unique challenges and opportunities for local companies in 

the so-called developing countries. Next, the role of design in 

creating global competitive advantage is examined. Through 

analyses of case studies of Turkish companies that have 

been successful in competing against big global players, the 

paper then discusses the competitive assets utilized by these 

companies, and the role design plays in securing competitive 

position at home market and expanding Internationally. 

Finally, directions for future research and practical implications 

are discussed giving particular emphasis on how particular 

success factors could be scaled and used. 

Local Companies in Global Markets 

The debate on globalization of business offers little guidance 

to local companies because it is biased, mostly reflecting the 

perspective of global companies. It is primanly concerned with 

how established western companies can further extend their 

operations to new markets and manage internationally. For 

example, some of the main issues include (1) the question of 

whether converging lifestyles and desire for the same global 

products exist (e.g., Aiden, Steenkamp, and Batra, 2006; Guillen, 

2001 a, 2001 b; Levitt, 1983; Ohmae, 1995, Zhou and Belk, 2004); 

(2) barriers to and problems of entry to new markets (e.g., Yip, 

1992); (3) how to cope with the realities of the new markets more 

effectively (e.g., Bartlett and Goshal, 1998; Douglas and Craig, 

1989; Hamel and Prahalad, 1985; Kashani, 1989;) and (4) how 

to adopt an appropriate marketing and product strategy which 

will help to successfully penetrate Into new markets (Calantone 

et al., 2004; Cavusgll, Zou and Naidu, 1993; Quelch and Hoff, 

1986; Özsomerand Simonin, 2004;Takeuchi and Porter, 1986). 

That said, what works for western global companies may not 

always work for companies In developing countries as each 

operates in a different setting which poses a unique set of 

challenges. Even to stand-up the competition at home, local 

companies have to overcome several disadvantages such as 

political and economic instabilities, technological dependency 

on global and multinational companies, manufacturing and 

assembly oriented Industrial system and consumer bias. 

For example, according to McKinsey Company's research, 

Turkey utilizes only a little more than half of its potential 

productivity level due to the economic volatility (Baser, Farrell, 

and Meen, 2003). High interest rates, high inflation, and high 

government debt partially caused by short lived and weak 

governments create an extremely unstable situation for 

businesses. In such an environment, many companies direct 

their effort towards OEM production which is perceived to be 

low risk. In theTurkish case, proximity to major markets, cheap 

skilled workforce, and policies encouraging foreign direct 

investment make OEM agreements even more desirable. The 

short history of competitive market structure and the absence 

of an established R&D base have further encouraged OEM 

orientation and cost based competition. Also, in contrast to 

imported products, consumers perceive local products as low 

quality (Ger, 1992,1999). 

Despite these major disadvantages, few studies on local 

businesses demonstrate that, once local companies break out 

the mindset that they could never compete successfully on the 

global stage, they can actually develop strategies reverse their 

position (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 2000; Dawar and Frost, 1999; 

Khanna and Paiepu, 2006). For example, Dawar and Frost (1999) 

argue, In their analysis of Indian denim producer Arvind Mills, 

that local companies that have a good understanding of the 

conditions of their industry and their own assets can effectively 

defend their markets against global companies. In fact, it is even 

argued that local companies possess unique opportunities 

and advantages over their global counterparts. One such 

key advantage is their understanding of local capabilities and 

resources, such as the knowledge of locally available materials, 

culture-specific work models, local infrastructure, established 

service, supplier and distribution networks, etc. (Dawar and 

Frost, 1999; Khanna and Paiepu, 2006). Dawar and Frost's 

Bajaj motor case shows how an established service network 

and knowledge of local Infrastructure could turn out to be a 

competitive asset. When Honda entered the Indian Market,

it offered teclinologically and aestlieticaliy more advanced 

models than the local ones. However, the local motorcycle 

manufacturer Bajaj was able to keep its leading position in the 

market due to its widely accessible distribution system and 

omnipresent service network of roadside mechanics which 

fit well v/\th the Indian way of doing business. Honda, on the 

other hand, was sold mostly through outlets in major cities and 

reached only a very small segment. 

Deep cultural and market knowledge is another strength 

that local companies could build on {Ger, 1999; Khanna and 

Palepu, 2006). According to Ger (1999), local companies could 

successfully compete through building a cultural capital. 

She borrows the term from Bourdieu (1977, 1984), where 

it originally refers to the creation of a potential capacity to 

produce economic or social profits through an Individual's 

accumulation of knowledge, skills, education, taste, etc. In 

a similar vein, "[t]he intrinsic advantage retained by local 

companies is their local identity and culture" (Ger, 1999: 65). 

This could then be further developed to enable these firms to 

create economic value with local strategies. Although recent 

design and business research advises global companies to 

acquire local knowledge, tailor their offerings, and innovate 

based on local needs (e.g., Ghemawat, 2005; Greenwalt and 

Kahn, 2005), global companies are reluctant to localize since 

the associated effort and costs are high, and the size of each 

individual market is perceived as being small (Applbaum, 

2000; Calantone et al., 2004). Therefore, they primarily target 

the so-called global customer segments, which supposedly 

consist of customers who demand products with the same 

attributes and quality as those in developed countries, and 

could afford higher prices. According to Khanna and Palepu 

(2006), this leaves out the glocal segment, that is, the group 

that demands products with global quality, but with functions 

and features that fit their local context and needs, and at an 

affordable price. Not to mention that it overlooks the segment 

defined as the bottom ofthe pyramid by the Prahalad and 

Hammond (2002). That is, the largest segment of society 

with considerable cumulative buying power remains largely 

untapped. So, utilizing the accumulated social and cultural 

capital to provide products that target the glocal and the 

bottom of the pyramid segments, instead of products that 

match global companies' could be a strategy that enables 

local companies to cater to large markets. 

Another prospect for success is the East Asian model. 

Companies here have used the OEM or joint venture 

agreements with global companies as an opportunity to 

learn from global companies (Hobday, 1995; Kim and Nelson, 

2000). They have effectively used the cooperation with global 

companies to build up a technological base, transfer state- 

of-the-art work models, and develop innovative capabilities 

and culture of R&D. Thus, over time, they have moved from 

offering manufacturing services to global companies to 

designing new products to known brands. Companies like 

BenQ or Flextronics have these days moved further to offering 

co-branded or branded products globally which enable them 

to reap higher profits. 

Building on strengths at home is not only a way to defend 

domestic market but also a base for launching international 

expansion strategies as in the cases of Philippines'fast food 

chain Jollibee or Mexican Cemex. Bartlett and Ghoshal (2000) 

consider it as being possible either through targeting niche 

markets or developing capabilities to go head on head with 

the global players. While design is mentioned as an Important 

competence, for example in the leapfrogging of Asian 

companies, there is not much attention in business research 

on design's specific contribution to global competitiveness of 

local companies. 

Design and Global Competitiveness 

In design research, on the other hand, there has been a 

significant amount of effort on design as a competitive tool 

in general (Walsh, Roy, and Bruce, 1988; Walsh, Roy, Potter, 

and Bruce, 1992; Roy and Potter, 1997; Roy and Gardiner, 

1984). Design contributes to the creation of both price and 

non-price competitive factors (e.g., Walsh et al., 1992). That 

is, it is a tool to compete through low cost and product 

differentiation alike. However, cost based competition is 

increasingly seen as unsustainable (Porter, 1986a, 1986b). 

Today, low cost and quality have already become a common 

standard for almost any manufacture. Therefore, design as 

a tool for differentiation gains major significance. After all, 

it is design's responsibility to create product characteristics 

such as appearance, image, ease of use, ergonomics, safety, 

comfort, reliability, etc. that become key differentiators in 

the eyes of customers.

When it comes to competition in global markets, Lorenz {1986) 

sees the role of design as differentiator as having a primary 

impact on organizationai success. Unghanawa and Baker's 

(1989) research on international competitiveness of receivers 

of British Queen's Award companies shows that companies 

with higher international competitiveness are also attentive 

of design issues such as use performance, sophistication, 

aesthetics, etc, Others emphasize design's competitive role as 

that of creating products that could work in several cultures, of 

high quality, cross-functional innovation, strong brand image, 

and global Identity (e.g., Cai, 2001; Gagliardi, 2001; Schechter, 

1997).Yetforothers the differentiation design brings is though 

its understanding of human factors and specifically cultural 

human factors (Heskett, 1995; Whitney, 1995). However, note 

that, as in business research, the debate here Is biased too in 

that it reflects one side of the coin only. According to Margolin 

(2006), in developing countries, design's contribution Is too 

much aligned with social development and poverty alleviation 

(e.g., Papanek, 1977, 1983, 1986). This ignores the true 

potential that design could bring to the development of these 

countries through industrial activity and creation of globally 

competitive products. Several studies exist which build a link 

between design's use as an industrial activity and the overall 

national competitiveness and economic development in 

these countries (e.g., Bonsiepe, 1991,1999; Chattede, 2005; 

Kyung Won, 1998; Suifikar, 2002). But, given the challenges 

and opportuniries already discussed, how could design be 

used specifically as a competirive tool at company level? 

In companies from various industries in Turkey, ranging 

from tradirional ones like textiles to ones with strong global 

players like electronics, design is seen as contributing to, or 

having a great potential for contribution in, the shaping and 

execurion of four major strategies. These include (1) tapping 

into tradirion, (2) building pride in local identity, (3) targering 

local problems, and (4) adaptive learning from partners. 

1. Tapping into Tradition 

Traditions are rime-honored pracrices passed down through 

generations. They are a complex set of practices, symbols, and 

objects. A number ofTurkish companies have already exploited 

their internalized knowledge of the local culture and traditions 

to achieve market success. One of the most obvious approaches 

is to apply tradirional visual elements, such as forms, Icons, 

surface treatments, etc. on product form and styling In order 

to develop products with high symbolic and emorional value. 

Others have looked Into practices and needs surrounding 

traditional practices such as cooking and eating. 

Pasabahce is one such company that protects its position 

by tapping into tradirion. It is Turkey's largest glassware 

manufacturer, established in 1935 as one ofthe major industrial 

facilities of the then newly found Turkish Republic. Yet, in 

fact, it is considered as a successor ofthe Beykoz Glassware 

Production which dates back to the 18th century. Because of 

this history, the company has assumed an approach of both 

carrying on the Beykoz tradition and producing affordable 

everyday glassware to masses.This translates to a large product 

portfolio ranging from the common tulip shaped tea glasses 

to rare hand-made glass objects available through various 

channels from street vendors to presriglous Pasabahce stores. 

The strategy is to preserve the past and the unique cultural 

values while exploring future possibilities. For this reason, 

Pasabahce encourages desii,;ners to study traditional forms 

and producrion methods, but they also co-place designers in 

R&Ddlvision with engineers working on new technologies and 

materials. This sometimes results in revising, reinterpreting, 

and putting back into fashion forms that had been taken for 

granted or had become obsolete. For example, the redesign 

of the tulip shaped tea glass has come in rime when younger 

generarion is oriented toward using mugs and the tradirional 

glass had started to be perceived as belonging to the older 

generation. 

In the eariy 1990s, Pasabahce faced a competition from Arc 

International (Luminac, Arcoroc, Arcopal) which came with 

low cost and quality glassware products. However, their 

product portfolio was quite limited compared to Pasabahce's, 

which has evolved and fine tuned over the years to meet 

the needs of Turkish households. Moreover, the symbolic 

connotations of Pasabahce products and brand are deeply 

rooted. Pasabahce invests effort to reiterate Its roots through 

special limited collecrion of hand made pieces. For example, 

one of the two limited collection introduced In the beginning 

of 2007 is called History-Culture-Glass, It is based on a study 

of forms and decorative patterns of Anatolian Civilizations, 

such as Assyrian and HIttit pottery and Zeugma mosaics. 

Such efforts allow Pashabahce to utilize the cultural capital

and to offer the symbolism of authenticity and prestige. This 

strategy enabled the company to become successful in other 

countries of the region too, such as Russia, Grece, Georgia, 

Egypt, Romania etc. 

Gala and Gino, a home accessories company established by 

Decorium in 2004, also taps into tradition yet in a different 

way than Pasabahce does. The company was set out as a so- 

called designer global brand. It works with star designers such 

as Karim Rashid and Arik Levy to create decorative products 

with high emotional content. Designers are often invited to 

Istanbul to getto know the city and design objects inspired by 

the Turkish culture but at the same time with a global appeal. 

Since the company was set with an international scope 

from the beginning, what the traditional content brings is a 

distinctivenessassociatedwithmythsand cultural associations. 

That is also visible through the extensive media coverage from 

Vogue and Times to Russian decoration magazines. 

Tapping into tradition is not limited to formal explorations 

only. For example, Arcelik's products such as theTurkish coffee 

maker,Telve, andthetea maker,Tiryaki, address particular local 

practices of tea and coffee making. For example, the electric 

tea maker replicates the steps in the conventional brewing 

technique. Also, visually, it carries the forma! connotations of 

the conventional tea maker, where two pots are rested on top 

of each other. Nevertheless, these products target practices 

which are closely related to catering of guests, and thus, the 

effort invested is not seen as a chore. This remains as a barrier 

of market acceptance so far. Yet the mere existence of such 

products on the market increases local customers'trust in the 

brand. 

2. Building Pride in Local Identity 

Erak Clothing's Mavi Jeans brand, established in 1991, today 

stands up as one ofthe top under-20 brands in the US {Time, 

2006). During the 1980s, Erak was contract manufacturer for 

famous brands like Lee,Wrangler,CK,and Esprit, among others, 

capitalizing on top-quality Turkish cotton and competitive 

labor costs. This gave an opportunity to the company to learn 

from its buyers and contract granters about how to improve its 

production processes, increase its manufacturing speed and 

flexibility, and obtain high quality products in a consistent way. 

But, even more importantly, through interaction with buyer 

companies like the Italian Rifle, the company learned that 

real profits were in establishing its own design and branding 

capabilities {Tokatlı and Kızılgün, 2004). So, when in 1991 Mavi 

Jeans was introduced, design and brand were the two major 

differentiators for its products.Atthattime, an established jean 

market with several well known western brands, such as Lee, 

Levi's, Mustang etc., as well as local ones giving the impression 

of being imported products, such as Pyramid, Loft etc. already 

existed. In terms of brand name. Mavi chose a risky but well 

paid off strategy of using a Turkish name (mavi^blue). It is rare 

for a company producing "western product"to stress localness 

through their name.The logo which is a modern and youthful 

crescent and star interpretation, symbols of theTurkish flag, 

further emphasized the origin of the brand. However, this, 

combined with the unique design and high quality, increased 

the respect and self worth rather than creating reactance. At 

the time Mavi entered the market jeans were almost identical 

Mavi chose to treat them as fashion items like any other 

garment. It also utilized very well theTurkish competency in 

textiles offering unique denims ranging from soft fleecy feel to 

heavy knitted ones. Additionally, it studied the anthropometric 

requirements of its customers and offered a much wider range 

of sizes. 

Mavi's real success, however, came with its exports, and 

specifically its entry to the US market since no other clothing 

is as American as jeans. Here it is marketed as a "designer" 

brand at stores like as Bloomingdales, Nordstrom as well as the 

recently opened Mavi flagship stores. Mavi targeted exclusive 

niches which would appreciate the designed details, unique 

materials, and carefully crafted fits. Mavi Jeans develops 

designs based on the trends and concerns in different countries 

and works with designers from that country. In the United 

States, for example, it works with Adriano Goldshmeid from 

CK who knows well not only the tastes but also the lifestyles 

ofthe American MTV generation. Unlike other global brands, 

which outsource to many different manufacturers because of 

its own flexible, high-tech production plant. Mavi can afford 

to customize its jeans to accommodate different tastes. The 

success abroad reduced the feelings of deficiency, increased 

self-esteem and self-respect, and fostered pride in the local 

market, leading to an empowering and confidence-building 

cycle.

Mavi is an excellent example of how the prejudice and the 

disdain to local products could be overcome. It is also a perfect 

example of how through original design and marketing, local 

competency in raw materials can turn out to be a high value- 

added competitive advantage. 

3. Addressing Local Problems 

One of the opportunity areas for local companies discussed 

earlier was serving to segments to which global companies 

were not sensitive enough. For many global companies, 

serving to lower segments means offering cheaper, lower 

technology, or obsolete products, ignoring users' real needs 

and demand for sophisticated ones. 

Karel Electronics is a company that was able to establish itself 

as a major player in theTurkish market by identifying a largely 

unexplored market for small scale telephone switchboards. 

In Turkey, more than 95% of the businesses are SMEs. Such 

businesses need easy-to-use, robust telephone systems with 

few lines, and cannot afford full-scale switchboards. Even if 

they could, much ofthe capacity offered would remain unused, 

and a large amount of office space would be occupied. So 

Karel was originally set up to design fully automatic telephone 

switchboards for small offices. The company grew rapidly 

selling these PBSs and peripheral products through the 

distribution network composed of authorized distributors, 

wholesalers, dealers and sales points. This network also 

became a means for feedback and improved quality. 

Over the years, Karel used internal designers and design 

consultancies like Izmir based Nesne Tasarım to evolve Its 

products to better meet the needs and desires ofthe SMEs and 

support its core product with peripheral systems, enabling its 

customers one-stop-shopping for all their communication 

needs. For example, their smallest PBX, called MS38, was 

redesigned offering not only several capacity options, but 

also an attractive appeal, smaller space occupancy, easier 

installation, and use. 

The need for such small scale PBXs existed in other countries 

with similar business structure and infrastructure too. Today, 

Karel sells in about 50 countries such as Poland, Hungary, 

Romania, Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, 

Nigeria, India, Greece, Spain, Portugal, etc. In some countries, 

Karel's price differential with the closest competitor runs up 

to fivefold. 

An automotive company, Otokar, has also been successful In 

remaining competitive by addressing local needs. Otokar is 

manufacturer of vehicles such as city buses, mini- and mldi- 

buses, trailers, and armored vehicles. Otokar produces under 

licenseagreements, previously of Magirus-Deutzand now Land 

Rover. Although Otokar does not have its own technology, it 

successfully identifies the market gap and adapts licensed 

technology to local requirements. Take, for example, the 

minibuses designed and produced specifically as dolmuş^ 

like the M2000 series. Otokar minibuses have become the 

prototypical vehicle of dolmuş service. Since most dolmuş 

drivers are also the owners of the vehicle, cost and durability 

are the two most important factors for them. Therefore, a 

major design priority is to make durable and low- purchase, 

operation, and maintenance cost product. Dolmuş minibuses 

are designed to allow for several standing passengers since 

there is always more demand than seats available. The rote of 

design here is to provide the base equipment only. 

Iveco and Mercedes have recently attempted to enter the 

dolmuş market. Instead of designing a new minibus specifically 

for use as dolmuş, they adapted their commercial minibuses 

by adding seats and windows.This and the more sophisticated 

production systems of each of these two companies made the 

retail price of their dolmuş minibuses much lower than that 

of Otokar's. In the end, however, these vehicles turned out to 

be less effective and less durable. They also failed to match 

the low cost spare parts of Otokar and the widespread service 

network that Otokar has. 

Otokar minibuses and Sultan series midibuses are also in high 

demand in countries where the traffic and the infrastructure 

is similar to that of in Turkey such as the Middle Eastern 

countries. 

^ Dolmus is a unique public transportation in Turkey. It can be 

described as a collective cab, which follows a specific route, but has 

flexible stops. Dolmuses are more readily available than city buses 

and the ride costs less than it does with cab.

4. Adaptive Learning from Partners 

The success stories of Mavi Jeans and Otokar show that local 

companies could learn and acquire knowledge that moves 

them to creating higher value added products through 

partnerships, contract or license agreements with established 

global players. Although the high value added activities of 

global players, such as design and marketing, remain firmly 

in their centers, an awareness of those activities starts to 

emerge among the local partners. For example, this is exactly 

what happened with Vestel's move from OEM to original 

design manufacturing (ODM) to own brand management 

(OBM). During its OEM contracting, Vestel not only built an 

awareness of the value added by design among its clients, 

but it also learned how designers function within a company 

thanks to Its close collaboration with designers in companies 

like Toshiba and Sharp. Creating its own original designs soon 

became indispensable for Vestel to keep its existent clients 

from moving away to lower cost Chinese manufacturers and 

to attract new ones. At the same time, design is seen as a 

key competence In moving higher in the value added chain 

to establish its own brand in the domestic and some export 

markets. What distinguishes Vestel from Mavi or Otokar is 

that Vestel Is attempting to compete on the same terms as 

the global companies, whereas others adapt what they have 

learned to utilize local needs or resources. 

Discussion 

All cases analyzed above have to some extent achieved some 

success in competing with global players either in domestic 

or international market, utilizing their knowledge ofthe local 

culture and resources. Note however that such knowledge may 

be Innately available to any company. That is, by definition, it is 

Internalized and tacit (Polanyi, 1983}. As such, it may easily be 

taken for granted or devaluated as a competitive asset. So It Is 

one thing to possess the knowledge, but quite another to be 

able to turn it Into a competitive strategy. It is exactly here, that 

is, in the process of putting the local knowledge into use that 

design comes into a play. As McCracken (1988) writes, design 

carries major responsibility In creating seamless transfer 

between spheres of production and use by acting as cultural 

translator. That is, design uses its understanding of local 

problems, behaviors, and culture to create products In such a 

way that users can see that the object so designed possesses 

certain cultural meanings and addresses their real needs. 

For designers, using cultural resources is not an easy and 

straightforward task. For one thing, there is always the danger 

of trivialization of local culture by fostering stereotypical 

images or creating a temporary popular trend. Also, relying 

on one advantage only, such as relnterpretation of local 

forms and symbols, may not lead to sustainable competitive 

advantage, as it Is not hard to replicate strategy. The cases 

discussed above do not really use one of the advantages 

only, but choose to blend several of them. For example, 

Otokar designs vehicles particular to local needs, but it Is also 

supported with a complex supplier, distributor, and service 

network. Similarly, Mavi capitalizes on designs exploiting 

high quality local cotton, are attentive to different tastes, and 

relies on flexible manufacturing capabilities acquired over 

time. So, in orderto contribute to the competitiveness of local 

companies, design has to go beyond the trivial application of 

cultural Icons. The true contribution comes when it is able to 

combine the understanding ofthe local context and cultural 

values with the unique resources and manufacturing and 

market conditions of the local firms in the creation of user- 

centered, culturally desirable and appropriate products. 

Yet another challenge is to be able to utilize the local 

knowledge on an ongoing basis. Local companies which start 

with an insight of an unmet user needs, or have an Innate 

understanding of what is socially desirable may become 

blind to their own local understanding as they grow larger 

and distance themselves from their users. As more global 

companies are investing to better understand local markets 

by employing social scientists and user-centered design 

teams, local companies cannot safely rely on their own 

intuitive understanding of the local culture. Therefore, they 

too need more structured approaches to explicate their local 

knowledge, and get constant user feedback. 

It is clear that a better understanding of the local problems, 

behaviors, and culture, and creating products |that 

communicate those give the company a strong position at 

home. But the question still remains as to how a company's 

competitive assets translate Internationally if they rely on local 

knowledge only?The strategy that many local companies that

want to go global adopt is to build capabilities and resources 

that big players have, target the same market and try to catch 

and match them. This is very difficult to achieve considering 

the fact that locals start far behind in terms of recourses and 

political and economic barriers. The cases analyzed here have 

been chosen based on their success in the domestic market 

but all have some international presence too. Figure 1 shows 

the alternative paths taken by these companies. 

Find niche maikets 

based on cultural 

image 

Find markels with 

similar needs 

Protect posilion in 

market with 

products 

addressing local 

needs and values. 

Build global capabiliües 

Learn through 

joint ventures and OEM 

production 

—> 

Figure 1. Alternative strategies for global competitiveness. 

By focusing on local issues, user behaviors, and cultural 

values which are not otherwise known to the western 

global companies, local companies may not only secure 

their position at home but also set a launching path for 

global expansion. One strategy for local companies would 

be to target niche markets abroad emphasizing localness, 

authenticity, and prestige as distinguishing characteristics, 

as in the case of Gaia and Gino. Such a strategy needs to 

be supported with sophisticated design and marketing. 

Another strategy would be to look for markets with 

similar characteristics and needs. This works specifically for 

companies competing on the basis of solving local problems 

like Karel and Otokar. Opportunities in this area could be 

abundant, especially for companies that target the base of 

the pyramid, as this segment's needs are largely unmet and 

to a large extend are similar worldwide. Yet another strategy 

would be developing an understanding of the industry in 

which the company operates and global markets. Here the 

challenge is to identify unique strengths and gaps in the 

global market, as in the case of Mavi Jeans. 

User centered approach in domestic market and exploiting 

cultural knowledge could open up a place for local products 

and companies in the global markets. This, in turn, could 

increase trust in domestic products and foster and sustain 

the competitiveness of local firms in the long term. Of course, 

Lorenz's (1986) warning that globalization could be a double- 

edged sword is always there.

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T H E g U E S T I D N O F D E S I G N A E S T H E T I C S : S O M E T H O U G H T S O N ITS 

F O R M U L A T I O N N O W A D A Y S 

Anna Calvera 

University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain 

acalvera@telefonica.net 

Abstract 

Manytime ago, Alain Findeli explained the need of developing 

seriously the aesthetic side of Design Philosophy {Design 

Issues, 1994). Then, as far as it has been approved a law in 

many countries of the EU to protect design components and 

practice in products, the aesthetic side of the whole matter is 

now at stake because it is also something considered objective 

enough to be able to be protected legally. For the rest, recent 

innovation policies are considering design as an innovative 

tool not only depending on the play of appearances. It is also 

broadly accepted, and even it is become a boring topic, that 

design and a beautiful look are nowadays an important tool to 

give value to products, brands and services; moreover, design 

and its knowledge on costumer's behaviour within everyday 

life should also be a tool to lead and orient a marketing centred 

on users. So, for many reasons, it is time that design discourse 

considers and to take seriously the aesthetic side and try to 

explain the difficulty of approaching theoretically what an 

Aesthetic of Design must be. 

The paper is a reflection on what has been said by Philosophical 

Aesthetics considering everyday life and products and tries 

as well to outline the problems a research field such as this 

should face in the process. 

1. The Aesthetic in the Quantified World: Relevance of 

Aesthetics in Design 

Although, generally, it has always seemed difficult and 

suspicious to speak of aesthetics in the world of design, some 

events have brought the question to the fore again, adding 

a new perspective. For some time now, management and 

organizational theory have considered aesthetic phenomena 

as determining factors in their proposals to define and develop 

products: this is the case of marketing, for which the aesthetic, 

generally a synonym for style, constitutes a means to classify 

life styles, or consumer patterns and as such define formal 

repertoires as a starting point to place new products and 

services in a social niche in the market. It would be convenient to 

remember that they have had great success with this approach 

because the aesthetic in design has entered into the legislation 

and the economic policies relevant to R+D in their mercantile 

and fiscal aspects. We'll have a look at some examples. 

in 1998, the EU, thanks in large part to the eff'orts of BEDA,' 

passed a directive for the legal protection of industrial design 

with the idea of unifying the different interpretations. The 

office that watches over its enforcement and helps businesses 

and designers protect their design assets in ail of Europe 

is at present located in Alicante {Spain). It is the OAIVII. This 

directive has inspired Spanish law on legal protection of 

industrial design and probably also laws in other countries 

in the European Union. Spanish law understands industrial 

design to be the following: 

"The appearance of a product or one of its parts 

relating to line, color, form, texture or the materials of 

the product itself or its decoration. Excluded are those 

characteristics ofthe appearance of a product dictated 

or directly derived from technical function. Product is 

understood to be all those industrial or craft articles, 

including all that is used to show a whole finished 

product, its packaging, presentation, graphic symbols 

or typographical characters."^ 

There's no doubt that the law entails a definition of design, 

at least the legal definition, which, whether or not we agree,

establishes the rule of the game for the designers as a 

profession. In effect, It unequivocally separates design from 

technological Innovation and technical aspects, and assigns 

the task of design to questions of the appearance of objects 

and products although it claims not to speak at all about 

aesthetics. 

Further along, the text of the law calls attention to how 

complex It is to try to define the contribution of design and 

how difficult it Is to legally confront aspects that traditionally 

have been the characteristics of a strong aesthetic reflection. 

In my vievj, it reflects perfectly the complexity of the debates 

in the worid of design with respect to the nature of its acrivity 

and its reason for being. In this sense, what stands out most 

is the effort to objectively define that which can be protected 

legally and, as such, demonstrable. This Is how It appears in 

the Statement of Motives II: 

"Both the European Community norms and this 

law are Inspired by the criteria that the asset legally 

protected by the property of industrial design is, first 

and foremost, commercial value added to the product 

by design, without regard to its aesthetic or artisric 

level and its originality. Industrial design is conceived 

as a type of formal innovation concerned with the 

characterisrics ofthe appearance ofthe product itself 

or of Its ornamentation (...) The condirions of protection 

of industrial design are therefore purely objective: the 

legal coverage reaches novel and singular designs (...) 

In applying this criteria, those designs are registered 

which produce a different Impression from other 

designs in the informed user..." 

Specifically concerning the aesthetic, what the text suggests 

is that the aestheric value, whether or not It's arristic, also 

includes a judgment about the quality ofthe resulring design, 

which makes it even more complex than it was before. From 

this perspective, the new rules ofthe game are clear: in design 

the only objective criteria are those that can be defined in 

commercial terms, that is, according to markering. Now, as the 

argument progresses, we see that some commercial criteria 

are also slippery or hard to define. For example, in tirie IV of 

the Statement of Motives we can observe the effort made to 

describe the vây designers work and what, in this parricular 

case, could be interpreted as that which is considered creativity 

among designers: 

"The differenriarion of form and funcrion Is what 

means that the external form of a urilitarlan product 

can be protected as design, when the characteristics of 

appearance also bring novelty and singularity. 

The reference to the degree of liberty of the designer 

does not necessarily imply that the extension of 

protecrion Is inversely proportional to the funcrionality 

ofthe design since a design can be highly creative and 

funcrional at the same rime. We must take into account 

that the design Industry includes very diverse sectors 

and that not a few rimes the creativity of designers 

moves In the core of trends or margins of shared 

sensibility, common to the tastes or fashions of a rime." 

In this last point, the aestheric and its social implications come 

up In the definition ofthe problem from its core, but, as has 

become the norm, we srill riptoe around the issue. The point 

Is not so much asking for legal protecrion of the aesthetic 

contribution but to show how important It will be from now on 

to have guidelines to understand and discuss those aestheric 

factors which identify a particular design. 

A second event to take into account Is the definirion of the 

new indicators established in the last years to measure the 

role that innovation plays in a country's economy. The most 

relevantfact here now is the considerarion of design as a factor 

of innovation even though design Is srill understood either 

as a markering resource, in the case of non-technological 

innovation, or as product development engineering in the 

case of technological innovation. However, there can be no 

doubt that this acknowledgement constitutes a significant 

event, something to celebrate from the perspective of the 

profession of design. Data arrives from two main sources, on 

one hand, the European Innovarion Scoreboard of 2004 (EIS) 

and its 2005 update, and on the other hand, from the revised 

3"" edition ofthe Oslo Manual, published online on October 

25^'' 2006, prepared jointly by the OCDE and Eurostat.^ 

Looking at the whole, the aim of the proposal is the 

promotion of research In all areas of business, stressing the 

need to experiment and Investigate new ways of marketing,

distributing and promoting. But it also encourages research 

directed at renovating and expanding the range of products 

and services in the corresponding markets. Many of these 

aspects have been dealt with from both the practice of 

design and marketing and other organizational strategies. 

In fact even though in this context design is still defined as 

one of marketing's innovations -"in reference to the shape 

and appearance of products and not to their technical 

specifications or other functional or working characteristics,"- 

since the Oslo Manual we are advised to understand design as 

an integral part of the development and the implementation 

of products as well as the innovation of processes. We must 

take into account that there are two ways to innovate: in the 

product or in the process: "the innovation of a product refers 

to a good or a service whereas innovation of a process implies 

changes in the production function in aspects like equipment, 

human resources or working methods, among others." 

According to a report on innovation in Spain (2005) in the 

frame ofthe 2005 Oslo Manual (Zozaya 2005) an innovation in a 

product, if it is of great magnitude, tends to last longer than the 

innovation of processes since the latter are more easily copied 

by competitors. In this light, a new frame of work is opening 

up for design in all Its varieties. Particularly for that design 

that wishes to be deeply innovative, of the sort that has a real 

influence and becomes a part of people's lives and culture. 

Furtheralong,thesamestudystatesthatindustrialdesign in Spain 

constitutes one ofthe main fields in science and technology. In 

this case, what are the innovative aspects expected from design? 

It says, "innovative activities introduce change in strategy, 

management, organization, marketing and the aesthetic aspects 

of products." Furthermore, "in Spain, it's the aesthetic aspects 

which have often been crucial in the buyer's decision and those 

which have developed more, over the European average." This is 

relevant data. However the country's everyday reality disproves 

it. In any case, this study includes no clue as to how It defines 

aesthetic innovation. We do not know whether the latter refers 

to fashion matters and in the sense of updating products' 

appearance or whether products have effected a new aesthetic, 

which would have a profound impact on culture. 

In this sense, it is probable that aesthetics, aesthetic innovation, 

is then a question of marketing and of organizational strategies. 

but even if we accept that there is no doubt that the expression 

and the decisions made about aesthetics belong to design, 

even as it is defined by marketing and is confirmed by the law of 

legal protection of design. In this context, when the aesthetics 

of design are attheforefront of economic and business activity, 

it would be advisable to devote more attention to them and 

make them the object of a study to grasp the extent of the 

designer's responsibility as far as aesthetics is concerned and 

to what extent are the designer's aesthetic decisions those 

which permit the designer to continue to play a cultural role 

in the broadest and strongest sense of the word "culture".'' It 

may not be more than a hypothesis but the question that all 

"aesthetic" implies is one about quality and its limits. Today's 

concern is quality in design in all of its disciplines. 

2. On Beauty as innovation. 

Among designers, it is usual to regard suspiciously the sort 

of definitions and explanations about what design does. 

Especially suspicious are those unexplained distinctions, like 

those in the aforementioned law, between form and function, 

between technical components and technological innovation 

and its presentation in society through a dress, or carcass, its 

becoming a shape through the materializing of something 

which is believed to be what design is about. We had always 

struggled to show what a difference the real contribution of 

design could make by stressing the designer's ability to notice 

constant changes in functions, that is, in the ways people 

live, in their habits and values and not only in their tastes and 

points of view. If design must now be understood in terms of 

innovation it would be convenient to make a similar effort so 

that design understands itself, its task, its knowledge and the 

object of its impact and the ends of its role in the proposal 

and launch of new products and services. If we focus in those 

big innovations so that they last for a long period of time we 

must reformulate design and the designer's functions so that 

they may be understood and respected in actions leading 

to innovation and they are incorporated as a contribution 

which has a lot to say from the start, and throughout the 

whole process, in the development and implementation of 

products and services. Even in the case where the innovation 

in "aesthetic aspects"falls under the exclusive responsibility of 

design, is it possible to speak of aesthetic innovation? And if it 

were possible, what would it entail?

Whether for aesthetic reasons or simply for design, the truth 

is that from the point of view of aesthetics, understood as a 

reflection on the nature of beauty and its manifestations, 

there are few resources to understand the impact of aesthetic 

innovation on everyday objects and the dominant visual 

culture. Modern aesthetics has said little or very little about the 

world outside the artistic, about its laws and its possible goals. 

Throughout history some has been said about decoration, as 

a value in Itself, and about the use of ornamental techniques 

to solve the aesthetic problems of many objects, including 

machines and tools; there are other means to treat the issue, 

like the logics of proportions and their application to the 

normalization of industrial formats and components, the laws 

of form or the psychology of colors to speak only in terms 

habitual among designers and design teachers. Now, if we 

accept as a departure point of a reflection on design aesthetics 

that separation between function and form literally stated 

by a law as the basis of the objective in the labor of design - 

conceived now as an intangible whose contribution is a formal 

innovation related to "the appearance ofthe product as such or 

to its ornamentation"- the discussion about design is brought 

back to terms of procedures of formalization and its problems. 

This also connects with aesthetics as a discipline, at least with 

that view of aesthetics as an understanding of form and of 

all sensory experience inherited from Kantian philosophical 

aesthetics. Therefore there is no doubt that at least popularly 

there is a very strong connection between form and aesthetic; 

the question is to know whether designing Is reduced only 

to innovatively solving form seeking an aesthetic effect. Also 

in aesthetic terms this can be a mere makeup job, which has 

always been considered a styling procedure but not necessarily 

design. 

To speak in the terms of a design aestherics, we have to ask 

If the aesthetic, the beauty In things. Is something that can 

be superficially added to objects and graphics as If it were a 

coat of paint or whether it's a more structural matter. We run 

once again Into the old Socraric quesrion, "what is beauty?" 

The aforemenrioned law and the commercial definirion of 

design imply the publicly accepted norion of design which 

is no longer a way of being of objects, which carries an 

axiological criterion to discover the quality of things, but has 

become a superficial ornament or a finish. In this way, the 

act of designing and the aesthetic understanding of what is 

designed become simple cosmetic operarions and because 

of that it is logical that objects with a style determined by a 

marketing plan appear. However, when a designer works with 

these supposirions we have to ask whether they are enough 

to achieve true innovarions of real magnitude and depth. 

Quesrions such as this establish a degree of relarion between 

the many reflections made by design to understand itself 

and those developed by aesthetics throughout history to 

create a space for itself in the system of knowledge since it 

was created after the first half of the 18'" century. That doesn't 

mean that the concern of thinkers to understand the aestheric 

phenomenon, from the beauty of things to the raison d'etre 

of art, hadn't been present In eariier philosophy. Quite the 

contrary. Beauty and its appreciator were a theme of constant 

reflection for philosophy even before aesthetics and art 

became independent. In the 18^" century it was articulated 

as two parallel but independent invesrigations. Now, since 

the scientific revolution and the development undergone 

by natural sciences, all phenomena treated by aestherics 

were to some extent undervalued since they were pushed to 

the margin of what really preoccupied people. What efforts 

19'" century thinkers had to make in order to prove that the 

aesthetic was essenrial for life and the development of human 

faculties, to prove that art was not an ornament to life but 

quite the opposite! 

It is easy to establish a parallelism between both lines of 

reasoning, between on the one hand design's struggle to 

prove that it Is not a mere ornament, the aesthetic finish 

which objects have and which allows them to become a part 

of the market, finding a place for themselves in one niche or 

another and on the other hand in the constant affirmarion of 

the aesthetic to demonstrate the value of quality and cultural 

density of works of art to the development of the human in 

humanity and cultural variety. It remains to be seen whether 

real innovarion does not depend exactly on the possibility of 

design to rely on this aestheric density of everyday objects as 

I suggested at the beginning of this introduction. In this sense 

one ofthe hypotheses that has inspired this paper has been 

the conviction that there are many shared elements between 

the aestheric discourse and design's discourse and that they 

are interdependent.

3. On the Potential ofthe Aesthetic in the Modern Project 

At this point, after the long and intense debate over modernity 

and its liberating principles, the importance of aesthetics role in 

modernity has become perfectly clear. It is worth remembering 

the earliest period of aesthetics as a discipline around the 18"' 

century, when the questions discussed were the reasons to 

explain the variety of existing tastes, the problem of educating 

taste or the ways in which luxury was incorporated in daily 

objects and the economic consequences derived. Bernard de 

Mandeviile first but also Hume, Hogarth, Burke, Voitaire, Diderot, 

Rousseau, Condillac, or even Montisquieu participated in the 

debate focusing on the educational possibilities ofthe aesthetic 

experience in the development of human faculties from 

sensory perception, through sensory pleasures -as in the case 

of gastronomy- to the intellectual capacities of art appreciation 

including building and objects, especially luxury goods, that is, 

the products of highly sophisticated craftsmanship. That was 

happening just before the birth of aesthetics as such, not of 

aestheticdiscourseorthe discourse on beauty which come from 

antiquity; summing up, before or at the time of Baumgarten, 

the author who gave name to area of thought, philosophical 

aesthetics, which deals with sensory or aesthetic knowledge.^ 

It is easy to see how close the human ideal formulated 

by aesthetics is into many of the ideals that the culture 

of design has advanced in the last two centuries. So for 

example, as first proposed by Shaftesbury and then Hume 

and so many others at the beginning of the 18th century, the 

aesthetic quality of everyday objects was seen as the result 

of humanity's numerous efforts to improve its condition and 

therefore they saw the aesthetic quality as the tangible proof 

of human progress in search of well-being. From their point 

of view, being able to lead a comfortable life requires having 

dedicated as much effort to cultivating oneself as to one's 

cultural instruction, "in caring for one's garden, in dressing 

elegantly and in the care of one's house." Even though the 

words used have an old-fashioned ring to them, there's no 

doubt that at that time the matters that are now design's main 

concern occupied a significant place in the quest for human 

progress which was fundamentally based on the refining of 

the pleasures of the senses through the improvement of the 

immediatesurroundings. Of all ofthis it is worth stressing that 

the aesthetic, that is the enjoyment of beauty, was considered 

as a most important humanizing factor, as important as art 

has been since then to the cultivation ofthe human spirit. 

if the cultivation of sensibility constituted a key element in the 

formation of civilized persons at the dawn of modernity, it did 

not shed that character as The Enlightenment and its culture 

progressively imposed themselves socially and culturally. It 

was probably the German poet Schiller who, after Kant, gave 

aesthetics the greatest role in the progress of humanity as 

can be seen in his famous letters on the aesthetic education 

of man, which considered the aesthetic the foundation of 

all human activity and moral righteousness.*^ Little by little, 

first in romanticism and then in many other movements until 

finally in aestheticism at the end of the 19"* century, the artistic 

phenomena in particular, and the beautiful in general, began 

to fill the space reserved for that which is human and which 

other areas of knowledge had swept aside, be it because of 

materialism, because of the will to know at all costs so that the 

aesthetic stopped being concerned with the sensory to include 

also the emotional, while the first was progressively relegated. 

But at the same time, as part of that same process, the interest 

of reflection focused increasingly on art, considered the seat 

of beauty, while the beautiful as such became blurry as it was 

substituted bythe sublime and many other aestheticcategories. 

Thus, a few paths were closed to aesthetic reflection as it was 

connected more and more with a philosophy of art. Logically 

those minor and useful arts which had been interesting in the 

past to aesthetic reflection were marginalized as in the territory 

ofthe useful, the prosaic and the everyday, even ofthe banal7 

In this context, when the need for design came up in 

aesthetic terms in mid-19''' century England, it brought with 

it a load of great moral obligations among which one of the 

most important was precisely to watch over the aesthetic 

improvement of industrially made everyday objects, as well as 

care ofthe beauty ofthe landscape. Since then, the concept of 

design entails this idea of quality -structural, not of language 

or style- that differentiates some industrial products from 

others simply because in some there is a pretense of design 

and quality from the outset. From this perspective there is 

no doubt that the history of the idea of design, as well as the 

writings of many designers published since, can be re-read as 

a reflection on the aesthetic character, as research of criteria 

and foundations on which to base an aesthetic adequate to

industrial process as a new means of production, belonging 

to people in the industrial age. Functionalism also can be 

understood as an aesthetic concept "what works best is the 

most beautiful,"a theory that tried to overcome the opposition 

of beauty and utility as defined by modern aesthetics and 

systematized by Kant, which would inspirethe 19'" century and 

a good part ofthe 20"'. Something similar can be predicated 

on such an important methodological principle as Mies Van 

der Rohe's"less is more,"which responds as well to a parricular 

aesthetic preference - the old and quiet austerity of classical 

decor. In that time, well Into the 20'" century, many things had 

changed in relarion to the beginning of aestherics, but also in 

design Mies'principlewasaresponsetodesireforqualityto be 

shared collectively, an enrire project of great social scope.^ In 

the long run, the principle became a theory of modern luxury 

based on an elirist understanding of art and culture inherited 

from past rimes and justified by a class system. Overcoming 

the elirist aspect without renouncing aestheric quality Is the 

challenge inherited from Pop design. 

However, design and everyday objects were never of much 

interest for aestheric reflecrion and philosophy throughout 

this period. They are part of everyday life and, because of 

that, part of the realm of those things criricized by academic 

thought. Also, the Kanrian legacy had left the useful and the 

necessary out ofthe realm of beauty, having turned the useful 

Into the opposite ofthe beautiful and Its qualiries. Aestherics 

then either was concerned with understanding art and its 

manifestarionsorwiththe knowledgethat comes to usthrough 

the senses, but the experience or the pleasure before human 

producrions, particularly if these had a strong technological 

component, were left aside. It is worth remembering here 

how intense and frequent the cririque on instrumental reason 

in the thinking of the 20'" century has been from Max Weber 

to Theodore W. Adorno, including Walter Benjamin, Marrin 

Heidegger and W. F. Haug and his denouncement of design 

as seductive appearance of merchandise, a manipulative 

aesthetic at the service of capitalism and its preservarion. 

From this perspecrive, art, true art, not the minor art or applied 

art or decorarive art nor popular art or the products of mass 

culture, and even less the producrion of everyday images 

for the media, has often been considered the last refuge of 

what's truly human. How difficult It then becomes to find in 

modernity's thinking enough elements to understand what 

design has done in the way of satisfying Its founding principle, 

namely, improving the aestherics of the contemporary worid, 

making it a livable environment and a landscape that sarisfies 

and culrivates the human side of people. In general, aesthetic 

thought has always tended to see in design's aestheticizarion 

(not only design's but also manifestarions of the aesthetic 

in the visual culture of the media, the proposal of a second 

hand or Impoverished aestherics that compensates for the 

impossibility of an aestheric experience in its true sense.^ 

Weshouldrememberhereandnowthatdesign'sold Utopia was 

of an aesthetic nature. Underlying the German theory of Good 

Form, for example, apart from an aestheric of merchandise 

proposed In relarion to the market and with views towards 

mass consumption, there was also a democraric Ideal. Designs 

were made following a standard of quality but keeping in 

mind that through quality design everybody, the whole of 

consumers, would have the opportunity to use objects of a 

high aestheric dignity, parriclparing thus in the progress of 

aestherics through the simple fact of using them every day.'° 

In the same way that the funcrionalism that inspired the first 

Modern Movement carries an aesthetic conception, so can the 

Good Form or the Italian post-WWII understanding of design 

be re-interpreted in terms of philosophical aesthetics? For one. 

In the case of German design there was a moment in which 

a big effort was made to turn the aestheric into something 

objecriveso as to make ita part ofthe fundamentals of design 

In an objective and scientific key." This is what the Spanish 

culture of design Inherited in its early days in the 60's. 

All told, we can safely state that no remarkable effort has been 

made in orderto understand the aestheric Utopia of design from 

the point of view of philosophy or philosophical aestherics. In 

fact, quite the opposite has happened. Wolfgang Fritz Haug is 

probably the best example.'^ According to his thesis, design lost 

all possibilityof exercising a cultural pracriceonlyto be reduced 

to an activity, accomplice to the system whose effects derived 

from its capacity to seduce, and why not say it, as false as that 

which can not be authentic because it has been machine made 

and in accordance with the financial interests of its producers. 

Authenticity constitutes and has constituted a key concept In 

the evaluarion of art and people's behavior as set forth many 

rimes by philosophy. It is shared by Heidegger and Adorno, 

and is currently used by marketing with ease. However, read

in terms of design both in the case of Heidegger and Adorno 

certain echoes of Rusl

Now, if for designers the structural character of design is not 

novel, what's new in the post-modern legacy? What changed 

is not the essence of products, but the fact that design can 

be seen as the essence of the object. This is not necessarily 

derived from an innovation or technological novelty but from 

a complex system of functions amongst which can be counted 

the symbolic ones, those of greater social character-those that 

affect uses and customs- and, therefore, the complex system 

that is a way of living, understood not only as a question of 

tastes in the logic of the social identities of people, but also 

in the practices, activities and finally in the set of functions 

that define what any person does globally with his life. But the 

truly new İs still, İn the context ofthe diffuse aestheticization 

outside of art, and therefore In all of the domains of the 

everyday, the reflection on what type of aesthetics is that 

which corresponds to the domain of design and what is 

understood there as beauty. That being so, the phenomenon 

of the aestheticization of the everyday constitutes at least a 

hope to understand, from the point of view of aesthetic theory, 

socio-cultural phenomena as important as design itselfi 

To summarize it broadly, the phenomenon of the 

aestheticization of the everyday is resolved in a series of 

concrete traits ofthe contemporary perfectly separated as such 

and even defined in its function. The most significant or the 

history of aesthetic philosophy is the corroboration ofthe fact 

that the majority of phenomena of aestheticization are found 

in extra-artistic realms, which means an important shift with 

respect to that understanding of the aesthetic according to 

which one of its main objectives is to explain art or, better yet, 

the artistic of Fine Arts. The stress has now been placed on the 

aesthetic and the aesthetic behaviours of producers, or creative 

people in general, and end users, whether they are merely 

consumers or receptors. What's characteristic of the present 

is that the aesthetic exists and develops outside the world of 

art. Furthermore, for many authors aesthetics is now what 

constitutes the surrounding reality, an anthropological fact 

which defines the present, so in that way aesthetics has become 

perfectly joined with the economic. An author like Fulvio 

Carmagnola theorized, as early as 1989, that there had been an 

"aesthetic turn" by which aesthetic phenomena had become 

the interpretative model of post-modernity, since aesthetics 

constitutes a very specific way within the construction of 

meaning (1989; 44). Shortly thereafter, in his next book, and. 

to some extent, in disagreement with Heidegger, Carmagnola 

showed how merchandise had evolved to the point of growing 

out of its traditional values of usage and exchange, a sort of 

"transfiguration" "beyond themselves." The constant need for 

products and services to be differentiated had blended, precisely 

through the specific aesthetic qualities of those products, 

qualitative thinking with the economic. That explains why, as 

time has gone by, Carmagnola speaks of a "fiction economy" in 

which economic activity is based on symbolic goods, emotions, 

and the possibility to enjoy concrete experiences.'^ In fact, 

nowadays, those fable-like fictions underlie any discourse on 

brand (though not on trode-mark) and its management. It is 

another name for that economy based on intangibles. 

To put it simply, it is worth taking up again the words that 

Wolfgang Welsch once published on the web to describe this 

aestheticized period. According to this German author there 

are at least two equally relevant types of aestheticization in the 

contemporary world. One of them, the more superficial type 

(characteristic of globalization) occurs in global phenomena. 

It consists in either the "beautification or aesthetic styling of 

reality," or in the conversion to "hedonism as a new matrix of 

culture,"orin"an economic strategy."'^This last option connects 

with what the beginning of this paper sought to explain 

and focuses on the economy and marketing techniques 

appropriation of aesthetics. It is one of the usual definitions 

used to show the strategic character of design but in fact it 

mirrors the view of design as mere added value resulting from 

the addition of ornaments at the end of the process. Many 

other authors, including the main representatives of Design 

Management, have taken up again this type of discourse and 

its implications to redefine the place of design and its activity 

in the contemporary world. Here is an example chosen at 

random from the current bibliography: 

"Objects in our present condition of society have become 

signs, no longer symbols, and therefore their meaning 

is increasingly aesthetic, not cognitive... the particular 

object therefore has to be judged as aesthetic experience, 

as part of an event, by a subject as singular, no longer as 

universal.The experiencing subject knows things in terms 

ofthe ontological structures proper to things themselves. 

Subject is in the world among objects. Subjects no longer 

know objects- they now experience them".'^

From statements like this itcan beinfered several things in order 

to understand the aesthetic; they are similar to those revived 

by post-modern thought to speak of areas of knowledge and 

scientific knowledge and the post-modern condition.'''These 

are factors like the assimilation of the aesthetic to subjective 

experience, private and individual, or more specifically, 

local. One example is the ease to judge without knowledge, 

without needing to know the rules that justify the judging, 

which is the way people's taste seems to operate. Another 

example is the fascination with the individual case, the 

different and the specific of things or situations... In fact, it is 

worth remembering that the aesthetic, and in particular, the 

way the aesthetic judgment is carried out (or reasoned?), is 

nowadays an important model for many other discourses, 

be they rhetorical or not, from hard science to practical or 

management disciplines (Carmagnola 1989). in this sense, 

the concept of aesthetic experience as it has been defined by 

philosophical aesthetics has contributed an excellent model 

to explain the consumers' experience which the marketing of 

emotion and the image based economy have used to explain 

design's goais in business, in attracting and keeping potential 

clients. It must be remember that, as Fulvio Carmagnola has 

explained repeatedly, within management which focuses on 

experiences and which promotes a design "centered on the 

user"there are many elements that link It to the old analysis of 

taste and its ways of deciding (2006. Chapter 5) 

For the most furious detractors ofthe blurry aestheticization, 

the principal criricism of this sort of approach comes precisely 

from the aestheric categories used. If design tradition talked 

about questions like that which is agreeable -in design- 

contrasted with the sublime -in Fine Arts- even the decorative 

as compared to the impressive -as in the case of William Morris 

but also ultimately of all aestheric modernism at the beginning 

ofthe 20th Century- currently, having definitively consolidated 

the idea of a falsified aesthetic experience -Adorno's critique of 

industrial culture and the popular in art, but also Heidegger's 

cririque of ail non-authentic life in the contemporary technified 

world- the aesthetic category that Is now on the table is 

entertainment, diversion, and enjoyment. What with that, not 

all of design's proposals fall into the area of the fun. Just the 

opposite, in analysis ofthe blurry aestherics there are sufficient 

elements upon which to begin to found an aestherics that 

really explains how design operates in relarion to the aesthetic 

and, what amounts to the same thing, in what terms we can 

speak about quality in such a concrete domain of material 

culture. Many other authors, those pleased by this surrounding 

aestheticization and its pleasures, argue for "an intellectual 

sensibility capable of capturing the part of poetry that the 

quoridian is full of," to paraphrase Michel Maffessoli (2001:57), 

"taking advantage of life's pleasure as something positive, 

affirming even the civic virtue of a hedonism of the everyday." 

Welsch, for example, left a door open to another, more 

profound type of aesthetics when he proposed it in 

epistemo!ogicalterms,thatis,asawaytoacquiringfundamental 

knowledge from the moment that this knowledge responds 

to "the transformation of the producrive processes guided 

by new technologies and the consriturion of reality by the 

media." The combination of both types as if concerned with 

two dimensions of one phenomenon assumes the possibility 

for Aestherics of design in the fullest sense. 

In the perspective specific to design and its philosophy, what 

we have just stated also has its consequences. The first and 

most important Is that of transferring the key attributes ofthe 

aesthetic to design: in an aestheticized world, in an economy 

based on aesthetic differences, design shares with aesthetics 

the same blurry condirion. This once again brings up the 

question of quality in design and its determining elements. 

In effect, having had its global parriciparion in the definition 

of products recognized since the advent of "hardware," to use 

the terms of Carmagnola, it no longer constitutes a specifically 

differential element, a determined and recognizable language 

that excludes those that are not equal and comparable: 

"it Is not an operarion, reserved only for one parricularly 

qualified category of the products but also extends 

itself to modify perceivable elements of all of the 

producrion. Design has also become a blurry condition. 

There's nothing left that's not differenriated, signed, 

qualified; each product is a star." (1991:139) 

Now, if the act of designing is no longer a differenrial factor 

between products, that role can be given to the quality of 

the design, which in fact sets differences of grade between 

products. We must recognize that in a world of blurry and 

omnipresent design the question of quality remains, since

old models of good design are obsolete. The hope is now 

placed precisely upon aesthetics as a discourse and proposal. 

In a recent book titled "Homegrown Philosophy", Xavier 

Rubert de Ventos said that we shouldn't forget that, "culture 

is still that which transforms hard and opaque reality into a 

symbolic form," and that, "we are at risk of forgetting that in 

order for a piece of culture to be legitimate, it must have the 

possibility of being either false or beautiful."The same is true 

for design as an activity with an important cultural dimension, 

or potential to create culture. We should admit however that 

merchandise, or products reified as merchandise, also have 

multiple dimensions; in the words of both Carmagnola and 

Marx, "merchandise is always more than mere merchandise: 

something that overcomes its immediate, banal nature; always 

showing unexpected aspects" (2001:149}, There's no doubt 

that the current blurry aesthetics offers a boundless field for 

aesthetic reflection as long as it is taken seriously and as long 

as we accept as a point of departure the fact that the aesthetic 

is a human social anthropological dimension and therefore a 

part of westerners'way of being.^" 

We accept here the challenges launched by both Alain Findeli 

and Fulvio Carmagnola some years ago trying contribute to 

a line of investigation which could be summed up as follows. 

According to Findeli, to contribute to the deep re-thinking 

of the aesthetic which contemporary philosophy of design 

needs (1994; 68); according to Carmagnola: 

The task at hand is one of delineating a set of traits, the 

figure of a possible aesthetics which takes into account 

production, communication and consumption referring 

them to the multiple modes of perception. Now the 

emphasis must be on consumption, the seat of complex 

perceptive operations related to aesthetic pleasure and 

usage of goods. Consumption aesthetics should also 

then be communication discourse aesthetics; based on 

an experience capable of giving meaning and culture 

to the everyday (1991:201). 

Summing up, understanding how, through design, through 

its use, consumption and production we can continue to 

contribute to the production and experience of meaning 

wherever it consciously intervenes. 

Acknowledgements 

Thanks to Yves Zlmmermann, as guilty as me in that project of 

a book dealing specifically with Aesthetics for Design. 

Footnotes & References 

Anna Calvera 

Barcelona, June 2006. 

' BEDA stands for Bureau of European Design Associations, 

created In 1969 to promote political measures within the EU 

that can be in force throughout Europe, allowing all designers 

to defend their rights as professionals. See www.beda.org 

^ Spanish Law from 7/7/2003, BOE issue number 162; July 

8th 2003, p. 26348. European Directive 98/71/CE, European 

Parliament and Counsel, October 13th 1998 

^ Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio, Secretaria 

General de Industria, Dİrecciön Gral. de la Pequena y Mediana 

Empresa: "La Innovacion empresarial en Espaha". Report by 

Neboa Zozaya. Madrid 2005 

[http://www.ipyme.org/NR/rdonlyres/3593719A-8B05-4C6C- 

AB46-EF9A97CD5C88/0/innovacion2005.pdfj 

In this sense, it is worth bringing up Findeli's challenge 

from a relatively recent article; "Aesthetics... for it is doubtless 

one of the areas of design philosophy that has been less 

understood during the 20th Century and which calls for 

serious fundamental reconsideration." See "Ethics, Aesthetics 

and Design". Design Issues, 10.2, summer 1994:68. In this book 

Findeli addresses that fundamental reconsideration. 

^ After Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten aesthetics became an 

independent philosophical discipline which studies artistic 

phenomena and the beautiful, what is known as modern 

aesthetics. His main work Is the two volume Aesthetica (1750- 

1758). 

^ Schiller: Cartas sobre la educaciön estetica del hombre. Buenos 

Aires: Argentina, 1981. There are many other available editions.

^ One of the most clear and insightful explanations of the 

contemporary wodd's disdain of philosophy and aesthetics 

cdn befounö in Carmagnola. fulvio-.Luogh/delloquolitd. Milan: 

Domus Academy, 1991: 13, 31 and also in // consume delle 

Immagini, Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 2006: 158. According to 

Carmagnola this foundational condition of modern aesthetics 

derives from Schiller, for whom aesthetics and art were "the 

place of Utopia, of liberation from the links to economic 

and efficient rationality." For a theoretical elaboration of the 

concept of banality in art and design, the key texts are those 

by Mendini published by several architecture magazines 

throughout the eighties as the basis of that period's Nuovo 

Design. Maffesoli has also reclaimed banality in: "Hay una 

poetica de la banalidad."MAFFESSOLI, Michel: f//nsfanfeererno 

(2000). Barcelona: Paidos, 2001: 86. For an aesthetic analysis 

of Mendlni's thematization of banality see: Calvera, Anna: "La 

dimension simbolica de los objetos de uso." en Romero de 

Soils, Diego y Diaz Urmeneta, Juan Bosco: Simbolos esteticos. 

Sevilla: Universldad de Sevilla, 2001:321-345. 

In some cases, that has been a version acknowledged by art 

history although it has seldom had any effect on aesthetic 

reflection. In the case, for example, of J. Jimenez's text on 

what happened at two turns ofthe century, that one between 

the 19th and 20th and that one between the 20th and the 

21 St; "After the Bauhaus, Morris and the Wiener Werkstate, 

fashion, furniture, interior decoration and domestic objects 

became crystallizations of the taste of the masses, vehicles for 

a new aesthetic sensibility not connected to traditional art's 

aristocratic elitism." See: Jimenez, Jose:"Tran5formaciones del 

arte moderno" en D'Art 22, Barcelona 1997:83 

^ The reasoning adds, to a large degree, to Walter Benjamin's 

thesis on the new varieties of impoverished experience. In his 

dme Ortega y Gasset also dealt with this Issue in talking about 

both the revolt ofthe masses and the dehumanization of art. 

Scholars who study the contemporary wodd and the legacy 

of post-modernism have taken up again this line of reasoning 

though In order to call attention to the ideological nature of 

many of those ideas. Among the numerous possible authors, 

we'll take as an example the following quote by Michel 

Maffessoli;"The critique of everyday life is precisely that which 

is not tragic: kitsch objects, the arrangement of interiors... are 

like so many fortresses built against the feeling of the tragic. 

that is, against the awareness of death and ineluctability," 

Maffessoli, 2001:57. 

'° Here I refer to the version recently explored by Jordi Berrio 

in relation to the ideals implicit in the notion of design 

throughout its history. In relation to the last period in the 

Modern Movement's design, at the time of Ulm's HfG, Berno 

remembered that democratic ideal which also inspired 

graphic design in its evo!ution:"Through design, the consumer 

of industrial objects had the opportunity to bring home a 

number of new objects which had great formal dignity, and 

which he was able to enjoy in what they had to offer in terms 

of function (...) design had become a democratic tool and, 

therefore, a dignifying one, since it equalized citizens In the 

domain of forms." See: Berrio, Jordi: "El disseny a I'epoca de la 

desaparicio dels grans relats". Barcelona; Temes de disseny, 16 

(february) 2001:114. 

There is relatively little bibliography on Ulm's HfG and what 

this institution meant to the history of design: the most usual 

references todlfferentaspects scattered inthemostdiverse texts, 

which is due in good measure to the fact that Ulm symbolizes 

the modern in design and is the model for subsequent design, 

upon which the latter's innovation is determined. See Bürdek, 

Bernhard: Dlseho. Historia, teorio y practica del disefto industrial. 

Barcelona: Gustavo Gill, 1984:39-69, 168-214 

" It is the Infomational Aesthetics trend defended by Max 

Bense, Ulm professor, continued at first by Abraham A. Moles. 

Neoplasticism and concreteart, mathematical information theory 

and cybernetics all played a part in the definition of this line of 

enquiry of philosophical aesthetics. The progressive discovery of 

symbolic values in everyday objects lead the investigation toward 

other areas, like semiotics or rhetoric ofthe image, leaving design 

aesthetics in a dead which was only taken up again by Haug in 

terms ofthe aesthetics of merchandise and design's compromise 

with the German miracle. About the influence of Haug in German 

design culture, see Bürdek 1984:172-3, 

'^The essays of W. F Haug which most influenced German design 

were: Kritik der Worenoesthetik. Frankfurt, 1971; "Zur Aesthetik 

von Manipulation" in Dos Argument. 25, 1963; "Warenaesthetik 

und Angst" in Das Argument. 28, 1963; "Zur Kritik der 

Warenaesthetik" in Kursbuch, 20, 1970. About the influence of

Haug's theories and the critical thought ofthe Frankfurt School 

on Germany's post-war design, see SELLE, Gert: İdeologla y 

Utopia del diseho. Barcelona: Gustavo Gill, 1975. 

See Karen Lisa Goldsmith Salamon: "Design in cultural 

exchange: issues on identity politics, authentification and 

ownership." Pade and Pre-Deslgn, Tlie cultural Heritage and 

the Science of Design. Proceedings Book. Spring Conference 

CUMULUS / İADE, Lisboa, 2005:447-455. 

'"^ A usual view of design and design's role in society, inherited, 

in part, from critical thought but alsofrom Marxist merchandise 

aesthetics, is the one used by design in its popular sense, 

that is, the activity responsible for the attention-grabbing 

appearances of the post-modern, or of the Nuovo Design 

popularized in the 80s. Let's take this comment as an example: 

"Merchandise aesthetics or, inversely, the mercantilization of 

the aesthetic, with the exaltation of design and its telematic 

broadcasting in detriment of its content." See Duque, Felix: 

"Informe sobre la posmodernidad: oscura la historia y clara 

la pena" in Muguerza y Cerezo (eds.) La filosofia hoy (1997). 

Barcelona: Critica, 2000:227. 

"In this aestheticized version, design is no longer a 

superstructural condition, that is, a final intervention which 

adds beauty to function, a soft dress which folds to envelop 

a hardware of pre-constituted shapes, to become a structural 

condition ofthe projecting which influences the characteristics 

of the hardware in itself." Carmagnola, 1991: 138. The entire 

chapter 6 deals with this Issue. 

Carmagnola 2006:2"The imaginary (images) constitutes now 

the aesthetic form on which rests an economy founded on mass 

communication." The book is devoted to reflecting on "what 

happens with aesthetics when the realm of beuty and symbols 

have turned into a direct source of economic value." (7) 

" Even though Wolfgang Welsch's writings are still hard to find 

in Spanish, there are several web pages where articles and 

papers can be consulted. See, for example: "Aesthetics Beyond 

Aesthetics", Proceedings of the Xlllth International Congress of 

Aesthetics, Lahti 1995, Vol. Ill: Practical Aesthetics in Practice and 

Theory ed. Martti Honkanen, Helsinki 1997, 18-37. Revised: 

November 2002 at: http://www2.uni-jena.de/welsch/ 

Lash, Scott: Another Modernity. A Different Rationality. Oxford: 

Blackwell, 1999: "Objects in our present condition of society 

have become signs, no longer symbols, and therefore their 

meaning is increasingly aesthetic, not cognitive... the particular 

object therefore has to be judged as aesthetic experience, as 

part of an event, by a subject as singular, no longer as universal. 

The experiencing subject knows things in terms of the 

ontological structures proper to things themselves. Subject is 

in the world among objects. Subjects no longer know objects 

-they now experience them." In relation with an economy 

based on the production of experiences of users/consumers, 

see: Pine, B.J. and Gilmore, J.H.: The Experience Economy. Work 

is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. Boston: Harvard Business 

School Press, 1999. 

The classic book about this is Francois Lyotard's The Post 

modern Condition [1979]. Many other books have been 

published but the most relevant here are the ones which 

have tried to explain the consequences of the paradigm of 

complexity. For a summary ofthe perspective and aesthetic 

of the everyday, see: Fulvio Carmagnola: La visihilitd. Per un 

estetica del fenomeni complessi. Milano: Angelo Guerrini, 1989. 

Carmagnola states, for example, that "the aesthetic dimension 

has become a discriminating element for both scientific 

judgments and the choices made by consumers as well as in 

industry policies (p.23). In his view, the emergence of aesthetics 

insocial life is what makes visibility possible, that allows for 

things to become visible, and therefore, mediagenic. 

Today the bibliography on this Is quite extensive. For a good 

analysis in Spanish see Norberto Chaves: El diseho invisible. 

Buenos Aires, Paidos 2005.

C U L T U R A L D I V E R S I T Y IN P R O D U C T D E S I G N A N D P R O D U C T U S A B I L I T Y 

Henri Christiaans 

Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netheriands 

h.h.c.m.christiaans@tudelft.nl 

Jan Carel Diehi 

Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netheriands 

j.c.diehl@tudelft.nl 

This paper discusses the practice of industrial design within 

the context ofthe globalisation process, facing the question 

of cultural diversity. Two perspectives are discussed; the 

object perspective and the human need perspective. The 

first one focuses on the current interaction between human 

beings and the surrounding products as an expression of 

the reproduction of culture. The object view is seen as a 

strategic source for designing pleasurable and competitive 

products based on mass customization, in the human need 

perspective the importance of designing products for society 

within a perspective of social and cultural responsibility and 

commitment will be stressed, so as to enable the promotion 

of emancipation, sustainable development, improvement of 

quality of life as well as the cultural identities of individuals 

and social groups. 

Since the eighties disciplines such as archaeology, 

anthropology, ethnology, and sociology hold the view that 

artefacts play an important role in the appropriation and 

{re)production of culture. Artefacts represent existing cultural 

categories. And people flexibly internalize these categories in 

interaction with objects. People and artefacts continuously 

create each other, especially during daily routine actions. This 

specific view on the role of artefacts in people's everyday life 

has given rise to new research, but only recently the design 

disciplines take part in this research. As a specific area within 

cultural studies the interaction between people and products 

as a cultural phenomenon has hardly been described yet. 

In most theories {i.e. Hofstede (1991) Trompenaars and 

Hampden-Turner, C. (2002) and Laroche (2003)) culture has 

been defined as a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, 

behaviours, and artefacts that members of a society use to 

cope with their worid and with one another; and that are 

transmitted from generation to generarion through learning. 

So, culture is not genetic or defined by birth. Culture manifests 

itself both in a visible (art, language, etc.) and a non-visible 

way (habits, preferences, experiences). 

Existing cultural models, however, do not provide extensive 

information about how it can be applied in a meaningful way 

to human product interaction and hence to the design of 

products.Thusfar, studies on the impact of culture on product 

design show a rather pragmatic approach by investigating 

specific objects in specific situations. The danger is that this 

approach will not lead to a higher-level thinking regarding for 

instance a new design methodology. 

In this paper we try to bring the discussion to this higher level 

by making a difference between two perspectives an object 

perspective and a human need perspective. The first one is the 

common designerly way of thinking; in orderto get immediate 

design and marketing requirements the current interaction 

between human beings and the surrounding products as an 

expression ofthe reproduction of culture is studied.The object 

view is seen as a strategic source for designing pleasurable 

and competitive products based on mass customization. In 

the human need perspective the importance of designing 

products for society within a perspective of social and cultural

esponsibilityand commitment will be stressed, so as to enable 

the promotion of emancipation, sustainable development, 

and Improvement of quality of life as well as the cultural 

identities of individuals and social groups. Both perspectives 

will now be elaborated upon. 

The object perspective' 

'Globalization leads to homogenization of all consumption 

and behaviour all around the world'is often stated to identify 

the consequences of a global world. 

From the 1 QSO's, the number of multinational companies grew 

enormously. This growth resulted in an extreme expansion 

of wodd merchandise trade and wodd trade of commercial 

services. In 2004 the total value of global trading was nine 

thousand billon euros, of which 2.5 thousand billon euros were 

spent on Internationa! trading of products: office, telecom, 

automotive, personal & household goods and scientific and 

controlling instruments (Wodd Bank, 2005). 

With the trend of internationalization, products are marketed 

all over the globe. Cultural diversity is on the decline, would be 

a logical conclusion. So why should we, as product designers, 

be bothered by culture at all? We should do, because in this 

increasingly global market many companies and designers are 

facing cultural diversity. Products that Initially are designed for 

local markets will be purchased and used In different parts of 

the wodd In a different economical and cultural context. As a 

consequence, there is an emerging Interest in the impact of 

cultural dimensions on the interaction between people and 

products, both from a professional and an academic point of 

view (Christensen et al., 2006). 

More and more important is which role a product plays in an 

international context. Is a product only suitable for one specific 

context only? Or are there products acceptable no matter 

which context they are in? The older the product category the 

more cultural manifestations it has (de Moolj, 2004). Although 

the alignment of product designing with corporate guidelines 

' We want to thank Kamiel de Leur for his contribution to this section 

ofthe paper. 

and international trends is noticeable, the symbolic, practical 

and technical requirements vary among cultures, demanding 

product differentiation (Ono, 2005).The statement of Percy 

Barnevik, CEO of ABB 'think globally, act locally' is all we have 

to do while acting in an international perspective whether 

one want to solve a conflict, to sell things, and also to develop 

products forthe international market. Although the statement 

Is very simple, the consequences are rather complex. So it Is 

for product design. 

No wonder that companies realize the importance of flexible 

and adaptive design according to local markets. A company's 

failure to acknowledge cultural differences often limits 

its product's marketability. Therefore, a number of global 

companies already started to develop methods and projects to 

study cross-cultural aspects. Intel developed his own'Culture 

Capsule', a physical cultural environment that can simulate 

every cultural interior and atmosphere you like (Foucault 

and Russell, 2004). Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Philips and 

Siemens, among others, are conducting cross-cultural studies 

to understand not only matters regarding culture and human 

interaction design but also how to gain profit from emerging 

markets. 

From this object perspective human beings are perceived as 

users irrespective their needs forthe manufacturers'artefacts. 

Cultural-specific variables are related to users' expectancies 

about usability. Depending on their cultural background, 

users may focus on aspects concerning effectiveness, 

efficiency or satisfaction (or combinations of each) when 

using such products. Therefore, assuming there Is a linkage 

between culture and attitude towards usability, products 

should be modelled to the user's local cultural background In 

terms of producing systems that accommodate user's cultural 

charactenstics (Diehl and Chnstiaans, 2006). 

Illustrative cases 

To Illustrate the broad spectrum of products Involved with 

cultural diversity and similanty, some specific product cases 

are presented here. 

With many people interested In cultural diversity regarding 

the field of product design, the discussion If culture is a factor

of importance is still going on. The iPod family (see figure 1) 

proves that the physical appearance of a product doesn't have 

to be different to be a success. But also the iPod is a highly 

diverse product, affected by the factor culture: the music on 

the iPod defines its cultural identity. 

Figure 1.1 Pod Family 

The physical appearance (apart from some colour trends and 

promotional prints) of the ball pen differs not much in the 

world (see figure 2). The function of it is cultural neutral, but 

not the output. This product works around the world because 

the person who is writing with it is able to express his cultural 

knowledge (language). 

Figure 2. Ball pens 

The kitchen environment is always a nice example for cross- 

cultural issues (see figure 3). Here we can see the 'western' style 

sink and the'Central America'sink. Apart from the use, in Central 

America they also do the laundry in the sink, the functionality 

and appearance differs. In Central America, each sink includes 

three compartments: one water reservoir in the middle and 

two 'workplaces' (suitable for all kind of activities). Due to the 

environmental circumstances there is no constant water supply. 

lb.. 

Figure 3. Western style and Central American style sini 

Figure 4. Heating in Japan 

The way of heating your house is different from region to 

region. Here in Japan, the low table (also used as a dining 

table) incorporates a heating device inside. Covered with 

a blanket and a glass plate, people are able to sit under the 

blanket and experience a comfortable temperature (product 

suggestion: TWA Tokio). 

Asia versus Europe 

Another illustrative example can be presented by comparing 

some objects in Asia versus Europe (see figures 5,6 and 7}.^ 

Figure 5. Cultural differences between Europe and Asia in 

eating tools and appliances to wash clothes. 

^ With thanks to TWA Tokyo and TWA Singapore for their product 

suggestions.

Figure 5. Cultural differences between Europe and Asia in 

eating tools and appliances to wash clothes. 

Figure 6. Cultural differences between Europe and Asia 

appliances to toast bread and appliances to get massage. 

Figure 7: Cultural differences in tools in the restroom 

At the School of Industrial Design Engineenng, Delft University 

of Technology, the Netherlands a series of case studies have 

been Initiated to explore cross-cultural design from the object 

perspective. These case-studies are meant to gather as many 

examples as possible as to form a coherent view on what people 

moves,theirexperiencesand, above all, the needs regarding their 

own responsibility in creating their own favourite environment. 

Current design methodology apparently Is based on this object 

view also in tackling cultural diversity in product design. Starting 

from existing products, for instance designed for people in a 

western country, any need for adaptations in other cultures will 

be translated Into adaptations to the existing product {see the 

case below). Another way is to offer a number of alternatives for 

the same product and to test people's preference. The design 

of a water purifier by a western company is an example of this 

strategy. People in India were offered a metal and a plastic one. 

For typical cultural reasons they preferred the metal purifier 

notwithstanding the higher price. 

Case study influence of culture in consumer electronic 

products 

By this case an exemplar of the object perspective will be 

presented. In this study cultural differences were studied 

on the basis of a comparison between two cultures, the 

NetheHands and South Korea on design characteristics of 

consumer electronic products. People are not always aware of 

the influence of culture on their daily life. So, survey methods 

alone will not reveal their values and beliefs in relation to the 

material wodd. Therefore, a new method was developed to 

capture these culture related preference for the design and 

style of a product and its user interfaces. The method, called 

'Design it yourself method {D.I.Y.), makes it possible for the 

user to design the interface of his/her preferred microwave 

and washing machine. While expressing their own preference 

during the test, it was believed that common attributes to their 

culture could be obtained. 

The D.I.Y tool was a computer-based simulation of the 

microwave and the washing machine, made in Flash, with 

which the participant can move all separate parts (window, 

buttons, pictograms, and text) In order to design his/her 

favorite interface (see Fig. 8). Participants also had to choose 

a sound (out of 10), which is heard when a cooking program 

ends. Examples of microwave designs are presented In Figure 8. 

Analysis ofthe microwave interface designs shows differences

etween Dutch and Korean people on a number of aspects: 

shape and arrangement of buttons, and the reason for their 

preference. Dutch participants preferred symmetry shape of 

button and symmetric arrangement while these were not the 

case with Korean participants. Both good-looking and usability 

were important to Dutch subjects while only the usability was 

most important to the Korean group. On the other hand, there 

were no differences on the size of buttons, indication, type of 

control, complexity on arrangement, and hierarchy. 

Use patterns were analyzed by looking at the displacement 

ofthe hand while operating the microwave on participant's 

designs. For this evaluation, a simple task was imagined, 

i.e. 'heating-up'. To do the task, people generally follow the 

sequence: watt control, time control, and start. Looking at the 

operation of Dutch participants three patterns, almost evenly 

distributed, were found: 'from top to bottom', 'going up and 

then down', 'going down and then up'. The patterns of the 

Koreans showed the distribution: 'from top to bottom', 'going 

upand then down', while the pattern'going down and then up' 

did not appear at all. Differences were found in the choice of an 

'ending' sound, Dutch participants did not show any uniform 

preference. Among the various reasons for their preference 

functionality of the sound was most frequently mentioned. 

Contrary the Korean group showed this uniformity. 'Nice to 

listen to'was the reason for this preference (Kim et al., 2006). 

Figure 8, Participant using the Design-lt-Yourse!f tool and the 

outcomes of the Dutch participants (NTS) and the Korean 

participants (K15) 

The human need perspective 

Talking about human product interaction the usual way to 

tackle this issue from a designer's point of view is the object 

perspective, followed by a market perspective.This view, which is 

taken for granted by economic rationalists, assumes that human 

beings are driven by a limitless craving for material possessions 

(Fisher, year unknown). The designed objects stemming from 

this way of thinking provide relatively specific, sometimes 

sophisticated offerings to a narrow range of people. However, 

in this view the human interest, needs and believes hardly play 

a role. Therefore an human need perspective should also taken 

into account, not by giving this issue only lip-service, offering 

the traditional western view of Maslow's hierarchy of needs 

(Maslow, 1962).This hierarchy doesn't exist apart from the basic 

need for subsistence or survival. Designing products for society 

within a perspective of social and cultural responsibility and 

commitment, should emphasize the promotion of emancipation, 

sustainable development, improvement of quality of life as well 

as the cultural identities of individuals and social groups. The 

author who takes a stance in the discussion about human needs 

is Max-Neef His model of human-scale development can offer a 

breakthrough in our way of thinking about material culture. 

Max-Neef and his colleagues have developed a taxonomy 

of human needs. Human Scale Development is defined as 

"focused and based on the satisfaction of fundamental human 

needs, on the generation of growing levels of self-reliance, and 

on the construction of organic articulations of people with 

nature and technology, of global processes with local activity, 

ofthe personal with the social, of planning with autonomy, and 

of civil society with the state." (Max-Neef et al, 1987; p. 12) 

Max-Neef makes an important distinction between needs and 

satisfiers. Human needs are seen as few, finite and classifiable (as 

distinct from the conventional notion that "wants" are infinite 

and insatiable). They are constant through all human cultures 

and across historical time peiiods. "What changes over time 

and between cultures is the way these needs are satisfied. It is 

important that human needs are understood as a system - i.e. 

they are interrelated and interactive" (Fisher, year unknown). 

Max-Neef classifies the fundamental human needs as: 

subsistence, protection, affection, understanding, participation, 

recreation (in the sense of leisure, time to reflect, or idleness), 

creation, identityandfreedom. Needs are also defined according 

to the existential categories of being, having, doing and 

interacting. From these dimensions, a 36 cell matrix is developed 

which can be filled with examples of satisfiers for those needs.

Fundamental 

human needs 

subsistence 

protection 

affection 

understanding 

participation 

leisure 

creation 

identity 

freedom 

Being (qualities) 

physical and mental 

health 

care, adaptability, 

autonomy 

respect, sense of humour, 

generosity, sensualit; 

critical capacity, curiosity, 

intuition 

receptiveness, 

dedication, sense of 

humour 

Having (things) Doing (actions) Interacting (settings) 

food, shelter, work feed, clothe, rest, work living, environment, 

social security, health 

systems, work 

co-operate, plan, take 

care of, help 

friendships, family, share, take care of, make 

relationships with nature love, express emotions 

literature, teachers, 

policies educational 

analyse, study, meditate, 

investigate. 

imagination, tranquil ity, games, parties, peace of day-dream, remember, 

spontaneity 

imagination, boldness, 

inventiveness, curiosity 

sense of belonging, self- 

esteem, consistency 

autonomy, passion, 

self-esteem,, open- 

mindedness 

responsibilities, duties, 

work, nghts 

cooperate, dissent, 

express opinions 

mind relax, have fun 

abilities, skills, work, 

techniques 

invent, build, design, 

work, compose, interpret 

language, religions, work, getto know oneself, 

customs, values, norms grow, commit oneself 

equal rights 

Fisher writes: "Max-Neef shows that certain satisfiers, 

promoted as satisfying a particular need, in fact inhibit or 

destroy the possibility of satisfying other needs: eg, the arms 

race, while ostensibly satisfying the need for protection, in 

fact then destroys subsistence, participation, affection and 

freedom; formal democracy, which is supposed to meet the 

need for participation often disempowers and alienates; 

commercial television, while used to satisfy the need for 

recreation, interferes with understanding, creativity and 

identity - the examples are everywhere. Synergic satisfiers, 

on the other hand, not only satisfy one particular need, but 

also lead to satisfaction in other areas: some examples are 

breast-feeding; self-managed production; popular education; 

democratic community organisations; preventative medicine; 

meditation; educational games" (Fisher, year unknown). 

social setting 

social environment, 

dwgHjng 

privacy, intimate spaces 

of togetherness 

schools, families, 

universities, 

communities, 

associations, 

artles, churches, 

neighbourhoods 

landscapes, intimate 

spaces, places to be 

alone 

spaces for expression, 

workshops, audiences 

places one belongs to, 

everyday settings 

dissent, choose, run risks, anywhere 

develop awareness 

Table 1. Taxonomy of human needs (Max-Neef, 1987) 

This model forms the basis of an explanation of many of 

the problems ansing from a dependence on mechanistic 

economics, and contributes to understandings that are 

necessary for a paradigm shift that incorporates systemic 

principles. Max-Neef and his colleagues have found that 

this methodology "allows for the achievement of in-depth 

insight into the key problems that impede the actualisatlon 

of fundamental human needs In the society, community or 

insritution being studied" (Max-Neef et al, 1987:40) 

This model provides a useful approach that meets the 

requirements of small group, community-based processes 

that have the effect of allowing deep reflection about one's 

individual and community situation, leading to crirical 

awareness and, possibly, acrion al the local economic level.

What does it mean for product design? 

Creating products for people requires the understanding of 

the needs and context ofthe people within it. In this situation 

it is clear that researchers and designers should engage with 

cultures directly in order to better understand local people. A 

unique set of design and business tools and practices adapted 

from social anthropology, ethnography and Participatory 

Rural Appraisal (PRA) to build what we call an MNC's "native 

capability" are being used. This native capability consists of 

the ability to: 

• Engage in deep listening and mutual dialogue with 

income-poor communities. 

• Co-discover and co-create new product design 

opportunities and business models embedded in the 

local cultural infrastructure. 

• Co-design and launch products that generate mutual 

value for all partners. 

Researchers from the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering 

at Delft University have adopted this approach. Another paper 

at this conference gives an overview of this research (Diehl 

and Christiaans, 2007}. 

Conclusions 

Studying the consequences of cultural diversity for product 

design we are used to give priority to an object perspective: 

how can we adapt products designed and manufactured in the 

western world to a global market; how can we increase product 

selling to a bigger population; what marketing strategies are 

effective? Even in the current research practice a new research 

vocabulary is 'invented', such as 'research through design', 

which give the impression that researchers and designers only 

have an eye for this kind of reasoning. This perspective leads 

to a reproduction of particular values, thereby maintaining 

the status quo and neglecting the real needs and satisfiers 

hold by people from different cultures. Therefore, another 

perspective is badly needed, one that emphasize the creativity 

of people in contributing to their satisfiers, the promotion of 

emancipation, sustainable development, improvement of 

quality of life as well as the cultural identities of individuals 

and social groups.

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D A N C I N G W I T H D E S I G N - A S T U D Y O F T H E N A T I O N A L D E S I G N P O L I C Y A N D 

D E S I G N S U P P O R T P R O G R A M M E S IN S O U T H K O R E A 

Young Ok Choi 

Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, 

Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK 

y.choi2@lancater.ac.uk 

Rachel Cooper 

Lancaster Institute forthe Contemporary Arts, 

Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK 

r.cooper@lancater.ac.uk 

Sungwoo Lim 

School of Engineering and Design, 

Brunei University, Uxbridge, UK 

sungw/oo.llm@brunel.ac.uk 

Abstract 

This paper summarises a study of the narional design policy, 

the current status ofthe design industry and related support 

programmes offered by the government in South Korea. 

Government support programmes for Small and Medium 

Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are analysed based on a questionnaire 

survey. Seven key recommendations for support programmes 

and the national design policy are identified as follows: 

(1) Improving PR in relarion to the narional design policy 

and related design support programmes, (2) Developing 

different support programmes for Medium sized (ME)s 

and Small Enterprises (SE)s, (3) Developing the support 

programmes more practically, (4) Improving the quality of 

design consultancies and subdividing them Into specific fields 

of design consultancies, (5) Providing practical education 

and training programmes for designers and Chief Executive 

Oficers(CEOs), (6)Re-considering the main operator in support 

programmes and (7) Raising the value of the 'Good Design' 

award and its globalisation. 

The global economy and environment has changed rapidly 

and competitive pressures are conrinuous. Although most 

countries would like to expand their business to overseas 

markets, it is increasingly difficult to achieve their goals 

within the different environments ofthe global market place 

(Blaich 1988; Phillips 2004). Therefore, most countries have 

established different strategies to enhance competitiveness 

and economic success throughout the wodd, and many believe 

that using design effectively is central in achieving these 

aims (NAEH 2003; Phillips 2004; Tether 2005; DTI 2005b). The 

Design Council (Design Council 2004a) reported that design- 

led companies have produced dramarically increased share- 

price performance for their investors, and 63 of 166 design- 

led companies outperformed the FTSE 100 index over the full 

period by 200% which indicates (Design Council 2005e) that 

design-led innovarion is their principal competitive weapon 

in global markets. Moreover, the importance of design is 

emphasised in the Cox review (HM Treasury 2005) as the major 

impact of design innovation service on technology companies. 

The design for business programme in the UK (HM Treasury 

2005) has produced impressive results as follows:

• 80% of the companies changed strategic direction, 

mindset, culture and vision 

• 75% ofthe companies invested significantly in design 

and are confident of a return on investment 

• 65% of the companies changed branding and 

communication 

• 50% of the companies increased their ability to raise 

investment finance, significantly changed the balance 

and composition ofthe company's skills and saw better 

management and reduction in commercial risks 

Just as businesses seek to maximise their revenue, so do nations 

seek to maximise their economy and are subject to much ofthe 

same type of constraints that individual businesses face (NZIER 

2003). It is therefore necessary to discuss how best to improve 

promotion of design across businesses and governments, which 

is directly related to the general aim of national design policies 

(Hytonen and Heikkien 2003). In general, national specialisation 

focuses on national strengths and competitive competencies; 

they are often different nation-by-nation but also important 

in global competition (Hytonen and Heikkien 2003). The same 

can be said for design policy between nations. 

In this paper, the design policy and support programmes for 

SMEs (Small & Medium Sized Enterprises) In South Korea have 

been studied. This paper consists of three parts as follows. 

Firstly, the development of design policy in South Korea 

is briefly described. Secondly, satisfaction levels of SMEs 

on the support programme, which is a part of the design 

policy, are surveyed and analysed. Finally, recommendations 

for improvements to the support programme as well as the 

direction of the design policy are discussed. 

Overview ofthe national design policy in Korea 

National design policy development in Korea started in the late 

1950s and, since then, the Korean government has operated 

diverse design strategies in conjunction with the national 

economic development (KIDP 2005b; Kim 2006). The national 

economic background has dramatically improved arising from 

governmental intensive support for light industries (1960s), 

heavy industries (19705), assembling and processing industries 

(1980s) and IT industries (1990s~present). In 2003, knowledge- 

based industries, which include intelligent home networks. 

futuristic automobile, robot and design, etc. as a driving force 

forthe 21" century, were selected bythe government (Cho 2004; 

Kim 2006). According to the Korea Institute of Design Promotion 

(KIDP 2005b), the 1950s, in terms ofthe design history of Korea, 

was the commencement of awareness ofthe importance ofthe 

handicraft industry and design. It is called the 'Era of Reviving 

the Handicraft Industry'and Korea undertook design strategies 

through tUe'Korean {handicraftDemonstrations Centre'. From the 

1970s, the Korean government has evolved design promotion 

with the establishment of the 'Korea Design & Pacl

has also incredibly expanded (details are explained in the 

next section: current status of the design Industry). The focus 

of the first plan was to raise design awareness and to nurture 

corporate design abilities (MOCIE 1993). 

In terms ofthe second five-year plan (1998 - 2002), when faced 

with the economic cnsis in 1997, Korea turned to an innovation 

and design focus to extract herself from economic decline. The 

main aim ofthe second plan was to inspire designers to expand 

their creativity and enhance the quality of Korean design. The 

government established the Korean Design Centre to expand 

international activities, including hosting ICSID 2001 Seoul and 

Icograda 2000 Seoul, and to set up design innovation centres 

in major universities (MOCIE 1998). 

In the third five-year plan (2003-2007), the government 

keenly acknowledged the central role design plays in the 

nation's competitiveness. The government has been trying to 

strengthen design R&D capabilities, to build regional design 

centres and to achieve the vision of'Design Korea'during this 

period (MOCIE 2003b).This five-year plan aims to promote the 

design industry and to systematically make Korea an industry 

hub in the East Asian region.To realise a national user-oriented 

design plan, the plan was finalised after going through public 

hearings and listening to opinions of design experts. The major 

programmes of the plan can be categorised into six areas; 

(1) to broaden the base of design industry, (2) to introduce 

various measures for the education of "star" designers, (3) to 

establish the local design Innovation system, (4) to strengthen 

design R&D capabilities, (5)to Improve the national image of 

Korea, and (6) to expand International design exchange and to 

strengthen cooperation in Northeast Asia (MOCIE 2003b). 

Current status of the design industry 

The current market value ofthe design Industry in Korea was 

estimated at approximately 7 trillion Won (£3.9 billion, 1.2% 

of GDP) in 2002, and it is expected to rise to approximately 36 

trillion Won (£20 billion, 3% of GDP) by 2010 (MOCIE 2003b). 

Based on the three five-year promotion plans, the Korean 

government has a vision to move their design ranking up 

to 7th position in terms of design-led countries by 2008 and 

5'" by 2015(KiDP 2005c). The level of Korean design quality 

was esrimated by the KIDP to be equivalent to 80% to that 

of the design powerhouses of the wodd (KIDP 2004a). The 

target areas of MOCIE's design policy include all the design 

disciplines except fashion, textiles and architecture. In 

this paper, the current status of design awareness, supply & 

demand of tiumon resources, education, design consultancies, 

design development by companies, design competitiveness and 

reconstruction of infrastructure are summarised. Note that the 

staristics and figures referred to in this part of the paper are 

from Korean Design Industry Research 2005 report (MOCIE 

and KIDP 2005d) and were the results from a questionnaire 

survey which targeted 120 self-governing bodies, 2,200 

general companies and 500 design consultancies. 

Design awareness in Korea 

in general, it is perceived that people have high standards of 

design awareness (KIDP 2006d), They believe that design is a 

crucial element for the improvement in the national economic 

growth and also increase their cultural standard and quality of 

life. The narional budget for design Is, however, reducing. The- 

R&D budget for industrial technology development of MOCIE 

in 2005 was approximately 50% of the whole R&D budget of 

MOCIE (MOCIE 2005b) but the R&D budget for design was 

merely 1.1% (Kim, Seo et al. 2005). Addlrionally, the R&D 

budget of government had been increased by approximately 

20% from 5,577 billion Won (£3,1 billion) in 2003 to 6,737 

billion Won (£3.8 billion) in 2005 whilst the R&D budget for 

design had been reduced from 1.8% (2003) to 1.5% (2004) and 

then to 1.1% (2005) (Kim, Seo et al. 2005). 

Supply & demand of human resources 

As of 2002, there are a total of 256 schools (125 colleges and 

131 universiries) in Korea, where 539 departments teaching 

diverse design disciplines exist. The number of people who 

graduated from design related universities and colleges has 

increased from 28,583 in 1998 to 36,397 in 2002, which is 

up by around 27% over the past five years (KIDP 1998; KIDP 

2002a). The current problem for the design industry in terms 

of human resources is an unbalanced supply and demand In 

both quality and quantity of design. This industry finds itself 

having a lack of professional resources, as it needs more 

designers of a higher calibre, to respond to the advanced 

design of cars, electric home appliances, furniture and IT

environment. However, the majority of designers tend to 

major in visual, packaging and product design (KIDP 2004a; 

Hong 2005; MOCIE 2005c; Ahn 2006). 

Education 

Design has become one of the key sectors attracting 

public attention, and the educational demand has been 

continuously growing. Although academic disciplines such 

as management and engineering are increasingly paying 

attention to the potential role of design in their field, design is 

mainly perceived as an applied art in Korea. Design education 

in Korea still focuses on practical art skills, and there are few 

connections to marketing, engineering and management 

related areas. Bearing in mind that the average period of field 

adjustment of graduated manpower is around 9.5 months, 

design consultancies and companies have responded that 

design education in university produces graduates who are 

not good enough for practical work, and 69% of domestic 

SMEs cannot retrain their designers due to a lack of budget 

and human resources (MOCIE 2004a; MOCIE 2005c). 

Design consultancies 

The total number of design consultancies in Korea in 2005 

was 2,245, and 39.3% ofthe consultancies were in the visual 

communication sector while 25.1% were in environment 

and 24.1% were in product. This illustrates how the industry 

is heavily biased towards a visual field (MOCIE and KIDP 

2005d}. The average number of employees per consultancy 

is 3.79, and over half of the consultancies (58.6%) have only 

three to four employees. This indicates that most design 

consultancies are likely to be small-scale enterprises (MOCIE 

and KIDP 2005d). The market size ofthe design industry for 

design consultancies was approximately 1,308 billion Won 

(£732 million) in 2005. Whereas more than 80% of large sized 

companies have in-house designers and procure outsourced 

design from overseas design consultancies (FKI 2005). 

Design development by companies 

22.4% (38,384 out of total 171,356) of general companies 

operate design work and provide manufacturing, construction, 

business, entertainment, culture and sports services. A number 

of companies have in-house design teams or designers (14.2%, 

24,333), and a minority of companies use outsourced design 

(8.2%, 14,051) (MOCIE and KIDP 2005d). The average number 

of designers in a company is 4.24, and in total about 100,000 

designers work for these firms. On average, the annual design 

budget for general firms is approximately 148 million Won 

(£83 thousand) and the estimated total value is 5,709 billion 

Won (£3.1 billion). 31.6% of the design budget was spent on 

personal expenses and 26.2% was spent on outsourcing. 

The average amount of investment in the design field compared 

to the total sales market for manufacturing companies in 

Korea is merely 0.5%, while it is 0.2% for Large-sized, 1.2% for 

Medium-sized, and 2.1%for Small-sized companies. An average 

investment for R&D In the manufacturing industry is 12.4%, 

while it is 9.6% for Large-sized, 2.1% for medium-sized, and 

13.6%for small-sized companies.The ratio of R&D investmentto 

design investment of companies indicates that the proportion 

of investment for design is still minimal within a company. 

The main decision maker for design selection in general 

companies is the CEO (64.5%), design team-leader & design 

specialists (25.0%) and feedback from consumers (6.9%). In 

manufacturing fields, the CEO (70.2%) is the main decision 

maker and is remarkably higher (more than 10%) than any of 

the other fields. This result shows a lack of speciality in design, 

and is perceived as an impediment to the development of 

Korean Design. 

Design competitiveness of Korean products 

As measured by staff in charge of sales and marketing at Korean 

firms that export their products, design competitiveness of 

products designed in Korea is, on average, estimated to be 3.11 

points on a five-point scale. Functionality & Convenience, Safety, 

and Economy received high marks while Creativity & Innovation 

and Environmental Concerns received low marks (KIDP 2002). It 

is suggested that Korea lacks the capability of harmonising high 

technology with a sensitive design (KIDP 2004a). 

Reconstruction of infrastructure 

There are two initiatives at regional level; Regional Design 

Centres (RDC) and Design Innovation Centres (DIC). RDCs

have been in operation since 2002 and will run until 2007, 

and three RDC will be built in KwangJu, Busan and DaeGu.The 

intention of this is to form a close cooperative system within 

the municipalities to ensure that the RDC is built within the 

construction schedule and operates as a design promotion 

facility and satisfies the requirements ofthe local industries and 

economy (KIDP 2006e), whilst DICs are to further identify the 

funcrionsand roles of 15 DIC's already installed and operated at 

local universities in 2004.Their role is to provide an infrastructure 

and to support design Innovation of each region. 

Support programmes by government 

An explanation of the operative programmes for design 

promorion by KIDP is described in the Internal manual of 

current operative programmes (KIDP 2006a), and the Report on 

the National Design Policy in Korea 2004 (KIDP 2004a). 

There are various design support programmes for design 

Industry in KIDP The current programmes basically consist of 

(1) Funding support: Design Innovation programme, World-Class 

Design & Brand Support Programme, Develop Design Related 

Materials & Surface Treatment Technology, Building Technological 

Innovation Capacity of SMEs by Design Technology Development, 

Supporting SMEs Exporting Promotion, loan service for the 

industrial Technology Development, (2) Consulting: Design Home 

Doctor, (3) Design awards: Good Design (GD), Success Design, 

Korea Design Award (industrial Design Promotion Convention) 

(4) Selecting design: Top Design Consultancy, Industrial Design 

Company Report System, (S) Support for design: Design 

Fundamental Research, and (6) Operating design: Design 

Experience (DEX) Centre. Almost ail of the funding support 

programmes provided are especially for SMEs. 

Design innovation programme 

The Design Innovation Programme is one of the main 

programmes for reinforcing the innovarive power of corporate 

design (Kim 2006), and has operated as a growth engine for SMEs 

(KIDP 2004b). The programme has been conducted since 1994 

based on the Five-Year-Plan for Industrial Design Promorion. 

The alms of this are to enhance industry's competitiveness and 

create a higher value-added business through the development 

of design, as well as to construct Infrastructure for sustainable 

growth in design through enlarging investment in design and 

disseminaring design management guidance. The programme 

is a service available to any company which has difficulties with 

either the design development process or financial resources. 

It is considered as a bridge between design firms and SMEs. 

The scheme is to provide a fully-fledged service from design 

development to commercialisation. 

The programme supports both design consultancies and 

SMEs. Design consultancies, which have been selected as the 

top design consultancies in the last three years by KIDP, are 

eligible for support from the project. SMEs who are trying to 

achieve a higher value added business, through the use and 

development of crearive design, are eligible for support. In 

parricular, the programme specifically supports firms which 

have been selected because of an ability to demonstrate 

good design, export products, produce world-class goods, 

and procure products for government 

The areas supported by this programme are Product Design, 

Brand Design (brand naming also can be supported when it 

is developed with brand design). Package Design, Animation 

Design and Visual Design which includes the development 

of website, catalogues (e-catalogues) and Corporate Identity 

design. The limit for the financial incenrive is approximately 

55,000 per year, which covers two-thirds of a total design fee 

for design development and the firms are responsible for the 

remainder usually (one-third of the total fee). If and when the 

project is evaluated to be successful and profitable, the firms 

have to pay back a certain percentage (20%of the total fee for 

SMEs and 40% for big companies) of the incenrive as royalty 

to the government. 

This programme Is annual and starts with the announcement of 

each year's plan by MOCIE and KIDR Companies apply to KIDP 

to participate in the programme. KIDP selects the most suitable 

design consultancies, and the project is undertaken after the 

firms and design consultancies agree with the design process. 

The KIDP has the responsibility for managing results and 

financial support during the project, evaluating the outcomes 

and charging any royalries to SMEs at the end of the project. 

A total of 7,726 projects were carried out through the 

programme from 1994 to 2005 of which 54.5% of them have

een commercialised. They regularly need six to twenty-four 

months for commercialisation. The number of projects in 

2005 was 414 which consist of product design, package & 

visual, brand & character and Integrated support. The sales of 

the 43 companies which have had success in design in 2005 

increased by 85% and exports also increased by 47% than 

before developing design. 

A study of satisfaction with the design support 

programmes amongst SMEs 

In order to investigate the impact and satisfaction amongst 

SMEs ofthe level of government support provided in design, 

the programmes described above were investigated in a 

questionnaire survey conducted between the 28'" of August 

and the 22"" of September 2006. The results of seventy-one 

respondents, who work for the four hundred and nine SMEs in 

Korea which had participated in the support programmes, in 

particular, the'Des/gn Innovation Programme'by KIDP in recent 

years, are described below. 

The SMEs are defined as having less than 300 employees 

according to the SMEs legislation in Korea (KFSB 2006). Most 

respondents of the survey had managed the development 

of design during the programmes. The data was analysed as 

a whole and then by firm size, location, existence and non 

existence of in-house designers. In this paper, the firms have 

been categorised as Medium Sized Enterprises (MEs) and Small 

Sized Enterprises (SEs) which have less than 50 employees, 

and are located in the capital city and area surrounding the 

capital city as well as regional cities. Priorto implementing this 

survey, an interview was conducted as a pilot survey which 

involved in-depth interviews with nine people from SMEs 

to obtain general ideas and personal practical experiences. 

The contents of the survey are divided into four parts: (1) 

Awareness of Design, (2) Awareness of the national design 

policy, (3) Satisfaction with the support programmes by the 

government, (4) Additional information and suggestions. 

Awareness of design 

The results indicate that most people are aware that design is 

an important competitive tool for firms and that it has a role in 

enhancing all aspects of business performance, and they believe 

that the effects of investment in development of design are an 

increase in sales and rise in brand value (see Figure 1). The time 

when respondents started to become aware ofthe importance 

of design differs according to the firm size, however, overall it 

is reported as being when the sales of their product increased 

after the development of design for MEs (55%). Whist awareness 

ofthe importance was found to be pre-existing and continuous 

for SEs (52%). The most important criterion for the investment in 

design amongsXMEsls the awareness ofthe board of management 

regarding design (45%) and the costof design development (45%) 

while in SEs, it is the cost of design development (50%) and the 

confidence in the result of design (50%). For MEs the biggest 

challenges when their companies invest in design development 

are the cost (55%) and the lack of confidence ofthe result (36%); 

however, for SEs, it is mainly the cost (79%). 

Knlnrj^cneiit o i 

KMC inhr-iiit 

Irrjir.ivctticor i;f ooipimri; i 

Figure l.The effect of investment İn development of design 

Awareness of the national design policy 

The results here indicate that even though most programmes 

are operated for SMEs and they have participated in the 

programmes in recent times, the respondents did not know 

the national design policy and design support programmes 

very well. As can be seen from Figure 2 below, the main way for 

both MEs (82%) and SEs (52%) to encounter design is through 

deign consultancies, rather than PR by KIDR Around 60% of 

respondents think that the most well developed part of the 

support programmes is supporting companies especially with 

funding.The results of two questions: the areowh/c/i should be 

mainly improved in design policy, and the area which should be 

mainly supported for the development of design are education 

and training programmes (55% and 45% respectively for each 

question) for MEs, while supporting companies (55% and 54% 

respectively) for SEs obviously because of financial difficulties 

they often face (see Figure 3).

Vtcdiiiili .S!7c

50% of respondents In MEs mentioned that there was no effect 

witti the award. The reason for this is that consumers did not 

contemplate the award when they purchased (60%), or that the 

award of Good Design was biased towards products of specific 

areas and firms (20%). 

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Drsiyii linioviuuii Ptüt'âuan? 

Worİ!l-c:a>îdcîisn &n'iir.(lSupport P'oe'î'T'iS 

lOm.'a DL'3ip:i Awartl 

Pes;[in IIHIOVEÛIKI PfOiînnıni'.' 

WiM-ld-iula ;î dcîien .t Brar.d Sıi(>pnn ProgrüiHmc 

SıiMüSf l)osij:ıı 

Sıınpft^''"! l^ı^sİKr. Kundamcnlal Rcıcıirch 

Sııjı.Hinîrg SIiîFî r?;.).ırlin^ Proınır.iorı 

riv.ilılirı^ Tgı;lıiiUİU)jiı;al Tn lov^t'UM Cii[Mi.'ily 

Ciowl l]';Kİgn b't-'Iettiun 

Korca Dcîig,T Awird 

• 

t 1 

1 1 

1 ! 

Figure 4. The ratio of the support programmes by KIDP which 

SMEs had participated 

Additional information and suggestions 

In addition to the questionnaire items, the respondents were 

quite vociferous in commenting and provided additional 

information and suggestions with regard to current support 

programmes. The main reasons offered as to why most SMEs 

do not have in-house designers were (1) heavy load of personnel 

expenses, (2) there are not many tasks for the development 

of design and (3) the companies essentially work with design 

consultancies. Many respondents reported that the firms 

located in regional cities have problems with the development 

of design because most design consultancies are located in or 

around the capital city, which in turn creates communication 

difficulties. Although there are a number of DICs to help SMEs 

across the whole country, a few companies know of their 

existence. Many respondents are, furthermore, interested in 

collaboration with industry and universities but they perceive 

it as obtaining the knowledge related to design from academia 

but the quality of outcome is not good. The main suggestions 

from the respondents for design industry are: 

• More information on the national/international design 

trends, design consultancies, and diagnosis of design 

I 

and design strategy for companies. 

• The value of the 'Good Design' programme should be 

raised and globalised. 

• The support programmes should be developed more 

practically and the application process, report and 

maintenance should be easier and simpler. 

Recommendations for the support programmes 

As a result ofthe analysis of Korean government policy, the 

work of KIDP and an analysis ofthe result ofthe questionnaire 

survey, there are seven recommendations that can be made: 

(1) Improving PR in relation to the national design policy 

and design support programme by the government: SMEs 

do not know the national design policy and design support 

programmes by KIDP very well, and the way they usually 

find out more about the design policy and related support 

programmes are through suggestions by design consultancies 

rather than a PR by KIDR The current opportunity to 

participate in the support programmes is therefore not evenly 

distributed. 

(2) Developing different support programmes for MEs and 

SEs: Most SMEs had mainly participated In funding support 

programmes, in particular Design Innovation Programme. The 

responses of the survey such as satisfaction/dissatisfaction 

of the support programmes, which they had joined, are 

somewhat different depending on firm size and locations. The 

most important criterion and the biggest challenges for the 

investment in design are identifying what programmes should 

be improved and supported, as well as what programmes 

companies have joined and would join in the future, etc. 

The results indicate that the requirements of companies and 

effectiveness of support basically differ according to firm size. 

More research is required to target the programmes most 

appropriate to the right type and size of firm. 

(3) Developing the support programmes more practically: 

Most respondents who participated in funding support 

programmes are satisfied with the amount of funding and the 

application process and method. Just around 40% to 50% of 

respondents, however, are dissatisfied with the result ofthe 

development of design, the actual duration of the process.

the process of the development of design and the design 

consultancies. The reasons for dissatisfaction are (1) poorly 

qualified design consultancies, (2) fixed duration of design 

development and (3) a perfunctory and non-professionally 

organised process. Therefore, designers need more training 

on how to develop design quality and professional skills and 

how to operate within a programme. 

(4) Improving the quality of design consultancies and 

subdividing into specific field of design consultancies: 

The main reasons why most SMEs do not have in-house 

designers are a heavy load of personnel expenses and not 

many tasks for the development of design. Companies should 

work with design consultancies; however, only around 60% of 

respondents are satisfied working with such consultancies. A 

lack of knowledge of the products, i.e. a lack of speciality, is 

the main reason for dissatisfaction of design consultancies. 

Increasing the level of specific knowledge and expertise 

within design consultancies are identified as necessary. 

(5) Providing practical education and training programmes 

for designers and CEOs: The respondents believe that the 

design policy in most need of Improving is education and 

training programmes within the programme to support 

companies.They perceived that design education In university 

is not good enough for practical work in industry and education 

In universities should be adjusted based on the demands ofthe 

industry. To increase the awareness of design, regular training 

programmes and seminars for CEOs are needed. SMEs cannot 

retrain their designers due to a lack of budget and human 

resources, therefore free training would be a value to both 

SMEs and CEOs. 

(6) Re-considering the main operator in support 

programmes: The funding support programmes use the 

design consultancies as main operators and general companies 

as participants. Although there are some advantages and 

disadvantage5withthesystem,over50%of respondents argued 

that SMEs should be the main operators of the programme 

because the companies participating are supposed to be the 

real beneficiary ofthe programmes and they should be able to 

chooseappropriatedesign consultancies fortheir development 

of design. Although 32% opted to return the current system. It 

is appropriate to reconsider the funding approach. 

(7) Raising the value of the 'Good Design' award and its 

globalising: The effects of the award 'Good Design' is mainly 

considered as an improvement of corporate images and an 

increase in brand value. 50% of respondents in MEs mentioned, 

however, there was no effect ofthe award because consumers 

in global markets did not contemplate the award when they 

purchased products and the award of Good Design was biased 

towards products of specific areas and firms. It is therefore 

important to raise general awareness amongst consumers for 

this award to have an improved effect, or at least to test the 

effect. 

Conclusion 

Design plays an important role in the competitiveness of 

countries and their economies, and developing economies 

are increasingly recognising the use of good design as 

an invaluable strategic tool to improve their economy 

and quality of life. This transition requires investments 

in dilTerent elements of the business environment, the 

upgrading of company strategies and the creation and 

strengthening of new types of institutions (DTI 2003e; DTI 

2003g). As mentioned previously, the general aim of design 

policy is to increase the organisational benefits and national 

and international competitiveness of the business sector. 

Developing an appropriate government design policy to 

support firms' ability to use and foster creativity and design 

is crucial. 

In this paper, the national design policy and related support 

programmes for SMEs In South Korea has been studied. This 

paper can act as a case study by which to benchmark how 

other countries develop and implement their design policies 

and related support programmes. This paper consisted of 

three parts asfollows. Firstly, the development of design policy 

in South Korea was briefly described. Secondly, company 

satisfaction ofthe support programme has been surveyed and 

analysed. Finally, recommendations for support programmes 

in the national design policy, have been identified as follows: 

(1) Improving an activity of the PR about the national 

design policy and related design support programmes, (2) 

Developing dilTerent support programmes for MEs and SEs, 

(3} Developing the support programmes more practically, (4) 

Improving quality of design consultancies and subdividing

into specific fields of design consultancies, (5) Providing 

practical education and training programmes for designers 

and the CEO, (6) Re-considerlng the main operator in support 

programmes and (7) Raising the value of the 'Good Design' 

award and its globalisation. 

This study is part of ongoing research to benchmark 

national approaches to the support of design. The results are 

currently being validated further with KIDP, SMEs and design 

consultancies respectively. 

Acknowledgement 

The authors would like to thank KIDP for their cooperation. 

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R E - A S S E S S I N G A S S E S S M E N T P R A C T I C E S IN D E S I G N TO S U P P D R T 

S T U D E N T S ' L O N G - T E R M L E A R N I N G 

Teena Gierke 

University of Technology Sydney, Australia 

teeena@tpg.conn.au 

Abstract 

Traditional design assessment practices are problematic as 

they typically occur at the end of a course and often rely on 

the marking of an artefact as a measurement of a student's 

achievement In that course. This limits the possibility for the 

student's transferral of learning to a future context such as 

the workplace, as learning is often restricted to that which 

is required to pass the course. Recent online discussions of 

design research also suggest that traditional assessment 

practices may not be a reliable indicator of student 

achievement in certain desired, less tangible aspects of 

design, such as scholarly enquiry, critical thinking and self- 

reflection and articulation of iterative creative rationales that 

support decision-making. 

I aim to create a space for rethinking current assessment 

practices In higher education in design and will provide 

evidence for how the application of the principles of 

sustainable assessment could better support students' long- 

term learning in design. I will reflect on my recent experience 

in using the framework of sustainable assessment to develop 

teaching and learning strategies and tools for a unit of study 

in graphic design and present my observations of changed 

student attitudes to learning. The results suggest that 

students become more critically self-reflective in individual 

and peer learning contexts, more effective In articulating 

and achieving professional standards and demonstrate 

discernible differences in attitude toward design learning 

that has transferred to other subjects and their workplaces. 

This indicates that students develop more autonomy in their 

ability to draw on a range of sources, strategies and tools that 

assist them in monitoring their continued learning In design. 

Introduction: Current assessment practices in higher 

education in design. 

Assessment pracdces in higher education in design are 

problematic as teachers seem caught between evaluating 

student performance in becoming industry-ready graduates, 

and the realities of having to award and defend grades within 

the technologies of governance of a university system that 

demands transparency, equity and defensibillty In assessment 

procedures. From a teacher's perspective, the act of assessment 

in design education is highly subjective, emotionally fraught, 

difficult and tedious. In the current teaching climate of large 

class sizes and shorter contact hours, teachers often struggle 

with the conflicting demands of process-based formative 

feedback while awarding grades against outcome-based 

performance Indicators. At the same time, the process of 

measuring students' achievement in a specific unit of study 

seems both unconnected to student learning about design 

and Is not readily transferable to other areas of learning 

outside the unit of study, such as the workplace. 

Assessment practices commonly attempt to simulate 

evaluation methods in design practice and are designed so the 

teacher can judge the student's success in meeting a brief that 

outlines project objectives and production specifications, and is 

measured against professional standards. Students are required 

to work through sets of predefined performance Indicators, via 

a process of research, creative expenmentation and concept 

development. This process culminates in the production of an 

artefact that is presented to the teacher who, relying on their 

knowledge of professional design standards and experience in 

assessment, judges the outcome and awards a grade, which the 

student receives some time later, with or without feedback.

It Is commonplace practice in higher education in art and design 

to award a gradefor a student's performance in a subject at the 

end of the subject. This is often problematic for the student, 

who may not be aware of their progress until they receive their 

grade, while it is problematic for the teacher, who is required to 

assign a grade to an artefact that often appears at the end of a 

process, while attempting to rate the student's progress in this 

process against a range of performance indicators.The process 

is highly subjective and time consuming, yet the pursuit of high 

grades at the expense of learning often becomes the focus of 

the student's efforts, while the efforts ofthe teacher are focused 

on providing feedback for learning during design development 

while balancing the university's certification requirements. 

In addition, the'effects of assessment'(Boud, forthcoming), on 

learning as students experience assessment as something that 

is'done to them'at the end of a project ratherthan something 

they 'do for themselves' as they learn, are such that the value 

of feedback is often negated when students receive grades 

that are at odds with their perception of their progress. At 

the same time, the grades achieved greatly impact on how 

students view their aptitude for the subject area generally. 

Discussions about design evaluation reveal tensions between 

the conflicting needs and processes of assessment in design 

education and professional practice. Yet what seems to be 

missing in these discussions is a focus on how assessment 

could positively affect students' learning in higher education 

in design and how this could position them for learning in 

their future workplaces. 

This paper draws on the framework of sustainable assessment 

to foster long-term learning (Boud & Falchikov forthcoming), 

which shifts the focus of assessment from measurement to 

'informing judgement'. This focus serves two functions - one 

is to inform students how to judge what they learn, why 

they learn it and how they learn it, and the other is the act 

of forming judgement on their learning to assist long-term 

learning in design beyond the institution. 

1 will argue that sustainable assessment practices may 

enhance the long term learning of design students by offering 

teachers alternative approaches to constructing assessment 

tasks that go beyond the traditional functions of measuring 

achievement for certification in courses and providing 

feedback for immediate learning in projects. By applying 

this framework for the purpose of 'informing judgement' 

in design education, 1 will provide evidence from my own 

experience that supports the idea that teachers can assist 

design students to internalise acts of self-evaluation of their 

work in a more authentic judgement of learning. I will argue 

that an enhanced capacity to sustain self-assessment of their 

learning beyond the institution will be useful to students as 

they prepare to enter professional design environments. 

Theoretical framework: Sustainable assessment that 

fosters long-term learning. 

Boud has defined sustainable assessment as 'assessment that 

meets the needs of the present without compromising the 

ability of students to meet their own future learning needs' 

{2000, p. 151). He claims that in higher education, the act of 

assessment has traditionally been required to do 'double 

duty' (p. 151), in meeting institutional certifying goals and 

facilitating students' learning. This means that assessment 

practices have focused on certifying student achievement in 

courses (summative assessment), and aiding learning in the 

classroom (formative assessment). Boud argues that while 

each has a different purpose, the dominant discourse in higher 

education gives prominence to grading and certification 

and represents a 'self-consistent world of assessment' (Boud 

& Falchikov forthcoming) that obscures the potential for 

assessment to foster learning beyond its boundaries. 

Boud and Falchikov (forthcoming) have three main criticisms 

of this discourse. First, that the technologies of governance 

in the university support an agenda of authority which 

constructs the student as a passive learner subjected to acts of 

measurement and classification that conform to its rules. The 

authors claims that this is at odds with an educational view of 

assessment that constructs the student as an active learner, 

arguing that if higher education is meant to prepare students 

for learning as professionals, then students need to construct 

themselves as active learners who are dynamically engaged in 

what they learn, how they learn it and how it is judged. 

Second, the practice of giving and receiving feedback, according 

to Sadler's (1989), notion of the 'feedback loop', requires the

studentto self-înitiate a confirmation of their learning in response 

to the feedback with which they engage. If the discourse claims 

that feedback is the 'only process that influences learning' {p. 

29), then teaching practices that either construct students as 

passive recipients of feedback or provide it only at the end of a 

unitof study, weaken its capacity to inform learning. 

Thirdly, assessment needs to focus on the importance of 

learning, rather than on the achievement of high grades. 

The authors suggest that as there is little research on the 

positive "effects of assessment practices' (p. 30), and only 

anecdotal evidence of its negative impact on learning, a new 

way of thinking about assessment that could have a 'positive 

consequential Influence on learning' (p. 30) could assist in 

developing appropriate assessment practices that accompany 

this conceptualization. 

As a way of addressing this, Boud and Falchikov propose 

a counter-discourse in assessment that challenges the 

institutional construction of assessment so that its effects, 

while impacting on learning, may also involve learning, which, 

they claim, has been diminished by the focus on grading and 

classification. Citing Edwards (1997), Boud argues that in the 

current uncertain climate of self and social questioning, there 

Is an urgent need for the learner to develop more than just 

a capacity to successfully learn to adapt to change, but to 

also enlarge the scope and generate change for themselves 

as lifelong learners in a learning society. (2000, p. 153). Boud 

(2006) argues that higher education has a role to play in 

contributing to this capacity by equipping students with the 

ability to assess their own learning, 

Boud proposes sustainable assessment as a way to build on 

summarive and formative assessment as a 'framework for 

thinking about the development of judgement and the idea 

of assessment being the process of Informing judgement' 

(forthcoming). Making informed judgement about learning 

means being able to seek and receive feedback from a range 

of sources, identify and evaluate achievement against a set 

of professional standards and criteria and to articulate and 

undertake further learning more effecrively. 

in the current assessment discourse, despite the commonly 

held vlewthat it isessenrial to thepedagogicprocess, formative 

assessment appears to be losing ground (Biggs 1998; Hounsell 

2003), despite the literature supporting its practice (Orsmond, 

Merry & Reiling 2002; Winter 2003; Gibbs & Simpson 2004; 

McFarlane-DickS( Nichol 2005). In their extensive review ofthe 

assessment literature, Black&Willam (1998) suggest this Is due 

to generally poor quality practices. This view is supported on 

the one hand, by research (Serafinl 2001; Hussey & Smith 2003) 

that argues that in order for formative assessment to improve, 

a fundamental change In teaching and learning philosophies 

and practices in higher education needs to occur. On the other 

hand, Boud (2006) argues that as It lacks an onentation toward 

developing student capacity for future learning beyond the 

institution, improving formative assessment Is not enough, 

and that assessment needs to become embedded in learning 

so students may develop and sustain their capacity to assess 

their own learning throughout life. 

As sustainable assessment foregrounds concerns about 

learning, it prioritises the act of being informed about the 

process of judgement while it recontextualises as secondary, 

acts of measurement, standards and integrity. Supported by 

Black and Willam (1998), Boud argues that self-evaluation, 

or the act of learning to make judgements about one's own 

and others'work and making decisions constitutes the most 

important professional learning in the workplace, and that 

aligning assessment with learning for the long-term will 

contribute to student's capacity to self-evaluate. 

Finally, the authors argue that while there is much to be gained 

from the development of an agenda of reform, teachers srill 

face difficulries in balancing the conflicting aims and strategies 

of summarive and formative assessment. I will argue that this 

Is particularly evident in the context of design educarion. 

Key concepts 

In order to discuss how sustainable assessment has 

impacted on my teaching and learning strategies in design 

educarion, I will first ourilne my pedagogic philosophy to 

identify assumptions that underpin my interpretarion ofthe 

effects of this process on students' learning. In contrast to a 

positivist paradigm of teaching that believes that knowledge 

is a commodity that is transferred from teacher to student, 

that meaning resides in the text and there is only one true

interpretation acceptable in assessment, I subscribe to what 

Serafini (2001) describes as a constructivist perspective of 

iearning.Thishasat its core the beliefthat'i

While a totally integrated alignment of learning with 

assessment such as that discussed by Mentkowski (2000), is 

an ideal way to align assessment with long-term learning, 

it would be unrealistic for me to suggest that the practical 

examples offered in this paper provide a way forward for 

all design education. This is partly due to design's disparate 

positioning in various disciplines and the contemporary 

difficulties facing design educators in relation to class sizes 

and limited time and staff. However, I would also argue that 

the framework of sustainable assessment provides a guide 

for a radical reassessment of assessment practices in higher 

education in design. I see it as a way to shift the focus of 

assessment from one of measurement for certification, as the 

responsibility of the teacher, to one of informing judgement 

about learning, as the responsibility ofthe student. This helps 

students to construct themselves as active participants in 

the process of learning to make judgements now and in the 

future. 

Assessment practices aimed at informing student 

judgement on learning: Practical examples from a graphic 

design course. 

Course context and structure 

In this paper I argue for the need to create a space for different 

ways of thinking about problems in assessment in higher 

education in design. To support this argument, I will draw 

on my recent experiences and reflect on the appllcarion of 

the framework of sustainable assessment to my teaching 

and learning practices. Evidence of the positive effects of 

assessment on students' atritudes to learning is based on 

my experience teaching a graphic design course to different 

groups of students over four semesters. 

I was introduced to the concept of sustainable assessment as 

a student in a research In progress subject with David Boud in 

2005. While participaring, I began to apply the principles of 

sustainable assessment to my teaching and learning pracrices 

In a course I had been teaching for seven years. The pracrical 

examples described in this paper draw on existing design 

educarion assessment pracrices incorporating summarive 

and formarive assessment that were progressively amended 

over two years. 

Two ways In which these examples differ from tradirional 

practices are - first, I tried to embed assessment in every stage 

and activity of the course through a range of teaching and 

learning strategies; and second, that I provided opportunities 

for students to revise each task at any stage of the course, 

after engaging in feedback from myself and peers and prior to 

submission for grading. Overall, students had the opportunity 

to reflect on and evaluate their learning in a range of ways, 

which essentially shifted the focus of assessment away from 

the external authority of the teacher within the context of 

the classroom, to internalised self-evaluarion by the students 

beyond the context of immediate learning in the classroom 

and Into future learning in professional pracrice. 

The course is an introduction to Graphic Design that is discrete 

from articulated design programs and is an undergraduate 

elective subject run over 12 weeks and available to students 

enrolled in a range of degrees within an architectural faculty at 

a university in Sydney. Tutorial sessions run for three hours and 

comprise a group of about 20 students who are typical of those 

enrolled in professional degrees in Australia and represent a 

diverse range of cultural backgrounds and work proficiencies, 

with different expectations, needs and experiences of learning 

In secondary and higher education in Australia and/or 

internarionally. I applied this framework simultaneously to a 

similar course for postgraduate students and my observarions 

ofthe results were integrated in the reflecrion.This means that 

the data I have used for reflecrive analysis has been derived 

from my observations over four semesters during 2005-2006, 

teaching eight courses to around 160 students. 

I have had a high degree of autonomy in curriculum 

development In this unit of study, so it represented an ideal 

context in which to apply the principles of sustainable 

assessmentto my teaching and learning pracrices.The pracrical 

examples included in this paper describe the strategies and 

tools I developed, and the reflecrion incorporates my analysis 

of their effectiveness in fostering student long-term learning 

in design. 

Teaching and learning strategies 

The assessment design draws on Boud and Falchlkov's 

recommendarions for teaching and learning acrivitles

that 'emphasise preparation for learning that is socially 

constructed, participative, embedded and necessarily 

contextualised' (2006, p. 408). Briefly, these involve student 

engagement in the selection of standards and criteria and 

problem analysis; emphasis on context; working with others; 

authentic representations and productions from professional 

practice; transparency of knowledge in learning; fostering 

reflexivity; constructing active learners; fostering confidence 

in judgement; promoting seeking and receiving feedback; 

and investigating the production of learning outcomes for 

difl'erent purposes (2006, p. 408). 

Some of the conditions for this kind of teaching include the 

establishment of a safe learning environment where the 

teacher acts as a facilitator of student-centred learning, is 

conscious of the power of their own and other dominant 

voices in the classroom (Byrne-Armstrong, Jorsfall & Pinn 

1998), and is adept at managing group dynamics within 

classrooms (Jacques 1994). 

Broadly, the course structure Is organised around seven 

discrete tasks introducing design elements and principles 

over consecutive weeks that are designed to build student's 

knowledge in design, a group presentation on design history 

and a project which provides an opportunity for students to 

applytheiraccumulated learning. 

Strategies and materials used during the course include: 

• Teaching and learning strategies: lectures (informal 

slide discussion and formal Powerpoint presentations); 

demonstrations; examples; experiential learning; 

experimental hands-on classroom activities; group 

presentation; information retrieval and analysis; 

observation; homework; revision (feedback loop); 

discussion; and various feedback and reflection 

strategies (verbal: teacher, self, small group, large 

group; written: self, peer, teacher; electronic: email). 

• Printed support materials: weekly handouts 

detailing activities, homework, assessment criteria, 

grading and weighting, references for additional 

information; readers containing relevant articles; and 

lecture notes. 

Assessment activities 

This section describes the assessment activities and 

includes discussions of their application. The activities 

represent a mixture of traditional (graded artefact design 

and presentation) and alternative assessment tools (peer, 

self, group) that employ various learning strategies in which 

assessment Is embedded. These include reflective practice 

(reflection-in-action, reflection on action, reflection before 

action); observation; experiential learning and experimental 

visual research; peer learning; learning in groups; learning 

from others; learning from lectures; secondary information 

sources; and others. Following this description, I include an 

explanation of how the activities are aligned with assessment 

tools that are used for the purposes of formative, summative 

and sustainable assessment (see Appendix one for detailed 

description and assessment criteria and weightings). 

The teaching strategy embeds assessment in several stages 

of activity and reflection and roughly follows this sequence - 

individual classwork and review, then group review of classwork 

outcomes; individual research, observation, reflection, then 

application to homework at home; group review of homework 

the following week; and finally, reflection, revision and 

inclusion in portfolio. As the teaching and learning strategies 

are student-centred and structured for high flexibility, I am able 

to respond to class mood at different times in the course by 

providing substitute activities or replacing these with informal 

discussions about issues or aspects of learning with which 

they are involved. Discussion topics include how students' 

learning in other courses is progressing, how their attitudes 

or knowledge about design have changed, issues or problems 

they are having with tasks, questions about assessment and 

grading, what they would still like to learn, what has changed 

since they started and so on, 

When they occur, these discussions are highly stimulating 

and serve several purposes - to 'air the room' if there are 

unresolved issues in relation to student expectations; to 

address contemporary design issues that are indirectly related 

to course content; and to inform my judgement on students' 

learning to date, group dynamics and the identification of 

other learning needs students may have. These discussions 

may result in elements ofthe curriculum being omitted, but as

I grade the accumuiated body of work in the portfolio rather 

than individual exercises, I have found that this does not affect 

grading levels or procedures. However, I still expect that self- 

reflection would occur on these occasions and be represented 

in students' learning journals in some way. This is the same 

when students are absent and my observation is that when 

this happens, they often self-initiate research into the missed 

week's topic and some even construct their own exercises to 

demonstrate what they have learned outside the context of 

the classroom. 

Essentially, I grade a portfolio that students collate as evidence 

of their informal learning resulting from s e If-reflection, and 

formal learning resulting from class exercises and designed 

outcomes. The two features that differentiate these tasks 

from traditional methods is that formative assessment occurs 

regularly and in a variety of ways that involves students; 

and the opportunity students have to revise their work after 

receiving feedback and prior to summative assessment in 

week 9 and week 13. 

The following section describes my attempts to embed 

assessment in various forms at every stage of the course. In 

each case, students are involved in setting the standards and 

criteria for assessment as part of the process of becoming 

informed about judging their work and their peers' work (see 

Appendix one for more details). 

Week l.The first activity in which the group engages is an ice- 

breakerthat also serves as an act of assessment. Students choose 

from a selection of postcards the one that most represents 

what they think graphic design is about, then describe their 

rationale to another student. The other student presents their 

peer's rationale to the group, while the teacher lists, but does 

not evaluate, the group's observations on a whiteboard. The 

emphasis ofthe exercise is on student analysis of examples of 

contemporary graphic design, while it serves other purposes 

- to introduce students to each other in establishing the 

social and participatory nature of a student-centred learning 

environment; to foster their confidence in their ability to 

articulate their observations to a group of strangers; and as a way 

to position myself as a facilitator of learning. The effect is that 

the teacher scaffolds students' construction of a more complex 

understanding about the subject content and structure and 

the learning environment in which they will participate, while 

students benefit from listening to twenty others articulate their 

design rationales, as they draw comparisons with their own. 

Weekly class exercise format, weeks 1-6 and weeks 7-8. 

Students are required to follow prescriptive rules within a 

seemingly random process using hand-generated techniques, 

materials and a photocopier. The idea is that students learn 

from doing and watching others do, creative activities without 

knowing where they will lead. The emphasis is on decision 

making based on observation, rather than working from 

preconceptions of what the outcome should look like. 

There are four stages in each exercise. Stage one Is highly 

energetic and fun (for example, exercise 2: involves quickly 

generating nine 50x50mm squares of diverse textures by 

photocopying different compositions created with different 

media). Stage two involves the student's individual analysis 

of their stage one outcome as they identify specific visual 

attributes (exercise 2: involves finding a visual link between 

two textures, composing them in a way that enhances the 

observed connection and articulating it İn writing without 

revealing this to the group). 

At this point, students view their peers' outcomes of stage 

one and two to see the range of possibilities the exercise has 

afforded the group despite the process restriction. Following 

the principles of good feedback practice (McFarlane-Dick 

& Nichol 2005), the group provides peer feedback on their 

observations ofthe visual connections individually identified 

in stage two. This feedback is used as the basis for the 

individual student's reflection on how their observations vary 

from, or are consistent with, those ofthe group. The purpose is 

for students to experience and reflect on the multiple socially 

constructed ways of seeing and interpreting visual cues. 

Stage three is conducted at home as a process of self-reflection, 

observation and analysis of collected contemporary design 

examples that address the weekly theme (exercise 2: find 

and analyse contemporary applications of texture in design, 

reflect on what you observe and learn. Utilising the textural 

qualities you identified in stage two as the conceptual basisfor 

communication, design a postcard that uses text to enhance 

your intended meaning). Stage four involves peer feedback

on the effectiveness ofthe outcomes in a group review the 

following week. 

All experiments, alternative approaches, reflection, 

observation and additional research for each of these exercises 

are included in the student's portfolio and the outcomes may 

be adjusted at any time pnor to submission for grading. 

Group presentation week 5. The activity involves self- 

selected peer groups In the research, analysis, selection and 

presentation of information to the class about a penod of 

design from a specific time and cultural context. The purpose 

is to engage students in a team activity utilising design 

research processes and incorporating acts of assessment 

about relevant information and how to present it. Though the 

students are graded as a group, individual contributions and 

research are recorded in students'learning journals. 

Project weeks 9-12. A project in which students apply their 

accumulated learning in a specific graphic design context 

- the promotion of a social issue to a specific community in 

a large-scale graphic format such as poster or billboard. This 

project follows the principles and pracrices established In the 

previous exercises, with the inclusion of a peer-assessment 

tool {see Appendix one for weighring). Provision is made for 

students to revise their submission after presentarion and 

feedback in week 12, and prior to submission for grading in 

week 13 or 14 as a way of providing evidence of their response 

to, and complerion of, the feedback loop (Sadler 1989). 

Assessment tools 

Alternative assessment (sustainable: Informing 

judgement on learning) - the portfolio. This is a tool which 

builds on the idea of setting authenric assessment tasks that 

test'our intellectual ability, or ability to understand'(Maclellan 

2004a, p. 20), by focusing on students'analyricai skills and their 

ability to integrate new learning, while weighting processes 

and outcomes equitably (Snavely & Wright 2003, p. 300). The 

use of portfolios as evidence of learning is common to various 

educational disciplines, parricuiariy teacher education, (Brown 

1997; Snavely & Wright 2003; Winter 2003), as it is argued that 

they allow the student a range of possibilities for providing 

evidence of their learning that draws on various learning 

strategies. If done pooriy however, it may simply represent a 

collecrion of examples of student performance that, if used 

for summarive assessment purposes, may compromise the 

validity ofthe assessment (Maclellan 2004b). 

The portfolio evidence includes: a progressively written 

learning journal {critical self-reflecrive practice: reflecrion- 

in-actlon, refiection-on-acrion); class exercises (experienriai 

learning); analysis of collected contemporary design examples 

and additional reading (observation, visual research, data 

retrieval, selection and analysis, and refiection-before-acrion); 

appllcarion of learning to a contextualised designed outcome 

(analysis and integrarion of learning strategies); revision of 

exercises (feedback loop); group presentarion (contribution to 

team work and team learning); and a simulated design project 

(analysis and integrarion of learned design principles in design 

process and design knowledge - informarion retrieval, visual 

research and iterarive design development, creative concept 

generation and development, synthesis of objecrives in the 

composirion of graphic elements, success of communicarion 

intenrion, technical proficiency, professional presentation). 

See Appendix one for more details. 

The useof self-reflecrion as a too! for informing and sustaining 

students'judgement on their learning has been covered in the 

adult education literature (Schon 1995; Boud & Knights 1996; 

Boud & Walker 1998), as has the use of learning journals to 

promote and foster self-refiectlon (Boud 200 l).Asthe emphasis 

is on the sustainable aspects of assessment that self-refiectlon 

promotes, the act of awarding grades to these acrivitles seems 

at odds with this purpose. I have observed that students are 

more inclined to engage in reflective practice when it accounts 

for part oftheir subject grade, so I evaluate the learning journal 

In conjuncrion with the class actlviries, balancing what the 

student identifies as appropriate learning with what I observe 

has changed in their activities over the nine week period. 

Together, they constitute 30% of a student's overall grade for 

the course, but their purpose is to assist students in evaluaring 

their own learning in a variety of ways, primarily through 

self-reflecrion in the learning journals and observation of 

their learning achievements in the act of compiling the 

portfolio, with the opportunity it provides for revision prior to 

submission for grading. The use of learning journals based on 

the fine arts model of recording creative development is not

new in design educational practice, yet 1 have found that often 

students use them as cursory descriptions of their activities 

rather than as evidence of critical self-reflection on learning, 

and teachers use them literally asa way of measuring quantity 

in documentation rather than quality of learning. 

Alternative assessment (Sustainable: Informing 

judgement on learning) - negotiated learning contracts. 

This is a student-centred, student-driven learning and 

assessment tool commonly used in teacher education and 

based on the principle that students determine their own 

learning objectives, the strategies to achieve these, the 

outcomes and assessment tools and weightings (see sample 

in Appendix three). I have not used learning contracts in this 

course, but have used them in a supervisory context with 

two postgraduate students to great success. My observation 

was that while their levels of engagement in the learning 

process were higher and this impacted positively on the 

technical proficiency of their outcomes, their initial levels of 

anxiety about the assessment process itself were also high, 

as they were concerned about being 'cut adrift' from their 

usual experiences in teacher-driven assessment strategies. 

Interestingly, I asked each student to award grades against 

their self-determined assessment criteria and to support this 

with a rationale. I then graded their work without seeing what 

they had awarded themselves, and in both cases, the marks 

varied by only 2% and were within the same grading bands. 

Each student expressed satisfaction with this learning and 

assessment process and felt that, despite their initial anxiety, 

they were better placed to determine and evaluate their 

learning needs in the future. This suggests that the 'double 

duty' (Boud 2000) that assessment is expected to perform may 

be achieved using alternative assessment tools and strategies 

without de-emphasising student learning for the future. I 

hope to adapt this tool for undergraduate studies. 

Formative assessment. This is embedded in every stage of 

the course as described previously, and incorporates a range of 

strategies, including peer, group, tutor and self-assessment.The 

provision of feedback follows the principles and guidelines from 

the extensive literature (Boud 1991; Boud 1995; Anderson & 

Boud 1996; Falchikov 1996; Boud 1999; Falchikov 2001; Gibbs & 

Simpson 2004; Falchikov 2005; McFarlane-Dick & Nichol 2005). 

Summative assessment. Grading is required bythe university 

several weeks after the end ofthe course and I conduct this in 

two stages - in week 9 before the introduction ofthe project 

and a week after presentation in week 12. Detailed verbal 

feedback is provided to students in the form of individual 

consultations the week following submission. In this process, 

I take up a questioning position in relation to the student, 

enquiring as to how they think their learning has progressed 

overthe period oftimeand In relation to the evidence provided 

in their portfolios. This is primarily to allow them to evaluate 

their learning after a week's reflection before I respond and 

helps me see whether my observations correlate with theirs. 

I acknowledge that asking students to reflect at this stage is 

idealistic on my part as I find that in practice, many students 

have moved on to other subjects, so spend little time reflecting 

on learning between submission and receiving their grades. 

Combining assessment functions. In second semester 

2006, after grading in week 13,1 emailed each student a word 

document with a table of their graded tasks and detailed 

formative feedback (see Appendix two). As suggested 

previously, the provision of grades and written feedback 

in the same document does not adhere to the principles of 

sustainable assessment and I would like to address this as I 

continue to develop the practice further. 

Key observations on the successful application of sustainable 

assessment practices in design education. 

In summary, my observation of applying the framework 

of sustainable assessment to my teaching and learning 

assessment practices in design include the following positive 

effects of assessment on student learning: 

• More engaged student cohorts that were more proficient 

in giving and receiving self, peer and tutor feedback that 

supported their own learning and that of peers; 

• Students exhibited a greater capacity for critical self-reflection 

through the use of various strategies and tools; 

• Students were more involved in the identification, selection 

and evaluation of professional design standards and criteria 

and were better able to judge their own work and that of their

peers against these, reflecting greater alignment with teacher 

evaluation oftheir work; 

• Increased self-instigated student revision of various 

assessment tasks sometimes beyond that required for grading; 

• Deeper levels of student enquiry across entire cohorts, 

evidenced through various strategies and self-sought 

resources outside the class environment; 

• Standards of student artefact production were strengthened 

overall, reflected in consistently higher student marks across 

grading bands; 

• A more demanding classroom dynamic where students 

interacted, questioned and challenged the teacher, themselves 

and their peers in relation to claims to truth, ways of seeing and 

being, and the nature of socially constructed interpretations 

of design in contemporary practice; 

• I ncreasedstudentsatisfacdonwiththeteaching and learning 

strategies they experienced in the course, often articulated as 

accounts of what they had learned during the course and how 

this would be applied to other subjects or the workplace; 

- Reduction of student challenges of grades to nil, reflecting 

a more transparent grading process that was equitable, 

accountable and defensible; and 

• Students engaged in more explicit feedback on their 

increased knowledge of design and the effectiveness of my 

curriculum design and teaching and learning strategies, 

reflecting improvement in the professional development of 

my teaching practice. 

These observations support the idea that aligning assessment 

practices with learning is effective in fostering students' short 

and long-term learning, even though it requires changes to 

teaching and learning strategies. I acknowledge that this 

is more easily achieved in the autonomous and discrete 

educational context I have described, however I see that there 

is potential to improve our assessment practices to foster 

every student's capacity for reflection on learning that Is self- 

instigated, ongoing and Independent of external authorities. 

Summary 

My observation of aligning assessment with long-term 

learning suggests that students experience posirive effects of 

assessment that include changed atritudes towards learning 

and the development of skills to inform judgement. This 

was evidenced in a number of ways, including increased 

engagement in experienriai learning activities, parricipation 

in giving and receiving feedback, improved capacity for self- 

reflecrion and greater conceptual and technical proficiency 

in artefact producrion, particularly for those students 

who were seen to be weaker in apritude, critical thinking 

or technical skills. This supports the idea that designing 

assessment acriviries to inform judgement could result In an 

improved capacity in students'abilities to make appropriate 

judgements about their work and that of others and that this 

could be sustained beyond the educational context and Into 

a professional environment. As designers in the context of an 

uncertain future, this posirions students well for managing 

long-term learning in the workplace. 

ix one. Assessmei 

mg. 

- categories ai 

Process journal individual folder (12 hours), 15% of final mark. 

Your process journal should indicate that you are thinking, 

visualising and demonstrating crirical processes. Your journal 

will reflect the sequence of the six studio exercises and will 

contain a range of printed contemporary examples that match 

each exercise ~ brochures, magazine and newspaper ads, 

postcards, posters as well as notes on ideas and designers. You 

will include your research and documentarion of designers 

and design issues relevant to the studio discussions and 

include a bibliography on texts concerned with graphic 

design, typography or digital technologies or other current 

design issues. You will include a brief descriprion of each book 

or article In your own words about the main ideas discussed. 

To be discussed more fully in class and will document the 

following as you progress in the course: 

Collected contemporary printed design examples. These 

will be relevant to each of the six weekly studio exercises, 

collected from your environment (not from the internet or

ooks).They will vary in size and context and may range from 

postcards to advertisements to your own photographs of 

large-scale graphics or signage. You will lookfor contemporary 

professional graphic examples that extend what you have 

learned in each weekly exercise, commenting In your own 

words on what you notice about the designer's use of an 

element of design and their reason for selecting it. 

Additional information. This includes week by week relevant 

information selected from accredited sources such as design 

journals or the reading list. Evidence of this may be in the 

form of annotated bibliographies, written in your own words 

and summarising and critiquing the key ideas discussed. The 

range of topics will include those discussed in the studio, and 

may be extended to your specific area of interest. 

Visual research. This means week by week experimentation 

in the application and extension of the studio exercises. 

Including roughs and processing of your original images, 

typographic manipulation and layouts. This will be original 

work and should not be based on work that you have found 

or amended. Please note the University's policy on Academic 

honesty and plagiarism. 

Personal reflection on learning. This will record what you 

have learned as you progress through the course. It may be 

highly personal and may express the emotional impact of 

learning, or simply document factual information that is 

newly acquired or amended. Please note that this information 

Is treated confidentially. 

'his is a list of articles, journals and books 

you may have used to find additional information about the 

design elements and principles discussed in class and will 

be recorded according to the University's recommended 

referencing system. This may be optional if you are including 

annotated bibliographies of articles and books sourced from 

the library. Information sourced from the internet may be 

useful for practical information, but books tend to allow you 

to find a broader range of information - and may allow you to 

accidentally discover something exciting. 

Notes and research for group/individual presentations. 

This includes the information you have found during the 

group presentation and typographic research exercise. It may 

comprise articles you have sourced, notes on the presentation 

and images used as examples. It will reflect the individual 

contribution you have made to the group presentation. 

Assessment criteria for the journal. The journal will be 

written in your own words and will include your personal 

sketches and ideas as well as citations from accredited sources. 

You may choose the size and format, but allow space for pasting 

examples and writing notes. The journal may be in colour or in 

black and white, as necessary. You will be reflecting on what 

you are learning as you learn, so the notes will indicate new 

knowledge as well as adjustments in your existing knowledge 

and how this may impact on your own area of study. You will 

be marked according to the level of enquiry you make into the 

design elements and principles raised In each weekly exercise. 

This means how you are exploring the new Information gained 

from participating in the exercises and discussions, and how 

this affects how you may approach design differently. This 

may include any insights or understanding of new ideas, or 

simply build on what you already do. 

The journal will include evidence of your first hand 

observations of contemporary design outside the studio 

environment (through the collected examples), additional 

information found in secondary sources (expressed as brief 

annotated bibliographies), innovation and experimentation 

in design processing (demonstrated through your roughs 

and sketches), critical reflection on the practice and theory of 

design (written in your own words, and making links between 

your experience in the exercises, your observation in the design 

environment and any additional information you have read). 

Weekly exercises. Applied six studio exercises conducted in 

studio time and completed at home (6 hours), 15% of final 

mark. This includes evidence of participation In each ofthe 

following six weekly exercises: 1 shape, 2 texture, 3 tone -l- 

colour, 4 layout + composition, 5 typographic poem and 6 

type -^ image. 

Assessment criteria for exercises. The level of achievement 

in the exercises will reflect the level of enquiry and processing 

demonstrated in your process journal and in your participation 

in the class experience. A good pass mark will include the

successful completion of all components specified in each 

weekly oudine. Your expenmentation while extending each 

exercise in the homework may be affected by personal 

insights based on observation and additional information. 

Innovation and original thought in ideas and processing the 

final submission will attract a higher grade. 

Group presentation {4 hours each student, 15 minute 

group presentation), 10% of final mark. Includes: research 

and presentation of information about graphic design in a 

specified penod of time and cultural location. This is a group 

grade and is marked in studio dunng presentation, however, 

you will document your individual contribution and research 

notes in your learning journal. 

Type research + presentation as exercise 7 [2 hrs), 10% of 

final mark. Includes: research about two typefaces used In ex 

6, applied and presented as a magazine layout In ex 7. 

Major project (12 hrs), 40% of final mark. Includes: 

• poster research and presentation (peer assessment, 

10% of project mark) 

• conceptual development of a self-selected research 

topic in consultation with tutor 

• identificarion and prioritisarion of steps in the 

communicarion process 

• original visual research documentation and processing 

and sketches of concept development 

• crearion and synthesis of graphic elements for the 

final communication outcome 

- application of crirical analysis and self-evaluarion 

techniques 

• producrion managementofdeadlinesforcompletion 

of tasks 

• preparation and presentarion of final designed 

outcome. 

Individual contribution (assessed as adequate attendance, 

engagement with weekly exercises + participarion in studio 

work -h contriburion to studio cririque each week), 10% of final 

mark. Includes: adequate attendance (at least 80%), acrive 

participarion In studio exercises and critique and contribution 

to group studio discussion and feedback sessions. 

Appendix two. Sample grading sheet. 

STUDENT NAME student@uni.edu.au 

Your journal contains evidence of crirical self-reflecrion on 

work executed In studio, exploration of studio themes in 

collected samples that go beyond the requirements of the 

brief and appllcarion of your observarions to homework 

exercises. You have demonstrated your capacity to inform 

your own judgement on learning about design by seeking + 

responding to feedback and through analysis of professional 

design outcomes. You are looking beyond mere description to 

analysis of design elements and layout as to how they relate to 

the design concept or theme and the client's product or service. 

You have enhanced your understanding of these elements and 

their use/effectiveness in design further by researching further 

informarion through library or internet, about design outcomes 

that specifically relate to the brief from each week. Your layout 

exercise is parriculariy effective, and the application using 

image and text humorous, yet shows your approach of isolaring 

one key aspect of each concept to strengthen the meaning. 

You have used the group presentarions to conduct additional 

research into cultural and historical contextualisation of design 

processes,funcrion and aesthetics. Your natural curiosity about 

these has enabled you to move beyond the course brief and 

conduct addirional experiments in each exercise, parriculariy 

strengthening your typographic poem and type and image 

outcomes, by trusring your Insrincts and making decisions 

based on your observations, rather than intenrions. This 

culminates in your thorough prepararion and reworking of 

the magazine layout, demonstraring your capacity to respond 

to feedback, and seek independent informarion that assists 

you in informing your judgement about your own learning. 

Completed Weighting Mark %-t-grade 

Group x 10% 9 HD 

presentation 

Exercises shape X 15% 13 HD 

texture X 

colour+tone X 

composition 

-i-layout 

X 

typographic x 

poem 

type+image x

Journal Weekly visua 

Magazine 

spread 

Totai 

Completed Weighting Mark %+grade 

research 

Collected X 

samples 

Personal X 

reflection 

Additional X 

weekly 

information 

Group X 

presentation 

notes 

Bibliography X 

Typeface 

research 

X 15% 14 HD 

X 

5% 5 HD 

Magazine X 5% 4 D 

layout 

50% 45 90% HD 

Project feedback. Your journal shows an excellent depth of 

analysis into the location and visual impact of the poster, as 

well as the results of seeking additional information into the 

complexity of such a contentious issue for parents and their 

daughters. You have demonstrated persistence and integrity to 

investigate the issue, understand and articulate the audience 

attitudes and develop the creative solution that attempts to 

linkthem, and using a call to action that is credible, yet positive. 

Your journal documents your engagement in critical self- 

reflection, based on class feedback.The project progression and 

its outcome represent a consistently high standard of enquiry 

and willingness to go the extra lengths to explore, interrogate 

and create suitable graphics solutions to pressing social issues 

as you act as an agent for social change. My only suggestion 

would be to move the logo down to the bottom of the page 

replacing the lid ofthe makeup jar. The aesthetic is suitable for 

the target audience, and the message clear, even though, as you 

state, your own preference is for the more sophisticated version 

- this is often how it works, being able to separate taste from 

potentially more suitable design solutions. Well done. I have 

taken yours as an example to show later students, thank you. 

Project 1: public graphics Completed Weighting Mark Grade 

Found poster presentation Peer assessed report on found poster X 10% 9 HD 

Research: presented in Primary: creative iterative design development, original images, personal interview/s, sketches, graphic X 15% 14 HD 

chronologica! order experiments, concept + iterative design development, 2 roughs showing two conceptual approaches 

expressed in different qraphicforms/styles 

Concept statement: written 

Secondary: information sourced + accredited, including documented reporting, statistics + scholarly enquiry X 1 

Design concept: key idea/theme that drives the approach + meaning ofthe outcome, expressed in one clear X 15% 14 HD 

in bullet form 

statement (why) 

Design layout: description + rationale for the use of design elements, structure, contrast, text, image (how) X 

Audience: demographics, shared physical features + psychographics, shared values, beliefs + attitudes (who) X 

Format + location: poster/billboard, size, orientation, image of location (where/when) X 

Key message: {what vou want to say to target audience about the issue) X 1 

Sponsor/author: an appropriate sponsor applied as a logo (who's speaking to the audience) X 1 

Intended audience response: expressed in a call to action as a reasonable + credible statement (what you/ X 

Sponsor wants audience to do about the issue - should coincide with the aims ofthe sponsor) X 

Layout + composition Design development of two different graphic ideas, + the effective use of design elements, composition and X 

structure (how well you select + position appropriate design elements in two dynamic layouts) 

15% 13 HD 

Communication success: Effectiveness of communication in poster/billboard format (how weil you have communicated the issue and X 40% 34 HD 

assessed against written 

concept statement 

its call to action to the audience in the media form}. 

Presentation Poster printed to scale on A3 

A4 collage print of poster in location 

X 5%: 5 HD 

Project total 

100%> 89 > HD 

40% 36 HD 

Individual contribution Attendance (at least 80%) X 10% 9 HD 

Active participation in studio exercises 

X 

Contnbution to aroup critique 

X 

Semester totaî 

100% 90 HD 

141

Appendix three. Example of a student negotiated learning 

contract. 

AMENDED Learning Contract 

Learning Objectives 

To understand how I learn and my Design Process. 

Synthesizing visual elements from my Design 

investigations with Typography 

Learning Resources 

1. My own collected works, dianes. 

2. Digital Image Capture 

3. Internet 

4. Library 

Learning strategies 

1. To source and build upon my own library of design 

and photography; as a foundation to my Invesdgation 

of Graphic Design and Typography. To create designs 

using multimedia, and some computer manipulation. 

2. To follow a series of'jump-In' exercises. Using mainly 

black and white, investigating texture, shape, type, 

as forms of expressing Design associations. These are 

based on inspiration from both my own explorations 

into Graphic Design and researched designers. 

3.Tocreate a documented installation of work [modules]. 

A collection of works that define my investigations Into 

texture, shape and form synthesized with typography. 

Outcomes 

1. A Process Journal documenting the design process, 

feelings, observations and experiments for the weekly 

exercises and final project. [30%] 

2. A vaned series of 'Jump-In' exercises that acted as 

a learning framework, whilst also broadening my 

understandings of Graphic Design. [30%] 

3. To create a documented installation of Graphic Design 

[modules] exploring Identity, Self and Growth. A series 

of investigations into imagery and typography. An 

accompanying album of photos of works installed. [40%] 

Timeline 

Week 9-22 September Weekly exercises, 

Discussion of Final Project Concept 

Week 13 - 28 October Final Project / Learning Journal

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A N A L T E R N A T I V E M E T H O D UF C D M M U N I G ATI D N B E T W E E N C L I E N T A N D 

D E S I G N E R AT T H E " F U Z Z Y F R Q N T E N D " O F T H E D E S I G N P R O C E S S 

Deborah Cumming 

The Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland 

prs.cumming@rgu.ac.uk 

Abstract 

Communication plays a key role in identifying underlying 

business values to be interpreted through design, particularly 

whentheclientisnewtothedeslgnprocess.Thispaperdescribes 

an alternative approach to establishing an understanding of 

business values' communicated between small business client 

and graphic designer during the information gathering stage 

in the design process commonly referred to as "the fuzzy front 

end" (Press and Cooper 2003:58). 

The graphic designer's role during this information gathering 

process involves a multl disciplinary approach incorporating 

communication, management and marketing influences (Van 

RIel 1992; Johnson and Scholes 1993). Semiotics plays an 

important part in interpretation of business values through 

visual communication (Saussure 2000: Barthes 1993; Bernstein 

1986; Floch 2000; Kapferer 2001). These areas of expertise can 

remain untapped in small business practice (Walker 1990). In 

carrying out a design project, the graphic designer requires 

firstly to understand the values of the business and then to 

represent those values through design. 

This paper will describe research carried out through multiple 

case studies, reporting data analysis results. To conclude, a 

' Within the context ofthis research the term'business values'refers to 

the uniqueness associated with the business through an evaluation 

ofthe business by its members. Business values cannot be identified 

in isolation. The author adopts Saussure's theory of linguistic value 

as an analogy of business value'A community is necessary in order 

tD establish values. Values have no other rationale than usage and 

general agreement. An individual, acting alone, is incapable of 

establishing a value'Saussure (2000:112). 

discussion regarding implications ofthe alternative approach 

developed within the research will be considered in relation 

to both the graphic designer and small business client. 

Introduction: 

The "fuzzy front end" refers to the information gathering 

stage in the design process where the designer is involved 

in understanding the client's business from a strategic 

perspective (Cooper and Press 2003:58). The main source 

of information available to the small business is during the 

business start-up process, where it is guided through a 

business plan, provided generally by enterprise organisations. 

A plethora of information on formulating a business plan is 

easily available from a multitude of sources from various 

perspectives. However, little information is available for the 

small business as it considers continuing development of 

business values relative to information required by graphic 

design practice. The small business' values require to be 

reassessed due to the evolving nature of the development of 

the business as it matures and gains an understanding of Its 

values through market presence and trading experience. 

The scope ofthis research identifies that the end users of a tool 

(Communication Design Tool)^ developed within the research 

^ The term 'tool' is used within the context of this research as a 

systemised approach to the communication process between 

client and designer concerning a common understanding of core 

business values. The term 'tool' within the context of this paper will 

be accompanied by the acronym CDT (Communication Design Tool) 

as referred to within the research.

involved graphic designers working with small business 

clients. The random selection of small businesses selected for 

the research reflects the random nature of businesses that 

buy-in graphic design services. 

Johnson and Scholes stress that corporate strategy should 

be viewed as an evolving process in line with environmental 

influences, stating that; 

The ability to sense changes in the environment is 

important because perceived changes in environment 

influences signal the possible need for changes in 

strategy; they throw up opportunities and warn of 

threats {Johnson and Scholes 1993:107). 

An understanding of business values is an important 

communication tool both internally and externally as an 

integral aspect of business strategy. In small business practice, 

the need to formalise an understanding of business values is 

generally set-aside until such times as it becomes necessary. 

This usually happens when additional funding is required, 

and In this respect information is generally tailored to meet 

the criteria of the relevant financial institutions' requirements 

{Story 2002:58). Another area that requires information on 

small business values is when the business communicates 

with a graphic designer. 

Itis argued thatan explicit understanding of business values, as 

an ongoing development process, is essential in any business 

that require to communicate accurately to its stakeholders 

and many audiences (Johnson and Scholes 1993; Jobber 

1995; Drucker 1998; Van Riel 1992; Oiins 1989, 2003; Cooper 

and Press 1997; Press and Cooper 2003; Bernstein 1986; Ind 

1997;The Design Council 2006). 

The business plan serves to tentatively project future business 

development but it is not until the business matures that it 

begins to understand where it fits in the market place. Its 

customer base, objectives, attributes, ethics and origin. It is at 

this stage of small business design maturity that, according to 

Walker(1990)aneedforprofesslonal design input is recognised. 

The small business has some form of visual communication in 

place that may or may not have been professionally designed. 

This first rung on 'the ladder of design maturity' {ibid: 43-46) 

where professional graphic design services are employed, 

provides a challenge for the small business to make explicit 

an otherwise implicit understanding of their core values. In 

order to represent core business values visually, the graphic 

designer must first understand the specificities that describe 

small business core values. 

It is at this stage in the graphic design process. In dealing 

with the small business client, that problems anse: without a 

structured method of gathering information and/or adequate 

budget to work with, the designer is left hoping that all relevant 

questions have been covered, filling gaps with guesswork and 

intuition. Formulating questions to obtain an understanding of 

core business values presents problems for the inexperienced 

graphic designer. One ofthe main contributing factors which 

leads to poor design solutions is where the designer does not 

understand the business (Bernstein 1986; Press and Cooper 

2003). 

When commissioning design to interpret identity, Dickson 

reports that the design process is"much more intangible"than 

understanding the "processes" and "strategy" that make up the 

uniqueness of an organisation (Dickson 2001:31). 

Challenges presented to the client dunng the information 

gathering design process involve: 

l.The small business has difficulty In formularing an 

understanding oftheir core business values. 

2. The small business has difficulty in communlcaring 

those values to the graphic designer. 

These challenges provide essentia! "fuzzy front end" 

Informarion that serves to underpin the design process (Press 

and Cooper 2003:58). 

Research methodology 

The methodological approach adopted involved parricipant 

observarion and action research. The first case study was 

based on parricipant observation (Yin 1993; 2003). During 

the second and subsequent seven case studies, the research 

changed to acrion research (Denzin and Lincoln, 2003; Ladkin, 

2005).

Participant observation and action research 

Participant observation was the first method adopted within 

this research, due to the nature ofthe phenomena surrounding 

designer and client.The author was involved in the research as 

design practitioner, participant observer and facilitator of the 

entire process. 

The first study clarified the need for a method to better inform 

the design process. 

The remainder of the research set out to improve problems 

perceived within the phenomena through action research 

methodology (Denzin and Lincoln, 2003; Ladkin, 2005). 

Procedure: Case study process 

Phase! Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phases 

Establish 

proposition 

1st 

Graphic 

Designer 

Pilot the 

tool (CDT) 

Case Study 5 

Develop the 

tool (CDT) 

Case Study 8 

Trial the tool 

(CDT) 

Case Study 2 Case Study 4 Case Study 7 Case Study 4 Case Study 4 

2nd 

Graphic 3rd 

Designer Graphic 

Case Study 5 

Case Study 9 Case Study 6 Case Study 6 

Designer 

Case Study 7 

Case Study 8 

Case Study 9 

Request 

feedback 

Case Study 1 Case Study 3 Case Study 6 Case Study 3 Case Study 3 

4th 

Graphic 

Designer 

Case Study 5 

Case Study 7 

Case Study 8 

Case Study 9 

Figure 1. Development of COMMUNICATION DESIGN TOOL: 

Research process 

Phase 1 - Establish the proposition 

Case study 1 - elucidate the research proposition by identifying 

the need foran improved method of communication between 

client and designer 

Case study 2 ~ establish the content of information to develop 

a tool (CDT) in relation to a complete graphic design process 

Phase 2 - Pilot the tool (CDT) with its end users i.e. small 

business client and graphic designer 

Case study 3,4 & 5 - iteration process, formulating the content 

ofthe tool (CDT) 

Phase 3 - Develop the tool (CDT) with small business clients 

and graphic designers 

Case study 6, 7,8&9- intensive Iteration process, developing 

and refining content 

Phase 4 - Collate information and provide analysis 

Phase 5 - Disseminate results through reports, clarify to 

respondents' satisfaction and conclude the field research 

by asking for feedback regarding the usefulness ofthe tool 

(CDT) 

Case study 3 - 9 

Research methods 

Participant observation was particularly relevant during the 

first case study, where practice based participant observation 

was essential to experience In thefield situations and elucidate 

the research proposition. During the first case study, the need 

for a tool (CDT) to aid the communication process between 

small business client and designer was elucidated. 

The tool (CDT) was then developed In collaboration with small 

business clients and graphic designers who work with this 

client base. Action research became necessary as a research 

approach during this process, due to the iterative nature of 

developing the tool (CDT). 

The iteration process involved a continuous process of 

information gathering and analysis.The results influenced each 

sequential phase in the research process: key information from 

phase one informed phase two and so on, as shown in figure 2. 

Phase 1 

Establish proposition 

Phase 2 

Pilot the tool (CDT) 

Phase 3 

Develop the tool (CDT)' 

Phase 4 

Trial the tool (CDT) 

Phase 5 

Request feedback 

Figure 2. Development of COMMUNICATION DESIGN TOOL: 

Iteration process

During phase one of the process the first two case studies 

provided elucidation ofthe research proposition and identified 

the need to develop a faciJitation tool (CDT). In collaboration 

with a pre-determined selection of a further seven small 

businesses and four graphic designers, a prototype too! (CDT) 

was developed to unpack management and marketing models 

in an attempt to make implicit core business values explicit. This 

was initiated through a tool (CDT) in the form of a questionnaire 

to be completed by principal stakeholders and customers where 

possible,within each business. The intention of the tool (CDT) was 

to establish a state of play of the business in terms of perception 

of business values and later, graphic design preferences. 

The tool (CDT) was offered as a paper-based format for the 

purposesofinformatlongathenng and development.Completion 

ofthe tool (CDT) resulted in an individual profile of four general 

areas of information required to inform the graphic design 

process of key business values and graphic design elements.This 

process was carried out within the seven selected businesses. 

These four main areas of the tool (CDT) included: 

1. Basic business information. 

2. Competitors'visual language. 

3. Core business values. 

4. Graphic design preferences. 

The business value section ofthe tool (CDT) (3.Core business 

values) draws from facilitation models applied within 

communication, management and marketing. 

The tool (CDT) provides a platform for emerging core business 

value terms, graphic design elements and an understanding 

of the visual language of small business competitors. The 

tool (CDT) was to be completed by pnncipal stakeholders, 

including customers where possible from each of the selected 

small businesses. 

Translation of business values into graphic design visual 

guidelines 

The next stage In the process was to translate business 

values into a set of visual guidelines. These guidelines, having 

emerged as a result of the development of the tool (CDT) 

and clarified by the small business, informs the graphic 

design process through a pre-deslgn bnef analysis. A report 

distributed to each business representative concluded the 

development and analysis ofthe tool (CDT). 

To conclude participant research, interviews were conducted 

with each business representative. At this final stage in the 

research, the business representatives were asked to evaluate 

the viability and level of success of the tool (CDT) as 1) a 

useful process of informadon gathering and also 2) whether 

or not the procedure provided a better understanding ofthe 

graphic design process in determining business values to be 

interpreted through visual communication. 

Visual communication 

The term visual communication is located within the semiodc 

paradigm. Visual communication literature Is influenced by 

Floch (2000), Bernstein (1986), Schirato & Webb (2004) and 

Morgan &Welton (1992). 

Floch defines his plctona! discourse approach to semiotics 

as "an object of meaning through bncolage" (Floch 2000:2). 

According to Floch, a bricoleur "not only builds a collection 

of facts of usage (that are not necessarily stereotypical) but 

also adapts and reworks them" (Floch 2000:38). In explonng 

visual identity as it is produced bvy brlcolage, underpinned by 

cultural anthropology, Floch realised that the language used 

was referred to as "a community of value" Floch (2000:7-8) 

Underpinning corporate identity concepts depicted through 

visual communication are represented through symbolism 

as a visual identity, meaning: "it [symbolism] ensures the 

recognition and proper positioning of a commercial enterprise" 

as "an expression ofthe company's specificity" (Floch 2000:32). 

Business values are translated through visual communication, 

involving semiotics to ensure that "the packaging, product 

design or logo signify what they are supposed to signify" 

(Floch 2000:9). Visual communication translates values 

through symbolism involving metaphor as complex and often 

lacking continuity "Symbols help us to communicate. Man is 

a natural user of analogy and metaphor" (Bernstein 1986:35). 

Symbolism, in terms of corporate identity and logos are 

explored by Floch (2000) and Bernstein (1986).

Through semiotics, graphicdesignerscan tracetheculturai and 

visual elements applied in creating a visual language, specific 

to their clients' business sector. In this way graphic design 

translates business values through the semiotic discourse of 

visual communication. 

Request participant feedback 

A final in1:erview process with each of the seven small business 

representatives concluded the collaborative research. Two 

closed questions were asked of each representative regarding 

evaluation of the tool developed during the research process. 

These questions were key to validating the relevance of the 

tool and the research itself. The two questions concerned: 1) Is 

the too! (CDT) something that you would use? 2) Has working 

with the tool (CDT) given you a better understanding ofthe 

graphic design process? 

Al! respondents reported that they would use the tool (CDT) and 

that in using it, it has demystified the graphic design process. 

Analysis 

Content analysis was selected as a technique for textual data 

analysis. The main and most common concern with content 

analysis is that although the number of times a word is used 

can be calculated, the meaning and context of the words 

in question remains ambiguous. The relationship between 

words within the context of the phenomena is more relevant 

than counting words or categories as a method of analysis. 

In this respect, a hands-on coding method of data analysis 

was adopted, working with the text through multi-coding 

categories, looking for patterns, checking the data against the 

research proposition and other data collected (Bailey 1996). 

Evaluation procedure 

The procedure used to elucidate the need to develop a tool 

(CDT) to Improvethecommunicationexchangebetween client 

and designer during the information gathering stage in the 

design process was carried out through an intensive Iteration 

process involving; a) the author as participant observer, action 

researcher; b) semi-structured interviews with four graphic 

designers and eleven interviews connected with participating 

business members; c) four graphic designer evaluations and 

d) nine case studies. Involvement ofthe end users as active 

participants throughout the entire development process of 

the tool (CDT) was central to the research methodology and 

resulting outcomes. 

Graphic designer evaluation was carried out at each phase in the 

process to ensure that the development of the tool (CDT) was 

also aligned to graphic designer needs. In selecting four graphic 

designers who have experience of working with this client base, 

an evaluation of the tool (CDT) was carried out from four graphic 

designers'perspectlves atfour stages during the development of 

the tool to ensure that measures were taken towards obtaining 

an objective, unbiased participant perspective. 

Resulting implications of applying the tool 

Obtaining first band information of small business core 

values 

As a direct result of using the tool, the graphic designer is 

provided with information on small business core values and 

market competition generated by the small business client. 

Information gathered to inform the graphic design process is 

carried out by the small business client. The fuzzy front end of 

the design process Is replaced by information provided directly 

from its source i.e. selected small business stakeholders. In 

this respect, the resulting information represents a more 

considered evaluation of small business values. 

Various state-of-piay methods that elicit an understanding 

of the business from its source i.e. stakeholders have been 

evaluated. Corporate communication methods such as 

Lux's Star method and Bernstein's Cobweb method have 

been adapted to evolve an understanding of small business 

corporate identity (Van Riel 1992:50-52). 

The end purpose of gathering information on the small 

business relevant to this research is to inform the graphic 

design process. Methods applied to elicit this information 

have been influenced by corporate communication practices, 

especially Bernstein's Cobweb method (Van Riel 1992:52).

The small business controls communication of core values 

As a direct result of using the tool (CDT), the small business 

is responsible for providing information of core values from 

selected stakeholders within the business. 

In engaging with the tool (CDT), the small business controls 

information communicated to the graphic designer and by 

taking this level of control, is also responsible for supplying that 

information. This can result in a safety mechanism during the 

communication exchange between client and designer prior 

to carrying out any design project. A sense of empowerment 

was reported from several small business representatives in 

undertaking this process. 

At the particular stage in the small business's development in 

terms of: a) design maturity (Walker 1990); b) development 

shift into managerial roles (Storey 2002) and c) growth 

development stage (Scott & Bruce 1987), the small business 

is ideally placed to formulate an understanding of business 

values, facilitated by the tool (CDT). According to this research, 

all graphic designers reported that at business start-up, the 

business is not mature enough to understand its place in 

terms of where it fits in the market. 

At the stage ofthe small business's development specified in 

this research, the small business seeks professional graphic 

design input.This requires the small business to communicate 

core values to the graphic designer that will inform the graphic 

design process, as detailed in figure 3. 

Figure 3. Identification of need to formulate an understanding 

of small business core values in relation to level of growth 

development (Scott and Bruce 1987) and design maturity 

(Walker 1990). 

Without sufficient understanding of core business values, the 

communication exchange between small business client and 

graphic designer is inadequate, leaving the designer to rely on 

guesswork and intuition (Cumming and Malins 2006:159-167). 

In this respect, an information gap exists regarding the 

need for a more informed method of communication within 

the small business market sector as identified within this 

research. This research has revealed that information sourced 

to assist the small business in understanding its core values 

at this particular stage in its development is problematic. The 

literature search found that at the time of writing, there is little 

UK information on the graphic design information gathering 

process available to the small business client. 

Common language between small business client and 

graphic designer 

The tool (CDT) engenders the basis for a more informed 

communication exchange that connects the small business 

with the language of graphic design. Therefore, in using the 

tool (CDT), the resulting communication exchange crosses 

disciplines and engenders a platform from which a more 

common language between client and designer can begin to 

emerge. 

Dealing with small business respondents throughout the entire 

engagement with the tool (CDT) as a communication process, 

the author was required to explain graphic design terminology 

to most ofthe small business representatives. Several comments 

made by small business representatives throughoutthe process, 

relating to graphic design terminology is reported as: 

Case study 3: 'What does font mean?'. 

Case study 4: 'What does the Nike Swish mean? What's 

that? How would this section work?'. 

Case study 5: 'Bamboosled [sic]! Need you [the author] to 

talk me through the design section'. 

Case study 6: 'What do you mean by symbolism?'. 

Case study 7: 'We have a logo, why do we need a 

symbol?'. 

Case study 8: 'Could you explain what graphic design is, 

and what does a graphic designer do?'. 

Case study 9: 'This demystifies graphic design'.

The researcher clarified that problems exist during the 

communication exchange of small business values between 

client and graphic designer, pnor to any design project. 

In offering an alternative method of communication exchange 

during the information gathering graphic design process 

a focus shift occurred. This involved the small business in 

gathering Informarion and not the graphic designer.This focus 

shift occurred as a direct result of applying the tool (CDT) as 

an alternarive to the "fuzzy front end"communlcarion process 

(Press and Cooper 2003:58). 

Exisring graphic design pracrice involves the designer taking 

responsibility for gathering informarion on the small business, 

as the research has evidenced through interviews with four 

graphic designers experienced in working with the small 

business client. The domino effect of this focus shift impacts 

on various aspects of the role of graphic design in working 

with the small business client. 

Communication Design Tool 

The aim ofthe research was to provide a tool (CDT) to better 

inform both the graphic designer and small business client 

through a more explanatory process ofallgning graphic design 

components to small business values.The tool (CDT) aimed to 

involve the client at an early stage in the design process and 

thereafter empower the client to update relevant informarion 

as the business evolves. 

In involving the small business client in the graphic design 

process at the eariiest of stages, i.e. the informarion gathering 

stage, both the small business and graphic designer are better 

Informed through applying the tool (CDT) as an alternarive 

communication conduit. The small business is exposed to the 

graphic design process as a direct result of working through 

the various constituent aspects of the tool (CDT). The graphic 

designer is better informed of the businesses' core values, key 

competitors and stakeholder perceprion of graphic design 

elements provided by informarion gathered by the small 

business and evidenced within the tool (CDT). 

The communication exchange, as a direct result of using the 

tool (CDT), informs the small business ofthe graphic design 

process and how graphic design communicates values: By 

deconstrucring the graphic design process into elements that 

can offer meaning In relarion to the cultural environment of 

the specific small business market sector. An understanding 

of how design communicates values evolves as a direct result 

of client and designer exploring and mapping graphic design 

elements that are aligned to business values.This is as a direct 

result of client and designer engaging with the tool (CDT). 

Exisring graphic design pracrice recognises that in working 

with the small business client, the language of graphic design 

is explored on a need-to-know basis, I.e. where the client does 

not understand why certain graphic elements have been used 

and also the way in which those graphic elements communicate 

business values.Thegraphicdesigner explains the theory behind 

the concept but as the small business client is unfamiliar with 

the visual language of graphic design, the explanarion provided 

does not always clarify meaning. In engaging with the tool 

(CDT), graphic design elements are deconstructed and explored 

further by offering examples of graphic design elements that 

clarify meaning as a result of client and designer discussions. 

An important aspect ofthe too! (CDT) is that it forms a platform 

fora deeper level ofcommunicarion between clientand designer 

by deconstrucring graphic design elements and aligning those 

elements to similariy deconstructed business values. 

Wherethe client questionsthe alignment ofcore business values 

with graphic design elements, the designer can provide an 

explanarion of business values communicated through graphic 

design elements and therefore in engaging with the tool (CDT) 

an educational platform is provided. The mechanisms of the 

tool (CDT) reflect Bernstein's illustrarion ofthe communication 

process, depicted in figure 4 (Bernstein 1986:32). 

—b— 

•——• > —' 

^ ^ ... _ 

Feed&scK 

Figure 4. Bernstein's example ofthe communicarion process. 

Source: Bernstein 1986:32.

Interviews with the four graphic designers revealed that 

educating the small business client in the design process 

involves an integral aspect of working with this client base. 

The small business's level of design maturity is minimal, as 

graphic design is generally the small business's first exposure 

to professional design (Walker 1990:43-46). 

An alternative method of communication exchange 

between client and designer 

The benefits regarding an alternative method of 

communication exchange concerning the graphic designer 

are firstly that the graphic designer is provided with first 

hand information on the business directly from source. In this 

way the business controls the information provided to the 

designer and subsequently takes responsibility for gathering 

appropriate information as specified within the tool (CDT). 

Secondly, in providing information on core business values 

to the designer, the small business takes responsibility for 

the nature of the information provided and also absorbs 

costs incurred in formulating the information. The designer is 

therefore provided with information that can be used to trace 

back design concepts aligned to core values before they are 

developed into design solutions. 

The designer is also provided with information that can reveal 

and guide subsequent formulation of design concepts. The 

information provided by the small business as a result of using 

the tool (CDT), enables the designer to evaluate the small 

businesses level of graphic design understanding regarding 

graphic design. The designer then has the opportunity 

to explain the way in which the selected graphic design 

elements communicate (or otherwise) resulting business 

values i.e. how design communicates values. The information 

provided by business stakeholders in completing the tool 

serves as a valuable communication conduit between client 

and designer. 

Conclusions 

Information gathered as a direct result of using the tool (CDT) 

serves as an important communication platform from which 

to better inform the graphic design process. 

The tool (CDT) as an alternative approach to gathering 

information on small business values shifts responsibility from 

the graphic designer to the small business. 

Existing communication exchange between small business 

client and graphic designer fails to provide the designer with 

adequate understanding of core business values necessary to 

underpin the design process.This often results in inappropriate 

design solutions (Phase 1: Case study 1). 

The small business client had not formulated an understanding 

of its values at the point of contact with the graphic designer 

(Case study 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,9). At this specific stage in the small 

business's development where it required design solutions 

to communicate certain aspect of its business, it did not have 

the tools with which to formulate an understanding of its core 

values. 

The literature revealed (UK) that little information is available 

on formulating an understanding of business values at 

the stage of development identified within the scope and 

context ofthis research. However, literature is available to the 

small business concerning business start-up information in 

formulating a business plan or funding proposal. Information 

relating to management and marketing models that guide the 

development of understanding medium and large business 

values provide useful forward insights but do not serve to 

address the small business needs defined within the scope of 

this research. 

The resulting focus shift occurred as the tool (CDT) was 

applied during this research in gathering a body of relevant 

information generated by selected stakeholder evaluation to 

better inform the graphic design process. In applying the tool 

(CDT) at the information gathering stage in the design process, 

other aspects emerged as beneficial to the small business and 

graphic designer. One benefit that emerged regarding the small 

business was that in formulating an analysis of core business 

values, all selected stakeholders were involved in the process. 

The dialogue that surrounds the analysis is in some aspects 

more important than the results. Bernstein's Cobweb method 

where key decision makers decide on key terms of reference 

in respect of perceived business values identifies that analysis

of stakeholder input can provide an invaluable understanding 

of stakeholder perception ofthe business. 

As a result of undertaking this process, the analysis In terms 

of an evaluation of stakeholder perception, reflects how 

individual stakeholders communicate business values to the 

businesses many audiences. 

Lastly, the research acknov^ledges that the tool Is not a 

prescribed form of communicarion. The resulring guidelines 

are offered to inform, not to dictate to the graphic designer. 

Applying the tool to the fuzzy front end of the information 

gathering stage In the design process, the designer can 

use the resulring informarion as a basis from which to 

develop concepts and solutions through a more informed 

communication experience between client and designer. 

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CUMMING, D. and MALINS, J., 2006. The Values Of Graphic 

Design in Small Ul

T H E R D L E • F T H E L E A R N I N G C O N T E X T A N D D E S I G N E R C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S 

C H A L L E N G E A N D R E V E A L T H E D E S I G N P R O C E S S 

Dr. F. Nur Demirbiiek, n.demirbiiek@qut.edu.au 

Dr. Dianne Joy Smith, d.smith@qut.edu.au 

Andrew Scott, aj.scott@qut.edu.au 

Dr. Les Dawes, l.dawes@qut.edu.au 

Paul Sanders, ps.sanders@qut.edu.au 

Queensland University of Technology 

Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering 

Brisbane, Australia 

Abstract Introduction 

This paper discusses how designing is much more than the 

execution of a process toward an end product that satisfies 

a client brief. Instead design and designing are integrated 

with a designer's personal philosophy, understandings and 

attributes, relationships with others, and the nature of the 

project. 

The project to be described in this paper explores how context 

can mould the experience of designing at a personal and 

collective level, and thereby, influence the resultant outcome. 

The project's focus offered the potential to monitor how 

students respond to the design process in a multidisciplinary 

environment. The findings indicate that students and staff 

were enthusiastic about the opportunity to participate in a 

community service project and that student engagement 

was influenced by their expectations, individual personalities, 

and group dynamics. It was also demonstrated that these 

influences were facilitated by the learning environment and 

impacted on the design process. 

Therefore, it is proposed that university students respond to 

projects that demand high levels of engagement and real world 

context. The students bring to that process rich experiences 

and knovv'ledge in an integrated manner. The interrelationship 

between the design, the designer, and the context is therefore, 

an essential consideration fordesign educators and practitioners 

when fostering teams and tackling design projects. 

The focus of the paper is a community service project to 

design an educational tourist centre for the Save the Bilby 

Fund located in Charleville, South West Queensland, Australia. 

The design was undertaken by a multidisciplinary team 

of students, staff and professionals from architecture, 

engineering, interior design, industrial design, and landscape 

architecture. It was an elective for the students and the staff 

volunteered to be involved in the design team. 

Understanding what it is to design is discussed through 

reflection and evaluation of two design workshops that were 

the core activities ofthe project. The project altered student 

perceptions of design, of their own discipline and of the 

other disciplines, and insights into their personal attribute 

and personality were possible. Collectively these aspects 

clearly indicated that the design is a product ofthe evolving 

experience of designing and that design cannot be understood 

holistically if discussed simply as method or process. Design 

therefore has the potential to be transformative in its nature. 

THE PROJECT 

The facility to be designed was the vision of zoologist Peter 

McRae who envisioned a centre that would educate the public 

about the ecology of semi-arid and arid areas with particular 

emphasis on underground systems and their interdependency 

with our everyday life. The Australian marsupial Macrotis

agor/s, commonly known astheb/Vby, is the Iconic animal used 

to demonstrate the potential for alternative lifestyles in these 

severe regions. The income from the non-profit facility to be 

located in Western Queensland, Australia will fund research 

into Australian endangered species. 

It was considered imperative that the design teams visit 

Charleville in order to appreciate the context of the site and 

ofthe native flora and fauna. Therefore, the student project 

involved two intensive design workshops. The first workshop 

in 2004 consisted of nine students and three staff on site for 

one week. It provided a strong conceptual basis and bnefing 

document for future work, as outlined in depth in Smith, et al. 

(2005).The work resulted in a set of guidelines for undertaking 

multldlsciplinary projects with emphasis being placed on the 

advantages of block teaching, the Involvement of the client, 

and an intimate knowledge of the site and the community 

stakeholders, in order to foster engagement and an in-depth 

understanding of a project. 

Limitations identified in the first workshop were addressed In 

the second workshop held in 2006. These included the need 

for a longer penod of immersion for block teaching, a greater 

understanding of the semi-arid location-based constraints, 

greater clarity in regard to staff expectations and a more 

explicit educational structure to underpin the teaching and 

learning approach adopted. This workshop involved fourteen 

students from four disciplines who formed two teams, and 

five staff members working with consultants and clients over 

a two week period in Chadeville. 

The structure of this second program consisted of an 

onentation and bnefing session, preliminary research by the 

students, a series of staff or expert presentations involving 

exemplars and visuals which provided base knowledge about 

theclient, thedisciplines, the context, and possibieapproaches 

to tackling the project. Student presentations were held at the 

end of week one and week two; the first presentation (in the 

spirit of collaboration) was to the client and council in order 

to receive feedback, and the second to the client, council, and 

community as part ofthe community consultative process. 

In both workshops the format of sessions was largely directed 

through discussion as the project unfolded with debnefing 

and briefing sessions occurnng each morning. Social activities 

were also an important part of the learning context. This 

open and enthusiastic working environment stimulated 

engagement and productivity. 

Work-in-progress was displayed on the walls to stimulate 

discussion and as a point of reflection. Activities outside 

the 'studio' served to allow some down-time while being 

necessary for the project. These included site visits and 

visit to the bilby enclosures. In addition, to fit In with the 

sustainabillty design theme of the project, the students 

designed and constructed a small scale rammed earth wall 

from local soils, which became part of the overall design 

project. The objective ofthe exercise was to give all students a 

better understanding and appreciation of alternative building 

materials and construction techniques. The constructed wall 

was subsequently monitored to examine beneficial thermal 

properties. This acrivity also served as a hands-on team 

building exercise. 

DEVELOPING ATEACHING and LEARNING FRAMEWORK 

Assumptions concerning three aspects of student learning— 

interdisciplinary interaction, design methodology, and the 

engagement of adult learners—were made. 

Adult learners: Adult learners are known to require 

meaningful learning experiences and 'vital involvement in 

one's world as opposed to the spurious flirtations of youth' 

(Erikson inTweedell 2000, p.3). 

'Dewey believed that learning best occurs within 

an institurion which will not obstruct experience... 

A progressive insriturion will shape experience by 

reorganizing the surroundings and providing an 

environment that will promote growth. The outcome 

should be a fully integrated personality whose 

successive experiences are integrated with one another. 

This is the creation of self control gained through a 

product of reflecrive learning' (Tweedell 2000, pp.2-3). 

Tweedeli (2000, p.4) states that education of adults should in 

fact'transform individuals so they may change society'as had 

been posited by Mezirow and Freire.

It was therefore proposed that a learning environment 

that provided an opportunity for university students to be 

embedded in a real project would prove to be stimulating 

and meaningful for them. Our project revealed In a first 

hand manner the inherent complexities of the project, the 

stakeholders, and working with other consultants. 

Design iVIethodology: In addition It is known that designers 

come to a design problem with different understandings of 

what it is that they are doing. Franz (1997) in her study of the 

conception ofinterior design demonstrated thatarchitectsand 

interior designers working in this field may have one (or more) 

conceptions of designing experiential, structural, production 

or retail. Their conception will underpin how they go about 

the process of designing. Franz quotes Marton's definition 

of phenomenography applied to educational research, as 

'...mapping the qualitatively different ways in which people 

experience, conceptualize, perceive, and understand various 

aspects of, and various phenomena in, the wodd around them' 

(1997 p.11). Students with differing backgrounds may have 

differing understandings ofthe task set and how to undertake 

designing. 

The Charleville workshops provided an opportunity to work to 

reveal these differences and to reflect on the advantages and 

disadvantages each may have. Franz's typology also enabled us 

to critique the process evidenced through the work, images and 

reflections after the workshops to analyse what had occurred. 

Interdisciplinary Interaction: Associated with the diverse 

understandings ofthe individual students (and staff members) 

was the interdisciplinary nature of design teams. The potential 

to address complex and ill defined design problems or 

situations through a transdisciplinary approach recognised in 

that new and innovative solutionscan emerge from the blurred 

edges of discipline discourses and practices. Transdisciplinary 

activity takes 'as an article of faith the underlying unity of 

all knowledge' and as a consequence works beyond the 

discipline boundaries (Newell 1992). As highlighted in Smith 

et al. (2005), disciplines have distinct set of knowledge, theory 

and practices, and therefore,'collaboration involves relating or 

integrating knowledge and methods for each domain'(Squire 

1992 p.7), because as Squire points out, 'the discipline culture 

(philosophy, values, or understandings of the world) is not 

taken into such an account. In contrast, disciplines have also 

been described as a loose field consisting of many subfields' 

(Squire 1992) and each may have stronger links to the core 

subfields of other disciplines (Becher 1990). 

How an individual perceives the way disciplines should interact 

will influence how he or she goes about the project and in the 

case of educators how they establish the context in which group 

activity is undertaken. As Newell (1992) observed, those seeing 

interaction only in operational terms will tackle the project by 

seeking to identify discipline topics to cover and/or references 

to contribute. However if a broader understanding is held, the 

interaction will seek to identify and embrace philosophical 

differences through interdisciplinary engagement.The bringing 

of discipline knowledge to a problem in the role of'expert' can 

be limiting and may reinforce current or known approaches 

and resolutions. The processes may be built upon consultation 

and compromise rather than on innovative collaborations. 

Therefore,thesecondworkshopexplicltlyencouragedstudents 

to interrogate the problem in a holistic sense—to bring 

professional and personal experiences, as well as common 

sense understandings, to the task. During the second week, 

students were encouraged to also contribute their specialised 

knowledge once the problem had been explored and defined 

by the group. It was anticipated that some students might 

have difficulty breaking old habits when presented with such 

freedom to engage with a situation especially when it was 

'real'.The two week session was therefore designed so that the 

students were required to bnng the work to an endpoint in 

the company of others; thereby addressing the fracturing that 

had occurred in the first workshop (Smith et al. 2005). 

Figure 1. One ofthe teams analysing the site constraints.

This paper reports on an ethnographic approach in order to 

research the expenence of design by the participants. The 

staff members were also participants in the design wori

an endpoint for the design process. Likewise tlie roles 

identified indicated that the individuals perceived a definite 

role for the discipline they belonged to—architecture as an 

innovator, engineering to oversee safety, interior designers to 

address user needs and facilitate experiences, while landscape 

architecture as creators of integrated and responsible spaces. 

In addition, landscape and interior designers felt it necessary to 

identify clearly what they are not (gardeners and decorators). 

These conceptions indicate that discipline perceptions of 

design is different from the other disciplines. Such differences 

may influence how members of a discipline; that is the 

students, may approach the design project and their role in a 

collaborative team. 

Students were also asked to respond to a number of set 

questions at the commencement of the project in Chadeville. 

The purpose was to ascertain student conceptions of and 

aspirations for the workshop. These questions were: What do 

you expect the scope ofthe project will be? What do you expect 

you will learn as a result? How do you feel about the process? 

What knowledge and/or skills do you expect to be able to 

contribute in areas or ways that would be considered outside 

your core discipline area to the development of project? 

it is evident from the responses that all students felt excited 

but simultaneously being worried or anxious about what 

would be required of them and how they may perform. For 

example descriptors used included; 

Excited; motivated; happy; optimistic; anxious; worried; scared; 

unsure; concerned. 

A number of students envisaged the project in practical 

terms, However, others anticipated that opportunities for new 

experiences and the need to fulfil broader client and societal 

goals were involved. For example: 

It will involve extensive community consultation/interaction; 

design of a tourist centre that will educate people; an exceptional 

design that attracts tourists and allows them to observe and 

interact v/tth bilbies; work together as a mixture of disciplines; 

practicol/reolistic design; attraction ttiat wiil put Cfiarlevilte on 

tourist map; iconic design; low maintenance eco-friendly building 

and landscape. 

Learning outcomes identified also varied between those 

who predicted that skills and facts would be acquired and 

those who foresaw that personal development and generic 

capabilities would develop. For example: 

How to work within a multidisciplinary group; learn from others 

and share own knowledge with others; teamwork; nature of 

ecotourism In Australia; ESD for semi-arid regions; understanding 

of rural Australia; to contribute to a real life design; to see from 

different perspectives; compromise. 

In addition, the authors sought to make explicit how students 

perceived the discipline boundaries and integration before 

the project commenced. Therefore, the following question 

was posed; What knowledge and/or skills do you expect to be 

able to contribute in areas or ways that would be considered 

outside your core discipline area to the development of project? 

Again it was evident that some students saw their ability 

to contribute simply in terms of discipline expertise while 

others considered themselves more holistically in terms of 

personal experiences, personality, and generic capabilities. 

For example: 

Commonsense and practical approach; ability to discuss and 

listen to everyone's opinion; organizational skills; communication 

skills; motivate the team and keep everyone having fun; outback 

culture (S4). 

Structured Reflections: i\rtidway Experience 

To gauge the students' learning experiences, each student 

was asked to address a number of questions at the end of 

week one. The first week's program had encouraged students 

to work outside their discipline frameworks to interrogate the 

problem and to explore the potential of the project. 

The comments reflected different learning approaches 

with some students only listing the what. However, others 

discussed the what more holistically by stressing how personal

dimensions were already interwoven with the professional 

aspects. When explicitly asked how they felt, all students 

commented that they had commenced the project with a 

balance between excitement and fear reinforcing the initial 

result. 

Structured Reflections: Overall Experience 

On the second last day each student was asked to stop and 

reflect on the process and outcomes from their individual 

perspectives.The questions posed were: 

Have your expectation been met?; What are the key things 

you have learnt?; What key things have you learnt from other 

disciplines and interdisciplinary teams?; and, What aspects 

about yourself have you developed or not that influences your 

ability to contribute to a team? 

The comments indicate differing levels of engagement or at 

least a willingness to share their experiences and opinions in 

this way. The most common answer to Had their expectations 

hove been mef was "surpassed". Key things they said they had 

learnt include the following aspects: 

• personal skills and attitudes: working in a team and 

controlling one's personality when things get heated; 

to be flexible; sharing; not to be a selective listener; a 

designer must become selfless; 

• design process: design through facilitation, creative 

motivation, criticism and injection; step backand let go; 

experiment more; give up ideas/push ideas; fantastic 

brainstorming sessions; and 

• interdisciplinary interaction: to liaise between 

different professions; team effort is the main reason 

for success; working in groups takes a lot longer than 

working individually. 

The main thing that they have learnt from other disciplines is 

to accept that they all have something to contribute; and that, 

it is vital that each team member has a fair say.The aspects that 

they have developed that influence their ability to contribute 

to a team are improved listening and communication skills; a 

better sense of empathy; improved tolerance to people; and a 

better appreciation for other disciplines. 

Unstructured or Informal Reflections 

The informal records captured in a personal diary included 

reflections interwoven between notes from presentations, 

discussions, sketches, and lists of things to do were more 

revealing. A number of quotations are deliberately included 

below to demonstrate the depth of the experience. More 

particular is the transformative nature of the experience. The 

learning environment and the developing design process 

provided through this project acted as enablers for this to 

occur. The student reflections showed a number of issues 

that emerged and the associated shifts that occurred in their 

understandings. These are grouped below. 

Type A: As individual learners: 

i) Different sides of their personalities were revealed to 

themselves. 

For example: Before this trip I perceived myself as a leader Since 

then I have questioned my ability In this role (X3); 

I was forced to socialise v/ith the same group of people 24/7. 

...This tested all of us and this INTENSITY brought forvârd a side 

to many of us we would likely display. With me, it brought out the 

panicky side of my personality -the side of me that fears failure 

and thus strives to control (X3). 

ii) Understanding their own limits and attempting to develop 

alternative strategies. 

For example: It does not feel as though we have achieved much 

today-just a lot of arguing! (X4); 

...there is a huge segregation in our group but nobody seems to 

admit it. We need to recognise each other's input and not to be 

dominated by members or professions (XT). 

iii) Self awareness of their ideas, process, and learning and the 

impact for themselves 

For example:...we all sat In front of one ofthe big white boards 

and nutted out our design. It worked really well because we could 

all just grab a marker, draw over the top of different options, 

printout, then start again.... We worked it out as a team (Yi).

iv) Personalattributessuchashonestyandtaking responsibility 

were adopted. 

For example: Everyone, myself included, is focused on own ideas 

that it is hard to work together on one idea (XI). 

v) A high level of self awareness developed over the process. 

For example: / have realized that I have a good grounding in my 

discipline, but I by no means understand everything about it and 

I have so much to learn. ...we don't have to know everything, we 

just need to have the right attitude (Yl). 

Type B: Insights into habits and preconceptions 

i) They were challenged to move beyond their normal 

practices. 

For example: Being forced to work so intensely with others makes 

you think about what you are doing and examine your project 

more carefully (Yl). 

Thinking back over the two weeks, I feel as though we did achieve 

a lot even though most ofthe time it got really stressful (X2). 

Type C: About design and designing 

i) Understand ata profound level that design Is not for the self 

or for one's own ego. 

For example: Another thing we need to stop is designing in our 

egos. The designers need to design for the cause rather than 

myself, ourselves (X3). 

As a design group one of the most important things I learnt is to 

design to a sense of selflessness (X3). 

ii) They came to understand that design Is embedded In 

emergent theory and the need to let things to be revealed 

through the process. 

For example:...foc/ay rea//y proved to me that sometimes it just 

doesn't work and you're better off to just take a break... (Yl). 

The next couple of days are sure to be intense but I don't care. I 

can't wait to see what we come up with! (Yl). 

Type D: about the process 

i)The importance of inquiry and asking questions. 

For example:r/)/s has been the most valuable subject I have 

taken as it is helping me to consolidate everything I've learnt so 

far and making me realise how important it is to ask questions 

and work with other people (Yl). 

ii) Adopting new ways of doing things that they were exposed 

to and learning to be In a transdisciplinary team. 

For example: / found the process very useful. I feel as though 

I am achieving quite a lot in terms of design through the 

transdisciplinary approach (X4). 

Type E: Concerning the holistic nature of design practice 

i) That whole life was important to the process and the person 

had formed connections beyond the present activity or project 

such as friendships, people to consult with, and shifts in how 

they saw their career path. 

For example: / feel honoured to have had the opportunity to 

work with students from other disciplines on a real life project 

and I know I've had a tremendous learning experience this last 

two weeks. I've made dear friends and learnt more about myself 

and my abilities (XI). 

Everyone ...created a bond between one another, something that 

just doesn't happen at Uni these days. May be every course should 

have something similar, as you get to know people better (Y3). 

ii) Learning environment influencing how they design and 

what it is to design. 

For example: Design, I have discovered, is not about the designer. 

It is ...a reflection of the space (history, useability, surrounds, 

client's wants) (X3). 

The site itself presents interesting challenges. It Is completely flat 

... Horizontal planes reign supreme! The setting western sun is an 

exciting energy on site which needs to be taken full advantage of 

-long dramatic shadows (X4). 

These experiences and insights Indicate how the process of 

designing Is more than one tackling a design problem and 

compiling a brief to address. The reported understandings 

and conceptual shifts indicate how the learning environment 

and the individual are interrelated in influencing the design 

process and outcome. In order to understand this in more

depth, the authors have adopted two ways of describing 

the transformative nature of the student's learning will be 

discussed. 

In orderto ascertain the influence ofthe learning environment 

on the transformative process indicated through the findings 

thus far, the psychologist, Covey's (1999) personality traits 

and Franz's (1994, 1997) conceptions of designing will 

be applied. Through this analysis, the observations made 

during the project can be analysed in order to demonstrate 

how the design outcome and process are influenced by the 

designer's conceptions and personality as well as the physical 

learning environment, nature of the project, and the client 

requirements. Design is an integrative process which can be 

transformative for the student-designer depending on the 

learning environment adopted. 

Covey's Seven Operational Habits: 

Covey (1999) describes seven operational habits that an 

individual can adopt. Each is defined below and are then used 

as a framework to discuss the 'habits' observed in the studio 

or reported by the students. The results indicate the students 

used these habits positively and negatively depending on the 

situation and timing. 

Habit 1: Be Proactive 

Being proactive is more than taking initiative, It Is accepting 

responsibility for our own behavior (past, present, and future) 

and making choices based on principles and values rather than 

on moods or circumstances... 

Two groups showed quite a different approach to the design 

process during first week. Group X had great difficulty 

in developing a common vision. Their personal distastes 

and conflicts affected the group formation resulting in ail 

members working as either individuals or teams composed 

of 2 members only. Some members blamed each other for 

failures and some members choose to become'victims'with 

declarations such as "they don't like me, they don't accept me..."; 

although, their choices appeared to be based on their moods. 

However, most journals revealed that they later on individually 

became aware of the situation and decided to compromise, 

and to try to finding a mid way for successfully completing the 

task. Group Y, on the other hand, showed more cohesive from 

day one; respecting each others' ideas and mostly enjoying 

working together. There were heated arguments at times but 

the approach was mainly constructive rather than being self 

invested or a power play. 

Habit 2: Begin with the End in 

Individuals, families, teams, and organizations shape their own 

future by creating a mental vision and purpose for any project- 

Many students were novice designers, being at their second 

or third year of a 3 to 6 years long education. This inexperience 

resulted in difficulty to begin the design with a goal or end in 

mind. Lack of a common vision caused some members to get 

lost in details (their comfort zone) rather than trying to create 

an evocative, atmospheric or stimulating outcome appropriate 

to the special and "unique" situation of the particular project 

and place. 

...organizing and executing around the mental creation (your 

purpose, vision, values, and most important pnoritles)... 

Although stimulated and engaged by the opportunity, both 

groups showed evidence of being somewhat overwhelmed 

by the scope of a real project and consolidating a brief. They 

failed to prioritise tasks and design criteria to address this 

situation, and at times became lost in premature detail or 

presentation tasks (Figure 2), 

a) initial fluidity and delicacy 

captured by freehand 

exploration 

b) constraint and rigidity 

emerge with drafting 

package

c) compromised design 

of qualities—materiality, 

physicalltyand detail 

d) mood and atmosphere 

design represented with 

pastels 

Figure 2. Examples of how student design development 

process is influenced by the medium of communication. 

Habit 4: Think Win-Win 

Thinking win-win is a frame of mind and heart that seeks mutual 

benefit and Is based on joint respect in ail interactions... 

Most members of the groups supported each other and 

worked together providing input from their disciplinary 

background. However, one member was noted as dragging 

his/her group down trying to be the star ofthe group; "There 

is one person in the group who is really negative and this person 

Is putting both the group and design down all the time". 

Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood 

When we listen with the intent to understand others, rather 

than with the intent to reply, we begin true communication and 

relationship building... 

During the earlier stage there was no coherence in the work 

of Group X. There was friction among the members, some of 

them blaming each other and refusing to take responsibility 

for the 'bad job'. There were others not having the courage 

to show their true opinions and values — being afraid to be 

misunderstood either as dominating or passive respectively 

for various reasons such as feeling'outsiders'or lacking strong 

views. At a later stage, once they realized that they were in 

a spiraling downfall a group member took the lead of the 

group to uplift the situation; this person chose to be "leading 

as a manager" and sharing the tasks rather than "leading the 

design". However, this action helped the other members to 

lower their defenses and join the process successfully. 

Habit 6: Synergİze 

...Synergistic teams and families thrive on Individual strengths so 

that the whole becomes greater than the sum ofthe parts... 

Initially group members tended to play roles they defined 

through their perceptions of their discipline. Engineers offered 

no more than structural opinions, interior designers waited for 

an interior space to be provided, etc. As individuals became 

more comfortable in their groups this gave way to freedom to 

comment on all aspects ofthe design thereby behaving more 

transdisciplinarily. This allowed the groups to benefit from a 

wider range of ideas and opinions. 

Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw 

Sharpening the saw is about constantly renewing ourselves In 

the four basic areas of life: physical, social/emotional, mental, 

and spiritual. It's the Habit that increases our capacity to live all 

other habits of effectiveness... 

The very intensive work that went on from early morning 

to late evenings for six days a week is quite an exhausting 

and nerve wrecking process including the organization of 

social events. However, organization of barbeque parties, 

celebrating birthdays, soccer matches, visiting an Australian 

homestead, as well as students preparing a documentary 

film about the "Charleville experience" were all bonding and 

energy generating activities. 

In summary, it is evident that all seven habits were present to 

varying degrees. However, there was a difference between the 

two 'groups' personalities' due to the individuals involved and 

to the group dynamics. Covey's {1999} categorisation, while 

enabling insights into the behaviour of the individuals and 

the groups, does not address how the students' conceived 

designing in its own right. This aspect will be addressed in the 

following analysis. 

Franz's Approach and Outcomes: 

In her phenomenographic study of design, Franz's concern 

was 'elucidating ways of categorising how the designers 

approached the task and what they understood ofthe material 

related to the task'(Franz 1997, p.12). It was found that designers 

understand (or experience) design in at least four different ways:

experientially; structurally; In production; or in retail terms. She 

defines these conceptions from an approach and outcome 

points of view, where approach refers to the organization and 

management of a design situation; and outcome represents 

the understanding ofthe situation, its constituents and their 

relationship to each other. Before applying these to our study, 

the four conceptions of designing will be discussed briefly. 

Experiential Conception: Design is seen as the development 

of an interpretative framework for facilitating interaction 

involving people and environments. Approach is holistic; 

motivated by the desire to deeply understand and contribute 

to the situarion intrinsically (characterised by an attempt tofind, 

develop or preserve the reiarionshipof some thing to a greater 

whole). Outcome is dynamically hierarchical and appreciarion 

ofthe situation is sophlsricated In an extreme way. 

Structural Conception: Design is seen as the generation of an 

envlronmentforsupporring Interaction within thatenvironment. 

Approach is discriminatory; characterised by a strategic 

frame-of-reference. Outcome is statistically hierarchical and 

appreciarion ofthe situarion is sophisticated in a limited way. 

Production Conception: Design is seen as the producrion of 

an object for accommodating specific functions. Approach 

is mechanisric characterised by a focus on what is given (the 

physical parts or components and their parricular function 

within it. Situarions are understood to be comprised of 

disparate elements, each contributing singularly to the 

meaning of the whole). Outcome is atomistic (resulting in 

collections of various isolated components) and appreciarion 

ofthe situation Is defined as literal. 

Retail Conception: Design is seen as the supply of an 

object for accommodating specific functions. Approach is 

commercial, characterised by a focus on what is available; 

whereas, outcome Is atomisric and appreciarion of the 

situation Is literal and limited to design as business. 

From the observarions of the groups certain conclusions can 

be drawn. Both groups began the design process with what 

appeared to be a Structural Conception; that is, a process 

characterized by an understanding of design as the generation 

of an environment for supporring interaction within that 

environment that is sympathetic with the designers'goals, the 

client's goals, and general community attitudes. The approach 

is guided by the rationalistic belief that the complexity of 

design situations can be managed by reducing then to a state 

in which their structure becomes evident. In this conception 

design commences with designers meering the client to 

establish the design to be generated. Then, designers search 

for examples thataresimllarto the project, gather Information, 

synthesize and suit to their own philosophy. 

During the workshop and at its completion, there were some 

variarions in the approaches of the two groups and some 

fluctuations within each group. Group X's difficulries with group 

dynamics led them to slow dov^n. If not come to a halt, and 

work separately whereas Group Y continued to demonstrate 

the characterisrics of a structural conceprion for a good part 

of the first week. This group then shifted towards Experiential 

Conception attributes. Butter paper sketches revealed that 

development ofthe project at this stage was more complete 

as this group was dealing with the design and relationships 

as a whole. Graphic "conversation" shows an Interactive group 

approach and strategies to attempt to deal with a complexity 

of issues (Fig. 3.a). For example, an explorarion from 2D to 3D 

(Fig.3.b), trying to linkthe disparate aspects (Fig.3.c), explorarion 

of various oprions, and experimental evaluarion are evident. 

For Group Y, another stage followed where there was a loss 

of feeling or inspirarion, indicating a lack of ideas is evident. 

There appeared to be aspects of both Production and Retail 

Conceptions in comblnarion. A rarional"logic"is evident which 

restricted the design rather than responding to or leading 

design oprions. The translation of options generated through 

freehand engagement to computer aided representation also 

seems to have constrained the inspired or freer investigations. 

There is evident many examples of tunnel vision, focus on the 

parts at the expense of the whole, the use of non exploratory 

"known" situations or stock-standard answers (Fig.B.d). An 

ability to bring the previously evident brainstorming process, 

and to apply the explorative skills, to the "real" design was 

minimal. The group did bring substantial knowledge to the 

design, but this could not be developed to its potenrial due to 

lack of depth of explorarion. This could be the result of students 

returning back to their comfort zone due to time constraints 

rather than applying their new found skills and awareness.

However, although the process demonstrated one or two 

conceptions, there were also aspects of innovation in the area of 

environmental sustainable design and its application (Fig.S.e). 

The other group demonstrated directly attributes of the 

Production Conception, characterized by a focus on 

the physical parts or components and their particular 

function with it. It was comprised of disparate elements, 

each contributing singularly to the meaning of the whole; 

a collection of various isolated components. Their work on 

butter paper can be described as: "risk" versus repetition and 

fine tuning, "stagnating" balance process, fine adjustment 

rather than refining, working with the information and or idea 

but not resolving, describing as objects rather than working 

through,"dead end"reflection, emotionally"tight"process, and 

creatively "tunneled". Once the group dynamic was restored 

after the spiraling downfall the group converted to Structural 

Conception and put the pieces together toward a resolution. 

a) 2D:3D integration b) graphic-conversation 

c) student and tutor discussions d) exploration of architectural 

O • 

1 

I, 

science principles 

e) integration of interior, f) trying safe and predictable 

site and ESD design options solutions 

Figure 3. Examples ofstudent idea development. 

IN CONCLUSION:THE EXPERIENCE 

Although it was evident that the process of the intensive 

workshop revealed attributes of the four conceptions of 

design identified by Franz, by combining the data from the 

student reflections and our photographic record, the students 

did also, to varying degrees, adopt an Experiential Conception. 

In some cases this was indicated in the initial reflections while 

in others it became evident as they began to develop self 

awareness. The development of the initial design conception 

is hypothesised to be influenced by the speed, degree, and 

nature ofthe personal and professional transformation. 

As stated previously, design is seen within the experiential 

conception as the development of an interpretative 

framework for facilitating interaction involving people and 

environments, the approach is holistic; motivated by the 

desire to deeply understand and contribute to the situation 

intrinsically (characterised by an attempt to find, develop or 

preserve the relationship of some thing to a greater whole), 

such that, the outcome is dynamically hierarchical and 

appreciation of the situation is sophisticated in an extreme 

way. The students (or designers) therefore come to see 

design as being beyond just the project and themselves as a 

producer of a design. 

The quotations from the diaries and our observations 

demonstrate an experience which Is captured by X7's quote. 

The reflections clearly demonstrate the interdependency 

between the self, the group, the design process, societal and 

personal values, and a transformation of understanding and 

in approach: 

(by DAY7) 

/ have no idea what I and my group are doing, it feels as though 

we are walking so for backwards that we are not getting 

anywhere. I used to say "I'm excited" now I have changed my 

mind. I hate it here.... 

(but by DAY! 4) 

/ miss the intense brainstorming sessions and biting my tongue. 

The Charleville experience was amazing ...on opportunity to 

reflect on the important things in life and not just the superficial 

attributes life offers.

Within this paper we have sought to explorethe nature of design 

through the interrogation of a community based design project 

involving staff, students, consultants, and clients from breath of 

disciplines. Initially assumptions were made concerning three 

acknowledged aspects of student learning—interdisciplinary 

interaction, design methodology, and the engagement of 

adult learners. As a result, the current authors posited firstly, 

that the Chadeville Educational Tounst Centre project provided 

a suitable learning expenence that would be stimulating and 

meaningful for adult learners; secondly, that these students 

would have different understandings ofthe design process and 

its goal, and that these differences, and their advantages and 

disadvantages, would be revealed through the project; and 

thirdly, that some students may have difficulty In embracing 

the opportunities in integrating a transdisciplinary {or at least 

Interdiscipiinary) approach to design and that facilitation to 

break old habits may need to be orchestrated particulady when 

the situation was a real projectfor a client. 

All three aspects were shown to be evident and important. 

Through the project reported, it has been demonstrated that 

a design project can provide a learning experience that is also 

transformative and dynamic in nature.The design process was 

shown to Involve the conceptions of design of the individual, 

the discipline, and the multi-discipline group. In addition, the 

personality of the individuals and their ability to embrace 

ambiguity and develop self awareness, to identify and reflect 

upon the role of design in society, and the role of the designer 

in relation to the project were all shown to play part in how 

the design resolution was achieved. 

The current project is of value because it not only indicates the 

value of such projects In fully engaging students in learning. It 

also amplifies a series of assumptions and modes of operating 

that are inherent in design practice. Importantly the project 

demonstrated how the individual, social, and professional 

dimensions of the interaction are embedded in how a design 

project is understood, undertaken, and resolved. There are, 

therefore, opportunities to capitalise on this knowledge to 

amplify the productive and successful aspects as well as to 

counteract the obstructive or inhibiting elements. 

In our project, students showed a range of talents pertaining 

to procedural and professional engagement. What was 

able to shown to be limiting was a lack of deep substantive 

knowledge and technical skills across all disciplines and years, 

which stimulated a return to predictable or known concepts or 

resolutions.These deficits became explicit due to the intensity 

of the program and therefore were able to be addressed to 

some degree. By ensuring that such aspects are addressed 

proactively in similar situations in the future. It is posited that 

the level of resolution could and would be higher. Further 

research into these characteristics and conceptions will assist 

In our understanding of designing, design methodology, and 

design education in both traditional studios and intensive 

educational environments. 

Acknowledgement: 

The staff would like to thank the contribution to this project 

by Peter McRae from Save the Bilby, all of the students from 

2004 & 2006 workshops 2004: Ben Kofe, Jennifer Michelmore, 

Marie Anne Ammons, Nadia Hasninlayali, Nick Ovens, Rebecca 

Murphy, Sam Walker, Snow Park,Tim.Healy; 2006: Aimee Long, 

Candy Rosmarin, Chns Rawlinson, Craig MacDonald, Garry 

Luk, Jason Taylor, John Ole Keko, Leah McKenzie, Lauren Walsh, 

Man Njaerheim, Rachel Forrest, Samantha Cowley, Truong-Hai 

Nguyen, Victor Mantilla; Jim Gail, Gall & Medek Pty Ltd, and 

the consultants and community members who offered advice 

and information. 

The project was financially supported by the Murweh Shire, 

QUT's Faculty of Built Environment, and Save the Bilby Fund.

References 

BECHER, T., 1990. The counter culture of specialisation, 

European Journal of Education, 25 (3). 

Covey, S.R., 1999. Living the 7 habits, NY: Simon & Schuster. 

DELAMONT,5.,2004.Ethnographyand partici pantobservation. 

In: C. Seale, G. Gobo, J.F. Gubriuim, and D. Silverman, eds. 

Qualitative research practice. London; Sage, 217-229. 

FRANZ, J.M., 1994., A critical framew/ork for methodological 

research in Architecture. Design Studies 15(4), 433-447. 

FRANZ, J.IVi. 1997, A Phenomenographic study of design in the 

interior design context. Thesis (PhD). Queensland University 

ofTechnology. 

NEWELL, W., 1992. Academic disciplines and undergraduate 

interdisciplinary education: Lessons from the school of 

Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University Ohio. European 

Journal of Education, 27 (03) 215. 

SMITH, D., SANDERS, P., DEMIRBILEK, N., and SCOTT A., 2005. 

Designing together: a collaborative experiment in the design 

methodology within a multi-disciplinary environment. In: 

K. Holt-Damant, and R Sanders, eds. Third international 

conference of the Association of Architecture Schools of 

Australasia (AASA). Brisbane: UQ and QUT. 

SQUIRE, G., 1992. Interdiscipllnarity in higher education In the 

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Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois.

D E S I G N I N T E N S I V E B D R N G L O B A L C O M P A N I E S IN F I N L A N D : C H A L L E N G E S O F 

T H E D E S I G N E R A S E N T R E P R E N E U R 

Zeynep Falay 

MA In School of Design 

University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland 

Zeynep.Falay@starcut.com 

Abstract 

This paper investigates design intensive companies that 

are "born global" in that they have internationalized their 

business in a very short period after their establishment. The 

focus in this paper is on the mentality of the entrepreneurial 

designer, in particular in terms of the marketing, business, and 

internationalization ofthe design intensive company.The paper 

finds that partnership of design entrepreneurs with marketing 

and other business professionals is a source of sustained 

competitive advantage. There is also a need to build a new 

type of design business model and marketing strategy that will 

support the unique characteristics of design business. 

Introductiort 

Young, small sized, companies with global sales potential are 

often referred to as "Born Globals" (BGs). The study explores 

the characteristics of Finnish design intensive companies that 

internationalize their business in a very short period after their 

establishment. All of the design intensive BGs studied in this 

research were established by at least one entrepreneur with 

design background. Thus, in addition to the commonalities 

ofthe case companies, the paper also specifies the kinds of 

influence that entrepreneurial designers exert in the process 

of fast internationalization of their companies. 

Born Global Companies 

According to one definition, Born Global companies have 

over 20% of their sales outside their home continent and 

over 80% of their sales outside their home market within 10 

years of their establishment. These very young but rapidly 

internationalizing companies are becoming more and more 

common in the respective economies. According to Rennie 

(1993), 20% ofthe new trade growing in Australia in the early 

1990s comes from born global SMEs. 

BGs are seen as much more important phenomena for small 

and open economy countries (SMOPECs), than for large 

economies. This is because in SMOPECs, the domestic push 

factors (openness, smallness and location) have been the 

most dominant factors behind the companies' decisions to 

start globalization (Luostarinen 1994). Moreover, the large 

size of foreign target markets increases the pull forces by 

creating a strong macro power field for the development of 

BGs (Luostarinen and Gabrielsson 2004). Countries such as 

Sweden, with 8 million inhabitants, and Finland, with only 

5 million, are good examples of SMOPECs. Due to its small 

domestic market, fast and quick internationalization Is the 

way to survive for many companies. 

Global enabling factors for BGs 

In the last decades, there have been major changes in the 

wodd that made it possible to establish a global venture from 

the outset which can compete successfully in international 

markets despite its limited resources. Many developments are 

global enablers that create the suitable environment for the 

BGs' survival and growth. These enablers and forces include 

(Luostarinen R., Gabrielsson M 2004). 

• Recent technological innovations in low-cost 

communication and transportation (Internet, 

transportation etc.) 

• Expansion of the international marketplace

(emergence of global competition and integration of 

large trading blocks) 

• Change in consumer demands (need for more 

specialized and customized products In a faster time) 

• Increasing homogenization of many markets in distant 

countries (unification and globalization of consumer 

tastes) 

• De-regulations, lifting of trade barners 

• Increase İn the numbers of business executives and 

entrepreneurs with international experience 

• Easier access to financing 

Domestic macro factor 

Foreign macro factor 

Figure 1. Factors influencing the existence of BGs in SMOPECs 

Main characteristics of BGs 

BGs are usually small sized and young companies. This 

characteristic gives them flexibility and allows them to 

internationalize faster, however it may as well cause financial 

challenges and dependency. Targeting niche markets is 

another common characteristic of BGs. Rapid changes in 

consumer demands cause the need for customized products, 

which create the need for niche markets. BGs exploit it to their 

advantage that larger companies are not able to adapt and 

adjust as fast as needed according to changing demands of 

the international markets (Madsen and Servais 1997). 

Successful BGs benefit a lot from focusing on niche products. 

Niche strategy with very innovative and dynamic products 

seems to be the best way for these companies to compete 

against well-established global companies. Small BGs shield 

themselves from competition. However, when the established 

competitors become aware of the growing potential in that 

particular sector, the owners of the SMEs may be tempted to 

sell the business (Kirpalani & Luostarinen 1999,11). 

Physical distance is naturally not a negative factor for BGs; 

they tend to rely on international networks and cooperation, 

while outsourcing non-core competencies. Due to their size 

and very limited resource pool these companies seek to 

strengthen their competitiveness by networking with other 

companies through strategic alliances or joint ventures. 

Another characteristic of Born Global companies is lack of fixed 

routines and willingness to adapt their internationalization 

strategy to the needs of the market (Moen 2002). The 

entrepreneurs of BGs usually have a global mindset and 

vision from the outset. They belong to cosmopolitan and 

transnational social networks of like-minded individuals. The 

individuals In the network typically engage in brokenng where 

they provide each other with what is well known in their local 

context and exchange it at a premium to some else for whom 

that something is new and commercially valuable (Hargadon 

and Sutton 1997). 

Born globals in design industry 

One of the main success factors of BGs is the innovative, 

unique product ideally suited for marketing on niche markets 

(Bloch, 1995). Innovative design is accepted as a crucial way 

to sustain functional, aesthetic and strategic differentiation 

(Sisodia 1992, 34). Kotler and Rath (1984, 17) mention that 

design can also create corporate distinctiveness, to make a 

new product stand out from its competitors. 

There are several examples of companies that have 

experienced rapid internarionalizarion through using design 

as their single core competence and their strategic recourse 

to gain competitive advantage (e.g. Aav, 2003; Ainamo, 2005). 

This study focuses on those design-intensive companies that 

produce consumer goods with non-or very little technical 

funcrions within the actual products. While also some high- 

technology can take on logics of a design industry (Djelic 

and Ainamo, 2005), the final purchase decision in a design 

industry is believed that many products are without a shadow 

of doubt acquired as "cultural goods" (Hirsch, 1972; Djelic and 

Ainamo, 1999); that is, purchase decisions about them are

dominated by tine impact of the aestPietic appearance, not by 

the impacts of the technical features. Some of the traditional 

design industries that belong to the design industry in this 

way are: Textiles, fashion, accessories, architecture, furniture 

and interior decoration products, kitchenware, and jewellery. 

There are several factors why design industry enables young 

companies to become Born Globals; 

- Open competition: Design is one ofthe most openly 

competed sectors. While the education of professionals 

may be subsidized by various national governments to 

make the local producers more competitive, companies 

as a formal national policy, at least in Finland, get no 

direct subsidies. Products are competitive by virtue of 

product differentiation and/or media exposure. 

• Niche customer segments: Design is ideally suited 

to target the products to the specific preferences of 

the selected customer segment. This characteristic of 

design sector fits perfectly with the definition that BGs 

have niche market strategies. 

• Small volumes: Design intensive BGs deal with 

relatively small volumes of their specific niche. 

Exclusivity goes hand in hand with a premium sales 

price, which not only makes the small volumes feasible 

but also keeps the company from growing and ceasing 

to fit the BG category. 

• Price advantage: Well-designed product adds to 

the perceived value of the product. And it is proven 

that customers are willing to pay more for a product if 

they consider it to be of a high quality. (Trueman and 

Jobber 1998)) Design is one strategy by which to deal 

with price competition coming from less developed 

countries (Schneider 1989). 

On the other hand, there are also several challenges for 

young companies in design industry in terms of process of 

globalization: 

• Global design taste: For design intensive Born 

Globals, there is a need for emergence of a universal 

consumer segment and the capturing of demand in 

that segment. This is often question of how similar are 

design tastes across geographical and other bases for 

segmenting (Cooper and Press 1995, 123). Differences 

in national culture are most visible in a non-technology 

sector of the industry, such as design-intensive 

businesses. Within this context, it is a challenge to 

design and produce products, which fit a niche and 

are acceptable globally. The perceptual and emotional 

power of design of the products is more and more 

important in design intensive BGs (Schneider, 1989). 

• Intellectual property rights: Being copied is always 

a threat for design companies, especially for small 

sized companies. Patent legislation is insufficient today 

to protect the rights of design companies. However, 

unique design is a powerful tool to create a strong 

brand. Branding is one of the most efficient ways to 

protect against imitation. It guarantees the long-term 

competitive advantage, since it makes copying harder. 

• Designer as entrepreneur: In the early stages of their 

operation, the entrepreneur designers often manage 

design companies.Thismightleadtolackof international 

management know-how in many cases. Understanding 

business aspect of design, along with knowledge of 

foreign markets are among the weakest dimensions of 

designer competencies in Finland {Korvenmaa 1998, 

41). Designers have been entrepreneurs who focus on 

exploration capture of new ideas but tend to weak in 

terms of market launch and commercial exploitation of 

their ideas. Globalization process requires the business 

knowledge of experienced experts in (international) 

management and marketing. 

Method 

A qualitative research approach Is chosen for this study since 

the area is rather new and it is so hard to find related research 

or applicable data found on the internationalization of design 

intensive companies (Eisenhardt, 1989). A multiple-case 

study approach is preferred over single-case because the aim 

was to gather an overall understanding ofthe behaviour of 

internationalizing design companies rather than obtaining

a deep knowledge about one design company's actions 

(Eisenhardt, 1989). Semi-structured interviews are chosen 

as the most suitable method. These types of interviews are 

similar to guided conversations rather than structured queries. 

Semi-structured interviews provide the freedom and flexibility 

during each interview but still keep the focus on the relevant 

central issues ofthe research problem (Yin, 2003). 

In order to find case companies, the list of Design Forum 

including 80 companies operating in the Finnish design 

Industry were scanned. The objective was to identify the 

potential born global design companies in the list, which 

are young and small-sized, though exporting and design- 

manufacturing companies. After several elimination steps 

following six companies are selected as cases and interviews 

are conducted with the entrepreneurs of each company. 

Six cases of design intensive born global company 

1. IVANA Helsinki, http://www.ivanahelsinki.com 

Founded: In 1998 

Entrepreneurs: Paola Suhonen (MA in design), 

Pirjo Suhonen {M.Sc. in marketing) 

Industry: Fashion and textiles 

Turnover: 1.1 Million Euros (15 000 - 20 000 products/year) 

Export: 80% ofthe sales (from this, 70% to EU countries, 

30% Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Korea) 

Retailers: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong 

Kong, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, NetheHands, Norway, 

Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, USA, 

Canada 

Characteristic: Home made, soulful design, hand made pnnts 

and details 

Ivana Helsinki is a family-run fashion company. Paola Suhonen 

is the designer of the company whereas her sister, Pirjo 

Suhonen, is responsible for marketing and customer relations. 

Since the beginning the label has grown steadily, with full-scale 

collections produced in Spring/Summer, and international 

distribution throughout Western Europe, North America, and 

Asia.The IVANA Helsinki factory is located in Helsinki, Finland. 

It is a small company with 14 employees: Four In management, 

three in retail and the rest in producrion. 

H A N N A S A R E N 

Figure 2. http://www.hannasaren.com 

2. Hanna Saren, http://www.hannasaren.com 


Entrepreneurs: Hanna Saren (M.A in design), 

Jussi Tiilikka-Managing director (M. Sc. Econ) 

Industry: Fashion and texriles 

Turnover: 200 000 € 

Export: 90% 

Retailers: Products are sold in 20 countries (USA, Japan, Italy, 

England, France, etc.) - in over 100 bouriques. 

Characteristics: The HannaSaren brand Is based on ready- 

to-wear clothes, handmade wooden shoes and handbags. 

Designer Hanna Saren and her husband Jussi Tiilikka, 

Managing Director (M. Sc. Econ), started their family business 

in January 2000.They operate in downtown Helsinki, Finland. 

tonfisk" 

Figure 3. http://www.tonfisk-design.fi/ D E S I G N 

S.Tonfisk Design, http://www.tonfisk-design.fi/ 


Entrepreneurs: Brian Keaney (M.A. in design), 

Tony Alfström (M.A. in design) 

Industry: Ceramics, kitchenware 

Turnover: 300 000 € (20 000 - 30 000 products/year, design 

consulring40%) 

Export: 27% Finland, 31% EU -i- Scandinavia, 42% other 

Retailers: In 30 countries; such as USA, Japan, UK, Denmark 

Characteristics: Contemporary tableware and luxury gifts. 

Tonfisk is a creative, luxury Finnish design brand specializing in 

handmade gifts of drinking and serving products.Tonfisk presents

innovative and unusual solutions in functional and contemporary 

tableware for the well set table. The collection includes gourmet 

tea sets, espresso cups, fruit dishes, serving plates, salt and pepper 

shakers, lemon squeezers and milk and sugar sets. 

Figure 4. Anttl Ekiund 

http://www.animaldesign.fi 

4. Animal Oy, http;//www.animaldesign.fi/ 

(Later became Leolonglife) 

Founded: In 1997 (sold in 2004) 

Entrepreneurs: Antti Ekiund (M.A. in design), 

Jouni Ikonen (M.Sc, in engineering) 

Industry: Plastic household products 

Characteristic: Animal Design Oy is a utensil and interior 

design products manufacturer and wholesaler, which co 

ordinates the design, production, marketing and sales of 

ANIMAL® products. The company's goal is to build up the 

strong and internationally acclaimed ANIMAL'* brand. 

5. Snowcrash, http://www.snowcrash.se (closed down) 

Founded: In 1997 (Snowcrash's operation closed down in 

2004) 

Entrepreneurs: llkka Terho (M.A. in design), llkka Suppanen 

(M.A. in design), Teppo Aslkalnen (M.A. in design), Timo Saili 

(M.A. in design) 

Industry: Furniture 

Characteristic:The only example with VentureCapital funding. 

Parent company Proventus faced the risks in acquisition of 

creative companies. 

\ Figure 5: Ritva Puotila 

ill! WOOOmfB http://www.woodnotes.fi/ 

6. Woodnotes, http://www.woodnotes.fi/ 


Entrepreneurs; Ritva Puotila (M.A. in design), 

Mikko Puotila (M. Sc. Econ.) 

Industry: Paper yarn carpets and interior textiles 

Turnover: 3.300.000 € 

Export: Around 75% of its output to about 50 countries. 

Retailers: Biggest export countries: Germany, then Denmark, 

then Spain and Japan 

Characteristic: Largest design intensive BG case that managed 

to grow in the last 20 years. 

Commonalties across the six cases 

Next, we focus on characteristics of the five case companies 

in more detail in terms of what has enabled these companies 

to compete globally against larger established players in very 

early stages after their establishment. 

All six companies have unique product ideas and design as 

key success factors. Each company has used internal designers 

as the core design source. Registration of intellectual property 

rights concerning design has not been a key part of their design 

and marketing strategies. Rather, they have quickly moved 

to develop a strong brand identity and have continuously 

regenerated new product ideas to create and sustain their 

marketing and competitive advantage. 

Sufficient scale for production has been also an important 

success factor in all of the companies. Where production 

has not been internalized, these companies have created 

a cooperative network and utilized external resources in 

manufacturing and/or distribution so that they have been 

able to globalize despite their limited resources. 

The entrepreneurs running these companies have not been 

content to have unique product ideas, but communicate 

these ideas to potential customers, to distribution channels, 

and the media. Because of the severe financial restrictions, 

advertising has not been a primary channel of marketing 

communications. Instead, these companies have participated 

in various international design fairs. Here, they have been able 

to benefit from government subsidies for design promotion. 

The resulting publicity has been crucial to the companies'

internationalization process in each case. In this way, the 

small companies have been able raise the public interest in 

their products, and to access Important business contacts and 

international distribution channels both at home and abroad. 

Enabler-anaiysis ofthe five cases 

All the case companies share general BG characteristics at the 

macro-level, micro-level, and the milli-micro-level. 

1) Macro level factors: Design industry and design market 

related characteristics 

" Global design authorities: In the world of design, there are 

parties who decide what is "good design" is. These are global 

design authorities, in other words, the "taste elite". These are 

people who choose designs for museums, people in the juries of 

competitions, professors in the universities, people working in 

design organizationsorwritingfortrendsetterdesign magazines 

and consultants that are respected worldwide by the design 

community. Their judgements and opinions are followed and 

their references are valued by most ofthe designers and design 

related communities. The "taste elite" creates the first customer 

segmentfordesign companies to acquire approval and visibility. 

Most design companies including the case companies place a 

strong effort on reaching these parties and communicating 

their design values. {Form Function Finland, 1996). 

» Global trend seekers: In the design industry, one way for 

an upstart design entrepreneur to be successful has been to 

be a trendsetter. Recent technological innovations in low-cost 

communication and transportation have enabled a group of 

people travelling around the world and looking for unique 

products and new brands. These global trend seekers carry 

different design ideas to the suitable markets where the 

products can reach the top customer segment. Global trend 

seekers create opportunities for young companies such as 

Hanna Saren to suddenly establish global contacts while they 

are in their own local market. The demand coming from open 

distant markets pulls small design firms to produce a larger 

amount of their designs for global customers. 

* Local market challenge for the start-up: For each of the 

five companies that we analyzed, establishing a brand name 

in at least one market has been extremely important to gain 

visibility and approval in the retail market. Most ofthe start-up 

companies have had difficulties in their local markets despite 

their good products. This has been both because of limited 

market volume in their home market and because of what 

they considered limited financial resources for expansion of 

their business. This local market challenge has created a push 

factor for small design companies to go abroad and prove 

themselves first in the international arena and then come 

back to their local markets. 

"We went directly to exporting, because you need more 

time in Finland. After establishing a company, you have 

to make improvements. The shops here follow other 

"trendsetter" shops, and buy the products the others 

are selling. In the international market it İs different. 

These shops know what they can sell already by seeing 

the product. Therefore we had more chance with them 

in the beginning."Brian Keaney/Tonfisk Design 

In global markets, to the contrary, their unknown brands has 

not been a disadvantage as long as the products were unique. 

This has been because the judges of"good design" (see section 

above on "global design authories") are always on the look for 

new up-starts that they can reward with awards, and thus to 

maintain their own superior habitus as authorities ofthe field. 

- National design support: Gaining global visibility through 

design has been a national strategy for Finland. Most case 

companies received some sort of support from national 

organizations such as Tekes or from design organizations 

in order to participate in international exhibitions and to 

become known in the global markets, and to promote design 

in Finnish industry and society. 

• Financial uncertainty:The'luxury'or premium-price aspect 

of the design industry has made the business very fragile in 

terms of fluctuations In economic trends. The products of 

the six case companies that we have analyzed are among the 

first expenses that some customer will cut in an economic 

slowdown.This uncertain nature ofthe industry creates a great 

challenge for managers, since it makes the whole business 

unreliable and unpredictable, especially for young and small 

design intensive BGs.

2) Micro level factors: Company related characteristics 

• Design is the nucleus of business: Designing products has 

been the reason that all of the design entrepreneurs in our 

data gave about why to set up their companies. In each and 

every case, the product designs have already existed pnor to 

the companies were established. In these design intensive BGs, 

business has followed the product concepts and serves the 

need. Design has been the driving force ofthe whole business 

and creativity is the base for growth. This characteristic has 

appeared differentfrom technology or market-led companies 

where design is used as a value creation tool. 

• Complementary relationship: Some of the world's best 

design brands, such as Alessi or Armani, are the result of 

mutual partnership and combined expertise of a very good 

designer and a very good business mind. Three of the case 

companies (Woodnotes, IVANA Helsinki and Hanna Saren) are 

also built of similar partnership presenting complementary 

backgrounds that have been a great advantage. Demarcation 

of the roles is also easier within the design intensive BGs, 

if there are at least two entrepreneurs from different 

backgrounds. In this case, the designer has not needed to 

be involved "too muci)" with the business decisions, in two 

other cases (Tonfisk, Snowcrash), the top management team 

has consisted of designer entrepreneurs only, and the team 

has lacked absorptive capacity to source in external business 

support. In addition, all of the designer entrepreneurs In our 

data have learned business management by doing. In fact, all 

complained that they do not have time for design any more. 

All mentioned the need for complementary business skills in 

the core ofthe company as an important matter. 

3) MHIi-micro level factors: Designer entrepreneur related 

characteristics 

• Start-up motivations for designers: According to the 

empirical study, design entrepreneurs have several reasons 

and motivations for starting up their business which seem 

to differ then from business entrepreneurs. It is reasonable 

to expect that these different motives of the entrepreneur 

might influence the strategy and the business approach. 

In ail of the six cases designer entrepreneurs knew what 

they wanted to do from the beginning. They already had 

an idea or a collection. However, new business graduates 

seek opportunities. The business partner sees potential and 

decides to cooperate with the designer. Here is the list of 

the most mentioned reasons by the design entrepreneurs 

for why they start up their company as what we call a design 

intensive BG: 

1) Freedom (Animal Design, Ivana Helsinki, Tonfisk, 

Woodnotes and Snowcrash): Many designers have 

mentioned independence as a reason to start up own 

business. In most of the cases, the designers did not 

want to give away a good idea. They tried to find ways 

to produce and market a design idea and generate 

continuous production. These designers believed they 

would be much more flexible if they own the business: 

"/ can do what I want". 

2) Family influence (Ivana Helsinki) Entrepreneurial 

families have an impact on the decision of 

entrepreneurial designer. Previous experience in retail 

and producrion creates a base for the new business 

and also gives confidence to young entrepreneurs. 

3) No job (Snowcrash, Tonfisk, Woodnotes): Finding 

a job has always been a problem for new graduate 

students. However, in the design field finding a job that 

will satisfy crearive needs is an extra challenge. The 

design industry is globally driven by a few large brands 

(see, for example, Djelic and Ainamo, 1999, for fashion), 

and there is not a huge seiecrion of work posirions for 

young designers. This fact had a major affect on the 

decisions of many entrepreneurial designers. There 

is a common hope that producing one's own design 

products can provide the ultimate creative freedom 

and space for designers. 

4) Power of coincidence - First customer influence 

(Hanna Saren, Animal Design). All interviewees 

menrioned "c/iance"as a factor. Being in the right place 

at the right rime and daring to take risks were major 

factors in success. In most of the cases, the first order 

came by coincidence, without any previous planning. 

This coincidence created an opportunity and the need 

for starring up a company.

• Global approach of designer: Following international design 

publicity and participating in international design exhibitions 

are a natural part of the design education today. Most people 

in design communities follow the trends and opinions of the 

.global design authorities, as previously mentioned. Gaining 

international visibility and fame is the dream of many young 

designers. Therefore global awareness is very commonly built 

in the designers' mind. Entrepreneurial designers use this global 

awareness in their business and lose no time to move in global 

markets where their products are valued. All the case companies 

started theirbusinessbyjoininginternationalfairsandexhibitions. 

All the entrepreneurial designers believed they were already 

familiar with the global design scene: they knew very well how to 

gain visibility and access publicity due to their background from 

a leading European institution of design education. 

from the unique characteristics of design business, in orderto 

create a competitive and long-lasting design business, there 

has to be a balance of both design and business expertise. This 

conclusion can be based on the remarkable global expansion 

of Woodnotes and livana Helsinki. 

Challenge 2: How to grow? The skills to start up a design 

intensive BG are different from those, needed to expand the 

company into a large global organization. 

Agreatchallengefortheentrepreneurial designers is managing 

the growth of the design company. As mentioned before fast 

growth is an opportunity and, at the same time, a large risk for 

design intensive BGs. It is almost impossible to manage the 

company within the same team during the process. 

The cases showed that there is very strong contribution of 

a designer's vision and background in the start-up phase of 

a company. To some extent this can help in the initial brand 

building and start-up ofthe marketing activities. On the other 

hand how to grow Is a strategic decision which should be 

planned carefully. A designer background may not be sufficient 

to see and react to opportunities and risks in the long run. The 

entrepreneurial designer has the option to seek externally 

professional management skills for the company. However like 

in every entrepreneur situation, to share the power and the 

responsibilities is a problem. "The boss" may not want to hire 

someone to take the decisions. On the other hand, a partner 

with business understanding may be an appropnate option. 

Challenge 3: To sell design service or to sell design products? 

The first challenge of an entrepreneurial designer is the 

decision of how to structure the design business. 

There are several options for a designer. The first option is 

to work as a freelance designer and to sell design services 

(e.g. Hard Kosklnen). In this case it is vital to grow one's own 

name as a brand and gain visibility in the media and design 

communities, fôst of the time, companies choose to work 

with a designer considering the marketing value added by the 

name ofthe designer. 

A second oprion of the entrepreneurial designer is to start 

up a design consultancy and to offer design services under 

the company brand (e.g. ED Design). Design consultancies 

have different funcrions from star designers since they have a 

larger resource pool and may offer a wider range of services. 

This time the designer's name or personal appearance is 

less significant. In both of these cases, the designer can 

work either on a specific design brief where the final design 

product belongs completely to the client, or the designer can 

create his/her own design works and look for a manufacturer 

to produce and market the design for a certain period. In this 

case, the designer receives a certain percentage ofthe sales 

from the licensee. 

The third oprion of a designer is to sell designed products 

that are produced and branded by the designer. Here, 

there may not be a need to build up a large markering and 

business organizarion and highly developed adminstrative 

structure. "Production can mean production that has been 

internalized with the company or It can mean something 

akin to 'producrion' In movie making in many makers, where 

latent networks are activated on a project basis. Also in some 

other industries, such as luxury fashion industry or in mobile 

telephony, networking are outsourcing are standard routines. 

Addirional challenges appear such as managing 

manufacturing, building distriburion channels and most 

Importantly handling the sales.These would be most probably 

the weakest areas of a designer due to her background and 

It is vital to get support and additional knowledge in the 

organizarion. However, despite all the challenges, this last 

option offers the largest financial opportunity of the design 

business. 

Ilkka Suppanen of Snowcrash, is a designer who experienced 

all these options. He explains his opinion regarding the 

advantages and disadvantages of these alternatives: 

"In the short term, I think it can be a better oprion to 

go to self production, because that gives immediate 

turnoverand Immediate financial reacrionto yourwork. 

You can keep running very fast. But in the long term, I 

personally think that it would be better as a designer 

selling only design service and receiving your income 

out of royalties or whatever. But in the short term that 

doesn't pay off much.

In the longer run of course, self production can be 

very interesting, rewarding. But, because of the way 

designers study one might say that a designer is not a 

business man. On the other hand when we think about 

the very famous large design companies all around the 

world we see that mainly designers are running the 

business, for example, Cappelllnl.These companies can 

grow very well and be very successful in the long term. 

However, again there is a roof they can go, since it is all 

based on one designer's view, based on one vision and 

creative direction of one person. You can't distribute 

that vision in the larger companies. Therefore, in the 

larger scale, design companies become a different 

story than the start-up phase". 

In conclusion, the case studies confirmed that the design 

intensive BG's have several common characteristics that 

derives from the unique nature of design business. Based 

on the findings it can be told that entrepreneurial designers 

have mindsets and behaviours different from many other 

entrepreneurs and these may affect the ways that the 

designer-led companies are managed. There are three main 

challenges identified for designer entrepreneurs: finding an 

innovative business approach that will support the unique 

characteristics of design intensive companies, finding how to 

grow and to acquire the skills set to expand the company, as 

well as deciding whether one's core design competences is in 

services or in tangible products. 

s: 

This paper is based on the MA thesis of Zeynep Falay with the 

same title completed at University of Art and Design Helsinki, 

in March 2006. The research has been part ofthe Born Global 

Research Project at Helsinki School of Economics, financed 

by the Academy of Finland and National Technology Agency 

Tekes.The research was supervised by Prof Pekka Korvenmaa, 

Dr. Markku Salİmâki and Dr. Mika Gabrielsson. 

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internet references 

http://www.ivanahelsinki.com 

http://www.hannasaren.com 

http://www.tonfisk-design.fi/ 

http://www.animaldesign.fi/ (Later became Leolonglife) 

http://www.woodnotes.ii/ 

http://www.snowcrash.se (closed down) 

Appendix 

Case Study Interviews 

I. Snowcrash, Timo Salli 03.03.2003 

2.Tonfisk Design, Brian Keaney 14.03.2003 

3. Hanna Saren, Jussi Tiilikka 23.02.2004 

4. IVANA Helsinki, Pirjo Suhonen, 24.02.2004 

5. WOODNOTES, Mikko Puotila, 02.03.2004 

6. Tonfisk Design, Brian Keaney 04.03.2004 

7. Snowcrash, llkka Terho 18.03.2004 

8. Snowcrash, llkka Suppanen, 26.03.2004 

9. Animal Oy, Antti Ekiund 15.04.2004 

10. IVANA Helsinki, Pirjo Suhonen 26.09.2005 (e-mail) 

II. Animal Oy, Jouni Ikonen 01.03.2006 (phone call)

S U S T A I N A B L E D E S I G N : A C R I T I Q U E O F T H E C U R R E NT TRI P O L A R M O D E L 

Alain Findeli 

Guest Professor, University of Nîmes (France) 

Full Professor, University of Montreal (Canada) 

alain.findeli@umontreal.ca 

Abstract 

By 'tripolar model', it Is referred here to the model, often 

also called '3 P model: Profit/Planet/People' or '3 E model: 

Economics/Environment/Equity; which is very widely used 

as the reference model for any project in sustainabillty, 

which includes of course sustainable design. The purpose 

of the paper is to present a critique of this tnpolar model as 

it is structured and used. The researched is based on the 

empirical evidence that too many projects which are based 

on this model have run into serious difficulties or have failed. 

The critique of the model is carried out In two steps. The first 

concludes to a lack of complex intelligence In the handling of 

the systemic logic of the model. The second one shows that 

the anthropological foundations of the model are fallacious. 

An inverted version ofthe model follows, with a renaming of 

the three poles: comprehensive economics, social equity, and 

human creativity.The new model Is then discussed with regard 

to the so-called 'social threefolding' principles of philosopher 

Rudolf Steiner (1866-1925), which remind the three Ideals of 

the French revolution. In this perspective. Fraternity should be 

associated with the economic pole, Equality with the social, and 

Liberty with the cultural/creative. This model Is currently used 

throughout the world as a basis for various Initiatives, at scales 

ranging from local enterprise to national political economy. 

The paper concludes with the proposal that the model seems 

fruitful for the conduct of sustainable design projects. 

Keywords: sustainable design; 3E or 3P model; social 

threefolding; Rudolf Steiner 

Biography 

Alain Findeli is Full Professor at the School of Industrial Design 

of the University of Montreal where he has been teaching 

for about 30 years. Trained as an engineer in physics (INSA, 

Lyon) and researcher in materials science (IIT, Chicago and 

Polytechnics, Montreal), he reoriented his career and interests 

toward the human and social aspects of engineering, 

technology, and design (M.A. in Architecture, Montreal; 

Doct. in Aestherics, Paris). He concluded his extensive study 

of the history of design education in his book le Bauhaus 

de Chicago: I'oeuvre pedogogique de Lâsziö Mohoiy-Nagy' 

(1995). His current research topics and recent publications 

cover more general philosophical Issues of the theory and 

pracrice of design (logics, aestherics, ethics) as well as some 

key pedagogical aspects of design research education. He is 

the founder and was scientific and pedagogical director of the 

Master's program in 'Design & Complexity' in Montreal. As a 

Guest Professor at the University of Nîmes (France) since 2006, 

he is planning to introduce a research agenda on the most 

recent developments of design theory and methodology 

(service and social design, sustainable public projects, quality 

of place in rurban living environments). 

l.The holy trinity 

Last week,! was reading the quarterly newsletterof the alumni of 

an engineering school in France, where successful project case 

studies involving graduates ofthe school are regularly analysed 

and commented. The specific case I was reading dealt with a 

large European building management company, which aims to 

develop a more sustainable management process.'A building 

can be considered environmentally sustainable If it performs 

efficiently on the economic, environmental, and social aspects' 

writes one of the company's excutive. The next day at lunch, I 

was browsing through the monthly newspaper published by 

the local regional administrarion (France is divided into 22 such

administrative regions), winose executive council just recently 

adopted the principles and methodology of Agenda 21 for 

its regional development. 'Sustainable development must 

integrate economic, environmental, and social aspects'says the 

Vice-President ofthe regional Environment and Sustainability 

Board. Is it necessary to give due reference to the above quotes 

in the footnotes? Not really, since anybody can indeed make 

the same incidental remarks. Not one day passes without us 

hearing at the radio, watching on TV or reading in a newspaper 

or magazine that the three'aspects'of economics, environment, 

and society are the pillars of sustainable development. 

What's wrong with that, may we ask? What's the point? Well, 

the point is not that sustainable development should indeed 

address 'economic, environmental, and social aspects', but the 

fact that this principle is spelled out like a gospel, a mantra; 

that it is used in various contexts (political, educational, 

social, agricultural, etc) with exactly the same formulation, 

with apparently little concern for what it actually -in the very 

Aristotelian sense- means in such and such specific context. As 

if this mere incantation were sufficient to make sure that the 

projects which will be conducted under such label will actually 

contribute to or yield a development (whose development?) 

which will be sustainable (for whom?)! As if the actors who 

will be involved in the corresponding projects, having been 

blessed by the holy word, knew from the start how to behave 

and properly manage their respective courses of action in a 

developmental and sustainable way! 

What allows me to be so outrageously cynical is not a personal, 

irrepressible trait ofcharacter, but the empirical evidence ofthe 

difficulties, the obstacles, and even the failures which so many 

projects have met, despite the good will and noble intentions 

of their initiators and stakeholders. Here again, 1 must confess 

as above that my argument draws on our common and daily 

experience, rather than on specific cases reported in the 

literature. The difference, in this instance, is that the'common 

experience' refers to that of the design and design research 

communities ratherthan, as was the case above, the enlarged 

civil community, a community to which design researchers all 

belong. 

We members of the design community all know that the case 

studies literature in project management is not overabundant 

with examples of failure and mismanagement'. Success stories 

are much more popular in professional journals, and such is the 

case in design also. Nevertheless, we probably all know -from 

our teaching experience for instance- or at least intuitively feel - 

from our familiarity with the complexity of design projects- that 

carrying outaprojectalong the lines of sustainable development 

is likely to meet with inextricable contradictions and difficulties. 

It is precisely the aim of this paper to make clearer this feeling 

and to try to find out why these difficulties arise. 

2. Problem, purpose, meîhod and structure of the paper 

I admit mydiagnosis is not entirely based on the kind of evidence 

one would expect and should require in a respectful scientific 

community as ours. The hypothesis Is that such evidence 

would be easy to gather however. My starting point therefore 

is that the management of design projects along the tripolar 

model -economics, environment, society- of sustainable 

development is consistenly hitting on strong contradictions 

followed by practical powerlessness and inefficiency, if not 

total failure. Careful phenomenological observation of such 

design projects, both in educational and professional contexts, 

led me to the supposition that failures might not be due to 

the inadequate management of the projects^ but rather 

to the inappropriateness of the theoretical and conceptual 

framework, i.e. of the tripolar model governing the projects 

carried out under the heading of sustainable development. 

My hypothenis is further strengthened by the 'holy trinity' 

phenomenon described above, i.e. by the apparent lost in 

content and substance this pivotal model ended up exhibiting 

in various situations. More precisely, the meaning given to the 

three poles ofthe model is so indeterminale and loose that 

all sorts of interpretation become possible. Whereas this is 

particularly true of the 'society' pole, it also affects the two 

other poles. The abstract character of the terminology makes 

it almost impossible to find a consensus on what exactly is 

meant by'socİety','environmenî'or even 'economies'. And here 

I mean a consensus among experts, not only among 'common' 

citizens. The latter is a political, the former a scientific issue. 

It is as if the tripolar model, which was originally meant to 

pragmatically orient, guide and constraint action in a direction 

compatible with sustainable deveiopement, had become a 

rhetorical artifice.The catchphrase has become evocative and 

convincing enough to justify any enterprise whose aims are

closerto political, economic, ecological, or personal ambitions 

than to sustainable developmental constraints. 

Stated as it is, my hypothesis can be split into two questions or 

problems, along which the paper is structured. My first critique 

contends that the problems encountered in sustainable 

design projects may be due to an improper interpretation 

and Implementation of the model (§3). My second critique 

is more radical In that it streams way up to the very model 

Itself, considering it as faulty (§4). My purpose Is to develop 

both alternatives, althrough I will dwell longer on the second 

argument. The first critique is carried out from a systemic/ 

complexity theory perspective, whereas the second draws 

on economic- polirical- and anthropological- philosophical 

arguments. My conclusion (§7) is preceded by a crirical 

discussion of the new model I propose (§5), followed by an 

epistemological parenthesis devoted to a brief metaphysical 

discussion of design thinking (§6)^ 

The method adopted for this phase of the research is 

clearly speculative or philosophical, if the latter implies 

an argumentation mainly based on critical analysis and 

deductive logic. The potenrial contribution of the paper 

is therefore to fundamental aspect of design knowledge. 

However, the conclusions of the paper must be considered 

only as a first step in a research, which is srill in progress. As 

1 have indeed claimed elsewhere, project-grounded research 

In design requires the field of a design project as Its terrain 

where specularively devised models must be put at work in 

order to be declared relevant and fruitful. The opportunity 

to proceed to such 'situated-projectness' (pardon the 

neologism) is sriil pending in the course of my professional 

and research life. This is but one drawback of the method 

and its underlying phenomenological stance: It needs a long 

and rythmic temporality in order to unfold properly, i.e. to be 

epistemologically and methodologically... sustainable. 

3. Systemic unsustainability 

What I call 'tripolar model' is more often called '3P model' 

(profit/plsnet/people) or'3E model'(Economics/Environment/ 

Equity). It is usually pictured in the shape of the familiar 

triangle we have all come across in the literature, academic and 

not. Its origin Is well established: the basic concept emerged 

from the Brundtiand Report (1987) and later crystallized at 

the Rio Conference (1992), together with the very concept of 

sustainable development and the 27 principles of Agenda 21^ 

According to this model, the three aspects of economics, 

environment (or ecology), and society are supposed to be 

addressed In any project which claims to be sustainable. More 

precisely, these poles are to be considered as goals or forces 

driving the model each according its own logic: the force of 

economics (to produce more for a larger number); the force 

of ecology {to respect the environment, to preserve nature 

and therefore the living condirions of future generarions); 

the force of social equity (to fight poverty and distribute 

justly). The mutual comparibllity of these three forces being 

far from evident or natural, some intervention is necessary in 

order to hold the triangle together. Their 'natural' tendency is 

indeed to mutually conflict. A closer analysis ofthe genealogy 

of the model has shown that it is the result of a 'cooperarive 

negotiation'and that It may be understood as the outcome 

of a win-win worid-wide game medialed by the UN^ The 

resulring consensus of the game was supposed to be a 

new emerging value, in which all stakeholders could then 

recognize themselves. What was at first a potenrial battlefield 

of a priori antagonist and conflictual values and rarionalities 

could now become the springboard of future sustainable 

projects carried out underthe banner of that consensual value. 

Unfortunately, just the opposite happened. Instead of the 

expected cooperative process, a 'competitive appropriation' 

ofthe consensual value -namely ofthe concept of sustainable 

development and its interpretarion- developed, leading to the 

observed difficulries, dissarisfacrions, and failures^ Why? 

One possible Interpretarion of this aporetic situation is based 

on the concept of complex intelligence and its relationship 

with systemic logics. Each ofthe three poles of the 3E model 

holds a specific woridview which determines the way Its 

representative stakeholders construct their own analysis 

of the problems, their own argumentarion during the 

negoriarion process, and their own course of acrion when 

implemenring their decisions Into a specific project. The 

current state of our Western scientific culture, with its almost 

exclusive emphasis on analytical, chaln-ilke logical and causal 

reasoning in educarional and pedagogical institurions, is 

the primary source of this woddview. As a consequence, an

economist will have the tendancy to consider environmental 

or social issues from his or her economical theoretical and 

conceptual framework; an environmentalist will do the same 

for economic and social issues and likewise for the third pole. 

This situation which is well known of course in negotiation 

theory,explainswhatwehearor read almost daily in the media, 

and justifies the conclusions that can be and have actually 

been drawn from various experiences and experiments in 

the ten year period between Rio (1992) and Johannesburg 

(2002). In the last decade or so, we have all been witness to a 

phenomenon, a tendancy, a collective movement, a political 

party, a paradigm, a highly mediatized demonstration or even 

a mere fashion, which has tried to pull the triangle either in 

the all-economic (econocentric), all-ecological (ecocentric) or 

all-social (sociocentric) direction. The problem is due to the 

difficulty to consider the triangle as a system rather than a 

mere assemblage, i.e. as a dynamic organic whole the logic of 

which can only be understood by complex intelligence^ 

I hope not to be misunderstood, fvly point is certainly not that 

all those projects that have been carried out under the banner 

of sustainability (or Agenda 21) with the methodological help 

of the tripolar model, have failed. There are indeed many 

achievements, in all kinds of contexts and at various scales, 

which can be stored in the chapter of success stories from a 

short-term perspective. In the long term however, one must 

admit that there are numerous reports of eventually emerging 

and quite rebellious problems resulting of -sometimes 

dramatically conflicting- situations. It is this observation which 

led me to question, not only the logical structure, but also the 

very substance ofthe tripolar mode!'". 

4. Anthropological unsustainability 

The historical and genealogical analysis of our tripolar model 

shows that it originally stems from a bipolar configuration 

where socioeconomic development (anthropic, or cultural, 

pole) is opposed to environmental preservation (natural 

pole). This bipolarity is indeed still pivotal in the Brundtland 

Report (1987). Its transformation into a tripolar configuration 

is strongly bound to the political an economic context ofthe 

years that followed the latter, until the Rio conference. We will 

not inquire into how and why this transformation took place, 

since we are only interested in the fact that the tripolar model 

is the dominant model today, and that there is a good chance 

it remains so for a while. What 1 shall do instead is discuss 

the analytical and theoretical bases of the model in order to 

unveil some core contradictions, and eventually propose a 

new, hopefully more fruitful and more operational, model. As 

we shall see, the theoretical framework or viewpoint of design 

proves quite useful to carry out this discussion, along with 

other arguments borrowed from the economic and socio 

political spheres. The reasons I characterize my argument as 

'anthropological'" will become clear later; there is more to it 

than mere conceptual commodity. 

The first problem with the model is the separation of the 

economic from the environmental or ecological domain. As 

their etymology already points to, economics and ecology 

belong to the same field and share the same logics: they 

both deal, very roughly speaking, with available resources, 

production, transformation, exchange, consumption, value, and 

make all kinds of computation of one or the other and of their 

respective relationships. Roughly speaking, again. A science of 

economics which does not take into consideration the whole 

system involving these processes does not even deserve its 

name. Why then leave to a distinct science the task of figuring 

out the ecological impacts of the global handling of natural 

resources? If indeed economics can be defined as the science 

which deals with the production, distribution and consumption 

of goods, with the material and symbolic aspects of exchange 

processes, and with the potential equilibrium between needs 

and their satisfaction, then the logical and structural separation 

of economics and ecology in a theorical model meant to guide 

human agency is an epistemological and practical fallacy. In 

many cultures, especially those based on agriculture, such 

an idea of economics is plainty unthinkable, since it proves 

totally unpractical according to the very logic of agricultural 

practice. Logically speaking, there is no reason to consider that, 

since the archetype of economic exchange is a give-and-take 

or cost-benefit relationship, the "give and the take" aspects of 

the relationship should belong to a different scientific domain. 

Obviously, my common-sense type of reasoning should be 

more qualified and discriminate. It actually could, and I am sure 

economists would have no troube developing a conceptually 

more sophisticated and rigorous argument with regard to 

their discipline. It would be surprising however that they end 

up with an opposite conclusion. What I am arguing were Is not

that there are some environmental aspects that should be 

taken into consideration by the science of economics, in the 

sense one means that economic exchanges also have a social, 

or political, or semiotic component. No, the statement is much 

stronger: since there is no radical difference between economic 

and ecological phenomena, economics and ecology should be 

merged into a single pole, namely that of a more comprehensive 

general economics {or Economics with capital e). 

We are now left with a bipolar model again, except that it Is not 

analogous to the previous one mentioned above. Both poles 

here are of anthropic character; they both deal with human 

agency. Their respective purpose Is different, if not divergent, 

however. By the way, notice that this bipolar model Is very 

similar to the central dialectics of Marxian philosophy in the 

19th century. We will come back to this later. Let us focus first 

on the third pole, namely on the social aspect of sustainable 

development. 

Thousands of pages have already been written on those 

human or social aspects end on the way they should be 

understood and dealt with In sustainable projects. I have 

no pretention -nor do I really have the competence- to add 

anything dramatically significant to this corpus in such a bnef 

paper. I will try to show however that the point of view of 

design, seen as a discipline whose theoretical and empirical 

concerns are centred around the phenomenon ofthe project, 

may constitute a contribution to what social sciences have 

already gathered on this rather vas subject matter. My field 

observations of actual projects reveal that the third pole of 

the 3E or BP model, corresponding to the social (or human?) 

aspects and consequences of sustainable projects, is often 

used as a 'black bin' where all aspects not directly related to 

the two other poles can be thrown into. The bin collects all 

'soft' aspects or variables of the analytic process, those which 

cannot really be quantified or rendered objective without 

losing their very meaning. As a consequence, the third pole Is 

that which is subject to the widest and looseet interpretations. 

I have gathered a good deal of evidence of this fact from a 

number of ecodesigners and sustainable project managers. 

The situation is further beclouded by the fact that there is 

some confusion between logical and ethical arguments, 

between a hard deductive/objective reasoning based on 

figures and statistics {both in economics and ecology) and a 

more 'fuzzy' or 'philosophical' type of reasoning, in short, the 

third pole lacks adequate definition. 

I believe that this dimension of sustaible development should 

be treated In a more dlscnmate manner. To Insist almost 

exclusively on the social dimension of human Issues, as is the 

case in the majority of projects I have observed, is missing one 

half of the problem. A more comprehensive stance consists 

in realizing that any human phenomenon has two principal 

dimensions: the individual and the collective dimensions or 

qualities. Psychology and sociology In one part, anthropology 

and ethnology In another, are academic disciplines which 

have split and shared the corresponding knowledge In the 

two respective dimensions. Let us now turn back to our model 

and see the consequence of this almost banal but decisive 

distinction. Social equity is indeed an important aspect that 

deservestobeglven some pnority in sustainable development. 

There have many convincing arguments developed on this 

topic. One should indeed expect that the wealth and riches 

created by the pole corresponding to Economics are fairly 

distributed, not only among the various social categories 

concerned by the project, but also with respect to future 

generarions. But then, the following quesrions remain: Who 

gives the impulse to produce wealth? Who is initiating the 

projects? Who Is deciding how the riches are to be distributed? 

in other words: Where is the projectual dimension of the 

social pole? This is indeed a typical design question. If this 

dimension is not explicitly handled in the discussion, then we 

are left with a sort Darwinian process, with an'invisible hand' 

phenomenon leading one to derive a kind of determinism 

from the model. As a matter of fact, the more scientific 

and sophisticated our theoretical models of sustainable 

developement, the strongest the belief In their deterministic 

character. I could be contested that the projectual dimension 

is naturally included in the economic pole. Such argument 

results from an epistemological confusion which design 

researchers are well aware of since they have read Donald 

Schön: design is in no way the application of some pre- 

exlsring science, be it economics, sociology, semiorics or else, 

design has its own original epistemology. Furthermore, the 

logic of economics Is a logic of means, and economic science 

is basically analyric, whereas the logics of design is a logics of 

crearivity and Iniriarive, design being basically pragmaric (In 

the philosophical sense). As we know from our basic courses

in philosophy, distinction should be kept between facts and 

values, and every designer knows that the process enabling 

to pass from one domain to the other is not a Darwinian 

like process of emergence: it takes human engagement to 

transform facts into action, i.e. into values. 

For all theses reasons and for the sake of logical clarity I 

believe the 'social' pole of the model should be split into the 

two separate poles of social equity and social creativity. 

We are thus left with a new configuration: a systemic model 

consisting of three dynamically interrelated dimensions 

correspondind to comprehensive economics (or Economics), 

social equity and human creativity. 

5. A new'holy trinity'? 

What is the cognitive gain of this transformation? What is the 

point of redesigning a tripolar model into another, inverted, 

tripolar model? Have we but 'changed four quarters for a 

buck' as the saying goes? My answer is clearly negative. The 

first reason is that by including the design dimension into the 

model, we introduced a strong dynamic impulse which leaves 

us no choice but to actually address some very fundamental 

issues raised by human agency, especially when the latter 

takes the form of a project. The second reason has to do with 

the anthropological framework mentioned earlier. 

The new proposed structure of our model happens to be 

analogous to the so-called 'threefolding' of the social order 

as proposed by philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1866-1925) at the 

turn of the 20''' century. Steiner's first confrontation to social 

issues arose while teaching at the Popular University in Bedin. 

Although his first article on this topic dates as early as 1905, 

his major publishing and lecturing activity only really started 

after WW1. Steiner's very pragmatic stance explains why 

the content of his writings is deeply related to the historical 

and political context of the war. To this contextual aspect 

also belong the workers' movements of the end of the 19th 

century (the Russian Bolchevist Revolution and the hesitations 

ofthe newborn Weimar Republic. Conversely, the social and 

political philosophy of Karl Marx and his followers is the main 

intellectual reference against which Steiner's argumentation 

is constructed. One should not conclude therefrom that 

the influence of these contextual aspects is so strong as 

to relativise and invalidate Steiner's propositions for our 

contemporary situation, since the former result from a careful 

phenomenological inquiry into the logics and the origins of 

the social, economic, political and spiritual conditions. In this 

respect, Steiner shows quite convincingly how Marx's own 

inquiry into the social conditions was quite accurate, but 

that the materialist interpretation of his findings was faulty 

due to an inadequate anthropology. Interestingly enough 

and as we already noticed earlier, the bipolar -economics/ 

society- reduction ofthe model we end up with after having 

integrated the economic and environmental pole into a more 

comprehensive economic one, is quite similar to the centra! 

problematic of Marx'philosophy and his famous'contradiction 

of capitalism'. Marx asks how it is possible to reconcile both 

poles, i.e. to transform the dialectics into a superior synthesis 

in order to imagine an economic system respectful of the 

social aspirations of the workers. In terms of sustainable 

development, the question reads as follows: Is it possible to 

reconcile the economic and the social pole, i.e. to transform 

the duality into a dialectics whereby we could imagine 

an economic/technological system which is respectful of 

environmental constraints, warrant of social and generational 

justice, and capable of enhancing individual emancipation? 

The two approaches are quite analogous. 

It is not possible to sum up Steiner's social philosophy here. 

There exist some good syntheses of it in the literature'^ 

Moreover-and Steiner himself was very categoric on this point- 

what is called 'philosophy' here should not be considered 

as a dogmatic theoretical system of economics or political 

philosophy that would replace all the others. The threefold 

character of social life is an empirical constatation based on a 

phenomenological observation which we all could and should 

carry out by ourselves. What it reveals is that there are three 

fundamental qualities which characterise (or 'colour') our 

relationships whith other human beings, depending on the 

specific field on which the relationship is focused. The three 

fields, according to Steiner, are the 'economic', the 'political' 

and the'cultural'. These should be considered as independent, 

meaning by that that they each obey to a distinct logic. He 

points to the fact that the three 'logics' used to be integrated 

into a unique system in earlier history (theocracy), the cultural 

aspect being the determining ruling force (religion). The two 

otherforces progressively departed onanindependant path in

successive times in history: the political in the Roman Empire, 

the economic during the Industrial Revolution. 

In the economic sphere, says Steiner, the relationships between 

individuals are based on needs and mediated by goods, so that 

there is a strong mutual interdependance; its guiding logics 

is solidarity or fraternity, not In the moral but in the strict 

economic sense. The political sphere, that of public rights. Is 

the wodd of essentially human relationships, in the sense 

that we consider the other not as a provider of some good or 

service, but as an equal; its guiding logics is therefore equality. 

In the cultural sphere, the relationships are based on the 

mutual recognition of one's own and Idiosyncratic capacities, 

competences and potentialities, which can only be cultivated 

and developed in a non-oppressive intellectual, artistic or 

religious environment; its ruling logics is liberty. The three 

dimensions of fraternity, equality, and liberty are potentially 

present in every project. According to the threefolding 

principle, their respective singularity must be strictly respected 

when deliberating about economic, political, and cultural issues 

which arise in the course of the project so that, for instance, 

no political consideration should ever interfere with matters 

of cultural or economic import. Likewise, the cultural sphere 

should be carefully preserved from any economic or political 

interference, and so on. One must admit that this sounds 

almost nonsensical when checked against our contemporary 

habits. But isn't that exactly how Thomas Kuhn described what 

a new paradigm was to feel like at its beginning? 

The analogy of the threefolding principles with the slogan 

of the French Revolution is not only a useful mnemonic 

artifice, but is also historically grounded. The analogy helps 

to understand the pathologies of the contemporary social 

and economic philosophy, where the three district guiding 

logics are put at the wrong place. By putting, for instance, 

the economic life under the rule of liberty, one experiences 

the drifting of extreme liberalism and its perverted or wicked 

consequences. Likewise, by insisting on equality being the 

basic value ofthe cultural life, for instance in education, one 

runs into the paralysing effects of egalitarianism, i.e. the 

levelling by the lower mean. 

The very phenomenological and non-dogmatic nature ofthe 

threefolding model should discourage any discussion of it in a 

speculative, rhetorical, manner. As indicated above, it should 

be considered as a working hypothesis in the purest Jamesian 

pragmatic sense and as such taken out into the field (that of 

a design project) so that its fruitfulness may be experienced 

(or not). There are already a number of initiatives around the 

world where Steiner's threefolding model has been put into 

practice, in fields as diverse as agriculture, banking, business 

and management, educational and therapeutic institutions, 

etc'''. The next step of this research project will precisely 

consist in this. Its current state has not yet allowed me to 

gather a comprehensive review of experiences (if any) carried 

out in sustainable design projects with the threefolding 

perspective. An outstanding example would be the network 

of biodynamic farms in operation worldwide. They should 

be considered indeed, for their management and landscape 

design principles, as potentially interesting case studies of 

contributions to sustainable development. 

In the specificfield of design, it would be interesting to analyse 

the extremely original and convincing experiences carried out 

under the advlsorship of Ezio Manzini in Milan'^ in the light of 

the threefolding conceptual framework. Although Manzini's 

central theoretical and pragmatic framework draws mainly on 

Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen's economic theory, I can see 

no contradiction at first right with Steiner's guidelines'^ 

6. Some remarks on metaphysical issues 

The paper has already pointed to the relevance of a reflection 

on the metaphysical aspects of design'^ The reason these 

aspects should be considered important is that they 

determine our way of dealing with design projects, both in 

theory and practice. They provide us with -or imprison us in- 

our intellectual habitus and influence our interpretive activity. 

It is therefore a useful exercise to bring them to light so that 

their deterministic effect can be evaluated and eventually 

modified. 

The one aspect I wish to draw attention to in the context of 

this paper is the dualistic, polarised scheme used in practical 

deliberation, throughout the Western intellectual culture. The 

archetypal figure ofthis polarising pattern is the iconographic 

interpretation of the Last Judgment, especially visible in 

Catholic architecture, sculpture, painting and glasswork.

The central figure of Christ Is dividing the space into the two 

opposed realms ofthe good and the evil, ofthe saved and the 

damned. But one can find this moral topology also In the non- 

Chnstlan iconography, for instance in Greek-Roman mythology 

v^here some hero Is bound to choose between vice and virtue, 

between hell and heaven, between beauty and ugliness, etc. 

What seems to have encouraged the emergence of such a 

strong polarity is the'ontologising'of this central scheme into 

a static form.The origins ofthe scheme stem way back into the 

eadiest cosmogonies of pre-Socratic philosophy, gut it was 

undoubtedly strongly reinforced by Platonic dialectics and 

Aristotelian ethics. What has been lost in the course of their 

respective interpretations is their dynamic character, leading 

to the 'ontologising' phenomenon mentioned earlier. The two 

opposing entities have ended up being considered as the final 

outcomeofa process, whereas they are onglnaily to bethought 

of as a process in its own right, namely as the very movement 

of human thinking or acting. When considered from such a 

dynamic viewpoint, there always appears a third member in 

the diad.Thus, for instance, the iconoiogy of the Last Judgment 

Is truly incomprehensible without the central figure of Christ. 

Particularly sophisticated and interesting in this respect is 

Aristotle's definition of virtue. In his ethics, virtue is not the 

opposite of vice, but virtue is a mean between two extremes, 

between two vices, one in excess and one in default'^ A mean, 

however, which is not arithmetical or'Darwinian', but a mean 

which is produced by human agency and is to be renewed, 

re-invented, re-designed In each new situation.The topology 

of Aristotle's principle Is therefore triadic and dynamic. A 

careful meditation of these observations may lead us to the 

following conclusion. Whenever, by analysing a phenomenon, 

we discover it is structured along a polar contradiction {as in 

Marxian philosophy for instance), we should be looking forthe 

third member ofthe configurarion in order to transform the 

diadic into a triadic geştalt'^. Very evocarive in this respect is 

Rudolf Steiner's own arrisric interpretation of this fundamental 

principle. The monumental wood sculpture he personally 

conceived and made at the end of his life, the Representative 

of Humanity, shows the central figure ofthe human being who 

is torn apart between the two poles of spiritual and material 

temptations. Not between good and evil, but between two 

figures of evil, where intellectual arrogance on one hand, and 

the intemperance of materialistic hedonism on the other, may 

be recognised as typical incarnarions of the Western mind. 

The archetypical property of Steiner's threefolding model 

derives from his anthropological anchoring, This is precisely 

the main reason why its pragmaric and operarional fruitfulness 

deserves to be experienced in design, more specifically in 

sustainable design. Such is both the conclusion of this paper 

and the starring point ofthe next phase ofthe corresponding 

research project. 

7. Conclusion 

The research originates in the empirical evidence that the use 

of the 3E or 3P model as the main reference for sustainable 

design projects consistently faces insuperable contradlcrions 

and dissatisfactions among the project carriers (designers, 

clients, users, etc.). A critique of the central model appeared 

therefore to be necessary. The main inconsistencies of the 

model can been uncovered when the cririque is carried out 

both from a systemic or an anthropological-philosophical 

perspective. In effecttheformerappeared only as a preliminary 

step toward a more fundamental reconsideration ofthe logical 

foundations of the model. It appears possible to surmount 

the so-called 'anthropological unsustainability' of the model 

by an inversion of its triadic structure and a renaming of the 

correspond poles. The model then becomes analogous to 

Rudolf Steiner' threefolding model he proposed after WW! 

in order to construct a more human social order. This mode! 

has since proved fruitful for the design and management of 

various economic and social initiatives. The strong analogy 

this research has made obvious between the threefolding and 

the modified 3E or 3P model used in sustainable development 

leads to the conclusion that it might be fruitful to work with 

the latter in further sustainable design projects. The three 

poles of the rectified model are the following: 'comprehensive 

economic' (or economics with capital E), 'social equity', and 

'human creativity'. The ruling logics ofthe respecrive poles are 

the ones Idenrified by Steiner, namely and respecrively the 

logics of fraternity, equality and liberty. 

As already stated at the beginning of this paper, the 

methodology adopted in this first phase of the research 

project is mainly specularive, but it was preceded by a 

careful phenomenological observation of projects-in-action, 

mainly but not exclusively in the field of design. The general 

argumentarion is not as well supported on empirical and

ibliographical evidenceas one might wish or expect. However 

the pragmatic viewpoint adopted all over allows research 

to proceed along concurrent paths, provided the necessary 

work is carried out parallel to the field work, according to the 

methodological foundations of project-grounded research in 

design. 

My conclusion is far from being ... conclusive. This research in 

progress Is now entering a new phase, in the form of a situated 

'reflection-in-action' experience, whereby the potential of our 

new threefolded model will be put to test. 

NOTES 

1- One noticeable counterexample is the so-called 'Chaos 

Report' published by the Standish Group. See for instance the 

"2004 Third Quarter Research Report" at www.standishgroup. 

com/sample_research/chaos-1994_2.php {accessed 02,15.07) 

2-This Issue is raised In similar terms, although In a different 

theoretical context, by Pierre-Luc Lalonde in his Ph.D. project 

titled Structurotion de I'espace agissont de la pratique de la 

gestiondeprojet Montreal, Ecolepolytechnique, 2007, M4ppJhe 

argument goes as follows. The causes of failure in engineering 

projects are usually diagnosed with reference to the standard, 

instrumental and normative, model in project management 

(the so-called 'Cost, Time and Quality' model): cost overrun, 

time overrun, and/or poor quality delivery. Various evaluation 

guides and methods have been designed to assess and audit 

such projects. However, there are instances where, although 

successful with regard to standard evaluation, some projects 

nevertheless are considered as unsatisfactory or unsuccessful 

by their stakeholders and clients. The source ofthis aporia lies 

in a too restrictive definition of what one considers as a good 

project, I.e. In the very central theoretical model adopted by 

project managers. 

3- In the plenary paper he delivered at the 'Wonderground' 

DRS International Conference in Lisbon (November 2006), 

titled "Worldviews for Design Theory'; Per Galle urged design 

researchers to be more critically aware ofthe basic metaphysic 

assumptions on which, according to Peirce, design theory 

rests. In his abstract, Galle thus proposes "a method by which 

the philosophy of design may develop sound metaphysical 

foundations (worldviews) for design theory". 

4- Findeli A., "Die projektgeleitete Forschung : eine Methode 

der Designforschung" in R.Michel (ed.) Erstes Design 

Forschungssymposlum, Zurich, Swiss Design Network, 2004, 

pp.40.50. French version available at www.din.umontreal.ca/ 

findelLhtml underthetitle"La recherche-projet: une methode 

pour la recherche en design" (Project-grounded research: A 

Methodology for Design Research). 

5- One must be very careful with the choice of terminology In 

such a pragmatic framework. In project-grounded research, a

"hypothesis" becomes a "problem" or, better, a "problematics", 

since the main purpose of such research is to improve design 

practice, not to increase the truthfulness of descriptive theories. 

Therefore, theoretical and practical endeavours must be ciosely 

interrelated in a highly dynamic dialectical process.This means: 

1) that the theoretical 'models' mentioned in the text are not 

tested as in conventional experimental science, but'put at work' 

or situated in context; 2) that the validation criteria of these 

models are not thruth and generalisability, but relevance and 

fruitfulness (for practice); and finally 3) that each new practical 

situation isanopportunitytodevise(orimprove)thesetheoretical 

models, so that the latter are not the result of a deductive but of 

an abductive process. The entire methodological procedure of 

project-grounded research is recursive, with a MÖbİus ribbon or 

an Escher-like morphology/topology. 

6- Brunei, S., Le developpement durable, Paris, PUF, 2004, 

passim. 

7-This is a very short abstract of a long argument developed by 

Aurelien Boutaud in his doctoral dissertation Le developpemer)t 

durable: penser le changement ou changer le pansement? {a 

truly intranslatable play on words), Saint-Etienne, Ecole des 

Mines et Üniversite Jean-Monnet, 2006,523pp. Downloadable 

at www.emse.fr/site/themerecherche/boutand.htw. 

8- Ibid. 

9- The characteristics of complex intelligence cannot be 

developed in the framework ofthis paper. Besides that, I hope 

it is an insult to the design research community to believe that 

these characteristics are unknown in the field of design. As a 

matter offact, design thinking isa kind of complex intelligence 

in action. Which designer is not trying to come up with a 

beautiful, good and inexpensive product?The epistemological 

status of a design outcome is indeed that of such an organic 

whole, since it isa'synthesis'of usually conflicting and mutually 

exclusive'variables'.Throughout the design process moreover, 

the systemic structure ofthe object remains dynamic, until it 

is 'frozen' into a product. The necessity to develop complex 

intelligence in primary and secondary schools has been 

strongly advocated in France by sociologist Edgar Morin. He 

is also one of the main inspirations of the European research 

network built by Jean-Louis LeMoigne during the last 30 years 

(the other one being Herbert Simon) named 'Reseau europeen 

pour la modellsation de la complexite' (www.mcxapc.org ). 

10- From a different perspective, the Research Chair for Ethics 

at the University of Montreal (CREUM) came to the conclusion 

that the very concept of sustainability had become empty for 

having been subject of a too large extension. A fundamental 

philosophical and conceptual work on the meaning of the 

concept was therefore feltto be necessary. Seethe proceedings 

of the 2006 conference. The future of sustainability?, available 

online on the Chair's website: www.creum.ca. 

11 - 'Anthropological' is meant here in its philosophical sense. 

In this respect, we are dealing with the different points of 

view under which the human being is considered, described, 

and represented ('theorised'). This appears somewhat in 

opposition with the conclusion of one of the participants to 

the conference mentioned in footnote 10, Catherine Carrere, 

who writes that the contradictions to which the diverging 

interpretations of the concept of sustainability lead us could 

only be overcome by changing our core question: "The issue 

[...] is not in the choice between humankind and nature, but in 

a reflection upon our concept of nature" (R17). As we shall see 

in the paper, my conclusion is rather an invitation to reflect 

upon our concept ofthe human being. 

12- The written contribution of Rudolf Steiner to the social 

issue consists in a book and a series of 13 articles. The original 

works are in German. My references are mostly in French, but 

English speaking readers may easily find the corresponding 

works since Steiner's books and lectures are classified 

according to the GA system {Gesamtausgabe) used for the 

complete works. Steiner, R. Fondements de I'organisme social 

(GA 23-24), Geneve, Ed. Anthrop. Romandes, 1985 (original 

German edition: 1919 for GA23,1915-1921 for GA 24). Besides 

these written basic works, Steiner delivered around 200 

lectures and courses on social threefolding to which should 

be added his lectures on education, agriculture and therapy, 

in which practical, economic, and organisational issues were 

raised and discussed. For more information, see the website 

ofthe Goetheanum (www.goetheanum.org ), seat ofthe Frele 

Hochschule fur Geisteswissenschaft, the Free University created 

by Steiner in 1923, which has a department named Sektion fur 

Sozialwissenschaft.

13- Among many others: Nouyrit, H., Fraternite, Egalite et 

Liberte. Actualite de \o pensee sociale de Rudolf Steiner, Paris, 

Triades, 2004; Steiner, R. & Houghton Budd, Chr., Rudolf Steiner 

Economist, Canterbury, New Economy Publications, 1996; 

see also the Talking Economics Bulletin available at www. 

talkingeconomics.com. 

14- The most ambitious contemporary example is Nicanor 

Pedas' Agenda 21 Program for the Philippines (www.cadi. 

ph/nicanor_pedas.htm). Other noteworthy cases are: the 

Sekem initiative, founded 1977 in Egypt (www.sekem.org}, 

whose initiator, Ibrahim Abouleish, was granted the so-called 

'Alternative Nobel Prize' together with Perlas in 2003; the 

banking enterprises of GLS (G), Tnodos (NL), Mercury (UK), 

Merkür (DK), Nef{F). 

15- Manzini's basic pnnciples for 'strategic design' are 

synthesized in his"Design, Ethics and Sustainabillty. Guidelines 

for a Transition Phase"in Sotamaa, Y. (ed. in chief) and Salmi, E. 

& Anusionwu, L. (eds), Nantes Cumulus Working Papers, Helsinki, 

UIAH University of Art and Design, 2006, pp. 9-15. The same 

proceedings, downloadable at www.cumulusassociation.org, 

also include three case studies conducted at the Ph.D. program 

of Milan Polytechnics by S. Maffel & B.Villarl, A. Meroni, and C. 

Cipolla. 

16-Nouyr!t(seefootnote13,pp. 84-85) criticizesSen's"methodic 

reflection upon the very complex and infinitely diverse play 

ofthe equality-liberty couple" for not having thrown strong 

enough a bridge between both poles; the mediating role 

should, according to Nouynt, be given to fraternity {"affectio 

societatis"), in order for his theory to become more practical 

and fruitful. Nouyrit's professional experience has been In the 

cooperative movement in agriculture and In the construction 

the European Community. He is one of the founders of the 

Nef bank(A/ouve//eecor7om/efrateme//e) in France in 1978, and 

currently major of a small village in the Southwest of France. 

17- See footnote 3 and Per Galle's contribution in this respect. 

In an eadier essay on the Bauhaus, I already hinted at some 

metaphysical aspects of design theory and ideology. Findeli, 

A.,"The Bauhaus Project: An Archetypefor Design Educarion in 

the 21th Century" T/ieSfmctur/st, 39/40,1999/2000, pp. 36-43. 

18- Aristotle, Nlchomachean Ethics, for instance II, 104 a 10-25 

or 1106b 22-28. 

19- French philosopher Francois Julliens's very thought 

provoking comparative study of Chinese/Eastern and 

Greek/Western philosophical traditions is extremely helpful 

to uncover our own metaphysical guiding axioms. His 

conclusions are usually quite useful for design thinking and 

project theory. See for example his Du mal/Du negatif, Paris, 

Seuil, 2004, where one can read that "China enlightens the 

tragic character of European thinking" (p.l 09).

T H E B A L A N C I N G A C T D F P R O D U C T D I S C O U R S E A N D P E R F O R M A N C E 

Josiena Gotzsch, MSc, DBA 

GEM Grenoble Ecole de Management, Grenoble, France 

gotzsch@grenoble-em.com 

Abstract 

What is to be designed into a product to make it highly 

desirable? The aim of this research is to identify these key 

attraction points: innovatlveness, environmental aspects, 

brand identity, symbolic, aesthetic value and others. It Is this 

dance between product performance and discourse that 

bnngs product's appeal. 

As a result of a literature review, the key elements of product 

attraction are visualised in a model. This model presents "what 

the product does" and "what it communicates". It contains 

five basic elements: 1) functionality, 2) price, 3) aesthetics, 

4) symbolic meaning and 5) ergonomics. More detailed 

categones, such as brand identity are part of these five basic 

elements. 

For the field research, a questionnaire was designed that 

investigates the reasons for loving or detesting a product. 

Around seven hundred undergraduate students completed 

this questionnaire analysing a loved or detested product of 

their choice. 

This research is sdll in process. The main objective now is 

to define an appropriate structure for the analysis of the 

questionnaires. A coding system used by Cslkszentmihalyi 

and Rochberg-Halton (1981) is a good basis, but adjustments 

are needed. Since 1981 the market has changed and the two 

studies differ. New products with a high affective value have 

emerged - portable phones, video games and MP3 players 

- and brand identity is more important in the present study. 

Furthermore, the respondents of the two studies have a 

different life style and at present both detested and loved 

products are analysed. 

Introduction 

In research concerning the new product development process. 

Cooper and Kleinschmldt (1995) found product superiority 

as the number one success factor, but some companies 

miss the competences to make the right design decisions 

(Dickson, Schneider, Lawrence and Hytry, 1995). It remains a 

vital challenge for companies to develop products that are 

superior from competitors' products. Part of this process Is to 

Identify what makes a product superior and highly desirable 

and secondly to be able to integrate these characteristics in 

the new product design. 

This present research examines the first part of the new 

product development process: "What is to be designed into 

a product" to make it highly desirable. It alms to Identify key 

attracrion points, varying from a product's innovatlveness, 

environmental aspects, brand identity, to symbolicoraestheric 

value. In this study reasons for "desiring" a product and also 

reasons for"detesring"a product are examined. 

This article start with a literature review of different research 

domains: the design management field, the product attachment 

and material possessions literature, and new product 

development studies (NPD studies). As a result of this literature 

review, a mode! for a product's key attraction points is proposed. 

For the field research ofthe present study, two interview forms 

were designed. One examines on the reasons for "loving" a 

product, the other on the reasons for "detesring" a product. 

The respondents are students, following a higher education in 

business studies, in the age group 20 to 28 years. Around six 

hundred students from the Grenoble Ecole de Management 

have completed the quesrionnalres. The quesrionnaires were 

also completed by around hundred architecture students 

from the Grenoble Ecole d'Architecture.

The last section of this article describes how the results 

from the questionnaires will be analysed. The analysis ofthe 

interviews is built on the structure of the Csikszentmihaiyi 

and Rochberg-Halton (1981) study. In the study "domestic 

symbols and the self", Csikszentmihaiyi and Rochberg-Halton 

(1981) interviewed families in Chicago about items in their 

households having special meaning to them. They found 41 

categories of objects and 37 reasons why objects were special. 

The product categories and reasons for products to be special 

ofthe Csikszentmihaiyi et al. (1981) study need to be adapted 

to the present study. Since this 1981 study, new products with 

a high affective value have emerged, for example electronic 

products, such as portable phones, computers, videogames 

and MPS players. The present respondents are students 

following an academic education. Their needs, life style and 

financial resources differ significantly from the interviewees in 

the Csikszentmihaiyi et al. (1981) study, that deals with family 

members in different age groups. 

This article explains how the research results will be analysed. 

A thorough analysis ofthe present research results will be the 

next step. Some findings are, however, presented in this article. 

Literature lleview: Key Aspects of Product Attraction 

This first section investigates key aspects of product attraction 

by analysing what is described in parts of the design 

management, the material attachment and the new product 

development literature. 

From the Design Management Literature: Products, Characteristics 

Mono (1997) describes products as objects with an ergonomic, 

technical and communicative side.The ergonomic side relates 

to adjusting the product to human physique and behaviour. 

The technical side represents the product's functionality, 

construction and production. The communicative side relates 

to the product's ability to "communicate" with humans and to 

"adjust"to human perception. He considers that every product 

is created In compliance with certain economical (price) and 

ecological constraints. 

Bürdek (1996) and Steffen (2000) distinguish the product's 

practical functions (its functionality) from its language (its 

communicative side). The product's communicative side is 

then divided into two different types of communication. 

One concerns the product's aesthetics and the other relates 

to the semiotic functions that give meaning to the product. 

As regards the meaningful, semiotic functions, a product can 

give information about itself, about its user and about the 

company's brand identity (Gotzsch, 2003). Humanised shapes 

give a specific "identity" or character to a product. Making a 

product alive contributes to product attraction. A product 

also communicates its user's personal characteristics such as 

age, gender and personality or informs about its user's social 

status and ambitions. 

Functional and the communicative aspects product are 

essential parts of a product's structure. The communicative 

side of a product contains aesthetic and meaningful symbolic 

aspects (Bürdek, 1996; Steffen, 2000). A product's structure 

also includes ergonomic, costs and ecological elements 

(Mono, 1997). 

From Materia! Attachment Literature: Reasons for LH

Products often communicate connections with other people, 

but also express personal identity. Belk (1988) specifically 

refers to the meaning of possessions as a reflection of our 

identity when he states; "our accumulation of possessions 

tells us who we are, where we come from and perhaps where 

we are going". Dittmar (1991) with "to have is to be" and 

Cslkszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) also reveal the 

significance of belongings for the individual self-concept and 

forthe communication of one's own Identity. 

A lively reaction towards products is possible. Products 

make people happy, angry, proud or can rouse a variety of 

emotions, such as fascinating, surprise or irritation (Desmet, 

2003). This reaction is influenced by personality and individual 

experiences age, rime-of-life and gender (Jordan 1999; Kleine 

and Baker 2004). 

From New Product Development Studies: Key Factors of Product 

Success 

Product innovation is crucial for comperirive advantage. 

According to Cooper and Kleinschmidt (1995), a product 

should meet customer needs better than competitor's 

products and should be innovative and novel. This implies the 

following product characteristics; 

• Unique features for the customer 

• Meets customer needs better than comperitors' 

products 

• High relative product quality 

• Solves customer's problems with competing products 

• Reduces customer's costs 

• Is innovarive and novel 

Developing an outstanding product is difficult. Many managers 

believe that design issues will be of increasing importance 

for their firms' comperitlveness, but that their company lacks 

the competences to make the appropriate design decisions 

(Dickson etal., 1995). 

At present, the emphasis is moving away from product 

functionality towards embedding more "emotional 

characterisrics", in a product's design, since this is increasingly 

important for product differenriarion. 

Proposed Model for the Key Aspects of Product Attraction 

In this secrion, a model is proposed that presents the "key 

elements of product attracrion".This model combines the basic 

elements of a product structure (Bürdek, 1996; Mono, 1997; 

Steffen, 2000) with the characteristics found to be important 

for product excellence (Cooper and Kleinschmidt, 1995). 

The proposed model draws a distinction between the 

product's functional value and the product's communicarive 

product value (see figure 1). In other words, this means that 

the model distinguishes "what a product does" ftorri "whatthe 

product expresses". 

The building stones of a product structure in the proposed model 

are: "performance", "ergonomics" "aesthetics", "symbolic meaning" 

and "cDsfs''To obtain product excellence and competitiveness, 

the factors performance, ergonomics, aesthetics and symbolic 

meaning should be maximised, while the factor costs should 

be minimised. Some aspects of performance, ergonomics, 

aestheticsand symbolic meaning should outperform competing 

products in an innovative way by enhancing latent user needs 

and new technological possibiliries. We will now discuss these 

five factors of product excellence (see figure 1). 

ProOucl's Functional value 

Funclionalily 

Technical performance 

Ecological performance 

Unique features 

Quality 

Economical 

Environmental 

Social 

(Ergonomics I 

Product's Cofîimunicative value 

Recognition / nev/ness 

Aestheficsl Complexity of shapes 

Beauty / Transition of shapes 

Ease ol use --•'^ Ease of understanding 

Product personification 

User identity 

Company identity 

Figure 1. Proposed model: Key attraction points of a product's 

design 

Cosfs; Economical, Environmental and Social Costs 

Within the model, the key element indicated as "costs" should 

be maintained low to make a product desirable. Price aspects

predominantly influence product attraction. Costs are not only 

economical, but also encompass environmental and social costs. 

Economical,environmental and social costs are Inter-dependent. 

Fair trade products, such as coffee from small producers being 

paid appropriately, take social costs into account.This raises the 

product's sales price, but contributes to product attraction. 

Multiple solutions are available to diminish environmental 

costs, for example by an appropriate use of eco-friendly 

materials or by reducing energy consumption during product 

usage. This in itself contributes to product attraction and has 

the potential to reduce the product's financial cost structure 

during the product's life cycle. 

Product Performance: Technological, Functional & Ecological 

Performance 

A product's performance (figure 1) includes functionality, 

technological performance, the presence of attractive 

features, originality, innovative concept and product quality, 

always compared to other available products. A competitive 

product has unique features forthe customer, a relatively high 

product quality, solves customer's problems with competing 

products and meets customer needs better than competitors' 

products (Cooper et al., 1995). 

Next to its functionality and technological performance, a 

product also has an environmental and social performance. 

With growing awareness of environmental issues by consumers, 

companies and regulators, a product's ecological performance 

is likely to become significant for product appeal and design. 

User-Centered Aesthetics 

The product's aesthetics and its meaning are key elements 

with purely communicative value. Aesthetics corresponds to 

the beauty ofthe product design and is based on the purity 

or complexity of the product's shape, details and colours. 

Familiarity or newness of a product's shape influences the 

appreciation of its aesthetics. Aesthetics should be appealing 

to the product's user and might not be appreciated by others. 

A timeless design reduces the need for early product 

replacement (before the end ofthe product's technological life 

span). In some exceptional cases, designers succeed in creating 

long-lasting icons. A car that does not look old-fashioned, but 

that has become a classic design is an example (Otto, 2005). 

Symbolic Value 

Symbolic meaning is based on personal and cultural 

associations. Symbolic meaning of a product can be expressed 

at three levels: expressions about the product, its user or its 

brand identity (Gotzsch, 2003, 2005), Symbolic value can 

increase its appeal and consequently prolong its usage. 

Product attraction is created by giving products "lively 

characteristics", for example by using animal forms in 

automotive styling (Burgess and King, 2004) or by given the 

feeling that there is a person behind the product when the 

product is hand made. It can also communicate elements of 

user personality or convey brand identity. Colours, shapes and 

materials in a product's design can be used to address status 

needs or to express group membership. 

Ergonomics 

Ergonomics lies on the dividing-line between communicative 

and functional product characteristics. Ergonomics help 

the user to understand how the product should be used 

(the communicative side of ergonomics). It also concerns 

the physical comfort of product usage and thus clearly 

contributes to the product's functionality. When the product 

is comfortable, and a pleasure to use it will be more attractive 

for a longer period of time. 

Methodology for the Field Research 

Discussing the multiple key attraction points of a product's 

design (see figure 1) with international business students in 

their last years of masters studies had the objective to make 

these future marketing and company executives aware ofthe 

importance of product superiority. As a result of discussions 

in the classroom, two questionnaires were developed. One 

focuses on the reasons for "loving" a product, the other one 

on the reasons for "detesting" a product. The questionnaires 

take into account multiple aspects, such as the product's 

functional performance, meaningful and communicative

elements related to the product itself, to the user's personality 

and the brand identity. 

Each student was asked to select one industrially produced 

productthat he or she either particularly appreciates or detests. 

They could choose all types of consumer product, from a 

simple toothbrush to a luxury car.They were asked to take into 

account all characteristics directly linked to the product, such 

as its shape, colour, symbol and performance. The reasons for 

the product choice, as well as their associations, appreciation 

for aesthetics and brand identity, and the product's role in the 

communication of their self-identity were examined with open 

questions in the questionnaire. The questionnaires were first 

pre-tested by six students. Following their remarks, this resulted 

in the questionnaire structure that is presented in figure 2. 

Description of 

objective 

Identification 

of product 

Knowledge 

about product 

Reasons for 

Question 

product choice this product. 


appreciation 

In this exercise you will analyse a product from 

daily life that you particularly appreciate. You 

can choose from all kinds of consumer products, 

from a simple toothbrush to a luxury car. Please 

take in consideration the characteristics directly 

related to the product, such as its shape, colour. 

1) Please include a photo, the name and the 

description ofthe product. 

2) Did you already buy, utilise or consume 

this product? If so, since when and at which 

occasion? Please indicate when you have 

never used or owned the product. 

3) Please describe why you choose to study 

1 have chosen this product, because ... 

4) You havechosen a productthatyou appreciate 

very much. Please describe everything that you 

appreciate in this product. 1 love... 

Associations 5} What does the product make you think of? 


disliking 

Emotional 

reaction 

Principal 

message 

This product makes me think of... 

6) Describe what you do not appreciate in this 

product. 1 do not like /1 do not appreciate... 

7) Please give ail the qualifications that comes 

to your mind when looking at this product 

{for example 1 find this product...). 

8) What does this product communicate 

most? 

Values 9) What are the values communicated by this 

Company and 

brand identity 

Company and 

brand identity 

Product's 

intrinsic value 

product? 

10) Does this product give information about 

the company or the brand identity? Please 

indicate which information aboutthe company 

or brand identity you perceive. 

11) is the product's image coherent with the 

brand's identity? Please indicate how the 

product fits the brand identity? 

12) When looking at the product which 

impression do you get of the product? {For 

example about its quality, its usage, its origin, 

culture it comes from) 

Aesthetics 13) What do you think about the product's 

aesthetics? Please respond as precisely as 

possible and give details. 

Self image 14) Which impression about you does this 

Identification 

interviewee 

product send to others? 

Your name: 

Your school: Grenoble Ecole de Management 

/ Grenoble Ecole d'Architecture 

Your age: 

Male/Female 

Your nationality 

Since when do you live / stay in France? 

Figure 2. Questionnaire structure: The analysis of a product 

that you love very much 

The above questionnaire examines reasons for "loving" a 

product. A second questionnaire was developed to study 

reasons for "detesting" a product. In this questionnaire, only 

the description of the objective of the study and two of the 

questions were different, The objective and the two different 

questions are presented in figure 3. 

Theme 

Description 

of objective 

In this exercise you wiil analyse a product from 

daily life that you particularly detest You can 

choose from ail kinds of consumer products, 

from a simple toothbrush to a luxury car. 

Please take in consideration the characteristics 

directly related to the product, such as its 

shape, colour, symbolic value or performance.


detesting 


appreciation 

4) You have chosen a product that you dislilê 

very much. Please describe everything that 

you detest in this product. I detest... 

6) Describe what do appreciate after all in 

this same product. I do not detest / I even 

appreciate... 

Figure 3. Quesrionnaire structure: The analysis of a product 

that you detest 

The students were given a word file with the quesrionnaire 

structure to be completed. In general the students parricipated 

with enthusiasm. The lecturers in the design course collected 

the questionnaires by email and the students also presented 

their products during the design course. 

Around six hundred students from the Grenoble Ecole de 

Management and around hundred architecture students 

from the Grenoble Ecole d'Architecture have completed the 

questionnaires. The two types of interviewees might allow 

examining differences in aesthetic preferences and reasons 

for liking or detesring a product. 

More details on the product's intrinsic values, such as aesthetic 

qualities and brand identity are also taken into considerarion. 

Finally, this research not only concerns products that are loved, 

but also products that are hated. 

Methodology for Analysis 

In the Cslkszentmihalyi and Rochberg-Halton (1981) study, 

coding categories were used to classify the products that had 

specific meaning for habitants In Chicago households. The 

reasons for this special meaning were also categorised. The 

analysis ofthe present quesrionnalres uses a similar system. We 

will now examine the applicability ofthe product categories 

and the categorisarion of meaning of the Cslkszentmihalyi et 

al. (1981) study forthe present study. 

Product Categories 

Cslkszentmihalyi etal. (1981) studied household objectshaving 

special meaning to one oftheir inhabitants. For the present 

study all types of consumer products could be chosen and the 

interviewees were predominantly French students, but also 

students from other narionallries. For the desired or detested 

object choices, this resulted in a variety of products, such as 

clothing, shoes, cars, perfumes, sports arricles, iPods and MP3 

players, portable phones, food and decorative products. 

Cslkszentmihalyi et al. (1981) listed product 41 categories 

to account for all the 1694 objects mentioned by the 

315 respondents. Some of the categories were broken 

down in sub categories, e.g. furniture was broken down in 

separate categories of dining room sets, chairs and so on. 

When applicable the Cslkszentmihalyi et al. (1981) product 

categories list will be used and newly menrioned objects will 

be added to make it suitable for the present study. Mulriple 

product categories used by Cslkszentmihalyi et al. (1981), 

such as bed, plants, aquarium, pets, bath, yard were not 

menrioned in the present study and are, therefore, left out of 

the product category list. New product categories, such as 

food, personal care products will be added during the analysis 

ofthe quesrionnaires. As a result the analysis will start with the 

following product categories (see figure 4). 

1 Furniture 

2 Home decorarion Lamps, carpets, quilts, textiles, 

candle sticks, clocks 

3 Tableware Plates, silverware, qiass 

4 Visual art Ail two-dimensional 

5 Sculpture 

representations, other than photographs 

Palnrings by children or made by relative, 

friends are included 

6 Collecrions e.g rock or butterfly collections, comic 

7 Musical 

instruments 

8 TV 

9 Stereo, music 

players 

10 Radio 

11 Books 

12 Photos 

books, letters 

Piano, guitar 

13 Appliances | Washers, dryers, toasters, coffee-machines 

14 Tools 

15 Sport equipment! Does not include clothes

16 Trophies 

17 Camera Refers to all photographic equipment 

18 Toys Including videogames, excluding 

athletic equipment 

19 Clothes T-shirts, jeans, shoes 

20 Jewelry 

21 Vehicles Cars, trucks, motos vespas 

22 Telephone 

Figure 4. List of product categories for the present research 

adjusted from Csikszentmihaiyi et al. (1981) 

Product meaning 

Csikszentmihaiyi et al. (1981) defined thirty-seven categories 

of meanings an object could have for its owner. An object 

that had a special meaning, because it reminded its user of 

a specific place, was for example given the code number 4 

(e.g. "we got this in Tunisia"). The Csikszentmihaiyi et al. (1981) 

coding system is detailed and applicable to the present study 

(see figure 5). The analysis of the present study will, therefore, 

start by using this structure. A pre-test using this structure 

will be made with 30 questionnaires to identify additional 

meanings or a more appropriate way of structuring product 

meaning forthe present study. 

Some elements, such as brand identity, are missing in the 

Csikszentmihaiyi et al. (1981) coding system. Brand identity is 

relevant in the present research and is very often mentioned 

by the respondents. Brand identity and a more detailed 

structure concerning the product's intrinsic qualities (Gotzsch, 

2006) will be added in the pre-test phase. 

Past 

A) Memories 

1 Memento Memories in general, not associated with 

particular occasion 

2 Recollection Memories of specific occasions in 

respondent's life-time 

3 Heirdoom Object handed down in family 

4 Souvenir Memory of a place 

5 Had it for a 

long time 

8) Associations 

6 Ethic 

7 Religious 

8 Collections 

9 Gift Subcodes for occasions: 1 Birthday, 

A) Experience 

10 Enjoyment 

11 On-qoinq occasion 

12 Release 

2 Christmas, 3 Wedding, 4 Anniversary, 

5 Religious occasion, 6 Multiple Occasion 

Present-Future 

B) Intrinsic Qualities of the Object 

13 Craft 

14 Uniqueness 

15 Physical 

description 

C) Style 

16 Style | 

D) Utilitarian 

17 Utilitarian | 

E) Personal Values 

18 Embodiment of 

an ideal 

19 Accomplishment 

20 Personification 

Figure 5:Meaning classes and categories by Csikszentmihaiyi 

etal.(1981) 

Conclusion 

The creation of products that are desirable for its user is 

a complex process, since it deals with multiple and often 

subtle product characteristics. Product success depends on 

this balance of product discourse (its communication) and it 

performance. Having an overview of aspects, that have the 

potential to make or break a product's success, facilitates the 

creation of new products and brings a product's design close 

to the users'expectations and needs. 

Future Steps 

The presently collected questionnaires "on reasons for 

loving or detesting a product" should now be analysed. The

Csikszenlmihaiyi et a!. (1981) categories and coding structure 

forms a thorough basis to start this analysis. Especially the 

meaning categones are detailed and appropriate for the 

analysis phase. 

The list of product categories will be completed while pre 

testing it on thefirst 30 questionnaires.The meaning categories 

will also be fine-tuned to the present research, using the 

more detailed structure of product expressions, related to the 

product, its user and the company (Gotzsch, 2006) and the key 

elements of product attraction. 

Biographical Note 

Josiena Gotzsch is associate professor in the Department of 

Technology Management at Grenoble Ecole de Management 

(GEM) and Program Director at the Grenoble Graduate School 

of Business (GGSB) for the International Undergraduate 

Program In France. She obtained a Doctorate of Business 

Administration (DBA) at Henley Management College, UK and 

a Master of Science (MSc) in Industrial Design Engineering 

from Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. She 

teaches industrial design, product development process, 

innovation and technology management. Research interests 

include product Innovation, product attachment, product 

communication (aesthetics and symbolic value), design 

management and environmental aspects in product 

development.

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" I N T E R T A C E S D F T H E R E A L " : S E M A N T I C D I S C O U R S E Q F O B J E C T A N D 

C O N S U M P T I O N IN I N T E R A C T I V E P R O D U C T D E S I G N 

R. Ateş Gürşimşek 

Haliç University (Res. Asst.), Istanbul-Turkey 

Istanbul Technical University (MSc. Student), Istanbul-Turkey 

e-mail: agursimsek@gmail.com 

Abstract 

Semantic investigations of the contemporary product 

forms (which are generally mentioned as the outcomes 

of computerized culture), evolution of design processes 

with reference to these new forms, and the reflections of 

these paradigms on the cultural structure create promising 

expansions for the researcher as emerging fields of design 

research. The development of information technologies and 

social interaction apparatuses have been a strong motive 

behind the formation of modern consumer culture, since 

information itself has become a new consumption utility. 

Thus, the structural and semantic shift from physical object 

to representation, from product-systems to information 

architecture and from user (consumer) to co-author has also 

reallocated the role of designer. 

This article explores the major promises and contributions of 

interactive new media applications to design research field by 

focusing on three key concepts of design: product, designer and 

user-therecentconnotationsofwhichrequirethe involvement 

of metaphorical and representational associations with the 

conventional social structure. However, these connotations 

mayalsorefertodiversesignifierswithln this original context in 

orderto form a genuine language of new media. It is intended 

to figure out the evolutionary patterns of the alteration in 

their semantic conditions; by investigating the distinguishing 

features of computerized media and virtual object-systems, 

identifying their involvement in the product design field and 

outlining the consequences of this identification on socially 

structured system of values. 

Keywords: Product Design, New Media, Interaction Design, 

Object, Product, Consumption, User, Representation, Semantics 

Introduction 

Virtual spaces, digital binary-coded objects and interactive 

media applications became increasingly popular topics of 

discussion within popular culture, and of academic discourse 

within various fields of research - including visual culture, 

design and media studies, and so on. Since each field discusses 

the subject matter from different (and subjective) points of 

view, it is evident that a solid academic discourse on interactive 

products and mediums should also be argued from a designer 

perspective; mainly because the social comprehensions and 

developing definitions of contemporary product forms would 

re-structure the product design profession, as well. 

The basis of these conceptual changes in the structure and the 

definition of design profession may be investigated through a 

range of focal points; through the essence of the objects of 

study orthe method by which users interact with them as well 

as the involvement of these new paradigms to design process 

itself. 

Digital technology has contributed to the emergence 

of new roles for the designer according to the nature 

of his Interaction with the media. The designer today 

interacts with, controls and moderates generative and 

performative processes and mechanisms. Information 

has become a 'new material' for the designer. 

(Oxman, 2005:242} 

As Oxman discusses how digital technology has affected the 

design process and the materials that are employed by the 

designer, it is also meaningful to propose another dimension of 

discourse - an expanded view that involves the outcomes ofthe 

design process (the products) and the consumption sequence

of these outcomes by the users through similar technologies but 

different tools. It Is critical to investigate the life-cycle of interactive 

products w/ith a broader perspective -including different steps 

of design, production, reproduction and consumption- mainly 

because the roles of conjectural participants -designer, author, 

producer, user, consumer, etc.-and thelrdefinitions may coincide 

or overlap during the whole process. In this text, the intricate 

nature of contemporary object-consumption cycle will be 

explored by investigating the essential features of digital objects 

and virtual environments; their connotative resemblances and 

distinctions from our existing codes of representation and the 

methods by which we interact with them. 

"New Media" and "New Media Object" 

A new medium is new only until it is established and no 

longer new; but since any usage of a medium is based 

upon communicative conventions, a new medium is 

somewhat of a contradiction. By defining the medium 

as "new", we acknowledge the transitory stage of 

integration of our current analysis, limited though this 

may be by its temporal frame (Brody, 1999:135). 

Studying new media and the new object requires focusing not 

on a specific time period ora set of technological developments 

but considering the social motives and convenrions of its 

evolutionary pattern; mainly because a significant amount of 

the definitions and connotations are borrowed (or evolved) 

from the cumuiarive library of ontological classification. The 

most noriceable and authenric contribution of contemporary 

"new media" would be proposing new conceptual features 

(such as interacrivity, customization, ambient intelligence, 

etc.) and environments to enhance user-product interaction 

through various computerized media (Software Interfaces, 

Cyberspace, Virtual Reality, etc). 

Manovich (2001; 20) offers a rather reasonable description 

for New Media and New Media Objects as: 'Translation of 

existing media sources -including graphics, moving images, 

sounds shapes, spaces and texts- Into numerical data 

accessible by computers'. What Manovich alms to emphasize 

in this brief description would help us to formulate a semantic 

discourse on the nature and background of digital objects 

and virtual environments as the outcomes of a cumulative 

genealogy. However, considering how rapidly the information 

technologies develop and spread worldwide, the need for an 

updated and expanded description persists to exist constantly. 

First of all, it would now be considered as a limited explanation 

to menrion NewMediaonlyasatransiarion of exisring sources, 

since a new cultural layer of global Information networks 

seems to be established and it is capable of producing Its own 

products and paradigm sets without solid linkages to materia! 

signifiers. This argument should not be interpreted as "new 

media objects do not have referential links to already exisring 

systems" but should assist us to comprehend this new layer 

of existence as an internally consistent and coherent system 

of production, interacrion and consumption. New media 

products are now capable of being produced by the means 

and tools of new media appliances; by using the methods and 

interacrion styles that are employed by the system; and within 

this very system In which all these elements exist separately. 

"What you do in your computer stays in the computed"seems 

to be a quite reasonable expression for an average IT user. 

Gürşimşek (2006: 90) proposes an updated descriprion with 

reference to Manovlch's as 'Creation, storage, classification, 

accessibility, manipulation and distribution of binary-coded 

media objects through pre-programmed algorithms' to include 

further features and processes of contemporary New Media. 

Considering the improvement of cyberspace (and information 

networks), computerized new media applicarions and the 

digital object as contemporary stages of modern ontological 

classificarion, we may attempt to examine the essential 

features and characterisrics of these conceptual fields with 

regard to their evolurionary patterns and connotarive values 

that are employed during the process. Therefore, 1 will focus 

on the methods of reproducing and/or represenring the 

virtual objects; interacrion styles and roles of participants 

in interactive product systems; and social reflecrions of 

these phenomena on conventional design, production 

and consumption theories to understand the patterns of 

progression in their semanric condirions. 

Principles of New Media 

As we have an updated description of what new media is 

with reference to Manovlch's statements, an investigation of 

the essential principles and characteristics of his New Media

debate is necessary to build a solid discourse on. As outlined in 

Gıjrşimşek {2006: 91), these principles are stated in Manovich 

(2001:27-49) as following: 

• Digital Representation: new media is fed by binary coded 

visual information, whether these materials are created 

inside the media system or converted from analog media. 

By numerical representation, new media objects become 

programmable. Input is sampled and quantified to transform 

the data to a comprehendlble format by the medium. 

• Modularity: This is referred as the fractal structure of new 

media object. Unlike the modularity in the product design, 

this modularity may contain contextualiy irrelevant pieces of 

objects to create a meaningful whole because all elements may 

still remain their individual identities. These elements are also 

composed of digital objects (pixels, polygons, NURBS, etc) so the 

context may change although the object keeps its originality. 

• Automation: This principle mainly aims to reduce the need 

for constant human control over interfaces. This Is a low- 

level automation compared to Artificial Intelligence concept. 

Generation of responses in computer games according to 

certain behaviors of players may be considered as an example 

to automation of HCI over the software. 

• Variability: This principle is mainly associated by the first 

two and is also thought to correspond with the"postindustrial 

logic of production on demand and just in time delivery". The 

concept of variability also comes with "customization", which 

defines the logic of our post-industrial society. Customized 

interfaces or smart HCI modules should not be thought 

separately from the expectations of modern consumers. This 

may provide key clues about how new media and popular 

more feasible. What is noticeable in Manovich's theory is that 

the new media Is a structurally autonomous system which has 

its own functional associations and methods to create entities. 

However, it will also be discussed In the next chapter that a 

requirement for references to existing functional associations 

and metaphorical relations still maintains to exist. Therefore, 

an extensive design research study should investigate the 

genealogy of new media with reference to both conventional 

ontological classification and its promising new paradigms. 

Visualization of the Virtual Object 

Even though we mentioned the "new object" as an original 

and exclusive type of existence, it would be unreasonable to 

claim that it has no reference to previous conventional models 

whatsoever. Within a broader perspective, it is evident that the 

interaction between the subject and object is a mutual progress. 

While the subject (the user, spectator) monitors or interacts with 

the object {tUe product, system, world) through a medium (sense, 

screen, interface), the object reveals itself as an image that is 

appropriate to the conventions ofthe specified medium. The 

quality ofthe image affects the perception and consequently 

improves (modifies) the expectations ofthe subject; thus results 

In a continuous processing of the medium which is based on 

upgrading the means of preceding mediums. 

culture are associated, and how one drives the other mutually. Figure 1 

• Transcoding:The computer has to representthe information 

in its own specific way and the user can also access to the 

material in this specific method. All cultural data must be 

"computerized" to be in the field of new media. 

In the light of these statements on the nature and structure 

of new media, the formation of a comprehensive discourse 

on object-consumption relationship in this context becomes 

The cumulative development in the formation of an authentic 

language for the new media is frequently nourished by re- 

interpretation or adaptation ofthe existing conventions to the 

new environment. This may be mentioned as one ofthe major 

reasons of why we still have the symbols of "My Computer"on 

our"Desktop"in MS Windows©, or how we are using (almost) 

Identical versions of usual VCRs to launch digital media 

documents. Given that the representations of material objects

are still employed in contemporary digital media, we can 

argue that the need for formal resemblances and references 

are essential forthe users ofthe new medium to metaphorize 

this new existence and recognize it as a new cultural layer. Only 

after this new paradigm is socially comprehended, its genuine 

language becomes the primary motive why 'our memory 

technologies tend to define the very way we metaphorize our 

lives' as Brody {1999:139) states. 

The roots of this representational phase in the development 

of a new language may be observed not only through objects 

but also through spaces and environments within New Media. 

Mitchell (1999:116) focuses on the setting and conditioning of 

the Cyberspace locations in the earlier versions of information 

networks and points out how they were arranged to resemble 

the primitive urban settlements. It is noticeable that the 

virtual locations are categorized and identified according to 

their themes or contents within the network and particular 

interactive search engines are involved to assist the users to find 

their way inside the system on their own. Significant categories 

are classified and designed in a way that an average user may 

satisfy specific needs effectively; such as information sources, 

chat spaces, leisure areas or business sites inside the network. 

The nature of these conceptual, visual or functional indications 

may either be interpreted as consequences of postmodern 

notions'paroc/y'and 'pastiche'as outlined by Fredric Jameson 

(1982: 114); or as a matter of'pers/stence'within conventional 

spatial metaphors employed by Cyberspace with reference to 

Mitchell (1999: 126). In every respect, it is visible that some 

sort of psychological attachment in the virtual environment 

to its material existence has been required by the users to 

start a definitive/perceptive process. What causes a person 

to intuitively act as if she's in a tangible environment within 

Cyberspace has usually been these spatial metaphors and 

representations of the "real world" as interaction tools or 

components. 

The critical aspect of the subject matter, for both software 

and product design fields, is the fact that various professions 

and research fields are now participants of this complex and 

intricate context. The paradigm sets of each field are visible 

within a common medium. With the involvement of interactive 

technologies in end-user products and of metaphorical 

references to physical product systems in user interfaces, the 

extensions of creative professions have widened to utilize 

different perspectives. Not only are the classifications of 

objects and forms a new subject of discourse, but also the 

roles of participants and their identities have new expansions 

for contemporary design research. 

Identifying the User 

(...)The spectacle's externality with respect to the acting 

subject is demonstrated by the fact that the individual's 

own gestures are no longer his own, but rather those 

of someone else who represents them to him. The 

spectator feels at home nowhere, for the spectacle is 

everywhere (Debord, 1994:10). 

The discourse on the identity of the user in product design 

-and as its counterpart, of the spectator in visual media- has 

its reflections in the psychoanalytical and social theories. 

As in Lacanian terms, an individual's self realization requires 

an image ofthe other", a mirror stage that the infant may 

observe himself as "the other"; and ultimately an external 

figure which fulfills the unity of the symbolic order of reality. 

Thus, we position our own existence consistent with how 

we metaphorize this order, looking from outside towards 

how we would like to be included (Zizek, 1992). Given that 

contemporary visual media provides us with images of external 

reality by the use of it own means, we may take the discourse 

on identity one step further, by including interactive media. 

Subsequent to written text, the invention of photography (as 

a method of instantaneous still imaging) and cinematography 

(by capturing and presenting movement-image) were both 

breakthroughs in the progression of society's visual regime. It 

is a common topic of discourse that our perception of reality 

shifted towards photographic images; and then to cinematic 

intervals (time captures). Now, with the interactive media 

reorganizing our mental models by spaîializing time-images 

within an information network structure and providing us 

a virtual autonomy inside, an individual can actually look 

through the eyes ofthe other. Moreover, he can control the 

actions ofthis imaginary-otherto manipulate the whole rea//ty- 

setting. Manovich points out this phenomenon by suggesting 

an updated version of Althusser's concept "interpellation" 

and stating: 'The cultural technologies of an industrial society

-cinema and fashion- asl

their utilities within paradigm sets that are comprehensible 

by others to differentiate their individual identities. Thus, a 

generalized system of symbolic exchange is required for the 

consumers to participate and communicate through utilities. 

Virtual communities and -as a broader set- Cyberspace 

are economic utilities, too. Moreover, they provide their 

participants with wider and more heterogeneous platforms to 

express themselves and offer them new grounds to consume 

within. What is relatively more abstract and theoretical in post 

modernist consumption model is apparently manifested in 

New Media theory - the shift from ownership to participation, 

and from consumership to co-authorship. This is to say, by 

launching and using software, surfing through world-wide 

web or downloading a document, an individual initiates a 

genuine cycle of utilization, consumption and reproduction 

through virtual artifacts. 

Considering the fundamental component of these artifacts 

-the electronic signal- we may state that new media objects 

are essentially variable and infinitely reproducible. The 

limitations of variability and customization are dependant 

not only on the means of technical reproduction but also 

on the range of possibilities the designer prefers to offer to 

the user. Modern software applications are able to modify 

their system features including user preferences, language 

modes, intensity of details, visual/functional complexities and 

behaviors ofthe interface on specific actions ofthe users. For 

instance, contemporary web pages and computer games can 

be programmed to contain alternative file sizes and detail 

levels by analyzing the connection speed, CPU power or the 

abilities of the users (Gürşimşek, 2006: 95). The existence of 

such extensive possibilities to customize, personalize and 

manipulate the structure ofthe systems would present new 

responsibilities and roles to the consumer, too. While the 

interface or the virtual environment allows its consumers or 

participants to modify the system elements and features, there 

ought to be regulations or distinctive tasks for users to sustain 

an essential feature, as what Mitchell calls "persistence" of the 

virtual environment. He mentions the primitive versions and 

the development of MUDs (Multi-user Domains) and MOOs 

(MUD Object-oriented) to point out how the reinterpreted 

concepts of property and ownership in Cyberspace maintain 

the enforcement of conventions and persistence (Mitchell, 

1999:126). It is evident within this crucial statement that the 

construction of symbolic exchange in virtual environments 

may lead us to refer to them as new domains of modern 

consumer culture. 

However, one fundamental distinction of digital artifacts 

obliges us to revise our conventional theories on the relations 

between "object and consumption". As mentioned above, 

the digital objects and systems are built on binary coded 

algorithms and transcoding of existing analogous sources to 

electronic signals. Therefore, the possession and consumption 

of these objects require the process of digital reproduction; 

such as downloading a document indicates creating an 

identical copy to your personal computer. Unnoticed by 

the average user, the system downloads web-pages while 

surfing through internet, creates temporary files to preview a 

picture or a text file, and constantly operates its memory to 

create backups for sustaining the system's persistence. By all 

means, the consumption system of new media depends on a 

consistent process of reproduction and re-distribution. Thus, 

if we could say -by revisiting W. Benjamin's Inspiring essay on 

"TheWorkof Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction"-that 

'the presence ofthe original is the prerequisite to the concept of 

aufhent/c/ty'(Benjamin, 1997: 125), we would notice that this 

is an era in which the need for the original is subdued by the 

existence of the hyper-real. The process of reproducing the 

representations of the "or/g/no/" had shifted our paradigms on 

object, production and consumption socially. 

Based on this hidden dependency of interfaces and virtual 

mediums, the borders between conventional definitions of 

producer (designer, author) and consumer (user) becomes 

blurry. Most users are now capable of downloading or 

creating documents, modifying their visual, formal or 

structural elements; and ultimately, redistributing them 

through information networks or a variety of mobile devices. 

Contemporary software tends to include more and more 

personalization options, filters, plug-Ins or updates everyday. 

Even task-specialized applications (image and video editing, 

web design, document sharing, office software, etc.) are now 

designed for the average user to comprehend and use with 

minimum effort and proficiency. Ultimately, the modern 

consumer culture of hyper-reality defines its own consumers 

as both the target and origin of its own presence.

Conclusion 

As outlined in this text, a new culture of hyper-reality has 

emerged with the introduction of interactive media and 

virtual environments as utilities of social consumption. This 

new cultural layer is formed upon the conceptual processes 

of reproduction, utilization and consumption of the images 

(representations) of physical reality as they are transposed to a 

new context and associated with each other through exclusive 

interaction patterns of new media. Consequent to the 

developments in information technologies and the growing 

involvement of interactive product systems in product design 

market as'tonsumer electronics", the conventional paradigms 

of design profession and design research would require a 

structural renovation to consider its contemporary expansions. 

The emergence of such terms as ambient intelligence, end-user 

programming and system design within design terminology 

shows us that this paradigm shift is already leading the field 

to a more complex and interdisciplinary state. 

Theconventionalconceptsofdesignknowledgeanddeslgntools 

became new materialsforthedesigner, ever since the consumers 

ought to be equipped with the freedom of customizing, 

modifying and, what's more, creating their consumption utilities. 

On theotherhand,theresponsibiiityofconstructing a persistent 

and effective product system is still burdened with the designer 

as he is the most active medium between technology and its 

users. At this point, referring to the outcomes of professional 

design act as"product systems"seems reasonable; in view ofthe 

fact that dominant motivation of contemporary design field is 

to create and manage life-styles through object systems rather 

than to produce and trade individually designed artifacts. Only 

through their incorporation with cultural system of symbolic 

exchange, the improvements in information technologies and 

social communication media may shape cultural conventions. 

The reflections of such a mutual relationship may be observed 

through a critical analysis ofthe developments in contemporary 

new media; With standardization of digital data formats, 

Introduction of global information networks, establishment 

of structural and formal internal networks between consumer 

products and emergence of mobilized communication devices, 

the main concern of modern design culture is shaped within 

the integration of information and interaction technologies to 

daily-life effectively. 

Since digital media has a standard structural language ~ 

binary coded algorithms- and shared platforms to function 

within -programming languages, operating systems and 

user interfaces- the possibilities of customization and 

personalization are determined mostly by the efficient usage 

of these sources. Although these possibilities are Implied to 

the consumers as a form of autonomy, the management of 

virtual environments and on-line communities has already 

turned out to be a profitable market for global commerce. 

With constant tracking of users'certain actions and behaviors, 

consumption habits, system performances and even 

geographical locations, on-line corporations may offer user- 

specific functions, visual languages, messages, and cognitive/ 

subliminal advertisements that imply the idea of their 

individual sovereignty on-line. 

Ultimately, modern society is progressing through the 

domination of a new cultural paradigm - a wodd of countless 

individual consumers living inside a simulacrum of ideological 

Global Village (Zlzek, 2002) who perceive the external reality 

as a physical form of information architecture. What is critical 

for design research of the Cyberspace Era is to determine 

its fundamental position within the emerging cultural 

formation, develop onginai definitions and connotations for 

this promising specialized context to help build the authentic 

language of new media.

References 

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BAUDRILLARD, J. (1996) 'System of Objects' NY: Verso. 

BENJAMIN,W.{1997)'TheWorkof Art in the Age of Mechanical 

Reproduction', in du Gay, P., Hall, S., Janes, L, Mackay, H. and 

Negus, K. (ed.) Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of Sony 

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BOCOCK, R. (1993)'Consumption; London: Routledge. 

BRODY, F. (1999) 'The Medium is the Memory; in Lunenfeld 

R (ed.) The Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media, 

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DEBORD, G. (1994) 'The Society of the Spectacle', NY: Zone 

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GÜRŞİMŞEK, R.A. (2006)'Future Directions in Product Semantics: 

New Media Objects and Cyberspace; Design and Semantics of 

Form and Movement ~ Conference Proceedings, pp. 90- 97. 

JAMESON, R (1983) 'The Antiaesthetic: Essays on Postmodern 

Culture; Seattle: Bay Press. 

MITCHELL, W,J. (1999)'Replacing Place; in Lunenfeld R (ed.)The 

Digital Dialectic: New Essays on New Media, Massachusetts: 

MIT Press. 

MITCHELL, W.J. (1999) 'Who Put the Space in Cyberspace?; in 

Anders, P Envisioning Cyberspace: Designing 3D Electronic 

Spaces, NY: McGraw-Hill. 

MANOVICH, L. (2001) 'The Language of New Media; 

Massachusetts: MIT Press. 

OXMAN, R. (2005)'Theory and Design in the First Digital Age; 

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ZIZEK, S. (1992) 'Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques 

Lacan through Popular Culture; Massachusetts: MIT Press.

S U S T A I N A B L E F A S H I O N 

Li Han 

Virginia Commonwealth University 

School of the Arts in Qatar, Doha, Qatar 

lhan@qatar.vcu.edu 

Abstract (Soft Furniture) 

The focus of this paper is sustainability in furniture design. 

This paper proposes a framework to define sustainability in 

furnituredesign intermsof both physical attributesand cultural 

attributes. Whereas the physical attributes of sustainability 

in furniture already have been studied extensively by 

manufactures and designers, fewer studies have been done 

for cultural attributes. A product can be physically sustainable, 

made of environmentally friendly materials; however, if the 

product goes out of fashion very quickly, it is not a culturally 

sustainable product. Therefore, cultural sustainability is 

proposed to provide a more accurate framework for making 

more precise measurements in sustainable design. 

In addition, this paper also attempts to discuss the relationship 

between fashion and sustainability within the perimeter of 

furniture design. Can we design a piece of furniture which 

is both fashionable and sustainable? As first glance, fashion 

is just the opposite of sustainability, because the glamour of 

fashion fades quickly. Nevertheless, by hybridizing fashion 

and sustainability, this paper attempts to evoke discussions 

about the cultural aspect of sustainability in furniture design. 

Furthermore, a design model, given the name"Soft Furniture" 

by the author, is created to illustrate the congruence of 

sustainability and fashion in furniture design. 

Introduction: 

Design is creative solutions for problems; however, it 

sometimes creates new problems. The Industrial Revolution 

made peoples' lives more convenient and comfortable but 

also put billions of pounds of toxic materials into the air, water 

and soiL New problems need new solutions. In the midst of 

the severe damage and degradation in the living environment, 

people begin to question how we can sustain our lives and 

activities, as well as maintain a clean planet. 

The focus of this paper is sustainability in furniture design. 

Means of measuring sustainability in furniture design 

need to be devised. The development in product life cycle 

assessment (LCA) permits the analysis ofthe environmental 

effects of a product. However, LCA methodologies do have 

significant limitations in terms of their relationship to creative 

practice (Walker, 1995). The physical lifespan of a product, an 

important measure for LCA, can be inaccurate. For instance, 

pieces of furniture can be very sturdy and stay functionally 

useful for fifty years, but many end up on curbs or in junk 

yards before their physical life is over. In order to precisely 

measure the environmental impact of a piece of furniture, 

this paper proposes a framework to define sustainability 

in furniture design in terms of both physical attributes and 

cultural attributes. The author defines physical attributes as 

characteristics related to physical existence, such as material, 

shape, colour and texture. Cultural attributes, in contrast, 

are characteristics related to emotion, aesthetics, artistic 

and cultural value. Cultural attributes do not physically 

exist; however, they are inherent In products and should be 

evaluated. Subsequently, to answer the question "How can a 

piece of furniture be both physically sustainable and culturally 

sustainable?" a design model is created. The essence ofthis 

model is to employ sustainable fabrics as a major structural 

component in furniture to enhance the aesthetic and visual 

experience, to conserve resources such as the wood, glass 

and metal products that are used for current furniture 

manufacturing, and finally to attach individuality to mass 

produced products.

Review of Literature 

As described by William McDonough, design today is following 

a linear, cradle to grave model (McDonough & Braungart, 

2002). He suggests, "The waste pollution, crude products, 

and other negative effects that we have described are not the 

result of corporarions doing something morally wrong, they 

are the consequence of outdated and unintelligent design." 

His solurion for this dead end is"c2c" (c2cTask Force Proposal, 

n.d., 2005)\ a new design paradigms, which turns industrial 

waste into "technical nutrients". He also calls it "waste equals 

food". William McDonough has hoped not only to eliminate 

waste, but to eliminate the entire concept of waste. 

In product producing industry, the environmental focus has 

shifted from the manufacturing processes to the products 

themselves, as they are accountable for all the environmental 

impacts from all life cycle phases (Alting, Hauschild & Wenzel). 

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can be performed during the 

product developmentto determine the environmental impact. 

Performing an LCA is a rime consuming task. Many factors 

need to be defined and measured, including components, 

energy use, work hours, transportation, disposal scenario, 

and product life. As a result, LCA provides more accurate 

measurement for environmental impact and allows consumers 

to make decisions based on environmental considerarion. 

There are many theories that allow designers and the general 

public to make intelligent decisions that are beneficial to the 

environment. However, many designers and the general public 

are still following previously established ways ofthinking in their 

pracrices and daily lives.Those manners of behaving, doing and 

making were developed due to the complexity of human needs. 

For example, one might be convinced that sustainabillty Is an 

important issue, but when it comes to buying a vehicle, one srill 

prefers a Hummer. Research on consumprion and sustainable 

development shows that the consumprion patterns of 

extravagancy and wastefulness are deeply entrenched in most 

socieries and cultures. In order to surmount environmental 

problems, we need to reduce consumprion (Myers, 1997). 

' c2c Task Force Proposal: Endorsing the Cradle to Cradle Design 

Paradigm [Presentarion]. (n.d.). (2005). Savannah: IDEC 

Therefore, producing environmentally friendly products alone 

is not enough. According to Ryan (2002),"Even when designers 

follow sustainable parameters, sustainable production and 

products cannot exist without sustainable consumption".^ 

Designers should also be concerned about how consumers 

use the products in order to eliminate unnecessary waste. 

The market is driven by both designers and consumers. 

Research shows that the consumption pattern has changed. 

What do people like today? According to Kotler (1989), the 

concept of "mass market" Is dead, and market segmentarion 

has progressed to the era of mass customizarion.The growing 

interest In mass customization has led researchers to believe 

that firms that shift from mass producrion to the emerging 

paradigm of mass customization will gain a competirive 

advantage (Kotha, 1996). The consumprion pattern shows 

the growing Interest in individualized products. Designers 

with environmental consciousness responded to this growing 

interest and created individualized garments, jewelries and 

bags from recycled materials. For example, Rebecca Eariey, 

a London based texrile designer, is exploring the benefits of 

using recycled synthetics to create eco fashion {http://www. 

beckyeariey.com/). Her concept of an updatable garment 

is about a switch in emphasis: from one garment to many 

garments; from passive consumers to active users; from a 

single snapshot in time to an on-going movie. The active 

involvement of consumers has made sustainable design a 

collaborative effort, 

The role of art has further complicated the issue of ecological 

crisis. Without art, ephemeral culture could not endlessly refuel 

its producrion with newer goods, trendler products, and fresher 

images. Commercialized art stimulates consumers to always 

desire more (Luke, 1992). Some may argue that designers 

who provide consumers with goods that cause pollurion 

should be held responsible for the manner in which people 

are consuming today (Datschefski, 2001). It can also be argued 

that designers who provide consumers with the mindless 

trend which encourages the extravagant consumption should 

also be held responsible for the current ecological crisis. 

^ Quote by professor Chris Ryan, Bsc, PhD (Melbourne), Director of 

Ecodesign Australia

Sustainability in Furniture Design 

The focus of this paper is sustainabiiity In furniture design. In 

the summer of 2005, Chicago Furniture Designers'Association 

(CFDA) had a major show based on a definition that sustainable 

furniture, "In its idea form, can be produced continuously into 

the future without exhausting the resources of which it is 

made or degrading the environment we live In. "This definition 

of sustainable furniture is very broad. Previous research has 

suggested that sustainability in furniture design includes some 

of the following categories: the process of making furniture is 

less toxic; the materials used to make furniture are recycled, 

recyclable, decomposable or renewable; the furniture can be 

easily dismantled and recycled; the production of furniture 

uses the least amount of materials for the most performance; 

after its lifecycle, components of the furniture can be easily 

refurbished or reused; and so on. 

Nevertheless, most previous research has focused on the 

physical attributes while overlooking the cultural attributes 

of the furniture. How does a piece of furniture perform in 

our culture? What is the inherent artistic and cultural value? 

Although cultural attributes do not physically exist; they 

are important factors for determining how long a piece of 

furniture will sustain in our culture; consequently, the product 

life. Without considering the cultural attributes inherent in 

product, the measurement of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) can 

be inaccurate. A product can be physically sustainable, made 

of environmentally friendly materials; however, if the product 

goesoutoffashion very quickly, it is not a culturally sustainable 

product. Due to strong consumerism and promotions from 

business, many products today are not culturally sustainable. 

The following question needs to be answered: How to design 

a piece of furniture that sustains in our culture without using 

precious material like rosewood? 

Creative Application 

Furniture is an indispensable part of human existence. The 

function of furniture is to fulfill both the physical needs 

and the aesthetic needs of human beings. However, mass 

produced furniture, especially low end furniture, has focused 

predominately on physical function, whereas the cultural 

value of furniture has been less important. 

Sustainable design is a notion of complexity. It may involve 

many aspects in the chain of production and consumption, 

including material extraction, energy consumption, 

transportation, product life, toxic gas emission, disposal, 

recycling, and many more.Therefore, there are many solutions 

to achieve sustainability. This paper only provides one 

tentative approach, a design concept which the author calls 

"Soft Furniture." 

Inspired by eastern aesthetics and sustainability, the concept 

of using fabrics innovatively as a major component in 

furniture is developed to integrate furniture and fashion 

in order to create a unique characteristic for each piece of 

furniture and allow furniture to make a fashion statement in 

the interior environment. Soft Furniture employs sustainable 

fabrics together with frames made of recycled and recyclable 

materials. The sustainable fabrics substitute for heavy MDF 

(Medium Density Fiber) boards, wooden door panels and side 

panels, and molded foam, and so lighten the massive feeling 

as well as reduce the amount of raw materials used for each 

piece of furniture. Soft Furniture employs frames as "skeletons" 

and fabrics as "dresses", which allows the components of "Soft 

Furniture" to be easily separated, conveniently dismantled, 

efficiently sorted, and consequently to be returned back to 

the raw materials (Figure 1,2 & 3). It also provides flexibility for 

users to buy different "dresses" according to their disposition 

and taste, and to change dresses for different occasions and 

moods. In addition, given the physical attributes of fabrics, 

"Soft Furniture" can create more complex forms and shapes 

than rigid traditional furniture (Figure 4). 

Figure 1. "Skeleton" and "Dress" system

Figure 2. Myosotis - Assembly process 

Figure 3. Computer desk - Assembly process and details 

Figure 4. Oriental Dream - Computer desk with tree-look 

lighting fixture 

The easily recyclable "skeleton" and "dress" system also allows 

manufacturers to rent the furniture to customers for as long 

as they may need, and then to reuse the materials for new 

products. In this way, the materials are kept in the "technical 

cycle" and become technical nutrients for future production 

(McDonough & Braungart, 2002).This rental scheme may help 

the manufacturers to produce low cost sustainable furniture. 

In recent years, the domains of fashion, architecture and 

furniture have converged in many ways. Architecture is 

making its presence felt in cutting-edge fashion; as a result, 

the wearable 'dwellings' are able to act as both shelter and 

clothing (Quinn, 2003). Fashion designer Hüseyin Çağlayan 

has made an attempt to unify fashion and furniture in a series 

of dress design (see Figure 5). However, there haven't been 

many attempts in uniting fashion and furniture from furniture 

designers'approach. Fabrics have long been used in furniture 

and interior decoration; however, the usage of fabrics to a large 

extent is confined to certain areas such as draperies, curtains, 

and upholsteries, Foldable, lightweight furniture often employs 

canvas as a structural component (Hennessey & Papanek, 1973); 

nevertheless, the canvas is to fulfill the functional needs rather 

than aesthetic needs. The innovative employment of fabric in 

Soft Furniture attempts to create a unique dialogue between 

fashion and furniture, and fulfil consumers'aesthetic needs. 

Figure 5.

A product can be physicaliy sustainable or culturally 

sustainable. Soft Furniture strives to fulfill both. The main 

goal of Soft Furniture is to enhance the aesthetic and visual 

expenence, as well as to conserve resources such as the 

wood, glass and metal products that are used for furniture 

manufacture. The supplementary goal of Soft Furniture is to 

be lighter, foldable and able to adapt to the rapidly changing 

fashion trends. 

As a physical product. Soft Furniture Is a hybridization of both 

the Western sustainable theories and Eastern aesthetics. From 

the technical point of view. Soft Furniture was influenced 

by "eco-efficiency" (World Business Council for Sustainable 

Design) and "waste equals food" (McDonough & Braungart, 

2002). Soft Furniture will be built entirely of fabrics with 

frames of recycled and recyclable materials, to address the 

issue that most furniture today is designed on a linear, one 

way cradle to grave model (McDonough & Braungart, 2002). 

From the aesthetic point of view, the concept of Soft Furniture 

was influenced by the ancient Chinese (Figure 6). Although 

Chinese silk screens are created with only silk paintings, rice 

paper, and wooden frames, they can produce an impressive 

vanety and complexity of forms; in addition, the function of 

silk screens is versatile and flexible. 

Figure 6. Myosotis - Design is influenced by Chinese 

aesthetics 

As a cultural product, Soft Furniture is a hybridization of 

furniture and fashion; it acquires a broader meaning and allows 

people to express their identity. Teenage boys may chose 

different "clothing" for their computer desks than teenage 

girls. In this sense. Soft Furniture is endowed with personal 

qualities, which can express owners' tastes more explicitly 

than conventional furniture (Figure 7 & Figure 8). In addition, 

being composed of two independent parts (the fabric and the 

frame). Soft Furniture fulfills the needs of strong consumensm 

while extending the lifespan of the frame to the functional 

limit, thereby insunng cultural sustainabillty. 

Figure 7. Office Lady - Computer desk in formal business suit 

Figure 8. Summer Beach - Computer desk in casual dress 

The taste of consumers will continue to change. It may not 

be easy to convince someone to not buy new garments or 

to keep the outmoded furniture for the sake of sustainabillty. 

Therefore, It is the designers'responsibility to design culturally 

sustainable products that are more adaptable to the ever- 

changing taste of consumers. 

Discussion 

Products promoting the individualism may have the potential 

to become consumer favourites. Soft Furniture may attract 

attention from various consumers by reinforcing individualism. 

By responding to the transformation of consumption pattern 

from mass production to mass customization. Soft Furniture 

allows consumers to be involved actively in the process of 

making. For example, a computer desk specially tailored

for teenage girls may enhance the existing perception of 

the computer desk beyond that of a functional commodity, 

particularly if a girl can individualize it herself by buying 

different apparels (see Figure 9}. 

Figure 9. Sailboat - Computer desk 

The marketing and cultural aspects of Soft Furniture may be 

analogous to the Barbie doll, which has remained popular in 

American culture for over 50 years. As Barbie offers a wardrobe 

of stylish dresses, so Soft Furniture may keep consumers' 

interests by offering them a wardrobe of apparel for furniture. 

The style of Soft Furniture's apparel also can be guided by the 

fashion industry, thus encouraging consumer interest, and 

stimulating marketing demand. Those interested in fashion 

have the option of a multitude of designs. In the same way 

that young girls can vary Barbie's attire, consumers can vary 

the decor of their Soft Furniture for the occasion, from a formal 

dinner with one's employer, to the informal meal with friends. 

In many ways. Soft Furniture may not be a genuinely new 

concept, but an old concept applied in a new way to furniture. 

Summary 

Soft Furniture seeks to incorporate environmental and 

cultural sustainability, fashion, individual taste, and mobility 

into a marketable product. The analysis of sustainability in 

products as well as In culture has not been completed. Future 

investigation on environmental sustainability, durability, 

potential markets and materials for the frames and recyclable 

fabrics is suggested. 

References 

ALTING, L. et al,, T 997. Environmental assessment in product 

development. Philosophical transaction: Mathematical, 

physical and Engineering Sciences, 355 (1728), 1373-1388 

DATSCHEFSKI, E., 2001. The total beauty of sustainable 

products. Rotovision, Switzerland 

HENNESSEY, J. AND PAPANEK, V. J., 1973. Nomadic furniture: 

How to build and where to buy lightweight furniture that 

folds, collapses, stacks, knocks-down, inflates orcan bethrown 

away and re-cycled. 1 st ed. New York: Pantheon Books 

KOTHA, S., 1996. From mass production to mass customization: 

the case of national industrial bicycle company of Japan. 

European Management Journal, 14(5),442-450 

KOTLER, P., 1989. From mass marketing to mass customization. 

Planning Review, 17,10-13 

LUKE, T.W., 1992. Art and the environmental crisis: from 

commodity aesthetics to ecology aesthetics. Art Journal, 51 

(2), 72-76 

MCDONOUGH, W. AND BRAUNGART, M., 2002. Cradle to 

cradle: Remaking the way we make things. 1st ed. New York: 

North Point Press 

MCDONOUGH, W. AND BRAUNGART, M., 2002. The Next 

industrial Revolution 

MYERS, N., 1997. Challenge to sustainable development. 

Science, 276 (5309), 53-55 

QUINN, B., 2003. The fashion of architecture. Oxford, UK; New 

York: Berg 

WALKER, S.,1995. The environment, product aesthetics and 

surface. Design Issues, 11 (3), 15-27

C D N T R D L L E D D I S O R D E R : M E N T A L I M A G E R Y A N D E X T E R N A L R E P R E S E N T A T I O N 

IN T H E C R E A T I V E D E S I G N P R O C E S S 

Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz HASIRCI 

Interior Architecture & Environmental Design, 

Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, TURKEY 

deniz.hasirci@ieu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

Aiming to investigate creadvity in education, a comprehensive 

course has been adopted and attention has been drawn 

to the importance of vanous techniques to investigate the 

dynamics within the creative process. The dual relationship 

in which one accidental and one deliberate process exists 

within a single creative process, has taken on several names, 

such as, unstructured-structured, divergent-convergent, or 

vertical-lateral. This type of "controlled disorder" exists within 

the five stages of a creative process -Readiness, Reception, 

Reflection, Revelation, Recreation (5R's)- of the Sensational 

Thinking model of O'Neill and Shallcross. "Mental imagery" 

and "external representatlon"provide valuable insight into the 

mystery ofthe creative design process that has been known 

to be a chaotic and unstructured one. This Investigation 

dwells mainly upon the methodology to tackle the difficult 

and at times disorderly topic of creativity that can be reached 

through a thorough understanding ofthe creative process for 

means of boosting it within designers' environments. Thus, a 

selection of interconnected studies that dwell on the role of 

imagery and externa I izati on within the stages of the creative 

process, operationalizlng and assessing creativity in design, 

and connections with the social and physical environments 

which it takes place in will be discussed. 

Keywords: creativity, creative design process, vertical and 

lateral thinking, mental imagery, external representation 

Introduction 

The creative process has been seen as a syndrome, or a black 

box that miraculously produces original results (Jones, 1992}. 

However, leaving the subject as a mystery prevents its utilization 

as a tool. Disorder is key for creative outcomes (Boden, 1995), 

but it cannot answer problems in a useful way if it is not guided 

(Robinson, 2003). Mental imagery and external representation 

play significant roles among stages of the creative process 

(Daniels-McGhee and Davis, 1994). Imagery involves the 

formation of an individual subset of unique ideas that are both 

involuntary and controlled sources of novel interpretations 

derived from a larger domain (Simonton, 2003). 

External representations are significant contributors of the 

creative process, and take on many forms, such as drawing, 

scribbling, taking notes, as a consequence of an imagery period 

(Dahl etal., 1998; Daniels-McGhee and Davis, 1994; Lubart,2001; 

Plsek, 1997). Although there has been a great deal of research 

done on creativity Guilford, 1968; Feldhusen, 1993; Isaksen et 

al. (1993a, 1993b), Jones (1993), very few approach the subject 

from all aspects, leaving many unanswered questions behind 

(Isaksen et al., 1993b; Bailin, 1994; O'Neill and Shallcross, 1994; 

Candy and Edmonds, 1999; Cropley, 1999), This study uses a 

multitude ofdifferent methods and a combination of various 

techniques suggested by previous research (Mooney (1963), 

Isaksen et al. (1993a, 1993b), Jones (1993). 

Previous research shows a concentration on evaluating the 

creative thinking process in education (Guilford, 1968, Haensly 

& Torrance, 1990); the effects ofthe environment on students' 

academic performance and the quality of the learning 

environment (Lackney,1994; Livingstone & Nelson, 1994; 

Moore & Lackney, 1994), or specific aspects of creativity such as, 

reading ability or academic performance (Verstijnen et al., 1998; 

Simonton, 2003; Knstensen, 2004). While specialized approaches 

contribute greariy to the topic, they may be restricted as it is 

quite difficult to achieve a complete picture of creativity. Aiming 

to investigate crearivity in the design studio environment, this

study has adopted a holistic framework and drawn attention 

to the importance of superimposing different techniques of 

assessing creativity (Hasirci and Demirkan, 2003 and 2007). It is 

important to achieve a more comprehensive approach for future 

research in creativity, and the effects ofthe environment on it, 

for an understanding ofthe variables involved and to prevent 

over-simplification ofthe topic Isaksen et al. (1993a, 1993b). 

The goals are to explore vertical and lateral thinking techniques 

and understanding the creative problem solving process 

in design, how the framework of the 4P's (person, process, 

product, pressorenvironment(Mooney{1963), Rhodes (as cited 

in Firestien, 1993) necessary to define creativity wholly can be 

used to look at the creative "process" within which the creative 

"person"creates a creative"product"in a creative "press, context, 

or environment". Combining the 4P's and the 5R's proved to be 

a comprehensive model to be utilized for enhancing creativity 

in the design studio (Hasirci and Demirkan, 2007; Jones, 1992; 

O'Neill and Shallcross, 1994; Simonton, 2003). 

This investigation focuses mainly on the methodology to 

tackle the difficult topic of assessing creativity, using the 

third year design studio at Bilkent University, Department of 

Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, and the first 

year design studio at Izmir University of Economics as settings. 

In design studios, students are eager to focus on their own 

design expressions at theexpense of the users'needs. However, 

with a deliberate user-identification stage within the creative 

process, both can be accomplished. Within these stages, user- 

identification is a beneficial method that can aid in producing 

creative results that fulfill users' needs (Dahl, Chattopadhyay, 

and Corn, 1998; Dorst and Cross, 2001; Mumford, et al. 1997). 

In the design field, where there is a great deal of creativity 

involved and there are less boundaries regarding methods, 

it is even more difficult to understand the process that leads 

to a creative product. However, it is crucial to understand the 

creative decision-making process for the purpose of improving 

products both in education and practice (Purceil and Gero, 

1998). It is significant, yet difficult to understand the cognitive 

process of creative decision-making that leads to creative results 

and products (Heerwagen, 2002). Although it is at least equally 

significant, the long time focus on the product has left the 

creative process in the shadow (Kokotovich and Purceil, 2000). 

Creativity is not an uncontrolled issue, nor a fully controlled 

one. However, it is important to mention an interesting fact 

aboutthe relationship between creativityand knowledge.The 

remarkable drawback about knowledge is that, knowledge 

and creativity have a bell-curve relationship, that is, having 

too little or too much knowledge hinders creativity (Cropley, 

1999; Daniels-McGhee and Davis, 1994). However, to control 

just how much too little and too much one knows is difficult. 

The problem of being knowledgeable, yet creative is the point 

to be achieved. Picasso stated that, when he was a child he 

could draw like Raphael, but that it took him a lifetime to learn 

to draw simplistically and creatively like children (Gardner 

1980). Therefore, to achieve the creativity factor in the style 

of young children, which is difficult to achieve after a certain 

age due to social rules and pressures, it is important to have a 

good understanding of the creative process and the methods 

involved (Dacey,1989}. 

Creative cognition and production take place in cycles 

and at certain periods in life (Candy and Edmonds, 1999; 

Eastman et al., 2001; Dacey, 1989). These cycles coincide with 

Csikszentmihalyi's (1996) tripartite understanding of creativity, 

composed of the 'field', 'domain', and 'individual' in a person's 

life. He asserts that a certain amount of expertise is to be 

possessed by the individual in order to be creative in a domain 

and enable evaluation according to the necessities of the 

field. That is, we show and assess creativity within a context of 

expectations in the society. Related to the use of knowledge, 

there is the issue of simultaneous existence of controlled and 

uncontrolled courses within a creative process. Order within a 

creative process is a socially acquired and learned topic (Ebert 

II, 1994;Finke, 1996). 

Creativity as a way of operating 

Children are often known for being unintentionally creative. 

Limited skill/information, and the assessment of creativity 

according to what is omitted rather than what is included, in 

certain contexts has been accepted for creativity itself (Runco, 

1991). The fourtlt grade slump, 9-10 year-old losing their 

creativity due to social rules depends on this factor (Dacey, 

1989). However, children do possess the skills for strategy and 

intention in problem-solving, yet it is not certain that they may 

use them at any given point within the creative process, thus

it is not controlied (Ericsson and Simon, 1993). Once the rules, 

signs, and symbols of society are learned, it is hard to think 

without them as they are also needed for communication 

(Robinson, 2003). 

Today the idea of creativity as a quality that only the blessed 

few possessed has been left aside. The widely accepted view 

Is of 'creativity as a process of the mind' (Robinson, 2003). 

Moreover, terms like, 'the designer as magician' are being 

replaced by the will to understand the complex process of 

design (Jones, 1992; FInke, 1996). Consistent with this idea. 

Akin (1984) stated that, the irrational creative process could be 

accounted for through purely rational processes. Although this 

is so, Finke (1995) concurred that, creativity Is something that 

is neither fully structured nor unstructured. That is, deliberate 

as well as intuitive qualities are significant for creative results. 

Awareness ofthe process is critical at this point. 

Apart from studies that have led to these widely acknowledged 

notions, other research concentrated on the differences ofthe 

'perceptual functioning' among individuals. We all perceive 

the wodd differently due to our particular backgrounds, in 

addition to our psychological and physical abilities. Thus, we 

can say that, the perspective from which we look upon the 

wodd shapes our creativity.This perspective can be produced 

Intentionally by adopting a creative'perspectlve'or'approach'. 

In this sense, it is a selective perception that develops 

sensitivity in the creativity area, and it can be enhanced by 

way of awareness and a purposeful tactic (Pereira, 1999). 

Adopting a perspective as such is important for one reason in 

particular, and that is the fact that human beings perceive the 

world not only by seeing It but also by visual thinking. Besides, 

although the visual sense is the strongest, we can do the same 

with our remaining senses as well. Remembering the past 

and thinking about the future are actions that we carry out by 

visualizing them in our minds, and are incredibly important 

for a designer. The case of Beethoven being able to compose 

after he became deaf is an example of such ability. 

As a result of these abilities, different types of'products' are 

created. Thus, creativity requires something to be done in 

orderto surface. If a person never learns to play the piano, s/he 

may not realize her or his gift for music. That is why providing 

different opportunities for human beings while growing up 

Is important for developing those creative tendencies that 

may otherwise remain hidden. Following these products and 

evidences of creativity, comes the need to conform values of 

the society or culture. Although this is so, revolutionary ideas 

do not come along everyday, and this points to the significance 

of daily and ordinary creativity that people use throughout life 

(Robinson, 2003). 

Another important factor Is that creativity is not a parricular 

finished occurrence, but a'process'. Thus, finding one's domain 

of creativity is very important. It is not possible for a person 

to be creative in every single domain; usually creativity is 

channelled into a single route orfield. One has to know enough 

of the field to make use of it, make judgments throughout 

the crearive process, and evaluate what s/he has done. Self- 

assessment is also connected to the idea of values and that 

creativity should be assessed by experts ofthe field (Ericsson 

and Simon, 1993; Eysenck, 1996; Feldhusen and Goh, 1995). 

The 'field; according to Cslkszentmihalyi (1996), Involves the 

social and cultural aspects in tasks, operarions or jobs. That is, it 

defines the area and relies on the evaluarion and judgments of 

the decision-makers, the knowledgeable, and the wise In that 

area.The'domain'is the formal system of a body of knowledge 

and its codes, regularions, and operarions. Crearivity Is partly 

a social construct and it relies heavily on the individual 

constructs of domains and fields that are shaped according 

to the values ofthe society. Therefore, creativity in children 

is excluded due to the belief that they have not yet achieved 

sufficient expertise in a particular field to be assessed by it or 

by the peers of it. Without a doubt, contextual assessment 

and evaluation according to a different set of norms is always 

necessary while working with creativity of different groups of 

people, and not only children (Seattle, 2000). 

Controilâd disorder 

Research on crearivity has often concentrated on relarions of 

creativity with divergent thinking methods. However, due to 

the rigidity ofwhat society expects of creativity, and the need 

forflexible communication among different fields, structures, 

and levels, both are vital for creative problem solving, and 

both necessitate knowledge ofthe literature, language, and

techniques of the main and supplementary fields involved 

{Pereira, 1999). 

Vertical and lateral thinking techniques are not only two very 

different ways of thinking one uses in daily life, they also have 

an effect on structuring how one sees the world. Creative 

thinking in design mostly involves the unstructured way of 

thinking that has been called divergent, lateral, or lateral 

(Aydede and Guzeldere, 2005; De Bono, 1992; Suwa and 

Tversky, 1997; Suwa, Purceil, and Gero, 1998), and contrary to 

popular belief, is a skill that can be learned, practiced, and, 

improved. 

Vertical Thinking Lateral Thinking 

Basic Nature • Controlled • Disordered 

• Structured • Unstructured 

• Convergent • Divergent 

• Analytical • Provocative 

• Sequential • Non sequential 

• Logical • Non Logical 

Process • Deliberate • Accidental 

• Focuses on one path • Collects 

information from 

the environment 

• Selective • Generative 

• Converges toward • Seeks additional 

acceptable solutions options 

• Use of negatives block • Does not have 

certain paths to be correct to 

proceed 

• Follows most likely • Explores unlikely 

path paths 

Use of Patterns • Retains, labels, * Attempts to 

names, categorizes, and escape from 

classifies from past established 

experience patterns, labels, 

Results • Acceptable, appropriate • May be 

and classifications 

objectionable 

• Finite • Probabilistic 

• Predictable • Unpredictable 

Table 1. Comparison of the characteristics of vertical and 

lateral thinking techniques {De Bono, 1992). 

Vertical and lateral thinking aid in making sense ofthe data 

collected by the brain by storing information in patterns, 

and selectively recognizing patterns according to these 

dominating established patterns, respectively. These features 

simplify the functions of the brain, however, they draw 

limiting frameworks on perceptual processes as well as 

creative thinking {De Bono, 1992). 

Vertical thinking that is used extensively in daily life, and 

assumes a single correct answer to a problem. Students within 

an education system that is focused on test solving need this 

type of thinking in orderto be successful. Having been educated 

in such a system throughout one's life makes it difficult to use 

divergent techniques. In an educational system focused on 

tests, it takes time to "shift gear" and adopt different ways of 

thinking that are necessary for solving design problems. 

Lateral thinking, on the other hand, is the type of thinking 

mostly used in creative problem solving, and instead of a 

linear single answer way of thinking, it presupposes transitions 

between pre-established patterns. This process considers 

very different solutions to a problem and may create new 

patterns that are original, but not necessarily immediately 

appropriate in terms ofthe solution to a problem. Experience, 

experimenting, trial and error, and imagery are very frequently 

utilized in this type of thinking, and they enable a break from 

the tyranny of a strong idea, and provide original results that 

can be utilized. {Heerwagen, 2002; Dorst and Cross, 2001). 

Vertical thinking is concerned with proving or developing 

concept patterns, while lateral thinking involves insightful 

restructuring of patterns and creative emergence of new 

ones. The need for lateral thinking arises from the limitations 

of the behavior of mind as a self-maximizing memory system. 

Creativity is often believed to be an unstructured spontaneous 

act happening at a random time, however, what society judges 

as creative has a very rigid framework. Techniques of "teaching" 

creativity all aim to make people solve problems by viewing 

them in different ways. While vertical methods allow movement 

only around the language and rules of a field, lateral ones 

enable intertextual relations among different fields allowing the 

emergence of associations never thought possible (Li, 1997). 

Although vertical thinking is the dominant mode in Western 

culture, both vertical and lateral techniques are necessary to

maximize creative problem solving {De Bono, 1992). 

The third year design studio 

One ofthe places creativity is most needed Is environments 

of design education. This study analyzes the cognitive stages 

in the creative decision-making process during the act of 

designing. It also examines the connection between cognitive 

issues and tasks related to the third dimension of objects 

and spatial issues in interior architecture. The stages of the 

creative process are examined, exploring the creative design 

processes of third year students ofthe Department of Interior 

Architecture and Environmental Design at Bilkent University 

in Ankara, Turkey. During this procedure, the reinterpretation 

and formulation ofthe given task, and the activity of focusing 

on the user-identification phase were taken into consideration. 

The sample was comprised of 15 subjects who were selected 

by random sampling among 46. This study is primarily 

qualitative, but is supported greatly by quantitative data. 

Findings obtained through 'observation','product assessment', 

and 'protocol analysis' ('retrospective interview') are used in 

order to develop a model to enhance creativity (Hasirci and 

Demirkan, 2007). 

The third year of university education can be considered as 

the completion of a learning cycle for the interior architecture 

students. When the students reach that stage, they have 

learned the discourse of design, formed a certain approach or 

style, and can clearly state them while or after dealing with 

a task. This would especially be compatible with the method 

of protocol analysis used while the students make creative 

decisions regarding the design problem given to them. Vertical 

and lateral techniques were used together in the solving of 

creative problems, as until the third year, the students have 

already acquired this skill. The vertical methods could be 

seen in actions such as, some students constantly asking the 

instructors for their opinions to check whether s/he was on 

the correct path or not, relying heavily on safe methods used 

and proven by famous designers and architects. However, 

these kinds of behavior were occasionally counterbalanced by 

lateral techniques such as, the use of Intertextual associations 

between movies, books, or design solutions in other domains. 

The formation of a concept for the solution of the design 

problem necessitated this type of a relation from the start. 

enabling all students to use lateral techniques at each stage of 

the process and achieve more creative results. 

The hypotheses to be tested were as such, 'There is a 

relationship between the type and quantity of representation, 

and creativity': Three-dimensional representations such 

as, perspectives and models were found to lead to higher 

creativity levels compared to two-dimensional depictions such 

as, layouts/ plans. Thus, more importance should be given to 

sketching, so that this significant skill of designers can fully 

develop In a way that enables the students to easily represent 

what they visualize In their minds. Finally, while verbalization 

during the design process and among classmates can be 

constructive, as also supported by Eastman et al. (2001), 

excessive reliance on verbalization in critiques appears to 

weaken the skill of sketching (Goldschmidt, 1992a and 1992b; 

Verstijnen etal., 1998). 

'The creative quality/ characteristic ofthe decisions made can 

be increased byway of first understanding the creative process 

that involves cognitive components': Placing the creative 

process under the microscope was helpful In understanding 

preferred imagery and representation styles and quantity, 

time spent at different stages ofthe process, underdeveloped 

skills, behavior, in addition to student-student and student- 

instructor relations, and associations between creative 

processes and products. Understanding these relations can be 

helpful In developing the curriculum to aid the skills necessary 

to experience more creative processes conducive to produce 

more creative products In the design studio. 

'There Is a relationship between the observed creative traits 

and product creativity': This relationship can easily be seen in 

the observations. Those students who did not only work on 

their projects, but also spent time on asking others' opinions 

and discussing their projects were among the most creative 

ones. A constructive interaction between the students 

was observed to be helpful in developing their ideas. The 

students in each group completed the phases with similar 

timing and submitted the project almost simultaneously. The 

arrangement ofthe studio environment affected the behavior 

ofthe students, and three students mentioned becoming more 

motivated while working individually in a group arrangement 

of tables.

'There is a relationship between imagery and representation 

amounts and creativity': This assumption appears verified, in 

that, the students who have used more imagery were more 

creative [x2-24.75, df='i 5, p

assessed by the instructors using the creativity assessments 

sheets in the previous study. 

The aim ofthis study was to analyze the creativity of students 

who were in theirfirst year ofdesign education, and investigate 

their own perception of handling the creative process. The 

same hypotheses were investigated, and the findings were 

in keeping with the previous study. However, the lack of a 

full understanding ofthe design process was obvious. Early 

introduction of lateral thinking techniques and the vague 

nature ofthe creative design process in the design studio is 

believed to be useful for more creative outcomes. 

The first hypothesis was, 'There is a relationship between the 

type and quantity of representation and creativity': Three- 

dimensional representations such as, perspectives and models 

were not as refined as the third year studio, however, simple 

sketching and small scale models were again found to lead 

to higher creativity levels compared to two-dimensional 

depictions like top views, as students could not visualize all 

dimensions ofthe project. Thus, more importance should be 

given to the use of log-books, which were made part of the 

curriculum not only in the design studio, but also In a course on 

drawing and representation technlques.Thestudents who kept 

log-books are good for sketches, scrap pieces of information 

on which they could extend their thoughts, and learn to 

build concepts were more creative. The skill of visualizing 

that is already not easy for the students and representing the 

visualized again became evident In this study. 

'The creative quality/ characteristic of the decisions made 

can be Increased by way of first understanding the creative 

process that involves cognitive components':The vertical and 

lateral thinking methods were also considered in the creative 

process, and should be integrated within the assessment of 

the 5R stages. A calculated technique of balancing vertical and 

lateral thinking can be integrated into the design curriculum. 

'There is a relationship between the observed creative traits 

and product creativity': The students who talked to other 

students within the studio studio, who asked for opinions 

from the instructors but developed those ideas with outside 

information were found to come up with more creative 

products. Although the tables were not arranged in groups, 

the students were free to walk around and talk to others about 

their projects. In these conversations, ideas were developed 

and the creative process was furthered. 

'There Is a relationship between imagery and representation 

amounts and creativity': There was a relationship, however, it 

was the opposite ofthe previous study. This may be due to first 

year students' lack of experience regarding the transition from 

imagery to external representation. [x2=38.18, df=24, p

the toy themselves. Others were trying to solve the problem 

in the easiest and most convenient way using vertical thinking 

techniques. This took more time and resulted in less creative 

products. 

80% of the students stated the importance of more time and 

less students in the studio for factors that would enable them 

to work more efficiently. 75% of them stated the same for 

factors that would enable more creativity. 3 ofthe students 

have mentioned the importance of the log-books In terms 

of helping them collect their ideas together. One student 

stated that it was his "inspiration book". The students have 

not been introduced to the"concept"yet as a theme to collect 

elements oftheir design together and enable a harmonious 

completeness, but 28% ofthe students stated that they found 

movies, magazines, books, music, the internet, nature, and the 

sea inspiring. Though some students have figured methods 

out on their own, the majority suffered some difficulty. Thus, 

there Is a need for an introducrion to concept definition and 

utilization in the first year. This might enable the students to 

have a more efficient "readiness" stage where they spend the 

most time but may not produce much. 44% of the students 

stated that they were the most creative in the initial stages, 

and the remaining 56% stated that the revelarion and 

recreation stages they were the most crearive as they had little 

time left to complete their work. According to the instructors, 

the students were more creative In the beginning stages and 

more efficient in the final ones. This could be observed from 

the processes ofthe students. 

As in the previous study, the students believe that their hard 

work should be rewarded even If the product is not that 

appropriate. Although the creative process is very important, 

and taken into considerarion by the instructors when 

evaluaring the product, the purpose ofthe crearive process is 

to reach a creative product that answers the requirements of 

the project or the needs of the users/ clients In other contexts. 

Regarding the expected grade of the students, 90% of the 

students stated that they deserved a full grade because they 

tried their best. More intermediate stages In a project and 

provision of an awareness of expectancies may aid better 

communication In the studio. As in the previous study, the 

instructors'and students responses were significantly different 

[t=16.01,df=24, p

thinking shakes the established grounds of patterns and 

gives way to creative solutions, it enhances our ability to see 

things differently, and to challenge paradigms, assumptions, 

prejudices, and worldviews. Although this sort of approach 

may seem to reach creativity at the expense of security in 

society, this is not the case, as an autonomous goal is trying 

to be achieved within certain partly controlled contexts. 

However, visionary people, processes, or products do not 

come along under totally safe and secure circumstances. 

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S E R V I C E - S C A P E A N D W H I T E S P A C E : W H I T E S P A C E A S A S T R U C T U R I N G 

P R I N C I P L E IN S E R V I C E D E S I G N 

Stefan Hoimiid 

Human-Centered Systems, IDA, 

Llnköplngs universitet. Linköping, Sweden. 

steho@lda.liu.se 

Annika Hertz 

Center of Service Design Research, 

Cologne international School of Design. Cologne, Germany. 

ah@kisd.de 

Abstract 

In design a lot of attention is given the materia! design object. 

In the traditional rhetoric of design where function meets 

form, it is often instrumental functionality and the form of the 

material/content that is referred to. 

In some design fields, such as graphic design, the material design 

object incorporates the white space, the space between the 

content. For graphics design white space has been appropriated 

as an important part ofthe design process, and can be used to 

as one factor to distinguish between genres of, e.g., newspapers. 

Implicitlygraphicdesignersusewhite space to create readability, 

structure, as well as aesthetics to their designs. 

In service design, a concept similar to white space have not 

been acknowledged and used as an aspect ofdesign. Service 

design comprises a set of methods supporting the modelling 

of service experiences, such as service-scape, service portraits, 

service interface, etc. These focus on the content ofthe service 

experience, without especially highlighting the importance of 

white space for designers. 

In this paper we suggest that white space can be used as a 

structuring principle In service design. We exemplify the 

concept and how white space Is conveyed with service design 

modelling techniques. 

The case, a package delivery service, has undergone a change 

process where some parts of the delivery chain have been 

pushed towards self service, and simultaneously transformed 

into a more mass-customized genre of service. Moreover, 

the contact with delivery personnel has been even more 

limited than it is today. The new package delivery service thus 

restructures white space of the service, and highlights design 

aspects ofthe service. 

We conclude that white space can be used as a concept for 

service designers to use as a structuring principle in designing 

service experiences, and that the challenges forfuture research 

lie in finding relevant modelling and analytic techniques for 

designers to enable them to actively work with white space in 

their designs- 

Introduction 

In design a lot of attention is given the material design object. In 

the traditional rhetoric of design where function meets form, it 

is often instrumental functionality and the form ofthe material/ 

content that is referred to. Attention is forced away from the 

intangible issues of non-use or the form of non-content. 

In some design fields, such as graphic design, the material design 

object incorporates the white space, the space between the 

content. For graphics design white space has been appropriated 

as an important part of the design process, and can be used to

as one factorto distinguish between genres of, e.g., newspapers. 

Implicitly graphic designers use white space to create readability, 

structure, as well as aesthetics to their designs. 

In other design disciplines, such as service design, a concept 

similar to white space have not been acknowledged and used 

as a conscious aspect of design. In these design disciplines 

the methods focus on the design content, without especially 

highlighting the importance of white space for designers. 

In this paper we will present aspects of white space in service 

design through an example case that suggests that white 

space can be used as a structuring principle in service design. 

Framework 

A service most of the time Is described as being intangible, 

heterogene, and perishable. Moreover, it is considered that 

there is inseparability between production and consumption 

when it comes to services. Edvardsson, Gustafsson & Roos 

(2005) argues that this is an outdated definition, and that 

services rather are characterized by performance, processes 

and deeds. Lovelock & Gummesson (2004), e.g., agree partly 

with this and argue that for a specific service in a specific 

context, individual characteristics are more Important than 

others, but they should not be viewed as a compulsory whole. 

When talking about service organizations, the term product- 

service system, PSS, is often used, to point towards a systemic 

point of view (Edvardsson, Gustafsson, Johnson & Sanden 

2000). With that perspective the term servuction is often 

used, to differentiate from production. Even though these 

definitions are criticisable there is a consensus that services 

are processes over time carried out in space by people with 

the help of technology and objects. 

Buchanan (2001) defines four orders of design. They are 

distinguished by their design object. The design objects are 

signs, products, actions and thought. The corresponding 

design disciplines are graphic design, industrial design, 

interacrion design, and environmental design. In classical 

Swedish design theory the classification finds support from 

Paulsson Si Paulsson (1957), as well as Hard af Segerstad (1957). 

Service design primarily deals with acrions, the service milieux 

and the mindset of people. 

Service design is, in contrast to service development, described 

as a human-centered approach and an outside-in perspecrive 

(Mager, 2005: Holmlld & Evenson, 2006; Holmlid, 2005). It is 

concerned with systematically applying design methodology 

and principles to the design of services (Evenson, 2005; 

Holmlid & Evenson, 2006). 

Service design integrates the possibiliries and means to 

perform a service with such qualities, within the economy and 

strategic development of an organization. A service designer 

can "visualise, express and choreograph what other people 

can't see, envisage solurions that do not yet exist, observe 

and interpret needs and behaviours and transform them 

into possible service futures, and express and evaluate, in 

the language of experiences, the quality of design" (Service 

Design Network, 2005). 

Asadiscipline,servicedesign should not be viewed in isolarion, 

but in the context of service development, management, 

operations and marketing (Edvardsson, Gustafsson & Roos, 

2005; Mager, 2005; Edvardsson, Gustafsson, Johnson & 

Sanden, 2000). Together these form the provisions for good 

service performance. User orientarion, contextualizarion and 

other service development challenges are at the heart of 

service design (Edvardsson, Gustafsson, Johnson & Sanden, 

2000; Kristensson, Gustafsson & Archer, 2004; SVID, Bruce & 

Bessant, 2002). 

Service design activities appear throughout a service 

development process (see e.g. (Holmlid & Evenson, 2007; 

Morltz, 2005; Evenson, 2005; Mager & Evenson, 2006; 

Grönroos, 1990; Scheuingâ Johnson, 1989). In these processes 

service design contribute with a set of modelling techniques 

for service experiences. Among these modelling techniques 

can be menrioned service-scape, customer journeys, 

service interface, etc (Bitner, 1992; Evenson, 2005; ZeithamI, 

Parasuraman & Berry, 1990; Shostack, 1984;Moritz 2005; Mager, 

2005; Holmlid & Evenson, 2005). These focus on the content 

of the service experience, without especially highlighting 

the Importance of white space for designers. Tschumi (1990), 

in e.g. his Manhattan transcripts (Tschumi, 1994), highlights 

space, movement and event, in order to transcribe things 

not normally include in architectural representarion in the 

70's. In the Manhattan transcripts he directed a small set of

epresentations to present the complex relationship between 

space and its use. In representations of services similar 

conceptual representations can be made, given that services 

are usage of space over periods of time deliberately directed 

by actors with certain objectives. 

Modeling and prototyping are centra! in service design 

as in many other design disciplines. These activities are 

closely related to service development activities, such as 

documenting the servicescape (Bitner, 1992}, performing 

blueprinting (Shostack, 1984), and defining touchpoints 

{ZeithamI, Parasuraman & Berry, 1990). Modeling techniques 

from other design disciplines can be used, such as personaes, 

scenarios, enactments, etc. 

Given the nature of services as being processes over time 

carried out in space, two tentative categories of white space 

would be physical whitespaceand time white space. If we also 

considerthat actions are carried out within these processes, we 

could anticipate that non-activity could be regarded as white 

space. In service design one important focus for design work 

is the service evidence and the service interface. For these 

we can anticipate that specific aspects of white space will be 

important. For example, for a form or a receipt the white space 

of graphical design is crucial. 

Example case 

The case takes as its starting point the delivery of postal 

packages to non-company clients. We used three modeling 

techniques, an action model, a physical model and an actor 

model, to understand the role of white space in the service 

performance. The modeling techniques were used for a 

traditional package delivery service and a delivery service 

with a higher degree of self-service. 

Traditional package delivery service 

There are several different ways that traditional postal package 

delivery services function. We will base our description of a 

typical process from Sweden. 

Figure 1. Traditional package service delivery. Photo; Mats 

Ramkvist. Source posten.se 

Action model 

The action model, when taking into account only the steps in 

the procedure, indicates three white spaces (see figure 2). The 

grey areas are the action related white-spaces. 

Figure 2. Traditional package delivery, action model 

When introducing a time-aspect the white-spaces remain, but 

we are given a possibility to understand the amount of time of 

the white-spaces (see figure 3). 

Over night -e 

T 

Figure 3.Traditional package delivery, action model with time- 

aspect

Physical model 

In the physical model (see figure 4) the service points and white 

spaces are defined bythe layout ofthe office space. In the figure 

the bright green area are the desks where a customer meets the 

service personnel and the green ellipsis around these areas are 

pre- and post-service areas. These areas are seldom occupied 

by waiting customers, and are thus regarded as white spaces. 

The marked red areas are white spaces due to the placement 

of doors. The green area overlapping the two red circles defines 

the space where the cueing ticket is picked up. This area is also 

regarded as a pre-service area, and as a white space; you are not 

standing there unless you are getting your cueing-ticket. 

Figure 4. Traditional package delivery, physical model 

Actor model 

The actor model for a traditional package delivery service 

shows that there Is both direct and mediated contact with 

employees ofthe delivery service (see figure 5).The mediated 

contact consists of a mail sent to the recipient. The form in this 

mail is used when picking up the package at the post office, as 

a token of identification. 

Figure 5. Traditional package delivery, actor model 

Packstation package delivery service 

In Germanyan innovativedeliverysystem recently wasdeveloped 

and implemented, with an increased degree of self-service. 

Instead of picking your package up at a post office, packages are 

delivered to a self-service station, a Packstation.The Packstations 

are available around the clock. When the package is delivered 

to the Packstation the customer receives an Sf^S/Emall. With 

the registered chip-card the customer identifies herself and Is 

allowed to retrieve her package from the Packstation. 

If the particular Packstation the customer have registered for 

delivery is full, the postal service will decide a new delivery 

point for the package. This could be a Packstation nearby, ora 

post-office. The customer is informed about this change. 

Figure 6. The packstation (source: Siemens press picture) 

Action model 

The action model for the Packstation shows some features of 

the service-process (see figure 7). The action and time-related 

white space is visible as grey areas in the model. 

SB 

Tcrt 

rrwuge 

Figure 7.The action model for the Packstation delivery

The white space indicated consists of penods of waiting forthe 

customer. The first penod of waiting ends when the customer 

receives the text message (SMS or email). Until then the 

customer does not know all the steps of the logistics chain. 

Physical model 

The physical model forthe Packstation shows some features of 

the service-scape (see figure 8). The dark green area indicates 

the customer-active area, where the chip-card is inserted, 

payment is made etc. The light green area on the Packstation 

indicates the pick-up area, which also can be viewed as the 

final step in the delivery process. The light green area on the 

ground Is the area where a customer moves in and out of the 

self-service situation, this is a pre- and post-service area. The 

red area on the ground indicates a possible trail for a line of 

customers. 

Figure 8. The physical model for the packstation. Dark green 

indicates an active service contact point, light green indicates 

a service area, and red indicates white space. 

The main physical white spaces are the pre- and post-service 

area and the trail for a line of customers. In this example 

the open angle of the Packstation allows for both a line of 

customers and a restricted space of service action. The pre- 

and post-service area will be used only by the customer 

picking up a package. 

Actor model 

The actor model for the Packstation puts the customer at the 

centre (see figure 9). There is no direct contact between any 

individual ofthe postal service and the customer. All contact 

is mediated through technological means. 

Discussion 

Figure 9. Actor model for the Packstarion 

The tentative definition of white space for services comprising 

physical and time aspects, is not enough to capture important 

aspects of white space for service design. In comparison 

between the two examples there is a difference In social 

content ofthe service performance.The actor models capture 

these social aspects to a certain degree. That is, the increased 

degree of self-service introduces a social white space. As a 

consequence service designers need to rely more on the 

design of infrastructure and self-service terminals for service 

performance as well as brand value management. In the 

traditional delivery service, the brand values and the service 

performance was upheld, and adapted, by employees in direct 

contact with customers. As a consequence service designers 

here need to rely on personnel resources, such as service 

mindedness, situated adaptability of service performance, 

etc. In the transirion between service systems, the decreased 

social contact with employees ofthe service organizarion will 

be experienced as a social white space. Similar development 

can be found in the banking sector, where bank offices have 

been totally restructured as a way of demanding more usage 

of self-service technologies as well asan effect ofthe Increased 

self-service possibiliries. 

There can also be noted a qualitarive difference between 

white spaces in the two examples. One distinguishing factor 

is who has control ofthe white space. In the acrion model this 

can be dlsringulshed in the following manner (see Figure 10). 

The model shows that the amount of customer control over 

white space is larger when using the Packstarion delivery, than 

using a tradirional delivery system. In the Packstarion example.

at the precise moment the customer receives notice that the 

package have arrived through the text message, she Is in control 

over the period of waiting before picking up the package. 

Figure 10. White-space and control. Packstation example to 

the left, traditional delivery to the right. Blue indicates that the 

customer has control, green that the customer have shared 

control, and red that the customer have no control. 

In the traditional package service this is not the case. When the 

customer receives the notice, when picking up the mail at home 

after work, she might be required to wait over night before the 

post-office is open again. During this period of waiting she Is In 

no control over the white space. Similarly, she Is in no control 

ofthe waiting period due to locating the package at the post- 

office, which is performed by the service personnel. 

Moreover, in the traditional package service delivery process 

the overall time span from arrival of the package to the post- 

office consists of delivering the mail message to the customer 

and the period of waiting between that and the opening 

hours ofthe post-offices. A conceptual comparison of the two 

different delivery methods shows that with the Packstation 

the customer can pick her package up before she would 

know that the package had arrived at the post-office in the 

traditional delivery process. 

Working with the white space of the traditional package 

delivery system as a focus for design we suggest two possible 

ways. One could 1) focus on shortening the time before 

customers getting notice of the arrival ofthe package, through 

an SMS, or 2) finding ways to increase the opening hours for 

offices where packages could be picked up. 

In the design field that deals with graphic as a design object 

the white space Is a natural part ofthe design representations 

and expressions, which is not the case for service design. In 

service design representations, such as blueprints, the white 

space can sometimes be identified, but there is not necessarily 

any relationship between amount of represented white space 

and the white space in actual service performance. Some of 

the modeling techniques used above can be developed to 

integrate white space as part ofthe representation and design 

expressions. 

Conclusion 

Based on the white space concept presented and the case, 

white space should be considered as an integral part ofthe 

design object of services. Based on the discussion we conclude 

that deliberate design work with appropriate methods and 

tools treating white space as an integral part ofthe service 

design object, provide new means for finding structuring 

principles for specific design challenges. 

The challenges for future research lie in finding relevant 

modelling and analytic techniques for designers to enable 

them to actively work with white space In their expressive 

design work.

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in Search of a New Paradigm and Fresh Perspectives. Journal 

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new service development. The Journal of Service Marketing, 

3(2):25-34. 

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TSCHUMI, B. 1990. Questions of space: lectures on architecture. 

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U N D E R S T A N D I N G T H E O R D E R IN D I S O R D E R : A N A L Y S I N G P R O F E S S I O N A L 

I D E O L O G Y O F I N D U S T R I A L D E S I G N IN T U R K E Y T H R D U G H D I S C O U R S E 

Ali Oğulcan lîhan 

Istanbul Technical University, 

Dept. of Industrial Product Design, Istanbul, Turkey 

ali.ilhan@jtu.edu.tr 

H. Alpay Er 


Dept. of Industrial Product Design, Istanbul,Turkey 

a!payer@itu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

Industrial design, which is a fairly young and largely unknown 

profession in Turkey, Is slowly establishing its identity and 

redefining Its conditions of existence. Dunng this "evolution" 

process, many contradictions surface resulting from the 

unique characteristics of Turkey. 

One of the key elements that form the core of this newly 

found identity Is professional ideology. In this paper, 

authors endeavour to lay down a conceptual framework for 

investigating the professional Ideology ofTurkish Industnai 

Design, through a rigorous analysis of the discursive 

expressions ofTurkish designers in the biggest communicative 

medium that Is used by them: ETMK Platform E-mail Group. 

Apart from economic and educational development, such 

a study will contribute greatly to our understanding of the 

concept of "Turkish Designer", not merely as a professional but 

also as a "social" entity within the complex network of socio- 

cognitiveand discursive relations. 

Keywords: industrial design in Turkey, professional ideology, 

discourse 

The historical development of industrial design (ID) in Turkey 

and the socio-economic factors that affect this process have 

been investigated by various scholars (Asatekin, 1979; Er, 1993; 

Er, 1998; Er and Bayazit, 1999; Er and et al., 2003). Using these 

valuableworksas anchor points,the professional development 

process that ID undergoes In Turkish context can be sketched 

to some extent. However, it must be admitted that there are 

many gaps In this picture which must be filled. 

Most of the above mentioned investigations evaluate ID In Its 

economic and/or educational context. However, one of the 

most significant missing pieces in this story of professional 

development is an analysis of Industrial design and designers 

as social entities. 

According to Abbott (1988), the history of professions is 

the history of the "jurisdictional disputes", that is, different 

professions literally "fight" for gaining control of specific 

domains of knowledge. Dunng these processes, nearly every 

profession -asa social creature-forms a core system of values 

and beliefs upon which they can build their sovereignty 

and social identity. Naturally, such a system can only be 

established by the conscious and unconscious collective acts 

of the individuals engaged in a certain profession, namely 

professionals, who -by definition- form a social group. 

This core system of values forms the "basis of social 

representations that are shared by the members of this 

social group" (Dijk, 1998:8). That is, such a system tells those 

individuals who they are, what their shared values are, what 

their relations with other social groups are...etc, illuminating

the basic economic, social and cultural interests and beliefs of 

a particular social group. 

In this sense, such social representations can be defined as 

"ideologies". More specifically, when we are investigating 

the ideology of a certain professional group', this particular 

ideology can be defined as a"professional ideology".Therefore, 

understanding the ideology of a profession is crucial in 

understanding the professional development. 

As ideologies are social entities that are constantly evolving 

and changing in time, it is meaningless to mention about a 

static and given concept of professional ideology. Professional 

ideologies are produced, defined and reproduced in time, 

within different social settings. Looking through this 

perspective, one ofthe most prominent elements that has role 

in these definition, articulation and reproduction processes 

is the professional discourse. That is, individuals acquire, 

produce, reproduce, express and exchange ideological 

patterns by and within discourse. Needless to say, it is crucial 

to analyze discursive manifestations of a professional group 

in order to understand their professional ideology. However, 

it must be noted that ideologies cannot only be limited to 

discursive manifestations. 

Within this context, the aim of this introductory paper is to 

lay down a conceptual framework for such an analysis of 

the professional ideology of Turkish Designers through an 

investigation of their discursive manifestations in ETMK 

Platform E-Mailing List, which is the biggest communication 

platform, that has been used by Turkish Industrial Designers 

since 1999. The reasons for choosing such a medium will be 

clarified in the following sections, yet it must be taken into 

consideration that this e-mail group is one of the few mediums 

in Turkish Context that such a large number of industrial 

designers can meet, communicate and exchange ideas. 

' Members of a certain profession form a solid social group as they 

obviously have similar activities, goals and interests and with which 

many or most members may identify. Given the conflicting nature 

of interests between different professional groups, the domain of 

professions is a suitable candidate for the formation of ideologies or 

more explicitly"professional ideologies". 

While establishing such a conceptual framework, firstly the 

controversial concept of "ideology" will be discussed. Such 

a discussion is necessary as there are volumes of work and 

definitions for this theoretical instrument, most of which are 

not complimentary but rather contradictory. Thus, it is crucial 

to clarify that why the authors have chosen a certain definition 

among this ocean of different approaches and theorizations. 

After establishing this conceptual foundation; authors will 

express their method of analysis and will introduce the 

medium^ over which they conduct their study concerning 

the discursive analysis of the professional ideology of 

Turkish Industrial Designers. A brief discussion will follow the 

presentation ofthe findings ofthe research. 

Ideology: A Conceptual Framework 

"Nobody has yet come up with a single adequate definition 

of ideology, and this book will be no exception" (Eagleton, 

1996:1). In parallel with the starting words ofTerry Eagleton's 

seminal book, "Ideology: An Introduction", this limited 

introduction will be no exception either. Again, as Eagleton 

states, the term "ideology" is not merely a word, rather it is a 

text,"... woven ofawholetissue of different conceptual strands; 

it is traced through by divergent histories..." (1996:1). In this 

introductory study, it is impossible (and needless) to trace the 

whole historical development of the term "Ideology", since 

Destutt de Tracy's "invention" of this concept in IS'*" century. 

However, it can be useful to provide a very short explanation 

of the authors' perspective, through which they interpret this 

relatively vague term. 

Although there are many different theories regarding this 

controversial concept, historically, two main streams of thought 

can be identified.The classical notion of ideology can be traced 

back to Hegel. This oldest school of ideology continues with 

thinkers such as Marx, Engels, Lukacs, Gramsci, Althusser and 

some later Marxist thinkers. The classical notion is basically 

based upon the concept of "false bellef'that conceals the real 

social relations, Furthermore, this lineage of thought theorizes 

ideology around concepts such as illusion, mystification, 

distortion, true and false cognition which are generally 

ETMK Platform E-mail List

associated with different ideas of power and dominance 

(Eagleton, 1996:3). According to Dijk (1998), there are -roughly- 

four main charactenstics of this classical tradition: 

1) Ideologies are false beliefs 

2) Ideologies conceal real social situations and serve to 

deceive others 

3) Ideologies are beliefs that others have 

4) Ideologies presuppose the socially or politically self- 

serving nature ofthe definition of truth and falsity {Dijk, 

1998:2) 

The other strand, which is less pejorative, deals with the role 

of ideology within social life and can be classified as being 

sociological rather than being epistemological (Eagleton, 1996; 

Dijk, 1998). This approach was developed mainly in the second 

half of the 20* century and has a "positive" content, that is, this 

group of theories Is not occupied with demystifying the hidden 

networks of repression and power mechanisms. Quite the 

contrary, they seek to "understand" the place of ideas in their 

"sociaT'contextas they are. Here, Hall's definition (1996) can help 

us to understand the main points of this second approach: 

By ideology I mean the mental frameworks -the 

languages, the concepts, categories, imagery of 

thought, and the systems of representation - which 

different classes and social groups deploy in order to 

make sense of, figure out and render intelligible the 

way society works {Hall, 1996:26). 

The definition of ideology upon which authors will build their 

arguments -which is ra version of Hall's definition - depends 

on a long term multidisciplinary research project that has 

been started byTeun Van Dijk and his colleagues In University 

of Amsterdam in 1993.Thls versatile approach can be adapted 

to different contexts easily. Moreover, it successfully creates 

a theoretical apparatus that can be used both In social and 

cognitive levels, that is, this conceptual tool can not only be 

used for explaining macro level structures but also ties these 

macro level structures to the very lives and social actions of 

the individuals. Furthermore, Van Dijk's model possesses a 

theoretical explicltness which many other approaches lack, 

where they only "remain at a level of abstraction" (Van Dijk, 

1998:8). 

Van Dijk (1995) makes a definition of ideology that has 

significant similarities with Hall's (1996) definition: 

Ideologies are basic frameworks of social cognition, 

shared by members of social groups, constituted 

by relevant selections of sociocultural values, and 

organized by an ideological schema that represents the 

self-definition of a group. Besides their social function 

of sustaining the Interests of groups, ideologies 

have the cognitive function of organizing the social 

representations (altitudes, knowledge) of the group, 

and thus indirectly monitor the group-related social 

practices, and hence also the text and talk of members 

(Van Dijk, 1995:248). 

Following this definition, the main points of Van Dijk's socio- 

cognltive theorlzation of ideology can be summarized as 

follows (Van Dijk, 1995; Van Dijk, 1998; Van Dijk, 2001): 

1) "Ideologies are cognitive": It must not be forgotten that 

although ideologies are social and/or political entities, they 

have a profound cognitive element. Ideologies are shared 

social representations of group members, yet each member 

or actor uses and applies ideologies In specific, personal 

occasions. They are "belief systems", that is, they Involve 

mental entities such as ideas, values, thoughts, judgments yet 

at the same time they serve to regulate those elements In a 

social level. 

2) "Ideologies are social": Every single group - both dominant 

and dominated- has Ideologies that they identify with. Those 

ideologies regulate goals and actions of a certain group in 

social arena. Apart from dominant and dominated ones, 

other social groups such as professionals, action-groups 

(environmentalists, anti-globalists...etc), organizations and 

intuitions (the military, bureaucratlcally bodies...etc) also have 

ideologies. 

3)"ldeologies are socio-cognitive": Ideologies act as "Interfaces 

between the social and the cognitive" (Van Dijk, 1995: 245). 

Similar to the usage of language, although there is a meta 

system or grammar (ideology) that sets rules on the usage 

of language, each Individual uses the language differendy In 

a personal level. While ideologies act as a schema that help

group members to make sense of social reality ,to regulate 

their relations with other groups and their daily acts in social 

situations {Button, 1991); they also operate in a cognitive level 

involving beliefs, values, attitudes and opinions. At social level, 

ideologies help groups to establish frameworks regarding their 

social, political and economic benefits. On the other hand, they 

provide each group member a "set of instructions of action" 

which they can re-interpret in every social occasion, such as 

deciding or not deciding to participate in a demonstration 

against globalism as in the case of an environmentalist. 

4) "Ideologies are not true or false": Van Dijkdoes not evaluate 

ideologies on the basis oftruth or falsity as opposed to classical 

approaches. Rather, he seeks to understand ideologies to 

analyze their functions in serving a certain group's interests. 

5) "Ideologies may have various degrees of complexity": 

Ideologies do not always come in the form of a well established, 

total system that governs the social acts of individuals. Quite 

the contrary, they may be inconsistent pieces of a bigger "- 

ism" such as communism or leftism. As long as they serve as 

an interface for controlling social action, they can be mixed, 

vague, inconsistent and not well defined- Furthermore, 

different members of a certain group may have different views 

of the same ideology. For example -depending on the social 

role of an individual- ideologues and leaders in a certain group 

may have a more complex understanding and articulation of 

that specific group's ideology. 

6) "Ideologies have contextualiy different manifestations": 

Personal ideological manifestations of group members 

can be quite varied and sometimes be very contradictory. 

However, this does not mean that ideologies themselves are 

inconsistent. Depending on various factors, people may have 

different expressions of the same ideology under different 

circumstances. Moreover, ideologies are not deterministic: 

"They may influence or monitor social discourse and action, 

but they do not 'cause' or 'determine' these, nor are they the 

only mental systems controlling discourse production and 

comprehension" (Van Dijk, 1995:247). 

7)"ldeologies are general and abstract": Van Dijk's theory states 

that ideologies are context free abstract systems. Only, their 

expressions in different situations and context may vary. This 

notion helps us to understand why group members -more or 

less- have consistent discourse in a variety of social situations. 

The Ideological Discourse Analysis: Categories, Definitions 

and Descriptions 

The theoretical framework, that has been summarized in 

the previous sections, was used to illustrate the ideological 

landscape of ETMK Platform E-mail List, which is the biggest 

communication medium used by"Turkish"lndustrial Designers- 

However, it must be noted that this limited study is only a 

starting point in an ongoing investigation that will pave the 

road to a more explicit and detailed mapping ofthe professional 

ideology of industrial designers inTurkish context.The reasons 

for choosing ETMK Platform as the target of such an ideological 

discourse analysis can be summarized in 5 points: 

1) ETMK platform has been the largest communicative 

medium that is used by Turkish industrial designers with its 

1080 members, since 1999. 

2) The list encompasses not only Turkish industrial design 

professionals but also industrial design students, academicians 

and some other professionals-albeit only a minority- who are 

coming from different backgrounds such as graphical design, 

interior architecture, architecture... etc and who are involved 

with industrial design in different contexts. Therefore, ETMK 

Platform inherits the variety which is crucial for such an 

ideological analysis.^ 

3) Ideology is basically a shared group belief that is the source 

ofthis specific group's social representations as mentioned in 

the previous sections ofthis text. Although elites, ideologues 

or leaders of a certain group may affect a group's ideology 

more profoundly than other members; the group ideology 

is not limited to their ideas. On the contrary, production 

and evolution of a professional ideology is a collective act 

^ It must be taken into consideration that it is not possible to correctly 

identify the background of every member of ETMK platform. This 

is due to the fact that people may use different personas in virtual 

communication. However, the majority of members can be verified 

to be coming from industrial design background.

that continues simultaneously in many different layers of a 

group. Unlike other discursive sources such as architecture 

and design magazines or interviews of Turkish designers In 

daily newspapers which only contains the ideas of an "elite 

minority" of Turkish Industrial Designers or academicians; e- 

mail groups are open to every member of Turkish Industrial 

Design community. 

4) Although there are other e-mail groups that involve a large 

body of industrial designers such as Dexigner and Ideology, 

ETMK is the oldest one. Therefore, it Is easier to track the 

evolution -if there is any- ofthe professional ideology. 

5) One of the key elements of a successful ideological analysis 

is uncovering hidden expressions behind the discursive 

manifestations. Such a masking generally results from 

contextual constraints. For example, as racism İs a universally 

detested phenomenon, racist people generally obscure their 

true emotions about minorities in public discussion. Since, 

ETMK Platform is a closed group"* that excludes employers, 

academicians and professionals from other disciplines such 

as engineering; members ofthis list can openly discuss and 

share their beliefs and opinions regarding their profession 

without such contextual constraints. For instance, an industrial 

designer may not want to express his/her true opinions about 

engineers or his/her employers in a magazine interview which 

is open to a larger and more diverse public. 

As mentioned previously, this analysis is only a small part of 

an ongoing study on the professional ideology of industrial 

designer's in Turkish context. To this end, writers rigorously 

read and analyzed 4051 e-mails which have been sent to the 

list in 2004,2005 and 2006^ From its establishment in 1999 to 

the beginning of 2007, a total of 7736 e-mails have been sent 

to the list. Thus, authors' analysis covers 52.37% of all mails 

which is slightly more than the half. 

" It must be noted that ETMK Platform is not a totally closed group. 

Although mainly formed by industrial designers there are some 

engineers, architects, employers ... etc in this mail group. However 

their presence is negligible as a contextual constraint as they are only 

a minority. 

M 538 e-mails in 2006,1312 e-mails in 2005,1201 e-mails 2004. 

The content ofthe 4051 e-mails, which are evaluated for the 

analysis,greatly varies. Apartfromdiscusslonsoverprofessional 

matters, there are also various other topics sent to the list such 

as job-ads, event, meeting and exhibition announcements, 

obituaries, inquiries over professional/technical problems 

or any other popular topics including the current social and 

economic problems of Turkey. This variation was expected, 

regarding the nature of e-mail groups. Thus, writers screened 

some 4051 mails and eliminated the ones that have non- 

ideological content relying on Van Dijk's (1998) and Ruth 

Wodak's (2002) conceptual categories for ideologies: 

1) Ideological discourse defines who and what we are: The self- 

identity descriptions of an ideology are generally positive. Also 

such discourse defines"the others", the ones we excludefrom our 

group. Generally, a negative description ofthe others is one of 

the most crucial factors of our self-identity. Also, such discursive 

manifestations clarify the admission procedures of a group: 

What is required to become a part of Turkish Industrial Design 

Community? As Dijk states (1998); these kinds of self-identity 

expressions generally occur in groups who feel that their very 

existence is threatened by some other groups or factors. 

2) Ideological discourse defines our relations with other 

groups and our relative social position: As mentioned in the 

previous category, a positive self representation is generally 

constructed over a negative other presentation. This negative 

presentation of other groups also defines "our" group's place 

in social landscape. 

3) Ideological discourse defines what we do: This kind of activity 

description is common for professional groups since a 

"profession" is generally defined as"formally rational abstract 

utilarian knowledge"(Murphy, 1988:245).That is, a profession is a 

way to do something oraccomplish a task.This kind of discourse 

also includes the expected social roles of a specific professional 

group. These activity descriptions are generally followed by 

positive definitions of social goals, which make those activities 

meaningful and respectful In front ofthe public. 

4) Ideological discourse defines our norms and ra/ues; Typically, 

professional ideological discourse focuses on what is right or 

wrong for a certain profession including professional ethics. 

For example, as originality and innovation are in the locus of

industrial design profession; there are various topics in ETMK 

platform involving debates over Idea-theft and intellectual 

property rights. 

5) Ideologicot discourse generaliy involves resource description. As 

social resources such as knowledge, expertise, jobs, reputation, 

status, income... etc are as scarce as economical resources, 

conflict between different groups over the acquisition of such 

resources is inevitable. For example, industrial designers and 

graphic designers were fighring over the ownership of certain 

areas of experrise such as the design of interactive displays and 

information systems for years, whereas a totally new professional 

group, interacrion designers, emerged to claim their rights over 

the same domain of experrise at the end of 80's. 

In the light of these hypotherical categories, the writers 

have determined the e-mails which had ideological content. 

According to these criteria 183 e-mails In 2006,287 e-mails in 

2005 and 176 e-mails in 2004 were found out to be ideological 

in content, making a sum of 646; which was 15.95% of all mails 

in these three years. Furthermore, these 646 e-mails have been 

sent under 21 topics in 2006,21 topics in 2005 and 19 topics in 

2004, making a total of 61. 

The Analysis: A Summary of Results 

As stated in the previous secrion, every ideology needs 

"negative others" upon which it can postulate a posirive 

self-Identity. The professional Ideology ofTurkish Industrial 

Designers is no exception. It can be argued that, there are 

4 main "big" negative others of Turkish industrial design: 

Turkish industry and/or employers, foreign designers, other 

professional groups, especially architects and mechanical 

engineers and finally the consumers {or the public). 

One ofthe key elements of a discursive analysis is repetirion. As 

ideology is-roughly-a shared belief system, Itis crucial to identify 

the key themes that are shared and expressed by the majority 

of the group members. Among 61 topics that were analyzed; 

there are 11 topics posted concerning negarive reactions about 

job-ads which thereby had the greatest frequency. 

Sinceoneofthemostimportant characterisrics of a professional 

ideology is the definirion of activities of a professional group; 

this situarion is not surprising, in ETMK Platform, most of 

the mails regarding job-ads are negative reacrions against 

the employers who are perceived to be oblivious about 

industrial design profession's activity areas. That is, according 

to the most ofthe members who posted e-mails within these 

topics, majority of the Turkish enterprises are unaware of the 

"superb" professional qualiries, talents and various services 

that industrial designers can offer (Gunes, 2006; Bici, 2006; 

Gencoglu, 2006; Yaiim, 2005; Oral, 2005; Gencol, 2004). 

Furthermore, many list members also think that most of the 

Turkish companies "do not respect"(Yildiz, 2006) the "merits" 

of industrial designers, and do see industrial designers as CAD 

technicians whose value is evaluated according to their specific 

knowledge on using certain software packages such as AutoCAD 

and 3d Studio Max (İçgüdei,2006; Karakaş,2006; Gunes, 2006; 

Kuday, 2006; Örsei, 2005; Topcu, 2005). These "disrespecriûl" 

companies who do not appreciate the importance of designers 

are also oblivious to the fact that ID is one ofthe most "difficult" 

professions {Borand, 2004; Gunes, 2004; Neci, 2005). In 

parallel with this topic, most of the industrial designers who 

post mails to the list have complaints about their posirions 

in the organizarional structures, their working condirions, 

job descriprions and salaries {Kuday, 2006;Gürkaya, 2006; 

İHelvacıoğlu, 2006; Gencoglu, 2006; Yeşil, 2006). 

The second most frequent topic is the arguments and criticisms 

about design competitions. It would not be wrong to connect 

this debate to the general image ofTurkish companies who are 

mostly perceived to be exploiring designers and their talents. 

Naturally, not all the competitions are accused of transgressing 

designers' rights. However, the statements of the writers 

of ETMK Platform regarding the companies that arrange 

the accused comperirions seem to be nourished from the 

"negarive other-representation" of Turkish enterprises. For 

instance. In a topic about a design competition organized 

by Starbucks, writers harshly criticize the company for not 

granting proper prizes for the winners (Bağlı, 2004; Asatekin, 

2004). In another topic. Durmuş (2005) accuses Starbucks 

being "malicious" as he declares "A so-called giant worid-wide 

company is again organizing a makeshift comperirion to 

exploit the designers and for paying them 'nothing' for their 

designs". On the other hand, some list members think that

some companies organize these kind of competitions just to 

have as many design alternatives as possible for the price of a 

few. Also, they see designers as "fatheads" and "goofs" (Erkan, 

2004; Durmuş, 2005;Tunçer, 2005). 

Apart from these negative other-representations; list members 

do have another great nemesis that shapes their socio- 

cognitive landscape: foreign designers. The large Turkish 

corporations -who do have in-house design teams and who 

are thought to be having a better idea about defining what 

a designer is- are thought to "admire" and respect foreign 

designers -especially Italians- as the true bearers of aesthetic 

taste and judgment (Gürsu 2005; Örsel, 2005; Tartan, 2005). 

Although debated In various malls under different topics; 

the locus of the argument crystallizes in a topic titled "0 

Sole Mio Bellona". Among 61 topics that were investigated, 

this is the longest one considering number of mails and 

participants. Shortly, the topic begins with the depiction of 

a TV advertisement of a Turkish furniture company, Bellona; 

showing superbly talented Italian designers creating 

"miraculous" sofas. As the argument develops, list members 

claim that large, famous Turkish enterprises are aware neither 

ofthe potentials nor professional talents of Turkish industrial 

designers. Furthermore, it is believed that they have no trust 

in Turkish designers at all (Oral, 2005; Usakllgil, 2005; Yağız, 

2005; Asatekin 2005). Even one list member characterize this 

TV-ad as an "ignorant attack made on Turkish design and the 

proud of Turkish people" (Yağız, 2005). Moreover, Aksu (2005) 

finds "especially Turkish SMEs" worthless and identifies this 

"worthlessness" as the key factor of the underestimation of 

Turkish design by those companies. Even, Turkish industry is 

illustrated as an"imitator of foreign firms and products" which 

Is incapable of creating novel products (Helvacioglu, 2005). 

These notions also appear in the debates regarding job-ads 

over and over again. 

Interestingly, most ofthe list members that post e-mails under 

this topic see this situation as the reflection of a xenophilia^ 

which they see as one of the inherent qualities of Turkish 

culture, and which has "infected"Turkish modernism for years 

(Kuday, 2005; Yeşil, 2005; Uşaklıgil, 2005; Yağız, 2005; Akman, 

'Admiration of foreigners 

2005; Güneş 2005). Despite some counter arguments; most 

ofthe participating arguers reach an agreement as the focus 

shifts from unconscious companies to the unconsciousTurkish 

public and their unawareness of design profession. According 

to some Industrial designers (Yaglz, 2005; Gürşimşek, 2005; 

Kuday, 2005; Ürgen, 2005; Gürsu, 2005) this"unconscious"policy 

to employ foreign designers is a reflection ofthe marketing 

strategy that targets an oblivious public who lacks the proper 

understanding of design culture. Therefore one of the key 

responsibilities of industrial designers is not only "educating" 

the industry but also "injecting" design culture to the public. 

Naturally, "Turkish design" and an emphasis on a conscious 

reinterpretation of Turkish cultural values emerge as the 

dialectical twin before the foreign designers. According to 

Oral, Uşaklıgil and many other ETMK Platform members (2005) 

"Turkish Deslgn"must be promoted for creating a global brand 

such as "Italian" "German"or"Finnish"design. 

The three ideological negative"big others" of Turkish Industrial 

Design seem to form a vicious cycle in the mental realm of 

Turkish Industrial Designers. It can be argued that, this vicious 

cycle with its elements continuously referring to one another 

-thus obscuring the real referents- leads to a specific state 

of alienation from the public and the Industry, which deeply 

affects the "self-identity" of Turkish Industrial Designers. A 

feeling of insecurity makes them to feel obliged to "unite 

against industry and others" (Trupla, 2006) for defending 

their rights. However, at this point, the reactions seem to be 

impulsive ratherthan rational. 

Another common notion that maps the shared beliefs of 

Turkish industrial designers is a common mistrust directed 

against Turkish Design Education and Educators (Aydin, 2005; 

Baltaci, 2005;Topçu, 2005;Tartan, 2005).The arguments about 

design education are very detailed. While some of points 

in these arguments deserve a more detailed analysis, they 

are mostly well beyond the limits of an ideological inquiry, 

especially within the categorical limits that has been set. 

Nonetheless, the attitudes ofthe list members against design 

education Is rather paradoxical as they constantly mention 

about the superior"qualities"and "talents" of Turkish Designers 

specifically during discussions about the "malicious foreign 

danger".

Last but not the least, the final ideological enemy ofTurkish 

Industrial design is other professionals that intrude on the 

expertise and professional domain of "educated" Industrial 

designers. Not surprisingly, most of the professionals that 

fit into this category are either mechanical engineers or 

Individuals coming from other design disciplines such as 

architecture, interior design and graphics design. However, as 

there is no legal regulation that grants a license or superiority to 

the educated industrial designers;Turkish industrial designers 

seem to have difficulries about defending their professional 

positions, at least in front of law. These norions melt Into larger 

and multi faceted arguments regarding the boundaries of 

the very nature of industrial design profession. Thus, without 

loosing the current flow of our discussion, it will be sufficient 

to say that those "other" professions establish a crucial part of 

the"posltive"self identity of industrial designers. 

Conclusion 

The inlrial findings of this limited study support Er's (2007) claims 

about the nature of the development process of industrial 

design in Turkey. According to Er (2007), Turkish Industrial 

Design faces a "profound crisis" upon its encounter with Turkish 

industry-mainly formed by SMEs'- which are undergoing their 

own "authentic" economical modernizarion processes. The 

main reason of this "shock" is the deep dissonance between the 

Turkish Industry and the Turkish Industrial Designers who are 

educated and condirioned to "operate" under the well defined 

condirions and processes of western-like modern economy. 

Furthermore, endowed with a cultural mission to educate both 

the public and the industry about the merits of "good design" 

the Turkish Industrial Designer fails to recognize the real core 

of the problem (Er,2007). 

Within this perspective, it is interesting to observe the harmony 

and consistency between Er's socio-economic analysis and 

the cognitive "mapping" of the collecrive mind of the Turkish 

industrial Designer. Industry and public are srill conrinuing 

to be the "big others" or negative representations around 

Âccording to the data provided by Small and Medium Industry 

Development Organization of Turkey, small and middle sized 

enterprises form 98.2% ofTurkish companies. 

which Industrial designers form the social projecrion of their 

professional group identity, namely their professional ideology. 

However, it must be noted that this study is only a limited 

Introduction for beginning such a complicated analysis, 

On the other hand, social theoretical categories such as 

ideologies -because of their ever evolving nature- are 

impossible to analyze as a "whole" like every other social 

phenomena. Ideologies are mulri layered web-like structures, 

that is, to isolate an ideology from its neighbour ideologies 

is neariy impossible. For instance, a complete invesrigatlon of 

the professional ideology ofTurkish industrial design can only 

be finalized by establishing some links with systems such as 

capitalist ideology and Turkish modernization. It is clear that 

such a task is too complex to undertake. Thus, we can only 

have a rough illustration which may pragmarically enable us 

to haveaslightly better understanding of a professional group 

within the boundaries of this study. 

Finally, it must be taken into considerarion that (somerimes) 

trying to find a correspondence to all of the hypothetical 

ideological categories which authors used as a foundation for 

their analysis can turn out to be impossible (or meaningless). 

For example, a complete mapping ofthe acriviries of industrial 

designers was not provided as professional groups are greatly 

defined by what they do and definition of some of those 

tasks (like creating innovarive products which is the core of 

the profession) is needless to be repeated. Thus, every such 

analysis must be evaluated within their specific context and 

criteria.

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finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/etmk_platform/message/ 

6027, 25.11.2005,06:56 

YEŞİL, B., 2006. IS İLANI - Is saatleri - Maaş - 30 Yas...?. İn: ETMK 



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message/5844,18.10.2005,08:24 

WODAK, R., 2002. What is Critical Discourse Analysis About- 

A Summary of its History, Important Concepts and Its 

Developments. In: R. WODAK, ed. Methods of Critical Discourse 

Analysis. London: Sage, 1 -12 

YILDIZ, E., 2006. Türk Tasanmi İçin Öneriler. In: ETMK Platform 


plaîform/me5sage/6624,02.05.2006,02:11

A E S T H E T I C D F D I S O R D E R : N E W C O N C E P T I O N S IN A R C H I T E C T U R E A F T E R 

T H E 1 g g u s 

Üikü İnceköse, PhD, Research Assistant 

İzmir Institute ofTechnoiogy, Urla, İzmir 

ulkuincekose@iyte.edu.tr 

Abstract 

The concept of order takes central role in the definitions of 

architectural design. On the one hand the creation of order 

is the ultimate aim of design, on the other hand the concepts 

such as; purpose, reason, predictability, systematization, 

formality etc. related with order effective on design process 

in the creation of order. This is valid for each period of history 

of architecture. To reach ideal order of their own period, 

designers have struggled to create methods, rules, models 

for the determination of design process. They have created 

types, norms, models, and systems. In this way, a variety of 

diverse orders such as natural order, human body's order, 

mechanical order, scientific order etc. have received as models 

by architects. But especially after 1990s, opposite concepts 

such as arbitrariness, randomness, informality, formlessness 

etc. replaced the mentioned concepts which are related with 

order in contemporary architectural theory and practice. 

Architects and groups including Zaha Hadid, Sanford Kwinter, 

FOA, Nox, Cecil Balmond, Greg Lynn, Daniel Libeskind have 

argued a new architectural order. Forthe legitimization of their 

own discourses, they used these concepts which are related to 

disorder with some contemporary scientific and technological 

developments. What is commonly believed that the scientific 

revolution is to have had a source for architecture of new era. It 

is common to refer to chaos theory, complexity theory, fractal 

geometry, and the recent developments in biology. 

Thus, this paper intends to explore how the concepts related 

with disorder, of which origin is In science, have been used 

to create a new architectural order and to investigate these 

struggle signs of the changes in the understanding of 

traditional order in architecture by the analyses of architects' 

writings and oral explanations. 

Keywords: order, disorder, science, architecture 

The concept of order takes central role in the determinations 

of architectural design since antiquity. Vitruvius defines the 

fundamental principles of architecture in the second chapter 

of Book I of The Ten Books of Architecture; "1. Architecture 

depends on Order, Arrangement, Eurhythmy, Symmetry, 

Propriety and Economy. 2. Order gives due measure to the 

members of a work considered separately, and symmetrical 

agreement to the proportions of the whole."' He determines 

the concepts related to order as main instruments in the 

creative process of end-products and explains the rules of 

order. Vitruvius was obsessed with the perfection of human 

proportions as a model for architecture in the determination 

of these concepts and rules. Vitruvian stylistic thinking became 

a guide for the creative process until the end of nineteenth 

century. A variety of diverse orders such as natural order, 

human body's order, mechanical order, scientific order etc. 

have been received as models by architects like in Vitruvian 

myth. Also, Alberti's the concept of condnnltas in his De re 

aedlficotorio of 1452, which was the first Renaissance treatise, 

exemplifies the relation between living nature's order and 

architectural design. He writes in Book VII, Chapter V that; 

"...as in an Animal, the Head, the Feet, and every 

particular Member, should be exactly proportioned to 

all the other Members, and to all the rest ofthe body; 

so in a Building, and especially In aTemple, all the Parts 

should be made to correspond to exactly, that let us 

consider which of them we please, it may bear its just 

Proportion to all the Rest."^ 

In the seventeenth century, geometry and mathematics became 

normative in architectural design by the effective of Galileo's 

scientific discoveries. Architects like Claude Perrault accepted 

that the order of nature could be understood by mathematics

and geometry. They believed the elements of mathematical 

sciences provide the most perfect imitation of natural order.^ In 

the eighteenth century, inspired by Newton's empirical science, 

architects regarded the simplicity and mathematical rationality 

of nature as a guide for architecture. Simple and well-defined 

geometries became only a practical tool for the reduction of 

building process into a technological process. 

In the nineteenth century which is the period that many new 

theories were produced to reconstruct a new architecture, 

metaphorical relations to natural order became main 

instruments in the creation of architectural order under the 

guide of stylistic design thinking. With Gottfried Semper, this 

interest on natural order, by gaining a scientific character, 

transformed into a tendency towards the laws and rules 

explaining this order;"Theart of building creates originaiforms, 

which are not determined by models in nature. It creates them 

in accordance with the same laws which nature follows and 

which are founded on purposlveness."" Like Semper, Vlollet- 

le-Duc asserts that architects are forced to go forward just as 

nature does, by using same laws and same main iogic of its 

order. For Viollet-le-Duc purposiveness and functionality are 

basic concepts for understanding the logical order of nature.^ 

At the turn ofthe century, architects believed that modern 

architecture could not be constituted by Vitruvian thinking of 

order. They were In struggle for finding new sources to create 

a new architectural order and presented different theoretical 

projects under the names of Jugendstil, Moderne and Art 

Nouveau. They had a tendency towards natural order and 

contemporary technologies. With Adolf Loos, architecture 

completely went away from stylistic thinking. Purposiveness, 

functionality, exactness, rationality, utility, homogeneity 

became basic concepts in the creation of architectural order, 

in the hegemony of modernism, they were accepted as 

main guiding concepts to demolish the old order and their 

dominant roles keep up to today. 

After 1990's, opposite concepts such as informality, 

formlessness, complexity, heterogeneity, arbitrariness, 

randomness, uncertainty etc. replaced the mentioned 

concepts which are related with order in contemporary 

architectural theory and practice. Today, this change, 

beginning with Robert Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction 

in Architecture and Colin Rowe and Fred Koetter's Collage 

City and continuing with Mark Wlgley and Philip Johnson's 

Deconstructivist Architecture, has reached a state that these 

concepts are the main elements of the language of a new 

architecture. Such that; while in 1966 Venturi says; 

"I welcome the problems and exploit the uncertainties. 

By embracing contradiction as well as complexity, 1 

aim for vitality as well as validity. Architects can no 

longer afford to be intimidated by the puntanically 

moral language of orthodox Modern architecture. 

1 iike elements which are hybrid rather than 'pure', 

comprising rather than 'clean', distorted rather than 

'st ra 1 g h t-fo r wa rd'.. ."^ 

Since the 1990s, these concepts have been normally used in 

the presentations of projects of architects and groups and 

in writings of architectural theorists Including Zaha Hadid, 

Sanford Kwinter, FOA, Nox, Cecil Balmond, Greg Lynn, Daniel 

Libeskind, Jeffrey Kipnis, Chades Jencks. 

Although their architectural discourse seems to be constructed 

on a general critics of Modernism, it can mostly be said that 

these struggles are based on architectural form and oriented 

towards to construct a new aesthetic expression. Architectural 

theorist Jeffrey Kipnis writes in the article titled Towards a New 

Architecture: Folding that; 

"If it (new architecture) Is not to repeat the mistakes of 

Modernism,itmustcontinuetoavoidthelogicoferasure 

and replacement by participating in recombinations. As 

far as possible, itmustseekto engender a heterogeneity 

that resists settling into fixed hierarchies. Furthermore, 

it must be an architecture, ie. A proposal of principles... 

for design. Finally, It must experiment with and project 

new forms..."' 

Designers also legitimize their orientation to mentioned 

concepts byorderingthe relationship between them and some 

contemporary scientific and technological developments. 

What is commonly believed that the concepts and theones of 

contemporary science and technology is to have had a source 

for architecture of new era. Architects have emphasized the

new characteristics of today's world and asserted that a new 

architecturalaesthetic language appropriate forthe new world 

should be created. Most referred concepts are dynamism, 

complexity, uncertainty in their characterization ofthe today's 

world. 

To understand and to explain how the concepts related with 

disorder are placed in architectural discourse and how their 

relationships with science and technology are constructed 

in a struggle for the creation of a new architectural order are 

very problematic. Because of contradictions, similarities, 

differentiations, deformations and indefiniteness in the 

meanings ofconcepts,thegeneral situation in the contemporary 

architectural discourse can accurately be explained by 

investigating single examples. In this paper, these investigations 

are explained under two main concepts; "informality" and 

"dynamism" which match discussions on end-products and 

design process in contemporary architectural discourse. 

Informality 

Form has been a paramount concept in architects' interest in 

the concepts related with disorder for the last several decades. 

Architects have been interested in the concepts such as 

informality, formlessness, heterogeneous, and fragmented 

and conflicting formal systems related with disorder. This is 

mainly architects' interest in formal orders different from the 

known. In other words, architects have been in struggle for 

the creation of formal orders which is not determined in the 

Cartesian System, in this context, they have superficially taken 

new theories of science such as; chaos theory, complexity 

theory, fractal geometry as reference. Using computer 

technology, they constitute some diagrams which are used 

to control the formation process. Architect Alejandro Zaero- 

Polo asserts that architecture may respond to the productive 

or moral imperatives of the contemporary world by proposing 

formlessness and indeterminacy as an aesthetic program. 

For Zaero-Polo, this is a viable solution to the crisis of high 

modernism.^ 

Jeffrey Kİpnİs investigates, in the article titled Forms of 

Irrationality, what is (the form of) irrationality? and defines a 

form process by the example of Peter Eisenman's Biocentrum 

Project. He asserts that some scientific concepts have a 

crucially determinative role in the formation ofthe project: "In 

the Eisenman Biocentrum project, the initial formal conditions 

were created by extruding forms drawn from biological 

symbols. These were then operated on with an amalgam of 

processes drawn from DNA replication and fractal geometry."^ 

Daniel Libeskind explains the project of The Victoria & Albert 

Museum Boilerhouse Extension by focusing formal concepts 

such as; labyrinth, spiral, folding, non-cartesian system. He 

accepts the labyrinth organizational leitmotif constituting a 

heterogeneous whole.'" He also explains the structure of the 

building by referring to fractal geometry as a formal tool; 

"the structure and cladding ofthe new extension are 

formed by the'fractile', a new kind of tile pattern whose 

economy allows a multiform language to emerge 

out of an elementary geometric piece,...This pattern 

offers endless variation in formal articulation and 

the relationship between surface and structure..."" 

Patrick Schumacher confirms that the most magnificent 

characteristic of today's new architectural language is its 

'complex and dynamic curvelinearity'.'^ With this context, some 

concepts and some conceptualizations in the explanations 

of Zaha Hadid Architects' projects disclose the elements of 

this new design language; incompleteness, seamlessness, 

strangeness, indeterminancy parametric design etc. 

In architectural design, informal effects are mostly produced by 

the method based on the concept of'folding.'Folding has been 

generally used formally with geometrical character although it 

is discussed with its philosophical root by some architects. It is 

mainly accepted as an instrument constituting heterogeneous 

forma! orders. Architect Greg Lynn accepts folding as a method 

for creating a continuous but heterogeneous system including 

the integration of differences. He writes that;"lf there is a single 

effect produced in architecture by folding, it will be the ability 

to integrate unrelated elements within a new continuous 

mixture...A folded mixture is neither homogeneous,..., nor 

fragmented,...,but smooth and heteregeneous".'^ 

Also, Peter Eisenman explains his many projects including, 

Rebstock project, Alteka office building. Center for the 

arts, through the concept of folding. He defines the idea of

fold both as an aspect of singularity of the whole and as an 

Instrument to introduce new social organizations of urban 

space''' and to reframe existing organizations'^ in Rebstock 

project. He mentions the folding ofdifferent ingredients {lines, 

continuous surfaces) and a transition between different parts 

ofthe programme.'^ 

Alejandro Zaero-Polo accepts folding as a method in the 

application of his aesthetic program based on formlessness and 

indeterminacy to the process of production, like in Yokohama 

International Port Terminal project.'^Theusageoftheconcept as 

formal tool is clear in the Libeskind's explanation of The Victoria 

& Albert Museum Boilerhouse Extension mentioned above. 

Dynamism 

The tendency towards the concepts related with disorder in 

contemporary architecture Is connected with architects'interest 

in motion based - dynamic process of natural order. Defining 

the social, cultural, economic etc. characteristics of today's 

world with complexity and dynamism, architects has sought to 

implementing a new formation of dynamism into architectural 

design. They have referred to the concepts such as; genenc, 

becoming, morphogenesis, folding, continuity, mutation, 

fluidity etc. in the definition and the generation of design 

process which is mostly reduced the process of a form creation. 

Patrik Schumacher confirms that Zaha Hadid Architects is 

forging a new fluid and adaptive language of architecture 

inspired by natural systems. He expresses Zaha Hadid 

Architects'this interest as an ambition towards a new organic 

language.'" This is concretized via the new digital modeling 

tools; continuous form-variation.^^ Zaha Hadid Architects' 

interest in 'laws of nature', 'biological models', 'organic life' is 

connected with their concentration on controlling the design 

process by new conceptual apparatus based on new biology. 

Schumacher mentioned the transformation of the fluidity, 

pliancy and adaptability of natural systems into architecture.^" 

He speaks about bio-mimetIc inspirations In their designs; 

"In order to expand our repertoire of geometries, 

structures, and kinetic systems the design-work is 

preceded by a blo-mimetic research effort. We are 

foraging Into the wodd of organic life ... From the 

various biological models we are extracting geometric 

systems, envelope systems, structural systems, kinetic 

systems, sensory systems, systems of aggregation, 

and systems of communication. It is important to 

note that this analogical transference from organic life 

into architectural artefact is mediated by the science 

of biology. Thus we are furnished with concepts, 

classifications, and measures that can be transferred 

alongside the organic model. The science of biology 

has a rich and nuanced conceptual apparatus for the 

description of complex morphologies In their relation 

to functional capacities."^' 

The aim is "to come closer to the compelling beauty of living 

organisms."^^ 

Greg Lynn also explains his concern on motion based 

processes by determining a metaphoncal relationship 

between organization in biological systems that grow and 

the process of form creation. He defines dynamic architectural 

design as time-based manner.^^ To manage a 'time-based' 

(evaluative) process, Lynn utilises the 'calculus-based' form 

creation process which is determined by parameters, vectors 

etc. 

Peter Eisenman applies to the concept of'becoming' in the 

definition ofthe building's concept. According to Eisenman, 

"the building does not represent an essential form but a form 

'becoming'"^^ He suggests a form definition not in Cartesian 

system, but in continuous development, in order to produce 

such a continuous formation, Eisenman manipulates the 

concept of'folding' as a tool. 

Jeffrey Kipnis mentions in the article titled Towards a New 

Architecture that in geometry and science which are basic 

sources for contemporary architecture, principal concern 

is towards morphogenesis. Kipnis, like the other designers, 

focuses on the generation of new formal orders with this bio- 

based concept.^^ 

Maurice Nio and Lars Spuybroek are interested in stability of 

dynamic systems and their abilities to keep order In a movable 

situation. They establish a metaphoncal relation between 

human body and architecture In point of their tendency to

development. They speak about 'bio-technlcal mutations', 

'bio-rhythm'." 

In recent years, architects have been looking for a new 

language of architecture, that has been explained under two 

main concepts in this pa per. This new language of architecture 

includes the concepts related with disorder. It seems to be 

based upon the injection of some scientific concepts and 

methods and technological outputs into architectural design. 

Scientific and technological revolutionary developments 

providing to solve complex processes of nature and to 

understand dynamic nature at micro scale have attracted 

attention of architects as a source of a new architectural 

language. Although they confirm this interest by different 

reasons, it is mostly related with their formal anxieties. They 

have usually reduced theories and concepts of science to 

the determination of formal order and a design process in 

architecture. This situation is not new for architecture, similar 

assertions, struggles, demands, expectations with different 

emphases were valid for architecture of the beginning of 

the twentieth century. In this period, architects completely 

struggled to create a new architecture by the use of scientific 

knowledge such as; 'non-dimensional geometric forms, four 

dimensional space' and 'dynamic processes of nature'. One of 

the differences between two situations is today's architects 

have an opportunity to concretise their understandings 

by computer technology. At the extreme level, they have 

completely produced some projects in digital space. This is 

real that new concepts have been concretely injected into 

existing architectural theory and practice. 

NOTES 

1 Pollio Vitruvius, 1960, The Ten Books On Architecture, 

Translated by M.H. Morgan, Dover edition, New York: Dover 

Publications, p: 13. The first edition of the English translation 

by M.H. Morgan, originally was published by the Harvard 

University Press in 1914. 

2 Leon Battista Albert!, 1986, The Ten Books Of Architecture 

[De re aedificatoria]. The Leonl Edition, New York: Dover 

Publications, p: 140. 

3 Alberto Perez-Gomez, 1983, Architecture and the Crisis of 

Modern Science, Cambridge, MA: the MIT press, pp: 18-38. 

4 Gottfried Semper, 1853, Entwurf eines Systems der 

vergleichenden Stillehre, in Hans and Manfred Semper, ed, 

1884, Kleine Schriften, Stuttgart. Quoted in Caroline van Eck, 

1994, Organicism in Nineteenth-Century Architecture: an 

Inquiry into Its Theoretical and Philosophical Background, 

Amsterdam: Architectura & Natura Press, p: 230. 

5 Caroline van Eck, ibid, p: 239. 

6 Robert Venturl, 1966, Complexity and Contradiction, 

in C. Jencks, K. Kropf, eds. Theories and Manifestoes of 

Contemporary Architecture, (Great Britain: Academy Editions, 

1997), p:40. 

7 Jeffrey Kipnis, Towards a New Architecture: Folding (1993) In 

Charles Jencks, Karl Kropf (ed), ibid, p: 121. 

8 Alejandro Zaera-Polo, 1997, "Forget Heisenberg" in CC. 

Davidson, (ed), 1997, Anybody, New York: Anyone Corporation, 

pp: 203-204. 

9 Jeffrey Kipnis, "Forms of Irrationality" in C. Jencks, K. Kropf 

(ed). Theories and Manifestoes of Contemporary Architecture, 

p: 289. 

10 Daniel Libeskind,TheVictoria& Albert Museum Boilerhouse 

Extension, Architectural Design 67 (no: 9/10, September- 

October, 1997), p: 66.

11 Daniel Libeskind, ibid, p: 66. 26 Jeffrey Kipnis, 1993, "Towards a New Architecture" In Greg 

12 Patrik Schumacher, 2003, Digital Hadid 

Lynn (ed), ibid, pp: 42-43, 

http://www.patrikschumacher.com/digitalhadid.htm 27 Maurice Nio & Lars Spuybroek, "The Strategy ofthe Form", 

13 Greg Lynn, 1993, Architectural Curvilinearity: the Folded, 

the Pliant and the Supple, Architectural Design, {102), pp: 8-9. 

14 Peter Eisenman, 1993, Folding in Time: The Singularity of 

Rebstock, ibid, pp: 23-25. 

15 Peter Eisenman, 1993, Rebstock Park Masterplan, ibid, p: 27. 

16 Peter Eisenman, 1993, Center for the Arts, ibid, p:31. 

17 Alejandro Zaera-Polo, 1997, Forget Heisenberg, In CC. 

Davidson, ed, 1997, Anybody, p: 208, 


http://www.patrikschumacher.com/dlgltalhadld.htm 

19 Patrik Schumacher, 2006 The Sky-scraper revitalized: 

Differentiation, Interface, Navigation 

http://www.patrikschumacher.com/skyscrapers.htm 


http://www.patrikschumacher.com/digitalhadld.htm 

21 Patrik Schumacher, 2004, Responsive Environments - From 

Drawing to Scripting 

http://wv^w.patri kschumacher.com/AADRLDrawingScripting. 

html 


http://www.patrikschumacher.com/digitalhadid.htm 

23 Greg Lynn, "An Advanced Form of Movement", Architectural 

Design 67 (no: 5/6, May-June, 1997), p: 55. 

24Greg Lynn,"BioTime'; In Cynthia C. Davidson (ed), ANYTIME, 

(New York: Anyone Corporation, 1999), pp: 267-271. 

25 Peter Eisenman, 1993, "Alteka Office Building", in Greg Lynn 

(ed). Architectural Design, (102), p: 28. 

(1996), http://www.v2.nl/DEAF/96/nodes/NOX/text1 .html

D i S G D U R S E O N T H E I N T E R D I S C I P L I N A R Y D A N C E F L O D R 

Tom Inns 

University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom 

t.g.inns@dundee.ac.uk 

Vicky Hale 

University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom 

v.hale@dundee.ac.uk 

Abstract 

There is an increasing recognition of the importance of 

interdisciplinary research, this approach could potendally 

solve many of the worlds 21" Century research challenges. 

This is particularly true in research associated with design. 

This paper reports on Designing for the 21'' Century a £6.5 

million interdisciplinary research initiative supported by the 

UK's Arts & Humanities Research Council and Engineering & 

Physical Sciences Research Council. Between 2005 and 2009 

this initiative is explonng design's new emergent posidon, the 

roles that the 21=' Century designer might perform and the 

new knowledge and understanding needed to underpin these 

developments. The paper starts by reviewing the structure of 

this Initiative, its aims and the two phases of research activity, 

which it is supporting. The interdisciplinary journey taken by 

21 Research Cluster projects funded through Phase 1 of the 

Initiative is then explored; this is described as a five stage 

process. The paper then reviews four emergent positions for 

design disciplines In the 2r' Century and four new roles that 

the designer might perform. 

Background 

In the UK, as in other countries, there is an increasing 

recognirion of the importance of interdisciplinary research. 

So many problems, issues and opportuniries that confront 

society can only be explored through such an approach. In 

response, many universities are restructuring departments, 

schools and faculries to reflect the need to research in this 

way. These developments on the ground are influenced by 

shifts in research funding policy, with bodies such as the 

UK research councils steadily increasing the proporrion of 

funding assigned to interdisciplinary research programmes. 

In the words of Research Councils UK (RCUK), the body that 

represents all research councils in the UK (RCUK, 2005): '...novel 

interdisciplinary research is needed to solve many, if not all, of 

the next decade's major research challenges.' 

These developments apply to all disciplines but are cleariy 

highly relevant to current developments in the discipline 

of design. In the UK the Cox Review (COX, 2005) has recently 

reported on the role design and creativity have to play in 

building the UK's narional competitiveness. Like many reports 

before, the review concludes creativity and design have an 

important role to play, but only when integrated with technology 

and business, i.e. driven by an interdisciplinary approach. 

If we examine design in the 21" Century we can quickly 

see why this might be the case, all around us what we are 

designing is changing. New technologies support the crearion 

and embodiment of new forms of product and service; new 

pressures on business and society demand the design of 

solutions to Increasingly complex problems, sometimes local 

often global in nature; customers, users and stakeholders 

are no longer passive recipients of design, expectations are 

higher, increased participarion is often demanded. 

Design pracrice needs to be highly adaptive and innovarive to 

meet the needs of this rapidly changing operaring environment. 

Generating the new knowledge and understanding needed 

to support these developments requires a collaborarion of

minds and provides some clear challenges for those engaged 

In design research. 

Overview of the Designing for the 21*' Century Research 

Initiative 

This paper reports on the "Designing for the 21'' Century" 

research initiative, which is currently exploring design's new 

emergent position, the roles that the 2P' Century designer 

might perform and the new knowledge and understanding 

needed to underpin these developments. 

This five year programmefunded bythe UK's Arts&Humanities 

Research Council (AHRC) and Engineering & Physical Sciences 

Research Council (EPSRC) aims to support interdisciplinary 

design research in universities across the UK. 

The AHRC and the EPSRC both started considering a 

programme directed towards interdisciplinary design research 

in 2002. Following consultation with representatives from the 

UK design research community the Designing for the 21'' 

Century Initiative was formally announced in January 2004 

with a call for Phase 1 research cluster project proposals. 

The AHRC and EPSRC have each committed £3.25 million to 

fund the initiative activities between Jan 2005 and Dec 2009. 

The total budget of £6.5 million has been split between two 

phases of research. £1 million has been used to support the 

Phase 1 research cluster projects; £5.5 million is being used 

to fund Phase 2 research projects. Across both phases the 

Initiative has the following aims: 

- To foster the formation of a new diverse community with a 

common reference framework and shared understanding of 

theoretical concepts, cultures, methods and languages. 

- To stimulate new ways of design thinking able to meet the 

challenges of designing for 2 V Century society. 

-Tosupportleading-edgedesign research that is self-reflective, 

socially aware, economically enterprising and internationally 

significant. 

The Phase 1 research cluster call, announced in March 2004, 

was launched to support cross-sector and cross-disciplinary 

networking activities through the formation of research 

clusters. In doing this, the aim was to build new relationships 

within the design research community, particularly between 

design disciplines and groups sharing common ground but 

with limited previous opportunity for collaboration. 

In June 2004,129 proposals for Phase 1 research clusters were 

submitted. 21 of these proposals were selected for support by 

a commissioning panel in September 2004. Between January 

and December 2005 each of these funded research clusters 

organised a series of workshops, seminars and meetings to 

support the development of design understanding. Table 1 

provides an overview of each ofthe Phase 1 research cluster 

projects; more detailed information on each Is available at 

www.design21.dundee.ac.uk or by accessing the relevant uri 

in column 4 of Table 1. 

Cluster title PI Institution URL 

Design and Dr Calvin University of www.emergent 

Performance Taylor Leeds objects.co.uk 

Non-Place Prof Richard University of http://ace.caad. 

Coyne Edinburgh ed.ac.uk/NonPlace 

Technology & DrAndy Sheffield www.technology 

Social Action Dearden Hallam andsocialaction. 

University org 

Group Creativity Dr. Hilary University of www.creativityin 

in Design Johnson Bath design.org.uk 

The Healing Dr Jacques King's College www.the-space- 

Environment Mizan London works.org 

Spatial Imagination DrJane UCL www.spatial 

in Design Rendeli imagination.org 

Nature Inspired Thorsten University of www.nature- 

Creative Design Schnier Birmingham inspired.org 

The Emotional Prof Martin University of www.emotional 

Wardrobe Wool ley the Arts wardrobe.com 

Spatiality in DrJohn Stell University of www.leeds.ac. 

Design Leeds uk/SiD 

Discovery in Prof Ian UWE http://www.ip- 

Design Parmee cc.org.uk/did/ 

Design Imaging Gordon Mair University of www.dmem. 

Strathclyde strath.ac.uk/ 

designimaging/ 

index.htm

Cluster title PI Institution URL Project title PI Institution URL 

Design Dr.Jillian University of www.dmem.strath Personalised Sandy Black University of 

Performance MacBryde Strathciyde .ac.uk/desperf Fashion Products the Arts 

Synergy Tools John Wood Goldsmiths www.attainable- Branded Prof Richard University of http://ace.caad.ed 

College utopias.orq/ds21 meeting places Coyne Edinburgh .ac.uk/NonPlace 

Screens and Prof Gunther Institute of http://www.lki.ac Practical Design Dr Andrew Sheffield www.technology 

Social Landscape Kress Education ,uk/research/ 

desiqn.html 

for Social Action Dearden Hallam 

University 

Outdoor Spaces Prof. Lamine UWE http://environ DEPtH: Designing Prof Alan Dix Lancaster 

for Young People Mahjoubi ment.uwe.ac.uk./ for Physicality University 

andsocialaction 

publicspaces/ Embracing Prof Jeffrey The Open www.complexity 

The view ofthe Judy University of http://vkp.leeds. Complexity in Johnson University anddesign.net 

child Torrington Sheffield ac.uk/Drive/goto Design 

building.jsp? Inclusive New Dr Helen University of 

buildinq=41Ğ559 Media Design Kennedy East London 

interrogating Sandy Black University of www.interrogat Services in science LucyKimbell University of 

Fashion the Arts inqfashion.orq and technology- Oxford 

Sensory Design Brent Richards University of www.design based enterprises 

the Arts laboratory.co.uk Stress Computation Dr Wanda University of 

Designing Prof Mark University of www.inter Visualisation, and Lewis Warwick 

Physical Artefacts d'Inverno Westminster disciplinary.co.uk Measurement 

Ideal states Prof Alastair Giasgov/ www.idealstates. Design Synthesis Dr Alison University of 

Macdonald School of Art co.uk and Shape McKay Leeds 

Complexity in Prof Jeffrey Open www.com plexity Generation 

Design Johnson University anddesign.net Design Dr James University of 

Table 1: Summary of Phase 1 research cluster projects. ScoreBOARD 

Performance: Moultrie Cambridge 

The Welcoming Prof Jeremy Royal College 

During the second half of 2005 the Phase 2 research cail Workplace Myerson of Art 

was drafted and the Phase 2 research call was announced in People-centred Prof Ian University of http://www.ip-cc 

January 2006. This was launched to support more substantive Computational Parmee the West of .org.uk/did/ 

interdisciplinary research projects of between 12-24 month Environments England 

duration. Funding of up to £400,000 was available for each Affective Prof Chris Rust Sheffield 

project. In Apnl 2006, 65 proposals for Phase 2 research Communication, Hallam 

funding were submitted. Following a detailed process of peer Personalisation & University 

review over the summer of 2006, a commissioning panel Social Experience 

met in September 2006 to consider project applications. 20 Bike Off 2 Adam Thorpe University of 

projects were selected for Phase 2 funding. Table 2 provides the Arts 

a very brief overview of each of the 20 Phase 2 research Emergent Objects Prof Mick University of www.emergent 

projects, more detailed information on each is available at Wallis Leeds objects.co.uk 

www.design21.dundee.ac.uk Democratising Lois Weaver Queen Mary, 

Technology University of 

London 

.org

Project title 

2020 Vision-The 

UK Design 

Industry in 2020 

Sustainability for 

Metadesign 

Multimodal 

PI Institution URL 

Prof Alex 

Williams 

Prof John 

Wood 

representation Sonne 

of Urban Space 

The design and 

refurbishment 

in schools 

University of 

Salford 

Goldsmiths 

College, 

Prof Wolfgang University of 

Dr Andree 

Woodcock 

Strathclyde 

Coventry 

University 

wwv/.attainable- 

utopias.org/ds21 

Table 2: Summary of Phase 2 research projects 

This paper reports on different aspects ofthe Designing for 

the 21'' Century Initiative. Firstly, the process follow/ed by 

the 21 Phase 1 Research Clusters during their 12 months of 

operation is reviewed. The ensuing insights into design's 

emergent position are then explored. 

Phase 1 research clusters: The interdisciplinary journey 

Each of the 21 research clusters supported during Phase 1 

of the Designing for the 21" Century Initiative has explored 

a predefined theme. Each of these explorations represents a 

journey in building interdisciplinary understanding. Outlined 

below are some observations on the different approaches that 

have been taken in undertaking ofthis work. These are based 

on the various reports and presentations that have been made 

by key researchers from the clusters during 2005 and 2006,from 

the direct observations of the authors in their roles as Initiative 

Director and Initiative Co-ordinator and from the results of a 

survey carried out in July 2005 by Maria Panagiotldou a PhD 

candidate based at the University of Dundee. 

These insights are useful at two levels. Firstly, they tell us 

something about the challenges associated with building an 

interdisciplinary understanding of design and its knowledge 

needs. Secondly, they also provide useful Insights into the role 

design basedapproachescan play infacilitating interdisciplinary 

discourse. As researchers this knowledge is useful as we will all 

probably find ourselves working increasingly in collaboration 

through different forms of network projects in the future. 

The original project proposals for each ofthe Phase 1 Research 

Clusters provided a plan outlining the process and methods 

that would be followed in establishing an interdisciplinary 

discourse into the topic under investigation. During 2005, 

the clusters held 126 events. 70 of these events were different 

forms of workshops, 8 involved exhibitions, 18 were symposia 

or conferences and 30 were meetings focused on planning 

cluster debate. 

Although not made explicit within a majority of the research 

cluster proposals these activities were designed to guide 

members ofthe cluster through a journey of Interdisciplinary 

enquiry. Reflection on the collective activity of all 21 research 

projects during 2005 suggests 5 generic stages within this 

iterative journey. An overview of this process is provided 

below with a summary ofthe key challenges associated with 

each stage and descriptions of some of the techniques used 

by cluster leaders to overcome difficulties. 

Stage 1: Identifying Common Goals 

Each ofthe research clusters began trading in early 2005 with a 

set of goals that had been developed and laid out in the original 

proposal documentation. An early challenge for each ofthe 

cluster leaders was defining the topic of enquiry in an open 

way that stimulated interest from a wide range of disciplines. 

Different strategies were used for achieving this.The Emotional 

Wardrobe cluster very carefully chose a very charismatic title 

to describe their work. Some of the clusters sought to build 

a very large network of collaborators beyond the originating 

project team, using the cluster to build new connections. This 

was exemplified by the Interrogating Fashion cluster whose 

eariy events saw cluster membership grow substantially to 38 

members, all united by an interest in the paradoxes of fashion. 

Others mindfully kept cluster membership more focused. The 

Ideal States team realised that by focusing their enquiry on the 

health-related issues of western Scotland, their exploration 

could be bounded and interaction between collaborators 

could be more focused, but with a clear intention to gain 

generic insights for broader application in other situations. 

Figures 1 & 2 showthe results of two questions thatformed part 

of a survey sent out by Maria Panagiotldou to the members 

of research clusters in July 2005. Maria sent out a total of 509

questionnaires and received 163 replies. In her questionnaire 

cluster members were asked a series of questions about 

why they had joined cluster activities and how they were 

benefiting from the experience of participating In the cluster 

communities. Figure 1 demonstrates that the main driver for 

joining a research cluster was passion for the topic. Figure 2 

shows the importance of peers and colleagues in spreading 

information about cluster activities. 

Assigneö by em pi oyer 

To enhance CV 

Olher 

Secure lulute funding 

Networking opporiuilies 

Personal deveiopmenl 

Passion lor Ihe lopic 

percentage o I lesponses 

(based on 163 responses) 

Figure 1. Chart showing the main factor driving individuals to 

join a Phase 1 research cluster. 

From website 

From friends 

From employer/supervisor 

Oilier 

From collaegue 

percentage of responses 

(based on 163 responses) 

Figure 2. Chart showing the main route by which members of 

research clusters found about is existence. 

Stage 2; Pooling different approaches 

Most of the clusters enjoyed the involvement of technology 

orientated disciplines such as computing and engineering 

alongside those homed within an Art & Design environment and 

other areas such as Management, Psychology, Dance, Medicine, 

Language and Bioscience. All participants shared a passion for 

the topic under review but had to build respect for the diverse 

qualitative and quantitative research approaches taken by 

different cluster members in exploring territory. In most of the 

research clusters this was marked by an early conflict between 

rigour and holism. Many of the cluster members represented 

disciplinesgroundedinqualitativeresearchmethodsand practice 

based modes of enquiry, others developed new knowledge 

and understanding through quantitative methods. It proved 

important to spend sufiîcient time to explain these approaches 

amongst cluster members. The embracing complexity cluster 

used a programme of 'Complexity Master Classes' to build 

understanding. Others chose to explore different standpoints 

by engaging in practical tasks, the Emotional Wardrobe cluster 

for example used a series of workshop activities throughout the 

12 months ofthe cluster operations. 

A key observation from this stage is the importance of 

individuals actually being able to communicate their methods 

and practices to others, to work in an interdisciplinary manner 

we must first of all understand our own disciplines. This is an 

interesting challenge for those engaged in design research 

where so many methods and approaches are still emergent 

and poorly articulated. 

Stage 3: BuiSding a coherent view 

Mapping existing knowledge and understanding within each 

zone of enquiry was a challenge for each research cluster. As 

Andy Dearden leader of the Technology and Social Action 

cluster commented (DEARDEN, 2006): 

The early workshops were open-ended struggles to establish 

coherent clusters of issues from a diverse group that extended 

from Indymedia activists, through trade-unions to open-source 

software developers. 

Much knowledge and understanding could be extracted from 

published sources, and a number ofthe clusters have collated 

very useful lists of relevant past research material. For example, 

the Design Imaging cluster who have built a profile ofthe role 

ofthe different human senses in design. For most participants 

the large body of existing knowledge came as a surprise, as 

Professor Ian Parmee leader ofthe Discovery in Design cluster 

noted (PARMEE, 2006). 

IVlost [participants] were largely unaware of the extensive body of 

existing design research although being active in their particular 

areas. The workshops therefore represented an opportunity to

position and understand tlieir design activities witiiin a more 

global context in terms of associated research. 

in some areas of design practice where l

emergent 

position 

Figure 4. Emergent position 1 

disciplines 

Redefinition of existing design 

One of the research clusters, Interrogating Fashion explored 

the emergent contexts within which fashion design is 

now operating and the strategies that the discipline of 

fashion design might follow to make the most valid future 

contribution. Such a research discourse could be happening 

within every design discipline, for example, product design, 

graphic design, engineering design and so on. We have a lot 

to learn from Interrogating Fashion about how to conduct such 

a debate. Outlined in Figure 4 is a graphical representation of 

how the boundaries of a design discipline might expand in 

response to the demands of new contexts associated with 

21" century society. Many of the new contexts for every 

design discipline could be common, a lot could be learnt from 

comparing the strategies that each might adopt to deal with 

changing operating contexts. 

Figure 5. Emergent position 2 

disciplines 

Development of new design 

The next emergent position for design, development of new 

design disciplines is shown in Figure 5.This position embodies 

some of the debate generated within clusters like Design 

Imaging and Sensory Design clusters. Both these clusters (and 

others) suggested the emergence of new design disciplines 

based on the observation that we are designing new types 

of object, product & system in the 21" century, in the case 

of Sensory Design, potentially the design ofthe gastronomic 

experience. These new approaches find their routes in 

existing design disciplines but roadmaps for future discipline 

development needs to be identified. 

Figure 6. Emergent position 3 - Development of meta-deslgn 

disciplines 

Figure 6 suggests the development of meta design disciplines 

that act as bridge between existing approaches to design. This 

development captures the spirit of discourse within clusters 

like Synergy Tools and perhaps the Emotional Wardrobe. 

Here we see 21" Century design being dependent on the 

evolution of new meta design disciplines that help navigate 

between existing discipline silos. Again driven by the need 

for new design approaches to address 21" century issues like 

sustainability, heath and security. 

Finally, Figure 7, explores the development of design outwith 

design (outwith being a quaint Medieval term associated 

with being beyond the city walls). Many of the research 

clusters found themselves with a least one foot in this camp. 

Clusters like Ideal States, Technology & Social Action, Embracing 

Complexity in Design all explored howdesign knowledge might 

be exported and imported across the traditional borders of 

design. How might design inform healthcare and vice versa, in

the Ideal States cluster Professor Alastair MacDonald explicitly 

explored design's contribution to healthcare beyond the 

design of product, environment and communication material. 

He suggests that design tends to person-centric, healthcare 

he suggests is not person-centric as we might think but 

pathology-centric, ifwewantto understand the export market 

for design we need to understand the currencies, concepts 

and values beyond the walls. 

^^^^ traditfona,^^ 

Figure 7. Emergent position 4 - Development of design 

outwith design 

Emergent roles for the designer 

Alongside these emergent positions for design disciplines the 

clusters also suggest many new emergent roles for the designer 

inthe2l"Century.Theseare probably best thought of additional 

roles not displacement activities for the widely recognised skills 

of conceptualisation and synthesis. The four roles described 

below give a flavour of where the designer might be heading. 

Designer as communicator of value 

This brings to mind the work of the Des/gn Performance cluster, 

here researchers explored conceptual approachesforassessing 

design's economic contribution, based on examination ofthe 

tangible and intangible impact of design investment. This 

exposes a core challenge for the designer, communicating 

their value in resolving issues, particularly outwith the walls 

of design described in Figure 7. Here the contribution will 

invariably not be a new product or building or physical entity 

that can readily evaluated. 

Designer as facilitator of thinking 

Again another core addition to the designers growing portfolio 

of skills in a 21" century context. We can see from the clusters 

that others are being empowered to design. The View of the 

Child captures a child's perspective in the design process. How 

do we design, design to allow extended participation. The 

21" Century designer will need to know how to mobilise and 

energise the thinking of others. 

Designer as visualiser ofthe intangible 

Perhaps more of an extension of existing roles than an entirely 

new one, the contemporary designer already visualises and 

synthesises future possibilities but still this role is associated 

with physical entities. In the emergent positions for design, 

so many of the challenges might be associated with the 

visualisation of the abstract and intangible, perhaps the 

visualisation of systems, relationships, emotions, experiences 

and networks. The work of the Designing Physical Artefacts 

cluster and others centred on translating concepts from 

one form to another, particularly the physical to the digital 

and back again. Spatial Imagination in Design explored the 

translations ofthe intangible in the mind. 

Designer as navigator of complexity 

The interdisciplinary world is a world of complexity and 

ambiguity, work from clusters like Embracing Complexity in 

Design, demonstrated the role design could play in helping 

us understand complexity in contemporary design, but also 

the role an understanding of complexity theory might play 

in helping designers understand their own roles. Certainly 

the designer with the skills of communication, visualisation 

and facilitation described above is well placed to act as an 

interlocutor between disciplines and will ultimately help 

navigate between issues and solutions. 


The authors acknowledge the support of the AHRC & EPSRC. 

The authors also thank all those who have participated in the 

Initiative's projects for the access that they have given to their 

Ideas and thinking.

References 

COX, G. 2005, Cox Review London: HMSO 

DEARDEN, A. 2006. Technology & Social Action, in: İNNS, T.G. 

8i HALE, v., 2006, Design Dialogues Proceedings of Design 

Dialogues Symposium, 7th March 2006 London. Dundee: 

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, p.l 1 

PARMEE, !. 2006, Discovery in Design: People-Centred 

Computational Environents. In: INNS, T.G. & HALE, V., 

2006, Design Dialogues Proceedings of Design Dialogues 

Symposium, 7th March 2006 London. Dundee: Duncan of 

Jordanstone College of Art & Design, p.l 1 

www.rcui

G I V I N G V O I C E TD E Q U I T A B L E C D L L A B D RATI D N IN P A R T I C I P A T D R Y D E S I G N 

R E S E A R C H 

Marlene Ivey 

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design 

University of Dundee, Scotland, UK 

m.ivey@dundee.ac.uk 

Yue Li 

yuelidesign, Beijing, China 

yuelidesign@hotmail.com 

Mark O'Connor 

Dundee School of Architecture, University of Dundee 

c.m.oconnor@dundee.ac.uk 

Dr Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders 

MakeTools, LLC, Columbus, Ohlo,USA 

liz@maketools.com 

Abstract 

An AHRC funded research project titled Experimenting with 

the Co-expenence Environment {June 2005 - June 2006) 

culminated In a physical environment designed in resonance 

with a small group of participants. The participants emerged 

from different disciplines coming together as a group to share 

their expertise and contribute their knowledge to design.They 

engaged in storytelling, individual and co-thinking, creating 

and co-creating, sharing ideas that did not require justification, 

proposed designs even though most were not designers ...and 

played. The research questioned how a physical environment 

designed specifically for co-experiencing might contribute to 

new knovifledge In design? 

Through play and by working in acrion together the 

parricipants demonstrated the potenrial of a physical co- 

experience environment to funcrion as a scaffold for inter 

disciplinary design thinking, saying, doing and making (Ivey 

& Sanders, 2006)'. Ulrimateiy the research questioned how 

this Dr Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders outcome might influence our 

approach to engaging parricipants in design research and 

experimentarion? 

Professor Ian Ricketts 

Chair of Assistive Systems and Healthcare Computing 

University of Dundee 

i.w.ricketts@dundee.ac.uk 

Elizabeth Kirk 

Law and Accounting, University of Dundee 

e.a.kirk@dundee.ac.uk 

Lorna Stevenson 

Accountancy and Business Finance, University of Dundee 

l.a.stevenson@dundee.ac.uk 

Yen-Chiang Chang, PhD Candidate 

International Law, University of Dundee 

y.c.z.chang@dundee.ac.uk 

Introduction 

Since parricipatory design methodology began to take shape 

^ the prevalent view of experience as something individual has 

expanded to include the experience of collecrive creativity - 

defined as co-design by Sanders (2002) and co-experience by 

Battarbee (2003).Throughoutthe 1980s, understanding ofthe 

' This paper deals with one aspect of the Co-experience project Ivey & 

Sanders (2006) Designing a Physical Environment for Co-experience and 

Assessing Participant Use to be published in Wonderground (2006), the 

Design ResearchSodetylnternationalConferenceProceedingsfullyexplains 

the project, includes illustrations from the probe returns and pictures ofthe 

co-experience environment.The co-experience environment can. 

^The historical starting point forthe dialogue on user participation began 

in Scandinavia in the 1960s, and aimed to increase the value of industrial 

production by engaging workers in system development. This resulted 

in the Collective Resources Approach (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) 

in the 1970s. The territory has since been populated by design research 

conducted in the design industry and academia primarily in the USA, 

Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the UK. One of the first design 

participation conferences was organised by The Design Research Society 

in 1971 with proceedings edited by Nigel Cross.

value of user life experience to designing gained momentum 

and by the'1990s the search was on for new tools and methods 

of generative, as opposed to evaluative, inquiry' (Sanders 

1999:1-2). Methods and tools that acted as scaffolding built 

within and around the design process to support the user as a 

participant in generating design vision. 

"Scaffolds are communicational spaces that support 

and serve people's creativity, enhancing the conviviality 

of their lives. In the future, designers will be the creators 

of scaffolds upon which everyday people can express 

their creativity" (Sanders, 2003:37). 

A 2004 contextual search and review into methods and tools 

to support collective creativity revealed that research based 

on co-designing or co-experience took place in physical 

spaces that did not appear to be specifically designed for 

this activity. Kristensen (2004:7) also referred to the limited 

address of the physical context of creativity. Consequently, 

Experimenting with the Co-experience Environment, an AHRC 

funded research project was launched in 2005 and aimed 

to create an experience prototype - a physical environment 

designed specifically for co-experience (Ivey, 2005) that was 

concerned with the physical/spatial and social aspects of 

experience (Buchenau & Fulton, 2000). In essence, it was a 

'scaffold'designed in resonance with participants - a physical 

environment where people from different disciplines came 

together to share their experience and contribute their 

knowledge and understanding to designing. 

The co-experience research questioned how the design of a 

physical co-experience environment might contribute to new 

knowledge in design and was conducted using action research 

methodology.The three conditions (Swann, 2002:55) required 

bythis research strategyarethatthe subject matter be situated 

in a social practice subject to change, the project proceed 

through a spiral of cycles of planning, acting, observing and 

reflecting in a systematic and documented study, and that it be 

a participatory activity of equitable collaboration. According 

to Swann, In employing action research methodology, there is 

often a shortfall in addressing the third condition. 

Rather than a participatory activity of equitable collaboration, 

participant involvement is conventionally imbedded in 

the research as data, analysis or findings and participant 

contribution is anonymously acknowledged.The co-experience 

environment project was configured intentionally for a small 

group of participants with shared expertise to allow the 

research, in the longerterm, to explore equitable collaboration 

in participatory design research. As the research progressed, 

the participants agreed to reflect on their engagement and to 

collaborate in disseminating the research outcomes. 

This paper deals with one aspect ofthe co-experience project. 

It gives voice to the participants who, for the most part, are 

academics engaged in research in their own fields.Their writing 

style and their tendency toward personal view are perhaps an 

interesting departure from what might be perceived by some as 

normal for an academic paper. It is too early to say conclusively 

whether or not giving voice in this way represents a value 

or equity in participatory design research. An exploratory 

exercise, the outcomes offer an insight with regard to the value 

of equitable collaboration and the findings provide tentative 

proposals that might influence our approach to engaging 

participants in design research and experimentation. 

Co-experience and Equitable Collaboration: Selecting 

Participants and Designing 

Pre-knowledge, gender and age were the three main criteria 

for selecting participants. It was crucial that all participants 

shared expertise in a particuiararea toestablish a common base 

for the group who emerged from diverse sectors - accounting 

and finance, applied computing, architecture, design, fine art, 

law, and town and regional planning. Ultimately the group 

was comprised of three female and three male participants 

and spanned two of Peter Levine's age classifications (Schmitt, 

1999:228), the Us (34-52) and I Generations (24-33) with all 

group members sharing expertise in thefield of environmental 

sustainability. 

A simple probe^ pack was designed for the initial phase ofthe 

research, using the criteria established by the Luotain Project 

^The probe approach (Gaver et at 1999) is a method for engaging in 

a visual based distance- dialogue with users to provide insight for 

design creativity.

(2002) as a guide." The guiding principles forthe design ofthe 

co-experience environment were the four phases of creative 

thinking with their convergent and divergent characteristics 

(Schmitt 1999:146). According to Csiksezentmihaiyi (Schmitt 

1999:147) the convergent phases require familiar, comfortable 

surroundings with the divergent phases better suited to 

novel, beautiful surroundings. Without revealing the guiding 

principles or the participant cohort, the probe package was 

sent to each participant to establish individual perspectives 

on their thinking/working environments. Where did the 

participants think/work and what characteristics of their 

environments were evident in their probe returns? Essentially 

a record of individual experience, the probe returns ~ a 

combination of image and text - were analysed for similarity 

and difference and collated to construct an overview. 

The findings revealed a high degree of similarity, Identifying six 

main themes in the participant's prlvatethinking environments. 

Perhaps unsurprisinglyfora participant group with expertise In 

environmental sustainabillty, nature was a determining factor 

in their thinking environments. Characterised (in descending 

order) as nature, activity/motion, visual characteristics, social 

interaction, time/privacy, and sound present or absent in 

their surroundings, these characteristics were interpreted and 

proved elemental In developing the design concept forthe co- 

experience environment- a design concept^ that was guided 

by an empathic connection to the participants, cothinklng 

with them through their probe returns (Fig. 1). 

^ TheLuotain projectguldelines recommend probing twenty to thirty 

individuals. The Co-experience Project contacted forty-two people 

with expertise in sustainabillty and sent probes to eight people. 

^ The design decisions for the co-experience environment were 

rooted in the participant probe returns though it Is not possible 

within the scope of this paper to be explicit with regard to each design 

decision. For more detail please see ivey & Sanders (2006) Designing 

a Physical Environment for Co-experience and Assessing Participant 

Use to be published in Wonderground 2006, the Design Research 

Society International Conference Proceedings for more detail. The 

paper communicates the methods used to create the co-experience 

environment, prompt coexperlence and assess participant use ofthe 

co-experience environment. The paper will also be available from 

www.creativekit.co.uk and www.maketools.com 

0" UM. —- 

Figure 1. Sample pages from the participant probe returns. 

The returns were analysed for similarity and difference and 

collated to construct an overview and inform the design 

decisions for the co-experience environment. 

On the 6 December 2005 slx^ participants met together for the 

first time as a group and used the co-experience environment 

for a three-hour period. Following a short bnefing and 

individual exploration ofthe space, they were called together 

to play a bespoke game designed to accommodate an element 

of play (ivey 2001) as well as to create common understanding 

and structure activity (Brandt & Messeter 2004). The game was 

essentially a dice and a set of cards (Fig. 2). The participants 

took turns throwing the dice, which randomly prompted 

them to select a senes of instructional cards, take another turn 

or tell a story. 

Figure 2. Co-experience game, cards and dice. 

^Three of the eight participants planned for the experiment declined 

forty-eight hours before the experiment began. The experiment 

could progress without difficulty with six participants but not five. Yue 

Li, project assistant for the design ofthe co-experience environment 

met the criteria for participant selection. She agreed to act as the 

sixth participant, remaining highly professional throughout. The 

integrity ofthe experiment was maintained.

Using different cards at different times the, participants 

selected the places {Fig. 3) in which they wished to work 

individually, in pairs and ultimately as a group, ending with a 

walk-about debriefing, a social buffetand a take-away card that 

asked the participant to'make something that was a reflection 

of their co-experience'and to feedback at a later date. 

Figure 3. Views of the Co-experience Environment 'comfortable, 

familiar'zone on the left and the'novel, beautiful'zone on the right. 

Here the participants take another turn at storytelling^; 

their reflective vignettes give voice to their experience as a 

participant in the co-experience environment research. 

Elizabeth Kirk: Contribution and Curiosity 

I chose to participate in the co-experience project for two reasons 

- a desire to contribute something to the broader research 

community and curiosity. What could I, a lawyer with the drawing 

skills of a tipsy spider, contribute to a design project? 

Co-experience Probe - I assumed that we'd meet and talk 

about ideas for design, but the probe pack disabused me 

of that notion and left me none the wiser as to what I could 

contribute, If anything I was a little intimidated. We seemed to 

be encouraged to draw or make things and use these things 

to illustrate or compliment a diary. Yet 1 had only words to 

contribute, or at most the pictures I could paint with them. 

Worse was to come - we had to complete our probes within 

a set week which turned out to be one of my busiest weeks 

ofthe year, so I didn't even have time to paint pictures with 

''All writers received a briefing paper in June 2006 which included the 

aims and objectives for the paper, the EAD conference website, a draft 

abstract, timetable, writing plan, writing prompt and a walkthrough 

video ofthe coexperience space as an aide memoir. 

words. 1 felt as though 1 was skimping on my contribution and 

that the designer would have nothing to work with from my 

probe, so I tried to cheer it up with some simple drawings 

using the coloured pens we had been given and hoped that 

what I submitted would be of use. 

But 1 made a discovery of my own while keeping my diary - 

it made me think about how i used time. I had always been 

careful to manage time and use it effectively, squeezing as 

much as 1 could out of each day, but my diary showed me that 

squeezing was a bit of an issue for me. 1 needed space to think 

- physical space and space in time. 

1 had gained something but not what 1 had expected. I thought 

1 would learn about design, instead I submitted a paltry probe 

with poor pictures and not much else. This was going a bit 

against the grain - a lawyer never asks a question if they don't 

know the answer and every research project is carefully set up 

to ensure that the findings are manageable. I hadn't quite met 

the standards of a good lawyer. 

Co-experience Environment & Activity - It was with some 

trepidation then that I went to the co-experience experiment. 

And yet again I found I was being asked to do something 

different - play a game that appeared unrelated to the task at 

hand. Lawyers are used to playing games, but not ofthis sort. 

We were telling tales unrelated to work. Again lawyers are 

used to telling tales, but we were asked to reveal something 

of ourselves, something a lawyer never does. Nor do lawyers 

talk about issues unrelated to the case at hand, which is what 

the co-experience environment asked of us - at least at first. 

Then came "the real work" we were sent off to find a space 

to work in to design something". I sprinted off, absolutely 

^ At the end of game play the participants held six game cards to be 

used throughout to prompt co-experience activity. The game cards 

contained pieces of information that the participants were to use, 

either individually or in pairs, to explore design opportunities in their 

field of environmental sustainabiiity. These cards were designed to 

align activity with phase model guidelines'for how a creative process 

may consist of different phases; preparation, incubation, illumination 

and elaboration or evaluation' (Kristensen, 2004:8).

sure that everyone would want to work in the same space 

as I did and I v/anted to have a spot for me. When i got there 

no one else had joined me in the new spaced All the other 

spaces looked like extracts from rooms, this was an extract 

from outside and uttedy beautiful. It was easy to relax and get 

down to thinking, easy to find some Inspiration on the walls 

when thoughts were thin and, most of all, it had the most 

fantastic wiggle space. I could wiggle and shuffle and change 

position to my hearts content while I worked. Why was no one 

else here? Well, who cares? 1 enjoyed working there. 

We came back and had to share our ideas. Can you imagine 

a lawyer being asked to share his/her Intellectual property 

before all contracts are in place? But I did - beguiled by the 

space, the play and the wiggle room into sharing and enjoying 

the fun ofthe conversations. 

Part three of our participation in the experiment Involved 

discussing our Individual ideas with a colleague and coming 

up with a project that combined some elements of each idea. 

Again, in the surroundings and the ambience this was easy 

as was sharing these joined up ideas with the broader group. 

And now, at last, everyone came through to the new space 

and used the furniture in their own way. It was refreshing and 

relaxing and an enjoyable place in which to interact. 

Outcomes - We debriefed and enjoyed some hospitality and 

then departed. 1 returned to the coexperlence space as many 

rimes as I could that week. It was a good place to think and 

work. It made me think again about the need for space in 

my life, open space, quiet space and simply breathing space 

in which to think without deadlines, teaching prep or phone 

calls. As it happened I was also in the housing market and the 

co-experience space made me reassess what 1 wanted in a 

living space {to great effect I might add - 1 love my house!). I 

reconsidered organisation of my work and the need to create 

space in rime for thinking. I even reconsidered how I travel 

^ Elizabeth was the only participant who chose to work In the 

'novel, beautiful' space during this divergent thinking phase and 

consequently the only participant to support Csiksezentmihalyi's 

(Schmitt, 1999:147) hypothesis at that point in the co-experience 

activity. 

to work. Now I cycle as often as possible: a more sustainable 

mode of transport than driving. 

Lastly we had the 'take home make it' task to complete. Now 

I was in the swing ofthe co-experience project I saw this as 

an opportunity to have fun while getring ideas across. Others 

who looked at what I had made suggested I had not taken the 

process seriously, but 1 had - a serious point can be made in a 

humorous way. Now that is something that Is lacking in legal 

research on environmental Issues. And that Is something to 

pursue. If I take anything away from this to my own research 

it Is to remember to have fun In doing it, and remember that 

wriring can be entertaining as well as informative. 

So I started this process curious, I thought it would be good 

to give something to the wider community and I ended up 

reflecting on how I think and work and on what it takes to 

make both living and working sustainable for communiries 

and for me personally. 

Ian W. Ricketts: Refreshing View 

I am an engineer by training and a computer scienrist by trade. 

I collaborate In a range of research projects with colleagues 

from a variety of specialries but almost all are scienrists. They 

include anaestherists, biologists, dentists, genera! medical 

practitioners, nurses, pathologists, physicists, psychologists, 

statisricians and surgeons. So not only do we share a common 

language, but we also share a similar approach to research. 

When I am not at work 1 enjoy a litrie excitement in my life. I 

sail and race a single-handed dinghy that has more sail area 

than is sensible and consequently I swim quite a lot. 1 also own 

a sports/tourer motorcycle, which has taken me to the Alps for 

the last two summers. 

Recently life at work had been dull and so an invitation to 

collaborate with a group of folk including non-scientists, 

under the leadership of a designer based in a School of Art & 

Design, promised to be an adventure that I could not refuse. 

The motivarion was not solely one of a search for excitement. 

1 was also looking to refresh my view of research. I have spent 

the last twenty years leading research projects and i thought it 

would be srimulating to engage In a role In which my research

expertise was not immediately relevant but in which I might 

be able to contribute as a team member. I hoped it would 

give me new insights, which I could bring back to my other 

research activities. 

I am based in a school of computing and my teaching roles 

include teaching first year undergraduates about software 

development using the JAVA programming language, 

introducing third year students to Human-Computer 

Interaction and fourth year students to Industrial Team Project 

Management. I also contribute to a joint degree in Interactive 

Media Design with colleagues in the School of Design, but my 

involvement does not require me to extend beyond computing. 

Via the Co-experience project I hoped to explore aspects of 

design, which as yet I had not explored, and which I hoped 

would offer further opportunities for collaborative research. 

An almost inevitable consequence of growing older in academia 

is that life becomes busier and it gets increasingly difficult to 

set aside time to explore new opportunities. Engaging in the 

Co-experience project required me to make time available to 

explore and hopefully develop an outline research proposal. 

Lastly 1 thought it would be fun (and so it was). 

Co-experience Probes - Prior to meeting with my fellow 

collaborators I was asked to contribute an insight into how/ 

where/when I developed my research ideas. To assist in 

gathering these insights a 'probe' was provided in the form of 

a disposable camera to capture images of those environments 

that I found to be most productive and a range of items to 

help document the research opportunities as they happened 

e.g. colour pens, sticky paper, small notebook, etc. The 

accompanying advice was to use the probe materials if they 

helped but not to be constrained by them. I am completely 

unfamiliar with the use of this approach to capture events. I 

spent some time trying to use of probes and after some false 

starts 1 finally resorted to a much more familiar tool of drawing 

a Mind Map of my 'Research Opportunities'. I understand that 

my response to the probe, together with those from other 

contributors, informed the design of the space in which we 

subsequently met and collaborated. 

Co-expef/enceEnWron/nent&^lct/V/fy-So the day came when 

we met as a group in an environment constructed purposely 

to assist us in our collaboration. Following introductions, and 

an exploration of the range of workspaces, we participated 

in a game to build relationships based on sharing personal 

stories prompted by the random turn of a card. This 'ice 

breaker'was both entertaining and effective. After a relatively 

short time I felt at ease with my fellow collaborators and 

having exchanged some of our experiences I gained useful 

insights into their interests and motivations. Each collaborator 

then suggested a research area, which we discussed in small 

groups and then refined, based on the feedback provided in 

those discussions. Subsequently potential opportunities for 

pairing of proposals were identified and the two collaborators 

discussed what opportunities there were for implementing 

the planned research. 

Outcomes - The research idea we developed collaboratively 

has not yet emerged as a funded project but the benefit 

of using this style of collaboration to generate ideas has 

resurfaced. I recently attended a UK research council event at 

which twenty-five people (out of 120 applicants) were brought 

together for one week to explore and assemble competing 

research proposals for a fund of £1.5M.The event was termed 

a 'sandpit'. The group 1 contributed to was awarded a grant 

of £0.5M. I believe that group's success was in part due to 

what I gained from Experimenting with the Co-experience 

Environment and I expect there is more to come from my 

relatively small investment. 

Lorna Stevenson: Creative Accountability 

A posting on Hermes, our University's weekly distribution 

of messages to staff and students triggered my interest and 

involvement. I'd recently had some fairly invasive medical 

treatment and was very open to trying new experiences and 

trying to think about aspects of my life in new ways. 

Co-experience Probes - Elements of the wording of the 

invitation intrigued me - social interaction, sustainability, 

and cultural probe package. On receiving the probe and 

hearing what was required of me, I felt excited - excited by 

what I might learn about myself, excited by the possibilities 

of 'being creative' (the discipline of accounting is not 

positively known for Its creative members), excited by the 

prospect of working with new people on a new project.

and excited by the idea of working with non-accountants 

on 'real' academic research. 

However, I also felt a little daunted by the contents of the 

probe - the creative materials such as coloured card, colouring 

pens and camera are not a part of my daily work materials. 

Nonetheless, the project's edict to 'have fun and to make 

it fun' gave me enormous comfort; and so too did my belief 

that I understood intellectually what was required of me. 

Thus 1 would ensure that my contribution met the brief, as I 

understood It, even if It wasn't what was expected. 

The analogy ofthe probe as being like an instrument sent in 

by scientists to collect data from distant planets was also a 

good way ofthe researchers conveying their expectations. 

I deliberately thought about what I was doing that week, and 

attempted to note when I was thinking and which aspects of 

my environment were impacting on my thought processes. 

It is a challenge to attempt to convey an impression of what 

thoughts one is having and why - possibly more so If one is 

not familiar with the one conveying, their habits, daily routines 

and way of being. 

I am particularly interested in accountability - as a teaching 

topic, in terms of my own conduct, and as an area of research. 

It seems to me that the study and practice of accounting is 

inextricably bound with ideas of accountability, and through 

this, with sustainability. Thus, with hindsight, I believe that 

accountability was a major element in how I interpreted and 

delivered on the brief. 

In this context then, several elements of using the probe are 

worth highlighting. 

•The extent to which, through using it, I became aware 

of how my environment influenced my thoughts - this 

was new for me. 1 did know that I find it difficult to think 

if I perceive an environment as noisy, however I was not 

much aware of any significant aspects beyond this. 

• The challenge involved in trying to convey my 

perceptions of which aspects of my environment 

affected my thinking in an unambiguous (relatively) way. 

Co-experience Environment & Activity - On the day we 

interacted with the created environments. It was very 

interesting to see the analyses of the probes, the findings 

that had been derived from them, and especially the spaces 

designed from the process. 1 enjoyed thinking about which (if 

any) aspects of my probe return were manifest in the spaces. 

I didn't really know what to expect from the day, beyond being 

asked to interact in the created spaces and to respond on that 

basis. I was certainly unnerved bysome of the'game'requests, 

e.g. tell a story, but in retrospect I recognise that the game 

was a clever way for us as a disparate group to necessarily a) 

get to know a little about one another and b) have a focus for 

engaging with the spaces created. 

I was pleased and surprised when I realised that a friend and 

colleague was also involved in the project as I looked forward 

to seeing their contributions and unpicking them in terms of 

how I understood the person. We agreed to hold our next work 

meeting In the co-experience space and that too provided 

insight into both my colleague and into the space itself. 

Our initial task on the day was to think for half an hour alone 

on an allotted task. I made a beeline for the bed space'°, 

expecting to have to fight off others who would want it. 1 

loved the comfort it afforded and the ability it offered me to 

sit in a way other than normal I.e. with raised legs. 

Outcomes-In conclusion, I am more aware ofthe qualities of 

space I like to work and think in and I pay more attention to 

space when I am now thinking and working. The experience 

was wholly enjoyable, fun, involved learning and meeting 

new people, and resulted In my seeing in a new way. This for 

me is a true test of whether learning has occurred. 

Mark O'Connor: Architectural Perspective 

As an Architect with experience of both practice and teaching 

'"Prior to the co-experience activity we felt that perhaps the bed was 

too intimate a space for anyone to choose. It was so satisfying to see 

Lorna making such a determined bid for the space especially as it 

had been inspired mostly by her probe return.

I was intrigued by this project exploring the impact of shared 

environments on users. During the exercise participants 

were asked to consider the experience from the position of 

their own discipline. On reflection it occurs that architects 

rely heavily on co-experience in the design and realisation of 

complex building projects, as these require the co-operation, 

communication and co-ordination of many disparate 

individuals and groups for successful compledon. 

Co-incidentally,dunngthis period the second year Architectural 

students, with whom I was working, were asked to participate 

in a project that provided insight into coexperiential processes. 

Student groups of twenty were asked to design, manufacture 

and build a demountable structure for outdoor performances. 

Group size was an issue: twenty individuals initially proved 

dysfunctional and broke down into task specific groups of 

four and five. However, as the structure/artefact developed 

it appeared to affect group behaviour. Its physical presence 

seemed to hold clues and prompts, creating a framework that 

helped organise language and actions. With this device, in 

the final stages of construction the entire group was able to 

function as a single cohesive unit. 

Co-experience Ptobe - Observations of this project accorded 

with many of those made of the Co-Experience Environment, 

the first stage of which was the probe, a lovely bag of bits to 

play with. At first, irresolute about what to do, the exercise 

came to life when I started cutting the pages ofthe sketchbook. 

The probe then became an investigation ofthe space within a 

book, holding pages at different angles and in different lights 

to observe variations in the translucence of and shadows cast 

by combinations of cut sheets. 

This outcome was strongly influenced by the working 

environment, a comfortable corner of a spacious room, lit by 

strong directional light. While thinking about the probe, I had 

been pacing in the space and developed an awareness ofthe 

effect of the light on the pages. This behaviour, the process 

of making and the physical environment became increasingly 

intertwined in the act of making the sketchbook. 

This stage was very useful in forcing me to observe and 

understand my working practices. Notable was a curious 

nesting behaviour, a calm centre from which paper, scissors 

etc. radiated out in a confused arm length clutter. Also, the 

importance of movement to my thought process became 

apparent -1 now have a greater understanding of cloisters. 

Co-experience Environment & Activity - I was curious on 

entering the Co-experience Environment. The communal 

part of the process was staged vyithin a room set up to allow 

different patterns of interaction. I found myself constantly 

looking for clues to the design decisions that led to the creation 

ofthe environment and wondered, as a participant whether 

or not this design educated curiosity was an advantage or 

disadvantage. 

After familiarising ourselves with the environment our first 

group task was to get to know something of each other. 

This process was highly structured, using a dice game set 

at a round table (without hierarchy) taking turns where 

each person might have to tell a story. Use of a game was 

interesting; contests iike tug-of-war demonstrate the 

potential for games to channel and focus human activity. 

Here, venue and game generated a structure that helped 

reduce social uncertainty and allowed people to relax and 

bond in the shared discomfort of enforced storytelling. 

The game generated individual design tasks carried out, 

inirially alone, in a location of our choosing within the space. 

My choice was quite formal, almost a cafe table within an 

enclosed defined area somewhere between the very domestic 

arrangements and the beautiful minimalist space provided. I 

find group situations difficult and my choice of enclosure may 

have been a reflection of this. 

After further work in pairs, the group assembled in the 

minimalist space for the final stage. Here the sltring area 

was designed using seats stripped of explicit meaning while 

affording the possibility of use in a numberof configurations. 

These seats were placed randomly with no suggested pattern 

of use. Interestingly this seemed to imply an initial group task 

to discuss the seats and agree a common method for using 

them and so almost to agree a group Identity that would 

help establish the pattern of discussion whether formal or 

informal (Fig. 4).

Figure 4. (Left) game play in the 'comfortable, familiar' zone. 

(Right) Participants selected the 'novel, beautiful' zone for 

their final group discussion. 

Outcomes - Ultimately a very engaging experience and one 

that I think will inform my design thoughts. As an architect 

I am inherently convinced that environment impacts on 

behaviour, but was very interested to observe this so clearly 

in both the individual and group stages. I gained some insight 

into the difference between individual and group working 

environments e.g. movement is normally important to my 

thought process, but was entirely suppressed during the group 

stage possibly through consciousness of disruption to others. 

Introduction of activities like the game set in specific 

physical environments was thought provoking. In particular, 

combinations of both structured and informal settings/ 

activities seemed to offer essential variations of group support 

at different stages. 

Yen - Chiang Chang: Thinking and Working 

The basic theme of my PhD research Is the concept of 

sustainable development. The university campus is my usual 

thinking\working place - I think as I move about the ampus 

and frequently work in one of the university libraries. After 

receiving the probe package I encountered an advertisement 

"great design need not cost the earth" posted on a wall near 

the university precinct. This triggered me to think of whether 

the campus was designed to meet the needs ofthe present, 

without compromising the needs of generations to come. 

Co-experience Praöes-Using the camera and a notebookfrom 

the probe pack I began to record my observations regarding 

the over use of paper on campus - universities are said to be 

one ofthe biggest paper consumers. Water, was another issue 

worth addressing, as was the absence of a recycling facility on 

campus. These observations led to some recommendations 

for improved paper and water use. For example, embedding 

a spray mechanism in all campus taps might improve 

performance regarding water usage sustainability. 

Co-experience Environment & Activity - The experiment 

was to be carried out at Dundee Contemporary Arts and 

I did not realise that the location of the area designated for 

the experiment was a flexible open space used for research 

in the Visual Research Centre. I thought that the coexperience 

experiment would be part of an exhibition so I arrived early 

and this gave me extra time to understand the location. 

After a brief introduction and a period of exploration we were 

called together to play the bespoke game that was a good 

exercise for 'Ice breaking', since all of the participants were 

from various backgrounds. A better way of learning about 

others is by listening to others'stories -1 had the opportunity 

to tell three stories in relation to my personal experiences, 

even though I would have preferred to sing!'^ 

At the second stage of the experiment, we were sent away 

individually to think and design. IVly Idea was for a poster that 

would be understood by 9-14 year old children and could be 

placed in a public place such as a telephone box. Keeping in 

mind that children may be more attracted by pictures rather 

than words, I drew three pictures to more easily pass the 

sustainability message to children. It is recognised that where 

a person works might have an influence on his/her views and 

therefore, each participate was free to choose their own work 

location within the co-experience environment. I selected to 

work at a coffee table because I am used to working with a cup 

of coffee at my side. 

Forthenextstage, I worked with an architect, Mr. MarkO'Connor. 

We firstly spent some time discussing our individual missions, 

'' The game is essentially a dice and a series of instructional cards. The 

dice is thrown and instructs the player to pick a particular card or to 

'tell a story'. An early prototype ofthe dice included an instruction to 

'sing a song' but prototype testing revealed that players were mostly 

uncomfortable with this and it was eliminated from the coexperience 

game. In the debriefing sessions we spoke openly with the participants 

about the different design iterations for the co-experience experiment

identifying the similanty and concluded with Mr. O'Connor 

making a pictorial representation of the two missions. This 

experience emphasised the importance of drawing consensus 

when working as a team and suggested that teamwork is more 

interesting and stimulating than working alone. 

At the end of the experiment, three groups were asked to sit 

down and express the outcomes of their work. This was more 

of an 'information gathering exercise', from the parricipant's 

point of view. This experience demonstrated how difficult It 

is to achieve a consensus within a group, in parricular, where 

various backgrounds, interests and viewpoints exist. In the end, 

the experiment was thought to be'Interesring'and 'inspiring'. 

For myself, it was refreshing to be involved in this project as it 

provided the opportunity to be Involved in something quite 

different from my taxing legal research. 

Outcomes - As I understood, one ofthe centra! focuses of this 

experiment was how different environments affect people's 

thinking. The fundamental assumption was built upon 

different people from various backgrounds with variable 

thinking approaches. What If there had been a group of people 

from a similar background or interest? Would the outcome 

have been different? With this question in mind, my response 

to the'takeaway make it card'was a power point presentation 

where I used the analogy of differing tactical and strategic 

approaches used by compering badminton teams as a way of 

addressing my questions. My findings seem to suggest that, 

even If an Individual member of a group came from a similar 

background and held a common Interest, they would srill hold 

an individual view. To this end, the outcome refers back to the 

research quesrion that co-experiencing can contribute new 

knowledge in design. 

Conclusion 

The Role of the Environment in Experience - It was new for 

most ofthe parricipants to think about and be explicit about 

how the physical environment influences their thinking. They 

began to cogitate, using visual and linguisric modes to express 

the role oftheir environment in their thinking. Lorna explained 

that"! am more aware ofthe qualities of space I like to work 

and think in and I pay more attention to space when I am now 

thinking and working". Mark, the architect, was quite explicit 

about how the physical environment or artefact influences 

thinking and designing. As a designer and design educator 

he acknowledges a familiarity that he questions. The non- 

designers demonstrated a noticeable tendency to experience 

the experience. The unfamiliarity of the co-experience 

experiment appeared to 're-move' all of the participants to 

reflect on their life experience and make a discovery. 

One might argue that their experience was heightened 

because they were confronted with the unfamiliar. Presented 

with something familiar, one tends to respond with familiarity 

- a discourse of informed use. However, when presented with 

something with which one is not so familiar (as long as it is 

not too scary), one responds with curiosity - a discourse of 

discovery. For the participants this lead to the creation of new 

experiences. 

The role then for the physical environment in experience Is 

for it to be designed in a way that're-moves'parricipants from 

their everyday experience and offers them the opportunity for 

a discourse of discovery. 

Experience Takes Place in Space and in Time - The focus of 

the co-experience environment was to explore the physical/ 

spatial and social aspects of experience and that it did. But it 

also became clear through the experiment that the temporal 

aspect of experience is equally important although perhaps 

more difficult to control. Experience is situated in a larger 

contextual frame of space and time - experience becomes 

an experience and people do not perceive space and rime 

as being separate. A physical environment can stage a rimed 

experience, but this experience steeped over time becomes 

an experience (Forlizzi, 2002) and unfolds in meaningfulness. 

The Integrity of time and space Is revealed in Elizabeth's 

statements; "i needed space to think - physical space and 

space in time". "I reconsidered organisation of my work and 

the need to create space in time for thinking". 

The parricipants in the co-experience experiment told stories 

at different rimes - stories about their past, stories about 

their design vision and ultimately in this paper, stories about 

their whole experience to date. In essence the co-experience 

environmenttimedpeopietogetherina're-moving'experience 

and overtime they have connected their experience ofthe co-

experience environment into their daily lives (e.g., Elizabeth 

and her new house, !an and the UK research council event). 

They came with an idea thatthey would do something different 

or learn from this experience. This idea was confirmed; their 

experience was the foreground. 

Scaffolding, Experience and Collaborative Equity in Participatory 

Design The scaffold for the co-experience environment 

consisted of many steps over time including: 

• an invitation to enter the experience. 

• completing the probes, which invited curiosity and 

provoked reflection. 

• once participants came to the environment, they 

were curious to see what had become of their returned 

probes. 

• the bespoke game was at first uncomfortable, but the 

participants quickly recognized it as being essential for 

getting to know one another through storytelling. 

• they interacted through design activities in the co- 

experience environment, both alone and together. 

• some of them returned to the environment over the 

next week. 

• they completed their take-away'make It'task and met 

again two months later to share outcomes. 

• they reflected on the experience as a whole and 

continued their participation as co-authors ofthis paper. 

Scaffolds for experiencing must consider both space and 

time. They work best if they are connected directly to the 

past, current and future lives of people and include a level 

of unfamiliarity that does not inhibit. It is essential that if 

familiar environments are used as design scaffolds that they 

do not conflict with participants' received Ideas of place and 

space. In the re-design of existing physical environments for 

coexperienclng, the researcher needs to build a bridge for the 

participants to allow them to quickly comprehend changes In 

the context of use. 

Designing for experience environments may have to consider 

the different approaches that participants use for reading 

environments and guide the participant to use the full range 

of their sensorial reading ability. A coherent environmental 

narrative - similar to product narrative - should be Imbedded 

in the design of the co-experience environment, so that 

participants can fully experience the environment. 

The participants' experiencing of the co-experience 

environment went far back and beyond what happened to 

them in the three hours they spent in the environment. In 

reflecting on their experience, they told a story about the 

entire experience as it happened over time, starting with their 

response to the initial invitation to join the adventure, then 

moving to the probe package and onwards. 

We have learned that: 

• non-designers enjoyed the process and they could 

quickly apply their new experiences to their daily lives 

traditional researchers are open to new paradigms of 

research (e.g. they learned that having fun in doing 

research isa positive thing). 

• probe assignments and seemingly unrelated game 

playing is provocative. These activities made the non- 

designer participants feel "unnerved... intimidated" 

but also "Intrigued and curious". It was surprising how 

different this way of thinking was for them. 

• we need to be aware that people respond to open- 

endedness in many different ways. We, In turn, need 

to be open to letting them interpret our instructions 

in such a way that they are able to respond (e.g. lan's 

Mind Map). 

• we learned that Immersing non-designers in the 

design process through the coexperience environment 

was successful. It caused them to think about thinking, 

to open up their thinking and to be more deliberate 

about where/how they use their time and space. It also 

revealed to them new ways to approach research. 

We know that for design research to attend to the complexity 

of real world scenarios It needs to work with interdisciplinary 

teams of people and engender collaborative equity. Through 

this research we explored different approaches to scaffolding 

the interdisciplinary design experience, experimenting with

methods that can be used to bring together people who 

might wish to collaborate. It suggests a process for introducing 

what it is that design research does to a wider research 

community and offers an approach to establishing a dialogue 

of interdisciplinary learning and understanding. 

Arts & Humanities 

Research Council 

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Design Issues Vol. 18, Number 1 Winter, 49-61.

F L O W A N D T H E O P T I M A L E X P E R I E N C E D F T H E A M A T E U R D E S I G N E R - M A K E R 

A N D D D - I T - Y D U R S E L F E N T H U S I A S T 

Andrew Jackson 

University College for the Creative Arts, 

Rochester, United Kingdom 

ajacksoni5)ucreative.ac.uk 

Abstract 

Although 'do-it-yourself (DIY) activity has played a key role 

in the development of the material culture of late twentieth 

century Britain and America, it has been paid a limited amount 

of attention by academics and researchers. This study reviews 

attemptsto understand DIY activity, and finds that the problem 

of defining the field, together with a tendency to focus on the 

results of DIY, ratherthan the process, has hampered enquiry. 

DIY ranges from simple home maintenance through to the 

production of sophisticated artefacts, and whilst utilitarian 

and rational motivations partly account for the former, little 

work has been carried out on the self-actualising potential of 

the making of objects in home workshops. To some extent 

these activities are united by their inclusion in the category 

of leisure, and this research considers how people attempt 

to regain sense of personal agency through these amateur 

craft pursuits. Csikszentmihalyi's 'flow' model is applied to 

accounts of amateur making in orderto more fully understand 

the motivation behind 'extreme DIY', and an understanding 

of amateur making as an autotelic, or intrinsically rewarded 

activity is reached. 

Introduction 

The roots of the project lie in research carried out during 

2003 and 2004 into the Mirror Dinghy. The Mirror Dinghy 

was conceived in 1962 by Barry Bucknell as a kit boat for 

amateur woodworkers. Users could order a kit boat that was 

then assembled at home in garages, or even living rooms, 

and could be sailed within weeks of starting the project. Over 

70,000 of these boats have now been built, and are distributed 

worldwide. Bucknell was the first popular'do-it-yourself'(DlY) 

expert, appearing on television programmes throughoutthe 

1950s and 60s, and he played a major role in the popularisation 

of home improvement as a leisure activity. The research found 

that the self-build design of the IVlirror dinghy coincided with 

a rise in interest in DIY, and that with increases in disposable 

income, greater leisure time, and improvements in lifestyle, 

the boat served asa unique introduction to the sport of sailing 

for thousands of people. It marked a confluence of a variety 

of historical factors: changing social and cultural conditions, 

developments in manufacturing technology, the importance 

of newspaper and magazine publishing - and even television 

celebrity. The research explored the growth of do-it-yourself 

in post-war Britain and proposed that the general increases 

in the levels of skill and ambition of domestic householders 

- and a change in the perception of do-it-yourself from an 

activity borne out of necessity, to a means for self-actualisation 

- created the conditions in which the iVlirror dinghy could 

thrive as new product. 

Yout Own Boat \ """"o^^^ 

Figure l.The Mirror Dinghy featured in a 1963 introductory 

book to sailing, {John Mills (ed). The Uffa Fox Book of Sailing, 

Longacre Press, 1963. ppl46-147).

Accounting for DIY 

One observation that became apparent early on in the 

research was how little work had been earned out in the area 

of do-it-yourself and amateur making activity, particularly 

in the UK. Judy Attfield (2000: 73} acknowledges that 'DIY is 

an aspect often mentioned in passing, but still not accorded 

much attention by design historians', whilst Paul Atkinson 

(2006}, editor of a special issue of the Journal of Design History 

devoted to studies of DIY, believes one ofthe reasons that do- 

it-yourself has rarely been examined in published studies is 

the problem of definition. There is uncertainty about where it 

should sit in relarion to the discourses of art, design and craft. 

The phrase DIY means different things to different people. The 

common-sense understanding ofthe term DIY (in both the UK 

and the USA}, and the angle taken by a large proportion ofthe 

published research on the area (Attfield, 2000, Clarke, 2001, 

Dent, 1997, Gelber, 1997, 1999, Goldstein, 1998, Melchionne, 

1999, Putnam and Newton, 1990, Watson and Shove, 2006) is 

a reference to home improvement acrivity. In other words the 

carrying out of tasks normally associated with the building 

trade, by amateurs In their own home, and in their own rime. 

However, over the past thirty years the term DIY has taken on 

a much broader range of meanings. 

At its two extremes, the term DIY can used to describe the 

most prosaic of home maintenance activity - applying a 

coat of emulsion to a wall, or putring up basic shelving or 

as a description of home-grown political protest - from 

underground publishing and alternative music, through to 

the organisarion of anri-corporate protest movements. An 

example of'radical DIY'is described on the indymedia website, 

whose mission is 'to create and distribute a paper that reflects 

the lives we actually live... the lifestyles, ethics, skills and ideas 

that enable us to live with increasing independence and self 

reliance from the dominant culture.'' 

Aside from these more general definirions, the areas of DIY 

addressed by studies in Material Culture, Design History and 

Leisure Theory tend to be bounded by considerarions of either 

' http://pürîland.indymedia.org/en/2002/02/7832.shtml accessed 28/ 

11/06 

home improvement, or the making of objects. Historically, the 

content of popular DIY magazines published In the UK during 

the 1950s and 1960s^ is further evidence ofthe flexibility of 

the term. The subject matter of magazines such as Practical 

Householder moved from, in the 1950s, instructions on house 

maintenance and basic building jobs to, by the early 1960s, a 

catalogue of design ideas - technical drawings detailing the 

design and construcrion of household furnishings, such as 

lights and wardrobes (Jackson, 2006). 

Figure 2. Plans for a self-build wardrobe featured in Pracrical 

Householder c.1963, U.K. 

It is also possible to further disringuish between those actlviries 

that require the relatively simple assembly of pre-manufactured 

components (as In the Mirror Dinghy), and skilled acriviries that 

require high levels of creative input - the difference between 

assembling flat-pack furniture and construcring a unique 

object from unprocessed raw materials. 

Atkinson (2006:3) attempts to reach a finer gradarion of do-it- 

yourself activity by employing a series of sub categories ~ Pro 

active DIY; Reactive DİY; Essential DIY; and Lifestyle DIY. For 

Atkinson 'Pro-acrive DIY' contains significant elements of self- 

directed design input, the motivarion being personal pleasure 

or financial gain, whilst 'Reactive DIY' consists of making 

^ Magazines consulted for this research included Practical Householder 

and Do-it-yourself, both published in the UK from the mid 1950s, with 

Practical Householder running until the early 1990s.

activities mediated througli the use of l

satisfaction. His argument tends to privilege the rational 

economic benefits of home improvement, suggesting that 

'do-it-your-selfing is something that, under other conditions, 

one might have someone else do' (Melchionne, 1999: 250). 

Viewed from the perspective ofthe United Kingdom, and the 

growing wave of interest in material culture studies and the 

ethnography of the everyday, Meichionne's concern about 

a lacl< of interest In the very day feels less compelling. The 

project to 'fiatten'the study of design history - to encompass a 

more diffuse range of goods, treating the visual as subordinate 

to the social, and challenging aesthetics as the determining 

factor in the study of designed objects, is now well established 

in the UK. In addition, as Attfield points out, the rediscovery 

of 'things' by design theoreticians has confirmed the turn 

away from the Immatenality encouraged by theones of 

representation that reduce all meaning to language. (Attfield, 

2000: 7). Although the Cultural Studies project opened up 

the study ofthe everyday as a legitimate academic activity, it 

has since been criticised for its lack of detailed ethnography 

- the paucity of empirical data leading to accounts that are 

characterised as 'thin', with insufficlendy contextualised 

Interpretations (Murdock, 1997: 60). Musicologists worry 

about a failure to address the music itself -its structure, its 

content, and form (Tagg and Clanda, 2003, in Pitre, 2003)- 

whilst design historians are concerned about the failure to 

address the materiality of objects and the user experience. 

The desire for 'thick' descnption has led many researchers 

toward the ethnography formedy grounded primarily within 

the discipline of anthropology. This approach is able provide 

more finely grained research which takes account of particular 

local dynamics. Case studies are central to this approach, and 

are, as Graham Murdock has put it, used'as a basis for puzzling 

out the complexities and nuances of current cultural collisions 

and encounters, and as an antidote to facile generalisations 

and comparisons' (Murdock, 1997:66). 

Design historians have benefited from work carried out In the 

field of Material Culture Studies, and work from this area that 

considers how people express or objectify their self-identities 

through the materiality of domestic space, (most notably 

Clarke (2001), Miller (1990, 2001) and Pink (2004)), forms a 

useful backdrop to this research. In each of these studies a 

rich account of everyday activity is derived from detailed 

ethnographic fieidwork and - in the case of Pink, who is trained 

as a traditional anthropologist - video evidence. Pink's work on 

gender, domestic objects and everyday life was partially funded 

by Unilever Research, and occupies an interesting middle 

ground between applied research and an academic study. 

In spite of this turn towards a qualitarive understanding ofthe 

everyday, it appears that apart from a few minor exceptions, 

published studies In the area of DIY and home-based making 

activities have tended to neglect the experience ofthe making 

process. The ESRC/AHRC funded research project led by 

Matthew Watson and Elizabeth Shove (2006) goes some way to 

answeringthis question, butthelrfocuson the relation between 

productand practice, tends to limit the scope oftheir research 

with regard to this project. Their emphasis Is on the acquisirion 

and ownership of tools, and the associated concepts of need 

and urillty, the development of competence and skill, and the 

dialogue between person and property. Although extensive, 

the span of their study does not address what it feels like to 

make things, and why this experience is so compelling that 

many will spend large amounts of their free rime carrying out 

activities that others would regard as alienating work. 

Work and Alienation 

In order to answer these quesrions it Is helpful to consider 

the relation between work and leisure, and to Identify the 

motivations for making at home - drawing in concepts of 

self-actuallsarion, intrinsic reward and oprimai experience. 

The further that amateur making activities move from house 

maintenance and home improvement to the making of 

objects, the less that utilitarian economic and rarional factors 

help us to understand motivation. If we use Maslow's hierarchy 

of needs to position do-it-yourseif, then in this example house 

maintenance might be considered to be posirioned fairly near 

the bottom ofthe pyramid, whilst the self-directed making of 

objects Is closer to Maslow's idea of self-actualisation, which 

is posirioned at the top - it is the motivarion that comes 

into play when all other needs have been met. Even though 

Maslow's hierarchy is not without Its critics, the concept of self- 

actualisation provides a useful model for understanding certain 

forms of human behaviour. For Maslow, the characteristics 

of self-actuallsers include spontaneity In ideas and actions, 

creativity, and in an interest in solving problems - and solving

problems is often a key focus in their lives (Maslow, 1970).These 

traits are familiar to anyone who has examined the behaviour 

of amateur makers in any detail. 

In orderto understand these motivations further, it is also worth 

considering the relation beween constrained and free work. In 

The Art of Work 0988) Roger Coleman describes the constraints 

inherent in extrinsically rewarded work. The Art of Work is a 

semi-autobiographical book, and many of Coleman's ideas are 

drawn directly from his experience of working as a craftsman.^ 

Coleman gives a powerful and familiar description of the 

limitations imposed by extrinsic reward. In this case whilst 

he was working as bench joiner (1988: 143). The joiner is 

constrained by his employer, the building firm. He has no 

choice about what he makes, how he makes it, or the length 

of time he is allowed to spend making an item. Consequently, 

he also has no control over the standard he is able to work to. 

Poor pay and a bonus system ensure he has little choice and 

little power over his working life. For Coleman, the alternative 

to employment as a joiner was work as an independent self- 

employed craftsman, which grants more freedom and control 

to the worker. He can set his own standard and determine his 

own hours. If he designs the work himself he can also choose 

his materials and invest the work the qualities he thinks it ought 

to have. However his customers are only willing to pay a certain 

amount for his work - and this is often less than the work is 

worth - so he ends up exploiting himself, much ofthe time: 

...working long hours for little financial reward, worrying 

about money and the quality of my work, and trying to 

balance the pressure of bills against my own desire to 

work creatively (Coleman, 1988:144). 

Owing a heavy debt to the writings of William Morris, 

Coleman's book is shot through with a romantic view of pre- 

^ In his long and varied career since graduating from art school in the 

1960s, Coleman has worked as a performing artist, joiner, political 

activist, designer-maker and self-sufficiency expert. At the time of 

writing Coleman is now the Professor of Inclusive Design and Co- 

director of the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College 

of Art. 

industrial society, and presents a highly moral and rather 

limited view of the meanings and consequences of mass 

production. However, some of the concepts he draws from his 

accounts of pre-industrial societies do offer valuable insights 

for our modern understanding of free time. Describing the 

attitude of the'great Renaissance artists'he writes: '...work for 

them was not the alienating self-denying anti-autonomous 

activity that we see' (1988: 141). He justifies this assertion 

by discussing the idea of surplus value, arguing that in pre- 

industrial societies, surplus value was expressed as free time 

(1988: 141-150). In these societies, ritual activities abound 

~ activities that may, in another context well be regarded as 

work. This 'work' acted as a way of making free time more 

significant - a ritualised, social and cohesive activity that was 

part of natural and instinctive creativity. In contrast to this, 

as industrialisation took hold, and as the division of labour 

became the key to increasing productivity and the efficient 

use of labour, the surplus value produced by the crafts was 

no longer available as free time which could be reinvested 

into social 'well-being' but was instead stripped away as 

profit. In other words, rather than being invested in the work 

itself, this surplus value was instead invested in machines 

to replace skill, and the trades and crafts were rapidly and 

inevitably dehumanised. 

For Coleman there are two alternative motivating forces for 

work. He describes them as: 

Profit: Something extracted from labour and raw 

materials via a reductive process in which everything 

is expressed as money. Or art: a constructive process 

in which labour and raw materials are converted into 

complex cultural goods which have the ability to 

provide for a broad spectrum of physical and spiritual 

and emotional needs (Coleman, 1988:148). 

As an alternative to this rather pessimistic view, Coleman 

proposes a world that depends not on 'finalised, finite 

designs, but on open procedures in which people can 

participate in designing and making their own surroundings' 

(Coleman, 1988: 149). In effect Coleman was making an early 

case for customised consumption - the principle that the 

involvement of the consumer in self-directed completion of 

the production process (which is itself incorporated into the

act of consumption), can overcome the alienation inherent In 

mass production and its corollary, mass consumption. 

Intrinsic Rewârds and Optimal Experience 

There is a parallel between Coleman's embryonic ideas put 

forward in the late eighties, and a much more recent study 

by Colin Campbell. The idea of 'interpretive consumption' 

-the theory that the meaning of mass-produced objects is 

somehovy 'completed' by the act of consumption- has been 

commonplace in cultural and media studies since the 1960s. 

However, in an attempt to identify what he sees as a new 

model of consumer, Campbell has defined 'Craft Consumers' 

(Campbell, 2005). He argues for a category that could be 

described as consumer as 'self-actualiser'. This is in addition 

to Don Slater's consumer as 'hero' and consumer as 'dupe' 

(Slater, 1997), and Mike Featherstone's'postmodern strategist' 

(Featherstone, 1991). For Campbell there Is a category of 

consumer that'consume[s] principally out of a desire to engage 

in creative acts of self-expression ...there is no assumption that 

they are trying to create, or even necessarily to maintain a 

sense of identity'(2005:24). As Campbell points out, this is not 

to deny that consumption may relate to issues of identity.'It is 

merely to reject the prevalent postmodern assumption that 

consuming is motivated by a desire to create identity'(2005: 

40). Craft consumption involves the production of an object 

that is both designed and made by the same person, and 

involves the application of skill and judgement - it can be 

understood as a way of maintaining a sense of individual 

agency In the face of alienating mass production. Although 

this is a similar to the definition of craft used to describe 

pre-industrial production, the crucial difference is that the 

components used in craft consumption are themselves 

industrially produced. Campbell's craft consumption is also 

defined as having an autotelic or aesthetic dimension, which 

gives it a fundamental resemblance to play - or, to use the 

terminology of American psychologist and academic Mihaly 

Csikszentmihaiyi,'flow' (Csikszentmihaiyi, [1975] 2000). 

Flow is described by Csikszentmihaiyi as a form of pleasure 

resulting from a merging of action and experience; a loss of 

ego that results from the participant being unable to reflect 

on their activity or consider the results - but nevertheless 

remaining in control of his or her actions and environment. 

The ideal conditions for the state of flow occur when the 

participant is challenged but not overwhelmed by the 

activity. Activities that are too demanding cause anxiety, and 

are unpleasant, whilst those that fail to stretch the participant 

are quickly perceived as boring, and are dropped in favour 

of more interesting activity. Flow takes place somewhere 

between anxiety and boredom. It Is the essence of experienced 

creativity; deep concentration, problems forgotten, lack of 

self-consciousness, time forgotten and an experience worth 

having simply for it own sake and with no other reward. 

Characteristics associated with optimal experience include 

being able to: 

1. Merge action and awareness 

2. Centre attention on a limited stimulus field 

3. Lose oneself in one's activities - a loss of ego 

4. Control actions and environment 

5. Receive coherent demands for action and receive 

clear feedback 

6. See the activity as self-rewarding, or autotelic 

(Csikszentmihaiyi, [1975] 2000) 

Csikszentmihaiyi uses the example of sailing in a fresh breeze 

to illustrate the idea of flow: 

It is what the sailor holding a tight course feels when 

the wind whips through her hair, when the boat lunges 

through the waves like a colt - sails, hull, wind, and 

sea humming a harmony that vibrates in the sailor's 

veins.(Cslk5zentmlhalyi, [1992] 2002:3). 

In Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihaiyi observes how artists 

become completely engrossed in the process of making a 

painting, the work filling their thoughts twenty-four hours 

a day. 'Yet as soon as the paint was dry, [the artist] usually 

stacked the canvas in a distant corner of the studio against 

a wall and promptly forgot about it' (Csikszentmihaiyi and 

Csikszentmihaiyi, [1988] 1992: 3). 

Most artists recognise that their work is not going to make 

them famous or rich - so what, he asks, is the motivation for 

their continued practice as painters? Since the mid sixties 

Csikszentmihalyi's has devoted his career to understanding

the intrinsic rewards that are associated the making of art, 

the playing of sports, working in fulfilling occupations and, 

in fact, in most aspects of life. Cslkszentmlhalyi's project is to 

understand the Intrinsic rewards associated with a multitude 

of everyday experiences. His aim, over the thirty years that he 

has developed his ideas, has been to apply the concept to as 

many fields as possible. Indeed, his ideas have proved to be 

so pervasive that they have been taken up by and applied by 

academics in fields as varied as educarion, business studies, 

sports psychology and sub-cultural theory. 

Serious Leisure 

It is reported by Cslkszentmihalyi that the flow experience 

occurs more than three rimes as often in work as in leisure 

(Gelber, 1999: 9). One might also quesrion the relevance of 

flow to leisure because most leisure actlviries In our culture 

are non-challenging - and flow depends on an optimal 

relarionship between challenge and skill. In order to resolve 

this contradlcrion, it is worth considering the relarion between 

work and leisure. 

One of the central debates in leisure theory Is the discussion 

about the place of leisure in relation to work - Is leisure a relief 

from work, a compensation for the qualiries deemed to be 

missing from the experience of work, or is the job experience 

so powerful that it spills over into free time, causing leisure 

acriviries to become a mirror of work? The historian Steven 

Gelber, who has carried out extensive research into hobbies 

and pasrimes in early 1950s America, pins his study around the 

concept of 'productive leisure' (1999: 2) and the impossibility 

of separaring work from free time - he is interested in the 

inevitable seepage between the two. He coins the phrase 

'disguised affirmarion'todescribe the ways that work valuesare 

replicated in the home, whilst simultaneously compensating 

for its deficits: 'The producrive leisure of hobbies has operated 

as a form of disguised affirmation, helping to sustain the 

overarching ideology of capitalism by serving up its ideals 

in the palatable form of domestic leisure' (1999: 11). In order 

to avoid a simplistic opposition between labour and leisure, 

he argues that if his thesis is correct 'people should embrace 

leisure that reflects values that originate in their work and 

avoid acrivitles that contradict those beliefs' (1999:15). 

The publication of Make magazine (Parks, 2006), again from 

the United States, reveals that many amateur makers earn their 

living from a field related to their hobby, but use their leisure 

rime to express ideas, and work in a way that the strictures and 

structures of their work disallows. 

Figure 3. Make magazine - Volume 01, February 2005, (O'Reilly 

Media, inc. U.S.A.). 

The makers featured in this quarterly magazine engage in 

forms extreme hobbyism, examples of which range from 

the designing and building of a working roller-coaster in a 

domesric yard, to the making of an alarm clock that wakes 

the user by frying rashers of bacon. One ofthe most obsessive 

of these projects Is the 'Handmade "G5 Cube" computer' 

- a perfect, but morphed reproducrion of a Macintosh G5 

computer casing that is capable of housing the user's old G4 

cube. The Make motto 'If you can't open it, you don't own it', 

neatly expresses the desire amongst some consumers to 

regain control ofthe individual agency that is sacrificed when 

products arrive hermericaliy sealed, and impervious to any 

creative modificarion or repair by the end-user. 

Somerimes described as being driven by a 'protestant leisure 

ethic' (Clarke and Critcher, 1985, in: Gelber, 1999:11), extreme 

pastimes such as these have been described as'productive', 

or 'serious' leisure. Serious leisure is substanrial enough for 

the participant to engage in the long-term acquisition of a

ange of special skills, knowledge and experience.The activity 

integrates participants into a sub-culture, and provides 

them with benchmarks by which they can measure their 

achievements (Pantzar and Shove, 2005:2-3). People seeking 

flow in their pastimes will tend to make them more work-like, 

hence more challenging - always safe in the knowledge that 

they can quit if the challenge becomes overwhelming. Some 

leisure activities are work-like In that they are complex and 

demanding, and even, at times unpleasant. However, the 

fact remains that they continue to be intrinsically rewarded, 

and a component of this reward is optimal experience. The 

examples of craft or engineering found in Make magazine 

are, at times, more challenging and demanding, and contain 

a higher level of skill, than the professional equivalent. These 

activities are taken to an extreme, but remain within the 

boundaries of leisure, because they are self-directed and 

contain an element of freedom of choice. They are also rarely 

motivated solely by extrinsic rewards. An earlier example of 

these extremes can be found in the hot-rodding activities of 

West Coast American men in the 1960s who built vehicles 

in their free time, and In their home garages (Moorhouse, 

1991). Their activities were so intense that during the 1960s a 

number of amateur car builders managed to hold the world 

land speed record (Diamond, 1996). Hot-rodder's frequently 

explained their involvement in hot-rodding in terms akin to 

a love affair, with words like'fever'and'addiction'often being 

used (Moorhouse, 1991:188). 

So, the intrinsic rewards associated with optimal experience 

are a powerful motivational goal, both in the craft activity 

of making objects, and in the case of sports equipment or 

vehicles, the ensuing experience of using the finished objects. 

Joe'', who is the subject ofthe first of a number of case studies 

that will be carried out as part of this project, compares the 

experience of individually fitting the strips of timber on his 

hand made canoes, with the pleasure felt when he Is on his 

own in his kayak, simply paddling out to sea. 

''The names of informants for this study have been changed to 

protect their anonymity. Interviews carried out in the respondent's 

own workshop during January 2007. 

Figure 4. Joe's homemade kayak (Whitstable, U.K. 2006). 

Figure 5. Making the kayak. 

Joe was originally in the Royal Navy, but has since learnt his 

making skills in the course of renovating his flat. It was the 

profits from the sale of this property that allowed him to 

invest in a small workshop, and begin making his canoes. 

Although he would like to sell his canoes, he acknowledges 

that the amount of work that he puts into them means that 

he would never recoup his costs, and regards the work as a 

hobby. Whenever he has a break in his paid work -which 

is unrelated to his canoe building- he comes to his small 

workshop and, as he puts it, 'enters Into another world'. Joe's 

previous job working as a CAD operator for an engineering 

company 'had [him] going stir crazy', and although he now 

has a paid occupation that is more suited to his practical 

nature, he still regards the time spent in his own workshop as 

a form of therapy. The overall project of planning a new kayak 

requires some research and planning but, once the jig is built, 

a series of familiar processes ensue. These are demanding, but 

because Joe has developed skills the necessary to carry them 

out effectively, they do not cause anxiety. The fact that he is

working in the controlled and secure environment of his own 

workspace allows him to control his actions and environment 

and centre his attention on a limited stimulus field. His tasks 

provide coherent demands for action and offer immediate 

feedback. ForJoe, making his kayaks allows him to lose his sense 

of self in his activity, and his sense of time becomes altered. 

Although the reward is partly constituted by the ownership of 

a beautiful new kayak, several of his canoes remain unsold, or 

have been given to fellow canoeing enthusiast for a fraction of 

their true worth. The reward for Joe is intrinsic to the process 

of making, and his account ofthe experience of making things 

has all the qualities ofthe Cslkszentmihalyi flow model. 

Conclusion 

This research begins to uncover incentives for serious leisure 

pursuits that go beyond the rational and udlltarian, and 

provides alternatives to postmodern models of strategic 

identity creation and maintenance. By interrogating the 

moment-by-moment experience of making things outside 

of a professional context, it aims to show how consumers are 

able regain a sense of personal agency and self-fulfilment 

through their making activities. 

Studies in consumption have consistently drawn upon the 

Hegelian notion of alienation in order the describe the state of 

unhappy consciousness that results from a wodd in which the 

production of objective culture has far exceeded our ability 

to Incorporate it subjectively Into our personal and social 

development (Slater, 1997). Put simply, in order to assimilate 

the objective wodd into our subjecdve consciousness we 

have to recognise that the wodd as made by us. If we fail to see 

this then we comprehend our material surroundings literally 

as being alien to us. Our agency, our capacity to act in an 

autonomous and creadve capacity is reduced to our capacity 

simply to choose from a pre-determined range of objects. 

The desire to craft, to engage in creative acts of production, 

whether that be along the lines of Campbell's idea of making 

new things from pre-manufactured components, or the 

production of sophisticated artefacts from unprocessed raw 

materials, is borne of a desire to escape from the alienation 

of constrained work described so vividly by Coleman, and to 

regain the sense of personal agency that is denied by the so- 

called free choices of capitalism. By exploring the processes 

inherent in the self-actualising activity of making things, the 

addition of Cslkszentmlhalyi's mode! of optimal experience to 

these theones offers us a deeper understanding of amateur 

and the everyday.

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D E S I G N E R S D A N C I N G WITH(IN) T H E D R G A N IZATİ D N A L H I E R A R C H Y - T H E 

I M P O R T A N C E O F N D N-H I E R A R C H I C A L P O W E R TO D E S I G N 

Uila Johansson 

Göteborg Research Institute (GRI), Business & Design Lab. 

School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University 

Göteborg, Sweden 

ulla.johanssontaigri.gu.se 

JillWoodilla 

John F. Welch College of Business, Sacred Heart University 

Fairfield, CT, USA 

woodİllaj(Şsacreadheart.edu 

Abstract 

This paper confronts Mary Parker Follett's theoretical power 

discourse, developed at the beginning of the last century, 

with contemporary views of industrial designers. It presents 

Follett's non-hierarchical view of power and relations within 

organizations and discusses a Follettian perspective on 

relationships between designers and other members of the 

organization, proposing that one ofthe reasons for current 

views of design within the organizational reality may be 

difficulties of doing creative work within a hierarchical 

organization. We conclude by outlining an empirical 

investigation involving interviews with respected industrial 

designers In Sweden and the U.S to explore common 

perspectivesand viewson non-hierarchical powerrelationships 

in organizations and the extent to which they may facilitate 

the designers'work and the organization's possibilities to take 

advantage of the designers'methods and results. 

/ do not think that power con be delegated because 

I believe that genuine power is capacity' 

It is possible to develop the conception of power-with, 

a jointly developed power, a co-active, not a coercive power.^ 

' Parker Foiiett 1995:111 

Îbid p.103 

Many design management researchers have observed that 

top management's attitudes and relations towards design are 

extremely Important (Borja de Mozota 2003, Bruce and Cooper 

1997, Svengren 1995). Others have highlighted problems of 

communication between designers and other professional 

groups within the design management discourse (Johansson 

and Svengren 2006). Relations between the designers' 

discourse and the discourse of other professional groups 

that interface with designers are a source of possibilities 

and problems: Possibilities in the sense that designers often 

influence colleagues in a positive way, but problems because 

there is often resistance or other obstacles that result in 

design(ers) influencing the situation less than they otherwise 

might wish to do (Johansson 2006, Johansson and Svengren 

2006). 

How might the organizational setting adapt in order to be 

able to cooperate with and take advantage of the resources 

potentially provided by design? This question arises from the 

knowledge that design is often an underused resource as well 

as a great potential for industrial growth. Many dimensions of 

organizational change and adaptation might be beneficiaL 

Here, we focus on power relations, and discuss the possibilities 

of non hierarchical power and what that concept might mean 

to the relations between designers and other organizational 

professionals.

We start by acknowledging Mary Parker Follett (1868-1933), 

sometimes called "the prophet of management" (Graham 

1995), or "the mother of them all" (Linden 1995), who wrote 

at the beginning of last century, contemporary with Frederick 

WinslowTayior (1856-1915), often called "the father of scientific 

management" (Copley 1923). Follett formed a counter-stream 

to the developing mainstream management theory and 

practice. She was very practical, yet also the originator of many 

theoretical concepts. We suggest that Foliett's Ideas -that are 

related to current management ideas such as empowerment 

(Eyion 1998), chaos theory (Mendenhall, Macomber et al. 

2000), organizational learning (Carter 1992), organizational 

justice (Barclay 2005), and stakeholder theory (Schilling 

2000)- constitute a discourse relevant to designer and design 

management. Specifically, we propose that her organizational 

view is of an organization that is more welcoming to creative 

work -and therefore for designers- than main stream 

organizational settings. We not only suggest that Follett is 

relevant to designers, we also make the assertion that the form 

of non-hierarchical power she proposed may be a necessity 

for designers'work. 

Mary ParkerFollettdeveloped a concept of powerthat was non- 

hierarchical in the sense that it was not "power over another 

person" but rather "joint power over the situation" (Metcalf and 

Urwick 1941) pp.95-116). Follett believed strongly in social 

democracy, and described power as an energy that emanated 

from the circular response between people and ideas. Using 

a Hegelian dialectic technique, her concept blended extremes 

into a unique synthesis (Ryan and Rutherford 2000), that 

created a dialogue that changed those participating in it. This 

"circular response," as she labelled it, was the basis of her view 

of power, control and responsibility (Follett 1924/1995). 

Designers often claim they have no power, or that they do 

not fit into the corporate culture and that their ideas are 

not heeded.^ It may be that they feel this way because their 

^This is an observation made by one of the authors (Johansson) 

during her interviews, group discussions and informal conversations 

with about 40 Swedish designers as part of her evaluation of the 

Swedish governments design program. It might not be valid for 

American designers. 

method of working requires something otherthan a traditional 

hierarchical environment An alternative arrangement might 

include non-hierarchical power reladons of the kind that 

Follett proposed. We aim to elaborate and reflect on this 

theme using an exploratory study that includes interviews 

with distinguished designers in the US and Sweden. 

in this paper, we begin by reviewing the discourse of Follett 

and her followers on non-hierarchical power. Next, we 

problemetize the relationship between Follett and the design 

discourse, in the third section, we establish the grounds for 

our ongoing empincai investigation with industnai designers 

in Sweden and The US. We conclude with reflections on 

contributions of our work. 

Mary Parker Follett was born in 1868 into comfortable 

circumstances, and lived and died in the Boston area. By the 

time she died 1933 she had written a number of books: The 

Speaker ofthe House of Representatives (Foilett 1896), Tiie New 

State: Group Organization tlie solution of popular government 

(Follett 1918/1920), Creative Experience (Follett 1924/1951). In 

the last years before her death, she gave a serious of lectures 

that were compiled posthumously and published as Dynamic 

Administration edited by Fox and Urwick (Metcalf and Urwick 

1941; Fox and Urwick 1973) and Freedom and Coordination: 

Lectures in business organizations (Follett 1949). As seen 

from the titles, she started in the fields of politics and public 

administration, then moved later to industrial management, 

or as we would say today "from political science to business 

management." The shift came from her experiences with the 

Boston Placement Bureau and Minimum Wage Board and 

provided her with the intellectual srimulus to develop her 

concept of integrating opposing points of view for overall 

control of the whole situation (Parker 1984). 

Follett had a broad understanding of different Intellectual 

streams, and like many intellectuals of her rime, read across the 

disciplines and was well read in a spectrum ofdifferent subjects. 

In addition to the areas above, she was influenced by ideas 

from biology, law, history, economy, social work and religion 

(O'Connor 2000). Most often she used arguments based in 

psychology or philosophy. In psychology, she was specifically

interested in German Geştalt therapy that had a holistic view of 

the human being, thereby being in opposition to the positivist 

and behavioural perspectives that came to dominate most 

of twentieth century psychology. Follett's view of the human 

being as a holistic entity was the ground for all her thinking on 

human relations and her concept of circular response. 

In philosophy, Whitehead and Hegel had the strongest 

influence on Follett. Whitehead's process philosophy, 

stressing "becoming" over "being," underlay the Geştalt 

therapy mentioned above. Follett's teachers at Radcliff were 

Hegelians, and from then she took the dialectic view that she 

later used as a base for her discussion of conflicts (Ryan and 

Rutherford 2000). Conflicts, according to Follett, are a source 

of dynamic development where new integrations {or synthesis 

in Hegelian terms) are made. 

Though she was academically respected (and a research 

Institute vv'asfounded in her name in Japan in the 1920s), Follett 

never undertook a doctoral dissertation nor held an academic 

position as a professor. Instead, as was common with women 

of her social standing, she engaged İn voluntary social work 

in a neighbourhood close to her home. Among other things, 

she was an advocate for vocational training (Morton and 

Lindqulst 1997, Tonn 2003), and her home acted as a salon for 

intellectuals in the Boston area. She was also a member of a 

number of boards of both non-profits and corporations, and 

this gave her extensive Insights Into business administration. 

Follett never labelled herself a feminist (Morton and Lindqulst 

1997). She was not a part of the suffragette movement at that 

time, but, instead, was active In a number of causes concerning 

opportunities for girls and women. However, a gender neutral 

perspectivedoesnotcreatea fair representation of her. If Follett 

had been a man she would not have done the voluntary social 

welfare work that was an important ground for her holistic 

world-view. Most likely, she would have needed an academic 

position as professor for her reading and writing, rather than 

being able to do it because of her financial independence. And 

that in turn might have changed the way followers related to 

her and her work. 

Mary Parker Follett had neither strong opponents nor devoted 

disciples^ something that distinguished her from Frederick W. 

Taylor, who had plenty of both. This, Drucker (1995) says, may 

be one of the reasons why she and her theories were almost 

forgotten for several decades after her death. Another reason 

why the ideas became silent, according to Drucker, might be 

that there were no grounds for integrative and holistic views 

in the US - integration was far from a policy on the national 

agenda after World War II and during the Cold War era ofthe 

50s and 60s.These reasons, as Kanter (1995) points out, are not 

unrelated to gender. The way of holistic thinking, including 

merging private and professional spheres, integrating 

ethic into the whole life, and bringing citizenship into the 

company, are, instead, ideas that later were labelled women's 

culture (Morton and Lindqulst 1997). Both cultural feminism 

and radical feminism have taken as point of departure that 

women's culture has been underprivileged and silenced in 

favour of male culture (see, for example,Tong 1998). Thus both 

the political and social environment may have contributed to 

the fact that Follett's ideas were not included and debated 

as part of the development of management theory until the 

latter twentieth century. 

Follett's ideas were not totally forgotten^. Her concepts and 

ways of thinking have had a revival prompted by the much 

heralded publication, in 1995, of Mary Parker Foltett—Prophet 

of Management, a compilation of her writings with comments 

by leading contemporary management scholars, including 

John Child, Peter Drucker, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Over the 

last decade, deep analyses relating Follett to recent streams 

of thought and management practices have emerged, 

including: 

'' This is a simplification. British management theorist Lyndall 

Urwick (1891-1983) is recognized for integrating the ideas of 

earlier theorists, including Follett, but did not take her ideas further; 

instead he published them as they were. 

^ Fry, B. R. and L. L.Thomas (2006)."Mary Parker Follett: assessing the 

contribution and impact of her writings." Journal of Management 

History 2(2): 11-19, made a thorough search and found that between 

1969 and 1990 Follett was cited in 148 articles written by 129 authors 

in 96 different journals and periodicals. Follett was also briefly cited in 

most ofthe major pre 1978 public administration and management 

texts. Most of the text references, they claim, cite her in a rather 

shallow context, without appreciating the implications of her work.

• Chaos and complexity theory (Mendenhall, Macomber et 

al. 2000): Follett clearly articulated principles of non-linear 

dynamics, although in behavioural rather than mathematical 

terms. 

= Empowerment {Eyion 1998): Follett's writing points to the 

fact that it is not the giving of authority that is important for 

empowerment to succeed but the development of methods 

forallowingempowermentcomponentssuch as responsibility, 

responsiveness, reciprocality, and synthesis to be present. 

• Lifelong learning (Salimath and Lemak 2004): Follett was 

an ardent advocate of education, particularly through adult 

education, and education of executives, as being the rootfrom 

which the tree of democratic social organization can grow. 

• Organizational justice (Barclay 2005): Follett's perspective 

places justice as a context-specific and dynamic process, 

and provides opportunities for further exploration, including 

emotionality of injustice, integrative unity, and circular 

responses. 

• Stakeholder theory (Schilling 2000): Rather than focusing 

on the boundaries separating groups, and the differentiation 

between their objectives, Follettfocuses on the connectedness 

between the organization and other stakeholder groups and 

on integrating their interests. 

While many of these concepts are applicable to designers 

working in an organizational setting, our interest is specifically 

in organizational power and the insights that Follett can bring 

to the current workplace. In the next section, we present the 

foundational aspects of her view of power, using her own 

words, followed by our interpretation that is intended to bring 

Follett's ideas into the purview of industrial designers. 

FOLLETT'S NOTION OF POWER 

Follett's notion of power is interesting for many reasons. It was 

grounded in a democratic view of society, stressing freedom 

over repression. As a non-hierarchical view, it stands in contrast 

to most managerial views of organizations that presuppose a 

hierarchy. To Follett, power was more equivalent to capacity 

than to coercion. Power was something that enabled actions 

and provided freedom rather than repression. From her social 

liberal and democratic standpoint, it was important that 

"power of the individual" did not constrain other people's 

freedom. With this view she bridged and constantly moved 

between the individualist and coilectivist perspectives (Ryan 

and Rutherford 2000). 

"The circular response" perspective- a relativist and 

relational view upon human relations and organizational 

je 

The most fundamental about all this is that reaction 

is always reaction to a relating... I never react you- 

plus-me; or to be more accurate, it is l-plus-you 

reacting to you-plus-me... that is, in the very process 

of meeting, by the very process of meeting we both 

become something different. It begins even before we 

meet, in the anticipation of meeting... it is I plus the- 

interweaving-between-you-and-me meeting you plus 

the-interweaving-between-you-and-me, etc. If we 

were doing it mathematically we should work it out to 

the n''^ power (Follett 1924/1951, pp. 62-53). 

The relational view that people were not something separate in 

themselves, but rather something in relation to other people, 

was the ground for Follett's thinking about both people and 

organizations. She gave the example that you might be one 

character with one person, but not the same with another 

one. You are and become in relation to other people. This 

perspective was far as it could possibly be from the positivist 

view that dominated the social sciences during the twentieth 

century. It was a true relativistic way of thinking. 

This relational view, which Follett combined with a holistic 

view, was also applied to organizational reality. She saw 

organizations as something constantly in change, and as 

(Mendenhall, Macomber et al. 2000) note, she recognized and 

described in a non-technical way, the principles of non-liner 

dynamics in social systems, earning her the title of "mother of 

chaos and complexity theory." She viewed all interactions as 

having a potential for every participant to affect every other 

participant in the organization, whether the person was aware 

of it or not - a view that was quite different from the prevalent 

one of direct one-to-one cause and effect.

"Power with" instead of "power over" another person 

We should learn to distinguish between different l

the individual competition that is so obviously at hand in most 

organizations today. 

"Dynamic conflicts" - Conflicts as the ground for creative 

development 

There is a way beginning now to be recognized at least, 

and even occasionally followed: when two desires are 

integrated, that means that a solution has been found 

in which both desires have found a place, that neither 

side has had to sacrifice anything (Follett 1995:69). 

Let us take some very simple illustration. In the Harvard 

Library one day, in one of the smaller rooms, someone 

wanted the window open, I wanted it shut. We opened 

the window in the next room, where no one was sitting. 

This was not a compromise because there was no 

curtailing of desire; we both got what we really wanted. 

For I did not want a closed room, I simply did not want 

the north wind to blow directly on me: Likewise the other 

occupant did not want that particular window open, he 

merely wanted more air in the room (Follett 1995:69). 

Follett had a remarkable view of conflict. In contrast to Taylor, 

who really feared conflicts and tried to avoid and instrumentalize 

them, Follett saw conflicts as the root of organizational 

development and something that should be handled openly. 

How conflicts were treated and resolved was important to her. 

She divided conflict resolution Into three types: First, domination, 

which was something negative and related to"power over"rather 

than her democratic "power with," and second, compromise, 

which was also something negative because it required 

curtailing the wish or need of one or al! of those involved. The 

third strategy of conflict resolution, she labelled integration, and 

provided the rather simple example in the quote above. 

Follett's distinction between compromise and integration 

is also worthy of note. Her distinction is closely related to 

Hegelian dialectics where opposites may be resolved in 

synthesis. To reach a synthesis - or integration in Follett's 

vocabulary - between conflicting persons or organizations, a 

circular behaviour or response is needed. By looking at the 

situation at hand and the evolving situation, new possibilities 

for creative solutions might appear. In this way, the concepts 

of power, integration, circular response and the law of the 

situation are closely related to each other. 

Power as creativity - or capacity to create new alternatives 

I think we may learn that a jointly developing power 

means the possibility of creating new values, a wholly 

different process from the sterile one of balancing. Not 

to rearrange existing values, but to bring more into 

existence is the high mission of enlightened human 

intercourse (Follett 1995:116). 

To confer authority where capacity has not been 

developed is fatal to both government and business 

(Metcalf and Urwick 1941 p.l12). 

The world of Follett was an ever-changing world, and the 

situation or the reality at hand was more important than 

holding on to universal principles. But also this reality was a 

consequence of human interaction. So the very base for power, 

one could say, was creativity and constant circular response in 

a looking for a more democratic and human world. 

Our interpretation of Follett's power notion is that the line 

between power and creativity is blurred, making it impossible 

to separate the one from the other. And they both rely upon 

circular response, which was the ground for most of Follett's 

thinking. Also creativity for Follett was a mental capacity 

to create something new, whether it was a new idea or 

something else. Power and creativity were also related closely 

to her concept of integration. Power then can be seen as what 

is needed for creativity, a companion for creative thinking, and 

an outcome from creative thinking, making it possible to find 

integrative solutions. 

Power as energy - including an emotional dimension 

Power might be defined as simply the ability to make 

things happen, to be a cause or agent, to initiate 

change. Perhaps the "urge to power" Is merely the 

satisfaction of being alive... 

It has always seen to me that the violinist must get one 

of the greatest satisfactions of being alive; all of him is

enlisted, he surely feels power. Probably the leader of 

an orchestra feels more {Follett 1995:101). 

Power within an organization or between individuals is 

normally seen as something very different from electrical 

power. However, embracing Foliett's texts on power, we 

have come to see power as something that has similar 

characteristics or qualities to electrical powen characteristics 

of flow, providing energy, and also sustaining activity. Power as 

energy also contains an emotional dimension because being 

full of power or feeling powedess are emotional states. This is 

a dimension too seldom recognized within the social science 

power concept. 

Summary of Foliett's non-hierarchicaf power concept 

Foliett's power concept begins with, and always returns to, the 

circular response. It is about responding both to the situation at 

hand and to other people. "Power with" is more important than 

"power over." Power is related to conflicts and conflicts should 

be handled with creativity in order to try to find an Integrative 

solution rather than a compromise or domination. Therefore, 

her non-hierarchical power concept is a tool for creative and 

organizational development. This is a very different power 

concept from the one that is taken-for-granted in most 

corporations and described in management theories. 

WHAT DOES FOLLETT'S NON-HIERARCHICAL POWER HAVE 

TO DO WITH DESIGN? 

At a first glance, Follett has nothing to do with design. We 

do not know of any specific interest in design from her side. 

Nor does she write about design. So how come that we relate 

Follett to design? There are a number of perspectives that can 

be taken in order to relate non-hierarchical power to design. 

Before doing that, however, we would like to make explicit 

our view upon industnai design, so that the reader can see the 

meaning endowed/put into both concepts that we are trying 

to relate to each other. 

What is design? 

What is meant by "design"? The word is given quite different 

meaning in different context. For example, in Scandinavian 

popular culture, like TV, and magazines, design very much 

refers to exclusivity in form and colour, giving the artefact an 

art-like experience.This resembles whatthe sociologist design 

researcher Juller (2004) refers to as high design, a concept 

related to Bourdieu's philosophy and therefore related not so 

much to exclusivity per see as a contextual exclusivity - what 

is perceived as exclusive by a given group at a given time. 

This, therefore, also resembles the definition of design given 

by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum 

In US. This states simply, "Whether it's handmade or mass 

produced high end or low brow, good design is in the eye of 

the beholder"(www.cooperhewitt.org). Both definitions focus 

on the artefact and the relation to the result as well as the 

relation to the art discourse. 

Another, quite different, definition is given by the Nobel 

laureate, economist and psychologist Herbert Simon (1964); 

his definition covers the design process of engineers, 

architects, and industrial designers. Design, for him, is the 

creation ofthe artificial separating it only from what has been 

created by nature and coincidence. Simon puts much focus on 

the design process and characterises it as epistemologically 

separated both from humanistic knowledge (concerned with 

insights), social sciences (concerned with analytical and critical 

knowledge) and the sciences (concerned with explanations of 

what is already existent). 

Simon's notion of design is related to the etymological 

definition. If you search for design in the Oxford English 

Dictionary (1989) you will find that the verb design comes 

from the latin designare, meaning "to mark or to point out 

something," implying that it is something that differs from 

the surrounding. The verb design can In English be traced 

back to 14th century and is related to "denote, signify, or 

show by a mark or token, to design, prescribe, appoint" 

i.e. to mark, but also to prescribe something or to tell how 

something should be or be produced. The lexicon also talks 

about design as "making a plan or a mental scheme for 

something to be realized, a preliminary idea, a project", and 

to "signify, stand for" I.e. being different and stand out from 

the context - something that still is the case if you regard 

design from a marketing perspective. In the latter meaning, 

the word design has been used in the English language since 

the renaissance and this is, according to Juller (2000), still

the base when discussing strategy and differentiation within 

industrial design. 

The substantive "design", means, according to the same 

lexicon "a mental plan". Since the end ofthe 17"' century it has 

been used for "a preliminary sketch for work of art, building, 

or other decorative work" (Oxford English Dictionary 1989). 

Here it is the preliminary result of the work process - the 

preliminary sketch of the art piece, the building, etc. that is 

in focus. Interestingly to note is that the verb was used about 

300 years before the substantive came to use - at least if you 

trace the records available. 

Among the industrial designers as a profession there is a 

strong focus on both aspects; on the substantive and the 

product as well as the verb and the process. Many design 

researchers stress this double dimension as important (Simon, 

Ramirez, Svengren, Johansson 2006b).The design process and 

work method have also been regarded so important that is 

used even outside product development, for organizational 

development and for creation of service rather than products 

(Johansson 2006a, b). 

The design process might be the reason why Johansson 

and Svengren (2007) tell us that designers often talk about 

themselves as invisible in a way that resembles of feminist 

theories about invisibility (Gilligan 1982,1992) in the modern 

western society. How come that designers, whose products 

obviously are exposed and visible relate themselves to 

invisibility. The irony of the situation can be phrased as 

designers being at the core of visibility, being experts on 

making concepts visible do have problem with visibility. 

Johansson and Svengren discuss it in the following way: 

No one can reasonably state that design in itself is 

invisible. On the contrary, it is the design and the 

exterior form that first appear when we approach a 

product, for example a mobile phone, rather than the 

interior technical qualities. Though design in many 

ways is so visible that it shouts towards us in the public 

space, we would argue that the designprocess and its 

importance is not enough recognized by management. 

To a certain degree there is reason to believe that it is 

due to the discourse of the design area itself 

Many design researchers claim that design cannot be 

described, defined, or understood the same way as 

knowledge from the social sciences, the humanities, or the 

natural sciences. Similarly, both Simon (1969/81) and Ramirez 

(1998), for example, claim that design competence and design 

knowledge are difficult to place within these epistemologies 

or within the most common perceptions of knowledge and 

what constitutes knowledge. One reason for this might be the 

close connection of design to visibility, and that the message 

from pictures and other visible expressions are less discursive 

than verbal expressions. So the visibility makes the designer 

visible and invisible simultaneously. 

Describing something verbally is a way to give it a discursive 

form and make it visible, thereby creating something 

meaningful. But it is at the same time a matter of separating 

this meaning from other meanings and creating limitations. 

In our own definition of industrial design, we follow the 

Norwegian industrial designer Mono (1997) who characterises 

design as a combination of the following three dimensions: (1) 

engineering/production, (2) art/aesthetic and (3) functional/ 

human aspects. Another Norwegian, Jan Mlchl, (1995) defines 

industrial design in the following way: 

The development and planing of industrially produced 

products with the aim of making them attractive for 

the user. The process preceeds the production and 

begins with and includes improvements and shaping 

of the products functional sides, user qualities and 

appearance, and adjusting the product for mass 

production, distribution and selling. Aestetic shape 

of the product is seldom the only contribution but is 

always counted as important (Gyldendals Norwegian 

dictionary, translation by Johansson). 

Design is here about industrially produced products that 

should be made "attractive for the user". This can be done 

through making the product more functional, more user- 

friendly orthrough its aesthetic. However, there should always 

be an adaptation to enable mass production. 

In Johansson {2006b), design is described as a process, as a 

method of working that is less analytical and more iterative 

and holistic In comparison with social science and technical

work. People who cooperate with designers often talk about 

designers'approach to problem-solving In terms of "design 

as a way of thinking" •- something that relates more to the 

epistemological difference between design and social sciences 

than to any specific model of working. 

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE RELATIONSHIP 

BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL DESIGNERS AND NON- 

HIERARCHICAL POWER 

Our interest in connecting Follett with design is based in a 

personal epiphany that happened when Elisbeth Svengren, 

an established design researcher, was reading Ulla Johansson's 

(one of the authors) dissertation. This dissertation was an 

ethnographic account of building caretakers' (janitors') work 

and what happened in some real estate companies when the 

caretakers were assigned so-called "holistic responsibility" 

for an area of their own. Johansson (1998) argues that it is 

impossible to understand what was happening without using 

Foliett's notion on power. When the caretakers took on the 

holistic responsibility, there was not a shift in responsibility In 

the hierarchical way or any organizational transformation in 

theTayloristic way. However, by using Foliett's notion of power 

and responsibility, what was happening became visible, and 

could be described in Folletian terms. 

Svengren, in her discussions with Johansson, exclaimed, 

"This text is about the designers and their situation!" and 

claimed that the text about Follett and the caretakers was 

relevant to design management. What, then, for us, makes 

Follett ascribable In general to the work of designers? 

Here we highlight and discuss two perspectives on the 

relation between Foliett's non-hierarchical power and 

the situation of Industnai designers, first focusing on the 

creative process, and then on the holistic perspective. Our 

method is a deductive and analytical comparison, or what 

Glaser and Strauss (1997) label as "armchair research." In 

addition, we extend our armchair theorizing by developing 

a research agenda for an empincai study that will provide 

a contemporary viewpoint of power relations within the 

design management process. The results of this research 

will enable our theoretically elaborated perspectives to be 

further developed - or discarded if our assertions are not 

supported. 

Creativity and chaos are oxymoronic to hierarchy 

First of all, Foilett was one of the first people within 

management theory who had a specific interest In creativity 

and organizations. She described how crearive activities could 

not be grasped: 

To view from the outside, to dissect it Into its different 

elements, to lay these elements on the dissecting 

table as so many different individuals, is to kill the life 

and feed the fancy with dead Images, empty, sterile 

concepts (Follett 1918:63). 

This quotarion, in our interpretation, demonstrates Foliett's 

understanding and interest In the crearive process; here she 

catches the integrative way of doing creative work. Though, to 

our knowledge, she did not talk either to or about designers, 

her way of thinking and writing about organizarions built 

on a creative perspective of human activities. This was very 

different, not to say alien, to scientific management and to 

the hierarchical worid of Taylor that became the platform for 

development of organizarions during the 20"' century. 

How do creativity and chaos relate to each other and to 

hierarchies? Saussure (Saussure 1960) explains that a way to 

understand a concept is to relate it to its opposite. A concept 

does not mean much by itself, instead it creates a meaning in 

relation to Its opposite. White can only be understood either 

in relation to black or In relation to a number of concepts for 

white that differ from each other - similar to the way in which 

Eskimos have many different concepts for"snow". 

The opposite of hierarchy is not only non-hierarchical but also 

chaos: a concept that implies the total loss of hierarchy. Chaos 

and industrial design relate to each other in an interesring 

way because design is a way of both handling chaos and 

structuring it. The design process is an iterative process that 

involves both chaos and structure such that a designer's 

relarion to structure and chaos resembles the character of 

romantic irony, a conception that 

expresses the boundless creative potenriallty of 

transcending seemingly frozen polariries.This Is realized 

by ironically soaring, in a kind of weightless, non-

synthetic dialectic, İn the abyss of uncertainty between 

apparently irreconcilable opposites. Using romantic 

irony constitutes a new approach to understanding 

and coping with contrarieties in management and 

organizing {Sköldberg 2005:127). 

An ironic perspective is a paradoxical one, because it requires 

handling multiple realities at the same time without giving 

privilege to one of them {see Johansson and Woodilia 2005). 

Two designers of information systems described this paradox 

as follows: 

To formulate a design method is always a delicate task. 

The purpose is typically to establish some certainty 

and control in the design process. But this striving for 

predictability and control is a paradox in design, since 

in reality the most valued and desirable characteristic 

of a design process is creativity and thus the ability 

to find the new and the unexpected, leading to the 

unpredictability of the design process. When a design 

process becomes predictable it is no longer a design 

process but merely a building process (Stolterman and 

Russo 1997). 

The word chaos comes from the Greek kliaos or "abyss, that 

which gapes wide open, is vast and empty." In modern times, 

chaos has come to mean a complete lack of structure, a state 

of utter confusion of things. In contrast, hierarchy implies 

structure and order, a state where relationships are known and 

fixed. Chaos is a force of creativity because it forces the mind 

to search for patterns - to find order in new ways or to take 

disparate items and find a pattern within or between them. 

When random elements are introduced into a situation, or when 

a whole is taken apart and elements are strewn about randomly, 

new patterns, or new ways of looking at a problem, emerge. 

The process used by the pre-eminent American designers, 

Charles Eames{l 907-1978) and his wife Ray Barnes (1912-1988) 

illustrates the creative process and paradoxical relationship of 

pattern and randomness. As described by Ray Jacobson {2003): 

First they decomposed a design program into its 

myriad components and subcomponents, a hundred 

subtasks for every major task. Then they analyzed the 

smallest parts one by one, striving with each successive 

evaluation to choose the one design alternative that 

equaled or surpassed in quality the choices made 

before, fvleticulously the Eameses arrived at the nest of 

the small parts and then, just as rigorously, assembled 

these unit by unit, until the resulting product 

represented the sum of a thousand excellent decisions. 

Paradoxically, the result frequently stunned Charles 

and Ray themselves, since the effect of their method 

was indeed often greater than the sum of its parts. 

And yet, the Eameses were also masters of intuition, 

for the process of taking apart the pieces and putting 

them back together again was conducted in a context 

of simple elegance and beauty whose rules resided in 

their minds alone. If the final products of their labors 

were honed and fine-tuned to within an inch of excess, 

still the conception of these products was an act of 

creation unique to the Eameses' sense of proportion 

and propriety and their overall genius {pp.7-8). 

The process of design described here resembles Follett's 

"circular response," the object grew only through relation to 

the part that had been created just before and the part that 

was in the process of creation, At the same time, the creative 

process emerged only from a state of randomness or chaos, 

where all the subparts were strewn about, waiting to be 

formed into new patterns and a new whole. 

A holistic view fragments the hierarchical pattern 

The concept "circular response" and a holistic view of 

organizations are essential to Follett's organizational 

construction. Taken together, they create such a deep- 

seated foundation that it is worth asking if this Is the reason 

why Follett's organizational view has always been left in 

the shadows compared to the partitioned and hierarchical 

organizational construction of scientific management. 

Circular response can be seen as the reverse of hierarchy and 

thereby also to scientific management and the management 

theories ofthe twentieth century that either criticise or build 

onTaylorism. Follett's and Taylor's views are so totally different 

in their assumptions about the character ofthe organizational 

construction that they are seemingly impossible to blend.

Whether or not this alternative foundation repressed Follett's 

theories in favour of Taylor's, Follett and designers have the 

holistic view in common. Most design schools consider it 

essential to teach their students to have what Johansson 

(2006) labels "a zoom-camera" to instantly go between details 

and holistic views and to see how details can make the whole 

different. Designers often work with details and are trained 

to be careful about details. However, they do not stay on the 

detail level but rather jump between different scales. 

The holistic view has consequences for the collaboration 

between designers and other groups such as marketers, 

engineers, and top management. Designers do not pretend 

to be experts in either marketing or engineering. However, 

in order to work with the combination of form and function 

and take production aspects into account, they need to have 

sufficient knowledge of other disciplines to be able get help 

from these other areas. This help cannot be in a hierarchical 

relationship, because no discipline can be above the other. It is 

rather a relation like that of consulting-but the question is who 

is consulting whom- in the best case It is a mutual consulting 

and collaboration within what Follett labels as "the law ofthe 

situation." The law ofthe situation means that participants do 

not bother about having control over other people, but having 

control and power over the (common) situation. It means 

going from a hierarchical view to a view where the problems 

at hand and their solutions are at the core of the interaction 

and relationship. This way of looking upon the situation is very 

similar to what designers describe as their task (Lawson 1997) 

- they want to solve problems and do not bother about the 

official rank of different persons but rather think only about 

who can contribute to the solving the problem at hand. 

In the study, that prompted the connection between Follett 

and the designer, Johansson (1998} found that when workers 

turned from a more fragmented and hierarchical perspective 

where they "did what we were told to do" task-by-task to a 

situation where they had responsibility for an area of their 

own, they started to think in a more holistic way and that, 

according to the workers themselves, this sense-making was 

very different from the fragmented one. Also, thinking in a 

holistic way not only meant solving the problems at hand, but 

also meant claiming other information and equipment from 

their bosses and people in other parts of the organisation. 

because these things were needed to solve the problems they 

had defined for themselves. So, having a holistic approach 

meant being much more demanding on other people than 

having a more restricted view and only looking at tasks from a 

narrow perspective. 

For designers, having a holistic approach may mean that a 

solution In product development requires changes -or in other 

ways influences- marketing, production, strategy or other 

functional areas. When a designer crosses the borders between 

disciplines, she may find new solutions, but she will also find 

new conflicts, especially if the unit on the other side of the 

border has a more hierarchical view. Difficulties that occur when 

members ofdesign teams collaborate across disciplines is well- 

recognized. Research has been conducted into collaborative 

design processes and the integration of both technical and 

social aspects, and ways In which design team members 

interactively make sense of a project (Cumming and Akar 2005, 

Fischer 2004). Much ofthis research uses hierarchically-related 

terminology, such as centralization or decentralization, or draws 

on structuration theory (Giddens 1984) and focuses on computer 

modelling to approximate the structure and relationships 

involved. But, we argue, the act of modelling and generalizing 

itself creates a preferred solution, privileging this one above 

others, and placing certain positions atnodes of communication. 

Instead, if following Follett, the situation at hand Is the focusing 

element, and it is one that is always evolving as relationships are 

created and changed as knowledge is exchanged. The design 

process is created through non-hierarchical relationships. Or, 

as Tom Kelley, the general manager of IDEO, has described the 

ideal designer, among "T-shaped persons," who are deep in at 

least one field while knowledgeable in many. He describes the 

process of communication across disciplines as one involving 

empathy, thereby creating understanding without dominance 

(Kelley and Littman, 2005). 

INVITATION TO THE DANCE 

The dance within the discursive triangle of Taylor, Follett 

and Designers 

What then, we ask, are the discursive elements that 

problematize relationships in design management/the 

management of designers? Certainly, much ofthe discourse

of current management thought and practice (including 

standardization, the quality movement, and lean production 

that are all important to design work) can be traced back to 

Taylor's way of thinking. Even those who critique Taylor's 

work often rely on the discursive grounds of scientific 

management—the hierarchical view, the notion of reporting 

to one boss, and responsibility as something commodified, 

etc. (Johansson 1998). Both those in sharp critique of Taylor 

work and those following him like disciples, rely on some of 

his discursive ground of rational thinking, omitting creativity 

like a cleaned skeleton omits the flesh. 

When taking the management area as the point of departure, 

Taylor and his discursive followers are not well suited to 

communicate with the design area. Indeed, designers 

often complain about the managerial wodd and its lack of 

understanding ofthe requirements and the character of design. 

Scholars of design and design management often claim that in 

order to integrate design in a true way, a deep understanding 

of art and/or design is needed in top management (Svengren 

1995, Borja de Mozota 2003, Bruce and Cooper 1997). A new 

discursive platform needs to be constructed. 

The need for understanding between design and management 

might be taken as a requirement that management should 

always adjust to designers. However, this is not our claim. 

Rather, we think that managers need to talk with designers 

and understand design in a different way In order to arrive 

at a communicative level of mutual understanding. Foliett's 

discourse, which is built upon circular response, creative 

interaction and non-hierarchical relations that constantly 

change within the Interaction, may be a place to embark for 

communication between management and design. We also 

believe that the discursive character of much of mainstream 

management thinking is such that creative thinking is 

repressed. Going even further, which we do not attempt in this 

paper, a discursive analysis of the communication between 

designer and manager from a feminist point of view might 

show that there is a similar repression between the managerial 

culture and communication as there is between the women's 

culture and main stream male culture. 

From the notion that there might be discursive differences 

underlying the problems in communication between the 

designer's wodd and the managerial wodd, we have chosen in 

this paperto focus on the hierarchy-non-hierarchy dimension. 

We take the power dimension as surrogate for differences 

because we presume that most social theories of power 

-and even more so theories of power and organizations- 

presuppose a notion of power that is hierarchical, whereas 

Foilett's notion of power proves a definitive statement of non- 

hierarchical power in organizations. Hierarchical power is the 

basis for most variants of Marxist theories, Weberian theones 

on bureaucracy, critical management theory, and indeed 

most managerial thinking about organizations. Notions of 

power iike Foucault's discursive power tend to relate power 

to domination, thereby constructing a hierarchy between the 

dominated and the oppressed. While any one of these theories 

of power may underlie a particular manager's wodd-vlew, we 

are not interested in uncovering the specific theory, but rather 

to reveal how hierarchical versus non-hierarchical differences 

make a difference in communications and understanding. 

We also see a vital link between design and non-hierarchical 

organizations. Maybe the structured creativity of designers 

needs a non-hlerarchicai environment in orderto thrive.The 

interface between non-hierarchy, designers' requirements, 

and traditional management is the core of our research focus 

and interest. 

Designers trying to dance with(in) the organizational 

hierarchy - concluding reflections 

Dancing is a good metaphor for both professional and pnvate 

relations. A times dance may enable individual expression, 

but it takes two to tango -and it is not a good collaboration if 

one partner tries to dance tango and the other one a foxtrot- 

though it may be possible to dance both to the same music. 

Dance as a means of exploring the organizational world is a 

subtheme in the upcoming European Group for Organization 

Studies 2007 Colloquium (www.egosnet.org/conferences/ 

collo23/sub_28.shtm!). Our analysis in this paper can be 

summarized through the dance metaphor. 

What sorts of dance are designers invited to dance within 

the organizational wodd? On one hand, we might continue 

with argentine tango, which is a complex and crearive dance, 

because it allows both partners to elaborate on their own or to

follow the subtle signals ofthe partner who takes the lead. For 

the tango, dancers must learn the steps, and also the signals 

and ways in which elaborations alter the flow ofthe dance. 

On the other hand, we might take, for example, the form of 

the square dance, which has a prescribed choreography to be 

followed. Here dancers rely on the "caller" who manages the 

interrelationships among the dancers, provided the dancers 

bring to the dance the capacity to perform the required 

manoeuvres. When we take the metaphor of dancing for 

design management, we sense that the company invites 

participants to a tango that turns out to be a square dance. 

The designer Is expected to create and deliver something 

that is hard to deliver and even harder to create within a 

hierarchically constructed organizational world. This actually 

puts the designer in a similar situation as women are claimed 

to be in by feminist researchers - not seen and not being able 

to exist and perform on their own terms and capacities. Or, 

even worse, their capacity and qualities not even being seen 

or recognized. The designer Is like the woman in a square 

dance - someone who has prescribed steps set by the caller 

and who must look like everyone else. However, if dancing the 

tango, the woman is valued forthe (dramatic) perspectives she 

brings to her role In the partnership. Similarly, the hierarchical 

organization is like a prison for the creativity and the linking 

between different perspectives and competencies that is a 

vital part ofthe design profession: 

What to do? We have not aimed to provide a simple solution, 

rather we wanted to point out the very deep and foundational 

problems that exist in the relations between designers and 

hierarchical companies. Rather than being depressed by 

uncovering these problems, we believe that recognizing and 

conceptualizing them is an important first step in "solving" 

them or changing the situation. 

We see a number of possible lines of development. First, 

currently there is a tendency to try to break up hierarchies in 

general in the society as well as in companies. But this tendency 

to prescribe flat or networked structures is a theoretical one; at 

the same time companies and cities are becoming bigger and, 

in practice, more bureaucracy İs required, so that hierarchical 

power remains Second, we recognize that many successful 

design process are going on in smaller and medium-sized 

companies and companies with an entrepreneurial spirit, 

suggesting that entrepreneurial characteristics may underlie 

relationships between management and design.Third, design 

may be emerging as a meta-concept that is so valuable that it 

creates its own rules and dictates theform of relationships with 

management. Foundational to all three of these possibilities is 

a deeply inherent relational problem. It's a wonder that there 

is any dance at all! 

Developing the dance steps: Plans for empirical research 

Initially, we had planned an exploratory empirical component 

for this paper. Our research question was to explore design 

manager's understanding of non-hierarchical power in 

organizations through interviews with prominent designers 

in Sweden and the United States. However, an early interview 

based on a framework of Bourgone's self-questioning method 

(Bougon 1983, Woodilia and Forray forthcoming) revealed that 

our conceptualization of power relations as researchers was far 

different from that of practicing design managers. Our initial 

unstructured Interview format based on asking designers to 

first formulate their own questions related to non-hierarchical 

power did not create the dialogue we expected; we needed to 

spend time explaining the concept, suggesting that designers 

may not conceptualize power in this way. However, when we 

reformulated our interview questions more directly in terms of 

relations between designers and managers or workers in other 

functional areas, our interpretation of the transcript clearly 

identified connections with Follett's work, and the interview 

transcript revealed themes related to Follett's discourse of 

non-hierarchical power in organizations. For example, when 

asked to reflect on power and hierarchical organizations, one 

Swedish designer said, 

I can look at it from the designer's point of view, or from 

the end user's. I like "end user" rather than customer 

- and would like design to be a sort of advocate for 

the end user, while at the same time of course helping 

the company. In that case it has to be shared power 

- between the company and the designer or between 

the end user and the designer. I want to be sure about 

the quality - the values of the customer and also the 

business ideas ofthe company. I very seldom look on 

design as power -more as shared value- values of the

end user and company - and the designer's job should 

be to coordinate this. 

The designerhas power-as impact on the development 

ofthe company. It can be like putting a dangerous tool 

in the hands of a child. The designer knows how to use 

it, but very often misinterprets the idea or puts himself 

in the idea. Many companies do not know what they 

are ordering - the bnef is very poor. The designer has a 

tool to lift the company and to make it successful but if 

it is a poor design, it can be a disaster for the company. 

The designer has power and capacity from a business 

point of view. (Swedish design manager, August 2006) 

These quotes show this designer's views of organizational 

power to be complex and quite unlike power concepts 

traditionally used in describing organizational work. We 

subsequently decided to take additional time to develop 

interview questions based on our analytic armchair theorizing 

and to then return to the empincai investigation to find 

illustrative patterns and empincai evidence as well as more 

nuanced descriptions of the problems that we here have 

notified from a more strictly theoretical point of view. 

Concluding reflections 

In this paper, we have revisited an erstwhile prophet of 

management -Mary Parker Follett- and constructed her 

holistic theones of management in as an alternative, and 

oppositional, discursive foundation for management theones 

to those of Frederick Winslow Taylor. We added the designer 

to create a triangular relarionship, finding that there are 

many similariries between Follett and designers, but that the 

designers most often have to dance within an organization 

ruled by descendents of Taylor. Incongruities in relarionships 

established within traditional hierarchies may be one the 

reasons for the difficulries most designers have in getting 

working condirions that they find appropriate for their work 

and why, design, as shown by researchers (Svengren 1995), 

Is an underused strategic resource. Our planned empirical 

investigation will explore how non-hierarchical organizational 

relations may facilitate both the designers' work and the 

organizarions'possibility of taking advantage ofthe designers' 

methods and results.

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C O M P L E X I T Y - D E S I G N ' S P R O P E R S U B J E C T 

Wolfgang Jonas 

School of Art and Design, University of Kassel, 

Kassel, Germany 

jonasw@uni-kassel.de 

- a foreword, 7 chunks of ideas and an outlook 

Abstract Foreword: Complexity - some sceptical remarks 

Designing is a fuzzily defined field of various activities and 

artefacts and chunks of knowledge. Theories about design 

foundations often evoke the impression of Babylonian 

confusion. The reasons for this "mess" can be located in the 

"non-fit" of theories and subject field. There seems to be 

a comparable interface problem in theory-building as in 

designing itself. 

"Complexity" and complexity theory sound promising at first 

glance, but turn out to be problematic and not really helpful 

concepts. I have argued in many cases for a more appropriate 

application of systemic and evolutionary concepts, which 

-in my view- are able to model the underlying generative 

structures and processes that produce the visible phenomenon 

of complexity. This allows to specify more clearly the 

"knowledge gaps" inherent in the design process. This aspect 

has to be taken Into account as constitutive of any attempt 

at theory-building In design, which can be characterized as a 

"practice of not-knowing". 

I conclude, that comprehensive "unified" and formalized 

complexity theories run aground on the identified knowledge 

gaps, which allow neither reliable models ofthe present, nor 

reliable projections into the future. On the other hand, design 

has always possessed the competence to manage complexity. 

Examining these communicative processes more clearly may 

provide designerly contributions to complexity theory and 

practice, not vice versa. New tools for design and innovation 

processes will deal with complexity by designing complexity. 

"Complexity" has been one ofthe buzzwords in design and 

design theory for at least 10 years now. Design is facing "the 

challenge of complexity", design is "embracing complexity", 

and so forth. Complexity theory is promoted as the new 

meta-tool for dealing with complexity. But what is complexity 

actually? Is complexity in design the same as complexity in 

complexity theory? This would make things much easier. One 

may solve this question once and for all, as for example Bar- 

Yam (1997) does at the very beginning of his seminal book by 

defining: 

- complex = consisting of interconnected or interwoven parts / 

not easy to understand or analyze, and 

- complexity = the amount ofinformation needed to describe it. 

These are perfect definitions with regard to formalized 

approaches and algorithms, as in cellular automata or in well- 

defined multi-agent systems. But, to give a simple example: 

What is the amount of information needed to describe the 

emotional relation of a user and his/herobjectof desire, which 

may be essential for the success of a new product? 

John Morgan, in his June 1995 Scientific American editorial 

entitled "From complexity to perplexity", mentions 31 

definitions of complexity and states the lack of a "unified 

theory". Mlkulecky (2003) follows Horgan and argues that 

complexity is the result of the failure of the Newtonian 

Paradigm (which represents the world as simple mechanisms) 

to be generic:

"Complex systems and simple systems are disjoint 

categories that encompass all of nature. The world 

therefore divides naturally Into those things that are 

simple and those things that are complex. The real 

wodd is made up of complex things. Therefore the 

wodd of simple mechanisms is a fictitious wodd created 

by science or, more specifically, by physics as the hard 

version of science. This is the wodd of the reductionist. 

It is modelled by the Newtonian Paradigm and simply 

needs sufficient experimentation to make it known to 

us. Those experiments involve reducing the system to 

its parts and then studying those parts in a context 

formulated according to dynamics...." 

The way science is done is the modelling relation. We observe 

the worid around us and try to make sense out of that sensory 

Information by calling the events that make it change as 

we observe causality. We encode the real-worid system into 

another system, a formal one, which is completely under 

our control. Once we think we have an appropriate formal 

system and have found an implication that corresponds 

to the causal event in the real worid, we must decode from 

the formal system in order to check Its success or failure in 

representing the causal event. This worked for a long time 

and is tremendously successful. But observers came up with 

aspects that the Newtonian Paradigm failed to capture and a 

new explanarion was required. Mikulecky (2003): 

"Complexity was born! This easily can be formalized. It 

has very profound meaning. Complexity is the property 

of a real worid system that is manifest in the inability 

of any one formalism being adequate to capture all its 

properties. It requires that we find disrinctly different 

ways of interacring with systems. Distinctly different in 

the sense that when we make successful models, the 

formal systems needed to describe each distinct aspect 

are NOT derivable from each other." 

Irreducible "knowledge gaps" are showing up, and there 

will probably never be such thing as a "unified theory" of 

complexity. This is why I recommend to skip the concept of 

complexity, or rather to use It as a metaphor denoting our 

limits of knowing, and to turn back to the older underiying 

concepts of system and evolurion (Jonas 1994 - 2005). 

Figure 1. Complexity & design - 7 chunks of ideas. 

Figure 1 represents my complex plan for the following 

deliberations: a network of 7 interconnected chunks of ideas. It 

is. In principle, undecidable from a logical point of view where 

to begin. But, of course, it is highly relevant from a rhetorical 

point of view, where to start the argument. 

1 Big expectations 

We were and srill are facing "big problems", indeed. We don't 

havetoelaborateon their nature here; they reach from sarisfying 

more or less trivial user needs to modelling intervenrion 

strategies for changing people's behaviour in the face of global 

scale challenges. Weaver (1948) states the programmatic 

claim that mankind will have to learn to deal with problems of 

organized complexity within the 50 years to come. 

"...These new problems, and the future of the worid 

depends on many of them, requires science to make 

a third great advance, an advance that must be even 

greater than the nineteenth-century conquest of 

problems of simplicity or the twenrieth-century 

victory over problems of disorganized complexity. 

Science must, over the next 50 years, learn to deal with 

these problems of organized complexity..." 

Holland (1993, quoted in Morgan 1995) just reformulates the 

claim, introducing the concept of Complex Adaptive Systems 

(CAS): 

"Many of our most troubling long-range problems 

- trade balances, sustainabllity, AIDS, generic defects.

mental health, computer viruses - center on certain 

systems of extraordinary complexity. The systems that 

host these problems -economies, ecologies, Immune 

systems, embryos, nervous systems, computer 

networks- appear to be as diverse as the problems. 

Despite appearances, however, the systems do share 

significant characteristics, so much so that we group 

them under a single classification at the Santa Fe 

Institute, calling them complex adaptive systems [CAS]. 

This is more than terminology. It signals our intuition 

that there are general principles that govern all CAS 

behavior, principles that point to ways of solving the 

attendant problems." 

Since designers started to theorize about their activities, there 

is the deep longing for "scientisation", for "foundations", for 

unified/unifying theories, that might be able to overcome 

the deficits compared to other disciplines. Systems and 

now complexity theory seem to offer relief. Cross' (2001) 

observation comes to mind, that there are 40-year cycles in 

design theory. Weaver's concept of "organized complexity" 

was still quite vague but useful for further considerations: a 

more or less limited number of different elements In close 

dynamic interrelation - very design-like. The character of the 

elements and their interrelations was left open, i.e. they could 

mean almost everything. 

Today we have dozens of definitions of complexity, from fuzzy 

(highly metaphorical, rich In associative meaning) to formal 

(without any semantic content). Which results in perplexity. 

Operational concepts are still rare. So, what have we learned 

since the first wave of systems thinking in design some 40 

years ago? 

2 Belief In computability 

The faith in computers and the concept of trans-disciplinary 

applicability is a remaining characteristic of many areas of 

systems thinking. Some critics see a tendency of research 

"to degenerate into computer hacking". Herbert Simon sees 

people "infected with mathematics" (quoted from Horgan). I 

do not Intend to follow this generalizing critique, since I have 

applied computer models in many cases myself. The example 

(Figures 2 and 3) deals with processes of supply and demand, 

consumer preferences etc., and aims at intervention strategies 

towards sustainability. It is really impressive (mainly to oneself 

ratherthan to others) to see the apparently good relationships 

of model and reality; Eureka, I found a strategy for promoting 

more sustainable patterns of consumption! And, furthermore, 

it is a kind of "reward"for tedious programming efforts. 

Figure 2. Model ofthe production - consumption dynamics in 

a market (Stella II block diagram, from Jonas 1994). 

o.so 1.00 0,50 ).00 

Alib. ,\ H: Siimıkiliünslaıır BCİSJIH;! 2, .SA.'n;Lriü 2. Abb. A 9; Sinıulaliunsİüur Bcİspisl 2. S/^narİ» 3, 

Figure 3. Simulations with different consumer preferences and 

market parameters (Stella II phase diagrams, from Jonas 1994). 

Too many simulations or simulators suffer from what Cowan 

(in Horgan 1995) calls the reminiscence syndrome: "They 

say, 'Look, isn't this reminiscent of a biological or physical 

phenomenon! 'They jump in right away as If it's a decent 

model for the phenomenon, and usually of course it's just got 

some accidental features that make it look like something." 

It does not make sense at all to abandon computing 

approaches. But we have to think more carefully about the

inherent limits of modelling complexity and we have to ask 

the question: which type of cotnputer applications are useful? 

Otherwise we are caught in the mental track or trap of: "Here is 

the solution - what was the problem?" 

3 Limits of modelling complexity 

The field of complexity seems to be based on a seductive 

syllogism (Cowan, quoted in Horgan 1995): 

(1) There are simple sets of mathematical rules that when 

followed by a computer give rise to extremely complicated 

patterns. 

(2) The world also contains many extremely complicated 

patterns. 

Conclusion: Simple rules underlie many extremely 

complicated phenomena in the world. With the help of 

powerful computers, scientists can root those rules out. 

6. . 

Figure 4. Rich picture of a design situation {Flood / Carson 1993). 

But we have to accept that verification and validation 

of numerical models of natural systems is -in principle- 

impossible. The only propositions that can be verified -that 

is, proved true- are those concerning formal systems, based 

on pure mathematics and logic. Our knowledge of natural 

systems is always partial, approximate, at best. Natural systems 

(and psychic and social, if we want to follow Luhmann 1984, 

1997) are autopoietic systems, which follow their own internal 

rules. We perform the shift from 1 st order observation towards 

2nd order observation {which is interpretation), or from 1st 

order methods to 2nd order methods, or from modelling to 

designing (Rittel 1971/72,1972, Glanvllle 1982). 

Modelling is poiesis / poetics. Oreskes and her colleagues 

(quoted in Horgan 1995) state: 

"Like a novel, a model may be convincing - it may ring 

true if it is consistent with our experience ofthe natural 

wodd.... 

But just as we may wonder how much the characters 

in a novel are drawn from real life and how much is 

artifice, we might ask the same of a model: How much is 

based on observation and measurement of accessible 

phenomena, how much is based on informed judgment, 

and how much is convenience?" 

Modelling is no longer descriptive but normative, a matter of 

negotiation and argumentation. Modelling means designing 

the problem and the solution simultaneously. 

4 Non-causality 

There seems to be a kind of hierarchical structure of levels of 

reality: physical -> chemical -> organic -> psychic -> social 

(the latter 3 can be denoted as autopoietic systems), with 

non-causality (İrreducİbility) between and, in parts, within the 

levels. These splits in causality considerably limit the degree of 

control we can act upon these phenomena. 

BtTEWlNlSTIC- 

Fig. 5: "Unifying framework for Dealing with complexity'' 

(Flood, Carson 1993).

Flood and Carson (1993) combine Weaver's concept of 

organized complexity with assertions about the type of 

models that are suitable for different types of systems. They 

differentiate the degree of quantiftabilty, by means of the 

scales of measurement to be applied: 

- rational (e.g. weight of objects), 

-cardinal (e.g. temperature of a body), 

- ordinal (e.g. sequence within a collection of things), 

- nominal (e.g. names of persons). 

In this figure we can "see" that the hierarchical structure of 

reality resists the "antireductlonist" (as they call It) efforts 

of complexity theory, which tnes to include all levels in one 

consistent model. At each stage, entirely new laws, concepts 

and generalizations are necessary. The different models are 

incompatible due to emergence phenomena. One could 

argue: Complexity theory is extremely reductionist, just 

because of Its untenable anti-reductionist claim! 

Life (physical nature, biology, psyche, social systems) is shaped 

less by deterministic laws than by contingent, unpredictable, 

evolution-like circumstances and contexts. Luhmann (1997), 

in his main oeuvre, has developed an abstraction of neo- 

Darwinian evolution to describe the patterns of social 

evolution, which I consider useful for descnbing design 

processe.s. He differentiates the 3 causally de-coupled phases 

of variation - selection - re-stabilization. 

\ I 

... 

... y Y Li \ / \ / 

..;y ...... j ! ^• 

..v.. 1 

Ml/ 11 

-I f - Ö 

Figureö. Bifurcation patterns In the development of variations of 

a species; the only figure In Darwin's "Origin of Species" (1859). 

Circular feedbacl^-processes of trialSderror, which one may call 

learning, seem to be the driving forces on every level ofthe 

livingwodd, including those soclo-culturai processes, which we 

call planning or design. This leads to the problem of prognosis 

in design: we know where we come from, but we do not know 

where we are heading. Design methods researchers, without 

explicitly admitting that they are proposing evolutionary 

patterns, seem to know this. Existing process schemes reveal 

strong similarities to Darwin's bifurcation patterns. See for 

example Roozenburg and Eekels (1991). 

To come back to the reminiscence syndrome: One of the most 

popularalgorithms in complexity theory is Felgenbaum's logistic 

equation, a simple feedback mechanism, which can be used to 

produce this kind of evolutionary patterns: x^î=rx^ 

That means, In a metaphorical way, we"see"that design is acting 

"at the edgeof chaos", which Is the limit, where causality fails. 

6 Knowledge gaps 

Again: Complexity theory, claiming to be holistic, integrative, 

anti-reductionist, etc. turns out to be extremely reductionist 

and simplifying. In its claim to provide a "unified theory 

of everything'; or, to put It more ironic, a "unified theory 

of interesting things", it neglects the essential differences 

between system types and tries to reduce these hybrid 

networks of designed things and autopoletic systems Into 

simple closed formalisms. Only advanced systemic and 

evolutionary approaches as sketched elsewhere in much more 

detail (Jonas 1994 - 2005) will have a chance to contribute to 

more clarity regarding the knowable and the unknowable and 

the bordedines between these regions. 

Fig. 7 denominates the gaps between outopoietic systems 

involved in designing. Design has to overcome this 

fundamental systemic "obstinacy", which is attempted by 

means of nice and common, but fuzzy and Inappropriate 

terms such as "authorship", "creativity", "subjectivity'; "values", 

"trends",...: 

- organisms -> t[)e"funcîion gap", which indicates, that it is not 

a trivial task to adapt an artefact to an organism, for example, 

because bodies cannot speak...

- consciousnesses -> the "taste gap", which indicates, that it is 

not a trivial tasl the "fashion gap", which indicates, that 

it is not a trivial task to generalize a variety of information 

gathered from individual consciousnesses and to transfer 

this into the shape of an artefact, for example to plan a new 

collection of household goods for the Turkish market... 

Figure 7. The "scandal of split causality", 3 autopoietic systems 

+ design trying desparately to integrate them into a coherent 

whole (Baecker 2000). 

7 Designing complex tools for designing 

What does that mean for design and for the usefulness of 

complexity theory for design? I do not see any great potential 

in closed formal models, because we have to face the shift 

from representation to design. And designing means decision 

making under conditions of bounded rationality. The most 

advanced medium for bridging the irreducible knowledge 

gaps to arrive at decisions for acting is language / discouse / 

conversation. Concepts of complexity theory and formalisms 

from complexity theory can assist in this process. For example 

in supporting and structuring discourse (see the model of my 

initial sketch, fig. 1) through: 

- collecting positions, 

- documentig positions, 

- negotiating positions, 

- debating inter-relations, 

- designing systemic descriptions of situations, 

- asking "what-if? questions, 

-etc. 

Back to the initial question: Which typeof computer applications 

are useful? Highly interactive, discoursive tools (supported by 

formal algorithms, of course) are able to support 2nd order 

observation processes among stakeholders. 

Figure 8. Role of elements in the discoursive system as 

introduced in fig. 1 (Sensitivity Model, see Vester 1999). 

A possible interpretation of fig. 8: "The experience and 

acknowledgement of unpredictability may be an active driver 

to promote the insight into the need for new specific tools. 

This is criticallly influenced by the belief in computability 

or 1st order cybernetic models. Computers are helpful, but 

computing power is secondary." 

Outlook 

The perspective for design research seems to be: To find 

procedural approaches to deal with the behaviours of interacting 

autopoietic systems. In evolutionary terms, this means a shift 

from 1" order prediction & control towards 2""^ order learning 

and design. Communicative skills are required for dealing with 

complexity. Without the societal embrace of scientific and 

technological development, no collective or individual meaning 

can be assigned to the production of complex new knowledge 

and artefacts. Without their embedding in persons and their 

relations, in things and in the self as well as in institutions, the 

necessary social skills to put this knowledge to beneficial use 

in concrete and heterogeneous situations, will not arise. Or, as 

Nowotny (2005,28,29) puts it: "A deeper theoretical understanding 

of complexity, not as a mathematical, but as a social phenomenon 

is required, which can be usefully guided by metaphors taken from 

mathematical complexity theory." 

1^

Maybe now we have a better idea, why"designing for people" 

(Jones 1970) or even "for the real world", is so difficult: The 

entire real world is complex! Complexity science may be 

helpful here, but is not at all to be considered as a panacea. 

Design is too complex for complexity science! New tools for 

design and innovation processes will deal with complexity by 

designing complexity. These approaches may turn out to be 

designerly contributions to complexity theory and practice. 

... to be continued. 

References 

Baecker, Dirk (2000) "Die Theorieform des Systems", in: Soziale 

Systeme 6 (2000) H. 2., Opiaden, Verlag Leske + Budrich: 213- 

236 

Bar-Yam, Yaneer (1997) Dynamics of Complex Systems, 

Boulder, Colorado, Westvlew Press 

Cross, Nigel (2001) "Designerly Ways of Knowing: Design 

Discipline Versus Design Science", In: Design Issues Volume 17, 

Number 3 Summer 2001:49-55 

Darwin, Charles (1859) On the origin of species by means of 

natural selection , or the preservation of the favoured races in 

the struggle of life 

Flood, Robert L; Carson, Ewart E. (1993) Dealing with 

Complexity. An Introduction to the Theory and Application of 

Systems Science, Second Edition, New York, Plenum Press 

Glanvllle, Ranulph (1982) "Inside every White Box there are 

two Black Boxes trying to Get out", in: Behavioral Science 27, 

1982:1-11 

Horgan, John (1995) "From Complexity to Perplexity.Trends in 

Complexity Studies", in: Scientific American, June 1995 

Jonas, Wolfgang 

- (1994) Design - System - Theorie. Überlegungen zu 

einem systemtheoretlschen Modeli von Designtheorie, 

Essen, Verlag die Blaue Eule 

-(1996)"SystemsThlnking in Industrial Design", Proceedings 

of System Dynamics '96, July 22-26, 1996, Cambridge, 

Mass. 

- (2000) "The paradox endeavour to design a foundation 

for a groundless field". International Conference on Design 

Education, Curtin University, 12/2000, Perth, Australia 

- (2005) "Designing in the real world is complex anyway 

- so what? Systemic and evolutionary process models 

in design", European Conference on Complex Systems 

Satellite Workshop: Embracing Complexity In Design, Paris 

17 Nov. 2005

Jonas, Wolfgang; Meyer-Veden, Jan {2004} Mind the gap! - on 

knowing and not - knowing in design, Bremen, Hauschlîd- 

Veriag 

Jones, John Christopher {1970, 1992} Design Methods. Seeds 

of human futures, London, John Wiley & Sons, second edition. 

New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold 

Luhmann, Niklas 

- {1984} Soziale Systeme, Frankfurt / Main, Suhrkamp 

- (1997} Die Gesellschaft der Gesellschaft, Frankfurt / Main, 

Suhrkamp 

Mikulecky, D.C. (2003) "Definition of complexity", http://www. 

vcu.edu/complex/ON%20COMPLEXITYhtml {accessed 28 

Nov. 2006} 

Nowotny, Helga (2005) "The Increase of Complexity and its 

Reduction" in: Theory, Culture & Society, SAGE, London, Vol. 

22(5): 15-31 

Rittel, HorstW.J. 

- (1971/72) "2ur Planungskrise: Systemanalyse der'ersten 

und zweiten Generation"', in: Ders. Planen, Entwerfen, 

Design 1992:37-58 (Onginai 1971/72} 

- (1972) "Second-generation Design Methods", in: Cross, 

Nigel (ed.) Developments in Design Methodology, 

Chichester, John Wiley, 1984:317-327 (Original 1972) 

N.FM. Roozenburg, J. Eekels, (1991) Product Design: 

Fundamentals and Methods, Chichester, Wiley 

Vester, Fredenc (1999) Die Kunst vernetzt zu denken. Ideen 

und Werkzeuge fur einen neuen Umgang mit Komplexitat, 

Stuttgart, DVA

N A T I O N A L I T Y I N S C R I B E D : A N I C O N O L O G I C A L A N A L Y S I S O F T U R K I S H D E S I G N 

Harun Kaygan 

METU, Department of Industrial Design, 

Ankara, Turkey 

Abstract 

Debates on establishment of an authentic Turkish design 

style being at its peak, Turkish designers frequently resort to 

concepts, motifs and symbols considered traditionally Turkish 

for original and creative ideas. One apparent strategy, in 

this regard, is to utilize such traditional elements in product 

styling.Thus, especially iconic use of these elements (the tulip- 

shaped tea glass, portraits of Ottoman sultans, the crescent 

and the star or the crescent alone, even hospitality) is often 

encountered under a common title, "Turkish design". These 

concepts, motifs and symbols can be called, after Panofsky's 

studies of Renaissance iconography, the Turkish design 

iconography. 

The aim of this paper is, mainly, to study the way in which 

nationality Is inscribed on product form and surface together 

with its ideological implications. For this purpose, an 

iconological analysis, a revised form of Panofsky's method 

with an emphasis on intertextuality, is applied to a number 

of products carrying references to the idea of Turkish culture, 

namely, the new Yeni Rakı bottle design and the tulip-shaped 

tea glass. 

Biography 

Harun Kaygan graduated from the Department of Industrial 

Design, METU In 2003, and acquired his MSc degree from the 

same department in 2006, where he is currently a research 

assistant and a PhD student. His Masters thesis included 

the discourse analysis of Art-i-Decor magazine pursuing the 

question how the concept of Turkish design is utilized to 

evaluate products. His research interests are design discourse, 

design criticism and national design. 

Acknowledgments 

I would like to thank Dr. Aren Kurtgözü, at Bilkent University, 

and Osman Şişman, at Anadolu University, for the valuable 

discussions and contributions on the subject matter, 

particularly regarding the new Yeni Rakı bottle. 

Introduction 

In recent years, Turkey has witnessed a considerable and 

consistent Increase in the publicity of "design" as a concept in 

general, and product design profession in particular. While the 

growth In the professional field is statistically observable (as 

inthe growing number of design departments and increasing 

product designer employment in companies), there were also 

the ADesign Fair series, which later gave birth to the Istanbul 

Design Weeks, and other organizations smaller in scale, such 

as the Fesorient exhibition, which stimulated public Interest 

on the subject. Such increasing popularity and extending 

accessibility ofdesign (not only as it appealed to its potential 

consumers, but also regarding the extent to which people 

were subjected to its "products". In the general sense of the 

word) transformed the formerly marginal field of practice into 

an influential field ofTurklsh visual culture. 

As a product of this transformation, an inventory of aesthetic 

and conceptual elements peculiar to Turkish design has 

emerged In the Turkish design discourse; either manifest in 

products or observable in written and verbal discourse. This 

inventory can be named "Turkish design iconography" after 

the Renaissance iconography on which Panofsky situated his 

methodology of iconological analysis (see Panofsky 1982). 

Expression of nationality has gained prominence as a popular 

subject matter during the emergence of such an iconography, 

as evident in the extensive symbolic use of various elements

and concepts related to the the idea of Turkish-ness.' 

The popular movement of redesigning objects which are 

considered to be ofTurkish origin, such as the tulip-shaped 

tea glass and the sofa, cleady illustrates this tendency. Another 

example Is the recurrent use of certain surface elements, 

which have come to express nadonality, on design products. 

Among these elements ornaments like Seljuk motifs, images 

like portraits of Ottoman sultans or panoramas ofthe Istanbul, 

and symbols like the crescent can be counted. Even occasional 

references to the so-called essential character of Turkish 

people can be observed, as in the way Ayşe Birsel indicates 

the reference In her design, Resolve office system for Herman 

Miller, to the theme of hospitality (cited in Özdemir 2004), 

which is conventionally referred to as one such character in 

popular discourse. 

Within the framework roughly drawn as such, the paper aims 

to subject Turkish design iconography and its inventory of 

symbols of Turkish-ness to an İconologİcal analysis. First, 

a method which is appropriate for the purposes of such 

an analysis will be outlined and, then, utilized to inquire a 

number ofTurkish design products about their iconographica! 

associations and question the assumptions they rest on and 

reproduce. 

konology: A methodological outline 

As defined by Panofsky, İconologİcal analysis consists of 

three elaborately defined steps. The first level, namely, the 

"pre-iconographicai descnption", is the interpretation of how 

"objects and events" are expressed by "forms". Depending on 

"practical experience", it is simply the recognition of factual 

and expressional elements in the work analyzed (Panofsky 

1982, p. 28). Translated into semiological concepts, which are 

more familiar to design researchers than concepts imported 

from art cnticlsm, this first level is akin to denotative level of 

meaning In semiological analysis (Van Leeuwen 2001, p. 100). 

' Here I avoid the term'identity'for it refers to a particular sociological 

concept, and follow Barthes -and his translators- in his neologism 

that produced the terms'Itaiianicity'and'Basquity'(see Barthes 1985 

and 1984). 

Then, the second level of analysis can be interpreted as the 

connotadve level of meaning in a Barthian analysis (Van 

Leeuwen 2001, p. 101). "Objects and events" analyzed at 

this level, which Panofsky calls the level of "iconographical 

symbolism" are assumed to express (or to connote, in 

semiological terms) specific "themes and concepts" (Panofsky 

1982, pp. 38, 40-41). The image of an apple expressing the 

concept of onginai sin in Renaissance painting is one worn- 

out example of an analysis at this level. 

Though Panofsky draws attention to the histoncalness of every 

level of interpretation, this particular level requires additional 

emphasis on the histoncally and culturally determined 

character of meaning: It necessitates a "knowledge of literary 

sources" of the period in question (Panofsky 1982, pp. 40-41). 

This aspect can also be interpreted as the dependence of 

iconographical analysis on an intertextual field, compnsing 

not only literary sources but also other images or verbal 

discourses. 

The third level, or the level of "İconologİcal interpretation", 

involves, according to Van Leeuwen, a search for ideological 

meanings(2001,p.l01).ln Panofsky's words,"it is apprehended 

by ascertaining those underlying principles which reveal 

the basic attitude of a nation, a period, a class, a religious or 

philosophical persuasion - qualified by one personality and 

condensed into one work"(1982, p. 30). It is this level that gives 

the İconologİcal method its significance - as well as its name, 

for it is, according to Argan, more a synthetic process than an 

analysis, going beyond mere description and attempting a 

reconstruction of the conditions of existence of the image in 

question (1980, p.l8). 

However fruitful It may appear, adaptation ofthe methodology 

for contemporary design criticism bears certain theoretical 

difficulties. Most importantly, there is an inherent essentialist 

tendency within Panofsky's method: At the İconologİcal 

level of interpretation, Panofsky argues that "themes and 

concepts"-which were expressed by "objects and events" at 

the iconographical level- express "essential tendencies of the 

human mind" (1982, p.41). 

Panofsky's above mentioned comment that there exists a 

basic attitude of a nation, which is observable by İconologİcal

means, is another manifestation ofthis essentialist position. 

Elsewhere, he even uses the method to excavate the essence 

of the English nation from within the style of the Rolls Royce 

radiator and Its so-called antecedents (Panofsky 1995). Its 

essentialism put aside, such a nationalist political position 

identifiable in his work is exactly contrary to the aspirations of 

this particular paper. 

A revised methodology to analyze Turkish design 

iconography 

One way to tackle this question of essentialism is to rethink it 

as a problem regarding the way iconology approaches images. 

Foucault, in the Archeology of Knowledge, criticizes the way in 

which preceding theories endeavorto delve behind the surface 

of documents in order to reveal concealed themes, thoughts 

or representations (Rose 2001, pp. 138-139; Foucault 1972, pp. 

6-8,138-140). Iconological analysis, too, both theoretically and 

methodologically aims to penetrate the surface appearance 

of paintings. At each level of Interpretation another layer of 

meaning is peeled off, until the so-called hidden essence of 

the nation, period or class it symbolizes is reached. 

As demonstrated above. Van Leeuwen's perspective, which 

structurally compares iconology to semiology and indicates 

the compatibility of two methods (2001), is useful to 

understand the function of each level in Panofsky's analysis. 

Butthen, Rose insistson the possibilities that discourse analysis 

could oifer to iconology, because of their shared concern 

for intertextuality (2001, p.147). Following Rose, a particular 

reading of iconological analysis as a non-penetrative method, 

which stresses the importance ofthe intertextual field within 

which the Image Is created, comprehended and valued -or 

devalued- as such, may help to overcome the theoretical 

problem indicated above. 

A revised iconographical level of analysis, then, should 

emphasize the intertextuality ofthe iconography in question. 

It should aim to pinpoint the intertextual connections through 

which an image (or product) acquires a particular meaning (in 

this case, national meaning), and attempts to guarantee its 

reception in that particular way. Likewise, Argan refers to the 

field within which iconographical meanings are in circulation 

as the "cultural terrain": 

Without those conventions which form a sort of code 

common to artist and spectator, the work would be 

Indecipherable, and art, not acting on a specific and 

accepted cultural terrain, would not collaborate, as it 

does, to modify that terrain. (Argan 1980, p. 20) 

Iconographical symbolism - and the transformational power 

of the discursive field back on itself -depends not only on 

the existence of those common codes; i. e., an iconography 

familiar to the artist and his/her audience alike, but also on 

the shared assumption at the cultural level that Images are 

meant to be read as such, that is, by reading the symbolisms 

inscribed upon the art work by the artist (Cowling 1989). 

This comment on the artist, however, should not lead one 

to the conclusion that the aim of iconological interpretation 

is to reveal the original intentions of the designer. Indeed, 

Panofsky, too, referring to the iconological level of analysis, 

underlines that symbolic values "are often unknown to 

the artist himself and may even emphatically differ from 

what he consciously Intended to express" (Panofsky 1982, 

p.56). But, neither is the aim to reveal that "essence" - be it 

religious, national or class-based - which implicitly guides 

the artist's production beyond his/her intentions. Rather, 

iconology should follow discourse analysis as described 

by Rose, and focus on those "claims to truth, or to scientific 

certainty, or to natural way of things" (2001, p.154), which 

are produced by the introduction or utilization of a 

certain iconography. In this manner, iconology can deal 

with the categorizations, delimitations, and subjectivities 

constituted In the discursive field which is articulated by 

the iconography in question. 

The context of analysis 

Panofsky's methodology for analyzing the symbolic use of 

visual elements in Renaissance art is based on and justified 

by Its audience's belief that the proper mode of appreciation 

for works of art is by correctly reading the symbolic meaning 

inscribed on them. Similarly, the fact that the contemporary 

Turkish design community is more than willing to recognize 

and appreciate the so-called authentic elements of Turkish 

culture that are converged into the product's totality is 

what makes the Turkish design products readily yield to an

İconologİcal analysis^. In other words, Turkish iconography 

roots from and is maintained by a common interest In and 

the knowledge of those elements; that is, forms. Images and 

concepts, which are considered to be authentically Turkish by 

theTurkish community. 

This recent recourse to the concept of nationality as a 

reference point for product design in Turkey and the 

corresponding public interest in its products can be explained 

as a consequence of the recently accelerated articulation of 

Turkish designers to the international design field. Increasing 

number of industnai designers from Turkey working abroad 

and the growing competition In Turkish market as many 

manufacturers in Turkey started to employ foreign designers 

have been very influential in this regard. 

Moreover, for the international held of industrial design is 

primarily organized into national categories; as in German, 

American, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Scandinavian and Dutch 

designs, the design field in Turkey is to assume the posirion 

and the name Turkish design. Indeed, in the global field, any 

geographical isolarion of a design style is valid; İ. e., enters 

circularion, as long as It is defined in terms of nationaliries. in so 

doing, narional borders override ali other possible geographies, 

as exemplified by the impossibility of an Aegean design, 

or redefine them in terms of narional styles, such as when 

Southern European design is conceived as Italian and Spanish 

design styles added together. Therefore, the dynamics of the 

force field, which is maintained by the woridwide discourse on 

product design, necessitate the introducrion of the category of 

Turkish design. Needless to say, this category is assumed to have 

an essenrial character, which gives birth to a corresponding 

authenric style; namely, the Turkish design style. 

Regarding how the Turkish society has lately become very sensitive 

to political meanings as connoted by products in general, a recent 

newspaper article about a pond built in Kayapinar, Diyarbakır is quite 

illustrative. According to the article, it was argued that the contours 

of the pond were inspired by "the imaginary map of Kurdistan", and 

the four artificial waterfalls symbolized the division of Kurdistan 

between four states: Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The mayor, on the 

other hand, insisted that the indented contours were meant to give 

the pond a sense of naturalness. (Bu çok.,. 2007) 

The idea is reflected in two distinct manners in the governing 

design discourse in Turkey. There is, on the one hand, a mostly 

shared aspiration of the Turkish design community to devise 

a trend and a brand name for Turkey and Turkish design, as 

a strategy towards attaining international market success. To 

accomplish this, it is argued, Turkish designers should turn to 

all that is genuinely Turkish as a resource to constitute aTurkish 

design style. On the other hand, there Is the popular argument 

that Turkish designers are responsible for searching for their 

so-called roots within Turkish culture, where originality and 

richness lie. In fact, two viewpoints are intrinsically linked by, 

first, the idea of a common purpose and collaboration that 

supports both and, second, the sources both approaches 

recommend utilizing.^ 

İ5İ 

e as a representative of 

It is within this context that Turkish designers increasingly turn 

to objects that are conventionally considered to be genuinely 

Turkish. I have already counted a few in the introduction, 

namely, the tulip-shaped tea glass, the sofa, Seljuk morifs, sultan 

portraits, the Istanbul silhouette and the crescent. However, the 

iconography under analysis is not limited to these. According 

to Bakova (2003), for instance, what he calls "orlginaliries" 

["orjinallikler", my translation] constitute a long list comprising 

divan, sofa, turquoise color, dervish, liorem. theTurkish bath, 

felt, döner l

y Gamze Güven, is very expressive of the theme of Turkish- 

ness this paper is engaged with {see Figure 1). 

YENİ 

RAKİ 

Figure 1. Yeni Raki bottle, design by Gamze Güven. 

At the pre-iconographicai level of analysis, the bottle puts 

emphasis on the perfectly clear quality ofthe liquor. Its broad 

neckexpressesa strong masculinecharacter,which is in contrast 

with the elegant feminine curve of the body. This challenging 

contrast and the quite characteristic curve are worth discussing 

in detail: Vv'hat does the curve express iconographically? And 

within which intertextual connections is It situated? 

First, the curve can roughly be classified as an oriental curve, 

another recent application of which can be found in Akan's 

"Istanbul Alphabet" project exhibited In Istanbul Design Week 

2006 {see Figure 2). Especially Akan's ornaments, sculpted as 

objects of mere formal appreciation, resemble alems (metal 

crescent icons placed on top of minarets) or Seljuk and 

Ottoman helmets. 

These curvilinear forms, in opposition to modernist aesthetics 

with its geometrically well-defined forms, assume an 

irrational, emotional and even feminine position. Interpreted 

Iconologically, therefore, the significance of oriental curves 

Is that their presence activates a series of oppositions: 

modern/traditional, rational/irrational, masculine/feminine, 

Occidental/Oriental. Iconological analysis will be continued 

below, and for now, it is sufficient to state that the new Yeni 

Rakı bottle design approaches these oppositions cautiously 

refined and still modern; even Its femininity is on the verge of 

becoming a softened masculinity. 

Figure 2. "Istanbul Alphabet" Ornaments, design by Erdem 

Akan. Photos by Harun Kaygan, from Akan's exhibit at Istanbul 

Design Week 2006. 

Figure 3.Tea glass by Mudo Collection. 

and consciously. The curve is not "too oriental", it Is very Figure 4.Tea glasses by Pasabahce.

Second, the curve in question can be read as a modern 

interpretation of the slim-waist of the tulip-shaped tea glass, 

which is another fundamental element of Turkish design 

iconography. The particularity of the slim-waist lies in the 

recent interest directed on it as a popular subject matter of 

design, accentuated by the proliferation of new tea glass 

designs in the last few years. Pasabahce and Mudo Collection, 

for instance, have presented a number of such glasses, low- 

profile commercial products, studying thetulipform {see Figure 

3 & 4). Yet, more noteworthy designs were those presented by 

Erdem Akan and Faruk Malhan, with more refined, modern 

interpretations of the glass, (see Figures 5 & 6} Both designs 

share with the Yeni Rakı bottle design this subtlety, which is 

manifest as a cautious distance from the oriental as well as the 

vernacular. It is this very distance that motivates the appraisal 

of Akan's and Malhan's designs above other glass designs as 

"design products" - and also it is that which elevates the new 

Yeni Rakı bottle above other designs in the market, such as 

those of Mercan or Efe Rakı, which prefer ornamentation to 

express "tradition". 

Figure 5. 'Eastmeetswest' tea glass by Erdem Akan, Maybe 

Design. Photograph by Erdem Akan, published under 

permission. 

Figure ö.'lstanbul'tea glass design by Faruk Malhan, produced 

by Pasabahce. Photograph by Koleksiyon, published under 

permission. 

Akan, himself, in an interview published in Art+Decor, positions 

his design in the middle of this territory, which is suffused with 

ideological meaning, by intertextually connecting its product 

to the oppositions listed above as East/West, curvilinear/linear; 

Despite our mostly Western outlook, thank God, our 

feelings and thoughts are still Eastern. How could this 

unusual state in between be better expressed than a 

hybrid form with a straight exterior and a tulip shaped 

interior? (Akan 2004, p. 64. My translation.) 

Akan's statement is a part of the discursive field of Turkish 

design, of course, and it involves an attempt to point to, 

underline or even establish the intertextual connections that 

give his design meaning. 

Both Akan's statement and the observations above suggest that 

the tea glasses or the rakı bottles are intertextually positioned 

with respect to each other, or to certain discursive concepts 

such as the oppositions mentioned above. And as far as the 

iconological analysis has revealed, it Is a series of orientalist 

oppositions that the products reproduce in this manner.

Another statement with a simliar function was offered for 

the new Yeni Ral

is an invention of tradition in this sense, for it includes the 

formalization of customary practices of tea serving. 

Then, the idea of discovery of traditions, and the related 

concept of tradition as a transcendent essence, have a 

fundamental discursive function. They conceal the process 

of transference of national meaning upon the product and 

naturalize the otherwise constituted character of tradition. 

Futhermore, even when national symbols are set in motion for 

seemingly disinterested aims, such as making tourism profit 

or searching for mere originality in design, it can be argued 

that these concepts activate a nationalistic yearning for a 

hypothetical past time, a golden age, and an accompanying 

attempt to construct and reproduce national history as "a 

seamless and unbroken continuity towards pure, mythic time" 

(Hall 1999, p.38). 

In addition, one of the aims of this paper was to devise a 

preliminary sketch for a comprehensive inventory of Turkish 

iconography. During this analysis, I have already gone through 

a number of objects which are influential in this intertextual 

field, including the rakı bottles, series of tea glasses, the tea 

tray by Koz and the oriental ornaments of Akan. Yet, the 

iconography is not limited to those. There are, in fact, several 

curious discursive formations awaiting analysis, such as the 

representations of Istanbul in Yeditepe Istanbul lighting, 

designed by Lunapark for Phare Aydınlatma, and Gaia&Gino 

products by Karim Rashid, or sultan portraits, used as graphical 

elements in the Xstanbul project by Genco Demirer and Ismail 

Hakkı Gülal, and the B-Tijrk project by Reha Erdoğan and 

Tween, or Seljuk motifs in Şah cutlery, designed by Can Yalman 

and produced by Hisar, and Selçuk separator by Lunapark. For 

the analysis of all these iconographical formations, I propose 

that the methodological sketch I have just devised should be 

useful as an analytical tool. 

Such a comprehensive listing and an intensive analysis of 

those iconographical symbolisms utilized in industrial design 

to inscribe nationa!(ist) expressions upon products, with an 

emphasis on the intertextuality ofthe solution space where 

designers work, would not only be quite helpful to understand 

the regimes of representation active in visual culture in Turkey, 

which is not restricted to product design, and to study its 

history, with all the ruptures and breaks; but also it would 

help to guide design practitioners and to inform them of any 

possible aesthetic, moral or political pitfalls they may come 

across during their practice.

References 

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140, Paneller Konferanslar Özel Eki, pp. 54-57. 

Argan, G. C 1980, 'Ideology and iconology', in The Language 

of Images, ed. W. J.T. Mitchell, The University of Chicago Press, 

Chicago, pp. 15-23. 

Bakova, A. 2003. Geleceğin tasanm eğilimleri. Art+Decor 129, 

December, pp. 54-57. 

Barthes, R.1985/Therhetoricoftheimage',inTheResponsibility 

of Forms: Critical Essays on Music, Art and Representation, tr. 

R. Howard, Basil Blackwell, Oxford. 

Barthes, R. 1994. 'Semantics of the object', in The Semiotic 

Challenge, tr. R. Howard, University of California Press, 

California. 

'Bu çok farklı bir havuz problemi' 2007, Radikal, 24 Feb., p.7. 

Buğdaycı, A. 2004, 'Editörden', Art+Decor no. 138, p.9. 

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representation of type and character in Victorian art', cited 

in Rose, G. 2001, Visua! Methodologies, Sage Publications, 

London, pp. 147-148. 

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Doing Cultural Studies: The Story ofthe Sony Walkman, Sage 

Publications, London. 

Foucault, M. 1972, The Archaeology of Knowledge, tr. A. M. 

Sheridan Smith, Pantheon Books, New York. 

Hall, S. 1999, 'Culture, community, nation', in Representing 

the Nation: A Reader: Histories, Heritage and Museums, ed. D. 

Boswell and J. Evans, Routledge, New York, pp. 33-44. 

Hobsbawm, E. 1993, 'Introduction: Inventing traditions', in 

The Invention of Tradition, ed. E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger, 

Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 1-14. 

Kaygan, H. 2006, Evaluation of Products through the Concept 

of National Design: A Case Study on Art Decor Magazine, 

unpublished M. Sc. dissertation, METU, Ankara. 

Mutlu, i. 2004, 'Tasanm hayatın tümünden besleniyor', 

interview with H. Yaylalı, Art-i-Decor, no. 140, pp. 108-111. 

Ozdemir, G. 2004,'Birsel ve Koz'dan kadınca kodlar', Art+Decor, 

no. 132, pp. 56-59. 

Panofsky, E. 1982,'Iconography and iconology: An introduction 

to the study of Renaissance art', in Meaning In the Visual Arts, 

The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 26-54. 

Panofsky, E. 1995,'The ideological antecedents of the Rolls- 

Royce radiator'. In Three Essays on Style, ed. by I. Lavin,The MIT 

Press, Cambridge, pp. 131 -166. 

Rose, G. 2001, Visual Methodologies, Sage Publications, 

London. 

Türkoğlu-Güven, G. 2005,'Üçgen vücutlu rakı', Art+Decor, no. 

151, p. 90. 

Van Leeuwen, T. 2001, 'Semiotics and iconography', in 

Handbook of Visual Analysis, ed. T. van Leeuwen and C. Jewitt, 

Sage Publications, London, pp. 92-118.

T H E C O N C E P T O F F U N IN P R O D U C T D E S I G N F O R D I F F E R E N T A G E G R O U P S 

Sultan Kaygın 

VESTEL Electronics, R&D Division - ID Group 

Manisa, Turkey 

sultan.kaygin@vestei.com.tr 

Abstract 

Tills paper aims to explore the underlying dimensions of fun in 

consumer products and mainly focuses on arousal conditions of 

fun at different age groups. An empirical study was conducted 

to reveal users' understanding of fun and the attributes of 

products that they associate as fun. Three age groups are 

identified for the study: 25-35; 35-45; and 45-55. In total, 30 

participants (10 from each group) were interviewed. Interview 

questions intended to highlight participants' understanding of 

fun in products. Accordingly, they were asked to describe fun, 

and to give examples of objects that they found to be fun. The 

keywords collected from the participants were analysed using 

content analysis method and then grouped under four subject 

headings: visual, functional, usability, emotional context. 

Introduction 

Extensive studies in design field have led the researchers to 

focus on more personal and ephemeral concerns. Fun, as one 

ofthe dimensions of pleasure has become a hot topic within 

design and emotion discourse. The arousal conditions of fun 

such as, provoking unusual perception, attracting, capturing 

attention, creating surprise and challenge, have mostly been 

studied within human computer interaction (HCI). Although 

the literature on fun in relation to HCI is such extensive, 

inadequate emphasis has given for how fun can actually be 

employed and measured in product design context. 

User preferences are highly influenced by emotional values 

of products. Besides usability, the importance of emotional 

responses to products was pointed out by some researchers 

in the design field (Carroll &Thomas, 1988; Desmet& Dijkhuis, 

2000, Desmet & Hekkert, 2002, Denton & McDonagh, 2006). 

in ergonomics field there is also a shift towards the human 

driven design process which leads to studies on emotional 

and aspirationai needs of users (Chibber, 2006). Positive 

emotions, like fun, are important and providing their eliciting 

conditions is the major objective in HCI. Norman (2004) in a 

parallel view emphasizes the rise of interest on the positive 

emotions, which have not been very popular until recently. 

Consequently, the subject of fun as a research area changed 

its position from sidelines to the centre (BIythe et al., 2004). 

Being a positive emotion, fun has an influence on the 

desirability, pleasurability and among all, usability of products. 

The arousal conditions of fun are stated by Carroll (2004) as 

attracting, capturing and holding attention, provoking unusual 

perception, surprise and challenge. The experience of fun can 

be also created by products that are challenging, seductive, 

playful, surprising, memorable and rewarding (Djajadiningrat 

et al., 2000). However, explaining the underlying aspects of 

fun and how it could be applied to product design is quite 

challenging to achieve. As much as being appealing, emotions 

in general are intangible. Their volatile, ephemeral structure 

also brings difficulties in in-depth studies with emotions 

(Desmet, 2002; Hassenzahl, 2004). 

Fun is studied in very general terms in literatureand its successful 

application into product design requires more specific data 

to be taken Into consideration, for example, socio-economic 

groups and gender. It can be said that age differences is one 

ofthe influential factors in the conception of fun in products. 

This paper aims to explore the underlying dimensions of fun in 

consumer products and mainly focuses on arousal conditions 

of fun at different age groups. Therefore, an empirical study 

was conducted to reveal users'understanding of fun and the 

attributes of products that they associate as fun.

Interviews with Different Age Groups 

In-depth Interviews were carried out with the aim to find out 

what aspects of products were perceived to have fun according 

to different age groups. The intention was to compile a rich 

variety of iêywords highlighting the fun aspects In products. 

Three age groups were identified for the study: 25-35 

(Group A); 35-45 (Group B); and 45-55 (Group C}. In total, 30 

participants (10 from each group; 17 males and 13 females) 

were interviewed. Group A represented the young population 

who have been working and have regular Income, but have 

not yet settled life style. Group B represented the middle- 

aged population who are working and relatively had a more 

settled life style. Group C represented the upper-middle age 

who are retired (or likely to retire In the near future) and have 

completely settled in their life. 

The participants were first asked to describe fun with their 

own words. It was believed that they could have much easily 

given their opinion in relation to their experiences, and the 

feelings occurred during that time. Therefore, the participants 

were also asked to give examples of objects that they found to 

have fun aspects. The objects were not limited to a single use 

environment (e.g. home, office) or the ones that they owned 

themselves. 

Each Interview session lasted between 20 to 45 minutes and 

each session with each participant was carried out separately. 

One-to-one sessions were carried at work environment or 

homes of the participants. In addition to audio recording, 

notes were taken in relation to the keywords and phrases 

mentioned by the participants. Where possible, the images of 

the objects mentioned by the participants were taken during 

the interview. Some objects could not be archived since 

they were not owned by the participants. Ail sessions were 

completed in two weeks. 

Results and Analysis 

The answers to interview questions revealed nch information 

about the aspects of fun gathered from the participants'own 

experiences and the objects they talked about. A total of 

153 keywords were collected from all participants about fun 

objects. As an observation, the number of products therefore 

the constructs menrioned by the parricipants decreased in 

parallel with the age increase (Group A: 85; B: 43; C: 25). Group 

A was relatively more relaxed and willing to talk about their 

fun related experiences with products compare to Groups 

B and C. The keywords collected from the participants were 

analysed using content analysis method and then grouped 

under four subject headings: visual, funcrional, usability, 

emorional context. 

• visual (aspects related to colour, form, material, e.g. 

"enjoyable colour, visually dynamic form") 

• funcrional (aspects related to funcrion, e.g. "having 

more than one function, fulfilling its function 

perfectly") 

• usability (aspects related to ease of use, comfort, 

simplicity, e.g. "giving feedback, easy to clean") 

• emotional context (aspects related to the personal 

appraisal, e.g. "having memorial quality, that can be 

shared with friends, something relaxing me") 

Uniike the variarion in the number of keywords mentioned, 

their distribution according to the four subject headings 

presented a similar distriburion for all age groups (Figure 1). 

60' 

50' 

40' 

30' 

20' 

10' 

Grouo A f 25-351 Grouo B f 35-45^ GrouD C f4S-551 

n Visual 

n Emotional cont€{ 

• Functlixiality 

p Usability 

Figure 1. Distribution of the keywords according to age 

groups and subject headings 

General observations, in general, number of keywords 

menrioned for emotional context and visual aspects was

elatively higher in all age groups. When the total number of 

keywords was considered, usability and functionality aspects 

did not appear to be as significant as emotional context and 

visual aspects forthe conception of fun in objects. 

It is observed that when asked about their conception of 

fun, people were more likely to talk about activities than the 

characteristics of products that were enjoyable for them. 

Accordingly, the objects that the participants named as fun 

usually had aspects similar to the activities that they defined 

as fun. For example, watching TV was mentioned as a fun 

activity since it was also relaxing. Then relaxing objects were 

given as examples. 

a) Visual aspects. The frequency of the keywords mentioned 

within this category was considerably higher in all age groups 

(Group A: 44%; Group B: 58%; Group C: 44%). Aspects related 

to visual qualities such as, geometry, form, material, surface 

finishing and colour were found to be closely related to 

fun in products with a frequency of 49% for the total of all 

participants. Main phrases that are based on visua! aspects 

and used for the description of fun in objects can be stated as 

unexpected geometry, continuous change in form, dynamic 

look, movement, unexpected proportion, unexpected size, 

unexpected colour, shiny look, light colours, vivid colours and 

translucent material. 

Among the visual aspects, unexpected or unusual visual 

qualities that somehow created a surprise factor (e.g. having 

unexpected form; proportions or colour compared to other 

products) were mentioned repetitively as a significant aspect 

of fun in products. 

b) Emotional context. The frequency of the keywords 

mentioned within this category was the second highest for 

all age groups (Group A: 34%; Group B: 35%; Group C: 40%). 

They were based on the personal appraisal of respondents. 

The most common phrases that addressed emotional context 

can be stated as "something that has memorial quality, that 

can be shared with friends, that reminds the things loved, that 

makes someone relaxed, that one can impute personality, that 

can be personalized, that offers a novel thing every time of 

use, that gives out challenge, that makes someone think over 

and that is mysterious". 

It is seen that these factors are the ones that reflect the 

condition of respondents' ability to add-on the object and to 

interact with it. The thing that makes the object fun for them 

here is the added-value that is mostly personal oriented. One 

ofthe participants mentions about her elephant curio which 

has a fun aspect just for her. She defines it as: 

"It exists at my home since I was a child, it has a very 

funny story and memory for me. 1 want to see it every 

time I need to so I place it in sight." 

The interviews revealed that choHenge and relaxation were the 

two most significant factors In relation to emotional context. 

Expectation of relaxation was the highest in the middle-aged 

Group B (60%), followed by Group C (40%) and Group A (10%). 

Expectation of challenge was the highest for the youngest 

age Group A (70%). This value decreased down to 40% for 

Group B and to 30%for Group C.The oldest Group C marked a 

significant rejection to challenge in fun objects (70%). 

cjFunctionaiityaspects.Thefrequency of key words mentioned 

within this category was relatively lower. The main phrases for 

this aspect are stated as something that is useful, that carries a 

function (not only for visual satisfaction), that is multifunctional, 

that fulfils its function in a good way. Functionality expectation 

was the lowest for Group A (30%), whereas it was a lot higher 

for Group B (80%) and for Group C (90%). 

d) Usability aspects. As with the previous category, the 

frequency of keywords mentioned within this category was 

also relatively lower. Ease of use expectation was found to be 

at its highest for Group C (80%), followed by Group B (70%) 

and Group A (40%). Aspects related to usability are stated as 

something that gives feedback to the user's actions, that is 

comfortable, that is easy to use, that helps (makes me do my 

work easily), that is easy to clean, that can be used with less 

effort than usual. 

Within the categories of usability, functionality, emotional 

context and visual aspects that were repetitively mentioned and 

showed considerable differences were found to be: ctiallenge, 

ease of use, usefulness, surprise and relaxation. Different age 

groups showed different level of expectations of these aspects. 

The participants also presented opposing views to whether a

product should or should not comprise them In order to be fun. 

Challenge 

Expectarion of challenge is highly related to personal 

appraisal. Participants had varied opinions for challenge in fun 

products. Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of ctialienge 

expectation between the age groups. Overall, 46% of the 

participants menrioned a level of challenge expectarion as a 

fun aspect in products, whereas 54% ofthe participants were 

not keen on challenge. 

Group A (35-3S) Gtoup B {3S-4S) Group C {ASS 

Figure 2. Distribution of challenge expectation between the 

age groups 

According to the participants' statements, expectation of 

challenge was observed in four levels: 1) there should be 

challenge in a fun object; ii) challenge in a fun object is an 

added-value; Hi) expectation depends on the object or the 

context; and iv) fun object should be as simple as possible. 

Challenge in products was found to be a favourable aspect by 

some participants and described with the following phrases: a 

level of complexity that will require labour, arousal of curiosity, 

and an existence of puzzle-like characteristics. Example of such 

productcan be seen in Figure 3. Some other products menrioned 

in terms of expectation of challenge are described as below: 

Puzzle 

"It is a mechanical puzzle...very mysterious. It is a hard job 

to solve it. 1 could only solve after reading its manual." 

Wrist watch 

"it is very complicated; it won't let me read the rime easily. 

But this complexity becomes fun for me. I would like to 

own it." 

Mechanical orange juice maker 

"I preferred this mechanical one Instead of the most 

common electrical ones. It Is not that much easy to use. 

You have to turn the handle and pres with power many 

rimes. I like its mechanical mechanism and enjoy while 

making my juice." 

Ruble cube 

"It is fun for me to solve it but once I solve it, there is no 

need to do it again. It fails from my favour; 1 want to work 

on a different type of puzzle." 

Figure 3. Example of a challenging objecri'rubic cube' 

The level of challenge expectation Is decreased with the 

increase of age (Group A: 30%; Groups B; 20%; Group C: 10%). 

Some parricipants menrioned that challenge in a fun object 

is an added-value (Group A: 30%; Groups B: none; Group C; 

10%), whereas some said that their challenge expectarion 

was dependant on the product or the context (Group A: 10%; 

Groups B: 20%;Group C: 10%).Contrasringly, some parricipants 

argued that challenge was not required for fun objects and 

products should be as simple as possible. The expectarion 

of simplicity increased significanriy with the increase In age. 

(Group A: 30%; Groups B: 60%; Group C: 70%).

Ease of Use Usefulness 

As one of the main parameters of usability, ease of use concerns 

with if a product can fulfil its function without a need for an extra 

effort."That helps me doing my work easily, that can be cleaned 

easily, that is practical, that I can use with less afford, that doesn't 

make me tired"are the phrases mentioned for ease of use in fun. 

Objects described for this aspect can be stated as below: 

Salad maker 

"It has a plane to cut the salad and a container below. You 

cut and fill the container. It makes my work easier. It is fun 

to make salad with it. It makes me eager to make salad." 

Toaster 

"I enjoy very much making toast with this toaster. It is very 

easy to clean when compared to conventional ones." 

Figure4 illustrates the distribution ofease of use expectation 

between age groups. Overall, 63% of the participants 

mentioned ease of use as a requirement of fun aspect in 

products, whereas 37% were not keen on. 

7056 

60% 

sm 

Group A (25-3S) Group B (35-45) Group C(45-55) 

ol can bear v.itli a fun: 

ohjecl that ts not car 

to use 

"I can not bearwnha 

fun object thai ia no; 

easy to use 

Figure 4. Distribution ofease of use expectation between the 

age groups 

The expectation of ease of use was lowest for Group A (40%).This 

value increased in parallel to increase in age (Group B: 70%; Group 

C: 80%). The youngest Group A had more tolerance (60%) for a 

fun object that was not easy to use, whereas this ratio decreased 

in the older Groups B (30%) and C (20%). This constitutes a 

contradiction between usability and fun at this point that 

preference of fun diminishes the demand for ease of use. 

Here, the expectation of usefulness refers to satisfying a 

regular need that means carrying a function not being used 

only for visual satisfaction, it was stated as an expected value 

for fun by participants In their definitions. Samples from 

objects described in terms of their reference to expectation of 

fulfilling a function are stated below: 

Grater with container 

"It is fun for my daughter but it Is not for me because that 

container is meaningless." 

Nail clippers 

"It brings out its function in the way I needed. I enjoy using 

it, I enjoy talking about its fun." 

Standing dishwasher brush 

"It is sticked near the kitchen sink to the base, standing 

straight. Yes it looks enjoyable but I wouldn't keep it there 

if it was only visually fun." 

Its frequency of expectation varied considerably in different 

age groups. Figure 5 illustrates the distribution of usefulness 

expectation between agegroups.Overall,67%oftheparticipants 

mentioned a level of expectation of usefulness in fun, and 33% 

of them stated that usefulness was not needed for fun. 

70'.-. 

S0% 

30% 

20% 

lOîb 

•roiiD A fZ5-3.Sl arouD a İ3.'i-451 orouo C [4S-SS1 

o Ftın objecl dcesn't 

reedW be useful 

B Usefulness is an 

added value tor (ur 

1 Fun object should I 

useful 

Figure 5. Distribution of usefulness expectation between the 

age groups

According to the participants' statements, expectation of 

usefulness, that means fulfilling a function, was observed in three 

levels: 1) fun object should be useful; 11) usefulness Is an added- 

value for fun; and ill) fun object does not need to be useful. 

The first level indicates the participants' direct expectation 

of usefulness. It can be seen that the youngest Group A did 

not mention any direct expectation of usefulness, whereas 

usefulness was important for the other two age groups 

(Group B: 60%; Group C: 60%). The second level considers 

the usefulness as an added-value in fun products. This was 

mentioned by the participants in Group A and C (both 30%) 

with a decrease in Group B (20%). The third level shows that 

usefulness is not a must for obtaining fun in objects. This was 

strongly mentioned bytheyoungestagegroup (Group A: 70%), 

whereas decreased gradually in other groups (Group B: 20%; 

Group C: 10%). It can be seen that as they get older expectation 

of usefulness becomes higher for the participants. 

Surprise 

Surprise in products was found to be a favourable aspect 

by the participants and described In relarion to unexpected 

product characterisrics, such as unusual geometry, size, 

proporrion, function or colour, it was described with the 

phrases like surprising geometry, different proporrions than 

the normal, unusual size, unusual form and disrinct colours & 

materials (different than the common). 

The strongest descriptions about surprise as a fun aspect are 

made for the following products: 

Amorphous shaped ashtray 

"It is an ashtray but it doesn't look like an ashtray with its 

amorphous form." 

Marvin Robot 

"Its unexpected proportion of the body makes it fun for 

me, different than the human body proportion." 

Furniture for children 

"The children furniture at IKEA are fun for me.They are like 

the adult furniture in appearance but in a scaled size than 

normal." 

Diamond eye pencil sharpener 

"I don't use it for sharpening my pencils I leave It on my 

desk since its form is funny, only its visualisarion. It doesn't 

look like anything, this makes it fun. If It was in the form of 

cat or dog i wouldn't find It funny." 

Duck compass 

"It is sricked on the window of the car, this upside-down 

posirion makes it fun for me and its form of a duck. It is 

totally different than the existing compasses." 

Sony Shuifle MP3 player 

"While it shuffles you see a mix of numbers changing 

continuously. Unexpected numbers are passing unril it 

stops and plays." 

Metal bottle opener 

"It is fun to use it, its metal and different form makes it fun 

to use although It is not easy to." 

Lemon juice maker 

"It is made of translucent blue plasric. Its normal posture 

is rilted what makes It different. It is something more than 

funcrionality. It makes me surprise. I enjoy using it," 

Figure 6 illustrates the distribution of surprise expectation 

between the age groups. Overall, 47% of the participants 

mentioned about direct expectarion of surprise, and 53% 

menrioned about surprise as an added-value. 

orouD A (2S-351 orouo B f3.';-451 aroun C (4S-.S51 

0 there should be 

surprise (actor in a 

fun object 

• surprise can be an 

additive value for h 

Figure 6. Distribution of surprise expectation between the age 

groups

According totheparticipants'statements, expectation of surprise 

was observed in two levels: i) there should be surprise element 

in fun objects; and, ii) surprise is an added-value for fun. 

The first level indicates the direct surprise expectation. It is 

significantly higher in Group A {80%) when compared to Group 

B (30%) and Group C (30%). It can be said that the expectation 

of surprise as a necessity is at its highest for the youngest 

age group. Example of a surprise aspect in a product can be 

seen in Figure 7. The red, flossy pen with an unusual form and 

material also had a hidden feature that was discovered during 

its usage: a flashing light which appears whilst writing. 

Figure 7. Example of a surprise factor in products: pen with a 

flashing light 

It is usually the case that surprise aspect in a product wears 

off and loses its novel perception after the product's first use. 

This was the case for the red pen in which the flashing light 

eventually lost its unexpectedness in its consequent usages. 

Relaxation 

The results revealed a new aspect of fun in products that was 

not come across In literature: relaxation. The phrases stated 

for this condition are the following ones:"taking my tiredness, 

making me relaxed, removing my stress and something that I 

don't need to think about anything while using". Some ofthe 

participants stated that daily life has become very stressful 

because of work and that they come to define fun as 'iiaving 

condition of being relaxed', and the fun objects as 'the objects 

that are relaxing them'. The objects they described are the 

following ones: 

Liquid lamp 

"That lamp has a liquid container and the movement of 

the liquid creates light effects inside. It makes my eyes rest 

while looking. It is fun for me to look on." 

Massage tool 

"It is a hand tool. 1 use it on my body and this relaxes me." 

Fretsaw 

"1 used it first in the crafts courses while I was at school. It is 

fun to use it because it removes my stress." 

Continuous movement metal balls 

"Office environment is very stressed that I need some 

objects that relax me. But its fun aspect should not be so 

visible, since it is a formal space.This continuous movement 

metal toy is fun for me at the office. I look on it for a while 

and relax." 

Swing 

"Swing is fun for me since everything is under control, 

I don't need to use my mind, I don't need to think about 

anything." 

Figure 8 illustrates the distribution of relaxation expectation 

between the age groups. Overall, 37% of the participants 

mentioned about the expectation of relaxation, and 63% 

mentioned that relaxation is not a necessity factor. 

100% 

90% 

S0% 

•10% 

30% 

Z0% 

10% 

Group A (2S-3S) Group B 135-15) Group C (45-55) 

p tun object should b; 

retailing 

lun object should n< 

necessarily be 

rela-mg 

Figure 8. Relaxation expectation between the age groups

Relaxation expectation is varied significantly between the 

three age groups with the highest value in Group 8 (%60), 

followed by Group C (40%) and Group A (10%). In parallel to 

this, majority ofthe Group A participants did not see relaxation 

as a necessary aspect for objects to be fun (90%), followed by 

Group C (60%) and Groups B (40%). Examples of fun objects 

given bythe participants covered both visual and functional 

aspects in their relaxing features. For example, objects with 

a continuous movement give relaxation with their calming 

effect; massagers with their functionality; some decorative 

lights with their eyes soothing effect. 

Discussion and Conclusions 

Fun is a challenging topic of research due to its idiosyncratic 

structure. It is also an exciting area to work in product level. 

The study focused on conception of fun in product at different 

age groups. The findings revealed that different age groups 

have different conceptions of fun in products. When the three 

different age groups are compared, some common aspects 

with similar frequency levels existed, such as emotional 

context and visual aspects. 

In the concept of fun between three age groups the main 

variable was the participants' individual concerns. The nature 

ofthe concerns varied according to the ages. For example, new 

materials, new funcrionallries, and new ways of experiencing 

or doing things were some of the concerns for the young 

popularion. Whilst a sarisfacrion given by a product though 

its functionality, ease of use, cost and material were examples 

of the concerns for the older age groups. When these concerns 

are the appraisal condirions of fun, It would not be a surprise 

to expect that the underlying reasons are the expectation of 

challenge and surprise for younger groups, and usefulness, 

ease of use, and reiaxarion for the older groups. 

Aspects like functionotity, challenge, simplicity, usability 

and surprise are Intensively discussed in literature as 

arousal condirions of fun, under the name of fun-in-doing 

(Schneiderman, 2004). However, reiaxarion or perhaps fun-in- 

not'doing was surprisingly appeared as an important aspect of 

fun for the oldest group (Group C), and the products carrying 

this aspect were stated as fun by them. The findings point out 

that for fulfilling expectation of fun for older groups it should 

also be intensively evaluated in product design. 

Aspects related to usefulness, ease of use, and relaxation 

was mostly emphasized by the older groups (Group B and 

C), whereas aspects related to challenge and surprise were 

highly rated by the younger group (Group A). The effect of 

fun in consumers' preferences of products Is undeniable. 

Therefore, these aspects should be taken into consideration 

when designing fun products for different age groups in a 

satisfactory level. 


This paper is based on the the course ID 719 Dimensions 

of Design for Emotion (Middle East Technical University - 

Department of Industrial Design). 1 would like to thank Assoc. 

Prof. Dr. Çiğdem ERBUĞ and Assist. Prof Dr. Bahar ŞENER 

PEDGLEY for their contributions, comments and parient 

guidance on this paper and their complete support.

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50.

D E S I G N I N G P L A Y F U L S E N S O R Y E X P E R I E N C E S W I T H I N T E R A C T I V E W H I T E B O A R D 

T E C H N O L O G Y : T H E I M P L I C A T I O N S F O R C H I L D R E N O N T H E A U T I S T I C S P E C T R U M 

Wendy Keay-Bhghî 

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, Wales, UK 

wkbright@uwic.ac.uk 

By definition, individuals on the autistic spectrum have 

difficulties with social interaction and communication; their 

different cognitive and sensory processing occurs in every 

modality and can result in a perception of the physical world 

that is fragmented, alarming and very different from non- 

autistic people. This can lead to high levels of fear and anxiety 

and a lack of understanding ofthe intentions of others. 

This paper will document part of the Reactive Colours design 

research project, which has been developing customlsable 

software, called ReacTickles, to engage the unique sensory 

interests of children on the autistic spectrum and will focus 

on how the ReacTickles software is being used on interactive 

whiteboards with young autistic children In a number of 

UK schools. Whereas the conventional view maintains that 

educational technology should be Interactive, Reactive 

Colours offers tangible interfaces as an embodied play activity. 

The benefit of this approach is, I argue, that it elicits outward 

expression of inner sensation and, as such, encourages 

greater bodily awareness in autistic children who experience 

distorted or even disconnected relationship with their body 

due to proprioceptive and vestibular sensory disorders. The 

interactive whiteboard removes the necessity to manage 

control in a confined space and, in so doing, reduces the 

impediment to bodily expression created by the limited 

spaces of traditional interfaces. 


"Play allows children to learn and practice new skills in safe 

and supportive environments" {Boucher, 1999} 

Social interaction, communication and imagination are 

attributes most commonly associated with the play patterns 

of young children {Plaget, 1971;Vygotsky, 1978; Bruner, 1972). 

Children on the autistic spectrum, however, are understood to 

experience difficulties with these areas, which are often referred 

to as the triad of impairments (Wing, 1975), and as a result, 

they may express limited interest in the social, symbolic and 

pretend forms of play that are known to provide the foundation 

for how we understand and experience the world (Beyer and 

Gammeltoft, 2000; Jordan, 2003; Leslie, 1987; Sherratt, 1999). 

Play is considered to be a reflection of a child's ability to interact 

with his or her environment, therefore the spatial and physical 

attnbutes of the play activity will have a direct influence on 

the mode of play; for example, some toys lend themselves 

naturally to pretence and imagination, such as cars and dolls, 

whilst others encourage exploration and repetition, such as 

spinning tops (Domlnguez et al, 2006). These environmental 

factors are of equal significance in the design of digital play 

activities. The concerns expressed by other researchers 

whose work implies that computers can exhaust cognitive 

resources and are thus detrimental to health and learning, 

(Healy, 1998), and that open-ended opportunities for play are 

inhibited by the limited and repetitive operational actions of 

the technological experience (Levin and Rosequest, 2001), are 

based on the assumption that most activities will be located on 

a small screen and thus cannot be manipulated and explored 

in the same way as objects in the physical world, which would 

be more developmentally appropriate for young children 

(Plowman, 2003). Most children with autism have a limited

number of preferred piay activities, but in their play they tend 

have a fascination for detail and the physical properties of 

objects and less interest in attaching symbolic meaning to the 

objects and involving others (Beyer and Gammeltoft, 2000; 

Jordan, 2003; Leslie, 1987; Sherratt, 1999). 

This preponderanceofsensorimotor play in autisticchildren has 

underpinned the development ofthe Reactive Colours project 

and the subsequent design ofthe ReacTlckles interactive play 

experience. The designers, through working very closely with 

autistic children, realised that when perceptual and physical 

skills were engaged, in an appropriate environment, children 

were more likely to express themselves comfortably, and thus 

the opportuniries for creativity and imagination were greatly 

expanded. 

"If improving the play skills of children with aurism gives 

them a sense mastery, and increases their pleasure and their 

morivarion to play, then that is a justifiable aim in itself" 

(Boucher, 1999) 

2. Understanding the autism condition 

There are many complex theories which provide explanarions 

for the apparent lack of social functioning described above, 

however, for the purpose of this paper I summarise the 

research which has been helpful in determining the context 

for the design of the Reacrive Colours project, but do not 

aim to present a standpoint or bias towards any parricular 

theorerical perspective. 

2.1 Monotropic interest systems 

Murray, Lawson and Lesser (2005), explain that one ofthe most 

significant differences between autistic and non-autisric is in 

the strategies employed in the distriburion of scarce attenrion. 

Aurisric people are understood to have monotropic interest 

systems, meaning that they are able to focus their attenrion 

intensely on a limited range of interests. In contrast, most non- 

autistic people have polytropic interest systems, meaning that 

they are able to divide their attention across many areas of 

interest and the focus of this attention is thus less intense, or 

'tunnelled'. A consequence of this is that autisric people tend 

to be very good at tasks where attenrion to detail is required 

but may miss global meanings (Mottron et al, 2006; Frith, 

1989). This is evident from a very early age, as suggested in 

the reference to play described eariier. Mottron et al (2006) 

find that higher-level processes are mandatory for typical 

people but not for people on the aurism spectrum. These 

auristic atypicalitles go hand In hand with sensory processing 

differences, which can have a disabling impact. 

2.2 Sensory issues 

The focus of this paper is on how tangible technologies can 

foster an embodied play experience for young auristic children; 

in orderto explain how the design ofthe project was influenced 

by the young children and those who most closely care for 

them, I will describe the research in the context of three sensory 

experiences; tactile, vesribular and proprioceptive.These senses 

are central to how we experience, respond to and interpret 

the variety of srimuli in the worid around us. Characteristic 

behaviours of an over or under-stimulated sensory system are 

biring, spinning, rocking and hand-flapping, and dysfunctions 

in any of these areas can lead to high levels of anxiety and a 

lack of understanding of the intentions of others. 

The tacrile sensory system enables us to respond to light 

touch, temperature and pressure; those whose tacrile senses 

are dysfuncrionai may experience pain when being touched 

or when earing foods that have a parricular texture, they may 

also have an aversion to clothing, water, or using their fingers. 

This mis-perception of pain may manifest itself in an individual 

becoming isolated, distracted, hyperacrive and generally III at 

ease (Bogdashina, 2003). 

The vesribular system refers to the inner-ear structures, which 

assist in the detecrion of movement and changes in the position 

of the head. Children who are hypersensitive to vesribular 

stimulation may become upset by movement activities such 

as swinging, sliding, climbing and descending stairs or they 

may be apprehensive in activities which require spatial control; 

generally they appear to be clumsy. Continuous Intense activities 

such as spinning and jumping are ways in which children try to 

stimulate their vestibular system (Bogdashina, 2003). 

Proprioceptive sensory systems are those which provide 

a person with a subconscious awareness of body position

though muscles, joints and tendons. The proprioceptive 

system enables us to adjust our body positions in response to 

dilTerent situations, for example, sitting on a chair or walking 

down a step. Fine motor movements, such as using a knife 

and fork or writing with a pen are also manipulated though 

the proprioceptive system. A child with a dysfunctional 

propioceptive system may display unusual behaviours 

such as leaning on people or walls in order to feel pressure 

and for spatial orientation and will often appear clumsy or 

incompetent (Ayres & Tickle, 1980). 

Autistic children may suffer from sensory dysfunctions in any 

or all of these areas and may be over or under responsive to 

sensory input; they may also fluctuate between extremes.Thus 

the behavioural characteristics most commonly associated 

with the autistic condition are directly correlated to issues of 

the sensory system (Ayres & Tickle, 1980). 

3. Tangible Interaction 

Computers makeanlmportantcontribution in assisting people 

in their daily lives. For individuals on the autistic spectrum 

the ability to manage, control, organise, learn, communicate 

and be creative is accentuated through the use of computer 

systems. There has been a significant amount of valuable 

research to show why computers are so important, (Murray, 

1997; Murray & Lesser, 1997; Murray & Aspinall, A 2006), and 

there are many highly imaginative and informative websites, 

created and maintained by autistic people which are valid 

testimonials to this research (http://www.gettingthetruthout. 

org/; http:/,/www.lsn.net/~jypsy/). 

"Computers offer rich opportunities for taking control and 

making a mark on the environment which, in turn, strengthens 

the sense of agency, personal achievement and self-esteem. 

The neutrality of the interface may also assist in encouraging 

shared activity whereby all participants are inherently equal, 

thus the capacity for joining attention tunnels is accelerated." 

(Murray, Powell and Jordan, 1997) 

The Reactive Colours project extends this research by taking an 

alternative approach to computation. Rather than considering 

computer systems in the conventional manner as a means to 

control and manipulate digital information, our research uses 

computers to afford a tangible experience capable of assisting 

relaxation and encouraging expression and creativity through 

improvisation and experimentation. 

The emergence of new types of computer technology 

encourages multi-modal interaction and renders archaic 

the notion that the role of the computer is purely to handle 

textual information. Tangible interaction includes a broad 

range of systems that rely on the creative use of physical and 

spatial manipulation to control objects or interfaces (Dourlsh, 

2001; Ishii & Ullmer, 1997). As computation becomes more 

embedded in everyday objects and experiences, the role of 

tangible computing has the potential to extend far beyond 

the functional and is increasingly becoming adopted by artists 

and designers who identify with the expressive and aesthetic 

qualities of tangibles and the way these new technologies 

involve the use of more human skills than cognitive 

(Overbeeke, 1999). The perceived value of tangible interaction, 

in an educational context, is that it is driven by action rather 

than cognition (Heidegger, 1996, Norman, 1988; 1999) 

In the eadiest stages of development, young children prefer 

to play with objects because of their physical properties rather 

their abstract and imaginary qualities, (Piaget, 1971; Vygotsky, 

1978; Bruner, 1972) for example, puzzles and building blocks 

and they are extremely attracted to sensory toys that engage 

them in self-directed, purposeful activity (Montessori, 1912). It 

has been well researched that children develop understanding 

through action, and the transformation of sensorimotor 

reflexes to more symbolic forms of manipulation (Piaget, 

1971). Tangible technologies provide ways of interacting 

through exploration and manipulation; the focus is not on 

how things work or what they mean but on how they are 

used. This, I argue, is of enormous significance in the design 

of computational experiences for all young children, but 

particularly for autistic children, as this approach allows for 

improvisation and an opportunity to encounter experiences 

independently of skill, knowledge or task. For children whose 

complex sensory systems and difficulty with global meaning 

may result in exclusion from many play activities, tangible 

technologies have the potential to afford interaction during 

which meaning is created and understood through context 

and use rather than the necessity to understand a graphically 

mediated environment (Heidegger, 1996).

It is known that we encounter the worid as a place in which we 

actand that through action, meaningsare revealed, (Heidegger, 

1996). However, for most of us, using traditional Graphical 

User interfaces (GUIs) the logical process of interaction is to 

interpret a digitally represented task, and then to manipulate 

the environment with a physical object that has no specific 

behavioural or representational meaning (Fishkin, 2004). An 

example of this would be pressing a key or moving a mouse 

to perform many functions, all of which will have a different 

output, for example, menus, buttons, folders, and controllers 

(Ishii &Uilmer, 1997). 

Tangible technologies enable a close relationship between 

manipulation through input and perception through output, 

and generally one function is assigned to an action. A more 

embodied experience results as the user can focus on the 

impact of their action rather than the tools that control it 

(Dourish, 2001; Fishkin, 2004). 

4. The reactive colours project 

The aim of the Reactive Colours project has been to define 

an expressive form of computation with a range of digital 

technologies in order to promote relaxation, encourage 

spontaneous play, and support learning for children on the 

autistic spectrum. 

Many autistic children experience heightened feelings of 

anxiety and fear as a result of their highly focused interest 

systems and sensory differences (Grandin, 2000). By working 

directly with the target population, using methods briefly 

outlined below, the designers came to realise that the primary 

function of the software had to be to assist in creating a calm 

atmosphere, as without this, the positive aspects of play and 

learning available to children through the use of computers, 

could not be accessed. The context for use needed to be 

mobile and flexible to allow for changing technological and 

pedagogical processes and environments, and to encourage 

new contexts for creativity with computers that may arise as a 

direct result of using the software. 

One of the outcomes of this process has been the creation 

of the ReacTickles software. ReacTickles experiences are 

completely directed by user input using a mouse, keyboard, 

microphone and other forms of adaptive devices. Significant 

to this research has been how ReacTickles are being used on 

Smart interactive whiteboards creating opportunities for 

unmediated interaction where the whole body can freely 

move, and where embodiment is being used purposefully to 

help children interact with each otherand to engender a calm, 

positive learning experience. 

The use of interactive whiteboards in schools in the United 

Kingdom has become widespread in the past two years. A 

typical interactive whiteboard set up consists of a computer 

connected to a projector, which simultaneously projects 

onto a large-scale touch sensitive whiteboard. Whilst some 

boards are reliant on the use of a stylus pen for interaction, 

Smartboards enable users to control their experience 

through the touch of their fingers; when used in this way 

ReacTickles become interactive surfaces, which the user can 

directly manipulate (Ullmer & Ishii, 2000). When children use 

their fingers on the interactive surface, the outward response 

to being touched or stroked is a corresponding movement, 

shape morph or colour change. The primary interest is on 

the screen output and not the operational tools, thus a fully 

embodied experience is afforded (Fiskin, 2004). 

4.1 Research methods 

As indicated throughout this paper, a flexible, ethnographic, 

participatory design process was required for this project in 

order to ensure that any proposed outcomes were driven 

by the specific needs of autistic children and those who 

are responsible for their care, this process has been well- 

documented in previous work (Keay-Bright, 2006), however I 

wiil provide a brief overview forthe purposes ofthis paper. 

The project has four main stages and uses a Research-Inspire- 

Listen-Develop model at each stage (Keay-Bright, 2007). The 

first stage of feasibility involved teachers and children helping 

the researcher define a positive playful environment that 

could be both relaxing and motivating for children and which 

could be seamlessly integrated into the school curriculum.This 

feasibility study led to a successful proposal for funding from 

the National Endowment for Science and Technology Awards 

(NESTA), which supported the addition of two programmers 

and consultant experts from psychology, linguistics and

special educational needs, into the team. The design phase 

that followed funding focussed on the integration of ideas 

from the design team, consultants and teachers together 

with observations of children in free-play activities to arrive 

at a design concept. The implementation phase required the 

team to consider the goals ofthe project very carefully and to 

develop many of these Ideas into a series of prototypes, each 

version accommodating more design ideas from participants 

and identifying both the parameters and possibilities ofthe 

technologies currently used in schools. Each prototype version 

was evaluated, using a variety of qualitative and quantitative 

methods, and the responses carefully analysed before the 

designs were refined. The final stage ofthe project has been 

to identify further possibilities and to invite contributions 

from a wider audience, deepening collaboration through the 

use of social media and making software prototypes publicly 

available on the Reactive Colours open source website, http:// 

www.reacrivecoiours.org (Stadler & Hirsh, 2002). 

4.2 The role of autistic children in the development of the 

software 

The ambirion to undertake a participatory design process, 

whereby those who are most likely to benefit from the 

outcome are key informants in the most important aspects of 

development, (Friere, 1974; Druin, 1999), was realised through 

the commitment of a group of children aged between four 

and seven years. In fuil-time attendance at a school for special 

educational needs with a specific autism support unit, their 

teachers and teaching assistants. 

Over a period of approximately two years, at the suggestion 

of teachers, these children, in small groups of up to five 

children aged between four and seven years, at varying 

stages of cognitive development, were invited to explore 

prototype ReacTickles on the SmartboardTM. What became 

clear very early on was that the software needed to exploit 

the potenrial richness of bodily movement and to allow for 

the idiosyncraric, emergent needs ofthe children as many of 

them became upset by the sensory overioad and potenrial for 

failure that Is characterisric of many software programmes. 

Thus movement and perceprion became the prerequisites 

for interacrion, rather than the need to manage the control of 

graphical information and ReacTickles were designed with a 

view to encouraging expressive full body acrions. By urilizing 

velocity, gravity, inertia and elasticity In an advanced form of 

cause and effect, when the ReacTickles on the surface ofthe 

Smartboard are touched, a corresponding action is direcriy 

prompted on a different part of the screen. User acrion is 

expressed through locarion, direcrion and dynamics, rather 

than metaphorical or symbolic representations of objects, 

which is far more relevant for aurisric children as, without 

the demands on cognitive and fine motor skills, they able to 

Interact In a way that is positive and rewarding (Figure 1). 

In this socially mediated environment the outward rendering 

of inner engagement has the potential to Invite parricipation 

from others, as areas of mutual interest can be readily shared. 

In this context, embodiment denotes more than a synthesis 

of control and response, it actually allows for acrions to be 

mirrored in a positive, playful and improvisational manner 

(Suchman, 1987). 

4.3 Findings 

What became evident from video analysis of the different 

groups using ReacTickles on the SmartboardTM was that 

children were using their physical and perceptual skills in a 

manner that was natural for them, and that they were abie 

to use expressive forms of communicarion to demonstrate 

their interest and to invite the parricipation of others. Gross 

motor activities such as stretching, jumping, reaching and 

smoothing became part of the embodied experience, together 

with finer motor skills such as circling, tapping and poinring, 

all of which had a direct relarionship to the digital response 

on the SmartboardTM surface. One child, aged seven years, 

evidenced a degree of discomfort at the start of the session.

he was observed running baclcwards and forwards at the 

Smartboard, flapping his hands violently, however, following 

encouragement from his teacher, he began to engage with 

ReacTickles, and within minutes started smoothing the 

Smartboard and became much calmer and in control of 

his actions. The child's teachers considered this to be a clear 

indication of intentionality and purpose. 

For some of the children, the position of the Smartboard 

inhibited their ability to follow through their actions, for 

example, where the ReacTickles shapes ascend to the top of 

the screen having been released from a static position by the 

child's interaction, when the child attempted to chase the 

shape the height of the board meant that the shape moved 

out of reach. What was notable on these occasions was that 

children requested assistance using spontaneous language 

and gesture, and did not show any signs of distress. Although 

hand to eye co-ordination was generally very good, some 

children had difficulty gauging the amount of pressure needed 

to activate the ReacTickles on the SmartboardTM and needed 

assistance from a member of staff (Figure 2). 

Two classes using the software had no verbal language and 

had difficulties with concentration. Teachers noticed that 

when these children were playing with ReacTickles at the 

Smartboard the levels of concentration improved, as they 

were able to see their actions mirrored on the screen; it was 

also suggested that as the children were able to demonstrate 

their interest through their physical actions, their expressive 

communication also improved. 

A different group, who were able to use verbal language 

demonstrated certain characteristics associated with symbolic 

play, as they attributed properties to actions in an imaginary 

way. For example, when filled circles ascend and wobble, a 

child enthusiastically says, "Pop the bubble!" As another child 

voluntarily joins the activity, instructional vocabulary is shared 

between the two and the pretence continues. A third child 

joins the group and extends the play, he imitates the actions 

of his peers and adds his own variations, in a different type of 

activity, where written words become the object of play, for 

example colour names form a wave and leave a trail, children 

voluntarily verbalised colour names, not simplyas a descriptive 

label, but to draw attention to the action. Comments, such 

as, "I've made a circle!" clearly suggested that the child was 

inventing a context for the action and expressing a desire to 

share the experience with others (Figure 3). 

Experts analysing the video footage ofthe children suggested 

that as ReacTickles did not rely on understanding the 

representational significance ofthe visual elements, children 

were clearly responding in manner that was meaningful for 

them, rather than following the predetermined sequence of 

actions offered in most software programmes. 

5. Further research 

The spontaneous use of verbalisation, vocalisation and gesture 

form part ofthe pattern of activity with ReacTickles. Extensive 

research has been carried out which examines the gestural 

responses of children as a method of measuring learning and 

thinking (Goldin-Meadow, 2003). The results showed that

gestural responses reflected a tacit knowledge which did not 

need to be expressed through verbal language. In the analysis 

of young autistic children's responses to ReacTickles, the non 

verbal expressions of interest, engagement, and in some cases, 

anxiety, vv'ere used as an indicator of interest in ReacTickles 

and not to consider the skills ofthe child. 

It was evident that the children directly related their use of 

language to their actions, {Bruner, 1972; Vgotsky, 1978} in a 

manner that vjas spontaneous and improvised (Suchman, 

1987}. This has far reaching implications for autistic 

children whose language use is often not directly related to 

intentionallty and purpose, howeverthls will be considered in 

further research. 

6. ConciusEon 

The Reactive Colours project, through a gradually evolving, 

participatory design process, has identified the potential that 

young autistic children have to uncover, explore and develop 

meaningful play experiences In digital settings. 

The small-scale study described it this paper has clearly 

identified the role oftactile Interaction in affording comfortable 

sensory experiences, and its further potential to bnng active 

playfulness into learning.The ReacTickles interface represents 

a deliberate move to provide a facility for children to interpret 

and understand their actions and the actions and intentions of 

others as it engages the tactile, vestibular and proprioceptive 

sensory systems to a higher degree than most other software 

programmes. 

The design is not simply about the relevance of supporring 

sensory and physical skills, but how these skills can contribute 

to understanding the needs of others. The neutrality of the 

interface enables children to communicate expressively, 

using their personal choice of language and gesture in an 

improvisational manner, as they encounter experiences 

direcriy with the ReacTickles software or whilst interacring 

with others at the Smartboard. Our study has shown that 

ReacTickles software can provide a completely embodied 

play experience as input and output are closely matched. 

In this way, children are supported In using a range of skills, 

including physical and perceptual, ratherthan purely cognirive 

skills, which can be highly demanding, parriculariy in social 

situarions. For children whose sensory systems may exclude 

them from acriviries that require fine and gross motor skills, 

the combination of the responsive, non-representational 

ReacTickles and tangible technologies has the potenrial to 

create a positive learning environment In which meaning 

is created and understood through context and use rather 

than the necessity to perform a task within a restricted set of 

physical and graphical boundaries. 


The Reacrive Colours project has been awarded funding from 

the National Endowment for Science and Technology Awards. 

The designers wish to acknowledge the commitment and 

enthusiasm ofthe staff and children from the Hollies School in 

Cardiff, Wales, UK, who have been central to the design ofthe 

ReacTickles software and the many teachers and children who 

have played with the software and given generous feedback 

throughout the project. I would iike to add additional thanks 

to Dr. Dinah Murray, Dr. Malcolm Bright and Geoff Fitzpatrick 

fortheir guidance with this paper.

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D U R A B L E D E S I G N : A N a P P Q R T U N I T Y F D R C D N T E M P D R A R Y S T U D I O J E W E L L E R Y ? 

Julia Keyte 


j.keyte@shu.sc.uk 

Tom Fisher 


Abstract 

This paper focuses on the discipline of contemporary 

studio jevt-ellery, and proposes that calls for emotionally 

durable product design, elicited in response to the growing 

environmental crisis, present an opportunity for the field of 

contemporary studio jewellery to expand further. 

Contemporary studio jewellery is a discipline with its roots in 

craft practice, which has been recognised as a profession for 

approximately 35 years. Practices in this discipline tend to be 

self-referenda I, even elitist. In order to continue to grow, the 

field needs to seek broader social and cultural relevance. 

Studio jewellers have adapted a material-centric approach 

to designing and producing objects, and this is reflected 

In current responses to global ecological issues. This paper 

examines these responses, and identifies emotionally durable 

product design as a possible opportunity for studio jewellery 

to extend its boundanes to encompass new challenges. 

These debates may provide a context to which contemporary 

studio jewellery may apply its inherent creative processes and 

approaches, and establish a direction for new growth. 

Introduction 

It is now widely recognised that human activity is the cause 

of an environmental imbalance which must be rectified, and 

that reversing this situation requires a significant cultural shift. 

Ecological and environmental debates, and calls for change to 

ourcurrentunsustainablelifestylesappearfrequentiy in national 

and international medla.Recentpresscoveragefocusesonissues 

such as travel, transport, energy, recycling, and the purchase 

of responsibly sourced and manufactured goods. (Pattenden, 

2007).These debates are evident in many professional spheres, 

including design, where it relates to concern about wastefully 

using up diminishing natural resources, and the impact of 

waste production on the environment. 

This paper considers the work of a selection of contemporary 

studio jewellers in terms of these concerns. It was stimulated 

by two events which aimed, in different ways, to explore how 

design can take responsibility for this apparent environmental 

imbalance. The first. Design for Durability, was a seminar held 

by the Network on Product Life Spans (Sheffield Hallam 

University) in April 2006. The second was Carry The Can, a 

conference organised by the Association for Contemporary 

Jewellery in July 2006. 

Design for Durability aimed to 'explore the responsibility of 

designers for our throwaway society and their potential 

contribution to sustainable consumption through the 

development of longer lasting products' (Network on 

Product Lifespans, 2007). Carry The Can focused on 'Issues 

of value/values and responsibility within an ecological, 

ethical and sustainabillty framework and the application and 

relationship to the global contemporary jewellery design 

and arts' (Association for Contemporary Jewellery, 2007). The 

conference set out to discuss ethical issues in general, with a 

focus on ecological and sustainabllity questions. 

Through considering the work of four different jewellers this 

paper relates the material-centric pracrice of studio jewellers 

to product longevity for two purposes. First, it seeks to identify

opportunities to enhance awareness in the field of studio 

jewellery practice ofthe potential for it to engage with issues 

of environmental concern. Although the field has existed in 

more or less its current form for approximately 35 years, it 

has tended not to develop a rich self awareness in terms of 

its relationship with other fields. Second, this paper explores 

the potential for the customary practices of studio jewellers 

to help in developing strategies for sustainable approaches to 

materials, processes and human/ object relationships in the 

field ofdesign more generally. 

The paper identifies practices in studio jewellery as being 

fundamentally material-centric. Although strongly influenced 

by the conceptual strand in art practice studio jewellery 

remains concerned with specialist materials and processes. 

Design and making is approached on two levels; on one hand 

practitioners take a creative and knowledgeable approach to 

handling material, and on the other hand they often employ 

an analytical approach, challenging everyday understandings 

of jewellery and domestic objects. This paper proposes that if 

such an approach is applied to the issues sketched out above, 

it may help to produce objects that are environmentally 

sustainable, in terms of appropriate material application, 

provoking change in consumer behaviour, or producing 

objects with genuine longevity. The field of Studio Jewellery 

could therefore contribute to the development of new design 

genres, whilst finding broader applications for its inherent 

approaches to design. 

Durable Design 

There is a need for the development of new and sustainable 

approaches to design. Tim Cooper (2005) discusses the link 

between consumption and the over-production of waste in 

contemporary industrialised society. He identifies the need 

for the development of'life-cycle thinking'. He states that'Life- 

cycle thinking is of considerable importance to designers, 

manufacturers, and consumers in responding to the challenge 

of sustainable consumption.' (2005: 64) Current approaches 

to design both fulfill and stimulate a continuous demand for 

new possessions, and therefore stimulate the production of 

waste. If this is to be tackled, a cultural and economic shift is 

required. According to Cooper, the achievement of sustainable 

consumption; 

...implies a reduction in the throughput of resources. 

This requires a shift from a linear to a circular economy 

so that inputs of virgin raw material and energy and 

outputs in theform of waste requiring disposal decline 

(2005:52). 

Des/gnforDura5///fysoughttoexplorethepossiblecontribution 

of designers to instigating this shift through the design of 

longer lasting products. In this, it built on previous events with 

similar aims, such as the conference organised in 1997 by the 

Eternally Yours Foundation based in the Netherlands; Eternally 

Yours - Visions in Product Endurance. This conference discussed 

the'field of product lifetime extension'(Eternally Yours, 2007). 

Notions of prolonged user engagement as a route to creating 

durable design have since been discussed in terms such as 

'longevity', 'durability', 'lasting value', 'enduring attachment! 

'emotional durability' or 'product lifetime extension'. The 

notion of prolonged user engagement is seen as a route to 

creating sustainable patterns of consumption. The cases 

of contemporary studio jewellery design discussed below 

suggest that the right objects made of appropriate materials 

could make possible longer lasting relationships between 

consumers and their possessions. 

Contemporary Studio Jewellery Design as a Discipline 

Jewellery design in its broadest sense is defined by Jivan 

Astfaick (2005) as'multifaceted'and operating on'many levels 

of commerce, art and design'. Studio jewellery constitutes an 

extremely small proportion of overall jewellery production. 

Studio jewellery design can be understood as a specialist 

discipline rooted within applied art or craft, with a 'specific 

and characteristic' language of its own. (den Besten, 2005). 

Also seen as 'author'jewellery (Evans, 2006), work is usually 

valued for the personal artistic statement ofthe maker. 

The political and cultural reawakening of the 1960s and 

1970s saw practitioners in both Western Europe and 

North America questioning and challenging the perceived 

boundaries, traditions and conventions of jewellery design 

and making. In recounting the 1960 to 1980 period, British 

jeweller Caroline Broadhead (1985) stated that'...the prevailing 

European tradition of technically precise but aesthetically 

static jewellery has been firmly rejected by many designers.

...a bold attempt has been made to establish an interest in 

jewellery independent of its associations with wealth, status or 

fashion.'Out of this idealistic and prolific'Golden Age'(Derrez, 

2005), contemporary studio jewellery has developed as an art 

form, and an autonomous discipline. What we have now Is a 

'Woddwideand specialised infrastructure', with its own'training 

programmes and gallenes, museum collections and collectors, 

books, and catalogues,'(Derrez, 2005). Specialist departments 

in educational institutions, particularly art colleges, have 

developed as hubs of knowledge and creative development. 

The values and processes inherent to contemporary studio 

jewellery are embedded in making, material and (sometimes) 

technique, whilecreativeand conceptual processesare informed 

by some ofthe assumptions about the autonomy of individual 

creative practice that are to be found in fine art practice. For 

this reason perhaps. Studio jewellery has a tendency to be self- 

referential as well as being recognised as a productive craft 

discipline. Contemporary practitioners typically work alone 

(often self employed) with discipline and independence. They 

do not usually design for a specific market demand. Rather, they 

will be informed about markets, and will often take initiatives 

to generate demand. The discipline encompasses many 

approaches from technique-led 'production craft', (Metcalf, 

2005), to conceptual approaches more akin to art practice. 

The growth ofthe field and its specialised infrastructure is to an 

extent self sustaining. The field is introspective; practitioners 

reflect heavily on existing practice and it is sometimes difficult 

to identify the discipline's wider social and cultural relevance 

beyond its own infrastructure, in order to achieve broader 

social and cultural relevanceand to fully explore possibilities for 

further growth, it would benefit the discipline if practitioners 

and institutions reflected on theopportunlties and applications 

that the unique character of their discipline makes possible. 

I^âterial-centrk Approach 

The discipline of contemporary studio jewellery is small, and 

any impact it can have on global ecological problems, whether 

positive or negative, is negligible. It is natural, however, in the 

current cultural / social climate that some consideration of 

environmental issues should be reflected through ethically 

considered studio practice, or made manifest through objects 

produced. The response to environmental issues within studio 

jewellery design to date is typically restricted to consideration 

of material use. This manifests itself in two ways. 

Firstly, the environmental impact of sourcing materials 

traditional to the discipline is a subject of concern to 

practitioners. Historically and traditionally jewellery has been 

made from precious metals and precious stones. A number of 

campaigns and debates have developed around the sourcing 

of mined materials perceived to be precious, which touch on 

issues such as human rights, local environmental and ecological 

damage, and worker exploitation in the developing world. 

One such example is recently formed (2004) USA based Ethical 

Metalsmiths, who were represented at Carry the Can. Their aim 

Is to raise awareness amongst metal artists of the ecological 

impacts of mining processes, which are the starting point of 

the materials intrinsic to the discipline. The Ethical Metalsmiths 

website draws particular attention to the Impact of open pit 

mines, which can 'consume excessive amounts of water and 

energy... consume wilderness areas, threaten economies 

and indigenous communities, and can cause perpetual 

pollution'(2006). They urge their colleagues (in the Western 

hemisphere) to consciously consider their responsibility in 

their purchase of material for this wide-ranging ecological 

damage: 'We are Intimate with gold, but overlook the fact 

that the jewellery we make begins with, and at, the source of 

our materials... we must take notice and share responsibility. 

(Ethical Metalsmiths, 2006). 

Secondly, conscious attempts at sustainable designing and 

making within studio jewellery focus frequently on the reuse 

and recycling of objects and materials. This can be seen simply 

as sustainable material use, or as an attempt at creating 

narrative, perhaps provoking a 'green' conscience In the 

audience. Many studio jewellers have achieved recognition for 

their re-use of obsolete or discarded matenais and objects. This 

work is often attributed with value as sustainable design by 

cntics and curators, for example through craft exhibitions such 

as Recycle, hosted by Craftspace touring in 1996, and Reclaimed, 

hosted by the Design Council 1999-2003. However, the use of 

re-appropriated materials Is not always a conscious effort to 

produce sustainable design. It Is perhaps more common to 

find studio jewellers who seek to challenge preconceptions

about material use in jewellery by giving value to'non-precious' 

or waste materials. For example, Brigitte Turba has gained 

recognitionforheruseofrecycled plastic bottles in herjewellery. 

Her work has been interpreted as a response to environmental 

issues in two exhibitions: Recycle and Reclaimed. She writes; 

I take a material not seen as precious and give it a new 

value to show that it can be beautiful and challenge 

people's expectations... Use of waste is a particular 

challenge in jewellery making where precious materials 

dominate (Turba, 2007). 

The two approaches outlined above emphasise material use 

almost exclusively in their response to the need for sustainable 

practices, which can be explained by the fundamentally 

material-centric nature of studio jewellery design. The 

processes of design and production are usually embedded 

in the manipulation of material through hand making. Given 

the nature ofthe discipline, it is inevitable that the reaction 

to environmental concerns is s e If-reflect ive, and therefore 

questions the sourcing, production and use of materials 

specific to this area. 

However, these examples can also be seen within a wider 

cultural framework as a reflection of a symptom-focused 

approach to solving the ecological crisis.There is a burgeoning 

culture of recycling materials and objects in contemporary 

Western societies, despite the fact that, recycling could be seen 

as a reactive and superficial approach to finding a solution.The 

over-production of objects, and waste, is stimulated by high 

levels of consumption, resulting in short life-spans for many 

products. The vast majority of these products, once obsolete, 

end their lives in land-fill sites. Jonathan Chapman argues that 

design itself has embraced this symptomatic approach to the 

ecological crisis; 

Amidst the frantic scramble to comply with growing 

legislative demands, the root causes of the ecological 

crisis that we face are frequently overlooked. Meanwhile, 

consumers continue wastefully on, but do so, now, with 

recycled materials instead of virgin ones (2005:9). 

Chapman makes an impassioned call to tackle the problem at 

its roots, through new ways of designing and thinking about 

objects. This requires a movement away from the 'cosmetic 

approaches' of mainstream, techno-centric product design. 

Chapman suggests that 'alternative genres' of designing 

could provide consumers with 'nch and varied experience.' 

(Chapman, 2005). 

This paper suggests that beyond the conscious responses 

outlined above, there are practices indigenous to the material- 

centric approach of contemporary studio jewellery that could 

lend themselves to a new, sustainable genre ofdesign. These 

are illustrated through the case studies below. 

(NL) 

Through her practice as a jeweller and applied artist, Manon 

van Kouswijk explores domestic objects, in particular the 

jewellery and tableware most familiar to us. This exploration 

is carried out through the process of making; thinking is 

visualised through physical experimentation. 'The making 

process I view as an act of translating and of making visible 

aspects ofthe everyday life of things'(Van Kouswijk, 2006). 

The result of this open-ended experimental process can 

be either a series of art objects, and or a functional object. 

The art objects could be interpreted almost as a series of 

thoughts, manipulations of recognisable domestic language, 

The functional objects retain elements of exploration of 

domestic ritual, yet are useful and usable objects; functional 

but provocative. For example in a napkin designed by van 

Kouswijk, marks left in the course ofthe life ofthe napkin are 

embellished with embroidery, acknowledging wear and use. 

Laura Potter (UK) 

Through her practice as a jeweller, Laura Potter analyses 

the role and function of jewellery as a possession. Items of 

jewellery number amongst the most precious of a person's 

possessions, and are liberally invested with emotion, sentiment 

and superstition. Potter's work is observational in nature. For 

example, she draws attention, through the objects she creates, 

to the private places people chose to store or hide their 

jewellery. Safesock (2005) focuses attention on the tendency 

to keep jewellery hidden in the bottom of a bedroom drawer 

where it is felt it will be safe.

Potter's {as yet unfinished) project My Life in a Sock Drawer 

Investigates the unique way in w/hich jewellery Is treasured 

and sentimentalized, even accumulated, but yet not worn. 

The project concentrates on women who look at jewellery 

as 'a means by which they can access and evidence their life 

experiences'(Potter, 2007). 

'Jewellery items are amongst our most precious possessions, 

not only in matenal and aesthetic terms, but because they 

are key artifacts through which we establish a sense of self 

(Potter, 2007). 

Kaz Robertson (UK) 

Kaz Robertson does not claim any conceptual or intellectual 

rationale. She is typical of a number of studio jewellers 

operating as 'production'craftspeople (Metcalf). Her work is 

produced to sell through contemporary craft outlets. It is not 

intended to provoke debate or enquiry. In an Interview on her 

practice and approach in 2002 Robertson makes reference to 

the pleasure of making, the visual and tactile properties of 

polyester resin, and visual inspiration - 'the bnght colours and 

patterns of sea life'. 

Her work revolves around one material (polyester resin), 

the physical and visual characteristics of which she has an 

exceptional understanding. By specialising In one material, 

she has Invented ways of manipulating it which are both 

unique and personal. The material forms both an inspiration 

and the means of production. As a result, Robertson handles 

this material in a very sensitive and creative way. 

Ted Noten (NL) 

Chew Your Own Brooch Is a project by jewellery designer Ted 

Noten started In 1998 at the Museum Boijmahsvan Beuningen 

In Rotterdam. Members of the public had the opportunity to 

buy a piece of chewing gum, with a return box. They were 

invited to chew their own form from the chewing gum, and 

send it back to the designer. Some of these forms were then 

selected and cast in gold or silver, transformed into a pin or 

brooch, and sent back to the sender ofthe gum. 

This work challenges notions of precious jewellery through an 

interesting and provocative juxtaposition of material opposites. 

The process encouraged participants to actively consider a 

particular ubiquitous and throw-away object (chewing gum), 

and its associated ritual (chewing and disposing). The chewing 

gum littering the streets of Europe was 'reconfigured and 

re-Introduced as a precious piece of body adornment, thus 

rearranging the everyday order of things'(Astfalck 2005). 

Practices Integral to Studio Jewellery 

The above examples illustrate a variety of different approaches 

to practice within the field. All four have trained in specialist 

art and design Institutions, but they do not conform to one 

model, however they do make it possible to identify practices 

that are characteristic of this discipline. 

Practitioners and students explore and understand their 

discipline through study, education and publications. This is 

usually focussed on the objects produced. However, we could 

instead look at studio jewellery as an approach to designing 

objects, and hence at the way this approach could be adapted 

to new contexts. This material-centnc approach to designing 

objects cannot necessarily betransferred directly tothe context 

of durable product design. Contemporary studio jewellers 

operate with a certain freedom; they do not usually design 

within the constraints of a commercial brief, or for producrion 

on a large scale. Therefore the examples discussed here do not 

comprise a solurion, but imply that through further analysis, 

and through the development of new opportuniries and 

platforms, certain aspects of this approach may contribute to 

a new and sustainable form of design. These aspects can be 

summarised as: 

Experimental Making: Ideas are often developed through 

material experimentation, intuitive or investigative in 

nature. Thinking is visualized through making. In an open- 

ended way, usually without the restraints of a commercial 

brief This creative making process can produce objects 

which are ambiguous and thought provoking in their subtle 

manipularion of recognisable domestic language. 

Sensitivity in Handling Material: Jewellers frequently 

demonstrate great quality in the manufacture of objects, and 

abiiityto handle specific materials sensitively and Innovarively. 

Makers know the physical properties oftheir materials well, 

know how to best handlethem, and often develop unique ways

of doing so. There are several implications for the durability of 

products: A product should be more attractive and last longer, 

if it is made vêll, and the material is considerately chosen. A 

hands-on knowledge of specific materials could contribute to 

the use of materials appropriate to the lifespan of a product. 

Could there be hands-on specialists in degradable materials? 

Challenging the User's / Viewer's Perceptions of Material: 

Frequent exploration and questioning of materials traditional 

to jewellery, and of peoples' associations with those materials, 

amounts to intelligent and provocative material use. Chew 

Your Own Brooch employs a socially engaged approach that Is 

relevant to the development of durable design. The material 

juxtaposition and design process provokes cognitive enquiry, 

creating a narrative that Is individual to the owner ofthe brooch, 

thereby strengthening the user-object relationship. Noten has 

relinquished creative and aesthetic control, and given a creative 

opportunity to the participants. In addition, the project draws 

attention to chewing gum as a disposable object. 

Analysing the symbolic and social functions of jewellery: 

Practitioners consciously seek to understand the symbolic 

and social functions of jewellery, and the way in which it can 

embody memory, emotion, or superstition. Laura Potter Is 

typical of a number of jewellers with intimate knowledge of 

jewellery and domestic objects and the way in which owners 

form attachment. She brings domestic rituals to our attention; 

how we buy, wear, store and accumulate jewellery. 

Jewellery is a unique type of object, ubiquitous in most parts 

of the world, which is generally intrinsically emotionally 

durable on more than one level. It is arguably fundamental 

to human culture, and persists over generations to inform us 

about previous cultures, or about our own family histories and 

identities {in the case of jewellery as heidoom). Clare Phillips 

(1997) states that; 

The wearing of jewelry has been a constant feature 

in mankind's existence from earliest times. Amongst 

scattered cultural groups the same desire for 

ornamentation Is evident... Our knowledge of ancient 

jewelry depends almost entirely on pieces that were 

either buried with the dead or hidden during times of 

war (1997: 7). 

The perceived precious nature of the materials traditionally 

used further ensures thatjewellery {as a possession) is regarded 

in a special light.The history and collective cultural knowledge 

of jewellery forms a source of debate and inspiration for 

many contemporary Studio jewellers. Jewellers often have an 

intimate and specialist understanding ofthis object, and seek 

to challenge and explore existing forms and materials. 

Stuart Walker (2006) argues that seeking to understand 

existing objects with durable characteristics will help to 

advance thinking about the creation of sustainable product 

design; 

When objects have been produced over such long 

periods of time, spanning diverse cultures, languages, 

and understandings, then we can be sure that there are 

lessons to be learned from them about our relationships 

with material things, and our contemporary efforts 

to tackle sustainable issues in product design and 

manufacturing (2006:20). 

Contemporary studio jewellery constitutes a body of collective 

knowledge which if tapped into, could surely be of value to 

the design of new, durable objects. 

Conclusion 

The discipline of jewellery design is self-reflect ive and 

autonomous in nature. The risk in operating as a highly 

specialised and introspective field is that the wider social 

relevance becomes questionable. However, new directions 

can develop if jewellers look beyond the current boundaries 

of their discipline to embrace external opportunities. 

New approaches to design need to be developed in response 

to current environmental concerns. The notion of prolonged 

user engagement is seen as a route to creating sustainable 

patterns of consumption. The right objects in responsibly 

chosen materials could persuade or provoke a longer lasting 

relationship between consumers and their possessions. 

Through discussing the work of four contemporary studio 

jewellers, this paper has attempted to identify practices 

integral to contemporary studio jewellery, which may lend

themselves to the creation of durable and sustainable objects. 

The paper does not propose a solution, but suggests that 

through further analysis, and through the development 

of new opportunities and platforms, certain aspects of 

this approach may help inform, or be applied to a new and 

sustainable form of design. Many contemporary studio 

jewellers have developed an analytical understanding ofthe 

domestic object, and a creative and knowledgeable approach 

to handling material. Furthermore, studio jewellers are 

concerned with a unique genre of object, which is generally 

intrinsically emotionally durable. These inherent practices 

could help to assist and progress the production of objects 

which are considered either in terms of appropriate material 

application, in terms of provoking change In consumer 

behaviour, or in terms of producing objects with genuine 

longevity. This new perspective on the field could constitute 

the first steps towards a new and socially engaged direction.

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pages/conferences 

ASTFALCK, JIvan (2005). Jewellery as a Fine Art Practice, In: 

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Publishing. 17-24. 

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laurapotter.co.uk/ 

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Engineering Publishing.

D R E S S A G A I N S T D I S A S T E R : G L G T H I N G A S H Y P E R - M E D I U M IN R I S K S D C i E T Y 

Şölen KIpöz 

Izmir University of Economics, 

Department of Fashion Design, Izmir, Turkey 

solen.kipoz@ieu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

Apart from natural disasters, the perceived risks and dangers in 

modern society create an ambiguous, uncertain and anxious 

social structure. As a driver of modernity, the production and 

communication of fashion has become conceptual, critical 

and at the cutting edge, rather than an appearence-oriented 

attitude. Hence, clothing has become a means of discourse 

for fashion through the forward looking, deconstructive, 

multi-functional and multi-disciplinary language of design 

as a response to social disorder and the disasters related to 

the problems of modern society. Thus, clothing has been 

redefined as a protective shelter, a mobile structure, an 

interactive and technological hyper-medium in between the 

territories of space, object and the human body in order to 

fulfill the needs and expediencies of modern individual in the 

urban metropolis. 

This paper adresses a new dimension of fashion and clothing 

which challenges the role of clothing as a physical extension 

of the human body and an aesthetic display of social identity. 

By using the clothing as a means of re-structuring and re 

constructing the human body, the wearer adapts to the 

reflexive conditions of modern society, thus empowering the 

individual against the deal with the real or perceived risks and 

disasters ofthe urban environment. 

Introduction 

"The world in which we live today is a fraught and 

dangerous one" (Giddens 1990:10). 

fvlodernity provides us the possibility of choice through 

social and individual progress, in a way we can break our 

bonds from the past and tradition. On the other hand, with 

its expanding complex structures, it has also created the 

idea of risk and reflexive conditions due to its unpredictable 

roots and uncertainties. The creative self-destruction of'risk 

society' {Beck 1992) has been a sign of radical modernity in 

a society increasingly preoccupied with the future (and also 

with safety), constantly manufacturing and managing the 

risks.' The concepts of risk and contingency being dominant 

characters of modernity, create the consequences of a fragile 

relation between trust and danger, thus making people more 

Insecure and inner-directed. 

The aim ofthis paper is to redefine the role and meaning of 

clothing and dress in a risk society through a radical and critical 

attitude towards fashion and clothing. Clothing functions 

not only as a multi-functional physical garment agalnts the 

dangers of the urban realm, but also as a social response and 

reaction against the anxiety and Insecurity engendered by 

the real and perceived risks of modernity. Bolton refers how 

'perceived'dangers and everyday risks in urban environment 

such as to be run over, mugged, sexually assaulted, shot by 

gang members, or having our throats slit by a sociopath, can 

create a natural anxiety and paranoia towards a 'fantasized 

dangerous character such as the 'urban other', as a potential 

criminal (2002:81). 

' The risks of the modern society like the possibility of nuclear 

war, ecological calamity, uncontainable population explosion, the 

collapse of global economic exchange, global industrial pollution, 

contamination of air, water, food, sickness, death of plants, animals 

and other people are potential catastrophes provide an unnerving 

horizon of dangers for everyone (Giddensi 990:125).

The ontologica! problems of radical modernity, such as 

homelessness, exclusion, confinement, alienation, social decay, 

opression, disruption, complexity, fragmentation and trauma 

also change the glamourous face of fashion and influence the 

mode of clothing into a de-constructive complex structure, 

which can be defined between body, space and the object to 

be re-semantified within the context of risk society. 

The response of fashion against social disorder 

Fashion responds to the conditions of radical modernity in 

three different ways: 

1. As Benjamin points out with the metaphor of'Fashion is the 

tiger's leap to the past', flashbacks and retro Interpretadons 

from the past are the main dnvers of fashion in the modernity, 

Ewans puts it as 'an oscillation between novelty and decay' 

as a result of the cultural trauma, through a century marked 

by world war, totalitarianism, terrorism and environmental 

crisis, whereas Chambers mentions about a continual return 

to events as re-telling, re-cidng, re-siting, recalling and 

remembering of earlier fragments and traces of'moments of 

dangers'(Ewans 2003:37). In contemporary fashion, bythe 70s, 

fashion used its memory more Intelligently by re-introducing 

old styles through recyling and retro interpretations. 

l.The street has become a home for the homeless and 

disenfranchised, being a transitional environment, especially 

with the ground-breaking urban movement of modernism. 

Punk, and another dressed down movement. Grunge. Punks 

developed a more nihilist attitude, with no reference to the 

past The hidden meaning of the style, as Dick Hebdidge 

(1979) argued, is constructed by the technique of bricolage.^ 

Grunge, on the other hand has become the style ofthe urban 

bohemlan and unemployed, 'the fashion-damage control 

Ûsing the repertoire ofthesesignsspeaking a hybrid languagebringing 

together the most unremarkable and inappropriate items such as a 

safety pin, plastic clothes peg, cheap trashy fabric, nasty colors besides 

black, cut of socks, bondages, chains, straps television component, a 

razor blade, a tampon, bricoleur constitutes a symbolic ensemble to 

replace commodiries which served to subvert their original meanings 

with an anarchic discourse to convey a different message. 

exercise' as Mc Dowell puts it (2000:483), 'a self-mocking, beer 

and heroin-inspired reflection of the hopelessness of being 

young, homeless and uncool, reflecting a cultural mood of 

anarchy at the at the centre ofthe new art wodd. 

3. A forward looking design movement called deconstruction 

has become the new promising cultural reaction in building 

a new society, new identities, and new aesthetics and values. 

Ewans, refers to Richard Martin and Harold Koda to define 

'deconstruction' or 'la mode Destroy' as 'a mode of thought 

current to our times' (Ewans 2003:250). By the mid 80s, the 

movement had fostered in fashion, by a group of designers 

from Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp.^ They followed 

a philosophical project of deconstruction, and introduced 

a conceptual and radical attitude to fashion, rethinking the 

formal logic of dress itself through unconventional cutting and 

aesthetics. By the 90s the movement referred to a trend towards 

hidden hemlines and seams deliberately turned to exterior of 

the garments, their imperfections polished and arranged as 

ornamentation (PantellinI and Stohlen 2004:171). Japanese 

designers contributed to this movement by their unconventional 

aestherics and a spiritual attitude deparring from their culture.'' 

Barbara VInken (2005:35) addresses this transformarion as the 

era of post-fashion or after-image fashion. She says 'If, for a 

hundred years, fashion has invented and re-invented woman, 

post-fashion has begun to deconstruct the woman'. 

The post-fashion era has revealed the hidden dimension of 

fashion, as Lippovetsky (1994:241) puts it confronting the 

euphoria of fashion with its counter parts In dereliction, 

depression, and existential anguish. According to Arnold 

(2001:xiii) 'the excess and glamorous face of fashion has 

counterbalanced with a disquieting feeling of anxiety, 

ambiguity, threat and anxiety'. She refers to gothlc Images of 

dark ferishes, whereas Ewans (2003) mentions about fashion 

Ânn Demeusemester,WalterVan Beirendonck, Martin Margiela, Dries 

Van Noten, Dirk Birkembergs. 

Rei Kawakubo, redefined the body with an extended sculptural volume 

with a garment interacting with the movement and space (deformed 

the body through the garment almost recalling of humpback of Notre 

Dame) breaking theconventional aesthetics of fashion related to perfect 

body proportions or a perfect image (Panteliini and Stohier: ibid)..

images as form of catiiarsis or mourning or imagery of disaster 

to justify tliis;'False optimism and the shiny gloss of fashion, 

do not really draw the real picture of a modern world, that 

can be defined by abjection, alineation and decay'(ibid:308). 

Recalling the imagery of disaster as Warhol's In the 60s related 

to car crashes, criminals and electrical chairs, apocalyptic 

visions became popular in contemporaryfashion photography 

by the 70s. Paradoxically, in these projections of the dark side 

of urban environment in a half documentary style, the fashion 

model is generally disconnected from the environment. 

Figure 1. (Left) Photograph by Peter Llndberg, Italian Vogue,! 99 

(Ewans 2003:193) 

Figure 2. (Right) Andy Warhol's Saturday Disaster, 1964 (ibid) 

Clothing as an outsider ofthe fashion system 

The new understanding of fashion not only converts the class 

and gender stereotypes of the modern society, but also the 

medium of clothing by breaking the boundries between body, 

space and object. Therefore, fashion rebuilds Its architecture 

by re-creating social structures to overcome the problems of 

the modern world through clothing by avantgarde designers 

such as Hussein Çağlayan, Arkadius,JunyaWatanebe,Commes 

des Garcons, Mischiko Koshino, Alexander Mc Queen, Viktor & 

Rolf and Yeohlee. 

Dress, then is no longer an aesthetical artifice to beautify the 

individual, nor a mere functional protective shield, buta /7yper- 

medium which incorporates functionality to contemporary 

aesthetics, creating a social response which acts as a personal 

environment, a portable environment, an interactive space 

and a technological medium. 

Bolton (2002:7) employs the term 'Supermodern Wardrobe' 

to identify clothing which responds to the problems created 

by the urban metropolis by conceiving practical and 

functional clothing. Borrowing the term supermodern from 

the antropologist Marc Auge, Bolton refers to the individual 

as one who has to flow among the growth and accelerated 

circulation of urban populations, and to respond to the 

physical and psychological demands of transitional spaces 

such as roads, railways, airports, and the street.^ 

The 'supermodern clothing' responds to the conditions 

of urban environment by facilitating bodily movement; 

providing shelter against inclemencies of the weather as well 

as against noise and pollution from traffic; affording physical 

protection against street crime and physchologlcal protection 

against both the gaze of passers by and neutered gaze of the 

surveillance camera (ibid). 

Social disorder and the body 

Like the home, the body is the ultimate device that the modern 

individual uses to overcome risks, providing a protective, safe 

territory that belongs to the self. Being a unique protective 

environment, the body functions as a cocoon, a unique 

shelter and a refuge which turns into a space/place when it is 

impossible to be at home. Insecurity and disbelief in the social 

system and to other Individuals in urban life, makes individuals 

empower themselves through their bodies. 

The body is also the most fundamental mechanism of motion. 

Thus, the body functions as a mobile shelter In the modern 

metropolitan environment. Mobile living creates a sense of 

continous nomadic experience. People In motion, carry their 

clothing with their body, along with mobile communication 

devices, the new identity cards. Because the natural body 

remains fragile and vulnerable to the dangers and risks of the 

urban environment, urbanites need to empower themselves 

through protective, multi-functional clothing that will reflect 

their social Identity. The modern person's habitation is the 

^ Auge(1995) uses the concept of'supermodenity'to express the logic 

of excessive information and excessive space, that he calls 'non-space' 

through which we are transit for most of our time, as ever-increasing 

proportion of our lives mostly spent in supermarkets, airports, hotels, 

motorways or in front of ourTVs, computers and cash machines.

ody which is technologically dressed up. A new aesthetically 

dnven dynamic of multi-functionality has been sought by 

fashion designers as well as architects' (Queen 2003:96). 

Protection against disaster 

Apart from the basic motivation of clothing in the account of 

protection against physical and psychological dangers ofthe 

general environment, the role of clothing as the protective 

shelter against the real and perceived risks and dangers of 

the modern society Is evident. In that respect Flugel's caudon 

of the need of'protection against the general unfriendliness 

of the wodd as a whole' or as 'a reassurance against the lack 

of love', which can be considered as a restatement of the 

nsks and disasters of urban environment in which urban 

clothing becomes a protective shelter'. If we are in unfriendly 

surrounding, whether human or natural, we tend, as it were, to 

button up, to draw our garments closely around us'. He further 

links this function to'womb fantasies', fantasies of returning to 

the 'warm, enveloping and protecting home where we spent 

the first nine months of existence' (Flugel 1930:77 in Carter 

2003:106). 

Dress as shelter 

Clothing as an extension ofthe body functions as a protective 

shelter with the ability to cover and accomodate the body. 

This makes clothing work with same pnnciples as architecture, 

except that it is portable, unlike a building. Clothing provides 

the individual with a portable environment, hence shelter 

against natural conditions as well as the artificially controlled 

conditions of public spaces, transitional places and streets. 

Regarding social concerns and problems of the urban 

environment, protective clothing goes beyond the limits of a 

dress. Conceptual artist, Lucy Orta, creates wearable shelters 

made to be worn in the form of garment-cum-sheiters, 

adressing disaster victims, political refugees, the eldedy, the 

invisible poor, socially unfranchised and homeless people. Her 

structures become places for seclusion, comfort and hope as 

vehicles for survival. Sensing the individual's need to define an 

area of personal space within the urban matrix, she provides 

a space through her structures where the individual can seek 

solace as well as shelter.^ 

•rrT- 

Figure 3. (Left) Mobile Survival Sac from Refuge Wear,1992 

(Bolton 2002). 

Figure 4. (Right) Woven Habitation by Lucy Orta (Quinn 2003). 

Rather than proposing a solution through her social structures 

between art, fashion and architecture, Orta aims to provoke a 

social reaction. On the other hand, she conceives each piece as 

a prototype of a temporary and immediate clothing designed 

with the potential to be produced industrially in crisis situations 

such as catastrophes, urban emergencies and natural disasters. 

Orta's designs have several skins as layers which are similar to 

different layers of clothing. Virilio expresses transformation 

of these layers as 'the overcoat there is the sleeping bag, that 

after the sleeping bag comes the tent... Clothes emancipate 

themselves, expand to try to become a house, a pneumatic 

raft'(Virilio 1996 in Bolton 2002: 71). 

Dress as a personal environment 

In his journey of re-semantlfication of garments, Hussein 

Chalayan creates object-clothes. Being a designer of thought, 

Chalayan transfers a vanety of techniques, knowledge ofdifferent 

industries, matenal and design methods from different areas to 

fashion. He conceives clothes as a means of communication 

of a human with his/her environment, as well as extensions of 

the body, providing the possibility of creating one's personal 

environment.Through transformation and morphing, he creates 

the structures addressing in-betweenness, and symbiosis. For 

^ She concieved Refuge Wear (1992) as a response to Gulf War to 

propose a range of multi-functional clothes that transformed 

according to individual's immediate needs, including'Mobile Survival 

Sacs', in which garments are made from microporous polyester that 

transformed into sleeping bags (Figures 3,4).

Cagiayan, theepicentre of creating a collection isthe idea. Around 

that idea he constructs the story of a negative, catastrophic 

situation. Like Orta, he takes this situation in a philosophical 

and poetical level, rather than creating a physical solution. 

Characters of his stories overcome this situation, by establishing 

a vital connection with the world outside through the clothes or 

object-clothes they wear (Kipoz and Güner 2006}.^ 

Figure 5. Aeroplane dress, Lifejacketskirt, coffee table skirt. 

Object-clothes of Hussein Cagiayan (Cagiayan 2005). 

On a more physical level, designers provide shelter against 

the elements, particular climatic conditions in metropolitan 

centres to allow the skin to breathe, the designers employ 

temperature regulation materials in their garments, like Philips 

proposed İn conjunction with Levi's.^ 

' His aeroplane dress made of fibreglass, while providing a shelter for 

the wearer with far more protective material than fabric, referring to 

man-machine systems has been operated electronically, just like the 

flaps of aeroplane wings, in his Kinship Journeys (AAV 2003) collection, 

the infloatable skirts ,with the mechanism of lifejackets are concieved 

to be protective shelters in case of a possible flood. The similar kind 

of transformation can be seen in Afterwords(A/W 2000) collection, in 

which he is inspired from Kosovo war and imagined a portable living 

room which some pieces can be transformed in to garments in case of 

refugees has to leave their houses with minumum possessions. Packing 

action of the room is presented as a performance of morphing and 

dressing up. Gradually chair covers are transformed into garments, chairs 

transformed into baggages and finally the coffee table transformed into 

a skirt (Figures). 

^ Phase Change Material developed by Philips-Levi's has an ability to 

provide an adjustable micro-climate forthe wearer's body, keeping him/ 

her warm in winter and cool in summer. 

Vexed Generation adresses concerns like air pollution, related 

to social health (Bolton 2002:62). Realizing that air pollution 

affects our health, and goverment are doing very little about 

the problem, they decided to design clothes that will help 

counteract the negative effects of air pollution In thecity.^ In a 

similar manner CP Company, produces clothes to counteract 

the negative environmental conditions of transitional spaces 

(ibid; 65-66). Some ofthe practical and functional garments 

providing a shelter rely on formal qualities of architecture, 

and their forms can often appear more like buildings than 

clothes.'" 

Figure 6. (Left) Vexed Parka with ballistics nylon 1996, Vexed 

Generation (Bolton 2002). 

Figure 7. (Middle) Metropolis Jacket wth detachable anti-smog 

mask ,1998 Urbar) Protection (ibid). 

Figure 8. (Right) Infloatable jacket from 2001, Transformables 

by CP Company (Quinn 2003). 

^ In the Urban Protection range (A/W 1998) the Metropolis Jacket is 

designed to protect against air pollution, including an anti-smog mask 

that is fitted in to a detachable hood. Vexed Parka was such an outfit, 

which the upper part ofthe left hand sleeve reveals a pocket designed 

specifically to contain an anti-pollution face mask (Figures 6,7). 

'° Heavily influenced from the work of Orta, CP Company in their S/S 

2000 Transformables range, produced a parka that transformed in to 

a sleeping bag. In the same collection they took the idea of a portable 

environment further, by re-creating the physical structure of a building 

with a long hooded cloak transforming into a metropolitan igloo tent. 

The year after they produce a bright blue polyurethane parka that 

transformed into tent with an air matress (ibid: 67) {Figure 9).

Dress as a cocoon 

Cocooning being the social attitude of our time, 'is about 

wrapping ourselves upto protect against the threats we perceive 

around us-from mobile phones, paedophiles, smog, computers 

and pylons, to mugging, rape and beggars'{Bolton 2002:84). For 

Senneth it is about being more inner-directed ratherthan outer- 

directed; and for Auge cocooning is the paradoxical character 

to the social experience of non-place as Western fashion of 

retreating into the self (1995:119). Cocooning appeared as a 

condition of individualism, and paradoxically as a reaction to 

the social intensity ofthe metropolitan environment. 

Thus, designers concerned with providing a safe and 

protective environment through clothing propose individual, 

refuge wear as Orta does, where they can be free from the 

fear ofthe perceived dangers ofthe urban environment. One 

common design strategy for this is concealing the identity 

of the wearer through a big hood or high collar. For instance 

Vexed Generation create 'garments with high necklines that 

can be worn over the half of the face to conceal the identity 

of a person weanng them, because of the concerns over the 

prevalent use of video surveillance'(Smith,Topham 2005:1:50). 

Surveillance in transitional space Is another particular problem 

in the urban metropolis, that the concerned designers attempt 

to provide a protection against it. 

Figure 9. (Left) A4 Coat from Crusader Collection of Vexed 

Gen.,1999 (Bolton2002). 

Figure 10. (Middle) Ninja Fleece, Vexed gen.,1996 (ibid). 

Figure 11. (Right) You Must Create (YMC), detachable hood 

2000 (ibid). 

On a conceptual level, Hussein Çağlayan questions the 

concepts of individuality and surveillance through protective 

structures. His creation, a small futuristic capsule for travelling, 

a pod in between body, space and the object as a portable 

environment, was the expression of that," Designer Jeannie 

Pineus, created an extreme response to surveillance in the 

urban environment through the idea of containing rather 

than weanng, hence Pod.'^ 

Figures12,13. Caglayan's travelling pod as a personal mobile 

space and wooden head (Çağlayan 2005). 

Flgures14,15: Jeannie Pineus head cocoon and cocoon-chalr, 

2000 (Bolton 2002). 

''Through one of his films'Place to Passage'(2003) a small futuristic 

capsule or pod travelling from London to Istanbul provides a mobile 

shelter for the passenger equipped with all minumum requirements 

to live in the pod. In Between (S/S 1998) collection. Çağlayan 

concealed the faces of the models with egg shaped capsules on 

their heads, depriving them al! of their individuality and providing a 

certain protection. Inside the models remained hidden from the gaze 

of others, where they can watch the others freely (Çağlayan 2005) 

(Figures 12,13). 

'^Swedish designer Jannie Pineus developed'Head-cocoon'(2000) to 

provide a simple way to protect individuals with a personal refuge to 

hide from the gaze of camera and passers by, whereas with 'Cocoon 

-chair' provided a space to read, relax and fall asleep (Bolton 2002: 

87) (Figures 14,15).

Dress as an urban armour 

In response to insecurity and paranoia, not only against the 

possible dangers and attacks caused by the other in the street, 

but also against the competitive business environment, 

urbanites need to empower and gain strength. Like buildings 

that are protected with security fences, with a fortress- 

mentality, the human body compensates for its fraglleness with 

protective garments. The first armour suit in contemporary 

fashion was designed by Paco Rabanne in 1960s, which made 

of metalic chains reminiscent of medieval age armour. 

The military garment was the first inspiration for the look of 

urban armour. Thus, urban outfit designers are inspired from 

the developments in recent technology in development 

of fabrics and trimmings. Performance fabrics and clever 

detailing allow the possibility of making a more effective and 

flexible clothing for bodily defence. In the footsteps of Paco 

Rabanne, the Dutch company. Freedom of Creation (FOC) has 

pionereed 3D print in design through the creation of smart 

textiles'^ (Smith,Topham 2005:6). 

•^^•-fi SI 

Figurel 6. Freedom of Creation: 3 printed steel, nylon chainmail 

and dress (Lee2005). 

Conceptual fashion designers employ outfits and accessories 

to create the image of armour, mostly reflected into'reifications 

of the body-machine-image complex" as Ewans refers (2003; 

'^They created a patent-pending 3D printed textile, that resembles 

the chain-mail fabrics of Paco Rabanne.The difference of the fabric 

from the one that Paco Rabanne has created is that the entire fabric 

is compiled in one go from nylon powder, with the links which don't 

have seams. To create a 3D garment, new fabric topography has been 

engaged to the body (Lee 2005:134) (Figure 16). 

237). For example, Alexander Mc Queen's fashioned body 

armour, paradoxically represents the scenes of agitation, horror, 

abjection and disgustand sadism, through a surrealist attraction 

and fascination in which defiance comesfrom robustness ofthe 

form and symbols attributed to the garment such as sharpened 

and angular metallic extensions of the body. (2005:240-41)''' 

Figure 17. Alexander Mc Queen's defensive armour look 

(Ewans2003). 

By remembering the things past^^ designers often employ, re 

interpret and re-semantify the protective and constructive 

corset as an outerwear. The robust structure ofthe corset is an 

extension ofthe natural body, with sharp tailoring composed of 

manypiecesand lining reminiscent of Medieval and Renaissance 

metal plated warrior dress"^ (Figure 18: corset shelters). 

'•^ Alexander Mc Queen brings together sexuality, death, transgression 

in an image evoking a certain perverse pleasure. In his collection 

Untitled, the fashion body could also survive pathology and abjection 

by armouring itself through clothes. The accessories he incorporates 

razor-sharp metal pieces like thorns, threatening animal horns or a 

knife headpiece which recalls a kind of sexual violence, and function 

not only as symbolic or aesthetical accessory but as a defensive 

equipment (Figure 17). 

The term is taken from Marcel Proust's novel 'Remembrance the 

Things Past' In the modern history of fashion Proust has been usually 

taken as a reference to underline the infinite and self-perpetuating 

nature of past as the driver of modernity in a way Lehmann (2000) calls 

as'Proustian fashion'. 

'ÔlivierTheykens's black corset with extended hood had connotations 

of 19th ayslum and madhouse; Hussein Caglayan's surgical corset 

representing an injured body after a potential disaster as he imagined 

of battle of Armadeggon whereas his wooden corset, fastened with 

chrome screws (Figurel 9).

Figure 18. Corsets from OlivierTlieykens and Hussein Çağlayan 

(Ewans 2003, Çağlayan 2005). 

Urban outfit designers, not only provide a protection against 

attackers through garments, but by the use of clever detailing 

they create garments which may confuse and fnghten potential 

attackers Vexed Generation, were inspired by the undercover 

detailing material used In military and police body army to create 

bullet-proof garments. They developed solutions to prevent 

surveillance and traffic accidents by ensuring full facial coverage 

without loosing peripheral vision and by strengthening the 

garments physical properties." The CP Company, integrates 

mechanical features Into designs in order to ensure personal 

safety.'^ 

Figure 19, 20. Seen and be seen jacket by Vexed Gen, 2002 

(Bolton 2002). 

Figure 21, 22. Vexed parka in ballistics nylon by Vexed Gen, 

1996 (ibid). 

'' In The See and Be Seen collection, they incorporated high visibility 

reflective panels into garments to prevent accidents in the street, 

enhancing the visibility of individuals on the busy city roads along 

with inserting extra protective components like reinforced patches on 

elbows and knees. The Techtonic Jacket {AfW 2000-01) and Vexed Parka 

(2002) made of several layers of ballistics nylon to be truly bullet-proof 

(Bolton 2002; Quinn 2003; Smith and Topham 2005) (Figures20,21,22). 

''^So/o Gilet (A/W 1999-2000) featured a large Maglite torch on the 

back to be used as a guide, while the wearer passing through dark city 

streets while. Munch Jacket {AW 1997-98) had a fitted high-pitched 

personal safety alarm (ibid) ( Figure23). 

Clothing as a portable environment: nomadic experience 

Urban dwellers occupy several temporary habitats, and spend 

longer time there than at home' [Queen 2003: 96). Travelling 

has become the basic movement for a city dweller, not only 

experienced by moving from one desrination to other, but 

also through the transitional spaces ofthe city. Movement for 

a modern individual is no longer a planned acrion, but has 

become an obligarion, especially in case of a need to escape 

and a refuge from an urban catastrophe, thus necessitates a 

specific type of clothing. 

The first attempt of creating a multi-funcrionai clothing for 

a mobile individual came from Futurist Manifesto, in 1909. 

Futurists were aware of the importance of "speed" for our 

century long before Paul Virilio underiined its importance in 

the post-industrial era. They designed garments like a piece 

of art, but their understanding of clothing pointed to the 

principles ofthe multi-functional clothing of today (Thayaht). 

went further and designed multi-purpose everyday, universal 

clothing, as an all-purpose garment called 'tuta' which 

promoted economy both in fabric and construction, while 

increasing agility and flexibility (Cheunoine 1993:142). 

Yeohlee coined the term Urban Nomad as a response to the 

needs of an ultra-modern 21st century, the fast paced city 

dweller, who, just like the fiaunese of Baudelaire, traverses 

the urban realm. She, describes the impact of urban signifiers 

on fashion construction with mutti-purpose garments with 

maximum funcrionality and minumum construction with a 

sense of refugee.'^ Her precise engineering and economy in 

tailoring creates a formal expression with a touch of comfort, 

with the physical characteristics of active sportswear. By 

balancing the construction of simplified lines and conventional 

cutring against geometry and the natural movement of the 

body, she achieves a dynamic structure and morion through 

her garments (Quinn 2003:100-114). 

Urban Nomad (A/W 1997), was one of her collections that Yeohlee 

naturally departed from her needs: "i would like to travel wearing the 

most efficient outfit possible, i would want my outfit to define my 

space, making a clear and concise statement about my relationship 

with my surroundings" (Quinn 2003:112) (Fjgure23)

Architecture is a strong driving force for her designs. Using 

Kean Yeang's principles of designing biociimatic skyscrapers 

that constitute micro climates, Yeohlee layers different 

materials for adaptation to the climate, thus developing 

a particular construction by the use of tiers rather than 

through conventional layering. This gives the body freedom, 

while allowing efficient circulation, ventilation and body 

heat retention. Her use of performance fabrics such as teflon, 

polyurethane, nylon and polyester which are unusual for a high- 

end fashion product, create breathable, waterproof surfaces 

which make the wearer adapts to environmental conditions. As 

Richard Martin credited Yeohlee with developing a'fiff/? season 

'of fash ion'due to her breathable designs {Quinn 2003:114)}° 

Figure 23. Yeohlee's high-end designs with performance 

features for urban nomads (Quinn2003 and Bolton 2002). 

Certain designers look to nomadic experience as the struggle 

to survive against the modern urban realm of risk, danger, and 

anxiety due to injustice, opression, exclusion, crisis, alineation 

and fragmentation. They question social justice, humanism 

and the social progress of modernity through in-between 

structures and transformable clothing. Hussein Cagiayan, 

departing from a catastrophic situation, renders the need for 

mobility and refuge by creating transformable object-clothes 

which function as portable environments. He challenges the 

boundries of dress by transferring different materials and 

know-hows to fashion. Speed and flight are fundamental 

Ewans {2003:283) refers to 'fifth season' as a 'world in which nature 

is effaced (for ex. Vexed Generation's use of phase-change fabrics 

that regulate body temperature, first developed for NASA) and 

the metaphors of jungle and desert are played out in the urban 

landscape. The fifth season might be technological; it certainly 

existed in a parellel universe to the natural one. What perfume would 

one wear during the fifth season?' 

Inspirations In Caglayan's themes. To give the idea of speed 

within the territory ofthe human body, he depicts mechanical 

objects and vehicles as extensions ofthe human body.^' 

Figure 24. Extension of a car interior from Echoform and chair 

dress, by Hussein Cagiayan (Cagiayan 2005). 

Clothing as an interactive environment 

Along with the mobility, the needs and the conditions of urban 

environment, there is a need forthe individual to interact with 

his/her environment through the garment, hence creating 

an interactive environment with the use of the garment. 

Japanese designer Kosuke Tsumura envisages that clothing 

will eventually replace housing altogether and function as 

the city dweller's final home. His plan Is to equip the urban 

nomad with the means to colonize the public spaces of the 

city (Quinn 2003:97). 

His fully equipped garments, described as a mobile home, 

enable urban nomads to spend a night away from home in 

case of disaster, with extra warmth and enough supplies. 

He employs a multi-pocket system to give the wearer the 

In his Geotropks collection (S/S 1999} he showed a chair-dress, 

in a way that a chair was integrated to a model symbiotically, as 

they appeared to be a single identity. Cagiayan through that chair- 

dress, re-semantified the conventional dress in order to transform 

a portable, personal environment in which the model can sitdown 

whenever she wished. In Echoform (A/W1999} he took inspiration 

from interiors of cars and planes as two machines best symbolize 

speed, created neck cushions as echos, reverse extensions of human 

body within the vehicle. ChairDress that he created for Geotropics (S/S 

1999) created a portable environment in such a way that model and 

chair appeared to be a single entity and the model could sit down 

whenever she wished (Cagiayan 20O5) (Figure26}.

possibiiity of organizing personal things as well as storage 

and mobility. 'Pockets are an Integral feature of supermodern 

clothing', (Bolton 2002:45} pockets function as compartments, 

providing the wearer with a place to store belongings, along 

with a certain degree of personalisation and communication?^ 

ÎNAL HOME 

Figure 25.Tsumura's and Caglayan's multi-pocketed interacdve 

jackets (Quinn 2003, Bolton 2002, Çağlayan 2005). 

Like Tsumura, Çağlayan also designs interactive clothing in 

order to give the owner the possibility of re-structunng the 

garment for the needs and experiences of urban life, rather 

than merely as a finished garment Pockets play a vital role in 

providing a communication with others, creating a personal 

space embedded in the body, filled with signs ofthe wearer's 

identity." 

^'^ In his Final Home collection undertaking a coat as the body's final 

home, Tsumura integrated pockets to jacket eliminating the need for 

backpacics, luggage and even tool kits. In Tsumura's jacket ,the pockets 

have loaded the garment with signs related to wearer's identity and 

character.'The transparency ofthe outer pockets enables the wearer to 

customize surfaces of the jacket, filling them with pictures, postcards 

or artwork to create different surfaces'(Quinn 2003:102) ( Figure27). 

-^lnhismenswearcoliectionP/ace/WonP/oce{2003)thejacketsstructured 

almost with pockets. The garments filled with transparent pockets 

transformed into displays of communication with the world outside 

through which the wearers can exhibit their personal photographs 

and things. By conceiving a design process in which the wearer could 

give the latest form and meaning to the garment. Çağlayan aimed that 

the memory and experiences would create a sense of space through 

garments in which non-place could be transformed into a place. Hence 

the garments are perceived both as personal environments, and 

place making symbolic containers that can be constructed through 

memories (Kipöz and Güner 2006) (Fİgure27}. 

Dress as a coilective experience 

Lucy Orta struggles against exclusion, combining architecture, 

body, art and fashion with social dynamics, ideological activism 

and political agendas.Thus, her principle projects include spatial 

scenarios, works of art architectural prototypes and interactive 

platforms portrayed around the body, establishing physical links 

between individuals which symbolize emotional, intellectual, 

social and spiritual ties through transformable structures. 

In creating an Interacrive environment through clothing, she 

proposes a social space for individuals in response to social 

fragmentarion, solitude and desolation in modern society. She 

designs series of individual outfits that have attachable tubes 

of fabrics that can zip the wearers together in a single garment 

thus become collective wear, as she terms it Orta's collective 

wear proposes a shared space encouraging physical contact 

and cooperation among wearers, as well as an exploration of 

individual feeling and movement, thus facilitaring them to 

design and produce their own garments.^'"' 

In Body Architecture symbiotically anorak becomes the sleeping 

bag, bag turned into a tent after which it becomes a container, 

providing a framework in which individuals narratives can be 

expressed textuaily. In "Nexus Architecture" Orta used the hooded 

overalls'' of Greenpeace activist during anti-nuciear protests. 

Through events and workshops targeted at marginalized social 

groups like migrant labourers, the homeless and the inner-city 

teenagers, she made them to produce their Nexus links; in addition 

to this Orta organized a cross-cuiturat workshop among teenagers 

and art students from France and New York, that each participant 

produced an individual panel of fabric that would be attached to 

others and form the walls of a transatlantic mobile shelter. Later she 

developed that work in to an inieractive website that she called'fluid 

architecture' (Quinn 2003:166-171) (Figure 26,27). *Orta expresses 

the reason why she choosed the basic worker overai! as a form of 

dress": this form suggests uniform, uniformity and membership of a 

group. It provides a shelter against individualism and reinforces the 

strength ofthe collective"(Bolton 2002:138).

Figure 26. Refuge wear 1992, Coüective Wear 1994, Nexus 

Architecture! 997 by Lucy Orta. 

Figure 27. Orta's collective structures to create a social 

interaction: & Nexus Architecture. 

Virilo's social criticism 'concerned with the breaking down 

of the family unit and the reconstruction of the social link' 

encouraged Orta 'to explore interconnections and find new 

ways of creating as dialogue'(Bolton 2002:138). Through her 

work, Orta, not only responded to Virilio's concerns of re 

creating social links with the structures between body, space 

and the object in orderto propose a pluralistic and democratic 

social structure, but also re-grouped the individuals in 

threatening events such as street gangs, subversive cultures, 

and terrorists, as well as uniting them against natural disasters 

such as earthquakes and floods. 

Dress as noSogical medium 

Mobility and nomadic experience that we encounter In 

our everyday life in the urban metropolis, leads urbanites 

to integrate technological devices, like laptops, mobile 

phones, MP3 players, PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), and 

digital cameras which are personalised within the territories 

of our bodies. Thus, humanisotion and aesîhetisation of 

technology becomes inevitable; the body and technology live 

symbiotically in one entity, with the interface of technology in 

the form of an interactive wearable. 

Prof. Steve Mann, who Virillo sees as 'a pioneer of the second 

revolution of speed age: the revolution of transmission' 

defines wearable technology as 'a system which partakes of 

the personal territory, in control ofthe user, being operative 

and continuously interactive, always open and accessible'. 

In the mid 80s, Mann's experiments in the MIT labs were the 

first signal ofthe symbiosis of technological devices and the 

human body. Mann, with an anticipation of technological 

excess of today, challenged the anti-utopic view of man- 

machine systems, seeing cyborg and cyborgism as a condition 

of post-humanism, (Mann2003) a post-cyborg structure.^^ 

His early experiments of wearables were bulky, with heavy 

components bolted to helmets, strapped on with belts and 

carried in backpacks (Lee 2005:16). He gradually Incorporated 

the revolution of miniaturisation into his designs through 

wearable computers and eye camera with optical readers, 

thus deconstructing technology. Vlrilio considers this as the 

third revolution ofthe speed age, technological reductionism 

(1997:50). 

Figure28. Steve Mann's solutions for wearable technology. 

The new technological landscapes, are referred as 'mapping 

the development of electro-textiles and smart fibres through 

biotechnology and nanotechnology' in the field of wearable 

technologies (Lee2005:17).The term wearables, smart clothing, 

and wearable computing are synonymous terms used to 

describe a genre of clothing that functions at an electronical 

^•^ The term 'Cyborg' which orginally referred to the combination of 

cybernetics and organism by Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline in the 

1960s turned out to be changed into a science fiction character by 

the mid 80s when Donna Harraway used the term 'cyborg' to invoke 

the science-fiction/cyberpunk image ofthe robot/flesh creation as 

a metaphor to illustrate how less obvious technologies had already 

impacted human life (Farren and Hutchison, Fashion Theory 2004:463) 

most probably promoted by the films like Terminator, Robocop and 

Blade Runner. The disutopic character of cyborg could be related to 

excess by Auge (1995) and 'abundance of information' by Mc Luhan 

(1989) to create a'technosphere'asVirilo (1997) suggests, which was 

evident with Gibson's Johnny Mnemonic or lately paradox of the 

Matrix.

level, capable of processing information on the moving body 

(Lee 2005:43). Miniaturised technology has been incorporated 

into the body through the digital convergence (Kotro-Pantzar 

2002) of hyper-functlonal objects (Giordano 2002:124); 

through transparency and invisibility along with the ubiquitous 

computlng^^ of wireless communications (Lutyens 2002); and 

through emotive engagement with the technological interface, 

and thus humanisation and personalisation (Kipoz 2002;2003). 

The experiments and inspiration for developing intelligent 

garments has stemmed from the military use as wearable 

information processing for soldiers. On the other hand, 

because ofthe necessity to create a mobile workspace in the 

transitional city space, and to empower oneself to dress up 

as techno-armour against disasters of modernity, wearable 

electronics and intelligent clothing that Bolton defines as'fully 

wired-up, plugged in body' (2002: 49) has become the realm 

of an urbanite. Using ubiquitous technology and creating an 

interactive environment or an ambient Intelligence, as Philips 

defines it, is a natural reflex of late modernity in reaction to the 

contingencies ofthe urban environment, escaping from the 

electronic gaze and active protection from possible dangers. 

As Bolton (2002:18) states 'Wearable technology, confers a 

certain degree of control over the wearer's environment. Not 

only does It offer wearers the choice of whether or not to 

connect or disconnect to a wider environment, it also allows 

them to react to this wider evironment actively or passively'. 

Philips is one of the most proactive design companies in 

incorporating information and communication technology 

and intelligent materials into human body and life experience. 

The brand explores the role ofthe smart clothing for people 

who live, work and play in the future. Considering the idea of 

'technology dealing with fashion'their intention is'to create 

human-focused solutions making the electronics industry 

^^Theterm ubiqutious computing invented by MarkWeisser in 1988, 

(head of Computer Science Lab. at Xerox PARC (Paulo Alto Research 

Center) to describe a future where invisible computers would be 

embedded in everyday objects, explaining this as the most profound 

technologies are those that dissapear. They weave themselves in to 

the fabric of everyday life until they are distinguishable from it (Lee 

2005: 45). 

think emotionally' (CEO of Philips design, Stefano Marzano in 

Lee 2005: 45)." 

Figure 29. Philips-Levi's, Industrial Clothing Division and 

Philips's protoype of playsuit for children,2000 (Bolton 2002). 

The dilemma is the high price of the 'wearable' incorporated 

with extra technological elements, designed to address the fear 

of crime, as the garments, considered 'cool'^^ might result in the 

wearer being the object of envy and, ultimately, robbery and 

physical violence. Considering this. Philips started to think about 

how wearable technology could be used to make people safer. 

They experimented with clothes designed for children which 

could provide stimulation, fun and safety, whilst giving parents 

peace of mind^^ (Davey, Wotton, Cooper, Press, Heeley 2003:51). 

Mentges (2000) points out that redefining technology, and 

thus hi-tech garment, is an entirely male domain and closely 

"They first developed an experimental range of ICD denim jackets 

with Levi's. Philips-Levi's^"' industrial Clothing Divison Plus range 

(ICD+TM) (2000) to increase connectivity through functionalities 

of voice recognition mobile phone and Rush Mp3 player of Philips 

to create a fully equipped' plugged-in' individual. Philips took 

this project further in to Personal Area Network (PAN) project for 

embedding electronical softwares in to personal territory in a fresh 

approach to future lifestyle and fashion (Figure29). 

Gabriele Mentgess (2000: 42-43) explores the state of'coolness' 

within the context of developments in technology and particular 

means of mobility, where the body is exposed to extreme conditions 

caused by velocity, as the construction of new corporal language and 

entirely new discipline ofthe body and the mind in a sense that while 

creating a distance from the other, body and senses imply and require 

an elaborate kind of communication. Clothing in this process gains 

particular importance especially through development of techno- 

textiles which in turn become a highly sensitive supplement of the 

body, not only to reinforce it, but to extend and widen its forces.

associated witli masculinity. Paradoxically, technologically 

wearable cloths are of particular value to women who have 

found themselves historically in positions of vulnerability. 

In response to this, designers Adam Whiton and Yolita 

Nugent created specifically for women facing nsk in the 

urban environment, challenging existing power landscapes 

between men and women, creating a political statement or 

symbol of empowerment for even those who are not feeling 

themselves atrisk.^" 

FigureSO. No Contact Jacket, Adam Whiton and Yolita Nugent 

{Smith&Topham 2005}. 

Urban Camouflage is another issue to consider in providing 

both an interactive and safe ambience for the individual 

through clothing.Wearabletechnology provides the possibility 

The clothes have various technology embedded within them 

including Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) with fabric antennas, 

mobile phones with radio tagging and digital cameras in the form 

of miniature remote cameras. The interactive feature of designs 

allowed physical characters with identity chips to be attached to the 

garments, so that they can see each other on the screen, and play 

through the images. In terms of providing safety the technology 

allowed to pinpoint the location of child, enabling guardians to 

confirm the child is safe, and providing an opportunity to support 

them in their games, through mobile phone (ibid}. 

^° No Contact Jacket' as they describe as 'exo-electric armor' is worn 

like another jacket, but when the wearer feels unsafe or threatened 

she is able to arm an in-built defense mechanism by means of key 

lock that discharges a stinging electric shock; protecting the wearer 

from the electric current by an insulated rubber built in to the jacket, 

instill women with greater feelings of power and security (Smith and 

Topham 2005: 3-118). The jacket has been found not just acceptable 

but desirable more than hand-held alarms (Lee2005:156}. (Figures 1} 

of Invisibility through smart textiles and hi-tech materials. 

Susumi Tachi with'invisibility cloak'makes the wearer invisible 

bythe use of retro-reflected material, used in the manufacture 

of road signs, which works like a screen.^' 

Figure 31. Invisible Cloak by Susumi Tachi (ibid). 

High-fashion incorporates technology in a way which Increases 

the established roles of dress, resulting in a kind of 'hyper- 

garment' (Lee 2005: 81). Designers re-semantify the garments 

through the signs that technology connotes, as Alexander 

Mc Queen (1999/2000) appropriated computer circuitry as a 

decorative pattern to signal a futuristic aesthetic, featuring 

android like models wearing body suits printed with luminiscent 

computer circuitry, (ibid: 52) Victor & Rolf (A/W 2002} created 

an illusion of a fabric, described as chameleon camouflage, to 

play with the idea of invisibility, ubiqutious technology which 

proposes replacing outfits with digitally projected images, 

employing a process known as bluescreenlng (ibid: 81)." 

^' Images are shot by a camera placed directly behind the subject, 

relayed through a computer, and then projected on to the front of 

the coat. Tachi hopes to apply the technology for 'seeing through' a 

solid object in the future, like the interior of a car when trying to park. 

The clothes in the future might be used to carry all kind of images, 

as V&R created the illusion, if the development of smart fabrics that 

behave like LCD screens would be possible (SmithsTopham 2005:2- 

66). (Figure 32) 

Blue screening is a process used in the movie-making and television 

where anything painted blue pigment can be digitally isolated and 

replaced with another image. Thus each model was projected on to 

giant screens, the images of the clothing substituted by a mountain 

range, sky or city scapes, the body dissapearing in to a virtual 

background. (Lee 2005:81) (Figure 34)

Figure 32. Alexander Mc Queen's pnnted computer circuitry 

(Lee 2005). 

Figure 33, V&R blue screening image projected garment (ibid). 

Cor^ciusion 

Modernity, has created the consequences of risİcs, dangers 

and crises within its complex social structure. Hence, the 

face of fashion, in the construction of a social attitude and 

clothing behaviour, has been drastically changed in response 

to the social transformations of modernity. Fashion, as the 

fundamental mechanism of creating desire and glamour, has 

created its counterparts by transforming itself into a display 

of social decay, uncertainty, anxiety, corruption, dereliction, 

melancholy and dystopia. Clothing and the understanding of 

dress has become a reflexive response to this transformation, 

acting as a defensive mechanism to the real and perceived 

problems and nsks of modern society.The new understanding 

of fashion deconstructs its boundnes, conventions and history 

into a novel body of knowledge and structure, in the form of 

the post-industrial fashion of Ewans, and the post-fashion or 

after-image fashion of Vinken. Fashion, more than ever, feels 

responsible for a social structure suffering from inequalities, 

isolation, trauma, opression, homelessness, fragmentation, 

alienation, disruption, disorder and disaster. 

in this context, the language of dress has been developed 

into a multi-character entity, hyper- clothing in the form of 

a protective shelter, defensive armour, portable environment, 

interactive ambient and technological hyper-medium.Jhe new 

dress, defined as multi-functional or supermodern as Bolton 

calls it, is not only a symbiosis of space, object and the human 

body in between the disciplines of architecture, design, 

art, science and fashion, but a means of social and cultural 

discourse in order to re-define the ontological position of 

the modern individual. Fashion, through clothing re-defines 

the body, and also becomes a means of social reaction, 

creating a body of discourse, proposing a solution to free 

oneself from the risks and problems of modern society. The 

technical, high performance garment or conceptual dress of 

contemporary fashion, has been deconstructed once again 

into a form of clothing whicii acts as a hyper-medium, in 

which the structure and fLinctionai elements of the modern 

garment, such as pockets, hoods, functional trimmings 

like zippers, and smart textiles, have been re-semantified 

to empower the individual against the unexpected and 

undesired conditions of urban life. 

On the other hand , inspite of the ethical discourse created 

by the clothing design which are examined through this 

paper, most of the conceptual examples related to high 

fashion has constituted a category of wearable art, where 

as high performance, muiü-functional garment taking their 

roots from military, medical and industnai wear, are likely to 

be interpreted as experimeru n and unaccessible due to their 

high-costs and technical, cold looks. 

Therefore they present difficulties of adoption to social-self 

image and practical use in case of an unexpected danger or 

disaster of the urban individual. 

With these consideradons, a design project has been carried 

out with a group of fashion design students. The aim of this 

project is to search and experiment conceptual and physical 

possibilities of design practice of disasters and risks in the 

modern society. By de-constructing fashion, designers tend 

to design garments to be adopted, realized and used in case 

of a disaster or everyday life risks of urban environment in a 

more practica! and socially confident attitude. Results of this 

study have been exhibited within the halls of this conference, 

which has been examined with the further article within the 

book called "Dress Against Disaster" (2007).

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D E S I G N I N G B I O P L A S T I C S P R O D U C T S 

Rolf Koster 

Delft University, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, 

Delft, Netherlands 

r.p.koster@tudelft.nl 

RemyJongboom 

Biopeads, Zetten, Netherlands 

remy.jongboom@planet.nl 

Emre Tufekcioglu 

School of Industrial Arts, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey 

etufekcioglu@anadolu,edu.tr 

Abstract 

The ongoing need to keep reducing tnal-and error in product 

design applies to plastics products, and perhaps even more to 

bioplastics. The bioplastics market, however small, is rapidly 

growing. Much of this growth can be attributed to packaging, 

films, and bags. Applications in injecrion moulded products 

have been less numerous until now. Injecrion moulding 

typically offers design opportunities for mass producrion, 

mass customization, and efficient material usage.The benefits 

of new opportunities offered by material improvements, 

new materials, and new technologies will only be expressed 

in actual products if all benefits are understood and used as 

needed, and all exisring and new challenges are met. 

Bioplastics offer partly unknown opportuniries and challenges 

which may necessitate revision of the current design 

guidelines for injecrion moulded bioplastics products as 

well as adjustments to current pracrices of plastics injection 

moulding. Advantages and disadvantages of bioplasrics are 

notalwaysfully clear, partly because product behaviourcannot 

yet fully be predicted, and even more because life cycle issues 

are very complex and often do not allow final conclusions. 

Another factor remaining essenrial in designing injection 

moulded plastics products is to oprimize unavoidable weak 

spots in products, such as flow weld lines. The reduced 

mechanical perfomance depends considerably on the 

combination of geometry characterisrics and moulding 

parameters. These factors were addressed as part of a research 

activity involving experimental work as well as developing 

appropriate design support. 

Specimens from products moulded from two bioplasrics were 

found to have better impact strength than for a polystyrene, 

in product regions both without and with flow weld lines. 

Certain non-trivial injecrion moulding setrings, which reduce 

the impact strength in neat product regions, were found 

beneficial for weld line properries. Such results are important 

for iterarive product design oprimizarion for mechanical 

performance and manufacturability. 

Introduction 

Material developments for bioplastics as well as certain 

bioplasrics applicarions are rapidly progressing and are 

expected to keep progressing In the near future. Few product- 

related experrise in bioplasrics is generally accessible at the 

moment. Itis desirable to have a more or less complete picture 

of design opportunities and challenges, which will evolve with 

all the bloplasrics-related developments. The present paper 

explores the current situarion.

Designing injection moulded plastics products 

Plastics are a good example of a broad class of materials 

which have offered new design opportunities and challenges 

compared to more traditional materials. The developments 

are still progressing rapidly and include bioplastics-related 

developments which will be discussed in the next section. 

Plastics are usually appreciated because of their unparallelled 

versatility for shaping products [Plastics Engineering, 2001] 

and wide range of colour and visual effects options, serving 

both aesthetices and various otherfunctionalities. Plastics have 

become successful in many applications, both for replacements 

and for new designs. Common benefits in replacement 

applications include: Increased product differentiation, 

lower over-all costs, weight reduction, noise reduction, 

reduced number of parts by integration of product functions, 

simplification or even elimination of product assembly 

operations, and more [Carrabine, 2002], [Beall, 2002]. 

New designs may be successful if specific opportunities 

offered by plastics have been used creatively. For example, 

two or more materials may be combined in a single part by 

multi-component injection moulding In a way that could 

not be achieved by conventional assembly of separate parts. 

Hard-soft combinations, for example, usually consist of a 

thermoplastic and a thermoplastic rubber. The increased 

demand for thermoplastic rubbers has driven material 

Improvements.The materials involved have sufficient adhesion 

nowadays, such that the material components in a part no 

longer need to mutually enclose one another [Boer, 2006]. 

This is an illustration of product design guidelines evolving 

with material and technology developments. 

Whereas the large number of design opportunities offered by 

plastics enables a great design freedom, dealing with them 

and keeping up with the latest developments is a challenge. 

Other challenges for product development with plastics are 

the complex material behaviour, both during manufacturing 

and in the final product, and the complex interdependence of 

factors [Kennedy, 2004]. Thinking in plastics by designers and 

applicators includes considerations of product realization and 

requires different manufacturing and assembly philosophies 

[WJT Associates, 2005], and hence different views on product 

architecture. Preliminary design stages require a rather high 

level of detail if design and development are to proceed 

effectively and efficiently [Mascarenhas et al., 2004]. An 

interdisciplinary team approach is necessary when dealing 

with plastics, starting from eariy design and development 

stages [WJT Associates, 2005]. 

Present status of bioplastics 

On a molecular scale, bioplastics are somewhat similar to 

oil-based plastics, i.e., they consist of molecules with long 

chains, called macromolecules. Similar to oil-based plastics, 

most bioplastics only become practically useful after addition 

of one or more types of additives [Jongboom & Dartee, 

2006]. A major difference with oil-based plastics is that most 

bioplastics are produced from annually renewable resources, 

most of them agricultural feedstocks at present. The first step 

towards bioplastics is always to obtain suitable and sufficient 

biomass from the applicable resources. After this first step 

there are currently three different routes to arrive at bio-based 

macromolecules [Yu et al., 2006], [Jongboom & Dartee, 2006]: 

- extraction of naturally occurring macromolecular 

materials from resources; 

- synthesis of macromolecules from naturally occurring 

materials in resources; 

- microbial activity generating macromolecules from 

naturally occurring materials in resources. 

Examples of naturally occurring macromolecular materials are 

starch, protein, and cellulose. Starch appears most promising 

among these materials. Common sources for starch are crops, 

wheat, potato, and rice [Curvelo et al., 2000], [Caspar et al., 

2005]. 

The best known synthesized bioplastic from natural materials 

is polylactic acid (PLA), based on lactic acid derived from starch 

or sugar, which can be, in turn, extracted from corn, potato, 

sugar cane and other sources [Hakkarainen et al., 2000], 

[Jongboom & Dartee, 2006]. Certain additives In PLA enable 

different degrees of reduced brittleness and reduced stiffness. 

The best known macromolecular materials generated by 

microbial activity are polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). The 

most common PHA is polyhydroxubutyrate (PHB), a high

molecular mass energy storage product of certain bacteria 

and algae [Moore & Saunders, 1997]. Copolymerizing PHB 

with hydroxyvalerate enables miscellaneous compounds 

with different degrees of reduced brittleness, reduced 

stiffness, and reduced cost [Türesin et al., 2000], [Savenkova 

et al., 1999]. Another example is poly-3-hydroxybutyrate-co- 

4-hydroxybutyrate copolymer. Adjustments to its material 

composition enables a range of material properties from hard 

thermoplastic to rubber-like [Snell et al., 2001 ]. 

New developments of bio-based plastics are ongoing and are 

at different stages of applicability. An example Is a method to 

derive molecular building blocks for polyester or polystyrene 

directly from an ingredient of fructose, which is a sugarfound in 

fruit, corn syrup, and honey. The efficiency ofthe process needs 

inprovement [Ball, 2006]. Another example is a glass-fiiled 

material consisting for 37% of renewable corn sugar-derived 

material, having properties similar to the engineenng plastic p 

olybutyleneterephtalate.This partly bio-based plastic, Sorona, 

is being developed by Dupont. Sorona is also being applied as 

a molecular building block for a thermoplastic rubber, Hytrel 

[Plastics Engineering, 2006]. For tissue engineenng, a bio- 

based rubber-like material was developed at Massachusetts 

Institute of Technology [Thomson, 2002]. 

PLA is also available in the form of fibres, known as ingeo, by 

NatureWorks.This material can be applied as a filler material 

and in textiles, giving a softer feel than most synthetic fibres 

[Vink el al., 2004]. Composite materials of PLA with inorganic 

fillers or nanoclay have been studied too [Uruyama et al., 

2003], [Paul etal, 2003]. Some of such materials have improved 

thermal stability, strength and stiffness, although the balance 

of properties still needs improvement. 

The above examples are a few selections from many new 

developments which are expected to be going on, enabling 

new design opportunities in addition to the existing ones. 

In spite ofthe uncertainty about future developments, several 

forecasts exist about the expected growth of bioplastics. 

Worldwide bio-based plastics consumption has increased 

from 40 000 tonnes in 2000 to 270 000 tonnes in 2005 and Is 

predicted to be 800 000 tonnes In 2010 [European Bioplastics, 

2006]. Most of the current bioplastics market consists of films, 

bags, and miscellaneous packaging products. Applications 

In injection moulded products, suitable for material-efficient 

products made in large production volumes, have been 

less numerous until now. Market growth is expected to be 

accompanied by higher production efficiencies, enabling 

declining material prices which currently are, on the average, 

70% to 80% higher than the commodity plastics they usually 

replace [Toensmeier, 2004]. Enhanced performance materials 

are expected from more sophisticated synthesis and blending 

techniques [Freedonia, 2006]. 

Design considerations for bioplastics applications 

Similar to the oil-based plastics enabling a great design 

freedom as well as posing major challenges to be overcome, 

the same is likely to be true for bioplastics. Opportunities as 

well as challenges will partly depend on: 

- properties enabled by material charactenstics; 

- conversion of materials to products; 

- perception of bioplastics products by consumers; 

- price. 

There are other important factors, such as business activities, 

government regulations, and activities by Institutes for 

research and education. These factors will not be discussed in 

this paper. 

The perception by consumers is obviously essential. It 

should be noted that most bioplastics as supplied in their 

basic form, i.e., without colourants etc., do not cleady look, 

feel or sound different than plastics in general, even though 

physical and mechanical properties may be different. It may 

be desirable that products by themselves, i.e., without fully 

relying on additional information, convey to the user that 

they contribute to a more sustainable world, or to a better 

world in another respect. This obviously requires that such 

products do actually contribute to sustainabillty, based on 

the current state of knowledge. Life cycle and environmental 

considerations will be briefly discussed in the next section. 

Communication by products is an issue well known by many 

designers and will not be discussed further. The remaining 

discussion in this section will concern objective factors and 

uncertainties.

A wide range of material properties and property combinations 

is offered bythe currently available bioplastics. Perhaps the best 

known property is biodegradability, which will be discussed in 

the nextsection.Otherpossible properties include breathability 

(water vapour transmission) and water solubility, one or both 

of which may be obtained by using starch-based materials. 

Manufacture bility with starch-based plastics, requiring water as 

a plasticizer, has been improved considerablyoverthe pastyears 

but is still challenging [Chen et al., 2006], [Curvelo et al., 2000], 

[Jongboom & Dartee, 2006]. The delicate balance between 

manufacturability and mechanical product properties depends 

on water absorption capacity in a complicated manner: if it is 

not optimum, the final product will be brittle [Chen et al,, 2006]. 

Successful examples of starch-based products include films for 

food packaging and garbage, and thermoformed packaging 

products [Jongboom & Dartee, 2006]. 

A wide range of mechanical properties is offered by PLAs 

(optionally blended with other biodegradable polyesters) and 

PHAs, comparable to commodity plastics at the lower end, to 

synthetic polyester-like or rubber-like properties. Exceptional 

stretch recovery characteristics are reported for Sorona, better 

than several polyesters and nylons [Kurian, 2005]. Some 

typical characteristics of PLA include: similar or higher stiffness 

than polyesters attainable, deadfold twist retention, good 

permeation resistance to grease, many aromas and flavours, 

and several gases, printability without pre-treatment, and 

good flammability resistance [Jongboom & Dartee, 2006]. The 

range of material properties by different compositions of poly- 

3-hydroxybutyrate-co-4-hydroxybutyrate copolymer enables 

applications from low-cost moulded goods, fibers, coatings, 

and adhesives to replacement heart valves [Snell et al., 2001]. 

Bioplastics can generally be converted into products by 

existing principles of plastics processing. Particularly for 

injection moulding, it has been found for PLAs and PHAs 

that adjusted moulding conditions and specific moulds are 

required for obtaining quality products [Plastics Engineering, 

2006], [Bucci et al., 2005], [Zhang et al., 2004]. A further 

challenge is that some bioplastics melts easily degrade as 

a result of hydrolysis, which would make relatively small 

plasticizing units on moulding equipment desirable. Although 

successful bioplastics products are being manufactured, and 

injection moulders are gradually becoming familiar with PLAs 

[Plastics Engineering, 2006], few publications are known to the 

authors which address issues related to converting bioplastics 

into products. The majority of publications concern material 

preparation, structures, properties, and developments. 

Life cycle issues 

A challenge for bioplastics is to verify and minimize the over 

all amounts of energy and raw materials, as well as usage of 

agricultural facilities, needed to obtain processable materials 

[Gerngross & Slater, 2000]. The conversion of biomass to 

bioplastics requires energy which may be rather high for 

PHAs, particularly PHB: the energy demand Is determined by 

such factors as fertilizer production, farming, corn wet milling, 

fermentation, and polymer purification. All of these factors 

combined may result in carbon dioxide emission which, 

over-all, may in some cases be higher than for obtaining oil- 

based plastics [Gerngross & Slater, 2003]. The figures would 

improve if renewable energy sources were used. The techno- 

economic feasibility of PHB production has been compared 

for two situations: it was uncompetitive in case of corn-based 

processes as carried out in the US, but beneficial in case of 

sugar mill-based processes as carried out in Brazil. Integration, 

such as in a sugar mill, is generally preferable over separate 

processes for obtaining bioplastics. The over-all cycle for 

PLAs is much less energy-Intensive: about 60% of the over 

all energy needed to obtain oil-based nylons. Technological 

advances and simplifications may likely enable an improved 

energy balance [Gross & Kalra, 2003]. 

Regarding end-of-life issues for products, most bioplastics 

can be returned to the environment by decomposition into 

natural organic materials. An option for such biodegradation 

is under so-called anaerobic conditions as in landfill. These 

conditions cause emissions of carbon dioxide and methane: 

the latter is a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon 

dioxide [Gerngross & Slater, 2003]. It is feasible, however, to 

recover methane, using controlled gasification conditions. 

Composting processes, similar to the ones applied for plant 

trash, are an attractive alternative for bioplastics in landfills 

[Avetla et al., 2005] and yield matter which is suitable to 

replace oil-derived fertilizers [Gross & Kalra, 2003]. For all 

biodegradation processes it must be kept in mind that the 

rate of the process is not a material property only, but also

depends on product geometries, i.e., area to volume ratios 

Uongboom S; Dartee, 2006]. 

Material recycling is anotlier end-of-İife option for plastics as 

well as bioplastics. In most known situations, however, plastics 

inherently compare infavourably to metals In particular, 

regarding recyclability [Biron, 2006]. Composting may or 

may not be the best ecological solution, depending on the 

nature ofthe materials, products and the collection system for 

used products. Energy recovery by incineration, which is also 

viable for several oil-based plastics, is basically possible for all 

bioplastics too [Reske et al., 2006]. It is almost certainly better 

than biodegradation under anaerobic conditions in landfill 

[Gerngross & Slater, 2003]. 

Life cycle considerations such as over-all consumption of energy 

and resources, over-all emissions, and end-of-life options, are 

subjects of study as well as discussions. The state of knowledge 

onthesecomplexissuesisexpanding,althoughfinalconclusions 

are often difficult to draw. Changes in infrastructures may be 

required for ultimately achieving optimum over-all solutions, 

depending on the situation [Gross & Kaira, 2003]. 

An example of an appropnate bioplastics application is the 

BloCllp® l^y Deleco (figure 1). Such clips offer an easy-to-learn 

way to prevent cracking, bending and damaging of crop 

trusses during growth. This is claimed to give the truss extra 

strength, providing betterfruit quality and higher production. 

The clip Is an injection moulded product featuring a snap fit 

and an integral hinge.The BioClip, made of a modified PLA (by 

Biopeads) is fully compostable within 12 weeks and may be 

therefore included in the plant trash (Deleco). 

Figure 1. BioClip^ by DELECO 

Perceived needs and approacli 

Essenrial success factors for bioplasrics products include 

processabllity, predictability and achievement of desired 

product properries based on material properries and 

processing parameters, material stability during product life, 

and controlled product biodegradarion when desired after 

the end of product life. The autors'impression is that material 

properties and improvements for bioplastics have been 

and are being addressed extensively, enabling a myriad of 

future design opportuniries. The same is thought to be true 

for biodegradability and sustainabillty, although the latter is 

such a complex issue that no final conclusions can be drawn 

at present. One of the lessons to be learnt from designing 

with the exisring oil-based plasrics is that most material 

substlturions require an experienced designer or dedicated 

experts to help translate material properries into product 

performance [Manisaico, 2003]. 

In addirion to the largely materials-related research for 

bioplasrics, more product-related work is thought necessary, 

parriculariy regarding conversion of materials into products, 

which, for oil-based plasrics, is among the considerarions in 

early design stages. Such addirional work is certainly needed 

for product manufacturing by the many injection moulding 

principles, which are most complex for oil-based plastics and 

may be at least as complex for bioplasrics. The benefits of 

materials will only be fully expressed in products if potential 

weak spots can be properiy addressed in product design. Well- 

known examples of weak spots In Injecrion moulded plastics 

products are flow weld lines at locarions where two melt flow 

fronts meet during moulding. 

Since designers need to deal with a large set of factors and 

often try to generate a more or less complete picture of product 

requirements, a design support acrivity is thought desirable 

related to applicarion of bioplastics and other new materials. 

Such design support has been addressed elsewhere [Koster 

et al. 2007]. In conjuncrion with the design support-activity 

an experimental research acrivity has been Inlriated, aimed 

at obtaining product-oriented results. Detailed description 

ofthe experiments as well as the results will be published In 

the near future. The applicability-related conclusions from the 

results obtained to date are summarized in the next secrion.

Preliminary experimental results Acknowledgments 

Several geometries with different shape characteristics were 

injection moulded, using a polystyrene, a PHB, and a modified 

PLA. Both the PHB and the PLA were found sensitive to 

degradation during plasticizing, particularly in the larger of 

the two injection moulding machines used. Therefore some 

of the results may still be less than optimum, and further 

processability research is needed. 

An interesting result is that with PHB a better mechanical 

impact resistance than with polystyrene was found. This also 

applied to the weakest spot, the flow weld line, although the 

relative difference with polystyrene was less for this case. 

The best weld lines were obtained with injection moulding 

parameter settings which would be non-trivial for normal 

injection moulding practice. This indicates an optimization 

issue which has not been fully resolved yet, even for oil- 

based plastics. It is an interesting result, considering the drive 

towards minimization of material usage. 

The mechanical impact resistance was generally better for the 

modified PLA than for the PHB, and almost as good as for an 

impact modified polystyrene, which, however, was not yet 

thoroughly tested. 

Closing remarks 

The initial results available until now are intended to 

contribute to application-related knowledge as needed for 

product development. The ongoing additional work will 

continue to be guided by application-related needs. The 

associated product design support activity will be useful for 

guidance and inspiration. The aim is to develop a systematic 

approach for dealing with novelties and challenges and for 

establishing missing information and expertise associated 

with new materials such as bioplastics in product design, as 

well as to contribute to product-related research results with 

practical value. 

Dr Urs Hanggi at Biomer, Germany, provided PHB material free 

of charge and assisted us in injection moulding optimization. 

The following persons at Delft University gave inspiring 

support: Prof Dr Han Brezet, Prof Dr Imre Horvath, and Prof 

Dr Stephen Picken. Mr. Ben Norder and Mr. Gerard de Vos at 

the Delft Faculty of Applied Sciences generously supported 

experimental work. The Delft Industrial Design Engineering 

students Lobke van Erve, Bregtje van Dijken, Martijn Bailer 

and Johan Land performed excellent test programmes.

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V I R T U A L R E A L I T Y A S A M E D I U M D F D E S I G N A N D ART: A N I N T E R A C T I V E 

V I R T U A L A T E L I E R . 

Riza Kuruüzümcü 

Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Art and Design, 

Department of Art, İstanbul, Turkey 

rlzaku@msn.com 

Abstract 

In our digital era, with its extensive qualities such as 

simulation, interactivity and immersion, VR offers highly 

effective environment for vanous purposes. A necessity is 

being developed for our analyzing and expression methods of 

reality, by continious changes on our perception states about 

reality shaped by digitally formed data. VR, as an environment 

offering high quality simulation and capacity of construcring 

alternative fictions on the nature of physical reality, makes 

possible to realize new systems as much as new art forms. In the 

text. It is tried to explore the potential and limits of VR in terms 

of two different states: a design environment, which funcrions 

mostly as a tool, and an artistic medium, even a contemporary 

art form; discussed on an avant-garde project base on VR. 

Introduction 

The aim of the text is to discuss the two sided capability of 

VR; a design studio in the broadest sense, at the same rime 

a medium for realization and presentarion of art and design 

products, and to accentuate how important this potential 

for contemporary art and design by means of offering new 

horizons. 

Firstly, VR is going to be generaliy defined and the relarion 

between the reality and its projection on our perception of 

reality is going to be explored. 

Then, main characterisrics and possible connecrions with 

design process (as an evaluation period of an art or design 

work); and how VR possibly works as a capable virtual studio, 

comprehensive simularion environment tool is going to be 

explained. 

As a conclusion, the vision about excessive capabilities of 

VR which are beyond simularion capability of constituring 

alternative realiries (surreal or unreal) and systems (out 

of standard acceptance) as a medium of orientaring 

contemporary art and offering new vistas of creativity is going 

to be discussed. Especially on an example, "Osmose" which is 

one ofthe precursors ofthe art projects related to VR is going 

to be analysed through the various remarks Including Char 

Davies, who is the creator ofthe project. 

VR, Definition 

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer based technology that focuses 

on creating environments that simulate the real wodd or an 

imaginary worid and allow a user to Interact with. It seeks to 

srimulate ail ofthe user's senses to have the sensation of to be 

in a real worid. 

This simulated environment can be similar to the real worid, 

such as simuiarions for flight or combat training, or an 

alternarive reality, as in video games. 

Main components of Virtual reality systems are: 

...(1) the reality engine; (2) the software; (3) various 

interfaces. The reality engine includes all the data 

required to build a virtual environment and make 

it funcrion. Specifically it incorporates a geometry 

that describes the formal nature and posirion of the 

components in the environment (generally objects and 

actors), aswellasdynamic specificarions that determine 

how the various elements of the environment

interact with each other. The software sets the terms 

for the interaction between the user and the virtual 

environment. Various interfaces connect the human 

body and the reality engine and establish contact 

between the user and the virtual environment These 

interfaces may include display helmets, coveralls and 

digital gloves; other devices that do not provide total 

immersion may also be added, such as stereoscopic 

goggles, gesture-tracing arms, biosensors and 3D mice 

{The Media Arts Dictionary project). 

Application areas of Virtual reality systems are; 

In the military and aeronautics, among other fields, 

where they are used for specialized training and flight 

simulation; in architecture, where they are used, for 

example, to move through the three dimensional (3D) 

plans of a building in the design stage; and, still in the 

experimental stage, in medicine, where operations 

will be performed remotely on hard-to-access parts 

of the body. Applications also exist in the fields of 

art, education and entertainment (The Media Arts 

Dictionary project). 

Virtual-reality hardware and software also continue to be 

perfected day by day in a considerable acceleration parallel to 

the improvements In technology. 

VR, related to reality / representation distinction 

In a broad sense since Antiquity, tradition of visual arts meant 

to mistake for reality. One ofthe main concerns ofthis tradition 

has been questioning the reality and creating an illusion of a 

world which was unreal, as stated: 

"Virtual reality systems seek to simulate real scenes so that 

they will be seen as three-dimensional.The issues at the heart of 

virtual reality are old ones. Leonardo da Vinci struggled with the 

differences between the perception of a scene and a painting of 

it, which he reduced to the differences between binocular and 

monocular vision"(Wade, Ono, Lillakas 2001:231-5). 

The artistic challenge has been continued with increasing 

ambition as art became more and more passionate about to 

explore various visions or perception layers of reality as much 

as various methods of visualising of It; it can be seen at the 

contrast between the two art forms of 19'^' century; Realism 

and Romantism as an example; realistic versus idealistic. Or 

trompe I'oeil is a stylistic painting form performed with an 

excellent technical ability aims to deceive the viewer to think 

thatwhatitisseen is real; orsurrealism explores a level of reality 

which is dreamlike or transcendent; or hyperrealism creates 

a simulated two-dimensional image of a three-dimensional 

reality on context of photographical vision... 

Nowadays, as a zenith, mankind has arrived immersive 

computer simulations. At this point, as implied by Binkley; the 

gap between the idea and the reality has been decreasing: 

Virtual reality is both more and less real than analog 

presentation. But we are being challenged to rethink the 

reality/representation distinction. Our sense of reality 

is -paradoxically- a concept It is an idea that has been 

formed by the history of our representations, and not 

vice verca {Binkley 2000). 

Obviously, when speaking in this sense what is meant by realities 

is various representations of subjective perception of reality: 

Virtuality is not the opposite of reality. It is part of 

reality! Virtual reality is the semiotic domain of reality. 

Actual reality is the corporeal domain of reality. We now 

encounter signs in the state of algorithmic semioses, 

This is a new aspect of art and of the sciences as well 

(Nake 1998: 163-4). 

Humpries contributes a new face to the problematic as 

questioning the corrolation between the reality and art and 

characteristics of subjective perception about the truth which 

based on computer generated interpretation of reality. 

The most important questions concern the impact of 

the technology on the artist the creative process, and 

the nature of art. It is not clear whether the nature of art 

resides in the art object or the subjective sensibilities 

of the artist and the responding audience. However, 

it is also clear that a journey taken to examine the 

ontology of computer art may lead to another avenue

of exploration-an examination of epistemology, or the 

nature of truth and reality manifested in computer art, 

particulady with respect to virtual reaiity... {Humphries 

2003:13-31). 

Reality is open to interpretation and art has been executing 

that at vanous states (visual illusion as much as layers of 

meaning) all along the history. VR explores and offers new 

possibilities about subjective expression for this technology- 

related era. Vanous layers of perception created by digital 

revolution expose the need for attributing different meanings 

to the relation between art and science; as much as nature and 

reality ever than before. Art based on technology (especially 

VR as an art form) tends to identify a brand new reality which 

has pnnciples and rules of its own; since basically gathers its 

data from an abstract area. 

Basic qualities of VR: simulation, immersiveness, 

interactivity 

VR presents extreme possibilities for variety of disciplines 

as an flexible and expandable environment. It allows hybrid 

relations v/hich is not possible to gain with other modelling 

methods; for example procedural descnption methods of 

complex models such as partical systems or fractal geometry. 

Simulating the reality and to be able to do this as a compact 

system in interaction and handling asa concrete unity,presents 

a huge potential, since it opens the possibility to analyse the 

reality and the way to be interpreted, by means of generating 

fictional alternative realities or systems: 

EaHy twentieth-century art, including the works of 

Duchamp and the Cubists, attempted to portray aspects 

of a reality that were beyond sensory perception, such 

as multiple perspectives, the fourth dimension and 

curved space. Virtual reality (VR) now offers artists a 

soft medium for creating artificial experiences of space, 

time and energy through mathematical models (Brown 

1997). 

Sense of presence in, which is perceived in VR makes the 

working environment more Intimate and accessible with a 

strong feeling of immersion, as implied by Luecking: 

The awareness of the video image as an alternate 

or substitute presence has been a staple of video 

installation sculpture since the early 1970s.These works 

question ourperceptionofreality, by dividing It between 

its objective and technologically simulated versions. VR, 

however, has the potential to totally blur this distinction, 

either by projecting the video image into the architecture 

ofthe viewer's own space, or by immersing the viewer in 

the space ofthe video (Luecking 1994:28-33). 

Revolutionary technological improvements at the second 

part of th 21th century with a huge acceleration offering 

limitless possibiliries, especially replacement of mechanical 

models with computarional ones which is the essence of this 

revoluarion, completely changed the forms of thinking and 

perceiving. Shifting from analog to digital media has been 

based on main concepts of virtuaiity and interacrion. VR is 

not a system related to standart codes and procedures, but 

a medium of interrelations in which the parricipant and the 

environment are in a dynamic contact. 

VR and design process; virtual studio 

As mentioned before, we are exploring potenrial of VR with 

regard to two different points. As a tool, and as a medium. VR 

behaves as a virtual design studio with Its excessive capacity: 

As a simulation based interpretarion of physical worid, in VR; 

hierarchical elements of dimensionality; dot, line, surface 

consritutes the form of the object by variety of logics in a 

certain order. Inter-dimensional modificarions of a form {lineer 

or non-lineer) are possible in any level ofthe design process 

which offers great flexibility. Main characterisrics which define 

the object such as color, size, texture (real or prodecural 

textures which depends on abstract mathematical functions), 

dynamic behaviors (including organic ormechanical behaviour 

systems as well), size, shape and interactions of the object 

which defines the relationship between space and object 

in a certain rime and condition can be simulated in terms of 

various aspects ofthe constructed system (Bowers 1999).* 

Spatial description and placement of objects, building up 

systems on related objects and observing from different 

point of views in a virtual space, and applying any kind of 

deformarion is possible. Form, characterisrics, interacrions

of the object as well as time and motion act on it can be 

deformed; without the limits existing in physical world. 

Since one of the main concerns about the design process 

is to have an understanding of relationships between the 

components on the way of a unique production which has to 

carry out a special functionality and an aesthetic form. In VR 

environment, all the concepts belong to a fact that take part in 

a compact structure, which are related to a unique model and 

interrelated between themselves, since it is a closed system; 

which makes possiple to see and control the big picture. 

By using this potential, as a last step through the process, 

grouping the related components to get harmonic and / or 

functional unity is accessible. 

VR gives scientific quality to the design process; since the 

parameters can be controlled and results can be observed 

simultaneously. 

For complex subjects which are often multi-disciplinary in nature 

and requiring a blend of theoretical and practical knowledge, 

experiencing the theory itself is important for developing 

indepth understanding. Simultaneous feedback gained from the 

modifications is critical forthe design process in terms of fluency. 

Reproduction and modification of the existing models or 

systems in many ways, is another strong point of VR; it makes 

possible this, through producing high quality visualization 

and interaction. 

At the main levels of design process like generation, 

evaluation, realisation, process itself needs a flexible tool and 

environment. VR offers to access an interactive virtual design 

studio, much similar to action in a studio or workshop, rather 

than in a lecture. 

VR and art / new possibİİities 

In this section, VR is going to be explored as a medium in 

which art and design projects are embodied. 

In general terms, "Art and Design" includes contemporary 

media such astelevision,video,animation,film and multimedia 

various disciplines as much as relatively traditional disciplines 

such as painting, sculpture, product design, performance arts, 

etc. The main distinction between art and design stands on 

the balance between function and aesthetic, which is getting 

blurred nowadays. 

The key feature of contemporary art is it's concern with medium. 

Since mid-20th century art highly related to, or created with, 

the technology. New media art as a term used to describe this 

technology related condition, differentiates itself by its resulting 

cultural objects and medium used for, which can be seen in 

opposition to those deriving from traditional media arts. VR Art 

as a new media art form, offers completely new expansions. 

Since VR isa medium based on an analytical approach; it hasa 

structural purity; may be thought as a kind of highly extensive 

sembolic language. At the same time, concepts and methods 

referencing from real world methods and are put in a rational 

context; in a mathematical precision. 

Humpries continues arguments about examination of 

epistemology with respect to extended possibilities of art via 

computer technologies: 

...The surprising conclusion that students may reach 

through an aesthetic inquiry into the nature of 

computer art is not so much that it may be necessary 

to alter ontological criteria for art in order to properly 

assess the attributes of computer art, but that an 

exploration of the frontiers of computer art may lead 

to the discovery that it is necessary to modify notions 

of epistemology (knowledge of reality and what it is 

or could be) inherent in the unlimited possibilities of 

virtual reality (Humphries 2003). 

Contradictory to often associated with VR, its only usage area 

is not representational simulation; but more than this, as 

mentioned before. The excessive power of creating dynamic 

and interactive structures without restrictions of physical 

world offers new forms ofdesign as Brown states: 

VR creates the illusion of three-dimensionality without 

any of the constructive restraints found in physical 

reality. Via programming, I set out to develop the idea

of Dynamic Form—to create interactive virtual forms 

that encapsulated the Interrelated concepts of space, 

time and energy (Brown 1997). 

Brown outlines how he used VR for constructing a formation 

contradictive to reality and how he was able to out of 

restrictions of three dimension in one of his projects as: 

...Hov/ever, Ifound thatthe very three-dimensionality of 

physical materials were inherently restricting my ability 

to express notions of a fourth dimension. 1 became 

interested in virtual reality (VR), a medium unrestrained 

by physical and dimensional constraints. At this time, 

VR was used mainly for realism and representation— 

the synthesis of a perspectlval, 3D space complete with 

accepted laws of physics. My project was to challenge 

these dominant paradigms and move towards 

abstraction—to synthesize a "virtual unreality" (Brown 

1997). 

Creation and interpretation of hybrid forms of art, design, 

engineering and science, In a multi-disciplinary interaction work 

together and that open new vistas of creativity and invention: 

Graduate programs at major U.S. research instittitions 

that are training a generation of hybrid artist/engineer/ 

scientists,someofwhomhaveenteredtheprofessoriate. 

As their numbers increase, their impact on the centraiity 

of technology and science In the practice of art and 

design (and vice versa) will also force a reconsideration 

ofthe canons of art history and the histories of science 

and technology. One hopes that stich work will create 

new forms of strticttire and meaning that expand the 

languages of art, design, engineering and science, and 

that open up new vistas of creativity and invention. 

In order to understand the evolving relationship between 

art and technology in contemporary art (and vice versa), one 

must grapple with the complex processes and products that 

sustain and restiltfrom these collaborations (Shanken 2004). 

From this point of view, VR aims to build up a reality beyond 

daily experiences, a transcendent one. An unreal, almost 

mystique mood arise which gives a kind of ecstasic sensation. 

Reality occurs as a psychic or spiritual expenence, on this 

perception level of reality. Form of reality defined by an 

individual depends on multiple subjective assessments 

shaped by the perception such as personality, experiences, 

point of view and characterisrics of attribution; which makes 

the experience unique. Grau outlines this as: 

VR reveals itself as the heir to illusionism as manifested 

in its paradigmatic representative, the panorama. 

Although today the audince can exert Its creative 

powers over the image, this control is counterweighed 

by the highly suggestive powers of the image itself 

Maybe we are regaining a relarion to the image that 

reaches far back into precivilized history, giving it a 

power that transcends a psychic as well as a physical 

boundaries and enables us to regress, leading to an 

ecstatic symbiosis of onlooker and Image (Grau 1999: 

365-371). 

In this context, environment created in VR guides to another 

level of consciousness. In a new abstract space, basic concepts 

of knowledge regarding to existence such as rime and space 

diminishes, new kind of different, uncertain excessive reality 

blossoms. 

Owing to the underlying software nature of the virtual 

environment, a VR system can be put to many uses by loading 

different applicarion environments. VR gives the chance to 

examine from different kind of point of views since enables to 

set up various theories and mechanisms on a subject. It makes 

this in a macro as well as micro scope, thus gives the chance of 

an understanding beyond standart limits. In this way, it has an 

enhancing and changing effect on the perception of reaiity: 

Jaron Lanier, VR pioneer, has said that VR sensitizes 

those who immerse themselves within in it for a period 

of time: There's this wonderful phenomenon where 

when you're inside a virtual worid and If you take off 

the headmounted display and look around, the physical 

worid takes on a super real quality where it seems very 

textured and beautiful and you norice a lot of details 

in it because you've gotten used to a simpler worid. So 

there's actually a sensitivity-enhancing effect (Leeson 

2002: 44).

Le Meur explains how an interactive medium enhances the 

ideas about to perceive and moreover to exist as: 

Buttheu!timateaimofanyartist,whether using interactive 

technologies or more "traditional" materials, remains to 

galvanize the viewer, to make contact, to be in relationship 

with the viewer. By communicating ideas, emotions, 

sensations, etc., in distinctive ways, the artwork, and so 

the artist, aims to influence the viewer. Thus it is always 

the transformation of the viewer that matters. Acting on 

an artwork becomes interesting only insofar as it allows 

one to act indirectly on oneself, thanks to the action of 

feedback, a reciprocal exchange of thought, allowing a 

change in one's way of acting and seeing—one's way of 

being in the world (Le Meur 2002:204-209). 

Osmose is one of the first instances of VR as art. The project 

aims to change accustomed perceptions of reality and leads 

to altered states of consciousness with a new set of original 

aesthetic rules. 

One of the most important key aspects of Osmose is the style 

of existence in the enveloping environment with full-body 

immersion, which isa kind offloating, most intimate to the sense 

of being. Asa navigation tool, user interface builtaround balance 

and breath. Breathe in, rise up; breathe out, sink down; lean 

back, drift backward; lean left, drift left ward which emphasize 

the being as a fundamental act of to be alive. It forms a new way 

ofthe getting out of traditional restrictions of interface. 

Jones interpreted Davies's VR based work "Osmose", it's 

utilization of the time and space concepts and how this 

affects the perception of reality through extended immersive 

quality ofthe work and interaction: 

"The interval of our immersion in Osmose provides a 

perspective that is time-based as well as spatial; this 

perspective constantly perturbs our usual sense of 

locus in space and time. This is a new kind of aesthetic 

experience where time plays an important role in our 

view ofthe work. 

In the audience's contemplation of a painting, the 

durational element becomes little more than a slightly 

extended present, whereas involvement in VR, new- 

media or video work forces one to spend some time 

with the work simply to gain any idea of it at all. Being 

captured by the work becomes another factor in the 

immersion Duration as a dimension of an artwork 

allows the producer of the work to introduce a series 

of ideas, or a flow and mutation of one idea, which is 

not available in most painting or sculpture. Time allows 

an audience the luxury of contemplating the work, of 

exploring possible interpretations, and it allows artists 

the luxury of extending and developing associations 

and permutations of ideas. It is this which promotes 

interaction as much asany"hands on"operability ofthe 

computer driven-work (Jones 2000:125-132). 

As an experience far beyond the resident standards. Osmose 

is a remarkable footstep for changing the aesthetics of virtual 

reality as much as the whole artistic tradition: 

Osmose is an artworkwhose status is gradually emerging. 

Notwithstanding the rather polemic references to kitsch 

and esotericism. Osmose does represent a signpost in 

the history of the media, like the films of the Lumiere 

brothers orthe early panoramas, not least because of its 

aesthetic utilization of new technologies of immersion 

and illusion (Grau 2003:193-211). 

Jones interpreted the project with related to states of 

consciousness as: 

... Point of view no longer operates in its traditional 

manner; It now alters over time, and our perception 

of time and space becomes a virtual knowledge, no 

longer fixed to the Cartesian frame: mutable, always 

recalculated, determined by our progress through the 

environment. Consciousness can only follow along, 

hoping to make the necessary adjusments before we 

fall out of the worid. Our internal center is temporarily 

dislocated from our external center; suddenly we do 

not know where we are (Jones 2000:125-132). 

Osmose is about being and awareness of being. It is realized 

in three dimensional computer generated environment by 

excessively using the potential ofthe medium, and challenging

standards of tradition. Char, who is creater of the project, 

discusses his artistic aims of the project and for the process 

and an environment relation of VR: 

Osmose approaches computer technology as an 

expressive Instrument (not value-free but one whose 

conventions can potentially be subverted) to access 

another kind of space, a paradoxically virtual/physical 

space -that, yes, is entirely of human making, but 

which, because of its various unique properties, has the 

potential to act as a site, as a place, where artists can 

project their visions ofthe world -so that people might 

experience another kind of'being', relatively unbound 

by everyday cultural assumptions (Davies 1998:65-74). 

In semi-abstract and translucent visual aesthetic of Osmose, 

ground is ambiguous, and transitions between metamorphic 

worlds are uncertain. Cartesian notions about spatiality 

and physical reality such as perspective, figure-ground 

relationships blurs and swaps to more evocative alternatives. 

The surreal atmosphere reigns inside close to evoke and 

inspire ratherthan define: 

...that immersive virtual space can be used to convey 

alternative sensibilities and worldviews, potentially 

functioning as a perceptually and conceptually 

invigorating philosophical tool (Davies 2004; 69-104). 

Solitude is one of the critical aspects of the project as 

specially intendent. Sense of sinking in ones own self, being 

alone emphasized. A position of being, rather than acting. 

Shifting to another level of consciousness. Distinction unfolds 

between body and mind. Osmose as a project based on 

exploring the perceptual interplay between self and worid, 

aiming awareness of self: 

...these works embody a radically alternative approach 

to Immersive virtual space, or what Is commonly known 

as "virtual reality" or"VR". Ratherthan approaching the 

medium as a means of escape into some disembodied 

techno-Utopian fantasy, I see it as a means of return, 

i.e., of facilitating a temporary release from our habitual 

perceptions and culturally-biased assumptions about 

being in the world, to enable us, however momentarily. 

to perceive ourselves and the worid around us freshly 

(Davies 2004:69-104). 

Conclusion 

In two different states, VR offers important contributions to 

the design environment: 

Firstly, as a design tool which makes simulation of reality 

possible extensively. Capability of having simulation of the 

nature parallel to the physical reality in terms of object qualities 

and limitless adjustment possibilities about the relationships 

and Interactions between variety of qualities and systems 

which are build on these In almost any detail; exploring and 

modifying characteristics of variety of them in terms of three 

dimensional perception, form, time and motion, etc. are very 

massive points VR offers. Thus, gaining knowledge of unity in 

a systematical way makes possible to synthesize the groups of 

ideas and concepts. 

Secondly, as a medium, innovative and with an amazing 

capacity of constructing fictious systems without physical 

constrains. VR can make an evocative effect on Arts In age of 

digital revolution while the need to question all the methods 

of perceiving, comprehensing and performing grows. VR Is 

such a medium that alternative and creative fictions can come 

alive; consciousness and existence interrogated in a new way 

and new avantgarde horizons can be contemplated.

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Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 9708242169 

BOWERS, J., Introduction to Two Dimensional Design, USA, 

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Bowers) 

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E X P L O R I N G C O M M U N I C A T I O N A S A N " A C T I N G " D I M E N S I O N O F P R O J E C T 

P R O F E S S I O N A L S ' A C T I O N 

Pierre-Luc Laionde', Ph.D. candidate 

Ecole Polytechnique, 

CP. 6079, succ. Centre-vllle, Montreal (Quebec), H3C 3A7 

Mario Bourgault, Ph.D., professor 

Canada Research Chair on Technology Project Management 

Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, Canada 

Alain Findeli 

Guest Professor, University of Nimes (France) 

Full Professor, University of Montreal (Canada) 

alaln.findeli@umontreal.ca 

Abstract 

Project and design managers undoubtedly need to 

communicate with a range ofactors in designing and executing 

projects. The dominant approach to communication applied 

in design and project management seems to be based on 

the postulates of the sender-receiver model developed by 

cyberneticians at the turn ofthe twentieth century. 

However, the anthropological underpinnings of this model 

appear to be incapable of explaining the complexity of 

the relationships that develop between different project 

professionals. Although we see signs of the emergence 

of new approaches to communication, we argue that the 

current understanding of communication within design 

projects can be taken a step further by tackling contemporary 

practical philosophy. Not only will this allow us to propose 

an anthropological alternative to the informational focus 

of the cybernetic model but, through the "acting" concept 

(Arendt 1998), it also allows for the emergence of an original 

conception of project professionals'communications—one in 

which the communication engaged in by actors through the 

design situation constitutes an end in itself. 

' Corresponding author; pierre-luc.lalonde@polymtl.ca 

Methodologically speaking, we investigate project 

communications from a phenomenological perspective and 

focus on how managers perceive and describe their experience 

of communication. Following the recording and transcription 

of a series of semi-structured Interviews, an initial analysis 

enables us to briefly illustrate the"acting"dlmenslon of project 

professionals' communications. 

Introduction 

All projects—architectural, engineering, new product 

development, information systems implementation, 

international development or community projects—create 

groupings of diverse actors. These actors must exchange all 

kinds of information in orderto conceptualize and execute the 

object^ and manage resources. In this sense, talking about a 

project context also entails talking about the communication 

phenomenon that is inherent in it. As design becomes more 

and more complex and as project professionals become 

increasingly involved inthedesignprocess,itscommunicatlonal 

^ "Object" is used in the broadest sense of the word, designating a 

product, service, facility, concept, etc.

character becomes obvious, in the project management 

literature, the figure of the project manager is expanding 

and becoming more complicated. Thus the project manager, 

who must face "non-administrative" issues and become 

involved in creative activities, acts as a "sense-maker" and a 

"web-weaver" (Simon 2006) and is literally seen as a designer 

(Williams 2005). In practice, project managers are undeniably 

confronted with design situations—managing architecture or 

new product development projects inserts managers into the 

design field. This similarity between designer and manager is 

acknowledged by Borja De Mozota (2002), who classifies both 

design and management into problem resolution, innovative, 

systemic and coordinating activities. In the same way that the 

project management profession seems to be linked to the 

creative realm, design management can hardly escape the 

constraints imposed by the business environment. 

At this point, traditional frontiers between professional fields 

tend to blur. Whether one Is active In design management or 

project management, one has a common interest in the project 

and the project situation. Somehow, we are all engaged In 

"project research." In order to release all the energy inherent 

in project professionals'activities, there seems to be "a need 

to create a unifying platform for design as a field rather than 

a profession, to link the different professions together and 

improve their mutual interaction" (Stockholm 2005: 55). What 

is true of professionals may also be true of researchers who 

share an interest in project studies. Thus, interacdon and 

collaboration between the project and design management 

communities appears to be particulady relevant. And this 

is precisely what we will claim here. We think that if project 

communication is to be understood and studied, it can best 

be done by fostenng interaction among project disciplines 

and by stimulating exchanges and debates between them. 

Our journey will proceed as follows. First, (1) by examining 

several studies related to design and project management 

fields, we will address what we think forms the dominant 

approach to the communication phenomenon. Based on this 

short review, we will be able to consider the basic assumptions 

underlying this mainstream vision of communication. From 

there, It would appear appropriate to propose (2) a specific 

vision for project professionals (architects, designers, 

managers, etc.) based on several reference points from the work 

of Arendt (1998). Thus, we consider that one way of pushing 

the envelope still further is to directly address the undeHying 

question of the actor—that is to say, an anthropological 

question. Not only do current studies not explicitly propose 

an actor figure to understand communication but—as we will 

show in (2)—they do not distinguish the consequences of a 

particular perspective for this figure. Finally, (3) our theoretical 

remarks will be illustrated based on an exploratory field 

study. This will enable us to demonstrate the relevance of 

our theoretical framework, on the one hand, and to propose 

avenues, pathways and openings that could allow us to 

reconceptualize communication, on the other. 

Depicting an informationai vision of project 

communication: When project actors become 

informational subjects 

The vision of communication within the various disciplines 

related to projects is largely associated with an informational 

approach. Within the field of management in particular, many 

authors have presented this kind of vision (Cleland & Ireland 

2002; Mintzberg 1980; PMI 2004). This view Is also widely 

circulated through the normative approaches proposed by 

the dominant professional organizations such as the Project 

Management Institute (PMI) and the International Project 

Management Association (IPMA). The publication of such 

collections as the Guide to the Project Management Body of 

Knowledge (PMI 2004) clearly reveals this approach.The frame 

of reference for the PMBOK (PMI 2004) essentially presents 

communication as a critical link between project actors. Thus, 

we read the following: 

Communlcaring involves the exchange of informarion. 

The sender is responsible for making the informarion 

clear, unambiguous, and complete so that the receiver 

can receive it correctly. The receiver is responsible for 

making sure that the informarion is received in Its 

enrirety and understood correctly (PMI 2004:24). 

Most ofthe classic works on project managementalso evidence 

this parriculariy homogeneous vision of communicarion, 

where information constitutes the only link between actors. 

Thus, summarizing the key elements of communicarion, 

Cleland and Ireland (2002) suggest that:

Communication is a two-way process: between the 

sender and the receiver(s). Taken in this light, the 

receiver should not be considered a passive recipient 

but rather a destination that is likely to have a purpose 

in getting the message and to be influenced by 

perceptions and beliefs of those people who send the 

message. [...] Communication is the process by which 

information is exchanged between senders and receivers 

through a common system of symbols (Cieland & 

Ireland 2002:485-500, emphasis added). 

Thus, if we consider the model of the manager's role 

proposed by Mintzberg (1980) and represented in Figure 

1, it seems that much less effort has been devoted to an in- 

depth understanding ofthe left-hand side ofthis model. This 

situation is quite paradoxical since—according to Mintzberg 

himself—the interpersonal roles played by managers^ allow 

information to be gathered that is essential for decision 

making. 

Interpeisonal roês Informational rofes Decisional roles 

Figure 1. Managers' roles. Adapted from Mintzberg (1980). 

Although Mintzberg mentions the importance of interpersonal 

relations, the understanding of such relationships Is often 

reduced to a purely mechanical necessity. The logic is simple: 

without developing interpersonal relations, a manager 

cannot acquire relevant information and thus make the 

right decisions. Following this vision of communication, it 

appears that if one multiplies the numbers of actors, the risk 

is that problematic situations will become even more intricate 

and that the complexity inherent in task coordination and 

^ "By "manager/ Mintzberg means all individuals who have 

responsibility for organizations or parts of organizations. Thus, this 

definition includes people who have such titles as president, team 

leader or dean, as well as those who have titles like project manager 

or design manager. 

information circulation will balloon out of control. Information 

systems and project software are therefore conceived as tools 

meant to create more effic/ent communications by supporting 

exchanges and multiplying channels and Interfaces that allow 

information coding and decoding (Chiu 2002). In considering 

the manager as an information processing center, Mlntzberg's 

work seems to define the bounds of the theoretical edifice 

that is the body of work arising out of the classical school of 

project management. 

These management-oriented studies are quite closeto another 

way of conceptualizing communication—this one anchored 

in what we might call a cognitivist perspective. This stream 

of research has attracted the attention of many scholars in 

the design field (Busby 2001; Dong 2005; Stempfle & Badke- 

Schaub 2002). According to this view, communication has to 

do with how information is processed. For example, Stempfle 

and Badke-Schaub (2002) frame every communication act 

in a generic model composed of basic cognitive operations. 

Communication represents either the content of a problem 

or the process by which design activities are structured and 

organized. Busby's (2001) position is typical ofthis view. Instead 

of talking about design collaboration or communication, his 

approach stipulates that errors in project activities come from 

failures to meet the requirements of distributed cognition. 

This model is essentially another way of conceptualizing 

the need for multiple actors to interact if one is to gain a full 

appreciation of a problem. 

Of course, every actor involved in a project is different, and 

each of them perceives and interprets what is going on in a 

specific context in their own way (Dorst & Cross 2001). This 

might, in fact, be the main reason why we need to improve our 

understanding of communication and deliberation in project 

situations. Nevertheless, whetherwe examine Mlntzberg's work 

in management or Busby's model of distributed cognition, we 

reach the same conclusion. In fact, in considering some studies 

in project management (Cieland & Ireland 2000; PMI 2004) or 

design (Busby 2001; Chiu 2002; Stempfle & Badke-Schaub 

2002), one cannot but note that the major emphasis is usually 

on actors'interactions. Given that this shows the importance 

of actors' participation or interaction with one another, is it 

not unfortunate that communication comes to be strictly 

considered as"article5 of knowledge,""blt5 of processing need"

(Busby 2001) or an information processing system (Mintzberg 

1980)? In each ofthe works discussed above, communication 

is seen as relating to how information is transmitted, and 

how it can be transmitted and processed more accurately. We 

clearly see a desire to eliminate ambiguities and adapt project 

elements to the requirements of error-free communication. 

The exchange of information results in the unequivocal 

application of what is inferred, as if communications within 

a project could be explained by the construction of a logical 

system appropriate to an artificial language. The prescriptions 

to which such a logical system, inspired by cyberneticians" and 

logicians, is subject cannot be transferred to a natural language 

for the simple reason that one can never be unambiguously 

certain ofthe intentions ofthe person who transmitted—or 

did not transmit—a message. And that is where the above- 

mentioned models appear doubly inadequate. Not only are 

receivers so to speak condemned to interpret the message 

received—because they do not have effective or infallible 

means of controlling its meaning—but they must also resign 

themselves to not being able to control the information that 

others transmit to them. For these models to show evidence of 

internal coherence, and for the analogy of communication as 

information to truly constitute a logical system, each element 

must have only a single meaning that is perfectly defined 

and never varies according to the context or the actors 

involved. In reality, though, the communication inherent in 

projects does not make use of a formalized language, such 

as the informational models of communication posit, but the 

ordinary language of social communication, which is riddled 

with ambiguities and with possibilities that doom to failure 

any attempt to formalize exchanges. 

As manypeoplehavealready pointed out,the cybernetic mode! 

is very poorly adapted to understanding the communication 

phenomenon (Lafontalne 2004; Mucchielli 2000). In fact, the 

theoreticalfoundationsunderlyingthesewaysof understanding 

communication cleaHy propose a logic of desubjectivization 

of actors. From this point of view, we are seeing the erasure 

ofthe boundary between the actor and the system (technical. 

For a summary of the contribution cybernetics has made to 

communication theories, see Mucchielli (2000) and IVlucchielli and 

Noy (2004). 

informational, technological), where the relationships that 

actors experience with each other seem to disappear In favor 

of purely Informational considerations. Of course, we are 

aware that the informational view of communication cannot 

be considered as representing an exhaustive review of the 

literature concerning project communications. Indeed, some 

emerging perspectives are particularly noteworthy. This is the 

case, for example, with the growing number of studies that 

manage to distance the information vision of communications 

by insisting on the importance of deliberation, post-project 

discussions, power games, and the uncertainty inherent 

in communications and that propose to anchor design or 

management communications in other perspectives such as 

hermeneutics (Snodgrass & Coyne 1997), narrative sharing 

(Boudes & Christian 2000), organization as discussion spaces 

(Detchessahar2002) and rhetoric (Miller 1990; Parkin 1996). 

When we look closer, we recognize that the developments 

during the last ten years of research, rather than focusing 

on the "information" aspect of communications, have been 

far more interested in the "actor" aspect. Insofar as all ofthis 

work emphasizes the key role played by the communication 

phenomenon in project situations, the alternative that we 

propose is situated within these recent frameworks—we 

believe it to be of major interest as much for the design 

management community as for the project management 

community. Yes, actors actually participate in a living network 

ofinteractions and communications without which the project 

could not be completed. Yes, communication represents some 

kind of phenomenon within which actors can understand 

each other, share common meaning, exchange information, 

create a sense of a complex situation and act together in an 

organized way. Now, from the perspective of more accurate 

benchmarking of the communication phenomenon, it would 

be very relevant to rehabilitate the relationship between words 

and the people who speak them. 

To sum up, what we have seen in this section is that the model 

of project communications is very much inspired by a set of 

theoretical presuppositions developed during the postwar 

period in the wave of enthusiasm for cybernetics. The fields of 

managementand design, despitetheirconsiderabletheoretical 

diversity, share a certain point of contact with the cybernetic 

vision. If a particular model of communications gives rise to a

particular concept of project actors, would it not be possible 

to reconceptualize the model of communication—In a sort of 

reverse movement to what had been done before—starting 

on the basis of a different concept of the actor? It is in this 

sense that the focus on the octor appears to us to be crucial and 

that is where Arendt's (1998) work is of interest This author's 

writings will permit us not only to propose an anthropological 

alternative to the vision proposed by the informational model 

of project communication—a richer alternative that is more 

respectful of human complexity and dignity—but also to 

create a framework for analyzing our data. 

Communication as acting 

In her work The Human Condition, Arendt (1998) distinguishes 

between two different kinds of action: mal

attribute to their various experiences with the exchange of 

information, interactions and communications with other 

project actors. All three professionals (architect, engineer and 

computer scientist) consider themselves to be managers and 

are involved in all the processes inherent in project design and 

management. The goal ofthe interviews was to construct case 

studies concerning these professionals' personal practices in 

the area of communication. In this sense, the cases are based 

on the meaning spontaneously expressed by professionals 

explaining theirideasconcerningthecommunicationsthat were 

established between themselves and the other participants 

during various project situations. These individual interviews, 

which lasted from one and one-half to three hours, were alt 

conducted using the same semi-structured questionnaire. This 

approach enabled us to generate a considerable amount of 

information regardingtheseprofessionals'personal perceptions 

ofthe phenomenon in question. 

The interviews were recorded and transcribed in text form and 

then analyzed with Atlas.ti software. By making a first coding 

effort which we can describe, using Paille and Mucchielli's 

(2005) terminology, as transposition-rearrangement, all of our 

transcriptions resulted in an enhancement ofthe initial data, 

that is, an initial reconceptualization of acting, as approached 

on the basis of communications between project professionals. 

The approach we used testifies to a phenomenological attitude 

toward the people interviewed and refers to certain work from 

the field of psychology, such as that of Moustaka (1994) and 

Deschamps (1993). I n other words, the contents ofthe interviews 

make it possible to multiply—albeit to a limited extent for the 

time being—what we might call the effective variations in the 

communication phenomenon, following fVlerleau-Ponty (1975). 

Based on these data, inferences can be proposed to identify 

certain characteristics that emerge from the conversations 

with these professionals. By applying this method to our three 

interviews, we were able to (1) compare the respondents' 

remarks, (2) undertake an amalgamation process based on the 

emergence of certain overarching themes, and (3) undertake 

an overall reflection process based on all the data gathered. 

With these testimonies on the meaning of communication 

as our starting point, the objective of our analysis was to 

determine whether acting in a project situation presents any 

conceptual validity. In other words, is it possible or thinkable 

to illustrate In some way a kind of acting that is specific to 

project situations by considering the experiences of a variety 

of project professionals in their communications with others? 

Cues emerging from the data: Acting illustrated through 

the meanings of communication 

An examination of our data enabled us to tease out a succession 

ofthemes that led ustoa better understanding ofthe meaning of 

communications among managers and other project actors. Let 

us first mention that the professionals we interviewed perceive 

projects as some kind of discussion space in which the quality 

of the emotional atmosphere is of paramount importance. It is 

within this space that professionals exchange the information 

necessary for designing or managing projects. An in-depth 

examination reveals that the crucial points for the facilitation 

of these spaces relate to notions such as the quality of the 

relationships among actors, the trust they feel for each other, 

respect, commitment, initiative, etc. Here is one example: 

I think that project management depends on 

relationships above all to achieve the project. If you 

haven't developed good relationships, it's going to 

be difficult to achieve the project's goals. And you 

may have more commitment from people when you 

establish those kinds of relationships and when things 

are getting tough, and you ask people "Can you guys 

do overtime?" or "I know it's a long weekend, but can 

you work? Because I think we really need to do this." 

And if you can do that, people will say yes, even if they 

have plans, they'll say "OK, I understand,"and they'll do 

it. I think they'll do it for the project and they'll do it for 

you at the same time. Because they'll feel it's not just 

technical, it's the people as well. There's a difference. 

Anyway, that's what I think (Project fVlanager 1). 

In fact, our examination of the interviews clearly shows that 

these managers In charge of a variety of design projects 

perceive themselves as special actors within the projects. They 

are the ones who are responsible for building links between 

the different actors. This responsibility that managers assign 

themselves reveals that they are adopting the role of facilitator 

or animator. By taking on this responsibility, managers show that 

they are aware of acting in a dimension that is no longer aligned

only with the completion ofthe project; In other words, the aim 

with which, or within which, they are acting no longer seems to 

be limited to an informational one. in this situation, where the 

manager is trying to bind the various actors together, the role of 

animator or facilitator ends up being something more: 

But the coaching I've been doing with my people for 

several years, I now think, it's been several years, that's 

exactly it: if you have an idea, then get going. [...] but 

as a human being dealing with these people, I also feel 

responsible for influencing them or trying to coach 

them... (Project IVlanager 1}. 

Collective action is no longer merely the guarantee for 

achievement ofthe project's goal. It also concerns the project 

subjects, who throw themselves Into their attempt to meet 

the specific needs of a project. The project subjects are quite 

simply the people who, directly or indirectly, participate in it. 

By participating, these people are invited to create, design 

and compose a new dimension of the project's reality; this 

imperative corresponds to the invitation that Midler (1995) 

issued to reinvest In the social logic of innovation. It is easy to 

detect the empathy the managers express toward both their 

customers and their team members. At any rate, this attitude 

was very clear in the three project managers we met with. 

Then I quickly encouraged him to be a project leader. 

Because he's a good communicator, because he looks 

for solutions, because he's got what it takes. Then he 

was completely... he was really surprised ... it was as If it 

was me who made him a project leader, and I think he'd 

never thought he could do that in his life. [...] I asked him 

if he could handle a project for me where there were a 

lot of things to do. [...] And he did a super job. And then 

afterwards, i took him along and we created Carbone 

14 [...] and it was like ... I was the one who encouraged 

him to take on a broader, a larger role [...] but I want 

to say, in relarion to the trust I had in him, letting him 

... especially because I didn't feel... for me, It just went 

without saying, you see? It's iike ... you see different 

players and when you see one who's really good, you 

put him on your team, then you have him play a key 

role on your team. For you. It's just natural, you saw him. 

1 saw him in action, it's as If I'd seen something inside 

him that he himself wasn't aware of. [...] I helped him 

with all the things he found most difficult, giving him 

rips, but that was a very minor aspect compared to all 

the rest that he had himself (Project Manager 3). 

To this end, an experienced manager who recognizes a certain 

capacity in a person may use a parricular act to invite this person 

to express what he or she thinks: that is, to act, to reveal himself 

or herself, to communicate, to take an initiative. The project 

actor—the"who"of the project actor—reveals himself or herself 

to the others by taking the Iniriarive. By building different links, 

managers definitely strive to promote this revelarion—in other 

words, taking initiative—in the people they are managing. 

Yes, we set the table, we bring up topics, there are 

peoplewhowill take the initiative to express themselves 

on how they see things or the orientations they prefer, 

but at some point, in the middle of the discussion, 

you've got to get in there and ask, "Mr. X or Ms. Y, what 

do you think?"You need to seek out people's opinions. 

[...] The person needs to have the feeling that he or she 

is contributing to the advancement ofthe team and, at 

the same time, that the experience has been positive, 

that it was gratifying in some way, and that no one 

broke in at the end of his or her comments to say"What 

a moron you are!" (Project Manager 3). 

By relating the discussion space to managers' attitudes 

toward other actors, we can say that what emerges from 

the communications among these people is an empathetic 

relationship where one person looks afterthe other, expresses 

concern for him or her or pays special attention. Briefly, 

managers express a kind of solicitude toward the other project 

actors. It is evoked in different ways: the manager helps his or 

her colleagues, is one with the client, looks after them. 

It was posirive, it was... what came out was that people 

appreciated that ... that I had the impression that... I 

cared for them. That really, when I talked to people, I 

was authentic (Project Manager 1). 

What must be emphasized here Is thatthe applicarion of these 

kinds of roles and/or responsibilities allows one to open up new 

lines of thought regarding acts ofcommunicarion in a project

context—ones that are not based on making or on a logic of 

information transfer, but rather on what we have called the 

"acting" dimension of human communications. It is noteworthy 

thatintherelationshipsthatmanagers maintain withotheractors 

when they worktogether, we can say thatacts of communication 

move simultaneously in opposite directions: toward others 

and toward oneself In fact, there seems to be no difference 

between the manager that one is and the person that one is or 

is becoming. It appears that any act performed by the manager 

is indissociable from him or her—that a communication is, so to 

speak, imputed to him or her. It is through their actions when 

communicating with others that managers get in touch with 

themselves. In this way, we begin to see that communications, 

which make up the daily lives of managers, cannot be reduced 

to a purely informational dimension. Indeed, it is through their 

communications—through the communicative actions they 

perform—that managers build connections with other people 

and create discussion spaces in which they engage in some 

kind of ethical project. 

I mean that what I most want to improve are the factors 

that I would say are related to motivation, putting 

myself in situations where I will feel good and perform 

well. So my targets aren't ... maybe what I'm saying 

isn't very clear [...] they're not concrete objectives in 

terms of work, for example, go out and get two big 

projects or make sure that a project will be extremely 

profitable, and all that. Yes, I've always had those kinds 

of objectives and I still do, but I would say that in terms 

of objectives that are more ... [...] In my hidden agenda, 

I'm not really career-oriented, but I want to feel good 

at work. No, I want to feel good in my life. [...] What I'm 

really aiming for is balance... (Project Manager 2). 

Based on this examination of the meaning of the 

communications underlying the work of different project 

professionals, it is possible to focus on a principle that is 

neglected by the informational view of communications. In 

the relationships that actors establish among themselves, 

communication does not produce only an end that is external 

to the actors. Communication also creates a space in which 

the actions taken construct the actors themselves. Thus, an 

external dimension, for example a technical project, and an 

internal dimension, characterized by the actor as a projecting 

being, are bound together by communications. On one hand, 

we need to denounce the ethical neutrality of a concept 

of communications in which the interactions among the 

different actors are embedded in principles of information 

transfer or processing, which desubjectivize the people who 

are taking part in the project. On the other hand, we need to 

emphasize the reflective capacity of project professionals, who 

are fully capable of evaluating their reasons for acting, ranking 

their preferences, assessing the goals they set for themselves, in 

short, of appreciating and rating the meaning of their actions. In 

this way, we can define the outlines of an ethical project, since 

it is by assessing their own communications, discussions and 

relationships with others that project professionals become 

able to appraise themselves In their role as the authors ofthe 

different actions whereby they connect with other people. 

Conclusion 

If indeed project professionals do insert themselves into 

a network of actors, it appears that it is only by ensuring a 

certain quality of interaction—by establishing a certain trust 

among the actors—that they succeed in achieving the key 

goals of the projects they are managing. To do this, project 

professionals must, of course, do things and say things—in 

other words, act. Based on their own testimony, we can see 

that these professionals manage to generate a higher degree 

of integration in their communications In larger-scale projects 

that exceed the bounds of the technical projects that they are 

carrying out. As the three managers we interviewed emphasized, 

these considerations include plans for their professional and 

personal lives. It is clear that the means-end model, which most 

ofthe perspectives examined in the first section ofthis paper 

reflect, and the anthropological limitations of which we have 

emphasized, is inadequate to understand the communication 

phenomenon, that is to say, to fully grasp the wealth of 

communications in a project situation. In light ofthis testimony, 

and of a preliminary summary analysis of how managers talk 

about their discussions with other people, we see the need to 

restore a richer framework in order to better understand what 

the act of communicating means to managers. 

Thus, in project situations, it should be possible to point to 

specific actions, acts or communicative acts that express 

either making or acting and see how one dimension of action

interacts witli tine otiier. We tiiini< that in buiiding on this 

first draft of the acting dimension of communication, two 

successive avenues for development wili prove particuiariy 

interesting. The first consists of further pursuing this 

conception of acting as it is revealed through the meanings 

that different project professionals assign to their discussions 

with each other. This first step should result in the concept 

that we have already emphasized in expressing the need 

to structure the "acting" space of the project professionals' 

action. If Vkê continue along this road, the next task that would 

await us would be to conceptualize how. In everyday design 

situations, the making and acting dimensions intertwine. At 

this point in our thought process, we do not believe that an 

action can be attributable to either making or acting alone. 

In our opinion, action presents a more complex structure In 

which we find acting and making together. In other words, we 

will not find a situation where an action is pure acting or pure 

making. Thus, if action is nested in a structure In which the 

making and acting dimensions interact, our work should now 

be directed to the interpretation of this interface. 

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S T R E E T F U R N I T U R E : D I S C O U R S E D R D I S O R D E R ? 

Agnes Levitte 

Consultant and PhD Candidate 

La Communication par le Design and EH ESS CRAL, Paris, France 

agnes.levitte@agneslevitte.net 

Abstract 

Cognitive Sciences and Neurosciences literature on perception 

helps understand major concepts. Our first part is dedicated 

to the understanding of three concepts: visual ambiguity, 

consciousness/implicit/unconsciousness perception and 

attention, and their application to the perception of three- 

dimensionalobjects.lnthesecondpartwedescnbenewunitsthat 

have just been Installed in Paris to shelter tram users. Interviews 

help classify what is actually seen by the public compared to 

the designers'intentions. In the third part the analysis leads to a 

critique ofthe designs and what is actually perceived. And some 

hints that Cognitive Sciences and Neurosciences could give to 

designers; and foster conscious perception and understanding 

through attentlonal amplification. The conclusion questions 

designers'responsibility and ethics. 

Introduction 

Objects and products are all around whether in pnvate or public 

environments. To be able to perceive these, our eye is constantly 

in movement and the retina pnnted by shapes, colours, lights... 

What do we really see and how does the process happen? 

With the help of Cognitive Sciences and the research held by 

Neuroscientists we will try in the first part, to understand what Is 

perception and the importance of consciousness and attention. 

The second part of our paper is dedicated to an example: tram 

shelter units recently set up in Paris and specially designed to 

fit the new environment imagined by urban planners. In the 

third part the analysis of the Interviews of the public will help 

compare the conclusions we can dnve from brain research and 

what naive and experts users actually see and understand. And 

Initiate a critique on design. As a conclusion we will open a "big" 

question without answering it yet: Could such a street furniture 

help produce order in public environment? Can designers help 

educate the public In seeing what is to be seen? What tools 

should they use? What ethic for the product designers? 

1. Visual perception 

1.1 Visual perception and ambiguity 

A common definition of visual perception Is "to be able to 

identify an object thanks to its visual attributes such as colours, 

shapes,outlines, texture,size,spatial onentation and movement 

if any". Neuroscientists have discovered that specific visual 

attributes activate different areas in the brain and have to be 

probably synchronised for a proper representation to happen 

for the viewer. Researchers are still investigating to understand 

such a complex process that involves linkage, linkage that like 

a familiar route would be easily recalled from our long term- 

memory when needed be. This statement would mean that 

perception - on a biological level - is not really a given sensation 

happening as a whole like many philosophers used to think it is. 

Visual perception is in fact a complex and ambiguous process 

where elements have to be recomposed Into a global image. 

For this paper we will limit ourselves to few ambiguities and 

question their relevance to product design. 

From our own experience we notice that an object is never seen 

as a whole: some parts (the sides and the back) are hidden, but 

nevertheless we can understand and recognize this object. 

"Perceptual recognition of an object demands that visual 

information about a perceived object matches conceptual 

information and knowledge about it stored in long-term 

memory" explain Jeannerod and Jacob (2005). My question is 

then: what conceptual information one already has for a specific 

object? When did It formed? As this perception is different from 

one person to the other how can recognition yet happen? These

queriesdirectiyquGstionthedesign process: how can we perceive 

a completely new product for which there is nothing stored In 

our long-term memory? A second ambiguity is that the object is 

seen with constancy: an object Is visually perceived as the same 

object, although the colour, the shape and the size may appear 

different in various circumstances like illuminations or distance 

for example. Daniel Kersten (2004) and his team has specialised 

in analysing how the visual pathways of the brain transform 

image information into percepts and action: "best guess and 

interpretation for the best expected utility or experience" do 

they assert (p, 297): they suggest that opportunistic learning 

happens in the rare moments when an object is seen under low 

ambiguity such as a good lighting, a frontal view, no foreground 

obstacle. This learning is opposed to bootstrapped learning that 

happens under condition of high ambiguity, when what is seen 

does not provide a clear view of the object. This process would 

explain invariance or object constancy perception (noted by 

both Kersten (2004) p. 285 and Jacob (2006)), and may inspire 

designers to work on the various angles the products they design 

may or will be perceived and understood. A third ambiguity is 

about the constant solicitation put onto the eye to distinguish 

between scenes: the background and the object have to be 

differentiated. Vision demands both to select and to recognize. 

And all objects cannot be seen at the same time. Could product 

designers reflect on this problem to enhance the differentiation, 

and thus propose better and easier recognition, not only ofthe 

isolated product itself, but also ofthe product located in various 

environments? We will see that problems such as security might 

be of importance here. This third ambiguity underlines the fact 

that the viewer has to go back and forth from a mind-to-world 

(egocentric) vision to a world-to-mind (allocentric) vision: the 

viewer is sometimes the centre of what he/she sees when it is 

needed to refer to his/her own memory and to recall percepts, 

but at the same time the viewer has to compare what is seen in 

the surroundings. 

Egocentric perception 

Bottom-up stimulus 

Allocentric perception 

Top-down experience 

The visua! experience (be it conscious 

or not) starts with images thrown upon 

the retina. The viewer is the centre. 

Attention given to the external world. 

The computation that transforms 

perception into representation. 

Figure 1. Top-down vs bottom-up stimulus 

These comments on ambiguity lead us to the question ofthe 

role of consciousness and attention in the visual perception 

process. 

1.2. Implicit/conscious/unconscious perception 

It is common experience to all of us to see objects or scenes 

without memorizing them. We are not able to report any 

detail of something we have actually perceived. This sounds 

like an oxymoron: "unaware perception" when the definition 

of perception is visual awareness. Jacob (2006) proposes two 

different experiences: "normal subjects may fail to notice large 

changes in a rich visual scene" and "we are perceptually aware 

of unattended features of the object", two examples amongst 

myriads of possibilities of non-conscious, unconscious, implicit, 

unaware visual perception that several authors have listed in 

the recent literature. Without trying to be too specific, we need 

to understand how perception and consciousness can be linked 

according to Cognitive Sciences and Neurosciences. With the 

help of recent articles on the subject we suggest a first list of 

four different aspects ofthis problem and their explanation. 

The first point is subjective versus objective perception: every 

single scene that we perceive is constantly analyzed by millions 

of different neurons reaching different parts of our brain, when 

on our side we see only one world. Cleeremans (2005) suggests 

that consciousness happens on two levels: a), a non-linear 

level referring to subjective experience (I experience) and b). 

a continuum referring to active neurons in a given area ofthe 

brain (the third person or objective experience). This would 

explain the dichotomy betv«/een the subjective experiences we 

commonly have of a united conscious state, and the objective 

experiences of the brain modular treatment analysed by 

scientists. The second point is the visual selection: Damasio 

(1999) explains that consciousness has developed both along 

human and individual evolution and still develops all through 

one's lifetime depending on personal experiences. But as he 

explains there are different unconscious processes in visual 

perception: if images are formed in our brain but we do not 

care of (my comment: not attractive enough or not useful?); or if 

neuronal configurations are never transformed into images; or 

in case of automatic or non-conscious perception (differentfrom 

unconscious perception) that prevent us from being disturbed 

by unnecessary details. If everything around us would stimulate

our attention we would become confused and captivated by 

useless details. We can think of many examples like walking 

in the street, dnving... when we need to concentrate on single 

objectives to simply stay alive! The brain has a major role in 

survival. Fred Drestske (2006) in a long article titled "Perception 

without awareness" explains "we do not notice some of the 

things we are consciously aware of".."it shows that conscious 

experiences ofthe worid are sometimes richer, more variegated, 

more textured, than the judgements one ends up making in 

their basis". Dretske suggests this inability to retain informarion 

is nevertheless consciously registered atthe perceprion level. He 

callsthisphenomenon"amnesia".Amnesia or unconsciousness? 

Neuroscientists have another way of analysing such experiences 

and refer to adaptarion and unconscious treatment. Naccache 

and al. (2005) describe experiences that show how our brain 

may be conscious when we cannot report any perception and 

that acrion is then monitored without consciousness. Recent 

research (Serences & Yantls 2006) has helped understand such 

a phenomenon: sensory properties would happen in earlier 

areas of occipital cortex regions whereas behavioural relevance, 

subjective value and motor intention happen in later areas. 

Implicit perception (perceprion without reporting) would be 

a process of elementary adaptation rather than a complex 

cognitive unconscious treatment (Cleeremans 2006). Would this 

elementary adaptation be an ecologically relevant perception? 

Ahissar and Hochstein (2004) have developed this idea in an 

important article called "The Reverse Hierarchy Theory of Visual 

Perceptual Learning". Classical behavioural theories used to 

state that only simple features would come first, but Ahissar 

and Hoschteln's conclusion drives that in a scene "features 

will pop out if they form an ecologically relevant property". 

Using Stimulus Brain Detection Tests they assert that these 

ecologically relevant properries might be simple like colours or 

size, but can also be as complex as depth, shape, or a human 

face. Reversely if features are not ecologically relevant they 

will require longer scrutiny to access lower levels in the brain. 

The authors worked with four different performers, from naive 

to expert. The expert performers having a long experience of 

the task they must accomplish, have immediate and holistic 

perception. They have learned to prune "uninformative inputs 

for the trained tasks. Performance can thus once again depend 

on higher more generalizing unit". So perception and goals go 

in pair: one does not bother to access lower levels in perception 

for irrelevant details. This point is of highly interest for designers. 

Without oversimplifying the above conclusion, we can reflect 

on the importance to differentiate between naive and expert 

users as they perceive objects and details differently. The 

second interesting point is to understand what an ecologically 

relevant design detail would be for a specific product and the 

importance of duration for a proper perception. This leads to 

the quesrion of attention and memory linked to perception and 

consciousness. 

1.3. Perception, attention and retention 

Many authors in Cognitive Sciences have underiined the 

importance of the intentional srimulus for perceprion to 

be memorized. They question the selective attention when 

competing for coherence among objects In a visual scene. In 

an article debating the links between attention and conscious/ 

unconscious perception Naccache & al.(2002) suggest that "at 

any given rime many modular cerebral networks are active in 

parallel and process informarion in an unconscious manner". 

They continue: "information becomes conscious, however, if 

the corresponding neural population Is mobilized by top-down 

attentlonal amplification into a self contained brain-scale state 

of coherent activity." This top-down attentlonal amplification 

(see Fig. 1) "Is the mechanism by which modular processes can 

be temporarily mobilized and made available to the global 

workplace (in the brain) and therefore to consciousness" 

(Dehaene 2001). We find here a noteworthy question on 

ways of fostering such "top-down attentlonal amplification". 

An on-going perception is not sufficient to reach a conscious 

state of mind. The perception has to be amplified and held 

during enough time (in milliseconds) to become accessible to 

what the authors call the workplace In the brain. A "dynamic 

mobilization" has to happen for a performance to become 

conscious.The sequence of perceptlon,attenrion and retention 

is mandatory for learning (see Ahivar & Hochstein 2004) and 

cannot happen in any other sequence. Again an interesting 

point for designers: how to create and enhance this attentlonal 

amplification? We will see, with the example we develop, how 

ecologically relevant details are not always sufficient to create 

the attentlonal amplification. 

In the first part of this paper we have raised several questions 

about perception as researched by Cognitive Scientists. We 

wish to apply the main conclusions as summarized in Fig. 2 to

Street Furniture when perceived by users, and question when 

and how designers'worl< is perceived. 

Perception Perception and Perception and 

and Ambiguity Consciousness Attention 

-Visual information -Visual selection -Attentional 

-Long term memory and Adaptation Amplification 

-Egocentric/ -Subjective/objective -Right sequence 

Allocentric information -Duration 

-Ecologically 

relevant feature 

Figure 2 - Cognitive Sciences and Perception - some 

conclusions 

2. Street furniture and design: order or disorder? 

Most French street furniture companies commission product 

designers, amongst which some are as famous as Philippe 

Starck, Sylvain Dubuisson, Jean-Michel Willmotte or Martin 

Szekely. It is common practise for aTown or Local Council to ask 

for specially designed street furniture. Urban planners usually 

write the briefs with specifics on local environment, security, 

maintenance, and sustainability. The briefs are complex and 

restricting, not to forget the demand for a political image and 

an urban marketing. Street furniture is a powerful signature 

in the city and politicians never miss a chance to use it as 

such. Unlike individual products that one might choose with 

care and investigate prior purchase, users do not select street 

furniture although they interact and see it on a daily basis. It 

makes it neutral for a research project. 

The furniture we decided to research on has been recently set 

up along the new tramway line that opened on December 16"' 

2006 in Paris. This new tramway in one of the many means a 

Parisian may use freely (one single ticket) to go around the 

city and suburbs for work and/or leisure. Paris has a long time 

history in street furniture and designers like Hector Guimard in 

the 1900s is only one in a long list. Forthlsspecificstudy we will 

not analyse the controversial debate of trying to cut down city 

car traffic or the links between cars and the tramway. On the 

other hand, we will analyse the tram stops (see pictures A and 

B) as a unit gathering several products: shelter, signage, seats 

and benches, waste bin, lighting, posters, all specially designed 

by Jean-Michel Wilmotte et Arnaud de Bussiere. This shelter as 

a unit is an organized micro space, an order of various functions 

to help, protect, direct and welcome users. On a macro point of 

view, these tram stops are identical signposts all along the 17 

stations and 14km so far - the line should go all around the city. 

They are one ofthe different elements of a special landscape for 

a new area, others being freshly designed gardens and young 

trees, new poles and lightings, pieces of art and the tram-track 

itself, hidden by fresh green lawns.They have been designed to 

give a visual unity to different districts In Paris, and coherence 

to different types of architecture and urban plans. It is also a 

sign of modernity the Mayor is very proud of. 

• i 

Picture A, B. Paris Tram Shelter 

In order to apply the conclusions on perception we developed 

in part 1, we decided to consult the users.The following is the 

synthesis ofthe ten most interesting interviews. All interviews 

happened onslte with a three-dimensional "real" perception, 

as to avoid the distortion of a two-dimensional image or 

photograph. Users are of various age and social origins. Eight 

of them are "experts". The two others are "naive" tourists. We 

define the expert user as someone who navigates daily in 

public transport, has a monthly or yearly pass, and knows his/ 

her way around. He/she has personal preferences and ideas 

in terms of comfort, time saving strategies, technical incident 

management and various transport worries. As to refer to part 

1, they have trained themselves to go around Paris in public 

transport, and have a holistic and immediate perception for 

the specific task. 

Although we stayed as neutral as possible, not putting words 

in people's mouth and never suggesting any answer, we are

aware that being Interviewed by a stranger Is not the best 

position to spontaneously express what you see and think. An 

instrument to scientifically evaluate object perception is still 

to be invented. We must insist that these interviews are a mere 

help to understand what users did perceive on a general basis. 

They cannot in any way be compared to the experiences held 

by the authors we quoted In the first part. 

Our introduction sentence is not a question but an explanation 

of the inquiry. All users immediately comment on comfort 

and discomfort, except for two who mention the spacious 

environment. It is their main preoccupation, whatever age 

and gender. As the interviews are happening in winter, they 

all complain about the wind blowing through and notice that 

no screen has been designed to stop either wind or rain on 

three of the four sides of the shelter: first person comment 

and direct visual perception. As this tramway is the first one 

in Paris in 75 years, everything looks new to the traveller and 

the main focus is on the tramway itself, new technique, new 

interior design and decoration, new route, new way of mixing 

with cars and pedestrians. Hardly anyone (1 out of 10) has 

identified the shelter as such. To the users we interview, their 

position, as waiting forthe next tram. Is the real thing. It seems 

the furniture is almost a non-experience, although brand new 

and never seen to them; and designed by famous designers. 

The spontaneous comments tend to prove that users see first 

what is "ecologically" relevant, what we could call the "Parisian 

survival"! And ignore what is not. 

During the interviews we notice that expert users (7 out of 8 

interviewees) compare tram stops to bus stops (see picture C) 

leading to interesting observations In terms of perception: "'we' 

are more protected in the bus shelters as they put lateral screens". 

This user Identifies herself as part of the "bus/tram shelter users 

group".This spontaneous comparison Is Interesting and reminds 

the process of neurones linkage as described In part 1: the bus 

shelter-although a complex shape-Is a reference for the expert 

user, a percept. The next comments are all about general likes 

and dislikes using imprecise wording:"! like the decoration","It is 

very nice specially at night with the colours""! do not like what 

Is stiff, it should be more welcoming""I like when it is modern". 

No one can identify a precise object or detail to justify his or her 

argument. When asked to have a longer look, four persons can 

Identify and categorise the seats. They compare them with the 

benches at bus stops or in the metro; comparison is an abstract 

visualisation. It seems that they can perceive comfort without 

sitting down, which is again an abstract process ofthe brain. 

Having physically sat down on similar seats has taught users 

how to immediately visually recognize what is good for their 

body'. I remember a lady refusing to sit down on a bench in one 

of these bus stops after a mere look, arguing that the seating 

was concave thus non-ergonomic: "and those who made these 

pretend to be designers!" she added with a critical eye. (See 

photo B). According to my personal experience 1 must admit 

she is right. Some prefer to be seated on wood that is warmer 

and a sustainable material than on metal. Some prefer benches 

to keep children closer; some prefer individual seats to be 

further away from strangers: imagination and projection Into 

virtual positions and Interrelations are abstract processes too. 

Two users comment on litter-bins and declare no one can see 

them: "they should put a strong sign to catch the eye, look at 

all the papers on the ground, people cannot even see the bins!" 

This specific comment is of major interest forthe design process 

according to Cognitive Sciences: although ecologically relevant 

to them (to be able to throw away litter), the users cannot see the 

object when no relevant attentional amplification Is proposed. 

Picture C - Paris bus shelter and bench 

More wording and remarks were made on follow-ups. We 

noticed that many details were implicit for the users: they 

""To my surprise, no one actually went to sit down and test the seats: 

seeing was enough

did not consciously notice nor report any detail although 

they could comment on them when specifically asked. This is 

typically what Neuroscientists drive from the experiences we 

described in part 1.2. 

For an easier reading the following list is a classified summary 

ofthe main comments: 

Seats: 

- look comfortable, many of them, too small for good seating 

- material: wood and metal 

- did not notice them (5 persons} 

- individual seats vs benches in bus stops 

- nice look, good design, ugly 

- good location: not in front of maps 

- standing-seating features like in the metro 

Shelter: 

- spacious (4 persons}, generous, "classy", good architecture, 

functional 

- protection from the traf^c, safe for children 

- large window on the city, large view ofthe coming tram 

- good indication of routes and timing 

- No protection in windy or rainy weather 

- Dull colours cannot be seen from far away, not a good sign 

- Fits well in the urban environment 

Design ofthe poles {never spontaneously noticed) 

- good idea, cleaner, neater, you have to have the proper view 

to notice it 

- gives indication In long distance where the tram stop is 

located 

- lighting Is connected to the electrical poles: good idea, less 

poles, less visual pollution 

- the lines are modern, it is well designed, trendy, same 

curving for ail the equipment: gives visual unity - doesn't like 

the curves: no reason, useless, makes me think of nearby trees, 

like palm trees 

- Good quality appearance - good and solid materials and 

structure, material thicker than for bus stop shelters 

- too expensive, too luxurious 

- attention has been given to details, some details are awful 

(joints) 

- the materials should be more sustainable 

The more expert the public transport users, the more useful 

details they notice in relation to comfort, security, rime saving; 

the more naive, the more aestheric details they notice, looking 

around and taking time - this point having to be confirmed in 

further invesrigations and tests, 

3. What you see is not what you see 

If users do not see most of the details that have been 

designed at the design stage, the main reason is that seeing 

is not obvious. It takes experience to recognize something by 

recalling prior experiences and existing routes in our brain in 

orderto avoid ambiguity. Perceiving is a first person experience 

- at least at first sight - that provides informarion. But seeing 

is also selecring and choosing amongst shapes, colours, lights 

that constantly come to the eyes. Seeing is to favour what is 

relevant for the present situarion and to adapt for the next 

acrion to perform. What is immediately useful will be seen, 

understood and memorized first. This sequence of perception, 

consciousness and attention has been described in the first 

part. Attention is mandatory for the right understanding. And 

attenrion will happen if ecologically useful. Attenrion will also 

help amplify the perceprion. Attenrion happens in duration. 

We could observe during our interviews ail these processes 

and phenomenon we understood in part 1. When invited to 

have a closer and longer look, users described more details 

and briefly analysed their likes and dislikes (too stiff, no 

natural material...} comparing their "first person" emotions to 

feelings they have had in other environments like homes or 

special buildings like airports. Others stayed at "third person" 

judgments and talked trends and styles. 

On the other hand, if rather than public transport user experts 

we had interviewed design experts - as most readers of my paper 

likely are-we would have had a radically different perceprion of 

this shelter. Design experts would have probably immediately 

noticed shapes, materials, well designed details, usage errors 

etc... Thanks to training, educarion and habits they have a 

holisric point of view, and within seconds can dlfferenriate and 

organize their perception. But the non- specialists do not see 

all these. Press arricles all mention the special double curving 

that MrWilmotte and Mr de Bussiere designed as "a quote to 

the historical Paris Street Furniture", a comment actually written 

in the press release. None of the interviewees could see this

specific detail, even when specifically asked. If we understood 

well what the Cognitive Sciences instruct, the public actually 

sees but, If consciousness is not in demand, they cannot report. 

Is this "implicit" sight good enough for the designers? Wouldn't 

the client expect an explicit perception? When concerned 

(like with the cold wind blowing through) or when they are 

forced to give a longer look, interviewees see more details, 

but again they see from an individual starting point, "first 

person comment'; according to prior personal experiences, 

and possibly from emotions. Further down the process they 

might refer to individual cultural knowledge, as a third person 

discourse, whereas design experts would always do so. In that 

sense the persons we interviewed could be called "design 

naives" although expert users. Nevertheless the two designers 

of our shelter did not intend this street furniture to be looked 

at as a piece of art by experts. It was designed - at least at first 

intention - to satisfy various functions. 

Visibility Is another intention expressed by the urban planners, 

the politicians and the designers. But again this intention is 

not perceived - or hardly - by the public. What is perceived is 

an experience of comfort (or discomfort), an experience of 

security (or insecurity). Why do not users notice the specific 

details the designers designed? Take the example of the 

bins: they must be seen but they are not. What is the design 

intention? Designers wanted unity, unity In form, unity in 

colours and materials, unity with the Immediate environment 

of the shelter. As a consequence of this intention, the bins 

melt so well with the environment that they become invisible! 

They do not attract the awareness and nothing In their design 

catches the attention when we have understood in part 1 

that attention is mandatory to consciousness. Same remark 

for the poles and the overall architecture of the shelters. To 

design experts' eyes, they are well designed and the lines 

are evocative. A good journalist could right pages about it. 

Nevertheless the interviewees could not see anything special, 

or at least could not report it. The details did not struck their 

attention and they could not retain any specifics, although 

being inside the shelter. My question Is: could one accept that 

a design that melts in the environment Is relevant? Isthe choice 

of neutral colours not to hurt the eye a good choice? Elegance 

and refinement are the qualities generally recognized to 

Jean-Michel Wllmotte's designs and architecture, and it might 

be one of the reasons the jury chose the designer for this 

commission.The designers might have privileged style, trend, 

and decoration to relevant meaning,Too much blending leads 

to visual confusion. Efforts to order and organize might end up 

into confusion when the public cannot see what they should 

see. And to insecurity when perception does not happen. 

According to the conclusions of part 1, if the public does not 

see the designers'lntention their attention is not attracted (no 

attentional amplification), and they did not spend enough 

time looking (no duration for memorization). Is it not the role 

of designers to guide the naTve and expert users in their daily 

routine? Could they help educate them to give attention to 

objects and select details? Could they help users to appreciate 

good quality and nicely drawn objects? What can be the 

designers' tools for such a strategy? According to Cognitive 

Sciences, a good product should amplify one's attention to 

help recall or create new routes in the brain. Attractive visual 

signals would be the solution. Attraction can happen in many 

ways design wise. Each feature can be attractive to the eye, 

be it shapes, colours, texture, lighting...; and more subtly, 

evocation, imagination, emotion, surprise and dissonance, 

difference and similarity. In one word, design could be a visual 

discourse that would be perceived with consciousness, and 

understood through an attentional amplification. And thus 

educate design naTve percelvers to become design experts 

and have an immediate and holistic perception. Designers 

could then participate in giving urban environment more 

secure structures and orderly perception. 

Conctusion 

Perception is thus much more complex than what common 

knowledge reports. The recent discoveries in the brain 

functions help scrutinize the process of seeing and could 

guide designers in very practical ways. How to link attention 

to perception and to consciousness could be one of them. 

It opens the big door of perception as a citizen: can design 

convey cultural and informational messages, can it help for 

political or social order? We havejust seen that too much visual 

discourse can invite to disorder. Could disorder be a good 

discourse? Magdy Ma (1999), a designer from Hong Kong 

offers an invitation if nota solution. She reflects on design and 

ethics and speaks about the designers' responsibility:

Clearly ethical design does not refer to the ngid 

simplicity, clarity of form that unimaginatively reflect 

the content, but some unquantified substance that 

benefits the senses of the audience and the harmony 

v^fithin the human society. The w/ord ethics refers not 

only to the moral pnnciples and philosophy governing 

the designing, producing, delivering and receiving of 

visual messages, but also an ethos (the spirit and belief 

in this standard) to be shared by all involving parties 

(the clients, the creators, and the users). 

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A R C H I T E C T U R A L A N D D E S I G N E D U C A T I O N VIS-A-VIS I N T E G R A T I V E E X P E R I E N C E S ; 

A D I S C O U R S E IN T H E M A K I N G 

Miodrag Mitrasinovic 

Parsons The New School for Design, New School University, 

NewYork, U.S.A. 

mitrasim@newschool.edu 

Abstract 

Within the design- and architectural discourses, concepts of 

'project'and 'interdiscipllnarlty' have been much debated In 

recent years. No conceptual closures, however, have been 

reached neither in ways in which 'project' can be theorized 

as an object of research and study, nor in ways in which 

'interdlsciplinarlty'—and forthat matteranyform of systematic 

and methodical integration of disciplinary knowledges 

and methods of research— can be understood as a way of 

configuring the 'project' both as the site of knowledge and 

as an ideal vehicle of integration. This paper will discuss the 

theoretical, philosophical and epistemological issues at play 

in conceptualizing integrarive agendas in project-driven 

educarional environments In both architecture and design 

schools. I; will also unpack the terms'project,"integrarion,'and 

'interdisciplinarity'andsituatethemetymologically,historlcally, 

and conceptually. Claims for integrarion commonly develop 

along the two axes: Integrarion of theory and practice, and 

integration of knowledges and methods across disciplinary 

boundaries. The argument for integration will be supported 

by scholarly references, institurional recommendations, as 

well as pracrical concerns for developing a more adequate 

design educarion capable of responding to increasingly 

interdisciplinary (i.e. integrarive) context for all crirical design 

pracrices in the 2 V century. 

Introduction 

It would not be an exaggeration to claim that'the future,'more 

than ever before, 'belongs to the integrators,' as late Dr. Ernest 

L. Boyer famously declared (Boyerand Mitgang 1996: Xlil). The 

1996 report Boyer co-authored with Lee Mitgang, titled Building 

Community: A New Future for Architecture Education and Practice 

(the Carnegie Report), done under the auspices ofthe Carnegie 

Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, was based in his 

belief that architectural education is the epitome of'engaged 

scholarship' — when combined with civic commitment, Boyer 

believed, such a model of scholarship and education carries 

a great potential for community engagement and renewal. 

However, what the study had found at over 100 architecture 

schools across the United States, was a puzzling juxtaposition 

of prom-ises and failures, potentials and contradictions, but 

foremost an alarming discrepancy between architecture's self 

image and Its perception by'others.'Such discrepancies were 

most obvious through two general claims that architecture 

educators, administrators, and students commonly subscribe 

to: first, that architecture is 'Inherenriy interdisciplinary;' and 

second, that architectural education istheepitome of liberal arts 

education, therefore claiming thecentrality of architecture tothe 

liberal arts education in the 2r* Century. Needless to say, hardly 

anyone serious in academia today agrees with architecture's 

claims, and for good reasons: the Carnegie Report found that 

ar-chitecture students and faculty are often fundamentally 

isolated —socially, physically and above all intellectually—from 

the rest of campus life and from other depart-ments. As they 

report, "one ofthe most sobering moments of our campus visits 

oc-curred when we asked a fourth-year student to describe his 

school's humanities courses. He replied:'What are humaniries?'" 

(Boyer and Mitgang 1996:78). 

The recommendations of the Carnegie Report were aimed 

at remedying architecture's complex position within the 

contemporary academia, by suggesring that architecture 

programs develop: 1. more liberal curricula that would 

integrate professional content with liberal education in

more productive ways; 2. more flexible curricula, since 

flexibility is a necessary precondition for discovering the 

connectedness of knowledge through, but not limited to, the 

interdisciplinary work; and 3. more integrative curricula, as 

'making connections' (simultaneously between architecture 

and other design fields; architectural theory and history with 

design studio; architecture and other academic disciplines; as 

well as between architecture schools and the community) is 

"the single most important challenge confronting architecture 

programs" (Boyer and Mitgang 1996: 85). Today, ten years 

after the study was completed and results published, most 

ofthe fundamental problems and challenges the study had 

identified still persist. Namely, concepts of integrative teaching 

and learning in architecture—including interdisciplinarity but 

not limited to it— are as elusive today as ever before. 

The problems Carnegie Report identified are well known to 

nearly anyone who had experienced architectural education 

around the globe, either as a student or a teacher. Besides, the 

recommendations are lucid but extremely politicized, and the 

Report —whose declared objective was to assist in demystify 

architecture education—de facto mystified its most significant 

recommendation: the question of establishing structural 

relationships between architecture programs and liberal arts 

education. The puzzling question is not only 'how' would 

architecture schools implement such recommendations, but 

much more it is 'why' would they do it? We, thus, must ask: 

what would be architecture's motivations for building more 

robust forms of interdisciplinarity, no longer exclusively in 

relation to types of professional practice, but much more in 

relation to the wider academic context and particularly to the 

Humanities?' 

Building analogically on Helmut Dubiel's work regarding 

developmentsin interdisci-plinary research methodologies vis 

a-vis CriticalTheory(Dubiel 1985),' onecan make the case that 

most interdisciplinary undertakings can roughly be gathered 

into two groups: first, 'theoretically pressuposltlonless,' 

externally generated, multidisciplinary approach; and second. 

' Dubiel refers here îo developments in interdisciplinary research 

methodologies vis-a-vis Critical Theory and the Frankfurt School for 

Social Research {Dubiel 1985:123-126). 

cognitively integrated, interdisciplinary approach initiated 

through internally generated processes. Dubiel's definition 

of multidiscipiinarity is analogous to Lattuca et al.'s definition 

of 'synthetic interdisciplinarity' (Lattuca et. al. 2004: 25),^ an 

approach that is 'theoretically pressuposltlonless' precisely 

because its aim is not to create a theoretical contribution 

to the field of architecture (or, for that matter, to any design 

discipline in particular), but to contribute to a more holistic 

un-derstanding of issues and situations whose complexity 

exceed the boundaries of a single discipline. Consequently, 

such undertakings do not attempt adequate integration of 

the disciplines involved but instead amass 'native' theories, 

methodologies, and standards of research in hopes, writes 

Dubiel, that the accumulation of multidisciplinary experiences 

will generate transdisciplinary perspectives in students as they 

cognitively develop. Under what kinds of external pressures 

would architecture schools develop types of synthetic 

interdisciplinarity, i.e. multidiscipiinarity? Most obviously, 

external pressure in relation to architecture programs in 

academia can be summed up with what Dubiel calls 'social 

pressure for [academic] services'. 

External pressures: 

Interdisciplinarity' 

quest for 'conceptual 

As Boyer and Mitgang report, architecture programs are small 

in size, when compared with other academic units, and also 

the most expensive in terms of per-student ratio regarding 

both human and physical resources (Boyer and Mitgang 

1996: 9). Studio-based education is by far the most expensive 

model of education in academia today. Besides, schools of 

architecture produce little or no research revenue to the 

university.These circumstances have prompted administrators 

at many American universities to demand architecture's (and 

other design programs') participation in interdisciplinary 

General Education (GenEd) curricula, and the facilitation of 

interdisciplinary, cross-campus majors commonly classified 

^ "in synthetic interdisciplinarity," write Lattuca et. al., "instructors 

combine theories, concepts and perhaps even research methods 

from different disciplines; but the contributing disciplines remain 

clearly identifiable, revealing relatively bounded content areas and 

perhaps distinctive methods of inquiry." (Lattuca et. al. 2004:25)

as Bachelor of Art degrees (Bas).^ Such GenEd programs raise 

cultural awareness around the interpretation of architecture 

and design as constitutive parts of broader cultural discourses, 

but they seldom address the design process. At the same 

time, they increase full-time equivalencies (PTE) and create 

more reasonable revenue for the university. The most obvious 

academic benefit of such programs Is the emerging interests 

in integrative curricula through one of the most obvious and 

histoncally grounded connections, that between architecture- 

and-design with humanities-and-sclences." For such GenEd 

programs to work properly, they are commonly organized 

around metadisciplinary topics: topical organization enables 

multidisciplinary faculty to simultaneously teach and also 

facilitates moreeffectiveandintegrativecommunicationacross 

academic disciplines. For instance, Connecticut College has 

recently Introduced new interdisciplinary courses designed to 

integrate the arts and design offerings across campus, and to 

create an 'integrated design culture.' Interdisciplinary courses 

such are 'Designing the Body' and 'Topographies and Identity' 

are meant to explore relarionships between design, place, 

identity, language and memory.^ University of Minnesota's 

School of Architecture has also established interdisciplinary 

courses open to all majors tided 'Ecology, Design, and People' 

and 'Introducrion to the Built Environment.' 

Philadelphia University has created the First Year Experience 

(FYE) program through which all students search for 

meaningful connecrions between their departments, the 

University community, and the city of Philadelphia. Each year, 

an overarching theme frames the collecrive work of students 

and faculty from across the University. In 2004-05, the overall 

^Such students are also called'non-majors'from architecture's point 

of view, the so called'cheap FTEs'(full-time equivalency) that increase 

enrollment in otherwise'under-enrolled'architecture programs. 

''Even though such programs are commonly liberal arts-minded, they 

simultaneously search for redefined forms of liberal education. In 

that respect,'liberal arts'is often replaced with'First Year Experience' 

in naming such programs. 

Ân interesting aspect of this program is that each student {including 

architecture freshmen) also completes an integrative project either 

as an independent study project, honors thesis, or through a local 

internship. 

theme —Finding Philadelphia— enabled students to explore 

the city through the Philadelphia Mural Arts program as a 

means of focusing on the inter-secrions of people, culture, 

images, architecture, design, and communication. A variety of 

integrarive learning experiences emphasize the civic, cultural 

and environmental engagement of students as both future 

professionals and citizens. In parallel, each discipline organizes 

curricular actlviries that address city murals from a disciplinary 

perspective. For example, students In the wriring course 

analyze social and polirical issues linked to the producrion 

of murals in the city; business students study the economic 

impact of murals on local neighborhoods and communities; 

architecture, art and design students work with local artists 

and communities in reading or crearing new murals. As an 

interdisciplinary topic, murals provide a fruitful territory 

for integration. A similar First Year Experience program was 

designed at George Mason University (New Century College). 

Theyear-long program features discussions, hands-on learning, 

collaborative assignments, project-centered experiences, 

and intensive reading and wriring. After completing the 

integrated first-year experience, students choose a major. The 

first year is divided into four consecutive eight-credit'learning 

communities'called units: Community of Learners, The Natural 

Worid,TheSocialWorld,andSelfas Citizen.Theseand other new 

GenEd programs and courses provide opportuniries for faculty 

across the fields to collaborate In teaching mulridisciplinary 

and concept-based courses in architecture, design, the arts, 

humanities, and social sciences. 

Through the participarion In such GenEd programs, besides 

offering general architecture and design education to the 

university at large, some architecture programs simultaneously 

use the opportunity to offer crirical theory and thinking. 

Cultural Studies, and add a more rigorous Integrative training 

in history and theory to their own majors. Such conceptually- 

interdisciplinary programs attempt to enable architecture 

students to emerge as more critical and hopefully reflective 

practirioners, aware of the connectedness of knowledge 

across disciplinary divisions. New 'Design Studies' program at 

the School of Design, at Arizona State University, Is an example 

of such an attempt. At the same university, Renata Hejduk and 

Prasad Boradkar created the CriticalCorps program that uses 

critical and cultural theory as a means to understand the social 

significance ofthe designed environment and everyday life.

Formed in 2004, CriticaiCorps was envisioned as a response to 

tlie lacl< of critical theory, cultural theory, and critical thinking 

courses offered to both beginning and graduate students in 

the design disciplines within the College of Design. 

ltisconceptuallyclear,although sometimes practically opaque, 

how the above described, externally generated forms of inter 

and multidiscipiinarity benefit both architecture majors and 

others across the university. 

Internal pressures: A quest for Interdisciplinarity in 

architecture and design 

What Dubiel calls'internal pressures'are voices and forces for 

the redefinition ofthe discipline that come from within in their 

search for a renewed disciplinary identity. Cognitively integrated 

interdisciplinarity is always initiated through an intradisclplinary 

act of consolidation, and it is commonly marked by a 'travel' of 

the model theories, methodologies, and standards of research 

that have become successful paradigms in a specific discipline 

to other disciplines. Such processes are facilitated by engaging 

the disciplines not on the grounds of their methodologies 

but on the grounds on their subject matters (Dubiel 1985: 

124). In elaborating further what cognitively integrated 

interdisciplinarity may mean for architecture, I will now take on 

twogeneral claims mentioned earlier—namely thatarchitecture 

is 'inherently interdisciplinary' and that architectural education 

is the epitome of liberal arts education— and try to situate 

them in a larger academic context. 

If one would ask the faculty in any architecture or design 

program in the United States whether they (and their students) 

have been engaged in interdisciplinary work at any stage of 

their teaching careers, empirical evidence shows that replies 

would be overwhelmingly positive. Indeed, as the Carnegie 

study shows, nearly half of interviewed architecture instructors 

replied that they have been engaged In interdisciplinary 

work. Moreover, as Lattuca et. al. report, nearly forty percent 

of all faculty across the academic spectrum claim they have 

taught interdisciplinary courses; however, the evidence on 

such interdisciplinary courses and how they affect learning 

outcomes is inadequate (Lattuca et. al. 2004: 23-48). More 

importantly, what empirical and anecdotal evidence points 

to, is that by 'interdisciplinarity' architecture and design 

faculty commonly assume the appropriation and superficial 

instrumentalization of 'other' knowledges towards satisfying 

normative expectations of architectural projects as forms of 

naturalized interdisciplinary undertakings. History, theory 

and criticism programs —that nowadays exist in almost all 

architecture schools but still in just a handful ofdesign programs 

in the United States— are often successfully practicing forms 

of'conceptual interdisciplinarity'(Lattuca et. al. 2004: 26f but 

the faculty in these programs (the so-called 'non-makers') are 

seldom allowed to visit design studios, let alone teach them. 

At the same time, 'others' (i.e. scholars from other academic 

disciplines) whose work is commonly included in architectural 

curricula and theory courses, have been strongly marginalized: 

they are occasionally involved in design studio 'jury,' itself an 

outdated mode of evaluation. As Beatriz Coiomina reports, 

some notable exceptions are present in, what she calls, the 

'elite'schools of architecture (i.e. Princeton University, Columbia 

University, School of Architecture of The Cooper Union, etc.) 

where the boundaries between 'makers'and 'non-makers'are 

softer than elsewhere: "Without exaggerating too much, one 

can say that, today, practicing architects in the academy for the 

most part don't build, while some historians and theorists do" 

(Chadwick 2004:50). Coiomina then provides examples of studio 

faculty being involved in writing and publishing, and theory 

faculty having recognized professional practices, but makes no 

convincing argument that such an environment is conducive 

to the inclusion of 'other' scholars and academics on equal 

footing, or that it de facto enables substantial collaboration and 

interdisciplinary work. As inabilities of'makers'to build, and of 

'theorists'to publish, escalate, walls between'makers'and'non- 

makers' in academia are paradoxically growing. 

Interdisciplinarity in architectural education, conceptual or not, 

cannot be separated from the epistemological and political 

dimensions of architectural knowledge and practice. As Linda 

Groat and Sherry Ahrentzen (Groat and Ahrentzen 2001) have 

''"Conceptual interdisciplinarity [,..] includes disciplinary perspectives 

[but] it has no compelling disciplinary focus," argue Lattuca et, al. 

"Conceptual interdisciplinarity also accommodates poststructural, 

postmodern, and feminist forms of inquiry, which explicitly 

critique the disciplines and may contend that all questions require 

interdisciplinary answers" (Lattuca et. al. 2004:26).

argued,facultywomen, who have been traditionally marginaîized 

as 'non-makers; are better positioned to take leadership roles 

in interdisciplinary curricula. Their survey found that 80% of 

faculty women teach In areas ofthe curriculum that are related 

to, but not situated in the design studio, and that specializations 

where they dominate the curriculum are conducive to forms of 

collaboration with other disciplines (Groat and Ahrentzen 2001: 

246). In other words, they claim that a majority of faculty women 

already practice both teaching and research in conceptually- 

interdisciplinary modes. Meanwhile, Groat and Ahrentzen 

argued that design studio epitomizes some of the'most hallowed 

traditions' of architectural education where interdisciplinary 

modes ofthinking have been reduced to a degree of superficiality 

that asks for an urgent and thorough reconsiderations of design 

studio's role in architectural education. One of the reasons for 

such a tradition is perhaps in the fact that, as Necdet Teymur 

suggests, design studio is commonly viewed as a 'poor replica 

of an architectural office' (Teymur 1992: 36) overwhelmingly 

assigned, teaching-wise, to the practicing 'men of talent.' 

Considering ioterdisciplinarity vls-â-vis design studio 

Despite the fact that there is neither a conceptual closure on what 

interdisciplinarityis,noranoverarchingtheoryofinterdisciplinanty, 

there are currently two different ways academia frames it: either 

as process-oriented or as outcome-oriented. William Newell 

of the Association for Integrative Studies (AIS) at the Miami 

University in Ohio, defined Interdiscipllnarlty as a "process of 

answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic 

that Is too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a 

single disciplinary perspective or profession" (Klein and Newell 

1982: 1). In Newell's view, interdiscipllnarlty must be defined 

as a problem-based integration necessary for the resolution of 

complex problems. This operational view of interdlsciplinarlty 

may at first sound familiar to architectural and design educators 

who see design studio as a 'natural' place for Integration and 

synthesis, and therefore the place where all knowledge related to 

architecture should be applied through a simulation of real-life, 

pseudo-professional experiences. The key difference, however, is 

the emphasis Newell places on the'process;'interdisclplinanty, he 

argues, should cut across the roles assigned to faculty and others 

involved in order to move the problem-solving process from the 

one based in'disclplinary expertise'to the one based in'expertise 

in interdiscipiinary process!' (Newell 2001:1 -25; Newell 1998). 

What is the concept of liberal arts education today, and can 

architectural design studio offer insights in defining it? The 

Carnegie Report states that academia at large has much to 

learn from architecture, particularly from the studio model of 

education. At the same time, however, the Report subscribes 

itself to the idea of liberal arts education being precisely In 

liberating one's education from the 'distracting business of 

satisfying contingent wants'.^ In that respect, it is difficult 

to understand how can a project-driven education, where 

architectural knowledge is Instrumentalized as a vehicle of 

design action, be simultaneously used as a model of liberal 

education In ways in which the Report frames İs.^Thîs ethical 

dilemma is not only unresolved in the Carnegie Report, but also 

holds the key to architecture's role In the future ofthe American 

university. But the quesrion of architecture vis-â-vis integrative 

education, in which interdisciplinarity could be a method of 

acquiring new knowledge and developing new modes of 

thinking, cannot be conceived without scrurinizing institutional 

structures, mechanisms and techniques that facilitate 

knowledge producrion in the discipline of architecture. 

The question today is: are the epistemological premises of the 

Blondel's model of architectural education still accurate, and 

even desirable?' And, given the rigid structure of architecture 

schools, is the flexibility of Blondel's model capable of allowing 

true interdisciplinary work in the design-studio? It would be safe 

to argue today that, as a vehicle of potential Interdisciplinary 

collaboration, architectural studio Is primarily attracrive as a 

social environment conducive to collaboration and team work, 

application and reflection, and it establishes an important'place' 

for integration as it anchors its spatio-temporal variables within 

the curriculum. The major vehicle of integration however is not 

•'As quoted in Boyer and Mitgang 1996: 82; the quote is by British 

philosopher Michael Oakeshott (Boyer and Mitgang 1996: 82; Fuller 

1989: 27-28). 

^Many have proclaimed the end to liberal arts education. For instance, 

in his University in Ruins, Bill Readings powerfully articulates his idea that 

the historical project of liberal education has lots its organizing center 

focused on the idea that culture is both the origin and goal of human 

sciences (architecture and design are assumably parts of), mostly due to 

the fact that there is nolongera human subject interested in, and capable 

of, carrying further the project of liberal education (Readings 1996).

the studio itself but rather the content of the studio, that is 'the 

pro-ject.The idea of project,'write Findeli and Bousbaci, should be 

—at the epistemo-loglcal level—the main object ofarchitectural 

studies due to its capacity to bring together a great variety of 

knowledges and theoretical discourses (Bousbaci and Findeli 

2005). The 'project' has the capacity to configure relationships 

between three main components ofthe design studio: processes 

(of designing but not only), actors (all the constituents and 

stakeholders involved in the processes), and outcomes (material 

as well as immaterial, buildings as well as modes of thinking). 

As an epistemological device, the project thus brings together 

both 'objects'and 'subjects' of the interdisciplinary undertaking 

of design studio. In that respect, as much as the design studio 

can become the site of interdisciplinary processes,'the project' 

de facto becomes the site of interdisciplinary knowledge, 

and thus both a desirable framework and an ideal object of 

interdisciplinary study. Moreover, the project has the capacity to 

unify the desire of multiple actors to perform, i.e. to'speak,'while 

at the same time enabling them to effectively take part in the 

production of meanings through the processes of designing. 

The design project thus becomes simultaneously the object 

of interdisciplinary knowing and the process of redefining 

disciplinary knowledge. 

The question of reconciling the traditional ideals of liberal 

arts education with project-driven, studio-based educational 

environment that instrumentalizes bodies of knowledge 

towards project aims must be framed in relation to ethical (i.e. 

philosophical) questions of'how one should beintheworld'that 

should be probed through project-driven pseudo-empirical 

investigations. If the traditionally defined liberal arts have 

^ As Anthony Vidler notes (Chadwick 2004:17-18), the first systematic 

architectural curriculum was established by Jacques-Francois Blonde! 

in the IS"" Century France. In a Descartesque manner, Blondel's 

curriculum broke down architectural knowledge into analyzable units 

and divided its constituent parts into distinct courses in history, theory, 

structures, building techniques, site organization, and professional 

practice. At! these courses developed in parallel and gravitated around 

the design studio (atelier), always taught by a practitioner. Vidler 

rightfully praises this model, which still shapes schools of architecture 

to this day, for its remarkable flexibility and the ability to accept change 

while preserving its original epistemological premises. 

been focused on understanding'how humans are'in the world, 

the liberal arts of the 'Anthropocene Age''° may just became 

focused on how human beings 'ought to be' in the worlds 

they simultaneously create and inhabit. As Richard Buchanan 

asserts, if architecture was indeed a liberal art in its own right in 

the ancient world, today architecture is only one manifestation 

ofthe architectonic art of design'" that, in Buchanan's view, 

can provide significant insights into 'the new liberal arts of 

technological culture' (Buchanan 1992). As Buchanan suggests, 

liberal arts have been historically described throughout 

the Western world as 'architectonic' due to their integrative 

potential, in his view, liberal art of today should be conceived as 

'a discipline of thinking that may be shared to some degree by 

all men and women in their daily lives.' His argument works off 

HerbertSimon'sproposition,forceful!yargued in his T/ieSc/ences 

ofthe Artificial, that design should not only be a component of 

technical or art education, but'a core discipline'of every liberally 

educated human being concerned with "how things ought 

to be" (Simon 1968: 83). In that respect, what drives the wide 

academic interest in architecture and design schools (and in 

the design studio as an educational environment in particular) 

are an insight and the desire to acquire a methodical inclusion 

in the design process. And that is precisely, 1 would argue in this 

paper, where architecture schools, and for that matter all other 

design schools, have repeatedly failed. In other words, we have 

failed to, to paraphrase Simon, discover and articulate a body 

of intellectually tough, partly formalizable-partly empirical, and 

above all teachable doctrine about the design process (Simon 

1968:58). Due to that failure, as Simon suggested, the academic 

world sees design as "intellectually soft, intuitive, informal and 

cookbooky" (Simon 1968: 59),'^^ and above all determined to 

remain closed to 'others.' Here we find the core competency of 

architecture and design schools, and the most fertile ground 

'"The 'Anthropocene Age' is, as Clive Dilnot writes, "an age in which, 

as far as the immanent conditions of our lives are concerned, nature 

retreats to merely a background condition and becomes, to ait intents 

and purposes, another moment of artifice." The artificial, argues 

Dilnot, "is no longer that which is marginal in human affairs [but it 

has become the] effective horizon of being" (Dilnot 2005:42). 

" Together with, or next to, other forms of professional design 

training, such are product design, communication design, urban 

design, fashion design, etc.

for interdisciplinary collaboration: the design process itself. It 

is thus through an internally generated quest for consolidation 

that architecture can find a true, democratic and inclusive way 

of developing interdiscipli-nary curricula. 

Conclusion 

It should be clear that if architecture Is indeed to be among 

the carriers of liberal education in this century. It will have to 

scrutinize the most transparent and yet the most mystified 

of its competencies: the process of designing. In that 

respect, design studio, as a vehicle of specific type of social 

interaction specific to the design process, has the capacity to 

open the design process to'others'and therefore potentially 

redefine 'the project' of architecture in the academia, from 

the disciplinary one centered in designing buildings, to the 

Interdiscipiinary one focused on how we, as human beings, 

could be. This effort would consolidate architecture, both 

from within and from without, and assist the interdisciplinary 

liberal education in this century in moving from the one based 

in a radical separation from the contingent, to the one based 

in 'projective impurity.' As Clive Dilnot writes, the significance 

of designing emerges precisely out ofthe condition of'radical 

impurity'as a process of'recovering'and 'rethinking'that core 

of human actuality that lies beneath what presents itself as 

a given (Dilnot 2005a: 121-127). The condition of 'radical 

impurity'is thus, as Dilnot writes, "not an inhibition on design, 

but the very source of its capacity to evade the logic of what 

Is given."The actual value of designing Is located precisely in 

the space of such 'projective impurity,'"between the real and 

the given and the possible [where] design does Its work and 

negotiates this space." In that respect, as Dilnot writes. 

Design 'problems' could be defined as 'illstructured problems' 

(Lattuca et. al. 2004: 33), or as Horst Rittel called them, 'wicked 

problems,' problems that have no definite formulation, have more 

than one plausible explanation, and may generate many equally 

desirable and possible solutions. In other words, architects and 

designers dealing with such 'problems'are systematically incapable 

of producing cognitive certainty or definite answers because they 

are radically at odds with the logic of quantification. For further 

discussion see: Simon 1968, Buchanan 1992, and Lattuca et. aL 2004. 

Architecture is, after all, the discovery of configurative 

possibility. Today, our situation gives those discoveries 

their point, while configuration reveals to history 

its previously unrecognized possibilities. This gives 

to architecture its role both as defense against the 

destructive onslaught of the markets and market 

serving technological modernization, and as the 

provider of configurative and affirmative resources 

through which to address the scale of problems and 

opportunities thrown up by these new conditions. But, 

this is only possible if architecture understands itself 

as a practice that, in offering an interpretation of our 

future and history, proposes models of being (Dilnot 

2005b: 12). 

In that sense,the project-driven interdisciplinary environment, 

possibly situated in the design studio but not limited to it, 

should be framed through an ensemble of questions of how 

one should be in the wodd, rather than through project brief 

that contains the so-called 'design critena' predicated upon a 

priori known normative expectations.The questions should be 

integrated into the empirical research and the design process, 

and as such would have the capacity to advance the objective 

disciplinary knowledge, the knowledge of interdisciplinary 

process, and most importantly the form of the questions 

itself Critical examination will then reflect on the difference 

between those questions the project started with, and the 

forms of questions the projects comes to closure with. It Is in 

such a process that the interdisciplinary questions become 

agents of cognitive development of students, and carry its 

work on even after a specific interdisciplinary project itself 

has come to closure. Integrative design studios in that sense 

could have a special role to play because of their potential to 

create an environment conducive to simultaneous discovery, 

application and Integration of knowledge through project- 

driven creative pursuits (Boyer and Mitgang 1996:86). 

Boyer and Mitgang concluded their 1996 study with the 

following thought: "Architectural education is really about 

fostenng the learning habits needed for the discovery, 

integration, application, and shanng of knowledge over a 

lifetime" (Boyer and Mitgang 1996: XVI).

References 

BOYER, E. and MITGANG, L, 1996. Buiiding Community: A New 

Future for Architecture Education and Practice. Princeton, NJ: 

The Carnegie Foundation for the Ad-vancement in Teaching 

BOUSBACI, R. and FINDELI, A., 2005. More Acting, Less Making: 

A Place for Ethics in Architecture's Epistemology. In: Design 

Philosophy Papers < http://www.desphilosophy.com/> Issue 4 

BUCHANAN, R., 1992. Wicked Problems in DesignThinking. In: 

Design Issues, Spring 1992, Volume 8, No. 2, 5-21 

CHADWICK, M. (Ed.), 2004. Back to School: Architectural 

Education-thelnformationandîhe Argument. AD-Architectural 

Design, September/October 2004, Vol--ume74, No. 5 

DILNOT, C, 2005a. Ethics? Design? In: The Archeworks Papers, 

Volume1,No. 2,121-127 

DILNOT, C, 2005b. What are Architects for?' In: Scapes, No. 4, 

Journal of the Department of Architecture, Interior Design 

and Lighting, Parsons School of Design, Fall 2005,9-12 

DUBIEL, H., 1985. Theory and Politics: Studies in the 

Development of Critical Theory. (Translated from German by 

Benjamin Gregg) Cambridge: MIT Press 

FULLER, T. (Ed.), 1989. The Voice of Liberal Learning: Michael 

Oakeshott on Education. New Haven and London: Yale 

University Press 

GROAT, L. and AHRENTZEN, S., 2001. Interdisciplinary Visions 

of Architectural Education: The Perspectives of Faculty 

Women. In: PIOTROWSKI, A. and WILLIAMS ROBINSON, J. (Ed.) 

The Discipline of Architecture. Minneapolis: University of 

Minnesota Press 

KLEIN, J. and NEWELL, W., 1982. Defining and Teaching 

Interdisciplinary Studies. In: Improving College and University 

Teaching, No. 30 

LATTUCA, L.,VOIGT,L.andFATH,K.,2004.Doeslnterdisciplinarity 

promote learning? Theoretical support and Researchable 

Question. In: The Review of Higher Education, Fall 2004, 

Volume 28, No. 1,23-48 

NEWELL, W. (Ed.), 1998. Interdisciplinarity: Essays from the 

Literature. New York: College Entrance Examination Board 

NEWELL, W., 2001. A Theory of Interdisciplinary Studies. In: 

Issues in Integrative Studies, No. 19,1 -25 

READINGS, B., 1996. The University in Ruins. Cambridge: 

Harvard University Press 

SIMON, H., 1968. The Sciences of the Artificial. Cambridge: MIT 

Press 

TEYMUR, N., 1992. Architectural Education: Issues in 

Educational Practice and Policy. London: ?uest!on Press

A D I S C O U R S E O N T H E M E A N I N G O F K N O W L E D G E IN A R T A N D D E S I G N R E S E A R C H 

Kristina Niedderer 

Hertfordshire University, Hatfield, UK 

k.niedderer@herts.ac.uk 

Abstract 

This paper discusses the problem of knowledge In research in 

the creative and practice-led disciplines as it appears in the 

UK.' The purpose is to clarify the role and inclusion of practice 

within research in relation to the requirement for making a 

contribution to knowledge. The paper begins by introducing 

the problem of knowledge in research. It then examines what 

kind and format of knowledge is currently formally accepted in 

research, and compares the result with examples of knowledge 

generated by research in art and design. This serves to reveal 

where there are gaps and contradictions between current 

understandings of research (research policy) and evident 

needs of research practice. In the conclusion, suggestions for 

possible future developments and research are made. 

1) Introduction 

One of the core requirements of research is the original 

'contribution to knowledge',^ An 'original contribution' in this 

' With 'creative and practice-led disciplines' we include for example, 

art and design; music, film and media; education; knowledge 

management; health, nursing, physiotherapy, etc. These disciplines 

share problems v/ith the generation and communication of knowledge 

through research, and its application in practice, i.e. with the dichotomy 

of explicit and tacit knowledge. For our investigation, we use examples 

from art and design in the UK. However, we hope we have developed 

the research on a sufficiently generic level so that it Is transferable to 

other creative and practice-led disciplines. 

One exception to be mentioned is the professional doctorate which 

requires a 'original contribution to practice; although the difference to 

a 'contribution to knowledge' is not quite clear either. Usually, it refers 

to the strongly clinical nature ofthe professional doctorate, making its 

findings less generallsable than those ofthe PhD. 

context means an addition to knowledge that Is new - not 

just for one person (e.g. the researcher) but altogether for 

the field. Originality is usually demonstrated through the 

literature review which provides a survey over relevant existing 

knowledge in the field (Langrish 2000). What 'knowledge' 

means In this context is, however, less well definved. Its 

meaning seems mostly taken for granted, which proves 

problematic upon closer examination. 

For example, problems have arisen with the conventional 

understanding of knowledge in research in the context 

of creative and practice-led disciplines, which commonly 

use practice as part of their research in order to gain new 

knowledge of existing practice (process or product), to 

develop new processes and skills, or to develop new objects 

(products).These problems concern the requirement of explicit 

communication of knowledge as well as Its application and 

use, because part ofthe knowledge of practice-led disciplines 

is experience-based and therefore difficult to communicate 

through conventional language-based means of research. 

To illustrate the problem, we might thinkof a craftsperson whose 

mastery of a particular technique leads to original results and 

new knowledge. However, the know-how ofthe mastery might 

be beyond verbal articulation, and so might be the knowledge 

or understanding gained from the use or experience ofthe new 

results (e.g. artefacts, etc.).This example raises questions about 

the different nature or format of knowledge sought in different 

research contexts, about where and how the knowledge is 

contained, and how it can be communicated, e.g. by textual 

or creative output. Uncertainties about the answers to these 

questions have led to problems with the conduct of research 

in the creative and practice-led disciplines and have revealed 

a disparity between research requirements and the evident

needs of research practice in design to produce results that 

benefit professional practice and academy alike. 

The purpose of this paper therefore is to address the question of 

the natureandformatofknowledgesoughtinresearch.The paper 

begins by examining some UK definitions of research from the 

creative disciplines. It analyses w/hat the current requirements of 

knowledge are In their context and where there are disjunctions 

with apparent needs in research and practice. It further analyses 

the current nature of research through comparison with 

philosophical concepts of knowledge. From this we conclude 

on the current understanding of the nature of knowledge in 

research, on what its shortcomings are, and on how it might be 

developed to accommodate the identified needs. 

2) The requirement of knowledge in definitions of research 

We find the requirement for a contribution to knowledge 

at the centre of many of the definitions of research that are 

provided by funding agencies and by university regulations 

in the UK. For example, the definition of research for the RAE 

(2005) explains that, 

'Research'for the purpose ofthe RAE is to be understood 

as original investigation undertaken in order to gain 

knowledge and understanding. It includes work of direct 

relevance to the needs of commerce, industry, and to the 

public and voluntary sectors; scholarship [...]; the invention 

and generation of ideas, images, performances, artefacts 

including design, where these lead to new or substantially 

improved insights; and the use of existing knowledge in 

experimental deveiopmentto produce new or substantially 

improved materials, devices, products and processes, 

including design and construction. It excludes routine 

testing and routine analysis of materials, components 

and processes such as for the maintenance of national 

standards, as distinct from the development of new 

analytical techniques. It also excludes the development of 

teaching materials that do not embody original research. 

and the guidelines ofthe AHRC (2005) state that, 

• it must define a series of research questions or problems 

that will be addressed in the course ofthe research. It must 

also define its objectives in terms of seeking to enhance 

knowledge and understanding relating to the questions or 

problems to be addressed. 

• it must specify a research context for the questions or 

problems to be addressed. You must specify why it Is 

important that these particular questions or problems should 

be addressed; what other research is being or has been 

conducted in this area; and what particular contribution this 

project will make to the advancement of creativity, insights, 

knowledge and understanding in this area. 

• it must specify the research methods for addressing and 

answering the research questions or problems. You must 

state how, in the course ofthe research project, you will seek 

to answer the questions, or advance available knowledge 

and understanding of the problems. You should also explain 

the rationale for your chosen research methods and why you 

think they provide the most appropriate means by which to 

answer the research questions. 

Further, University regulations e.g. of Plymouth University and 

ofthe University of Hertfordshire state respectively that. 

The degree of Ph.D. should include a distinct contribution 

to the current knowledge of the subject. The thesis should 

show systematic study and independent, critical and original 

powers and should be capable of publication in whole or in 

part (Plymouth 2003/4). 

and that, 

A candidate for the award of PhD shall have undertaken 

a substantial programme of individual research, involving 

the sustained exercise of independent critical powers 

including the ability to use research outcomes to guide 

the development of the research programme, and leading 

to a significant original contribution to knowledge or its 

interpretation. 

The candidate shall present the results of the research in a 

submission, embodying a thesis presented and defended 

in a lucid and scholarly manner, and containing material 

worthy of peer-reviewed publication. 

The candidate shall demonstrate technical competence

in the chosen field, including appropnate î

3) Reviewing the meaning of knowledge in the definition 

of research 

The above discussion has shown that the understanding of 

l

A further requirement, asking for a significont contribution. 

Implies that the result should not just be relevant forthe one 

specific case, but that the research should elicit something 

generic about the phenomenon in question, such as 

charactenstics or pnnciples. For this reason, when talking 

about propositions, we commonly think about them as 

linguistic constructions (although language Is no absolute 

requirement for making a proposition. Biggs 2002). This is 

because language offers the potential for abstraction because 

of its representative character which allows extracting and 

detaching relevant aspects from a specific situation, case, etc. 

and thus make them transferable and/or generalisable. 

The above explanations and examples imply a certain 

philosophical position, which is closely linked to the grammar 

and logic of language, and which shape the logic of a thesis, 

its argument and its evidence-base. This position determines 

what is a valid argument, and what is a valid and rigorous 

methodology in its context. I.e. use of methods to gain 

evidence. Our conjecture is therefore that this position is the 

position of propositional knowledge as we shall see in the 

following. 

4) The characteristics of propositional knowledge and its 

prioritisation In research 

In this section, we discuss what we mean by propositional 

knowledge and how the requirements imply and pertain to 

propositional knowledge. We begin by introducing the Idea 

and characteristics of propositional knowledge with a brief 

introduction of knowledge in philosophy (epistemology). 

Two of the main concerns of epistemology are the questions 

'What is knowledge?'and'How do we know?'There is a long 

history of investigating these two questions with different 

results. Dunng the 20'" century, there has been much debate 

aboutwhetherwe can definewhat knowledge is.The definition 

of knowledge as"justified true belief" Is the definition that has 

probably received the most widespread consent, although It 

has also been challenged (Grayling 2003). The definition of 

knowledge as justified true belief needs explaining, before 

considering the challenges that have been mounted. Grayling 

(2003:37) explains that, 

This definition looks plausible because, at the very least. 

It seems that to know something one must believe it, that 

the belief must be true, and that one's reason for believing 

it must be satisfactory in the light of some criteria - for one 

could not be said to know something if one's reasons for 

believing it were arbitrary or haphazard. So each of the 

three parts ofthe definition appears to express a necessary 

condition for knowledge, and the claim is that, taken 

together, they are sufficient. 

Grayling (2003: 39) explains further that this definition of 

knowledge "is intended to be an analysis of knowledge In 

the propositional sense" (rather than of knowledge that one 

might gain by being acquainted with something or someone, 

or that enables someone to do something (skill)), and that It 

is the kind of knowledge that has predominantly occupied 

philosophy. One might therefore add to the definition that 

knowledge is the justified true belief of a proposition. 

However, in 1963, Gettler raised objections against this 

definition ofpropositlonal knowledge, which led tothe request 

for a fourth as yet unknown condition to establish "justified 

true belief" as the definition of knowledge or, alternatively, 

for a completely new definition of knowledge (Hospers 1990; 

Pollock and Cruz 1999; Grayling 2003). Gettier's objection was 

that no causal link can be shown between what Is taken to 

be'true belief'and the'justification'for it. There are also other 

problems with the third condition of knowledge. I.e. with 

justification. Hospers (1990) gives several examples, of which 

I shall introduce the last, because of its consequence for the 

further argument: 

There Is yet another kind of objection to the third condition 

ofthe standard definition of knowing. Knowing p requires 

having evidence for p; let us say that this evidence is 

another proposition, q. But don't we then have to know 

that q is true? If I don't know that q is true, how can q be 

good evidence for p? And how do we know q? Perhaps 

by another proposition r. And so on - it seems that we are 

caught in an infinite regress. The requirement of evidence 

always takes us beyond the original proposition, p, to 

another one, and then we have to know the truth of that 

one In orderto know the truth ofthe onginai one (Hospers 

1990: 30).

in orderto managetliis infinite regress, philosopiners Piave put 

forward two different ideas. One idea is that. 

We don't reaily l

esearch. Related to this symptom Is a frequent uncertainty of 

practitioner-researchers aboutthe role of practice in the context 

of research, about how to relate theoretical and practical work 

and fit it within existing research regulations. This uncertainty, 

which has been briefly discussed above, has been a reoccurring 

theme {Durling et al. 2002), which has been reflected in 

educational research papers such as that by Langrish (2000) who 

has addressed this uncertainty on a pragmatic level within the 

conventional understanding of research. However, since the wish 

to use practice within research as well as the uncertainties about 

it persist, the question arises why practitioners feel the need to 

use practice within research and why it remains problematic. 

The reason for practice being used in researcli In the creative 

disciplines (and related inquiries) Is that it creates the object 

of inquiry in the sense that the research İs either concerned 

with the process of creative practice or it investigates its 

results. Scharmer (2000) talks about embodied and not-yet- 

embodled knowledge to denote that in some disciplines new 

realities (e.g. artefacts, processes, services etc.) and with them 

new knowledge is created. The creative use of research for 

developing a new reality Is quite unlike the understanding 

of traditional (scientific) research in that it investigates what 

could be rather than what is (Niedderer 2004a: 26). Researchers 

in the creative disciplines have also used creative practice in 

research in order to achieve the inclusion of tacit knowledge 

gained in practice, such as skills, an Intuitive grasp ofthe state 

of the art of a field, or expert judgement. 

The use of practice in research can therefore be seen to serve 

two purposes: firstly to facilitate the inclusion of existing 

personal/tacit knowledge in research; and secondly, to 

facilitate the creation and communication of new knowledge. 

Concerning the former, although there does not seem to be 

any Intrinsic problems with using practice within research 

(Niedderer 2007), problems have occurred in the past with 

the use of creative inquiry in terms of validity because of 

the understanding of creative inquiry as an emergent and 

unsystematic process, while research is aimed at being a 

systematic inquiry. Recent examples of research inquiry using 

creative practice (e.g. Whiteley 2000; Niedderer 2004a) have 

demonstrated that the problem of validity can be overcome if the 

creative part of the inquiry is appropriately framed and integrated 

into the research process. The second problem concerning 

the role of practice in the creation and communication of 

knowledge In research Is more complex. It has two aspects. One 

is the communication of advancement in process knowledge; 

the other is the communication of knowledge related to the 

products of practice as research outcomes. 

Beginning with the latter, the reason for presenting practice as 

a result of research, traditionally, is its use as evidence, with the 

outcomes of practice being presented supplementary to a 

critical exegesis, report, etc. which presents the research process 

and contribution to knowledge. This is coherent with our earlier 

developed understanding of research as presenting the defence 

of a proposition, i.e. of a representation, which can be true or 

false, and which may receive its verification through comparison 

with reality, e.g. the outcomes of practice in form of an artefact. 

The presentation of practice as evidence raises the question as to 

why we should need both text and practice because one could 

argue that. If the proposition is a representation ofthe practice, 

the central meaning ofthe proposition must be contained within 

the object and that therefore the presentation of practice alone 

should suffice. For example, if the proposition about a green ball 

is thaf'the ball Is green" will not the ball tell me the same if the 

proposition is true? Although this is correct, when presented 

with the ball alone, I have no means to determine whether 

not the proposition is 'the ball is round'. This example suggests 

firstly that the same knowledge is contained in the practice/ 

artefact and the proposition and that we are not dealing with 

two different kinds of knowledge but rather with two different 

formats of knowledge, which Is supported by research Into 

tacit knowledge by Neuweg (2004). Secondly, the example 

shows that the analytical character of language Is important for 

unambiguous communication. In this context. Biggs (2002:24) 

has suggested that it might be possible to present an argument 

by non-linguistic means, but that the challenge is to achieve 

contextualisation by non-linguistic means to explain the 

research, and that this challenge has as yet not been met. 

While these considerations defend the prioritisatlon of language 

in the communication of the contribution to knowledge, in recent 

years, there have been examples of using practice within research 

in which practice seems to provide more than just evidence, 

i.e. that show that It can provide an enriched knowledge that 

cannot be verbalised. For example, Whiteley (Rust and Whiteley 

1998) has developed "a mechanical analogy for the human

skeletal arm to inform the future development of prostheses 

and other artefacts" (Rust et al. 2000: 1) through drawing and 

modelling. Both the investigation and the communication of 

the findings in this case were dependent on the drawings and 

models, which provided not only the (propositional) knowledge 

of an improved articulated prosthesis (knowing that), but also 

provided experiential knowledge of how such a prosthesis 

might be constructed and work. This means the drawings and 

models additionally provided the understanding that is needed 

to apply the knowledge gained in practice. This example 

demonstrates the importance that creative practice can have for 

communicating tacit knowledge as part of research, and it seems 

that It would be useful to recognise this importance formally In 

the requirements and logic of research. 

The communication of the contribution of research using 

practice Is more problematic where the research is concerned 

with process. For example, we can imagine a researcher writing 

down the findings and knowledge that they have gained from 

their research Into a certain process, and that they describe both 

process and outcome as accurately as possible so that anyone 

can inform themselves about the research. According to the 

conventional understanding of research, we should expect 

anyoneto being ableto repeatthe process and arrive atthe same 

results.That this is not the case is demonstrated In the following 

example where a Canadian Research Laboratory successfully 

built a so-called TEA-laser. Brirish attempts to replicate the 

laser on the basis of written informarion however failed as long 

as the tacit knowledge of informants who had participated 

in building the original laser was not included through their 

personal engagement In the rep 11 cari on-project (Neuweg 2002: 

42). Examples such as this demonstrate that it is often difficult 

to communicate the knowledge that practitioners have in the 

way that is required of research. Practitioners from a wide range 

of subjects have therefore voiced concerns that an important 

part of tacit knowledge that is contained within practice is 

at risk of being overiooked and omitted in the conventional 

communicarion of research (e.g. HIggs and Tltchen 1995; 

e.g. Rolfe 1996; Neuweg 2002), because ofthe limitations of 

language, and because the research process and the knowledge 

that is its outcome currenriy seem to be dissociated In the 

final presentarion of results. As a result, the research outcome 

currenriy only distils what can (and Is intended to) be made 

explicit by the researcher while much of the tacit knowledge 

inherent in the research remains unacknowledged (Neuweg 

2002; Eraut 2003; Biggs 2004). However, this omitted part is 

highly important for pracritioners, because it facilitates both 

understanding and applicability of any explicit knowledge. 

Theaboveindicatesthattheproblemisnota problem with theuse 

of practice within research as such, but with the communicarion 

of experiential or tacit knowledge (including perceptual and 

procedural knowledge) gained from its processes with regard 

to applicarion. This makes the problem an educational problem, 

which I suggest can be approached in two ways. 

Firstly, the problem can be seen as an organizarional problem. 

If we accept that experiential knowledge can only be parrially 

communicated by language, and if we look around how 

people have dealt with the communication of experienriai 

knowledge so far, we find that the most common way of 

communicarion is through observation and imitarion, as we 

find it e.g. in apprenticeship systems or in mentoring schemes 

(Friedman 1997). Although this kind of communication system 

is mirrored In the system of doctoral supervision, which 

therefore somerimes Is called an 'apprenticeship in research', 

this system has not been widely applied to the communicarion 

of research outcomes. The reason for this may parriy be the 

labor-intensive nature of this kind of tutoring, which is contrary 

to the aim of wide dissemination. Partly, it may be simply that 

there are not that many researcher-practlrioners yet, e.g. in art 

and design, Nevertheless, the integrarion of research result 

through practice-related workshops etc. could be Increased 

and thus the effecriveness of research communicarion. 

Secondly the problem can be seen asa problem of knowledge 

communicarion, which raises the quesrion whether the 

elusive part of experienriai knowledge can be communicated 

directly, or whether it has to be communicated indirectly 

via so-called 'knowledge conversion'. Direct communicarion 

might, for example, be achieved through the use of new 

media, which would attempt to transmit the experience of 

the teacher in the same experienriai form to the learner. One 

might imagine here the use of new technologies that might 

allow the transfer of an experienriai stimulus to the learner 

through electronic devices, rather than the communicarion 

through conventional means of observation and imitarion, 

which seem less precise. This option is not yet available, but

might be a future option since it is being tested in various 

forms, most prominently by the artist Stelarc (1996). Therefore 

the indirect approach of 'knov^ledge conversion', which Is 

closely related to the organisational approach, might be 

the more realistic option, at least for the time being. The 

most prominent model of knowledge conversion has been 

developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995, 2006) in the 

context of knowledge management as a pragmatic means of 

bridging the gap between explicit and tacit knowledge. They 

propose a four-stage-model of knowledge conversion for 

the purpose of sharing experiential (tacit) knowledge, which 

covers all possible constellations of knowledge transfer, i.e. for 

tacit to explicit from explicit to explicit (usual form of research 

communication), from explicit to tacit (application), and from 

tacit to tacit (ix).They further discuss different techniques for 

managing each transfer-form. The application of the model 

to managing the communication process in research in the 

creative disciplines therefore seems a promising avenue and 

will be the subject of forthcoming research. 

6) Conclysion 

In this paper, we have examined the notion of knowledge in 

research. By analysing definitions of research, we found that 

the understanding of the term 'knowledge' in the definition 

of research Is not explicitly defined. Through analysis of 

related research requirements and their comparison with the 

characteristics of propositional knowledge, we could show 

that the 'knowledge' in the definition of research Is implicitly 

determined as both explicit and propositional knowledge, 

which has come to mean communication by verbal means. 

We have further investigated the consequences of this 

understanding of knowledge in research for research practice 

in the creative and practice-led disciplines. 

We have been able to show that some of the uncertainties 

and problems of current research practice are caused by this 

implicit understanding of knowledge. However, the problem 

does not seem to be a problem with the use of practice within 

research as such, but a problem with the communication of 

the knowledge gained from the research, especially where 

process knowledge Is concerned, because the language-based 

prloritisation of propositional knowledge excludes (some part 

of) experiential knowledge which cannot be communicated 

by verbal means and which is essential forthe application and 

use of any knowledge. In due course, we have identified the 

problem of communication as an educational problem, which 

can variously be regarded as a problem of organisational or of 

communicational nature, and for which relevant avenues for 

future Investigation have been identified in §5. 

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S I G N S D F D I S C O U R S E : S I T E M A R K E R S A S P L A C E S D F C U L T U R A L 

N E G O T i A T I D N İN L A D A K H , I N D I A 

Angela Norwood 

York University,Toronto, Canada 

anorwood@yorku.ca 

Abstract 

The Ladakh region of northwestern India has been open for 

tourism and trade only thirty yea rs.The ecologically sustainable 

and integrally Himalayan Buddhist way of life is under threat 

as the new cash-based economy forces Ladakhis to become 

consumers. This shift in prevailing socio-economic models Is 

manifested within the region's forms of visual communication, 

which have transformed in prominence from architectonic 

semiotic structures to graphic components of wayfinding 

systems. These systems are, in turn used by hegemonic 

agencies that appear to lay claim to territory, both physical 

and psychological. Three networks under consideration 

include Buddhist devotional structures, federal highway 

safety signs and NGO-produced Eco-tourism Maps. This 

paper addresses the ways in which representational devices 

deployed throughout the sign systems display their status as 

agents ofthe predominate forces currently shaping discourse 

in the region, and that as agents, they help determine who 

does and does not have a voice in the negotiation. 

Introduction 

On a daily basis, discourses occurring within the spaces we 

traverse control in large part, our interactions with the world. In 

their book, Discourses in Place: Language in the Material World, 

Ron Scollon and SuzieWong Scollon write,"Instrumental to the 

process ofshaping those discourses arethe objects by which we 

index our own positions and identities in the world" (2003: x). 

That indexicality, to use their term to describe the significance 

of objects' placement In the material world, is symptomatic of 

our behaviour which has determined our decisions on how to 

move about spaces In response to physical signs and markers 

that label, direct, regulate and signal to each user his/her 

position within institutionally encoded environments. 

The northern-most state of India, called Jammu and Kashmir, 

is divided into three major regions: Jammu, Kashmir and 

Ladakh. Situated in the Himalayas and comprising remote 

villages, monasteries and the central town of Leh, the region 

of Ladakh has been open to tourism and commercial trade 

only 30 years. With the influx of outside populations including 

tourists and new residents, has come a cash-based economy 

and an acceleration of visual culture common to what has 

been traced in Western culture since the Industrial Revolution. 

Sergio Correa de Jesus describes such development in the 

West, "...the shift from the 'environment and architecture as 

signs'to 'visual/typographic signs' meant a disproportionate 

advance of a verbal form of communication in place of a 

more stable and permanent codification of meaning through 

buildings" (1994:34). 

In Ladakh, the shift in prominence of communicative form 

alongside changing socio-economic models is most apparent 

in the abundance of graphic signage crowding the streets of 

Leh. Retail and guesthouse signs attracting tourists are usually 

inscribed in English. Traffic regulatory and public health 

information signs, apparently directed at a local audience, 

usually appear in two ofthe official languages of India, English 

and Devanagarl, the written form of Hindi. Older Ladakhis 

rarely understand either language. Those considered middle 

age may speak some English, but likely do not read It. Only the 

few generations of young adults educated since the mid-1970s 

have been taught to speak, read and write English. Of those, the 

most proficient are the children of families who could afford to 

send them "down to India" to school, a practice both enabled by 

and contributing to the dependence on a cash-based economy 

as families send their farm hands to be educated and in turn 

must hire outside laborers. This opening of the productlon-

consumption cycle to include cash transactions led to Ladakhis 

finding themselves in the new role of consumers. 

Michel de Certeau describes the term "consumers" as a 

euphemism for those who are the dominated element in 

society, (1989: xi) subject to the conventions of economic 

models controlled by forces far removed from specificities of 

everyday life, in Ladakh, eadier cash-less-ness rendered the 

people unrecognizable on the world market. In a consumerist 

sense, Ladakhis are materially poor. Adverrising images and 

other graphic design artefacts now comprising the visual 

language In their villages and towns seem strategically placed 

to remind the people oftheir status. 

The relative newness of "visual/typographic" expressions of 

communicarion in Ladakh and the evidence oftheir placement 

in the evolving socio-economic culture allows us to consider 

their roles as the instrumental objects currenriy shaping 

discourses in the region. 

There are three salient networks of site markers that delineate 

human navigarional relarionships to the terrain. Each network 

is comprised of multiple elements, which employ a consistent 

visual language. They exhibit characterisrics of wayfinding 

systems, which define paths available to the traveller and 

provide information about what lies ahead. By identifying 

the agent behind the production of these signs, one is able to 

reveal the emerging socio-economic discourse of the region, 

and the indigenous peoples' roles within it. These three 

networks are: Buddhist path-marking structures; the Indian 

government's Border Roads Organizarion (BRO) highway 

project signs; and non-governmental organization (NGO)- 

produced"Eco-Tourism Maps." 

Known as "Little Tibet," the region Is steeped In traditional 

Himalayan Buddhism. Symbols of practice are integrated into 

all parts of everyday life. The devorional structures dotting the 

vast landscape are evidence ofthe influence ofthe numerous 

monasteries across the region. The most abundant of these 

structures are called stupas. Originally designed as reliquaries 

for prominent monks in the vicinity, they are built to exacring 

measurements based on the bodily proportions ofthe Buddha. 

These monuments usually appear aligned in rows along the 

edge of a path or road in ancient to modern chronology. 

Mani walls (Figure 1) are also common features ofthe Ladakh 

landscape and index the ancestral relarionship ofthe people to 

Tibet. Usually measuring about 2 meters high, they are built to 

varying lengths. A short wall may measure as few as 10 meters 

while some stretch 100 meters or more. The walls, constructed 

entirely of stone, conform to the landscape and undulate with 

the topographical contours ofthe paths they help define. 

Figure 1 

Himalayan Buddhist markers are often situated in what 

Scollon and Scolion would otherwise call "non-semiotic" 

space. However, this is not in the way they describe "socio 

cultural systems that define some spaces as prohibited for 

semiotic oveday," (2003: 111) referring, for example, to the 

western preference for keeping natural areas prisrine without 

overt human intervenrion. In the high mountainous desert 

of Ladakh, there are areas between villages where the vast 

landscape is devoid of human structures. Footpaths — created 

by both humans and grazing animals — are sometimes 

the only readable markers on the geological surface. At the 

highest passes are piles of stones and Tibetan prayer flags — 

markers semiorically important to all travellers as they indicate 

the way over a mountain to those approaching it from either 

side. From these vantage points one can often determine the 

conrinuation of the trail and the direcrion of the next village 

by discerning a distant mani wall on the valley floor. 

Buddhist markers help channel human movement patterns 

throughout Ladakh. As with all sacred Buddhist structures, it is 

proper to pass with the structure on one's right. This convention 

is fundamental to the flow of human movement — whether on 

foot on a remote trail or in a vehicle on a narrow street in town

— and is adhered to even v^^hen it necessitates crossing the path 

of oncoming travellers to do so. Visitors who become sensitized 

to reading the structures as navigational devices, and alter their 

movement to participate in local custom, become more fully 

engaged in the place. This decoding ofthe local visual language 

affords the opportunity to participate in the geo-cultural and 

spiritual choreography of navigation indigenous to the region. 

A major aspect of the visual language of the Buddhist 

structures is contained within the mani walls, many of 

whose stones are incised with the mantra "Om mani padme 

hum." It Is always Inscribed in Ladakhi or Tibetan characters. 

This typographic signature Is integral to the region and the 

language of inscription cannot be separated from it. While 

interpretations of the phrase vary according to source, the 

literal translation is "Behold! The jewel in the lotus." Buddhist 

practitioners agree that this translation is insufficient to 

represent the depth ofthe mantra's meaning. However, the 

Border Roads Organization (BRO) refers to the mantra and 

references its linguistic significance in the region on a gateway 

sign situated on a road leading into the central town of Leh. 

The sign reads in English, "'Ladakh'the Jewel in the Crown of 

lndla"accompanled by BRO identification (Figure 2). 

ilfnr 

'UBAKH'-ntE JEWEL 

IN 

Figure 2 

The state of Jammu and Kashmir is nicknamed "The Crown 

of India," ostensibly due to its position as the northern-most 

state in the country. The reference to an entire region as the 

jewel of that crown calls to mind both a precious item worth 

preserving, and a subordinate in need of a structural support 

mechanism, such as the metaphorical bearer ofthe crown, the 

government of India. Through the turn of phrase on the sign 

the federal agency establishes the subject position assigned to 

Ladakh within the discourse of current development strategies 

that include the construction of a new major road for both 

commerce and armament transport for the intense military 

build-up in this politically charged region. That the marker 

is inscribed In English only signals its role as an agent ofthe 

"proper" as defined in de Certeau's bilateral model of power 

relations (1989: xix). The organization calls itself "The Mountain 

Tamers" and dynamites the mountainside to conform the land 

to transportation grade. The mission ofthe BRO, as stated on 

their web site is, "To support the armed forces meet (sic) their 

strategic needs by committed, dedicated and cost effective 

development and sustenance ofthe infra structure" (bro.nlc.org). 

By identifying the agents of production as organizations, actual 

people on either side ofthe action are exempt from negotiation 

as if hegemonic models move into place on their own accord. 

However, in an effort to connect with drivers on a colloquial level, 

the BRO has incorporated a quasl-transgressive element on the 

major road. Posted periodically along the edge are signs painted 

in the familiar bright cautionary yellow and inscribed in English 

and occasionally Devanagarl with playfully sexual statements 

meantto Inspire safe driving.The phrases such as "Darling I want 

you but not so fast" are decidedly aimed at a predominantly 

male driving audience. This tactical posturing on the part ofthe 

BRO has made its signs popular In the "btogosphere" inhabited 

by people who have travelled through India. However, it is not 

truly of a tactical nature because ofthe blatant exclusion ofthe 

group most affected by the development in the region. This 

exclusion happens on two levels, through the choice of written 

language(s), and use of culturally insensitive verbiage. One 

might argue that If the words cannot be read, they must not be 

terribly harmful. However, as objects contributing to the current 

discourse, the BRO signs serve to index those who are and are 

not intended to take part In the future whose components will 

be delivered to Ladakh along this very road. 

In his analysis of de Certeau's work, Jeremy Ahearne posits that 

in contemporary power relations, the lines of demarcation 

between strategies and tactics are not as straightforward as 

originally described. He says, "The more strategic resources 

which an agency has at its disposal, the more it can afford to 

'waste' on tactics designed to confuse, mislead or seduce Its 

targets" (1995:162).

Other examples of signs deploying deceptively tactical 

maneuvers are the Eco-tounsm Maps situated at the 

entrances of select villages (Figure 3). These maps are visual 

manifestations of a joint initiative by a US-based NGO and 

local organizations to provide both income opportunities for 

village families and room-and-board for the ever-increasing 

number of trekkers to the remote areas ofthe region for v*/hom 

there was no tounsm infrastructure. 

Figure 3 

According to Scollon and Scollon, there are two distinct ways 

that a sign can make meaning: indexicality, i.e., its geophysical 

placement; and symbolization, i.e., its representation of 

something absent or metaphoncal (2003:133).The Eco-tounsm 

maps paradoxically take on both qualities as described above. 

They index the opportunity for the generation of income 

within the village by featuring the availability of home-stays 

with local residents.The maps also symbolize the value systems 

embedded in a Western-style design solurion applied to a 

regionally specific problem.They conceal — through the use of 

representarional devices that, by signalling the presence ofthe 

"other", appear to speak for the people upon whom the maps 

have been imposed — the power relations ofthe organizations 

behind their production. The hand-drawn map, typography 

and exaggerated scale appear tacrical in nature — a map by 

the local people for the local people to advertise their services 

to an internarional audience of trekkers — in English. But 

invesrigatlon reveals the objects of preference on the maps: 

the prioriries ofthe Rolex-funded Snow Leopard Conservancy 

(SLC), the US-based NGO involved in the Iniriative. The map 

is not only irrelevant to the people of the village, but of very 

little value to the trekker who, upon encountering It after full 

emersion In the indigenous architectonic sign system discussed 

above, can only feel a sudden barrier put between him or her 

and the experience ofthe region. The map apparently meant 

to signify the blurring of the tourist/villager divide, in reality 

only accentuates It. What appears to have been conceived with 

good will as an opportunity for a designed artefact to meet 

the needs of conflicring parties — the SLC, villagers losing 

livestock due to snow leopards and trekkers seeking ever more 

remote sites — the map at best helps generate some income 

for families. At worst it is nothing more than an agent of the 

dominant economic model by which Ladakhis are becoming 

"consumers", compelling them not only to abandon traditional 

and sustainable ways of life as they become obsolete, but to 

preserve enough tradition in tact to sell it back to Western 

trekkers for their own "authentic experiences." 

The intersecrions between two marker systems are sites 

where shifting hegemony In the region Is made visible (Figure 

4). The markers lay claim to the terrain as representatives of 

the larger interests, the "propers" of which they are agents. 

Thus far the only role for visual communicarion design in the 

region of Ladakh is in service of outside interests, presented in 

the name of defining, then addressing needs of local people. 

The modes by which Ladakhis themselves, as new consumers, 

will urilize design remains to be seen. However, the strategic 

exclusion of an enrire population from current discourse 

through visual representarional practices is a design problem. 

The quesrion remains whether or not it can be addressed 

from within the consumer group in a strategic way rather than 

with only reacrionary tactics. In Thinking Design, Singanapalli 

Balaram calls for a rethinking of the tradirional designer/client 

relarionship by imploring designers to pay attention and learn 

"by a sincere study of people's own solutions" (1998: 79) when 

considering contemporary design problems In India. 

Figure 4 (photos: Helen Cannon-Brookes)

The relative newness ofthis region's exposure to the outside 

world renders it vulnerable to the negative effects of an 

image-based visual culture. Within one generation of having 

been open to tourists, there has been significant decline 

In the cultural and ecological bases upon which the people 

had prospered for centuries. However, this process of cultural 

transformation also affords designers the opportunity to 

examine the place of design in society and to propose ways 

for it to be deployed in meaningful ways — to be integrated 

with rather than to undermine the value systems ofthe people 

of the region. 

References 

AHEARNE, J., 1995. Michel de Certeau: Interpretation and Its 

Other, Stanford: Stanford University Press 

BALARAM, S., 1998. Thinking Design, Delhi: National Institute 

of Design 

DE CERTEAU, M., 1984. The Practice of Everyday Life, Berkeley: 

University of California Press 

DE JESUS, S. C, 1994. 'Environmental Communication: Design 

Planning for Wayfinding, Design Issues, vol. 10, no. 3, autumn, 

pp. 32-51 

MACCANNELL, D., 1999. The Tourist: A New Theory of the 

Leisure Class, Berkely: University of California Press 

NORBERG-HODGE, H., 1991. Ancient Futures: Learning From 

Ladakh, New Delhi: Oxford University Press 

SCOLLON, R. and SCOLLON, S.W., 2003, Discourses in Place: 

Language in the Material World, London: Routledge

H O W TD A D D C U L T U R A L A T T R I B U T E S TO T H E D E S I G N P R O C E S S UF A D I G I T A L 

V I D E D L I B R A R Y ' S U S E R I N T E R F A C E S 

Metin Çavuş 

Yıldız Teknik University, Faculty of Art and Design, istanbul, Turkey 

metcavus@yahoo.com 

Oğuzhan Özcan 

YiidizTeknik University, Faculty of Art and Design, Istanbul, Turkey 

oguzhan@ozcan.info 

Abstract 

In this study we try to research how cultural attributes can be 

added to the design process of a Digital Video Library (DVL). 

Firstly, we present a fundamental design scheme of a DVL and 

introduce determining DVL projects. Then, we discuss in details 

different models of implementing cultural values to user interface 

design and feature a new cultural model, which is a syntheses of 

different cultural methods. After that, we present the contribution 

of three different levels ofthe cultural model to DVL components. 

Thus, we clearly display on which part ofdesign process of video 

summarization interfaces cultural attributes can be decisive. 

Finally, we propose a process model for video summarization 

interfaces and add a short guideline for designers and developers. 

In this study we present a theoretical approach which needs 

implementation, usability testing and validation.This approach is 

not cultural-centered design, but a culturally sensitive proposal, 

where functionality of the system is as much important as the 

cultural contribution.The main idea of theoretical approach is that 

cultural influence should not only be seen in the appearance of 

the user interfaces, but it should be decisive in other stages ofthe 

design, i.e. metaphorical approach, navigation flow, interaction 

preferences, video summarization techniques, etc. 


Digital Video Libraries (DVL) has been a noticeable research 

area with the increasing popularity of video medium in last 

few years. Most of the studies on DVLs are focused on the 

functionality success of the system, and user interface design 

and usability issues are less discussed subjects (Lee and 

Smeaton 2002). Although different methods are presented in 

the studies about the interface design of a DVL, none of them 

is exploring the influence of'culture'. The main goal of this 

article is to answer the question,'how we can add the cultural 

attributes into the interface design process of a DVL?'. 

Since we are emphasizing the cultural characteristic of the 

user, we are focused on a user-centered design of a DVL. In this 

context, for clarifying the main objectives ofthis study, we try 

to answer two sub-questions listed below: 

• In which phases should cultural attributes be added into 

the design process of a DVL? 

• To which extend should cultural attributes be added into 

the design process of a DVL? 

Because the approach presented in this article is merging 

different disciplines, it is a multidisciplinary research. Cultural 

attributes are derived from different disciplines, i.e. intercultural 

communication and sem/of/cs, and user interface design is an area 

from human compufer/nteracf/onfield.Therefore, we should study 

all aspects of our research and look at possibilities for merging 

different areas onto the same platform. In this case, user interface 

design is primary element ofthe research and cultural attributes 

are secondary elements which should be added into it. 

In this article, we firstly try to propose a fundamental design 

schema for a DVL. Then we introduce the main DVLs which 

have undergone a deep research on user interface design, and

we focus, on part of a DVL, user interfaces for browsing video 

content, which we caW video summarization interfaces. After that, 

we present specific cultural attributes from different studies and 

try to Identify a cultural model which can be comprehensive 

for a culturally sensitive design. Finally, we discuss the main 

objectives of our research, and present a process model for 

culturally sensitive design of video summarization interfaces. 

2. Fundamentai Design Schema for a DVL 

DVLs are virtual places where videos with various content and 

duration are stored. Information seeking stages in DVLs are similar 

to different systems targeted for information presentation (Lee 

and Smeaton 2002). However, a detailed analysis ofthe life-cycle 

model of a DVL can state expressly some design differences. We 

should also emphasize that these differences occur in the same 

way for video summarization interfaces. 

The reason for creating a DVL differently from information 

seeking systems is the unique nature ofthe video medium. Video 

is a versatile medium, including both audio and visual elements. 

In addition, because of its linear, single access point nature, 

video is different from text and because of its visual character 

It is differentfrom sound. This richness ofthe video brings up 

necessity for a different presentation method. Below we present 

the main design levels of a fundamental DVL (Geisler 2004): 

1. Gather: This is the opening page of the DVL In this 

introduction to the DVL, user should get an onentation to 

what is available, and understand how to search a video. 

2. Sift: In this stage user has started to search a video. He or 

she analyzes the search results, refines and narrows the results 

and selects a video. 

3. Evaluate: User evaluates selected video, compares with 

similar videos and easily returns to sift or re-gather. 

4. Use: User uses video and easily returns to sift or re-gather. 

In general, for each of four levels of a DVL, different graphical 

user Interfaces are designed. We should remember that user 

interfaces are not designed In a linear structure like in a book, 

but they contain a non-linear character and bring opportunity 

for multi-optional interaction.Therefore, design levels presented 

above are created from different user interfaces with open 

access and different paths can be selected during navigation. 

However, when we take Into consideration highly structured 

data in a DVL, and basic objectives of this kind of systems, we 

should follow more prescribed routes dunng navigation. This 

necessity for limited, clear organized options of navigation Is 

similarly valid for video summarization interfaces. 

3. Basic Studies for Video Summarization Interfaces 

We browse video content during sift and evaluate stages, and 

video summarization interfaces are prepared for visualizing 

the summaries of search results. Presenting the summaries 

of videos shortens the viewing time and increases efficiency 

of the system. For designing successful video summarization 

interfaces both temporal and spatial presentation should be 

taken into consideration. There are different techniques for 

video browsing in DVLs, and each of them directly influences 

the design of video summarization interfaces. 

Three determining researches about video summanzation 

Interfaces in DVLs are located in Western universities, two In 

the USA and one in Ireland. Although video summarization 

interfaces of these DVLs had not been designed considering 

culturaisensitivity,theyarepresentingdeliberatelyquitesimilar 

way of design, and therefore similar cultural charactenstic: 

1. Fischlar DVL: The most comprehensive research on video 

summarization interfaces in DVLs (Lee ve Smeaton 2002). 

Because the research is focused on ontological characteristic of 

video, the design of Fischlar DVL's interfaces is not user-based, 

but much more dependent to the genre of the videos, in this 

study, different video summarization interfaces are presented 

according to temporal, spatial and layeredness feature of the 

video, and usability tests are conducted. Fischlar DVL presents 

various video summarization interfaces and each of them can be 

analyzed according to specific charactenstics of user interface 

components, i.e. complex or simple mental models, restricted or 

multi-optional navigation, limited or customizable interaction. 

2. Open DVL: In last studies on Open DVL, the influence of 

the user on interface design has been understood and user 

interfaceofOpenOl/i. has been re-designed (Geisler2004). Open 

DVL interface is presenting one summarization technique at 

once and navigation and interaction are not as complicated as 

in Fischlar DVL, where two or more summanzation techniques 

are used simultaneously.

3. Informedia DVL: This project is focused on news videos, and 

search, browse, search results and selected videos are presented 

in one interface page (Christel and Conescu 2006). Although 

there are some functionality-based advantages of presenting 

all these aspects of a DVL in one interface space, there is an 

obvious disadvantage of using Ümited keyframe based browsing 

techniques. Research agenda of Informed la DVL is mostly focused 

on functionality success and less research has undergone for 

designing usable video summarization Interfaces. 

Considering video summarization Interfaces of those three DVLs, 

we can denote video browsing techniques of Fischlar DVL as 

the most sophisticated, and video summarization interface 

solutions as the most complicated. However user interfaces of 

Open DVL are better designed and much more cosmetic work 

has been applied. Another result ofthis analysis is that, when 

we try to design culturally sensitive designs we should take into 

consideration summarization techniquesand visual appearance 

together. But first we should decide on the cultural attributes 

which can influence an user interface design process. 

4. Cultural Influence in DVL Interface Design 

This paper is grounded in a belief that culture is a discernible 

variable in interface design practices. IVIuch ofthe literature 

on cultural interface design has presented research on 

internationalization - localization perspective. Conceptual 

approach is mostly focused on user interface design of 

websites, and authors have not encountered with any research 

on culturally sensitive design of DVLs. Caidi and Komlodi (2003) 

organized a workshop at Joint Conference on Digital Libraries 

2003 aboutthe cross-cultural usability in digital libraries (DLs), 

and the main outcome ofthe workshop was the strong need 

for research on cross-cultural issues in DLs. 

One ofthe issues discussed during the workshop was aboutthe 

defining of interface design dimensions. Most of the studies 

investigating cultural influence in user interface design are 

focused on concrete dimensions, i.e. color, spatial orientation 

of presented information or language related issues (Barber 

and Badre 1998, Sears et al. 2000, Aykin and Milewski 2005). 

However, there are many aspects that need to be addressed. 

Several studies are borrowing intercultural communication 

theories to reflect more abstract conceptualizations of culture 

(Singh 2003, Smith et al. 2004, Marcus 2005). 

A key issue that has emerged from trying to add cultural 

attributes into the life-cycle of interface design process is 

the need to define a specific method for system developers 

and designers. We presented five proposals for contribution 

of culture Into the interface design (Table 1), which are 

comprehensive enough to display the current situation. 

Methods Attributes Areas Authors 

Pragmatic guideline for 

information display (GLOCL) 

Matrix mapping cultural attributes 

to user interface components 

Cultural (semiotic) attractors 

and Cultural fingerprint fingerprint 

Three level framework of 

cultural analyses 

Graphics and icons. Language: rendering and translating. Data object 

formatting. Color, Layout 

Cultural attributes, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power 

distance, masculinity vs. femininity 

Cultural Attractors, Color, color combinations, banner adverts, trust signs, use of 

metaphor, language cues, navigation controls. 

Cultural fingerprint, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power 

distance, masculinity vs. femininity. 

Perceptual level, spatial orientation, web page layout, text length, navigation 

modes, translation equivalence, dialects, color categories 

Behavioral level, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power 

distance, masculinity vs, femininity, polychronic vs. monochronic time 

Symbolic level, country specific symbols, icons, color symbolism 

Cultural markers HTML specific. Icons/metaphors, colors, specific color, grouping, flag, language, 

geography, orientation, sound, font, links, regional, shapes, architecture 

Table 1. Cultural models for interface design 

Interface 

design 

Interface 

design 

Aykin and 

Milewski (2005) 

Marcus (2005) 

Websites Smith et al. 

(2004) 

Websites Singh (2003) 

Websites Barber and 

Badre (1998)

One ofthe resent studies is the proposal of Aykin and Milewski 

(2005), who described some of the cultural values as abstract, 

and emphasized the need for conceptualization of culture. 

However in their study they presented some more pragmatic 

and concrete cultural values, and a guideline for information 

display. The proposal of Aykin and Milewski is highly effective 

for pragmatic solutions. 

Another proposal is the theory of Marcus (2005), who 

presented a matrix mapping cultural attributes to user 

interface components and tried to match fairly abstract 

cultural values, which he had borrowed from Geert Hofstede's 

(1980) v/ell-known theory, with relatively definite design 

components. The disadvantage ofthis model is that it needs 

rigorous testing and much further validation. 

On the other side. Smith et al. (2004) conducted a number of 

usability test and proposed a process model for developing 

usable cross-cultural web-sites. To set a successful cultural 

sensitive design they benefit from different methods, i.e. using 

cultural (semiotic) attractors, investigating cultural fingerprint 

based on Hofstede's theory and observing local users. 

Another theoretical approach is the study of Singh (2003), 

who proposed three level framework for analyses: perceptual, 

behavioral and symbolic dimensions. At perceptual level, 

basic implicit assumptions ofthe society which are reflected 

In the web content are studied, and emphasis is on color and 

language use. At behavioral level the beliefs and values of 

the society are subjected and emphasis is on cultural values. 

At symbolic level the web content in terms of signs and 

symbols of the society is examined and emphasis is on emic 

understanding of these signs and symbols. 

The eadiest research is the proposal of Barber and Badre 

(1998), who identified cultural markers, which are design 

elements embedded In International web sites and should 

be more prevalent in one cultural group and less prevalent or 

absent in other groups. Then they presented specific cultural 

markers which can be cultural and/or genre specific and can 

then be used to implement usability guidelines. 

Although none of the presented methods are directly 

conceptualized for DVLs, we can select one of more 

comprehensive ones or we can synthesize two or three of 

them and present a new cultural approach. The methods of 

Smith et al. (2004) and Singh (2003) are highly comprehensive 

and two methods are overlapping in quite a few aspects, but 

they are not detailed enough. However, Marcus proposed 

highly reasonable approach of matching cultural values with 

user interface component, but his theory Is not including 

symbolic level of culture. In conclusion, we should benefit 

from different theories and try to take the positive parts of 

them and left the negative ones behind. From all presented 

cultural models, three different levels appear: 

7. Pragmatic level, which Is about more concrete Issues 

like color preferences, web page layout, text length, use of 

language, navigation modes, etc. 

2. Symbolic Level, which Is about use of metaphors, icons, 

color symbolism, etc. 

3. Behavioral Level, which Is much more about abstract 

cultural values ofthe society. 

This model is quite similar to the model of Singh (2003), but 

in pragmatic level the guidelines of Aykin and Milewski (2005) 

and in behavioral level the matrix of Marcus (2005) are much 

more essential. 

After we decided on the cultural model of a user interface, 

we can discuss the influence of cultural values to the DVL 

components (Fig.1). It is clear that cultural values are not only 

influencing user interface components of a DVL but also the 

architecture and functionality ofthe system. 

Cultural Values DVL Components 

Iiifornialion display technique 

Mftaphorfml HpproActi, we of Jcim 

Video Summarization methods 

Vidirow/Icil. sua la 

User JnterFace design 

Figure 1. The influence of cultural values to DVL components

People from different cultural backgrounds believe in 

different symbols and metaphorical meanings. Therefore, a 

system v»/hich can easily translate believes and values should 

be much more usable. At the beginning of creating a DVL, 

system engineers and designers are focused on metaphorical 

approach of the system. This is the conceptual part of the 

project which effects thewhole life-cycle ofthe design. 

Three DVLs, which we introduced above, are using a similar 

'desktop' metaphor. However, in their case study about user 

interfaces Shen et al, (2006) presented a new metaphorical 

approach for a Chinese target group and usability tests of 

this research showed positive outcomes. In this study a 

culture-centered design, which is featuring a 'Chinese garden' 

metaphor as an alternative of global 'office' or 'desktop' 

metaphor is proposed. Therefore, cultural influence on DVLs 

can start just at the beginning of creating the system and 

it can alternate the system totally. However we should not 

forget highly structured content of DVLs and that usability 

of the system firstly depends on quick and easy navigation 

through this content. 

Information display can also be influenced by behavioral level 

of cultural values. Navlgarion flow and interacrion preferences 

which are closely related to summarization techniques can be 

modified according to cultural preferences. Different cultures 

can perceive video films in different ways and prefer different 

summarizarion techniques. The advantage of behavioral level 

is that its cultural values are much more abstract and can 

match different user interface component. We can also set the 

level of interference by implemenring some small differences 

in the system. 

User interface design is influenced by all of the cultural levels. 

Both concrete and abstract cultural values can be mirrored in 

video summarization interfaces. One of the problems Is to decide 

to which extend these values should be added to the design 

process. We believe that the level of cultural influence to the 

design process of video summarization interfaces should be set 

very carefully and the characteristic of DVLs should be in the 

position of priority. DVLs are storing highly structured data and 

thesuccess of the system depends on organizing and categorizing 

collections properly.Therefore, culturally sensitive design should 

also take into consideration functionality ofthe system. 

We should always implement cultural values of pragmatic level 

into the user interface of a DVL. They can be found In various 

design guidelines and can be set easily. Behavioral level \5 very 

important especially when we decide on a summarizarion 

technique or comblnarion of techniques. It is also highly 

significant for navlgarion flow and interaction preferences, 

which are much more important for systems with organized 

content. However cultural values of symbolic level are risky for 

the system with structured data and complicated navlgarion 

flow. If new metaphorical approach is implemented, it should 

not break functionality of the system. Moreover, display of 

video summaries is leading to visually complicated interfaces, 

and new icons and symbols can slow down the system. 

In conclusion, we should emphasis behavioral level as the most 

significantforcultural influence and try to identify cultural values 

of this level for targeted cultural group. We can also figure out 

some symbolic values for targeted culture and not forget that 

they can bring about some radical change in the system. 

5. A Process Model for CulturaWy Sensitive Design of Video 

Summarization Interfaces 

A. Describe a pHrtkularcullural 

group f7eogt'^'f'kJtf.fîns''Pt!c. eihflk. 

B. S|)cciry cullural values 

S}Tıt&ff!icvn/3iF$.fJTJtsrmfîc »afata, euSııır^l 

C.I Use CuUural Attrİlıale." 1. Specify Viilto StımnıarİTalion 

Mclhuils 

C.1 Use Cullurxl Altriliules ami 

Syniljolie Values 

2. Specify Informatiuii Display 

Tccllllique Maphm, Mrnlnl 

Mtntili, Xai'iâliui,, Iiflt-rnaioii. 

C.3 Use CuKura! Ailriliules, 

, 

i. Design Viileij Sumniari/aliori 

SymbDlli; Vnlues anil Prasmnlie 

Values 

liilcrfjicea 

4. Eialuale Viileo 

Sumniari/jiliiiii liilcrfaccs 

Figure 2. Process Model for Developing Video Summarizarion 

Interfaces 

In our process model we present a culturally sensitive design 

of video summarization interfaces, where functionality of

the system is as much important as the cultural contribution. 

The most important feature of the model is that cultural 

contribution not only effects the appearance ofthe Interfaces, 

but also it is seen on the each level of the design project. 

This Is an iterative design scheme, where design process is 

repeated again and again after usability evaluation. This life- 

cycle is similar for cultural attributes, where the contribution 

of cultural values is re-arranged each time. This fine tuning is 

necessary for the success of the system. 

6. A Small GuideHne for Designers and Developers 

We believe that 'culture' is an important aspect for design 

process of video summarization interfaces and culturally 

sensitive designs will increase the usability ofthe systems. This 

guideline is based on personal experiences ofthe authors and 

can be helpful for designers and developers. 

For usable design of video summarization interfaces: 

1. identify your particular cultural group: Clarify 

geographical, linguistic, ethnic, religion boundaries of your 

cultural group. 

2. Study the cultural characteristics of your group: conduct 

usability tests, websites audit, observe users, use guidelines, 

study the knowledge from different disciplines. 

3. Focus on cultural values from intercultural 

communication theories more than the symbolic 

preferences of your targeted culture: you can know the 

symbolic preferences of your cultural group, but cultural 

values will tell you to which extend you should add these 

symbols and metaphors Into the design. 

4. Study video summarization techniques: conduct 

usability tests for different summarization techniques and 

combinations. 

5. Set the level for contribution of cultural values: Don't 

forget that functionality ofthe system is as much important as 

the cultural contnbution. 

6. Add cultural attributes on the each level of the design 

project. 

7. Use an iterative life-cycle: Re-design the system after 

usability problems appear. 

Conclusion 

The theoretical approach which we presented In this study 

is not based on cultural-centered design, but is a culturally 

sensitive proposal, where functionality of the system is as 

much important as the cultural contribution. In other way, 

culture is not the main determining factor of the design, but 

much more a supplementary component. This is a specific 

situation for user interfaces of the systems like digital video 

libraries, where highly structured data are stored. Therefore, 

this approach should be considered just for the similar 

applications. 

Another important output of this study Is that cultural 

influence should not only be seen in the appearance ofthe 

user interfaces, but it should be decisive in other stages ofthe 

design, i.e.metaphorical approach, navigation f!ow,interaction 

preferences, video summarization techniques, etc. We believe 

that this foresight should be taken into consideration for all 

kind of GUI applications, which are aiming to add the culture 

into their design process. 

Finally, we should emphasize that this approach is based on 

personalexperiencesoftheauthorsandneedsimplementation, 

usability testing and validation.

References 

AYKiN, N. and MILEWSKI, A.E., 2005. Practical Issues and 

Guidelines for International Information Display. In: N. 

AYKIN, ed. Usability and Internationalization of Information 

Technology. NJ: Lawrence Eribaum Associates, 21-50. 

BARBER, W. and BADRE, A., 1998. Culturability: the merging 

of culture and usability. In: Proceedings ofthe fourth Human 

Factors and the Web Conference. 

CAIDI, N. and KOMLODI, A., 2003. Digital Libraries Across 

Cultures: Design and Usability Issues. In: 'Cross-Cultural 

Usability for Digital Libraries workshop' at JCDL '03. 

CHRISTEL, M. and CONESCU, R.M., 2006. Mining Novice 

User Activity with TRECVID Interactive Retrieval Tasks. In: 

International Conference on Image and Video Retrieval (CIVR 

2006).Tempe, AZ. 

GEISLER, G., 2004. The Open Video Project: Redesigning 

a Digital Video Digital Library. In: American Society for 

Information Science and Technology Information Architecture 

Summit. Austin, TX. 

HOFSTEDE, G., 1997. Cultures and Organizations: Software of 

the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill. 

LEE, H. and SMEATON, A.F., 2002. Designing the User Interface 

for Fischlar Digital Video Library. Journal of Digital Information, 

2(4). 

MARCUS, A., 2005. User Interface Design and Culture. In: N. 

AYKIN, ed. Usability and Internationalization of Information 

Technology. NJ: Lawrence Eribaum Associates, 51-78. 

SEARS, A., JACKO, J. A. and DUBACH, M. E. 2000. International 

Aspects of World Wide Web Usability and the Role of High-End 

Graphical Enhancements. International Journal Of Human- 

Computer Interaction, 12(2), 241-261. 

SHEN, S.T., WOOLLEY M. and PRIOR, S., 2006. Towards culture- 

centred design. Interacting with Computers, 18,820-852. 

SINGH, N., 2003. Analyzing Cultural Sensitivity of Websites. 

Journal of Practical Global Business, 1(1), 32-53. 

SMITH, A., DUNCKLEY, L., FRENCH,T., MINOCHA, S. and CHANG 

Y. 2004. A process model for developing usable cross-cultural 

websites. Interacting with Computers, 16 (1), 63-91.

L E A N D E S I G N D I S G D U R S E : S E A R C H I N G FQ R S T R U C T U R E A N D E L I M I N A T I N G 

W A S T E IN D E S I G N 

Şule Taşlı Pektaş 

Bilkent University, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, 

Ankara, Turkey 

tasli@bllkent.edu.tr 

Abstract 

Lean design discourse represents a systematic approach to 

design management which conceptualizes design as a flow of 

work delivering value to the end user.This pa per conceptualizes 

design process as a complex and iterated flow of design tasks 

and related information. Reviewing the basics of lean design 

theory, tlie paper focuses on "structure" of design processes 

and "waste" in design. Considering the peculiarities of building 

design, the challenges of lean design in pracrice are addressed 

and suggesrions are made for future research. 

Introduction 

Approaches to design may be basically considered in relarion 

to two opposing ends. In the one end, design is viewed purely 

as an intuitive task and the designer is portrayed as an "arrist", 

a gifted person who produces designs somehow mystically. In 

the other end, design is viewed as a totally explicable acrivity. 

The proponents of this idea attempt to understand design 

through scientific methods and mathematical techniques. 

Both of these perspectives have their own theoretical 

backgrounds and of course, many interesting methodologies 

may be positioned in between. 

This papertakes a systemaric approach to design management 

and discusses the basics of lean design theory. First, three 

differentviewsofapproaching design; namely, transformation, 

value and flow views are presented. Then, the paper focuses 

on the flow view and explores the meaning of "structure" of 

design processes and "design waste" within the framework 

of lean design theory. Finally, the challenges of lean design 

in practice, as revealed by the author's previous research, are 

discussed and suggestions are made for future research. 

Lean Design Theory 

Leandeslgntheoryassumesthatthereisan underlying structure 

of design processes and waste in design may be minimized 

through analysis and optimlzarion. In fact,thistheory originated 

from application of lean production methods to design field. 

Lean production was first developed by a Toyota team, led 

by Ohno in the late 1980s. Unlike American mass production 

system based upon standardization and continuous move of 

the production line, Ohno prioritized customer requirements, 

instant delivery and maintaining no buffers or inventories 

during the production. The term "lean" was coined in 1991 by 

the research team working on international auto producrion 

to reflect both the waste reduction nature of the Toyota 

production system and to contrast it with craft and mass forms 

of producrion (Howell, 1999}. 

Lean philosophy has later expanded into many other fields. 

In 1993, the U.S Air Force and the Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology established a research organization named the 

Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI). The initiative defines the term 

lean as"adding value by elimlnaring waste, being responsive to 

change, focusing on quality, and enhancing the effectiveness 

of the workforce" (LAI, 2007). The International Group for Lean 

Construcrion (IGLC) (1993)and Lean Construction Institute (LCI) 

(1997) were founded to extend lean design and producrion 

philosophy to the construcrion industry. Since 1990s, lean 

building design research in the construction industry has been 

proliferated through publicarions and annual conferences of 

these organizations. 

Koskela (Koskela et al., 1997; Koskela, 2000} pioneered in 

developing leanconstrucriontheory.Heconceptualizes building 

process as a production both at mental level (lean design) and

physical level (lean construction). Due to its scope, this paper 

focuses only on lean design; aspects ofthe theory related to 

site production are out of the scope. Koskela proposes three 

different perspectives of conceiving building design; namely, 

transformation, value and flov^ views (Koskela, 2000) (Figure 1). 

Transformation view focuses of conversion of inputs from 

one state to another (Figure la). The basic principle of 

transformation view is the detailed pre-planning ofthe design 

process through optimizing individual task execution. Top- 

down methods like Work Breakdown Structure are utilized 

within this view (Figure 1 b). Although transformation view has 

been dominant in project management, Koskela claims that it is 

incapable ofsolving the problems ofdesign management since 

it isolates individual tasks ignoring inter-task dependencies. 

According to lean design theory, transformation view results 

in concealed waste generated between continuing activities, 

rising costs due to buffers between the tasks, and overall sub- 

optimization of the process at the system level. 

Koskela (2000) recognizes that design processes are justified, 

only if the design product meets user needs. Thus, the 

definition of client requirements is central to value view (Figure 

1c). The lean design theory acknowledges that architectural 

community appreciates the importance of programming 

as an early phase defining client needs and requirements. 

However, the criticism of conventional practices lies in the 

lack of mechanisms for controlling the extent to which those 

requirements are realized in design process. Within design, 

the value view is promoted through requirements capture 

processes such as quality function deployment (Figure 1 d). 

Unlike dominant transformation view which conceptualizes 

design process as hierarchical composition of design tasks, 

flow view recognizes that design process is a complex and 

iterated flow of design tasks and related information (Figure 

1 e). Flow view proposes that reducing design cycle-time is a 

more appropriate objective for design management rather 

than optimizing sub-processes. From this point of view, 

the objective is ensuring the optimum sequence of design 

activities and minimizing waste. Flow view promotes the 

use of analytical techniques such as Design Structure Matrix 

(Figure If). The detailed discussion of the basic concepts of 

flow view is presented in the sections below. 

la 

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' f Design Siruciare Matrix (DSM) 

Figure 1. Transformation, value and flow views of design with 

related modelling tools (adapted from Koskela, 2000) 

Searching for "Structure" of Design Process 

The idea of understanding the structure of design processes 

dates back to design methods movement of the 1960s. The 

movement attempted to bring systematic methods for 

designers In order to cope with the increasing complexity of 

design processaftertheSecond World War. During this period, 

design was explained first time as a rational process composed 

of several sequential steps. However, the structure of design 

processes as depicted in early design methods models 

were rather rigid, abstract and thus, unable to represent the 

complexity ofthe actual process (Broadbent, 1988). 

On the other hand, lean design's search for structure of 

design processes has been an inquiry towards "structure of 

flows." The theory proposed the term "construction physics" 

to understand the nature of flows and their interactions in 

building design. Construction physics envisaged design 

process not as a sequence of discrete activities, but as a 

continuous flow of highly interrelated activities with great 

variation. Managing the combined effect of dependence and 

variation has been a central concept In lean design discourse. 

Howell (1999) illustrates the problem of dependence and 

variation in building design through drawing an analogy with 

heavy traffic on a freeway:

"If every car drove at exactly the sanne speed then spacing 

between cars could be very small and the capacity of the 

freeway would be limited by whatever speed was set. Each car 

would be dependent on the one ahead to release pavement 

and variation would be zero. In effect, there would be no 

inventory of unused pavement. In reality of course, each car 

does use the pavement released to it from the car ahead 

but speeds vary. Under the pressure to get to work or home, 

gaps between cars close and any variation in speed demands 

immediate response from following cars. As the gaps close, 

small variations in speed propagate along and across lanes. 

One small hesitation can lead to a huge standing wave as 

traffic slows to a crawl. Recovery is difficult because It Is 

impossible to get everyone to accelerate smoothly back up 

to the standard speed and Interval. High speed at any one 

moment does not assure minimum travel time In conditions of 

dependence and variation. The idea that you do not get home 

any faster by driving as fast and as close to the car ahead is 

counter intuitive (at least to teenagers). Certainly the system 

itself does not function as well when dependence is tighter 

and variation greater." 

Lean design theory acknowledges that the "physics" of 

processes are ignored in current practice which tends to focus 

on more human issues such as teamwork, communication and 

commercial contracts. In current practice for example, a delay 

is often attributed to one or more participants being morally 

deficient. However, the theory suggests that such delays may 

be due to the combined effects of dependence and vanatlon 

in a long penod. The term "Construction Physics" as depicted 

above has Its basis in queuing theory and inspired by Hopp and 

Spearman's (2001) "Factory Physics." However, construction 

physics tends to be more complex than factory physics since 

many issues that can be ignored or can be assumed to be 

constant in factory physics, have to be explicitly modelled 

regarding their tight dependence and great vanability in 

construction (Bertelsen et al., 2006). 

Process models are used to extract and represent the structure 

of design processes. Such models are based on the premise 

that although designs may be unique in different projects, the 

process of designing has an underlying structure which may 

not vary much across the projects. Different types of process 

models can be used to describe the aspects of the process 

that are relevant for the purpose and viewpoint ofthe process 

model. Since transformarion view is dominant in building 

design management, process models which are based on 

hierarchical decomposition such as Work Breakdown Structure 

and chart-based scheduling methods (milestone charts and 

Gantt charts) are still the most widely used tools. Lean design 

theory suggests the use of process modelling techniques 

which are able to represent the dependence and variability In 

the process. IDEFO, Data Flow Diagrams, and Design Structure 

Matrix are some examples of these'. 

Eliminating "Waste" in Design 

Waste is a difficult concept to appreciate and quantify In 

building design. Rounce (1998) identified several factors 

contributing to design waste and showed that they were 

mainly management problems. Since design management 

has been a neglected issue compared to management of site 

producrion in the construcrion industry (Pektaş and Pultar, 

2006), sources of design waste and means of decreasing 

it have been rarely discussed in the literature. Lean design 

theory defines waste as non-value adding activities in the 

process. Such actlviries cause loss in resources: rime, money 

and workforce. From flow point of view, the basic source of 

design waste is unexpected iterations. Design iteration can 

be defined as rework or refinement, returning to previously 

made decisions to account for changes (Browning, 1998). 

Iterarion occurs in all design projects due to the nature ofthe 

process. However, not all Iteration generates value. Iteration 

occurs in the process either due to an unexpected failure of a 

design to meet established criteria or an expected response 

to information which was generated after the previous 

iterarion was completed. The former is called unexpected 

iterarion and the latter is called expected iteration (Smith and 

Eppinger, 1993). Differenriarion between unexpected and 

expected iteration Is increasingly being recognized in design 

management. Browning's (1998) "Intenrional/unintenrional," 

Clauslng's (qtd. in Browning 1998)"disciplined/dysfuncrional," 

' Further information on process modelling in building design can be 

obtained from: Pektaş, Ş.T. (2003) Representing Information Fiow in 

Building Design Process Using the Parameter-based Design Structure 

Matrix. Ph.D. thesis, Bilkent University.

and Ballard's (2000) "positive/negative"categories of iteration 

address the same two types. 

Expected iteration usually results from downstream activities 

(particularly verification and validation activities) revealing 

aspects of upstream activities that must be reworked. 

Typically, some of the design decisions are made even though 

the information needed to complete them fully is not known. 

As this input information becomes available, the tasks are 

repeated and the product comes closer to meeting the design 

specification. Clearly, expected iteration is natural and value- 

laden. On the other hand, unexpected iteration results from 

failure to converge to design requirements. Such insufficiency 

in the design is more likely to occur when specifications and 

objectives are unstable or prone to change. Unexpected 

iterations also arise from new information arriving late in 

the process (caused by out of sequence activities, mistakes, 

miscommunication, etc.) (Smith and Eppinger, 1993). 

Although waste management is very important for conducting 

efficient processes, it is a difficult task. The first step towards 

reducing design waste lies in minimizing unexpected iterations. 

This necessitates ensuring that the right information is available 

atthe righttime inthe process.Therearea number of techniques 

for managing iterations such as the design structure matrix, 

team problem solving, cross functional teams, shared range of 

acceptable solutions, shared incomplete information, reduced 

batch sizes, team pull scheduling, concurrent design, deferred 

commitment, least commitment, set-based vs. point-based 

design, and over design (Ballard, 2000). 

Challenges of Lean Design in Practice 

Lean design theory generated wide interest among 

academicians and in the industry. In order to enable the 

implementation of lean design principles in practice, a design 

management tool called Last Planner was developed in 1990s 

(Koskela et al., 1997). Last Planner is a tool for measuring 

planning system performance. In this system, the person or 

group who conducts planning is called the "Last Planner." 

Planning performance of the Last Planner is measured in 

terms of the amount of percent plan complete (the number 

of planned activities completed divided by the total number 

of planned activities expressed as percentage). It is envisaged 

that analysis of items which did not conform to the plans, 

would help to identify the underlying causes of waste; thus, 

improvement could be made in future performance. 

The Last Planner system was later integrated with Design 

Structure Matrix (DSM) method and the resulting tool was called 

DePlan (Choo et al., 2004). Lean design methods and associated 

tools facilitated for reducing design cycle time, minimizing 

waste and maximizing value in many projects (Koskela et al., 

1997; Koskela 2000; Choo et al., 2004 ). Since advantages of 

lean design have been weil documented in the literature, this 

paper focuses on the challenges. The author of this paper 

did research within the framework of lean design theory and 

implemented two case studies (Pektaş, 2003). The details of 

the case studies were published elsewhere (Pektaş and Pultar, 

2006).The following observations about the challenges of lean 

design in practice has been derived from the author's personal 

experiences and supported by the related literature. Most of 

the issues discussed below derive from the peculiarities ofthe 

construction industry and can be generalized to other design 

management applications as well. 

Koskela (2000) classifies the significant peculiarities of 

construction into three major categories: One-of-a-kind 

nature of building designs, site production, and temporary 

organizations. Unlike manufacturing industry which produces 

millions of products with the same design, construction 

industry ought to produce a unique design for each project 

as a response to different requirements of the clients and 

sites. One-of-a-kind nature of building design increases 

the level of uncertainty and renders process monitoring 

difficult. Construction production is typically conducted on 

the construction site which causes strict dependence on 

the resources of the construction site. This characteristic of 

construction also adds to uncertainty and complexity of 

construction compared to stationary production. Finally, 

a construction project organization is usually a temporary 

organization assembled for the purpose of the particular 

project. It consists of different design professionals who 

have not necessarily worked before. Temporary nature of 

organization also challenges effective design management. 

Koskela (2000) suggests elimination or mitigation of such 

peculiarities In order to get rid of their shortcomings. He

proposes that the most basic solutions to these problems are at 

thesystems level. In ordertoallevlate the problem of uncertainty, 

he recommends optimizing the sequence of design tasks 

using analytical techniques; prefabrication, modularization 

and preassembly to reduce the effect of high variability; 

and procurement strategies -such as the French sequential 

procedure, where there is always one company working on the 

site- to handle difficulties of temporary organization. 

The author of this paper agrees with Koskela (2000} about 

the definition of three peculiarities of construction which 

hinder effective design management. However, the author's 

field studies (Pektaş, 2003} revealed that the challenges ofthe 

construction industry in this respect are not confined to Koskela's 

framework. The following Issues should also be considered. 

Fragmentation of tlie Construction Industry 

The construction industry -unlike other large industries, such 

as the automotive, aerospace, and the electronics industries- 

is fragmented into numerous small organizations. Temporary 

nature of organization In construction projects is one reason 

for fragmentation. Another factor is the growing complexity 

of building processes, which promotes increased professional 

specialization. Specialization is also reinforced by educational 

practices and socio-economic trends that reward excellence 

in ever-narrovv'ing fields. It is observed that the larger 

organizations In other industries have higher profits that enable 

them to invest larger sums of money in design management. 

Furthermore, other industries have a few key organizations 

that can drive a technology to suit their requirements. As a 

result, while several related industries, such as automotive and 

shipbuilding manufacturing, have been relatively successful in 

integrating lean design into their operations, the construction 

Industry continues to fail In this development. 

Lack of a shared Understanding of Objectives, Values, and Processes 

Shared understanding is a mutual view among the design 

participants on relevant design topics and design activities. 

Withoutthis understanding, decisions will not be supported by 

all team members and later activities in the design process can 

be restricted by different views ofthe team members. Having 

a common understanding of information content of design 

entails shared process models. In the construction industry, 

there are no established standard models of design process. 

The situarion of building design process modelling is similar 

to that of building product modelling approximately a decade 

ago. There are several attempts from different sources, but the 

exisring models tend to be incompatible and fragmented. This 

fragmentarion has forced, for example, European Commission 

research bodies to propose integration projects. ICCI 

(Innovation, coordination, transfer and deployment through 

networked Cooperarion in the Construcrion Industry -IST- 

2001-33022) is a clustered project that aims to establish such 

a common platform for process modelling (Rezgui and Zarii, 

2001). However, It seems that the construcrion industry needs 

some more rime to fully agree on a standard model. 

Informal Communications, Invisible Decision f[/laking, and Lack 

of Documentation 

Lean design practices require enormous coordination to 

ensure that all parries are constantly aware of the ever- 

changing status of the project In an attempt to eliminate 

design errors. However, in current processes ofthe building 

design professionals, communications are often informal and 

not documented. The lack of documentarion is a difficulty for 

lean design researchers as well. In the lean design research 

from product and machinery design field, the researchers 

had benefited significantly from the documentation of 

the parriclparing design organizations. However, In similar 

studies from building design field, it was observed that such 

documentarion was very limited, if it existed at all. Moreover, It 

is also evident that in conventional building design practices, 

the communications between design professionals is often at 

such a minimal level that the documents can only provide the 

most basic level of information. Even when the plans reflect 

the design process with absolute accuracy, the decision 

making that led up to specific configurations remain invisible. 

This becomes a significant disadvantage when alternative 

solutions are searched in the process (Pektaş, 2003). 

Cultural Resistance to Design Management 

The increasing complexity of building design processes 

has been forcing design professionals to improve their 

processes in terms of rime and quality. However, systemaric 

design management is still not considered in many building 

projects. This is partly due to the common misconception of 

some designers that design, being a creative process, cannot 

be planned effecrively. Even when planning is done, it is

performed intuitively, ignoring the flow of interdisciplinary 

information. Similarly, relatively little research has been made 

on the management of the design process compared to 

production management in construction. Cultural resistance 

to design management seems to be a persistent barrier 

against lean design practices (Pektaş, 2003). 

Lack of Systems View In Building Design 

Lean design practices promoted a systems view of building 

design. According to systems analysis, a system is an 

assemblage of components formed to serve specific functions 

and subject to constraints. Thus, a system comprises some 

essential and interrelated components. Each component 

contributes to the performance of the system in serving the 

specified functions and the performances of components 

affect each other. A building is a good example for a system 

according to this definition; since, it comprises many essential 

components designed to meet certain needs. Moreover, the 

parts of a building must be fully compatible and are highly 

interdependent (Merrit and Ambrose, 1990). However, author's 

field research revealed that even experienced building design 

professionals lacked for a systems view to building design. 

The participants of the field studies responded to lean design 

theory very positively, because it made them think from a 

systems point of view (Pektaş, 2003). 

Conciusion 

Lean building design is a well-founded theory of building 

design management. Koskela's definition of three views 

of building design provides a sophisticated framework for 

understanding existing design management applications 

in the construction industry. This study explored the "flow 

view" of Koskela's theory and discussed its basic components. 

Although lean design represents a solid theory, it faces several 

challenges in practice. This study contributed to reveal some 

difficulties of building design industry for embracing lean 

design, in addition to Koskela's argument. It Is hoped that 

awareness of the obstacles would facilitate for overcoming 

them. Further research should be done to ensure better 

adaptation of lean design principles in practice. 

References 

BALLARD, G., 2000. Positive vs. negative iteration in design. In 

proceedings ofthe 8th annual conference ofthe international 

group for lean construction, retrieved from http://www.sussex. 

ac.ui

KOSKELA, L, BALLARD, G. andTANHUANPAA,V., 1997. Towards 

lean design management. In proceedings ofthe 5th annual 

conference ofthe international group for lean construction, 

retrieved from http://web.bham.ac.Uk/d.j.crook/lean/iglc5/ 

lauri/lauri.htm 

LEAN AEROSPACE INITIATIVE (LAI), 2007. Lean aerospace 

initiative web site, retrieved from http://lean.mit.edu 

LEAN CONSTRUCTION INSTITUTE (LCI), 2007. The lean 

construction institute web site, retrieved from http://www. 

leanconstruction.org 

MERRITT, F. S. and AMBROSE, J., 1990. Building engineenng 

and systems design. New York: Van nostrand reinhold 

PEKTAŞ, Ş.T., 2003. Representing information fiow in building 

design process using the parameter-based design structure 

matrix. Ph.D. thesis, Bilkent University. 

PEKTAŞ, Ş. T. and PULTAR, M., 2006. Modelling detailed 

information flows in building design with the parameter- 

based design structure matrix. Design studies, 27 (1), 99-122 

REZGUI, Y andZARLI, A., 2001. Information and communication 

technology advances in the European construction industry. 

Electronic journal of information technology in construction 

(ITcon), retrieved from http://www.itcon.Org/2001/7/ 

ROUNCE, G., 1998. Quality, waste and cost considerations in 

architectural building design. International journal of project 

management, 16 (2), 123-127 

SMITH, R. R and EPPINGER, S. D., 1993. Characteristics and 

models of iteration in engineenng design, retrieved from 

http;//www.citeseer.nj.nec.com/ 476788.html

C U L T U R A L P R O D U C T D E S I G N 

Dr. İrini Pitsakİ 

Abstract 

The paper emphasizes that the understanding of design 

ought not to be limited to contemporary specialties ofdesign, 

seeing as professions and conceptions of design are evolving 

steadily with social and technological advances. In order to 

introduce the new concept of cultural product design, design Is 

considered as a process undertaken by cultural organizations, 

such as museums and publishing houses. 

A cultural product can be defined as any product that arises 

out of a creative and/or intellectual act and then is exhibited or 

reproduced in multiple copies and offered to concrete markets 

- audiences. Some examples of cultural products are: books 

or book series, painting exhibits, theatre performances and 

multimedia productions.This is a general definition that may be 

adapted to suit an organizational -profit and non profit- context 

and broadened if we assume a marketing perspective, wherein 

a product is defined as a set of benefits that the consumer 

perceives through consumption. According to this description, 

a cultural product Is a set of tangible and intangible benefits 

perceived by someone who reads a book, sees a film, or visits 

an art exhibit. 

In any organizational or business context, design is at the heart 

of product development. If we conceive ofthis as a process, 

and if we agree that a product is a composite of benefits, as 

marketing suggests, we can then argue that in the case of 

cultural products, design consists of conceptualizing and 

projecting onto material "forms" the composite of benefits 

that a person perceives through the acts of reading or viewing 

an art exhibit. Here, we adopt a notion whereby design is a 

process of projection that employs technical elements in 

the creation of material forms that may be handled and/or 

viewed. These forms may be written documents, images or 

objects through which ideas, intentions, values, or messages 

are projected. We understand design, then, as a process of 

tangible or intangible product prefiguration, and as a means 

for activating the perception of a composite of benefits. It 

is, in other words, a channel that carries an acquired cultural 

experience. The design of a cultural product, then, must be 

carried out in a manner that carefully considers when, where, 

and how it will be offered to the public, as weil as the specific 

circumstances of its consumption. 

Several "existent" concepts of design will be reviewed to 

explicate the study's take on the meaning of cultural product 

design. More specifically, by taking the publishing house as 

an example, the aim is to define the distinct specialties of 

modern design therein as follows: publishing graphic design, 

service design, experience design, and cultural design. Finally, 

cultural product design emerges as a process that combines 

these design and product concepts. 

Cultural Product Definition 

In the literature of cultural studies, the concept ofthe cultural 

product is determined through a perspective of art and its 

marketing.' There are numerous definitions that vary in the 

marketing criteria established for product classification, or 

the artistic-creative dimension of the disciplines out of which 

cultural products arise. What exactly do we mean by creation 

or artl In 1989 the United States Congress, and in 1993 the 

Art Committee of Great Britain defined the term "Arts" as (Hill 

O'Sullivan C. and O'Sullivan T, 1995:1): 

' "Cultural marketing can be summarized as a process of determining 

which ofthe cultural products, services or ideas offered are demanded 

by specific market; establishing certain quantifiable marketing 

objectives; developing a cultural product for which there is demand; 

communicating and distributing the cultural product; determining 

whether the objectives have been met"(Codina Mejon J., Cristobal 

Fransi E., Torzon Jahansson A., 2004:125-6).

The term of Arts includes, but is not limited to, music 

(instrumental and vocal), dance, drama, folk art, 

creative writing, architecture and allied fields, painting, 

sculpture, photography,graphicandcraftarts, industnai 

design, costume and fashion design, motion pictures, 

television, radio, tape and sound recording, the arts 

related to the presentation, performance, execution of 

such major arts forms, and the study and application 

ofthe arts to human environment (Art Committee of 

Great Britain: 1993). 

According to this definition, and from a cultural marketing 

perspective, experts in the field seem to agree that "cultural 

products are products that derive from a creative and/or 

intellectual act (P. Colbert & M. Cuadrado, 2003: 17). On the 

other hand, the prestigious scholars Phillip Kotler and K.L 

Keller (2003; 3-4) affirm that a product may be any good, 

service, expenence or idea that individuals can value, acquire, 

experience, or possess. By combining these beliefs with the 

findings of Hill E., O'Sullivan C. and O'Sullivan T. we can come 

up with a few examples of cultural products; a dance ortheatre 

piece, a book in a book senes, a painting exhibit, a movie or a 

television program. 

From an analogous perspecrive, C. Lorenzo Romero and 

M. R Martinez Ruiz (A.i. Jimenez Zarco, 2004; 207), suggest 

that products may be classified into three major groups, 

depending on their tangibility or intangibility: physical good, 

service or idea. The borders between these three categories 

are often blurred, and the product ends up being understood 

as the composite offering of benefits; an offering that emerges 

as an amalgam of these three concepts. In other words, 

though it may be possible to separate goods by classifying 

them as material goods or services, these concepts co-exist 

and interact in most products. The same occurs with cultural 

products: although some come closerto the idea of a service ~ 

for example a theatrical work or an exhibit - others, because of 

their mediums and formats, are more comparable to material 

goods, such as CDs and books. 

Now let's take a closer look at the example of books. The 

book is, in part, an object that may be acquired. However, its 

Intangible dimension is always Its more important aspect. 

A good book contains a good written work In it, which may 

provide enjoyment, knowledge, or reflect!on.The major benefit 

perceived by a book's "consumer" is the act of reading; when 

we buy a book, we buy moments of reading. In this sense, the 

generic definition of a product in the marketing wodd, as a 

"set of benefits perceived by the consumer" (F. Colbert and M. 

Cuadrado 2003: 45), seems easily applicable and well-suited 

to cultural products. What the public perceives through the 

consumption of a cultural product Is largely a set of intangible 

benefits, which are Impossible to possess without the 

experience acquired. The significance ofthe co-existence of 

this Intangible dimension leads to a new viewpoint whereby 

cultural products seem like true experiences or services. 

With respect to the rest of products, there are four basic 

attributes^ that qualify cultural products and highlight their 

unique nature. According to Hill E., O'Sullivan C. and O'Sullivan 

T.{1995:102-03), these are: 

a) intangibility (any cultural product is, for the most part, a 

service and an experience, something intangible) 

b) heterogeneity (the product Is different every rime It Is 

offered, just as people's individual experiences are) 

c) simultaneity in the producrion and consumprion of the 

good (services are offered while they are "being consumed" 

by individuals), and 

d) ephemera (if one is not in the right place at the right rime, 

for example, at an opera performance. It is impossible to 

acquire the experience). 

To this list of attributes Grande (1996) adds one more item: 

the impossibility of possession. A cultural product such as a 

theatrical work or art exhibit cannot be possessed or stored. 

Like Hill E., O'Sullivan C. and O'Sullivan T., Grande (1996) 

sees cultural institutions -such as museums- as service 

organizarions and "suggests classifying services related to 

sports, the arts and entertainment according to the system 

established bythe American Marketing Association (1985). It 

^ in the sense of:"Quaiity or property". Real Academia Espanola. (1992). 

Diccionario de la Lengua Espanola. (21^ ed.) Madrid: Espasa Calpe.

is difficult to define a museum's"service"because the museum 

experience includes not only the objects themselves but also 

how they are presented and interpreted, as well as the physical 

characteristics ofthe building. All of those factors affect the 

visitor's perception" (Codina Mejon J., Cristobal Fransi E., 

Torzon Jahansson A., 2004:127). 

Another way of describing cultural products is by examining 

how an artistic and/or intellectual work originates a good to 

be offered to the market, along with the roles that cultural 

organizations^ play in their interactions with them and their 

creators. The question we arrive at, then, is how, and under 

what circumstances, are these works deemed as products? 

Cultural organizations adopt different"roles and functions that 

address everything from the product's design, production and 

reproductiontoitsdistribution, maintenance, and conservation" 

{Colbert F. and Cuadrado M., 2003: 17). Addressing cultural 

products from a company perspective is quite different from 

referring to an author's work, or what the creator originally 

offers. Organizations are the creators of cultural products in 

the sense that they gather the intellectual and artistic work 

and present it to the public in an appropriate way. 

We can easily see how this belief applies to the concrete case of 

publishing. The purpose of a publishing house Is to make the 

work, or the text, appropriate for circulation in the publishing 

market. "The graphic arts and publishing sector is made up of 

companies that carry out the various operations necessary to 

transform a creative work into a fabricated product ready for 

distribution" (VV.AA., 1997:101). A novel, for example, may be 

written independently and personally, based on the author's 

criterion. But the publishing house can give it shape and 

include it in a book series developed for a specific readership. 

The work (the novel) then becomes a product with multiple 

additional aspects that complement what its creator originally 

produced. These attributes may be tangible (format and 

publishing graphic design) or intangible (associated values, 

i.e. brand values). For example, the work may acquire values 

^ Throughout the study, the words company, corporation and 

organization are used synonymously. For the context of the cultural 

industries, the word organization is considered more suitable, 

because it includes non - profit institutions. 

that derive from the corporate image'' ofthe publisher or book 

series in which it appears, just as a painting may obtain added 

symbolic values when it is exhibited in a prestigious museum 

as opposed to an unknown art gallery.Thus, In cultural product 

launches, the use of brand strategy has a catalyzing function: 

the presence ofthe brand makes the product less abstract, an 

in some way, "tangible." Because ofthis, corporate and product 

brand strategies are very useful in the case of cultural products. 

Another important role for the cultural organization is that of 

intermediary between the creator and the market. In this case, 

the objective is giving the work access to the widest possible 

audience, or to a smaller but specialized group, Diggles (1986), 

as well as other authors in the field of cultural marketing (i.e. 

Mokway (1980), Reiss (1984), or Melillo (1983)) affirm that for a 

company"the principal objective is to give the right number of 

people the right kind of contact with the artist, and do it in such 

a way that produces the best possible result compatible with 

the object at hand." In this sense, what the company does is 

invite the public to get to know and appreciate a work. Diggles' 

argument holds within it some key ideas: organizations are not 

only intermediaries that manage the relationship between 

creators with their audiences; rather, in this process, they are 

actually responsible for ensuring that this contact is carried out 

in such a way that allows the individual to appreciate the work. 

In other words, the company is responsible for achieving what 

the creator set out to do with the original work. 

Generally speaking, organizations can play different roles as 

they adapt the works for presentation as products in the market. 

These roles vary by the situation and the degree to which the 

author takes advantage of the structures and advantages that 

the organizations provide. Other influential factors may include 

the company's size, structure, activity and function. If we apply 

this argument to the publishing world, we realize that large 

Here we refer to corporative identity and corporative image, brand 

identity and brand image. How are they different?!...} identity is what 

we emit (what we are and what we declare we are), whereas image is 

a perceived message (how they see us, how those manifestations are 

perceived and evaluated by a series of audiences or target groups). 

In other words, identity is a set of manifestations, whereas image is a 

set of perceptions (Arranz, J.C, 1997: 29).

corporate publishing houses and small or independent ones face 

very different circumstances. The former can use forms of mass 

communication and promote its w/orks through mediums like 

television and radio. They may also use international distribution 

networks to contact foreign publishers and promote translation 

and commercialization of the work in different languages and 

countries. In this case, the potenrial market to which a company 

directs itself is considerably greater than that which a small 

independent publishing house can cater to.To conclude, we may 

corroborate with Colbert F. and Cuadrado M. (2003:41) in that the 

definirions ofthe concept ofthe product may be arrived at from 

different perspectives and "different business strategy positions." 

The Design Perspective 

In the previous secrions, we have affirmed that cultural 

organizarions are responsible for the development of cultural 

products. In other words, they are the ones who prepare and 

appropriately gather works to later offer to the market On 

the other hand, in any business context design is at the heart 

of product development Thus we may pose the following 

quesrion: What role does it play in the case of a cultural 

product? To answer this question, we must describe product 

design and examine how it applies in this specific case. 

Product design is the activity of creating all kinds of products 

and must be recognized as an extension of industrial design: 

while industrial design concerns physical goods, product 

design lies within the area of the design of any product be 

it tangible (objects) or intangible (services). This manner of 

categorizing products helps us clarify the relationship between 

industrial design and product design. Let's take a closer look 

at the nature of design in each case. 

"The concept of industrial design was initially developed by 

Mart Stam in 1948. Stam understood industrial designers to 

be those project developers who worked for the industrial 

segments in any field, but particularly in the creation of new 

elements and materials" (B. Bürdek, 2002: 16). These "new 

elements and materials" referred to production goods and 

industrial components. The concept of industrial design then 

evolved to mean the activity out of which physical products 

arise, i.e. objects, generally recognized as material or consumer 

goods.Thus, industrial design was understood as the process of 

creation of tangible and manageable goods, later focusing on 

their communicative functions: "Horst Oehlke (1978) responded 

to product communication theory by noting that the creation of 

an object did not merely refer to its parts that are perceptible to 

the senses; rather, the creator ought to also address the resources 

that can sarisfy the needs of groups or Individuals". Ten years later, 

a composite approach to design was developed that included 

three dimensions: "practical and/or instrumental urillty, social 

communication and sensorial perception" (B. Bürdek, 2002:16). 

Another key aspect is that the concept of design in general, 

and industrial design in parricular, was soon linked to serial 

production and mass consumption: 

"Industrial design is, basically, 'the operarion of conceiving, 

devising and developing an object independently ofthe means 

that will later give it expression, and before commencing its 

productionün this sense,theterm industrial, linked to theconcept 

of design, limits its applications to the conception of objects for 

their serial industrial production. For this reason, the concept of 

Industrial design is intimately ried to the Industrial Revolution, 

and moreover, to the concepts of serial and mass production. 

Among the numerous exisring definitions of industrial design, 

we will discuss the one used by the international Council of 

Industrial Design, based on the ideas of Tomas Maldonado. 

According to the international Council, industrial design involves 

coordinating. Integrating and articulating all the factors that in 

some way or another participate in the constitutive process of 

the formation of an industrial product within the condirions 

that determine the conditions of production in a given society'" 

(J.M. Ibariez Gimeno, 2000:2). However, products are not always 

objects; they can also be services or experiences, as is the case 

of cultural products. Thus, design, as part of its development 

does not exactly correspond to the definition provided above, 

because the nature ofthe product is not limited to its material 

characterisrics. In these cases, we use the term product design, 

which, in this study, denotes a concept broader than that of 

industrial design^ 

Ôften, in the existing bibliography, the term product design is linked 

to physical products, which further shows that the conception of this 

term is broader than that of industrial design.

From an analogous perspective, various academics focus on 

evaluating how design interacts with development processes 

for products similar to cultural products. Specifically, Bil! and 

Gillian Hollins wor!

that design and marketing collaborate to make experiences at 

bookstores or art exhibits completely unique and memorable. 

Below we'll analyze the concept of experience design applied 

in the case of cultural products and, more specifically, books. 

Publishing paradigms will also be used for another interesring 

specialty, that of cultural design, in short, to approach the 

concept of cultural product design, we'll introduce the different 

design concepts applicable to a publishing house; concepts 

currenriy accepted and defined by design scholars, and which 

give rise to the new composite concept of cultural product 

design, and consequently, to a new space for reflection upon 

the discipline of design. 

TOWARDSTHE CONCEPT OF CULTURAL PRODUCT DESIGN: 

Design in the Publishing House 

Publishing Graphic Design 

Graphic design is the specialty of design most widely 

recognized in today's publishing wodd, in the sense that its 

communicative function is well perceived. It deals mainly with 

the act of handling and adjusring the formal aspects ofthe 

written works; in other words, devising the transformarion of a 

text into a book. Publishing graphic design "visually organize" 

the text "in a way that sarisfies the intenrion for which it has 

been created" (A. Calvera, 1997:84).The designer"uses various 

graphic elements" such as "typefaces, the control ofthe space, 

the chromatic system and its synergy, the capaclries of the 

image and the potential of style", using his"expressive capacity 

to serve a communicative objective"(A. Calvera, 1997:90), that 

of reproducing and transmitring the work to the readers. 

Today, according to the modern conceprion ofthe profession, 

publishing graphic designers handle the cover and the 

interior, that is "the projection of the book as object, therefore 

working with formatring, paper type, the color ofthe text in 

relarion to the color of the paper, the binding, the seiecrion 

of the typefaces according to the content of the book, the 

definition of the extension of the text with respect to the 

page, the positioning ofthe page numbers, the margins, the 

visual character of the illustrations or photographs that will 

accompany the text, etc." (B. Munari, 1983: 33). However, the 

communicative and aesthetic functions of graphism have 

pracrically monopolized the interest of designers, editors, and 

scholars. A publishing graphic designer, then, is expected to 

resolve the issues of aesthetics - expressed through graphism 

- related to the content of the work, such as typographic 

structure and the comfort of reading. Ron Costley^ an English 

designer for the publishing houses Scolae Press, Chatto & 

Windus, and currenriy with Faber & Faber explains: 

My primary concern Is to present the text in the simplest 

possible way, such that the reader can directly access 

the author's text without being interrupted by my 

intervenrion. When I design a book, I try to structure 

the text with the typographic repertoire at my disposal 

but without any element beyond what is necessary (R. 

Hendel:105). 

As Ron Costley notes, aside from payirig attention to the 

simplicity of graphism, before making any decisions, the 

publishing graphic designer must reflect on several key 

aspects ofthe work: 

- "Origin: If the work comes from an author, or if It is a 

publishing idea, translarion or adaptation. 

- Type: if it Is a work of literary, journalistic, scientific, 

educarional, humorous, or scholarly nature, etc. 

- Function: if it is for mass distribution, for educarional, 

professional or didacric purposes, or reference material. 

- Characteristics of content: if it will include graphs, tables or 

pictures; if the size and the quantity of images is important; if 

the amount of text requires special consideration, etc. 

- Type of reader: if the reader belongs to certain cultural, 

social or professional group. 

- Reading styles: if it is meant to be read once, or consulted 

mulriple rimes; If will be taken to school or on trips; or if it Is 

meant to be enjoyed in the comfort of one's own home" {L. 

Mazzalomo, 2002:147), 

Publishing graphic design is, then, a process that helps shape 

a work based on text - or combined with images and sound, 

in the case of mulrimedia publicarions - with the composite 

elements' communicative funcrions In mind; in other words, 

the typeface, the illustrations, or the blank spaces. Similarly, 

'Ron Costley has been interviewed for this research.

the publishing graphic designer ought to consider: a) the kind 

of reader (who will read it?) and b) the kind of reading (how 

and when will the book be consulted?) 

Book design was always seen through the lens of graphic 

design, mainly due to its use of paper as a medium and its 

connection with typography. However, book design is much 

more than publishing graphic design, which by definition 

encompasses only two dimensions. Really, a book is a complex 

three-dimensional form. It is an information medium as well 

as an object. And above all, it is a product that stands out for 

its cultural character. A book designer is more than a graphic 

designer; he or she must make decisions regarding the book-as- 

object (industrial design), or the book-as-information-medium 

(information design), and the book as experience (cultural 

product design). We may conclude, therefore, that aside from 

graphic design, there are other design specialties that may 

be perfectly applicable In the case of books and publishing 

products in general. We'll now turn to look at some of these, 

in order to arrive at a definition of the concept of cultural- 

publishing product design borne out of a broader design 

perspective. 

Service Design 

In recent years, service companies have radically multiplied, as 

a result ofthe introduction of digital technologies and the use 

ofthe internet as a business platform, among other reasons. 

Consequently, design, with regard to service marketing and 

management, has caught the attention of many professionals 

and academics. Bill Hollins, Professor of the University of 

Westminster observes: 

"Services are products. Products need to be designed. 

Design is a process. This process must be organized. 

This organization isthejob of management" (G. Hollins, 

B. Hollins, 1991:3). 

Services are comparable to manufactured products. They 

should be designed with regard to their dual nature: "tangible 

and intangible. It can involve artifacts and other things 

including communication, environment and behaviors" (B. 

Hollins, 2005:1). Philip Kotler (1986) defines services thusly: 

"A service is any activity or benefit that one party can 

give to another that Is essentially intangible and does 

not result In the ownership of anything. Its production 

may or may not be tied to a physical product"(G. Hollins, 

B, Hollins, 1991:7). 

As we found above according to a cultural marketing 

perspective, and depending on theirtanglbility or intangibility, 

cultural products tend to be seen predominantly as services. 

A painting exhibit is in itself an intangible product, because 

it involves the entire experience valued as a benefit; in other 

words, the visit, the museum environment, the originality of 

the work, and the knowledge acquired, among other factors. 

One may argue, therefore, that service design attempts to 

determine what the service is, and in some ways, embodies 

the essence ofthe cultural product. Even so, a large part of 

what is perceived through attending an exhibit is tangible: the 

paintings, the exhibit catalogues, the museum building. This 

is because in reality, the three cited categories (physical good, 

service and idea) tend to blur in such a way that the product 

is ultimately defined by the offering of benefits provided 

through the combination of all three factors. 

It follows, then, that service is a weighty component of any 

product. This assertion brings us to a new dimension of service 

design: that which takes into consideration the manner in which 

a productwIllbeofferedtothepublic.The introduction of brands 

in the commercial world, and the need to create a positive image 

for them, have made "how" a good (tangible and/or intangible) 

is offered a basic concern for companies. "Service design can be 

applied at all these stages where customers interact with the 

organization" (B. Hollins, 2005:4), and the quality ofthe service 

according to Berry, Zeithm! and Parasuraman (1990) depends 

on five parameters related to design: 

- "Tangible dimension - the appearance of physical facilities. 

- Reliability - the ability to perform the promised. 

- Responsiveness - the willingness to help customers and to 

provide prompt service. 

- Assurance - the knowledge and courtesy ofthe employees 

and their ability to convey trust and confidence. 

- Empathy - the provision of caring, individualized attention 

to customers" (B. Hollins, 2005: 27-28).

Thus, service design in the case of books, aside from the 

cultural product dimension, ought to consider the routes of 

distnbution (how the book comes to the reader), the quality 

of the packaging (in what state), the commercial labor 

(which books, and what information on them is distributed 

to bookstores), the role of the booksellers (what they know 

about the work and how they serve the customer), and the 

details of informative magazines or personalized services for 

club members, in service design, therefore, the responsibilities 

of the editor, marketing director, sales director, and other 

publishing professionals, all come together. The needs, 

approaches, and levels of responsibility that everyone involved 

has in service design, will all change depending on the type 

of book or book series, the organizational structure and the 

distnbution channel chosen. 

Experience Design 

Here, the book is examined as an expenence, in the sense of 

"the set of benefits obtained"through acquiring and reading a 

book.What onebuysin a bookstore or in a newsstand is, more 

than anything, a new and sought-out experience. Therefore, 

new cultural product design and markering ought to carefully 

consider the conditions ofthe product's consumprion: Where, 

when, and how will the work be read? In this sense, publishing 

product design becomes experience design. 

Ralph Ardill (2004:1-3) defines experience design as; 

"Experience design is therefore driven by consideration 

of the moments of engagement between people 

and brands, and the memories these moments 

create. Experience design is not driven by a single 

design discipline but instead requires a truly cross- 

discipline perspective that considers all aspects of the 

brand/business - from product, packaging and retail 

environment to the clothing and attitude of employees. 

Brands that deliver great customer experiences also 

reward the customers for time, money, energy and 

emotions they invest In transacting with them above 

and beyond the delivery oftheir products and services. 

For instance, consider the task of redesigning a Sunday 

newspaper. A conventional approach might be to 

employ graphic designers who would change the page 

layout and typeface and make recommendations on 

how photos should be shot. However, if the redesign 

were to use an experiential approach, the experience 

designer would first consider the 'moments' of 

engagement of buying the paper and reading it. How 

is it bought or delivered? How is It read and disposed 

of? What does the reader like and dislike about 'using' 

the newspaper? Such an approach is more likely to lead 

to a radical and market-bearing innovation". 

Ardill proposes that a basic funcrion of experience design is to 

guarantee to the highest degree that contact with the product 

and brands will generate value. Like Kevin Lane Keller (2003: 

13), Ralph Ardill believes that value resides in - and depends 

on - the memory ofthe individual, and, in this specific case, 

on the memory ofthe experience acquired, along with his or 

her previous experiences with the same brand. As an integral 

part ofthe product development, experience design attempts 

to make this memory a positive and favorable one. Thus, the 

product and/or brand are understood as an open system that 

interacts with its environment and with individuals, in order 

to suggest a lifestyle to them, and to create solid and long- 

lasring relarionships with them. 

Other terms surrounding experience design are: "Customer 

experience design, experienriai design, brand experience" 

(Ralph Ardill, 2005: 1), emotional markering and aesthetic 

marketing. If we consider design as a process that produces 

physical results, we will come to understand experience design 

as an element that generates sensory experiences (visual, 

acoustic, tactile and olfactory). For a product or brand, sensorial 

experiencedesign isa meansofcreatingaestheticvalue, because 

"aesthetics is one ofthe main factors of satisfaction in the world 

of consumers"(B. Schmitt, A. Simonson, 1998:42). In their work, 

these authors introduce the term "aesthetic marketing" to refer 

to "the commercialization of sensorial experiences offered by 

the corporation or the brand," experiences that contribute to 

the crearion oftheir image (B. Schmitt, A. Simonson, 1998:39). 

They also argue that aesthetics is of great importance for brands 

because it generates loyalty, justifies high prices, and helps 

highlight the product or brand among a zoo of information, 

protect it against attacks from the competition, and guide 

productivity (B. Schmitt, A. Simonson, 1998:42-44).

The graphic aesthetic value of books Is a factor that editors 

very much appreciate, though it is often reduced to a general 

concern with the cover and the differentiating effect that it 

may have at the point of sale. Graphic design contributes 

to the understanding of sensorial experience design in 

publishing, but it needn't be limited to this aspect alone. The 

reader's sensorial experience begins the moment he or she 

enters a bookstore, and ends when he or she has read and 

bought the book, and placed it on the bookshelves at home. 

Sensorial experience design encompasses everything from the 

bookstore's interior design and smell, to selecting the paper 

by focusing the sensation that it will produce upon touch, or 

the sound the pages will make when turned. 

On the other hand, we must pay attention to factors other than 

the desired aesthetic experience: factors including everything 

from the bookseller's behavior and recommendations to the 

moment in which the book is read. With respect to these 

instances, we may argue that, unlike other cultural products, 

books have particular qualities that must be considered. A 

book is normally not readjust once, or in places predetermined 

by the editor, as is the case with theatrical works, which are 

viewed for two consecutive hours in an environment chosen 

by its creators.This idea is applicable in the case of book series, 

in which the experience acquired transpires throughout the 

course of time, with total irregularity. Even so, the reading 

experience designer ought to consider the various possible 

conditions of consumption that may be pertinent, seeing 

as, for example, the conditions surrounding reading a novel 

and a guide book will differ considerably. Let's look at some 

examples. 

I recall a student in a postgraduate publishing course at the 

University of Barcelona who designed a book series of short 

novels to be read in the bath. The idea arose out of thinking 

about how and where they would read; not by predetermining 

certain characteristics of the content, as is customary. The 

chosen texts, materials, and techniques had to be suited to the 

occasion, and the printing inks had to be impermeable. Another 

example of experience design, rather more conventional, is 

that of pocket edition design. This format evolved based on 

the type and the moment of reading; the product had to be 

light, small, and manageable. Both the texts and the materials 

had to suit "how" and "where" the book would be read. 

To sum up, we can state that experience design may apply 

when product design pays special attention to the conditions 

surrounding how the publishing product will be bought and 

read, The publishing house must evaluate how it can invest In 

the total experience ofthe reader, by, for example, selecting the 

book's materials or creating a pleasant shopping environment. 

However, we must note that this experience is pre-established 

by the content, seeing as the aesthetic perception of the text 

or the enjoyment that the plot provides are always the most 

important factors and are very often treated as the central 

aspects of the experience. Therefore, although these factors 

are determined by the author, and not the company, they play 

a role in the design, and must be taken into account during 

product development. 

Cultural Design 

The term cultural design was introduced Into the academic 

arena by Francesco Mauri, Professor at the Polytechnic 

University of Milan. He used the term to define the manner 

in which design interacts with the culture' of a certain place. 

The concept of cultural design arose out of architectural 

studies and was initially associated with the idea that any 

city can be interpreted as a culturally complex organism 

that produces and consumes culture to ensure Its survival (L. 

Brenna, 2002:5). 

According to cultural design scholars, this provides a way of 

thinking about and approaching a city as a cultural system. 

' According to Real Academia Dictionary, culture is "the set of 

behaviours, customs, knowledge and the degree of artistic, scientific 

and industrial development, of an epoque or social group. UNESCO 

(1982) defines culture as "the set of the distinguishing spiritual 

and material characteristics that characterizes a society or a social 

group. It includes, in addition to the arts and the letters, lifestyle, 

fundamental human rights, value systems, traditions and beliefs". 

And the British Encyclopaedia describes it as: "the integral reason 

for human knowledge, beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, 

tools, techniques, art works, rituals, related ceremonies and other 

components. Cultural development depends on the human capacity 

to acquire and transmit knowledge in successive generations" (Luigi 

Brenna, 2002).

Design is: project (vision); culture (the source ofthe project's 

content); interpretation and communication (which makes 

the thought visible); an interdisciplinary project (which 

creates synergies between different cultural agents); creativity 

(which innovates and fosters attraction); and strategy (which 

brings coherence to the project) (L Brenna, 2003: 1). Thus, 

cultural design may be defined as an instrument for cultural 

progress, whose objective is to improve the quality of life 

for the individuals thereof. In order to do so, it is founded on 

the culture of such individuals, and uses culture itself as the 

source of innovation. Another concern of cultural design is 

the improvement of natural resources and the appropnate 

application of technology in different social contexts. Other 

definitions surrounding the concept of cultural design are: 

design for democracy, user-centered design, and social design 

(CCD, 2004). 

We may add that cultural design is design that draws on 

the culture ofthe context in which it is developed, with the 

ultimate goal of improving It. From a publishing perspective, 

under which publishing was always considered a process that 

generates culture, we may argue that cultural design is an 

activity that supports this mission. 

"The publishing business has had, from its ongin,a deep 

involvement with the cultural wodd, an identification 

that continues to exist. But in recent years publishers 

have increasingly seen the complexity and importance 

of the tasks associated with aspects of economics and 

business management. Although this duality of the 

role of the publisher, as both businessman and cultural 

agent, may sometimes lead to situations of conflict, it 

is in fact the responsibility of each publisher to obtain 

the balance between cultural promotion and lucrative 

business "(P. Hoyuela Sanchez, 1997:9). 

Cultural design allows forthe preservation of balance proposed 

by P. Hoyuela Sanchez; new product design is a commercial 

activity with profit objectives, while its cultural character 

provides the necessary concern to continue working towards 

human progress. Cultural design in publishing means that In 

launching a new book series, the cultural context in which 

it will be introduced must be considered, and the decisions 

made must manifest the intent to improve it. 

Cultural-Publishing Product Design 

In this section we'll examine several key ideas introduced 

throughout the text. These ideas will help to clarify the concept 

of cultural product design in general, and In publishing 

products particularly. To begin, recall that we defined cultural 

products as those goods that derive from a creative act. Under 

this approach, design may be understood as an activity that 

develops through paying special attention to the creative and 

intellectual character of the product being commercialized. 

Other factors that ought to be considered are the authors' 

objectives, as well as the role the organization decides to play 

regarding the authors and their creations. Amidst all this, from 

a cultural studies perspective, cultural product design may be 

defined as the process of adjusting artistic and/or intellectual 

works for their presentation to the public and their market 

circulation. 

Similarly, we defined products as the sets of benefits obtained 

by the public through their consumption. However, in its own 

discipline, design is considered as a project-onented process 

in which technical elements are used in the creation of 

material forms, which are then susceptible to being managed 

and/or visualized. We may therefore affirm that in the case of 

cultural products, design consists of pre-conceiving the set of 

tangible and intangible benefits that the reader or an exhibit 

visitor will receive through reading a book or attending an 

exhibit, and creating ways to project these onto the material 

forms accordingly. In general, cultural product design must be 

carried out by considering what, when, where, and how the 

product will be offered, as well as how it will be consumed. 

We'll now turn our attention to publishing products, seeing as 

we are addressing cultural products and their design adapts 

the concept described above. Another way of approaching 

cultural product design, or the benefits developed in a 

publishing house, would be to focus on the combination of 

the different specialties analyzed: publishing graphic design, 

service design, experience design and cultural design. These 

specialties are associated with the responses to one or many 

of the basic questions presented in the previous paragraph. 

More specifically, experience design responds tothe questions 

ofwhat, when, and where. Service design is concerned with 

how the product will be offered and consumed, and graphic

design allows for the determination of the product as an 

object and as a means of communication. 

This order manifests the similarities between the specialties, 

and highlights their interdisciplinary nature. If we try to 

think outside the limits of the current conception of design 

specialties, we may ask: Who designs a new cultural product? 

Ardill and Hollins, as well as it is generally accepted in design 

discipline, argue that an interdisciplinary team is responsible 

for product development. This team in the case of publishing 

products, depending on the size of the company and the 

demands of the project, is made up of editors, authors, 

graphic designers, sales managers, and marketing and 

communications specialists. On the other hand, in a small 

publishing house, this responsibility would fall solely on the 

editor and the graphic designer. 

We can now highlight several of the characteristics of 

publishing products design: 

1. Creation of dual nature products: tangible and intangible. 

Publishing products may be considered tangible if we 

consider the mediums used (object, book, or CD-Rom), and 

intangible, if we consider the benefits perceived through 

reading (experience, knowledge, enjoyment). 

2. Creativity and innovation:^ it Is a process based on both 

logical approaches and intuition. Its objective is to create a 

productthat did not exist before. 

3. Complexity: it demands experience and knowledge In 

different disciplines and areas. It involves making decisions 

on, and by way of, various parameters. 

4. Analysis: Throughout the design process, a solid vision of 

the product as a whole, as well as each of its components, 

must be maintained continuously. 

5. Organization: it coordinates the mediums and the persons 

fit to achieve the best possible result. 

6. Systemic approach: it follows and adapts to a system. 

7. Interdisciplinarity: it involves many different specialties. 

8. Problem-solving: such as a previously un-addressed need 

or the malfunction of an existing product. The grounding 

^This enumeration of design characteristics is in line with what B. 

Borja de Mozota (2003:5) describes. 

principle of new product design is that of the detection of a 

problem In the market. 

9. Decision-making, on all levels of publishing. 

10. Culture generation: due to the cultural character of 

the products, but also because the process itself generates 

knowledge (because one learns by doing, and because many 

different professionals work collaboratively). 

11. New experiences generation. Design directs the experience 

acquired through reading. It also modifies the experience that 

the reader will have with respect to the publishing house and 

the bookstore. 

12. Services improvement: it allows for thinking about what 

is offered globally. It contemplates the product beyond the 

possession of an object and the private experience of reading. 

13.Visibility ofthe publishing house culture: it gives it physical 

shape (visual identity) and symbolic shape (brand value), 

which the publishing house hopes to project onto the public. 

Enumerating these characteristics signifies an approach 

towards the publishing process, focused on a design 

perspective. The application of scientific-technical knowledge 

of design, and a designer's way of thinking, help publishing 

specialists conceive ofthe project more openly, and In ways 

that transcend the traditional vision of an object with a 

communicative mission, adopted in this case by Mazzalomo. 

Design must not be seen as a simple means of communication, 

but rather as a process that generates experiences that have 

been pre-configured by the editor and the team. In general, 

establishing similarities between the process of publishing 

and design leads to reflection and promotes the improvement 

of publishing practices. 

Conclusion 

The concept of cultural product design emerges as a 

combination of the following, currently recognized design 

specialties: product design, graphic design, service design, 

experience design and cultural design. From this combination 

we may arrive at the following conclusions: 

1, Cultural products have tangible, intangible, service-related, 

and experiential dimensions. 

2. They depend on the cultural context in which they are 

developed, and at the same time, they generate culture.

3.They are sets of benefits that may be perceived by the public 

through the creation of the appropriate material forms. Thus 

they encompass various forms that go beyond the product 

itself, and that modify the consumer's perception. In the case 

of books, this might be a bookstore intenor; in the case of art, 

the museum structure. 

4. Throughout the entire process of cultural product design, 

the public perception must be taken into account. In short, it 

is necessary to approach the acquired experience, value, and 

utility that the consumption ofthe cultural product addresses. 

5. Product design, in this case, may be defined as a total 

process: it begins in the preliminary research phases, in which 

the market Is explored, and a need detected, and continues into 

the phases of production, valuation, and possible redesign. 

6. Cultural product design ought to be viewed as an 

interdisciplinary process, earned out by different professionals, 

depending on the demands ofthe project and the structure of 

the organization. 

Design is conceived as an interdisciplinary process, and If we 

agree that a product is a composite of benefits, as marketing 

suggests, we can then argue that in the case of cultural products, 

design consists of conceptualizing and projecting onto matenal 

"forms" the composite of benefits that a reader perceives 

through the acts of reading or viewing an art exhibit. Here, 

we adopt a notion whereby design is a process of projection 

that employs technical elements in the creation of material 

forms that may be handled and/or viewed. These forms may 

be written documents, images or objects through which ideas, 

intentions, values, or messages are projected. We understand 

design, then, as a process of tangible or Intangible product 

prefiguration, and as a means for activating the perception 

of a composite of benefits. It is, in other words, a channel that 

carries an acquired cultural expenence.The design of a cultural 

product, then, must be carried out in a manner that carefully 

considers when, where, and how it will be offered to the public, 

as well as the specific circumstances of its consumption. 

In closing, I'd like to offer some suggestions on potential uses 

of this research, clarify its primary purpose, and elucidate its 

objectives and inferences. Firstly, for designers, the objective 

ofthe study is to provide an example ofthinking about design 

outside ofthewell-known design specialries of theday (graphic 

design, industrial design, and environmental design). The very 

proposal of the concept of cultural product design suggests 

the emergence of a new conceptual framework of design. 

A secondary objective of the study was to prove that 

scientific-technical knowledge of design could be applied 

in other disciplines, such as publishing, with the aim of 

determining if their practices could be improved upon. An 

interdisciplinary investigative approach that combines and 

undedines innovative scientific specialties, among them, 

cultural industries studies, cultural marketing and deferent 

modern design specialties, was adopted.This research reflects 

the quest for improvement in the cultural sector and the need 

for a new reflection and action space. I hope that the text 

contributes satisfactorily to the development of these ideas. 

About the author 

Dr. İrini Pitsaki is Lecturer (category 407/80) in the Greek 

University of the Aegean and teaches Design Management 

and Graphic Arts in the Faculty of Product and Systems Design 

Engineering. Her PhD thesis, "Design and Identity Management 

of Books Series," concludes with the formuiarion of a design and 

strategic brand management model for publishing products. 

She also holds a D.E.A (MPhil) on "Typographic Revolurions"and 

a Master's Degree in "Publishing Techniques"from the University 

of Barcelona-Spain.

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O R D E R , D I S O R D E R , C O M P L E X I T Y 

Assoc. Prof. Silvia Pizzocaro, Ph.D. 

Poiitecnico di Milano, Dipartimento Indaco, 

Facoltâ del Design, Milano, Italia 

silvia.pizzocaro@poiimi.it 

Abstract 

Although the relationship betv^/een design and complexity 

has been explored for decades, the theories of complexity 

have only recently started to influence the debate in the 

professional community.Withoutentering a detailed history of 

the development of complex thinking, this paper will present 

an overview of some elements of this scientific milieu. 

By clarifying the notion of complexity, it is proposed that it 

can open promising horizons for designers and educators in 

design: using holistic visions may turn into a broader sense of 

reality, meaning rapid abiiityto adapt to changes, to be part of 

change itself, to take uncertainty as a chance {not only asa risk 

or a limit), to develop skills of organization, disorganization 

and re-organization. 

While key concepts central to handling complexity are already 

familiar to design culture, it will also be argued that the 

task for designers is not to define or control complexity, but 

competent navigation through it. 

Introduction 

Consciously or not, complexity has already become our 

collective experience.Confused with complicated and often 

too abstract to be clearly perceived, we often sense complexity 

as change and uncertainty. "But we are all actors of complexity, 

and as part ofthe problem we are also responsible for inventing 

so/ür/ons"{Boutin and Davies 1997:114). 

Into the core of complexity 

The core of the word complexity comes from the latin 

complexus, "entwined", "twisted together", and "embrace" as 

well, derived from complecti, from the late latin verb plectere, 

to wowen. Then: complexus, that which is wowen together. 

Complexity has turned out to be very difficult to define. It 

has been observed (Heylighen 1996a) that many definitions 

fall short in one respect or another, "classifying something as 

complex which we intuitively would see as simple, or denying 

an obviously complex phenomenon the label of complexity". 

These definitions may result either only applicable to a very 

restricted domain, such as computer algorithms or genomes, 

or so vague as to be almost meaningless. 

However, there is a common objective core in the different 

concepts of complexity and this may be interpreted in the 

following way: in order to have a complex you need two or 

more components, which are joined in such a way that it is 

difficult to separate them. It is from this entwined embrace 

that any further semantic extension of complex is derived. 

Similarly, the Oxford Dicrionary defines something as complex 

if it is "made of (usually several) closely connected parts". Here 

we find the basic duality between parts which are at the same 

time disrinct and connected. A system would then be more 

complex if more parts could be distinguished, and if more 

connections between them existed (Heylighen 1996a). 

Since the components of a complex can not be separated 

without destroying it, the method of analysis or decomposirion 

into Independent modules cannot be used to develop or 

simplify such models. This implies that complex entities will 

be difficult to model, that eventual models will be difficult 

to use for predicrion or control, and that problems will be 

difficult to solve. This accounts for the connotarion of difficult, 

which the word complex has gained in later periods. Further

semantic extensions refer to ignorance, size, variety, minimum 

description size. 

Tiie aspects of distinction and connection determine the 

dimensions characterizing complexity. Distinction corresponds 

to variety and to the fact that different parts of the complex 

behave differently. Connection corresponds to constraint and 

to the fact that different parts are not independent, but that the 

knov>/ledge of one part allows the determination of behaviours 

of the other parts. "Distinction leads in the limit to disorder, chaos 

or entropy, like in a gas, where the position of any gas molecule 

is completely independent of the position of the other molecules. 

Connection leads to order or negentropy, like In a perfect crystal, 

where the position of a molecule Is completely determined by the 

positions of the neighbouring molecules to which it Is bound" 

(Heyllghen 1996a). Complexity can only exist if both aspects are 

present: neither perfect disorder, nor perfect order are complex. 

It thus can be said to be situated In between order and disorder, 

or, using a well known expression, "on the edge of chaos" 

(Prigogineand Stengers 1979; Waldrop 1992; Kaufmann 1993). 

Complexity as history 

An history ofcomplexthought brings back to the tradition ofthe 

epistemological and scientific thought and to its development 

along the nineteenth century (Bocchi e Ceruti 1985:8), when 

complexity has been progressively growing from the studies 

in cognitive and evolutionary sciences and system thinking. 

Systems theory was proposed in the 1940's by the biologist 

Ludwig von Bertalanffy who emphasized that real systems are 

open to, and interact with, their environments, and that they 

can acquire qualitatively new properties through emergence, 

resulting in continual evolution. System-environment boundary, 

input, output, process, state, hierarchy, goal-directedness, and 

information, are among system theory key concepts. 

Immediately after the second wodd war, cybernetics 

was the first real transdisciplinary scientific experience, 

gathering mathematicians, neurophisiologists, economists, 

anthopologists. In those years the first version of Warren 

Weaver's (1948) Science and complexity appeared. 

Cybernetics and systems theory constitute an academic 

domain that virtually touches all traditional disciplines, from 

mathematics, technology and biology to philosophy and social 

sciences. System theory or systems science argues that however 

complex or diverse the world that we experience, we will find 

different types of organization In it, and such organization can be 

described by principles which are independent from the specific 

domain we may be considering. Hence, if we would uncover 

those general laws, we would be able to analyse and solve 

problems In any domain, pertaining to any type of system. 

Complexity as multidimension! knowledge 

The present developments of system thinking move around 

somecrucia! points of evolutionary sciences,orientedatoutlining 

a unified science ofthe living and the artificial. Complexity can 

not be experienced if acting within the conventional disciplinary 

boundaries. In the last decades, contributes of different nature, 

either from investigation in epistemology, philosophy and 

history-focusing atthe generation, construction and circulation 

of ideas and research paradigms - gave shape to emergent 

contexts where unforeseable relations and interactions are 

possible among scientists belonging to different disciplines, 

between scientists and philosophers. Complexity can be 

perceived right at this crossing (where technological, scientific, 

epistemological, philosophical and anthropological questions 

intersect), thus enlightening the multidimensional nature of 

contemporary knowledge. 

Ervin Laszlo (1985:362-400) argued that the analysis of 

the current new order and structure of reality needs the 

elaboration of a "science of change" capable to get over the 

separation between natural sciences and social sciences, 

outlining the profile of a scientist whose task is to select results 

from heterogeneous disciplinary fields, so to reveal analogies 

and isomorphisms, activating a transdisciplinary circulation 

of concepts within societies asked to act as resilient systems; 

that is, capable to react to a wider range of turbulence, 

progressively adapting to new forms of stability. 

The developments of system thinking have been sided by a 

new meaning for the concept of evolution, now conceived as 

"general evolution"or"genera! theory of evolution", describing 

changes in the living world and in societies, allowing unified 

models of evolution to be applied to biological, ecological, 

social and human systems (Laszlo 1986:13).

The discovery of complexity 

Isabelle Stengers (1985:61) has observed that the notion of 

complexity belongs to a discourse around science and does not 

refer to any specialised discipline or specific technique. The 

"discovei'y of complexity" indicates something that is radically 

diverse from any discovery to be encountered in the history of 

science, where a discovery is meant as the transition from the 

unknown to knowledge, an answer following questions: here, 

discovery stands for the awakening of a problem, or a form of 

awareness related to it. 

Complexity as a discourse implies that radically new forms of 

(scientific) questions and answers are generated by a context 

where technological, epistemological, philosophical and 

antropologlcal problems are entwined. In this context: 

(i) knowledge and thinking become multidimensional (Bocchi 

e Ceruti 1985:10), absorbing different disciplinary categories 

of knowledge as multlfaceted aspects of a unique reality, 

(ii) knowledge and thinking are constantly facing uncertainty, 

(iii) a science of change emerges as the alliance of natural 

sciences and social sciences, (iv) a need for strategy emerges 

(Monn 1985:59), as the skill to face and handle uncertainty. 

Concept maps for navigation: system, environment, 

network, emergence 

It has been claimed thaf'the demanding challenge for designers 

and managers of design is to understand the consistent drivers of 

complex, dynamic realities. Operating in these realities Is based 

on the understanding that complexity con not be controlled, but 

requires competent navigation" [McGrory 1997). 

The tradition of complex thought may provide a significant 

number of key concepts that can lead to draw a conceptual 

map so to possibly connect design actions to the navigation 

of complexity: see, for instance, the notions of system, 

environment, network, emergence. 

In this conceptual map, a system could be delineated as that 

part ofthe universe which is distinguished from the rest by an 

imaginary boundary. One ofthe basic concept in the systems 

approach is that all systems Interact with their environment. 

How can we then identify what a system is for design activity? 

Aren't we always making an artificial boundary? In order to 

perceive or know anything, we always make distinctions. The 

key idea of system Is that once a system is identified and its 

boundary described, then one may describe the properries 

of the system, the properries of the universe excluding the 

system which affect the system, and the interactions between 

them. Thus it is a task of the describer to identify the way in 

which the system is interdependent with the environment. 

The environment - in complex thought - is whatever Is not 

included In the definirion of the system. In developing a 

systems perspective a system is described In relationship to 

its environment, and how changes In the environment affect 

the system. The response of a system is how it changes when 

the environment changes In a particular way. Completely 

describing the state ofthe environment is, in principle, a much 

more difficult task than describing the state of the system. 

However, it Is generally possible to restrict the aspects ofthe 

environment that are described to those forces which are 

most directly relevant to the system. 

A network is a description of the connecrions that allow 

interacrions and influences between parts of a complexsystem. 

It is also used to refer to the parts along with the connecrions, 

i.e. the system as a whole, when considering the effects of 

these connections. There are several types of networks: 

transportarion networks, communicarion networks, urility 

networks, supply networks, but also networks of molecular 

reactions, networks of cells, networks of computers and 

social networks. And also the tangible or invisible networks 

caused by the relations that any design acrivity may start. 

All networks can be thought of as influence networks: the 

state of the parts that are connected by the network affect 

each other through the network. Many ofthe most commonly 

studied networks assume that they are connecring essenrially 

similar parts, with connecrions that are in some sense similar. 

However, more generally, real networks connect dissimilar 

parts In dissimilar ways. As part of the study of complex 

systems, the general understanding that we gain of how 

networks behave can be transferred between various kinds 

of systems, whether they are physical or immaterial, social or 

engineered, biological or man made.

Emergence is what parts of a system do together that they 

would notdo by themselves: collective behaviour, and also what 

a system does by virtue of its relationship to its environment 

that it would not do by itself: e.g. Its function; and further, the act 

or process of becoming an emergent system. More generally, it 

refers to how behaviour at a larger scale ofthe system arises 

from the detailed structure, behaviour and relationships on 

a finer scale. In the extreme, it is about how macroscopic 

behaviour arises from microscopic behaviour. To see in both 

these views we have to be able to see details, but also ignore 

details. The trick is to know which ofthe many details we see in 

parts are important to know when we see the whole. 

By definition an observer may consider either the parts or 

the whole. Those who consider the parts consider the details 

to be essential and do not see the patterns that arise when 

considering parts in the context of the whole. Those who 

consider the whole do not see the parts. When one can shift 

back and forth between seeing the parts and the whole, 

one also sees which aspects of the parts are relevant to the 

description ofthe whole. Understanding this relationship in 

general is the study of emergence. Emergence refers to all the 

properties that we assign to a system that are really properties 

ofthe relationship between a system and its environment. 

Jonas (1999) started arguing that systems thinking, especially 

sociological systems theory, provides some useful tools to 

describe design as a highly complex multilevel system. He has 

proposed identifiable levels ofthe social communicative system/ 

process: individual, team, organization, social subsystem/ 

disciplinary system, and societyasa whole; levels of reality (Jonas 

1998): events/objects, patterns of behaviour, structures and 

visions; and levelsof observation, necessary for dealing with the 

blind spots ofthe lower levels: the meta-level of epistemology 

and the manner how theories and methods evolve in time 

{strong theories); the level of operative theory/ small theories 

{weat< r/ieor/es)/methods; and the operative level of making. 

By introducing the hypothesis to conceptualize design In a 

wider sense as a social subsystem of this kind, Jonas (1994) 

has also introduced design as the network of future-shaping 

disciplines (i.e. futures studies of design acting as sensor; 

management of meaning in design as cultural industry or 

strategic design; product design for material or immaterial 

objects; service design to design invisible structures and 

stimulating behaviours). Here the meta-theoretical difference 

system/environment is introduced into the system as leading 

differentiator. Potentially, design-problems could be treated 

as system/environment fits throughout and the concept of 

organized complexity could provide the essential tools for 

either systemic modeling and projective thinking. 

Complexity and the designer's paradox 

What we may indicate as the designer's paradox directly 

pertains to the role of the designer and the related scale and 

limits of intervention in a complex world. Here we suggest 

that the thought of complexity may cross the designers's 

action at least at two essential levels, that we may label as 

"designing within complexity" and "designing complexity", as 

in Le Moigne (1985:84-102). 

Designing within complexity may be intended as an act of 

awareness. Designing complexity may be seen as the transition 

through which the discovery and challenge of complexity 

turn into methods to handle complexity (Morin 1977:386). 

Both levels are part of the action of design, broadly intended 

as one of those making disciplines that have an impact on the 

physical world, address human needs and generate the built 

environment (Friedman 1999). 

Although the exploration of the relation between design and 

complexity is not new, complexity theory has really started to 

influence the debate within professional communities only 

recently (Boutin and Davies 1997). By accepting and clarifying 

some elements of complexity theory, efforts have been 

directed to demonstrate how the notion of complexity can 

generate tools for design. As a recurrent starting point. It has 

been recognized (Boutin and Davis 1997:115) that the problem 

is not that of understanding complexity, but to define and 

create flexible methologies allowing practical application for 

design of new emerging concepts, to transform the discovery 

of complexity into a method to handle complexity. 

Further, keys concepts central to handling complexity may 

gain clarity when going with a cultural maturity that entails 

the designer responsibility (1997:116) and are revealed 

as familiar to designers: as it is for the complex thought

integrating uncertainty while planning organization, linking, 

contextualizing, globalizing, recognizing both singular and 

general dimensions. 

Using holistic visions may generate a broader (and entwined) 

sense of reality, meaning rapid ability to adapt to changes, to 

be part of change itself, to take uncertainty as a chance (not 

only a risk or a limit), to develop prompt skills of organization, 

dis-organlzation and re-organization, inventing dynamic 

concepts, strategies and actions. 

Complexity, it is said, is in the eye of the observer. System 

theory teaches us that an observer is a person who makes 

measurements (observations) on a system to gain information 

about it. This information can be communicated to other 

people in the form of a description. The field of complex 

systems is interested in relationships.The observer and system 

are in a relationship. Thus a precise notion of an observer and 

the basic act of observation or measurement is a key concept 

in this context. As a more general definition (Bar-yam 1997) 

we could take that an observer is a system which, through 

interactions, retains a representation of another system (the 

observed system) within it. 

The conventional view of an observer is of an objective 

observer and an objective observer is independent of both 

the system being observed and the rest ofthe environment. 

Implicitiy there is an influence between the system and the 

observer.Thus, the act of observation must cause an influence 

of the observed system on the observer. The designer as 

observer is then expected to consciously manage the ability to 

apply holistic visions, attempting to create a balance between 

interdependent elements, disciplines, requirements, possibly 

shanng this ability with any professional seeking to participate 

in the design of future realities (Boutin and Davis 1997:117). 

Designing within complexity 

As we see It, the designer is mainly faced with cognitive 

difficulties. Acrucialaspectoflearning often regards cogn/t/on, 

that here is intended as the process by which decision makers 

form and modify representations in orderto make some sense 

of a reality which Is generally too complex and uncertain to be 

fully understood (Dosi et al. 1996:10). 

The systematic gap between the agents cognitive abilities 

and "reality" can take at least two often interrelated forms: a 

knowledge gap, involving incomplete or wrong representations 

of the environment and a problem-solving gap between the 

complexity ofthe tasks faced by agents and their capabilities 

on accomplishing them. 

In general terms, knowledge gaps arise from the lack of 

isomorphism between theenvironmentand the agent's model 

of it. This Is what may be called substantive uncertainty (Dosi 

and Egidi 1991). One may further distinguish between weak 

uncertainty (i.e. probabilisable nsk) and strong uncertainty, 

involving genuine ignorance and intrinsic inadequacy ofthe 

mental models of the agents to fully capture the structure 

of the environment. Conversely, problem-solving gaps entail 

different degrees of procedural uncertainty, with or without 

substantive uncertainty. 

Here we argue that the designer is still part of an operative 

dimension where both a substantive uncertainty (Dosi e Egidi 

1991) and a procedural uncertainty are present. Consequently 

it may be recognized that the emergent horizon of actions 

performed by the designer will be dependent both on the 

ability for improved understanding of a complex reality and 

Improved skills to face that reality. 

Jonas (1999) has started to describe a design theory as a dynamic 

network of "chunks of ideas", with self-similarity of design models 

on the different levels ofthe process: not only design problems 

consist of largely contingent, purpose-onented networks of 

variables, but a design meta-theory is a largely contingent 

network of theoretical elements, ideologies, preferences. 

"Complexity on the problem side (how to describe the situation) 

corresponds to contingency on the solution side (how to change 

the situation into a preferred one). Organized complexity means 

the end of linear causal chains and creates feedback mechanisms. 

Design as a complexity-reducing medium of constructing the world 

is exploring the space of possible alternative futures" (Jonas 1999). 

Conclusion 

The scales of intervention the designer may face range from 

the level of evolving artifacts to that of large technological 

systems, where the systemic dimension is explicit. It has

een argued (Friedman 1999) that acting within complexity 

involve either substantive challenges to design (increasingly 

ambiguous boundaries between artifact, structure, and 

process; increasingly large-scale social, economic, and 

industrial frames; an increasingly complex environment of 

needs, requirements, and constraints; information content that 

often exceeds the value of physical substance) and contextual 

challenges (a complex environment in which many projects 

or products cross the boundaries of several organizations, 

stakeholder, producer, and user groups; projects or products 

that must meet the expectations of many organizations, 

stakeholders, producers, and users; demands at every level of 

production, distribution, reception, and control). 

These challenges require a qualitatively different approach to 

professional practice: as in Friedman (1999), what is required 

is analytic and synthetic planning skills that can't be attained 

through practice alone, advanced knowledge that is not 

a higher level of professional practice but a qualitatively 

different form of professional practice. If complex systems 

operate at the edge of chaos, designing at this edge requires 

coherent adaptive skills. 

But, can complexity be designed? Or is it simply not 

designable? It has been argued (Le Moigne 1985:84) that a 

complexity that may be designed (or represented, invented, 

understood) is something complicated (or overcomplicated), 

not complex. 

Let's go back to the designer's paradox, as in Morin (1977:179). 

When facing the phenomenology of design, even in the 

simplest evidence, one can not ignore any longer that any 

design action has to be connected to a framework of events, 

which in turn generate multiple maps of actions. 

It is such a tension between design as the thought aimed 

at reducing the complexity of reality into forms of order 

(while questioning the nature and substance of reality so 

to progressively increase the understanding of its inherent 

complexity), and design as the action producing further levels 

of complexity, that here is re-proposed as the energy fuelling 

a deep, desirable transformation in the design approach. 

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36: 536-544.

D R A W I N G A N D I M A G E S D F D E S I G N . R E P R E S E N T A T I O N A N D M E A N I N G , 

Assoc. Prof. Fâtima Pombo (F) 

Universidade de Aveiro 

Departamento de Comunicaçâo e Arte, 

Campus Universitârio de Santiago 3810-193 Aveiro Portugal 

fpombo@ca.ua.pt 

tel.+351 234370389 

fax+351 234370868 

Asst. Prof Graça Magalhâes (F) 

Universidade de Aveiro 

Departamento de Comunicaçâo e Arte 

Campus Universitârio de Santiago 3810-193 Aveiro Portugal 

gracamag@ca.ua.pt 

tel.+351 234370389 +351 963244164 

fax+351 234370868 

Abstract 

This abstract Is based on the research being conducted on the 

relationship betvêen design and drawing, whose results have 

been presented at various congresses. 

The aim of the research is to clarify the intervention of 

drawing in design, by differentiating between "object" and 

"image" and between the "symbolic character" and the "form 

of representation" by demonstrating that the efficiency of the 

project is based on conflict generated by the act of drawing 

in itself 

Based on the triangular classification of design as author- 

programme- technology and drawing as representation- 

classification- imagination, it can be argued that: the object's 

identity arises from the confrontation between representation 

and the image, thus questioning its unity. In other words the 

way of representing the object through a technical mediation 

referring to an abstract concept (the act of drawing), of 

symbolic function, and of attributing meaning to the symbol, 

insofar as it refers to object. 

This paper intends to approach drawing as the language that 

makes the appearance of the images of design possible. The 

images ofdesign function as double: 

- object of representation whilst represented image (physical 

representation); 

- object of desire whilst promoter of a story of subjective 

experiences and emotional relationships. Examples will be 

given. We consider the specificity of drawing through two 

possibilities; 

- representation as the action of drawing In the object's 

presence; 

- representation as the action of drawing in the object's 

absence. 

Drawing as a instrument of the project participates in the 

duality of the images: as representation of the idea (concept) 

and as action that provokes the emergence of the object 

before an interested and desiring subject. 

However, under these conditions, drawing exists as an action 

that does not dilute itself in the representation, since object

and image, as differentiated and implied entities, relate to 

each other. Drawing is the piace where the object's necessary 

differentiation and uncertainty manifest themselves. 

Keywords: representation, image, symbolic, object, desire. 

1. History: A modern condition 

Drawing as a instrument of the project represents the idea 

(concept), summons the emergence of the object in the 

presence of an interested and desiring individual. Its condition 

of technical doing registers the act of drawing (the drawing) as 

a founding discipline, which is autonomous from the project. 

In this condition drawing as an action that does not exhaust 

itself In the representation ofthe project, making the relation 

between the object and the image implicit. Drawing exists 

as the figuration of a «lie» that Is art (the terrain where reality 

converges). 

Modernism empowers art with the possibility to demonstrate 

the irregularities and the blunders of the system of art. The 

incoherencies and deadlocks become constituents of art par 

excellence. Pulsion as legacy of art guarantees its own legitimacy, 

which turns out to bea pulsional «tranguilizer». (figure 1) 

Figure 1. Malevitch, Black Cross. 1913 

Design as the legitimate representative of modernity (worldly 

and factual) results in the paradox that Its symbolic legitimate 

existence is connected with its own denial.The"symbolic"denial 

reveals that a crisis is necessary for its own survival. Design as a 

discipline arises from the protagonist ofthis modern paradox. 

To assert itself design needs to deny its own autonomy, 

subscribing to, or at least, approaching art or technology. 

The continuity of the symbolic in design depends on 

contradiction of what is denied as acquisition, and In this 

case with art. The transcendence in design Is unveiled in the 

heteronomy of its possibility to exist. 

Contrary to art which is essentially solitary, design Is 

sympathetic towards the Instrumentation of fantasy as a 

guarantee of human legitimacy. The possibility of being- 

related-to another "newly-arrived" object Is liberating and 

contradicts the breach of confidence In the human-being as a 

modern reference, (figure 2) 

Figure 2. J. Hoffman, Bottle and glasses project, 1912 

The medium -point, line, and blotch- that conveys form 

formally fixes the object by means of a technical or 

technological dependency; uses the bi or three-dimensional 

expression as an internal or external condition ofthe object, 

not technically or technologically instrumented. 

The representation is ichnographically or formally fixed by 

means of the medium. On the other hand, the images as media 

are autonomous regarding the act of representing. Could this 

extreme case be regarded as Image without representation? 

And in this case could it be said to be an uncommitment of art? 

The modern (according to Baudalalre's modemlte) is neither 

against the old nor the past, but against the classical as that 

which is transmitted by the processing order, in the continuity 

of the existence of the object, in the chain succession of 

cause and effect. When Baudalaire promoted modernity {la 

modemlte) in 1849 he did it on behalf of £7est/7et/cs, thus break 

away from the continuous element that existed in order ofthe 

cognitive world. (Jauss, 2005:332)

The modernist proposal underlines thedestreto breakawayfrom 

the neoclassical presence of the 19^^ century, which idealised 

the heroic, and giving way to the questioning ofthe classical 

images and of Darwin's and Foutrier's "scientific" culture. 

Regarding the aesthetic, the fight against the ornament 

gives rise to the cult of the necessity to understand the truth 

and proposing its representation. Modernism aspires to 

understand reality and the possibility of its representation 

by substituting the reality which is symbolically interpreted 

for the symptomatically undecipherable reality. The phrase 

«!ess is more» symbolises, in a hysterical fashion, the Modern 

{imp)possibility. The denial of the symbolic reality as the 

possible place for the representation, and the possibility of 

interpretation, therefore, art starts to expressing itself by 

means of symptom and returning to the figure as the possible 

configuration of the object of art. 

In the century the proiiferarion of the taste by means 

of the superfluous expression that multiplies Itself factually 

and historically by means ofthe cumulative diversity of the 

objects, establishes the presence of the object of art as the 

waste ofthe system of art - a place where existence is confined 

to uselessness (Figure 3). 

Figure 3. Great Exhlbirion, 1851 

What is left of the historical perpetuarion of the artistic as 

a projected "adjustment"; that is, the desire (taste) of the 

material structure of things is then autonomously referred to 

as the discipline of design. 

An object produced industrially and its reproduce beauty, 

defined by structural existence ofthe object. In this case beauty 

pre-exists to the physical reality ofthe object, inscribing itself 

there and then in the proposed project by means of the drawing. 

An industrial object "of beauty" resorts to projection as the 

characterization of beauty. On the contrary, a hand-made object 

- similariy applying to art - inscribes beauty on its act of technical 

production/technical acrion. In this case the technical acrion 

exists committed to beauty, not being abie to separate from It. 

In design beauty can pre-exist to the producrion of the object 

by means of the author, who as the operator of the drawing Is 

able to "recover" the dimension of beauty' (Vitta, 1996:37). 

The issue of reproducibility can arise from the reproducrion 

of a model (in design) or from a similar pre-existence 

(arristic series). In the first case, beauty inscribed on project 

by means of the drawing reproduces a similar object. In the 

second case beauty surfaces by means of the technical act of 

doing/producing the object reveals what Is not similar by the 

reproducrion ofthe object. 

The series like work methodology in art relate to the search 

for the "industrial" interpretation of the artistic object and 

paradox ally verify the dissimilarities these contain. 

2. The nature ofthe problem 

The nature of the problem in art and design differ. With 

regards to art it deals with a resolurion which is strictly formal, 

present and related to the time of the work. The resolurion of 

' About the nature and inscription of beauty on the object of use 

and in its differentiation from the object of art mentioned by Vitta 

will always require defining which beauty (or ugliness) is being 

referred. If it's true that for art the reference to "beauty" or "ugliness" 

is an acceptable definition, for the object of design the most 

acceptable concept is" good taste" or "bad taste", which on its own 

is symptomatic of some determinism. Nonetheless, which "good" or 

"bad" taste will have to be specified. Whichever aesthetic "filtering" 

used on the object of design, it always refers to the authorship of 

the work by means ofthe author's instrumentation of drawing, and 

not the serial production ofthe work, whereas in an object of art the 

issue is directly implied in the production ofthe work.

the problem relates the action, fixes the work, and establishes 

Itself as the worldly reference In the constructive process 

of the work. Whereas In design the problem precedes the 

action, it comes before the form, and Its evocation derives 

from the programme and amply perpetuates itself in a 

game that outdoes the author of the form. On the contrary, 

art not considering the problem as something outside itself, 

suggests a "remake" strictly within the artistic field, obliging a 

"reproduction" of itself. Disregarding its exterior surroundings 

art cynically evokes Its own self-destruction; hence promoting 

the"emptiness"of art that we have grown accustomed to. 

Ina positive way, design seem5tooccupythe"emptiness"ofart by 

reflecting on its own condition by means of the other, that is, by 

means of the founding permissive ofthe utility ofthe object. The 

current manifestations of everyday objects (more reflexive and 

humanised) are probably those which are closer to the artistic as 

a means of existence of use, by means ofthe consideration ofthe 

project, as an inaccessible consideration ofthe other. 

The object arises from the project and this one Is responsible 

for the form in the strict relation with reality in which the 

object is born, grows and is utilised. The project "is not only 

responsible forthe formal identity ofthe object but also for its 

way of being and the context it was born from and it should 

act in." (Vitta, 1996:15). As Christopher Alexander wrote: 

The final object of projection is the form.,., each 

problem of projection arises from the effort to reach 

a correspondence between two identities: the form in 

question and its context. The form Is the solution ofthe 

problems and the context defines the problem. In other 

words, when we talk about projection the essence of 

the discussion is not only the form but all that is related 

to the form and its context. (Vitta, 1996:14). 

In this case, as Maurizio Vitta refers, "this statement confirms 

the primacy ofthe object but at the same time it defines its 

nature by means of its ways of existence guaranteed by its 

projection." Can't this be the question ofdesign: by means of 

Its form define the context of its appropriation? Does design 

then identify itself with the project? And the latter with all the 

understandings/presentations of the object? In this case the 

complex articulation networkof the project will reveal itself to 

the presentation ofthe object ofdesign as an uncertain form, 

revealing Itself with the contradiction that is inherent to the 

act of existing. Can't this uncertainty, revealed by the project 

of design, constitute the motto for mobility of the discipline 

itself? In actual fact, the question of series that defines the 

object of design - at least what stipulated as its definition 

In the first days of Its assertion as a discipline - is not only a 

repetitive and egalitarian series of a chain of production, but 

also a worldly series that allows design to be discipline of 

method and thought that considers the pre-existences and 

the alterations thereafter (Figure 4). 

Figure 4. Gaetano Pesce,Table and chairs Cassina, 1978 

It would be absurd to fix the objects as It would be to stop the 

world. In actual fact the more design "grows"as a discipline of 

project (ofthe object) the more vulnerable it becomes, which 

is subjected to the non-fulfilment of its structural coherence, 

when the designer is denied the possibility of technical and 

material control in the production of the object. In actual 

fact, the more the project grows the greater this possibility 

seems to become... and can this be once again a symptom of 

disciplinary growth? To conceive design as the presentation 

ofthe object as a stable and singular presence would fall into 

contradiction with the presence ofthe object itself, and In this 

case design is desired according to the object it represents. 

Even if it is based on an uncertain relation with itself, facilitated 

by a mirror and result of its «interdisclplinary». 

The question ofdesign Is the nature of the project in its condition 

of representation by the concept of the figure in its nature of 

the word and image.The word exists implied in concept, in the 

content ofthe idea, whilst the image implies the precept ofthe 

imagination.Thus, the project derives from the concept and the 

percept articulated by means of the word and Image.

Art as an historical event, breaking away from the symbolic, 

by denying the "evolutionary/explanatory unity" of history, 

nonetheless, "expressing itself" as an action {producing a 

piece of art) defies itself as the action in search of mankind's 

knowledge (philosophy). Regarding a possible transcendence, 

which is not at all religious, must refer to acquiring human 

knowledge. Humanised art "self-diminishes" as a practice 

giving rise to new doings - new acriviries. Among which, the 

possible and desired, design? 

3. Representation and meaning: Configuration and presence 

The representation which enhances the defocused on the 

object of use, while the representarion which enhances the 

process (the procedural acrion) places the work of art as an 

image of itself 

The representarion ofthe idea as the symbolic representation 

ofthe wish/desire, via the senses, uses the image as a symbol 

in the configurarion ofthe object as an image that derives from 

the idea {object of use/object of design). On the contrary, the 

representation that focuses on the process as a contradictory 

and symptomatic uses simulacrum to acquire a proximity of 

meaning of object of art as identificarion of the unobtainable 

reality (Figure 5). 

Figure 5. Sarah Lucas, The sperm 

The representation that derives from the image that becomes 

of the object of art recognises the procedural action the real 

mediation as factor of contradiction and paradox. Contrary, 

a representation that derives for the metaphorical idea that 

organise the concept as a symbolic representarion ofthe senses, 

and recognises the subject as a mediarion ofthe object of use. 

representation that symbolises the desire in the configuration 

the object. In its industrial beginning the designer was called 

upon to "formalise" the symbolic character of the universal 

object, whose understanding was merchandise. The drawing 

transformed the object-merchandise in a private object. In 

this case, the drawing ofthe object is tangible, rarional and 

deducrive by being a programmable project Nowadays, the 

designer elevates the object in such way that from it derives 

the possibility of a symbolic discovery, and in this parricular 

case the private object is returned to a universal context on 

account of its possibility to discovery of the private. Drawing 

itself also starts to refer to the sensirive, the unpredictable 

and chance. 

Arts only possibility is the contradictory representarion. Art as 

a double - image and simulacrum - is the identity that comes 

closer to reality, but its inability to represent reality it is a mere 

lie. As a lie art identifies with... as Alvaro Lapa refers quoring 

Nietzsche proverb, "we have art not to die or go mad when 

faced with the truth; therefore we don't have the truth, we 

have art to stop us from going mad or dying of terror before 

the truth" (Lapa, 2006:158). 

In this context the images of Art Brut while fantasy 

reconstructions of reality incarnate a fundamental fantasy that 

cannot be interpreted but only reconstructed, which is defined 

by Lacan as the"acefalus"knowledge, delirium, hysteria, or yet 

a body without organs, or at least without funcrioning organs, 

and therefore, a body that is not an organism as Gilles Deleuze 

defines it- and in this case the work of art is consrituted of 

an apparirion, dream, a shadow, images without sensorial 

mediarion, only a greatness of the senses (Figure 6). 

The modernism institutes design as visual discipline via the Figure 6. August Walla, Without ririe, 1970

Apparently, the art institutionally produced for contemporary 

museums also lack sensorial mediation. On the contrary the 

images of Art Brut are depurations of the senses, images 

that serve as exemplary. The appeal to the senses Is cerebral 

resulting from the inversion ofthe artistic process considered 

up to nov/ as natural - the direction being from the senses to 

the brain via the desire. The representation considered the 

desire in its closeness to the senses and the object resulting 

from the figuration ofthe image. Whereas the representation 

as an expression of the cerebral will recreate images that 

apparently present themselves as objects. As figurations of 

the presence of art in the work of Art Brut survive without 

context, contrary to many contemporary work of art that out 

of context run the risk of not existing as work of art. 

4. Image and object: Symbolic condition of design and 

simulacrum {as symptom) of art 

The images of design have a dual function: object of 

representation, when It Is a represented image (physical 

representation) and as object of desire, when promoting a 

story of subjective experiences and emotional relations whose 

organisation is symbolic. 

When the meaning of the object is arises from a desire its 

presence is interpreted as functional, technical and subjective. 

Therefore, it Is an object whose meaning is symbolic and in 

this capacity It represents. In this case the representation of 

the object of design is done in the presence of... which implies 

a latent proximity to the object, a chance of a sensory and 

physical perception, relating to a desirable, meddling and 

"interested"presence. A representation by means of a symbolic 

presence implied in the image that it figures. The possibility 

of the project in design to take shape of the object through 

drawing It is the guarantee ofthe project that allows design to 

be the object that formalizes the symbolic. 

The act of drawing as a representation in the proximity of... 

manifests within the possibility of the project being the 

symbolic interpreter. The representation in the absence of 

...not establishing itself as a precept of the action, hence not 

implying a condition referring to ...it will thus be a projection 

distant from the object, refers to it ideally as a construction of 

the mind that posltionstheobject at adistance,«disconnected» 

physically and circumstantially of Its symbolic condition. The 

object that is born from the absence of drawing conceals the 

symbolic from which it derives and to which it will necessarily 

have to return, otherwise, it runs the risk of losing itself. 

Fussli's assertion that "Religious people produce relics as art, 

warriors produce trophies and the bourgeois commercial 

articles", (Cerezo, in Calvera, 2003:26), it seems evident from 

the XIX century causing the drift away from the artistic 

concept.Thus, art recognises Its need to assert its uselessness, 

reclaiming its disciplinary autonomy, wanting to escape the 

aesthetic function. Consequently, the aesthetic function rests 

on the ornament's side provided it derives from the symbolic 

function ofthe beauty ofthe object. The object ofdesign will 

be "submissive" to the symbol concept that organizes beauty, 

while this one was rejected by art. 

The recovery ofthe organizational order of beauty conceding 

it a political position In the organization ofthe world, it has 

always been the path taken by the objects in and out of art 

and the artistic realm. In the Renaissance the organization of 

the objects via a politics for drawing, put into action by the 

creation of Accademia del Disegno dl Firenze, with maximum 

functionality, whilst symbolic entities that organize the wodd, 

making of the drawing a discipline of representation of the 

world by means of the ornament. In this case the ornament is 

the place ofthe significant Image that organizes and expresses 

the organization of the objects and the world. The theoretical 

substance that organized itself to confer power to that was 

designated as Disegno had as its interpreter the artist Giorgio 

Vasari, whose artistic expression was imminently decorative, 

guaranteeing at once the twofold possibility to ensure the 

conviction of a power that establishes itself interiorly, and 

thus reinforcing its efficiency and the presence of an image 

domain that will lead the objects to designate the symbolic, 

which the power needs. 

Modern design in its quality of project is proposed as a functional 

sign, being against the symbolic ornament. In the 70/80 design 

in its quest to liberate itself from the function becomes symbol 

of itself. Can we consider design in the 21 "century asa practice 

that aspires to be a sign of itself, not only as a projected action, 

but also as a discipline? In this aces design interprets the sign 

through the symbolic comprehension ofthe image that derives 

from the representation that aspires the figuration ofthe object.

The Symbol as a sign that acts., and capable of a communicative 

exchange, is transformed into a symbolic efficiency.The symbol 

as a communicative inscription limits the efficiency of the acrion 

of the sign universe. That is, the symbol favours other symbols 

that are associated to it, while the sign is a fixed entity that 

generates an imitarion.The images as symbolic representations 

appeal to the mobility ofthe symbol. Outside this mobility, they 

become sign imitations of the symbol fixing the image as a 

reality, expressed in what was the Modern artisric claim. 

The symbolic evocation of design is/can be made through 

drawing. The Design that lacks drawing is a symbolically 

"diminished"design.Too see/perceive design through drawing 

Is to admit In its pracrice: 

• memory; 

• disciplinary past (through disegno); 

• aesthetic reference; 

• style; 

• value of the image. 

Regarding the object of design's relation with the viewer/ 

consumer because of its resolution and presentation as 

a symbolic property it has the power to attract due to its 

capacity to provide "identification" from an economic and 

rarional point of view, both being added-value for the 

emotion. The image as power of signification, as an identity 

that liberates us from the order of significant representation 

- a quality of art- is "Inspired" by what we know does not 

belong to the order of representation. The act of drawing 

summoned by the representation of the object of design is 

inevitably implied in the state of existing for drawing and 

the latter for its geştalt dimension, brief, light, ignorant, 

potentially "out of control", reveals the absent that which 

symbolically shows itself in an unexpected manner as a new 

presence, (figure 7) 

The issue regarding the symbol and its association with design 

besides posing the question of knowing whether the symbol 

comes before or after the form of design, it also poses the 

question of how the symbol interferes with the discipline of 

design. Ifthe first question requires a methodological analysis, 

which owing to this work's theorerical restriction is not going 

to be approached, the second requires reflecrion. 

Can the symbol thus be considered an ordination of the 

thought related to the manifestarion ofthe unconscious? Or 

simply an ordinarion ofthe idea by means of a content? In both 

cases what is in question is the formal relation between form 

and symbol. As it so happens this relarion is srill connected 

with the project that Is, an action that manifests itself in the 

desire of the event, refer to as desirably construcrive action. 

Therefore, differenriated from art that does not configure the 

project but the way of acting - while pure expression of the 

acrion. In Pollock's work the manner of action, for example, the 

spilling of paint does not conform to a project. As the acrion 

starts to take shape the further away the projected character 

drifts, and the work becomes a formal expression of its anxiety 

to the extent of suicide being its dead end. 

Figure 7. Joseph Beuys, 1978 

A further example of projectual deserrion In art with dramatic 

consequences was Rothko's work, which tread a path of 

return to non-existence. His work became formally "purified" 

to the extent of becoming chromarically equivalent to his 

eariier painrings. His work undergoes a process of a formal 

and chromatically simplified where his late chromatic path 

meets up with his initial chromatics. This meddling of reality 

with art does not occur with design. That is, the significance 

of the symptom, which is the condirion for the existence 

of contemporary art, excludes the idea of project. Design 

as a discipline of the project can only accept the symbolic 

movement that provides meaning the object, which in this 

case is contrary to art.

5. The desire of design and the purpose of drawing 

The object of design resulting from drawing Is an object 

which relies on the creativity to become its own-object^ The 

object of design deals programmatically with innovation, 

but ultimately results from the author's creativity which Is 

expressed bythe material and technical operation of drawing. 

Drawing is implied in design as an essentia! instrument in the 

development and figuration of the functional relations implied 

in the project (the sketch) as a trustee ofthe perception and 

the figuration ofthe non-visible (Figure 8/9). 

Figure 8. Hector Serrano, Superpatata, 2000 

The representation in Its trilogy -symbollc-real-imaginary- 

refers to the symptom as the means by which the figure reveals 

itself: the ghost as an operation by means of the symbol; the 

imitation as the presence ofthe imaginary. In this case art breaks 

away from the artistic that derives from the representation of 

the concept according to the deductive model established by 

^ innovation and creativity are two different ways of understanding 

production/configuration of the objects. Innovation is grasped as 

the strategy ofthe productive process in its utilitarian role that gives 

rise to technological and organizational development. Innovation 

in its utilitarian role-the production of the object- aspires the 

idea of the recovery of a particular result by means of utilitarian 

and programmed rules. Creativity is an act of originality and it is 

revolutionary which is not programmed by the rule and thus it is not 

combinable. Acknowledged as not fulfilling the utilitarian role, not 

sacrificed to the rule but a proof of satisfaction, which favours the 

process and considering the result to be inscribed in the process 

the object by means ofthe symbolic Image. Art belongs to the 

spectrum ofthe symptom as long as it glows and carries visual 

intensity, deriving from an inductive model that results from 

the figuration ofthe art substance. Art is a place of rupture in 

the interpretation chain, İt decrees the non-interpretable.Thus, 

art dissociates Itself from the aesthetic function embracing the 

anthropologicaldimension.Theanthropological understanding 

of art allows it to exist in the object which belongs to art, as 

if it were a "magic" event. Being of the art substance, the first 

instrumentation of drawing is "magic", as the manifestation off 

the purpose of origin.'' The second Is decorative and didactic 

whilst an expression of desire and the third is projectual 

manifestation ofthe possible transformation. 

Figure 9. Blu Dot, Li'l Buddy, 2001 

The drawn objects (of design) are like aesthetic formulations 

that priority was registered/classified as artistic interpretations. 

The discipline of design results from aesthetic function 

which before was considered to be of artistic terrain that 

promoted the appearance of artistic objects by means of its 

representation. 

The prefix re of re+presentatio means Intensification. Re + 

presentatio is presentatio (= Image) -t- re (= Idea). That is. 

Even before its consideration as register the "magic" dances in 

honour or as a offering to some pagan god can be considered as 

manifestations ofthe corporal drawing.

image + idea , image {- presenatio) is more than reality it is 

an augmentation of it by means ofthe idea of reality. Thus, 

it represents itself always by means of the absence in both 

the duality and division of desire. The symbolic drawing 

that operates and interprets the duality of desire realizes the 

concept of the symbolic image implied in the unity of the 

purpose allows the appearance /con-figuration of the idea 

{Nancy, 2002:63-70). 

Can it thus be concluded that the purpose of drawing is 

achieved in the desire of the object? In this case, the unit 

of the symbol is present in the object of design by means 

of the drawing provided by the act of drawing. In this case 

the differentiation of the object of art is circumstantial 

inscribed in the symbolic presence In the case of design 

and symptomatically in the case of art; both referred in the 

presence ofthe object. 

Thus, it can be concluded that the difference between drawing 

as the project of things of usage and drawing as an artistic 

project is as follows: the enunciation of the project of design 

is ethical, social and political, acquired through the concept 

of work, whereas the enunciation of the artistic project is 

philosophical, evoking the absence In its epistemological 

image of technique. 

The d/segno transforms into design by adding an ethic-political 

element to the philosophical dimension of disegno when it is 

a project, the project in design when deprived of ideology it 

becomes an exercise of style, which was proved by Modern 

rationalism as well as the «radical» consideration in the late 

20th century {Vitta, 1996:126). 

Drawing as a representation participates in the duplicity of 

the images as a instrument of the project ansing from the 

idea {concept), and as the process (action) ansing from the 

appearance ofthe object in the presence of an interested and 

desiring individual. However, in this case drawing exists as the 

action that does not drain itself in the representation because 

the object and the images relate to each other despite being 

differentiated and implicated entities. It's in the drawing thatthe 

object's necessary differentiation and uncertainty find the space 

to manifest themselves, where, if only provisionally, it is possible 

the differentiation between the identity and the meaning. 

The purpose of drawing is fulfilled in the desire to draw; thus, 

making the appearance of the object possible by means of 

the symbolic (re)presentat'on more or less predetermined 

- in the case of design - or by means of the symptom in the 

(con)figuration that presides over the appearance of the 

object ~ in art. 

In this case, the meaning of the object of design and of art 

is different. Submitted to a programme arising from the 

supposition of the technique, the object of design reveals 

its autonomy by means of the drawing, even if the desire is 

"imprisoned" in the act of drawing, in the production ofthe 

specificdrawing in tune with the object.Onthecontrary,art does 

not take into account the object's peculiarity and the object as 

a supposition of the technique is only a means of access to art. 

In this case, the sequential condition in design is from the start 

structural, while in art it is subsequently sequential. In design 

this condition is the defined and programmed, thus having an 

optional quality, whereas in art sequence is inevitable in that 

the processing ofthe object is never-ending. 

Drawing is not a fixed entity, neither by determination nor 

by construction. On the contrary it s fascination lies in its 

encounter with the constantly unequal and in mutation, it is 

only possible to fix an image/a drawing by means of the act of 

drawing, and not the drawing itself In this case, what is fixed 

is a drawing in the passing of time of drawing. 

The progression of drawing In time is made through mapping 

- a defocused perception (reading) - by means of progressive 

arrangements of images which imply other images as a shape 

and power of suggestion: the certainty ofthe appearance and 

the false and deceiving visibility. 

The memory that reflects and that (re)produce drawing 

twofold: the memory of the past, of the pre-existences, and 

the one which projects the future. Yet the one that belongs to 

the project is a «false» memory, a projected memory, which 

is factually absent. During this memory penod the drawings 

are produced from the object's absence. The drawing of 

the object anses from the contingency of what cannot be 

definitely fixed but only reflected by its register, in the intervals 

of ...what could be the essence of the object regarding Its 

concept. The figuration that derives from the drawings is the

only stable condition for the object - confined to the choice of 

the moment, but nonetheless a possibility that Is present. 

It is no longer through the object that time is fixed by through 

Its representation. In this case the power of representation 

overcomes reality. Drawing returns to the representation 

despite rejecting or overcoming the project. It represents 

itself despite nominating the world. 

The purpose of drawing is fulfilled in the desire to draw 

which facilitates the appearance of the object by means of 

the symbolic (re)presentation more or less predetermined 

- in the case of design - or by means of the symptom in the 

(con)figuration that presides over the appearance of the 

object-in art. 

In this case, the meaning of the object of design and of art 

is different. Submitted to a programme arising from the 

supposition of the technique, the object of design reveals 

its autonomy by means ofthe drawing, even if the desire is 

"imprisoned" in the act of drawing, in the production of the 

specific drawing In tune with the object. On the contrary, art 

does not take into account the object's peculiarity and the 

object as a supposition ofthe technique is only a means of 

access to art. In this case, the sequential condition in design 

is from the start structural, while in art it is subsequently 

sequential. In design this condition is the defined and 

programmed, thus having an optional quality, whereas in art 

sequence is inevitable In that the processing of the object Is 

never-ending. 

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de Sevilla. 

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STRICTLY BALLRODM DR DANCING IN THE MOMENT? 

M E T H O D S F O R E N H A N C I N G T H E P A R T N E R S H I P D F D E S I G N A N D B U S I N E S S , 

Emma Murphy 

Research Associate 

University of Dundee / Graven Images Limited 

emma@graven.co.uk 

Mike Press 

Professor of Design Policy 

University of Dundee 

m.press@dundee.ac.uk 


The relationship between design and business has been 

the subject of considerable research in the field of design 

management. The success of this relationship, in particular 

between business clients and design consultants, determines 

the effectiveness of design projects in meeting business 

objectives- It is in the design briefing process that these issues 

are brought most fully into focus. This seeks to formalise 

mutual and coherent understanding ofthe project in terms of 

a written agreement of objectives, drivers and requirements 

for sign-off. A study ofthe process, suggests that this can be 

problematic in several respects - most notably the reluctance 

of designers to raise questions concerning business, which 

reflects their lack of confidence in using business-related 

language. Whilst previous studies have proposed detailed 

guidelines on the issues that should be covered In design 

briefing, these can be too prescriptive and focus exclusively 

on the content of the brief rather than the process. 

It is the contention of the authors that the briefing process 

provides a vital opportunity for sharing the tacit knowledge of 

both business and design, which isa key determinant of project 

success. The dynamic interaction of the client and designer 

during the briefing process, striving to achieve shared goals 

in the project context, is described by the authors as "dancing 

in the moment", and is contrasted to the "strictly ballroom" 

approach ofconventional briefing guidelines. 

"It may be possible to do without dancing entirely. 

Instances have been known of young people passing 

many, many months successively without being at any 

ball of any description, and no material injury accrue 

either to body or mind; but when a beginning is made 

- when the felicities of rapid motion have once been, 

though slightly, felt - it must be a very heavy set that 

does not ask for more." 

Emma, by Jane Austen 

If we were to regard the association between a design 

consultancy and their client in terms of a human relationship 

that aspires perhaps to a marriage of business and creative 

interests, the first design brief forged between them is the 

equivalent of that crucial first date. Get it right, and the confetti 

of commercial success will soon rain down upon them. Get it 

wrong, and it's back to the singles' bar of the unpaid pitch. 

We view the briefing process as a dance - a shared experience 

that seeks a dynamic movement that exceeds the sum of its 

parts, relying upon mutual trust and a willingness to learn 

quickly the strengths and distinctive styles of each partner. 

It should be an enjoyable experience that enables flexibility 

and - within agreed parameters - risk taking. But what sort of 

dance is appropriate? Much ofthe literature on briefing is ofthe 

'strictly ballroom'school - a prescribed choreography within 

a very formal setting. The research upon which this paper is

ased suggests the value of a more improvised approach, it 

is our contention that the briefing process provides a vital 

opportunity for shanng the tacit knowledge of both business 

and design, which is a key determinant of project success. 

The dynamic interaction of the client and designer dunng 

the bnefing process, striving to achieve shared goals in the 

project context, is described bythe authors as "dancing in the 

moment" and is contrasted to the"strictly ballroom"approach 

of conventional briefing guidelines. 

Tomes and Armstrong (1997) have described briefing İn 

terms of a process of "verbal-visual translation" whereby 

business objecrives are expressed visually by designers in 

an iterative process that progressively moves the partners 

towards a point of agreement. Based on primary research 

conducted on the briefing process in a major UK-based 

design consultancy, we propose an approach that builds on 

this'transiarion'perspecrive, providing a framework that seeks 

expliciriy to share tacit knowledge through an approach that 

uses storytelling, visual exchanges and metaphor. This paper 

summarises the underiying research, sets out the case for this 

approach, and discusses its implications in terms of business 

and design educarion and professional development. 

Two worlds 

Despite efforts made by governments in the UK for a 

century and a half, there remains a stubborn and seemingly 

unbridgeable gap between design and business. The recent 

Cox Report highlighted the lack of awareness that too many 

enterprises have of the value of design (Cox, 2005). Designers 

are perhaps seen as the"felt-rip fairies"with their clients finding 

it hard to understand them and the potential value that they 

bring. Equally, designers, having no formal business training 

at University or art school, can find it difficult to communicate 

their ideas to their business-savvy clients, without years of 

experience. As Walker (1989) has observed: "Managers are 

good at dissection, cutting through irrelevancies, getting 

to hard facts and the basic structure of problems. They are 

very problem oriented. Designers by contrast are good at 

assembling, bringing unlikely things together. They work by 

leaping to detailed end results. They are solurion led." With 

different strengths, different ways of thinking and different ways 

of seeing the world, designers and businesspeople are often 

seen as two tribes, too often in conflict. During a design project, 

communicarion is key. But when client and designer come from 

such different backgrounds, both with differing perspectives, 

communication can be difficult and somewhat strained. 

This gulf in communication can become most apparent and 

visible during the briefing process. The aim of the briefing 

process, simplified, is to define the parameters of the project, 

the scope, deadlines, limitations, resources etc. Studies in the 

literature do not, however, talk of a briefing process. They tend to 

talkof "the design brief"— that is, thefinished product; the piece 

of paper for sign off. However what is important Is the actual 

process in which designers and clients engage in order to arrive 

ata mutually agreeable brief for the project to commence. 

To be successful, briefing should provide a focus for a whole 

process that precedes the finalisation of the "piece of paper". 

Olson, Slater, and Cooper, (2000) describe the three stages 

within briefing as follows: 

1. Clearly arriculate the firm's competitive strategy to designers 

and design managers. 

2. Develop a detailed understanding of the design 

requirements inherent in the adopted competirive strategy. 

3. Ensure open lines of communicarion among the design 

group and other functional units. 

We propose that by client and designer actively engaging in 

a briefing process; by interacting to satisfy both client and 

designer goals, the barriers in communication as defined In 

the introduction, can be broken down. 

This paper looks at the work of Tomes, Oates, and Armstrong 

(1997), and Nutt (1993), in setting the sceneforthe importance 

of Increased communicarion during the briefing process, and 

in contrast, the rigid manner of Phillips (2004) In "crearing the 

perfect design brief". The perspectives of Tomes, Oates and 

Armstrong (1997) will be examined in detail, in parricular, their 

suggesrion of the need for verba! and visual translarion to 

enhance communication. In addirion, the authors'fieidwork 

in the design industry, drawing on a case study of a leading 

UK-based design consultancy, will propose guidelines for 

briefing, as "dancing in the moment" as a comparison for the 

"stricriy ballroom"approach, as advocated by Phillips (2004).

Briefing - the Peter Principles 

Design briefing carries with it a whole series of contradictions 

and complexities. This section of the paper will now outline 

these perspectives. 

Briefing: A Rigid, Structured Process 

There are practitioners and authors who advocate a strict 

and highly formalised briefing process. For examples, the 

RIBA have devised a formal "Plan of work" which structures 

the process architects use to form a brief. This process is 

highly rigid and systematic, and does not allow for creative 

and spontaneous interaction. This may be appropriate for 

architectural briefing, however. Its application is limited when 

faced with the design of an interior or a brand for example. 

It is therefore not a cross-disciplinary approach, which is the 

shape ofdesign today - health, social sciences and design are 

collaborating more now than ever before, and if the briefing 

process were as rigid as the RIBA's plan of work, this would 

limit the creative interaction vital to the momentum of these 

projects.The RIBA's plan of work is indeed appropriate for large 

architectura! design projects - after all, these must be rigidly 

planned and structured. Their vast body of work is highly 

commendable and relevant to the discipline of architecture, 

however, their linear models and principles cannot easily be 

applied to other design disciplines. 

Peter Phillips (2004) is regarded as the leading authority on 

defining the briefing process and has become highly influential 

in businessand design. He stresses the need fordefinlte content 

of a design brief and, in his book"Creating the Perfect Design 

Brief", emphasises the need to focus on the content themes of 

a brief, rather than engaging in an interactive process with the 

client whereby the content naturally emerges. He proposes a 

number of content themes in a design brief which are briefly 

outlined below. 

Project Overview and Bacl

Executive Summary 

This is also the project overview and bacl

energy and interaction. This process, based on the findings 

from the authors'fieldworl< also seeks to educate designer and 

client throughout the briefing process. 

Case study method 

In order to understand the nature of design briefing and how 

it actually operates within industry, the research is concerned 

with accounts of actual employees within the case study. 

Therefore an inductive, qualitative approach was adopted. In 

orderto examine the phenomena of new knowledge emerging 

through interaction between the participants, the research 

methodology was carefully constructed to gain rich data from 

a holistic perspective.The research design employs case study 

analysis, defined by Stake (1981, p. 4, cited in Merriam, 1991, 

p. 13) where "previously unknown relationships and variables 

can be expected to emerge from case studies leading to a 

rethinking of the phenomenon being studied". In addition, 

case study research can be seen as a suitable methodology 

where a holistic and in-depth Investigation of phenomena is 

needed (Feagin, Orum & Sjoberg, 1991). 

Case Selection 

The case was selected on the grounds of suitability to the 

research, in terms of quality of data gathered, and access. The 

co-author is deeply embedded in the research case, having 

worked in this company for three years. This enables rich 

access to data necessary in a holistic inductive study ofthis 

phenomenon. The company chosen. Graven Images Ltd, is a 

cross-disciplinary design consultancy, specialising in graphic, 

interior and exhibition design. The company's thirty three 

employees work across traditional technical specialisms for a 

client roster that includes the BBC, Standard Life and Radisson 

SAS. The company had a relatively loose briefing structure 

in place, usually carried out by more experienced designers. 

However, during a re-shaping of their briefing process, and 

the development of a new briefing tool, less-experienced 

designers can now engage in the briefing processes with 

confidence, contributing to their personal development. 

Data Collection 

The data collected in this study has come from four main 

sources: 

• A series of workshops facilitated by one ofthe authors 

in a leading UK design consultancy; 

» Observation carried out by one of the authors in this 

leading UK design consultancy. 

• Interviews with staff from the design consultancy, and 

other leading designers 

- A discussion between the authors regarding their 

knowledge of design briefing in the literature and 

personal experience 

Interviews 

Twelve in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted, 

ranging from twenty minutes to two hours in length. The 

participants were selected in orderto give a fair representation 

of the company. In addition, two in-depth interviews were 

carried out with leading international designers, to validate 

the data and test certain issues. 

A topic guide was used to form the framework ofthe interviews. 

The topic guide has been described as "A resume of the main 

areas of interest to be explored.., designed so that whilst 

covering the general areas of interest it should allowunforeseen 

areas to emerge." (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe & Lowe, 2002, p. 37). 

This provided some structure to the data collection to ensure 

the desired areas were covered, whilst allowing freedom 

to explore issues that naturally emerged as the interviews 

progressed.The interviews were digitally recorded. 

Observation 

The author, as participant observer, has also carried out 

eighteen months of observation at Graven Images. The data 

gathered in this context is rich and original, given the author's 

unique access to the participants, gained from having worked 

there for three years. The observation data was gathered 

through daily journals by the author, reflecting on the working 

day, and interactions between colleagues. All participants were 

told of this at the commencement of the study, and because 

of the author's close relationship with them, there is a high 

degree of mutual trust felt between all, and integrity shown by 

the author (and known by the participants) and therefore, the 

observation was unnoticed and relaxed, but very in-depth. 

Staff Workshops at Graven Images 

Two workshops on design briefing also forms part of this

paper's findings. İn the first worksliop, 23 staff agreed to 

take part in these workshops, held at the company's studio 

in Glasgow. The participants were asked to take a brief from 

the same client (to ensure continuity). The author then held 

a session with the participants to explore the concept of 

briefing further, in terms of Its complexity and difficulties. The 

data was gathered by recording the sessions on DVD and then 

transcnbing the sessions in order to extract broad themes 

and then categories, and qualifiers. This was further validated 

using the topic guide. 

During the second workshop, issues which emerged from 

the findings of the previous workshop were validated and 

refined. Twenty five staff members participated in this three 

hour workshop, and al! staff agreed it made them think more 

positively and confidently about design briefing. In particular, 

new designers with less professional experience agreed that 

the emphasis put on the client's business was a perspective 

they would now consider more deeply. In addition all 

designers enjoyed the opportunity to learn from their peer 

designers through the discussions and activities during these 

workshops. 

Data Analysis 

The interviews, and workshop proceedings were recorded 

digitally,and then transcribed.The data was analysed using the 

process of coding, as defined in Strauss and Corbln's grounded 

theory approach. This approach requires the researcher to be 

sensitive to the data, and able to notice emergent themes and 

categories during analysis (Denzin & Lincoln 2000, Strauss 

& Corbin, 1990). This method was adapted and will now be 

described. 

Stage 1: Audit of Existing Knowledge of Design Bnefing 

This stage was necessary to bring together the authors' 

previous knowledge of the concept of design briefing. This 

stage was fundamental in the recognition and development 

ofthe new guidelines for briefing identified in the research, as 

it helps to capture how the previous knowledge had shaped 

the new knowledge. The co-author's personal journals and 

observation notes were consulted, and the themes that 

emerged during learning were noted in orderto be In a posirion 

to compare the new observarions from data gathered in the 

case study in this research. In addirion, both authors engaged 

in a semi-structured discussion on their exisring knowledge 

of briefing as a means of capturing their areas of knowledge, 

and which themes were deemed as needing further research 

in the literature. 

The act of recording these themes, as aforemenrioned, is 

a means of making this knowledge explicit for accurate 

comparison in the latter stages of data analysis. 

Stage 2: identification of Broad Categories of Examples of Design 

Briefing Factors from Interviews and Workshops 

Beginning with a focus on the interviews, the interview 

transcripts were analysed seeking patterns and variance In 

descriptions In design briefing tools. Categories of techniques 

and important factors were drawn out from all interviews, and 

then probed through further examination of the transcripts. 

Stage3: Revising and Building Upon These Initial Categories Using 

Cross-Cases From Observation, to Frame into Single Factors 

These initial categories were then examined by analysing the 

observation data, to validate the categories formulated. In 

addition, further categories which emerged were then cross- 

examined with the interview and workshop data. 

Stage 4: Validating These Factors Using Qualifiers From All 

Fieidwork And Further Observation, and Formulating the Actual 

Guidelines From These Factors 

These factors were then cross-examined using qualifiers 

from all data collected. The explicit identificarion of these 

factors was followed by further qualificarion and verificarion 

of these issues through seeking further examples of these 

from the data. The very act of making these factors explicit 

meant that further synthesis of the data could be conducted 

more effectively, as It was possible to actively seek relevant 

informarion related to these specific issues. In addirion, 

because the author was extremely close to the data, and 

because of her experience with the company and employees, 

was sensitive to cultural nuances, or any Impeding factors on 

the data, such as "buzz-words". Glaser (1978) refers to this skill 

as "theorerical sensirivity". It is the fact the author works at this 

company and has a good relarionship with the staff, together 

with knowledge of how the business works, provides her with 

this theoretical sensirivity.

Case study findings soiution" (Terry Irwin, interview, 10.10.05). 

/. Newly-trained esigners are not confident in asl

2. Briefing is most effective when client and designer exchange 

their domain-relevant knowledge 

Domain-relevant knowledge exchange is prevalent in the 

briefing process, and this is the real holy grail of bnefing. 

Imagine the scenario: the client and the designer sitting at the 

table, each with an abundance oftheir own domain-relevant 

knowledge. The designer has a great deal of knowledge about 

design, and the client has a great deal of knowledge about 

their business. As Terry Irwin (2005) puts it: 

"To me it's more like a discovery process. They want to 

find out about you...you want to find out about them 

but you also want to find out about their organisation". 

In order to inform the bnefing process, i.e. to gather enough 

information to form a brief, the exchange of this domain- 

relevant knowledge needs to occur. The domain-relevant 

knowledge of both client and designer needs to be made 

explicit—ideally, an optimum trade-off between the designer's 

expertise and knowledge In design, and the client's experience 

and knovi'ledge of their business. Both are deemed as central 

to the briefing process. On one hand, the design information 

related to the project Is terribly important—the designer 

needs to know that information: 

"I think that the project-related stuff is stuff we would 

ask for naturally...there is no question about that—we 

have to find that information out otherwise we cannot 

do anything" (Participant 8). 

However, the designer also needs to know about the business 

in order to design for the client's business, shareholders and 

users and also to understand the context of the project. In 

addirion, clients feel that the designer has his or her business 

interests at heart If they take an interest in their business and 

extract the business informarion; they need to be genuinely 

interested in the client's business. Both sides are important, 

and during this study, the designers agreed. 

The co-founder of the company expressed the need forbusiness- 

related information to drive the brief, atthe very start: 

"From the beglnning...before the project starts...! think 

In every case we have to understand the business 

argument as well, so its like "you want us to design 

something...well what is the business case for doing 

that? What are your financial objectives? What are 

your cultural objectives? What about behaviour?" 

(Participant 1). 

Through the workshops held in this research, by highlighting 

the importance of both of these opposing sides of the brief, 

designers are more aware ofthe fact that they need to gather 

both types of information—and the consequences of failing 

to do so, thus resulting In these designers gathering more 

complete and holistic bnefs.The Industry can take heed from 

this important breakthrough in design briefing. 

3. The briefing process is driven by process, yet framed by 

content 

Phillips (2004) argues that content is important in bnefing. 

However, itistheprocess;the interaction and dialogue between 

client and designer that produces the information specific to 

that situation—therefore it is the process that is important. If 

designers focus too rigidly on the content of the brief, and try 

to use a ngid format for the sake of gathering correct content 

at the expense of letting the process "flow", then they could 

actually miss out on vital Informarion and creative energy 

which inherenriy emerge during a fluid briefing process. It 

is both process and content which are Inherently important, 

however the process will allow the correct content to emerge. 

One designer emphasises the importance of getring the 

content themes of a brief right: 

"I think that with the process..J mean one ofthe things 

that Is really fundamental in that process is that it's not 

like a series of separate quesrions,..it's a conversarion..." 

(Participant 5) 

Another designer feel that the content is not important, it 

is the process of asking the right quesrions—whlch may be 

relarively open: 

"Problems aren't usually that specialist - they are 

usually quite general things that are often common 

sense based - and it important that you listen and ask 

questions and take an interest. If you know nothing, 

then take an interest. Always be interested. Always

ask quGstions...that is wlien you start to find out really 

useful things" (Participant 5, workshop session 2). 

It is our view that it is the process that drives the content. If 

one were to use a rigid template, it would not be applicable 

to every project at Graven as there are graphics, interiors and 

exhibition projects, and every project is different. This can be 

said for any company, as undoubtedly every project is different, 

even if it is in the same discipline. Therefore, you would have 

to devise a new template for every project. However, if you are 

experienced in the briefing process, the content will emerge 

no matter what the project entails; the principles are the same 

for extracting different content. 

In briefing, the designer is experienced in design projects, 

whereas the client may not be. The designer therefore has 

the confidence to take the client through the process, making 

sure that the correct themes (content) are covered along 

the way. S/he focuses on getting the process right, such as 

making sure the relationship is built steadily, and the culture 

is open to encourage trust and creativity, mutual learning and 

enjoyment. It is clear that through building trust and long-term 

relationships with clients that this tension can be managed. 

4. The brief must focus, but must be brood enough to inspire 

The aim of a brief is to frame the project. The scope and 

parameters are defined, as well as timeline and key project 

phases. As one designer put it: 

"It is important to have a set scope of work - and then 

it stops the client moving the goalposts slightly ~ and 

extending your remit when you have not budgeted for 

that" (Participant 8). 

However, the brief needs to inspire, as one designer 

remarked: 

"I need to be inspired by the brief...a stepping stone. 

It brings out a few things—that we just need to have 

dialogue about" (Participant 9). 

This new observation carries with it a strong push and pull 

tension. On one hand the client (and to an extent, sometimes 

designers, and their financial department) is fighting for the 

brief to be simple and defined, and very concise. The designer 

does agree, in some cases, and a brief that Is too broad can be 

confusing and uninspiring. Yet the tension strikes when the 

designer clashes with those who want the brief to be concise, 

(and this can mean a clash with himself!) and the desire for the 

brief to be broad enough to inspire. This is a clear tension. 

This new observation although prevalent and challenging, 

helps to focus the designer on the project. They are careful 

when extracting the project brief and engaging in the process 

with the clients, that they gather enough "soft" parts of the 

brief to inspire, yet they have to make sure they detail their 

scope enough to pin down the parameters of the project, 

and to extract the finer details of budget, sign-off procedures 

and timescale. Through the practitioners at the company 

actively addressing these two conflicting elements of a brief, 

the briefing process can be more informed. Practitioners will 

be more focused on the process holistically, as they know the 

"nuts and bolts" of the information they have to get rather 

than just getting enough to inspire. The value in structuring 

the process was positively viewed in the company: 

"This is a marvellous thing. It (the process) needs to be 

captured so that others can learn from it" (Participant 10). 

5. Roleplay can add a new dimension in understanding a project 

brief 

This builds upon Tomes, Oates and Armstrong's emphasis on 

the verbal-visual translation as enhancing communication. 

At Graven Images, clients are actually taken on a journey and 

involved in every stage of the process. The studios designers 

actually place themselves in the role ofthe user and encourage 

the client to do the same: 

"I think that this is a reaily important method—and a 

really important part of the process—I think that in this 

team it would be good to put someone else's hat on 

because then we can just learn from It. Like Aunty Betty 

is 90. How is she going to use this space? Where is she 

going to go? And it is really fascinating just to do that. 

It's like that's the company, that's the project.This could 

be a way of finding this out—asking those questions to 

yourself in the shape of Aunty Betty—be her and ask 

yourself those questions" (Participant 6).

Conclusions 

When we dance, we share knowledge, reach mutual 

understanding and create a worthwhile experience that fulfils 

some sense of a shared objective. And we have fun. That 

shared knowledge and mutual understanding provides the 

basis for our objectives to be more ambitious the next time 

we hit the dance floor with our partner. 

So it is the same with design briefing. This paper has 

emphasised how it Is the process that is critical, providing the 

means by which knowledge can be shared, content defined, 

and focussed objectives agreed. Design briefing is a complex, 

unpredictable process that is not conducive to prescribed 

methods of support. "Stncdy ballroom" Is a rigid approach to 

briefing which suppresses the energy and mutual learning 

which a "dancing in the momenf'approach nurtures. In order 

to be able to "dance in the moment" designers need to be able 

to be confident in asking the client about their business, and for 

the sake ofthe future ofthedesİgnindustry,this skill should not 

be left to develop from experience alone, and indeed may take 

years to develop. However, from our research it appears that 

the expenence of "dancing in the moment" can be a liberation 

for designers, providing an engaging and challenging context 

fortheir practice, and a means of working In harmony with a 

commercial partner. This Is particularly important In the fast 

changing new context of design in which the relationship 

between client and consultant itself is of critical competitive 

significance. Gornick (2006) has argued that we are shifting 

from 'design consultancy' to 'innovation consultancy' in 

which strategy and creativity become intertwined: "We can 

begin to see complementary goals and processes emerging 

between companies and their design consultants, giving 

their collaboration the unique value of being both creative 

and strategic. Long-term success goes to the designers who 

can deliver a fusion of strategy with creativity in their client 

relationships." 

The urgent need facing the design community is two-fold. First 

we must explore approaches and tools that encourage and 

enable more flexible and responsive approaches to briefing to 

develop. Second, it is apparent that design educators and the 

design curriculum need to build the confidence of designers 

to work in partnership with business. This Is about building 

skills in communication, collaborative working styles, and 

creative partnerships. Designers must be able to talk the talk, 

walk the talk, and dance the talk. 

It is time for the curriculum to change, and, tike the design 

industry, become more inter-disciplinary. This move to inter 

disciplinarity in the design industry has evolved as a result 

of the industry becoming increasingly competitive, with 

consultancies collaborating with other disciplines to make 

their design solutions and approaches more holistic and 

relevant to their users. It is time that the design curriculum did 

the same. 


The authors wish to thank the senior partners and staff at 

Graven Images, Glasgow fortheir co-operation in undertaking 

the research. Thanks are also extended to colleagues In the 

School of Design at the University of Dundee for their critical 

comments, in particular Professors Seaton Baxter and Tom 

Inns.

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T O D A Y ' S I L L U S T R A T I O N . 

R E P R E S E N T A T I O N S O F A D E S I G N E R ' S W A Y O F D E S I G N T H I N K I N G 

Joana Quental 

Universidade de Aveiro, Avelro,Portugal 

joanaq@ca.ua.pt 

Fatlma Pombo 

Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro,Portugal 

fpombo@ca.ua.pt 

Abstract 

This paper intends to contribute to the general Issue of design 

thinking by discussing how today's design recovers and uses 

illustration as a language {with it's own syntax and semantics) 

in order to communicate visually. It results from an ongoing 

research project that is studying illustration in design and the 

way in which design can offer innovative solutions by using 

this expressive resource. 

Efficiency and formal synthesis, which reached their 

climax with modernism, are today tending to adapt to the 

current times of idleness, individualism, s elf-reference and 

the desire for singularity. It is in this context that formal 

solutions using illustration appear, breaking away from the 

truth that photographic imagery formerly sought. These 

"pictorial narratives" offer stimuli to the receiver and Initiate 

associations, images and memories that support thought, 

close that which we find in the patterns of emorional design 

(Donald Norman). 

Contrary to the tradirional sense of illustration, which Is to 

decorate and bring to light a unique meaning, contemporary 

illustrarion contributes to the appearance of a symbolic level, 

starring with its own mode of design thinking (Nigel Cross, 

Nagai and Noguchi, Gabriela Goldschmidt). The illustrator is 

a construer of senses and he achieves this though illustrarion 

design. The illustrator Is, in this way, illustraring himself 

After the initial euphoria ofthe potenrial solutions that digital 

technologies were offering, today there Is a return to hand 

made illustration and to the formal valorisarion of drawing 

by analogical means. It is almost as if there has been a refusal 

of artificial and exterior means and the body has been called 

upon once more to parricipate and become involved in the 

creative act (Walter Benjamin). 

Illustrarion as a communicarional artefact is innovative In 

the sense that it is the graphical fixation of a transitory order. 

Transitory because it represents the manner in which its author 

manifests his "inner order": transitory because it depends on 

the receiver to complete It (an "outer order"). Illustration realises 

itself as an interface between these Inner and outer orders. 

In this paper, examples that reference the absence of design 

illustrarion and examples that reference their recourse and 

importance today are presented. 

The interpretation of these examples contributes to the 

clarificarion ofthe proposed objectives. 

Keywords: Illustration, design thinking, drawing, image, 

innovation 


The "designeriy ways of thinking" a phrase used by Nigel 

Cross to define what he calls "natural intelligence in design", 

holds that there is something specific or special In design 

thinking that distinguishes it from other forms of thought.

A definition of design has been sought in the past using 

different approaches. Positivist theory, with its special interest 

in methodologies, conceived design as a rational activity that 

is essentially geared toward solving problems.' Constructivist 

theory used a different approach, seeing design as a process 

of reflection in action.^ Today, however, the ontology of design 

is taken to consist of the construction of senses.^ Kazmierckak 

defines design as "meaning making", "cognitive interface 

permitting the reconstruction of the particular senses that 

are sought""", while Klaus Krippendorff describes design as "a 

sense creating activity".' 

It is from where these two principles overlap that the hypothesis 

arises that design thinking and the construction of senses In 

design enjoy specific conditions. This change of paradigm 

gives the designer a primary role. He is not only someone 

seeking a solution (albeit hypothetical) for a problems rather 

he is a semantic agent, interpreter of a desire and producer of 

meaning through the forms he produces. From the viewpoint 

of design research it is necessary to understand what 

instruments and poetic resources accompany the designer in 

the process, and to evaluate the resulting configurations. 

2. On illustration 

"So natural is the combination of picture and writing that 

men of many times and places have believed the picture to 

' SIMON, Herbert A., 1996. The Sciences of the Artificial. 3rd ed. 

London: The MIT Press 

^SCHÖN, Donald A., 2005.The Reflective Pratitioner. How Professionals 

Think in Action. Great Britain: Ashgate 

^ PROVIDENCIA, Francisco "Algo mas que una helice" in CALVERA, 

Anna (ed,), 2003, Arte?Disefio. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili. 

" KAZMIERCKAK, Eizbieta T, 2003. Design as Meaning Making: From 

Making Things to the Design of Thinking. Vol, Design Issues, vol 19/2. 

Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology 

^ KRIPPENDORFF, Klaus, 1995. in MARGOLIN, Victor e BUCHANAN, 

Richard (editores). The Idea of Design, A Design Issues Reader. 

London: The Mit Press. p,156 

^ A problem that he often defends as one that still requires definition. 

Even understanding theobjectiveofthedesign,thesolving of problems, 

the role ofthe interpreter ofthe designer cannot be annulled. 

be consubstantial with the thing or being that it represents"' 

(MELOT, 1984:8). 

The etymology of the word graphic (graphein) provides a common 

origin for the acts of writing and designing. Throughout history, 

words and images have shared the same media, coexisting 

in multiple communication artefacts and almost always 

contributing to a common objective- the communication of 

an idea - doing it through the individual specificity of each 

language. Illustration emerges from this dialeîic. 

The common understanding of illustration describes it as a 

language with a function of explaining and clarifying a text 

that it complements and sheds light upon. It thus placed 

illustration in a position of dependency and subordination 

-"secondary images, neither derived nor original, rather 

repetitions or duplications, and hence redundant"''The word 

illustration also implied as"{...) images created by a technical 

processthatcan be duplicated; woodcut and wood engravings, 

copper and steel engravings, etchings and lithography. Hand- 

painted images executed individually and painting in books 

are distinguished from these as Illumination"? Illustration 

assumed an essentially didactic character, the use of which 

was justified by the need to make texts comprehensive for 

the less literate, with a mission "to perform the function ofthe 

democratic dissemination of knowledge"'" (MAREIS, 2006:4). 

The descriptive function that illustration fulfilled in relation 

to text (and therefore so often referred to as illustrative 

drawing), is nonetheless replaced today by a desire to bring 

to light new semantic relations and meanings, represented 

in original poetic formal solutions. It rejects subjection to a 

given programme or the limitations of its media, transposing 

' MELOT Michel, 1984. The Art of Illustration. New York: Rizzoli 

International Publications,lnc, 

^ FRADE, Paulo A. S., 2002 "As Antinomies Do Desenho." Tese de 

Doutoramento. Porto, p,353 

^ MAREIS, Claudia, 2006, Illustration - an attempt at an up-to-date 

definition in KLANTEN, Robert and HELLIGE, Hendrik (editors). Illusive. 

Contemporary Illustration and Us Context. Beriim: Die Gestalten Verlag 

GmbH & Co. KG 

'"op. cit., p.2

its limits into symbolic and dense forms. It looks upon itself as 

a "lie"" and it is precisely here that it finds its own destiny. As 

a lie, it is free, unlike photography, to escape the truth, to tell 

it in another way, to reinvent meanings for it with no need for 

any reality except its own. 

Illustration, apparently forgotten and out of fashion, could 

now embrace Its new soul. 

Ian Noble recognises that "illustration -itself a part of graphic 

design, and certainly a discipline that is intnnsically linked to 

design through the process of commission and collaboration 

- has undergone a period of significant redefinition.The activity 

and practice of illustration and Image-making has now grown to 

accommodate a wider range of approaches"'^ (NOBLE, 2005:8). 

Mareis states that"lt is no exaggeration to say that illustration 

is undergoing a renaissance today. (...) It has woken from its 

lengthy slumbers, and is promoting itself more than ever 

as a poetic, expressive and above all independent design 

discipline".''^ 

The place of Illustrarion and image making are cleariy 

appreciated in the context of contemporary design. Today, 

more than ever, the frontiers between what is drawing, 

painting, illustration and design are fading. If we try to explain 

illustrarion here, it is because we recognise the advantage of 

giving this process a name in order to understand it. 

" "Paper Lies". The term serves Nuria Sauri to introduce the concept of 

illustration. Paper, as a support medium, ties illustration to the world 

of senses, gives it body and substance. But with digital technology, 

the image looses its materiality. There is no original or proof of its 

physical existence.The real stops being "what exists in truth; what is not 

imaginary" but reencounters the sense contained in its etymology: res, 

"thing",all that exists or could exist really or in abstract.".The contradlcrion 

that Magritte consecrates with the famous "Cecin'estpas umepipe". 

'2 NOBLE, Ian and BESTLEY, Russell, 2005. Visual Research. An 

Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design. 

Lausanne: .AVA Publishing. 

'^KLANTEN, Robert and HELLIGE, Hendrik (editores), 2006. illusive. 

Contemporary Illustration and Its Context. Berİİm: Die Gestalten 

Veriag GmbH & Co. KG 

It seems to us that the rime is ripe to reflect upon illustration 

and its phenomenology, since that which is soid today goes 

far beyond the text that inspires and orients It. It is therefore 

useful to considerate it here as a process of thought and 

construction, a place of doubt, choices and revelations and to 

set it free to serve other purposes, applying its name to the 

action of designing. To that end we consider two fundamental 

aspects: the formal quesrions: the plastic and expression of 

illustrarion on one hand and the content of illustrarion on the 

other, that Is, illustrarion as a communicational artefact and 

witness of experience. 

3. Design through illustration 

What state of being involved does a Paul Rand (Figure 1), a 

Milton Glaser (figure 2), or a Joâo Machado (Figure 3), poster 

propose to the reader? And the compositions of Sebasriao 

Rodrigues? And the colours of Pacovska (Figure 4), or the 

humour and charisma of Alan Fletcher's design? (Figure 5)

We cannot disassociate these examples from the author 

that created them, because the drawing of each one of their 

illustrations confirms their identity and the way they think 

design.Theworkthey create influences and orients the reading 

ofthe idea to be communicated because it is impregnated with 

their authors'own ideas, opinions and convictions. We feel it 

in the colours, In the composition, in the metaphors used. 

Understanding the whole, the image and the intelligence that 

flow over from the creative process can simultaneously be a 

source of pleasure for the reader. 

The illustration project allows the designer the space for 

freedom, both semantic and affective. It provides the 

illustrator with contact with the works of others and therefore, 

like an actor, the illustrator has an opportunity to experience 

other existences. In this sense each illustration is a renewal, a 

possibility for a (virtual)''' programme. 

The unique thinking ofthe designer/illustrator is discovered 

in the dialetic between the words and the images. This is the 

itiustratorlywayofthinklng.whichwe believeto be the cognitive 

process implied in the act of illustrating. It is therefore defined 

as a poietic act'^ since it is an intellectual process of reasoning 

associated with a practice that makes this thinking concrete. 

Design thinking is also about doing design. It is expressed 

by designing the design and by the accomplishment of the 

object/thing of the design:"(...) design thought process is the 

designer's creative expression process".'*^ 

4.The"i!lustratorly ways of thinking" 

We live in times of idleness, individualism and the desire of 

individuals to leave a personal mark in the world.There is also 

a tendency towards femininisation, the cult of beauty and 

ornament. Men have lost their fear of showing themselves as 

'^ LEVY, Pierre, 2001.0 Que E O Virtual? Coimbra: Quarteto 

'^ NARVAEZ, LUZ Maria Jimenes, 2000. Design's Own Knowledge. 

Design Issues, vol 16/1. Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology 

'^NAGAI, Yukari, CANDY, Linda and EDMONDS, Ernest. Representations 

of Design Thinking, A Review of Recent Studies. In http://www. 

idemployee.id.tue.ni/g.w.m.rauterberg/conferences/C0_doNotOpen/ 

ADC/finaLpaper/341.pdf 

sensitive and have revealed it in their daily habits, clothing, 

colours,objectsandattitudesthey adopt. What was considered 

different before is today considered to be original. 

After the euphoria for the digital, the excessive use of virtual 

technological media, the "stylistic mannerism"", and the 

minimalist mannerism that arose from there, tiredness with 

a too perfect, too cold and distant language and a refusal 

to accept it followed. Recent contributions at the levels of 

neurophysiologyand emotion'*'also provide a deeperreflection 

(and less intuitive) about the effects of the artefacts on the 

user, the user's reactions and In general, the user's interactions. 

Proximity with the receiver/reader/interpreter thus seems to 

be a goal that has been assumed by design today. 

This context may justify the current appetite for illustration 

that has become apparent. 

O'Reilly suggests the"seductive theory of illustration", justifying: 

"There's a new communication space opening up for illustration. 

While the media looks to rationalise a world of information 

overload, illustrators are being given a licence to speculate and 

invent, to cut through the chaos of visual messaging." And he 

calls it"(...) a radar for picking up cultural and social signals".'^ 

There is a kind of enchantment and mystery in illustration 

today. It is no longer hidden behind the meanings of a text, 

rather it reveals itself in all its intensity. What arouses curiosity 

and emotional involvement is this ambiguity, a (semantic) 

space left open, needing to be filled by somebody. It is a kind 

of game that is played with the reader - a constant discovery 

through doubt and the impossibility of actually ever knowing it 

fully. It demands a lot ofthe reader. It asserts its involvement In 

the construction (co-creation) of a joint interpretation, not only 

ofthe image but ofthe entire illustration medium as a whole. 

" PELTA, Raquel, 2004, Disetîar hioy.Temas Contempordneos De Diseho 

Gmfico. Barcelona. 

'^ DAMÂSIO, Antonio, 1999, 0 Sentimento de Si. 0 corpo, a Emoçöo e 

a Neurobiologia da Consciencia. Publicaçöes Europa-America: Mem 

Martins. 

'^ O'REILLY, John, 2006. lllustrologyiThe visual tlieory of tlie future, in 

Varoom 01. p.ö

Illustration presents us with feelings that we did not know, 

offers us alternative readings that touch us because they make 

us think;"No experience having a meaning is possible without 

some element of thought"^" 

Each time we look, there is a detail that stands out. Therefore 

we have to return there from time to time until we fix It in our 

memory. 

Before the programme (and assuming that the illustrator has 

the capacity to respond to it), other questions anse, which 

are possibly essential to the illustration project. How can we 

identifyandofferanexpenence,orstimuiatean emotion? How 

to represent what is not in a text - the absencel The illustrator 

begins a project with some convictions and a lot of doubts. He 

knows what he could do but should not be done - to be literal, 

obvious, immediate, contradict the meaning ofthe concept 

or simply translating it into an Image. From this point on, the 

illustrator needs to discover (with the programme in mind) 

how to substitute the concept with the image, representing 

what is not objectively present in it. 

Although limited by the stillness of the illustration media, 

iilustration maintains the desire to arouse emotion. Recourse 

to analogical drawing is possibly explained by this wish to be 

closerto the person that will Zee/the illustration.The sensation of 

having a finished product is lost. The transparency ofthe process 

and the fixation of the gesture are shown. A practice is shared. 

The rigour of the representation of the drawing and the 

technique give way to images with a poetic load that is 

achieved by deception and by accident, by hesitations and 

imperfect lines, that denote the presence and mark of the one 

who created them. Byrne justifies: "The 'good' was so easy to 

achieve that even a computer programme could do it! The 

"bad" required dexterity and heart - or at least virtual heart".^' 

In this close relation, expression is valued as a special form of 

^"DEWEY, John, 1916. Democracy and Educarion. In www.ilt.coiumbia. 

edu/publications/dewey.html 

^' BYRNE, David Nostalgia Por Lo Real, O Lo Malo Es Bueno in http:// 

www.jornada.unam.mx/2004/06/01/03aa 1cul.php?origen=opinion. 

php&fly=1,2004. 

saying and doing. Therefore the simulation of manual work 

and the inclusion of error are often preferred. There we find 

someone who reveals himself and becomes closer to us by 

"drawing the drawing".^^ The thing that is drawn is the visible 

evidence ofthe way the illustrator" thinks and feels, and even 

if in an unconscious way. It holds memory and experience. 

The "lie" Is not only in the illusion that It communicates, it is 

also extended to the illustration mode. The drawing lies when 

it creates the illusion of stopping time, of movement, ofthe 

unforeseen and of chance. It lies when it seems to result from 

a process of a casual and free fixation of all constraints (when 

itis precisely here that it finds its rhetorical and poetical "space 

of freedom"). They are layers that endure, forms that overlap, 

adjust and fit, and In this way "negoriate" their place without 

becoming void. 

Deleuze offers a starting point for reflecrion on what is 

illustrarion thinking, since illustration occurs (or goes on 

occurring) by means of a construction process. Deleuze 

establishes the existence of "two planes, or two ways 

of conceptualizing the plane. (...) A plan{e) of formed 

organizations with their developments, the generic plan(e) 

of evolutionary developments with their organizations"^'* 

(DELEUZE, 1999:265). 

" Molina cites Saul Steinberg; "lo que dibujo es el dibujar, dibujar 

procede del dibujo" MOLINA, Juan Jose Gomez, CABE2AS, Lino and 

COPÖN, Miguel, 2005. Los Nombres Del Dibujo. Madrid: Catedra., 12 

It is taken than the individual is a cultural product. Howard Gardner 

proposes a model for the analysis of creativity, what he calls the 

"creative triangle", where the individual, other people and the work 

are. Gottlieb Guntern proposes "The Eco-anthropological theory" in 

which "an ecosystem (not an organism") is the smallest viable entity 

on our planet. It consists of three structural entities: reference system 

(e.f Organism, couple, family, team, population of a city), the physical 

environment (natural environment, man-made environment) and the 

biosocial environment (natural and man-made) and the relationships 

between the three structural components (defined by exchange of 

matter-energy and information signals)". 

DELEUZE, Gilles e GUATTARI, Felix,1999. A Thousand Plateaus: 

Capitalism E Schizophrenia. London, The Athlone Press

The plane or that which would be the purpose of the project 

- the object - is hidden: "It is by nature hidden. It can only 

be inferred, included, concluded from that to which it gives 

rise {...)". This could be "the illustratorly ways of thinking" 

thought in which words and drawing are combined in 

crystallised moments in pre-illustrations, in the sense that in 

each one of these configurations, a little more of what Is being 

communicated is being found and uncovered. The word 

implies the drawing and the drawing implies the word, in an 

evolutionary process of production of provisional senses in 

which intuition has an essential role. The active participation 

of the illustrator in this process - intellectual and gestural 

' makes the illustration space a place of experience and 

construction. This is an essential concept in the aesthetics of 

Deleuze and one which could translate that which today is the 

mode ofmaiisng illustration. 

We consider illustration to be the interface between the 

inner the ideas, emotions, experiences, memory and time of 

the illustrator; and the outer of ideas, emotions, experiences, 

memory and time of the receiver - a "space of fluxes"." 

Illustration will therefore be an ephemeral and transitory order 

that oscillates between the order (and feeling) that is fixed in a 

precise moment by its author and the order that is attributed 

to it by each receiver (interpretation) in the moment and space 

of reception. 

5. The paths of illustration. Design innovative solutions by 

means of recourse to illustration 

Contemporary graphic design is not always concerned 

with problem solving, or operating in relation to a 

client's brief. The exploration of a theme that interests 

the designer, and the graphic response to that theme 

which might enlighten and help to describe new 

visual languages that are applicable to other graphic 

solutions, is a core part of the research agenda. In 

effect, this places the design methodology itself as a 

central component of the design process. The testing 

and development as a visual vocabulary relevant to 

" The term "flux" is used by John Tackara and Mihaly Csikszentmihaiyi 

a specific context may then be further developed in 

order to address a number of problems within that 

same context^" (NOBLE and BESTLEY, 2005:100). 

What stands out clearly in Noble's idea is the advantage 

of developing new approaches from a brief, with the 

interpretation and methodology applied by the designer 

being essential to the process. 

And he concludes:"The resultant design propositions are then 

both the combination of a personal exploration ofthe subject 

and a nascent visual language that operates within a set of 

predetermined objectives".'' 

The current design of illustration involves the drawing of 

experiences and emotions, more than translating concepts. 

Being a process centred on the individual - designer/author 

- it reflects its reading of current times. It could, in this way, 

constitute itself as a mark of time, simultaneously proposing 

pictorial vocabularies thai are available to be applied and 

communicated. As mentioned, they are possibilities, updates, 

and they the deserve certification as such. Zuccaro used 

to warn: "In the same way that a mirror eliminates all those 

aspects that are not visible and so cannot be reflected, the 

image-design also eliminates those traces that the (mental) 

design does not recognise, and so excludes. Therefore the 

decisive factor in the configuration ofthe image is the subject, 

not nature. (...) By tipping the balance in favour ofthe subject, 

the subject can never verify it, because all verification is only 

the verification of a project".^^ 

The responsibility of the illustrator is increased in the sense 

that the bigger decisions ofthe project fall to him and there 

are no measures or formulae to justify his work. And as for the 

reader/receiver, it is easy to allow oneself to be seduced by the 

illustration that he imagines. 

NOBLE, Ian and BESTLEY, Russell, 2005. Visual Research. An 

Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design. Lausanne: 

AVA Publishing 

•^'op. cit, 

BOZAL, Va!eriano,1987, Mimesis: Las Imagens Y Las Cosas. Madrid: 

Visor, p, 136.

We would say like Milton Glaser; 

Less is not necessarily more. Being a child of modernism 

I have heard this mantra all my life. Less is more. One 

morning upon awakening I realised that it was total 

nonsense, it is an absurd proposition and also fairly 

meaningless. But it sounds great because it contains 

within it a paradox that is resistant to understanding. 

But it simply does not obtain when you think about 

the visual of the history of the world. If you look at a 

Persian rug, you cannot say that less is more because 

you realise that every part of that rug, every change of 

colour, every shift In form Is absolutely essential for its 

aesthetic success. You cannot prove to me that a solid 

blue rug Is in any way superior. That also goes for the 

work of Gaudi, Persian miniatures, art nouveau and 

everything else. However, I have an alternative to the 

proposition that I believe is more appropriate. "Just 

enough is more" (GLASER, 2001 j.^^ 

Thus it is for the illustrator to decide what is the measure - 

what is just enough in each project. 

Illustration as an artefact of communication is therefore a 

witness the a conflict resolved by the illustrator - the need to 

communicate a concept by his thinking and an interpretation 

of the social, ideological, political and cultural context in 

which he carries out his work. Through a discourse made 

through images. It reveals an attempt to establish an order 

-"the best posture is not in the absolute sense but In relation 

to a sought purpose"^"-starting from the c/Zsorc/er of objective 

and subjective elements inherent to the programme it 

must respond to. But it is also an order in which the Homo 

Ludens prevails, not an imposed order but one that allows 

the illustrator and those who come into contact with the 

illustration to experiment with different interpretations. 

GLASER, Milton, 2001. Ten Things i Have Learned, in AigaTalk. 

www.miltonglaser.com/pages/milton/essays/es3.htmi 

^"Tomas de Aquino in ECO, Umberto, 2005. Historia da Beleza. Lisboa: 

Difel. p.89 

In the probable course that It will follow, illustration should 

maintain, in itself, that which is essential: Its narration, 

communicating ideas by means of image. It should reveal not 

only one but various stones. The hidden stories in the bnef, 

the story of its author and the story if its time, converting itself 

Into experiences and thus Into a story for anyone who cares to 

stop and contemplate it. 

In this text we have tried to contribute to showing how 

illustration as a language, as an effort to communicate visually, 

is among contemporary themes that go to explaining design 

thinking, proposing it to have a syntax, semantics and poetics 

of its won, and as a potential form of original narrative and 

graphical solutions. 

By including illustration In the ambit of design research, we are 

seeking to restore It and understand it as an essential practice 

in communication design and human communication. Once 

revived, the practice accompanies many people throughout 

their lives.

References 

BOZAL, Valeriano,1987. Mimesis: Las imagens Y Las Cosas. 

Madrid:Visor. 

BYRNE, David Nostalgia Por Lo Real, O Lo Malo Es Bueno in 

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2004/06/01/03aal cul. 

php?origen=opinion.php8;fly=l, 2004 

DAMÂSIO, Antonio, 1999. O Sentimento de Si. O corpo, a 

Emoçâo e a Neurobiologia da Consciencia. Publicaçöes 

Europa-America: Mem Martins. 

DELEUZE, Gilles e GUATTARI, Felix,1999. AThousand Plateaus: 

Capitalism E Schizophrenia. London, The Athlone Press. 

DEWEY, John, 1916. Democracy and Education. In www.ilt. 

columbia.edu/publications/dewey.html 

ECO, Umberto, 2005. Historia da Beleza. Lisboa: Difel. 

FRADE, Paulo A. S., 2002 "As Antinomlas Do Desenho."Tese de 

Doutoramento. Porto. 

GLASER, Milton, 2001. Ten Things 1 Have Learned. In AigaTalk. 

www.miltonglaser.com/pages/milton/essays/es3.html 

KAZMIERCKAK, Eizbieta T., 2003. Design as Meaning Making: 

From Making Things to the Design of Thinking. Vol. Design 

Issues, vol 19/2. Massachusetts Institute ofTechnology. 

KLANTEN, Robert and HELLIGE, Hendrik (editores), 2006. 

Illusive. Contemporary Illustration and Its Context. Beriim: Die 

Gestalten Verlag GmbH & Co. KG 

KRIPPENDORFF,Klaus,1995.inMARGOLIN,VictoreBUCHANAN, 

Richard (editores). The Idea of Design, A Design Issues Reader. 

London: The Mit Press, 

LEVY Pierre, 2001.0 Que E O Virtual? Coimbra: Quarteto. 

MELOT, Michel, 1984. The Art of Illustration. New York: Rizzoli 

International Publications,lnc. 

MOLINA, Juan Jose Gomez, CABEZAS, Lino and COPÖN, 

Miguel, 2005. Los Nombres Del Dibujo. Madrid: Catedra. 

NAGAI, Yukari, CANDY Linda and EDMONDS,Ernest. 

Representations of Design Thinking, A Review of Recent 

Studies.lnhttp://www.idemployee.id,tue.nl/g.w.m.rauterberg/ 

conferences/CD_doNotOpen/ADC/finaLpaper/341.pdf 

NARVÂEZ, Luz Maria Jimenes, 2000. Design's Own Knowledge. 

Design Issues, vol 16/1. Massachusetts Institute of 

Technology. 

NOBLE, Ian and BESTLEY, Russell, 2005. Visual Research. An 

Introduction to Research Methodologies in Graphic Design. 

Lausanne: AVA Publishing. 

O'REILLY John, 2006. lllustrology:The visual theory of the 

future. In Varoom 01. 

PELTA, Raquel, 2004. Disehar Hoy.Temas Contemporaneos De 

Diseno Grafico. Barcelona. 

PROVIDENCIA, Francisco"Algo mas que una helice"in CALVERA, 

Anna (ed.), 2003. Arte?Diseho. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo 

Gili. 

SCHÖN, Donald A., 2005, The Reflective Pratitloner. How 

Professionals Think in Action. Great Britain: Ashgate. 

SIMON, Herbert A., 1996. The Sciences of the Artificial. 3rd ed. 

London: The MIT Press. 

Figures: 

Figure 1: http://mssa.library.yale.edU/derivatives/mss/l 745/ 

zoom/008075.jpg 

Figure 2: http://www.wtamu.edu/~bcaruthers/glaser.jpg 

Figure 3; http://www.lworldart.com/A4W/images/machado_ 

170.jpg 

Figure 4: http://www,analucia,net/imsblog/KvetaPacovska/ 

Alphabet-Seui!-1996/alfabeto.jpg 

Figure 5: http://www.designmuseum.org/media/item/4815/- 

1/102_7Lg.jpg

A N E X P L D R A T O R Y S T U D Y D F F A S H I O N D E S I G N : D E S I G N E R , P R O D U C T A N D 

C O N S U M E R 

Osmud Rahman 

School of Fashion 

Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada 

email: orahman@ryerson.ca 

Xiuli Zhu 

Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, China 

email: xiulizhu@tom.com 

Wing-sun Liu 

Institute of Textiles & Clothing 

Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 

email; tcliuws@inet.polyu.edu.hk 


Fashion Industry has been undergone substantial 

transformation over the years. Fashion houses are no longer 

working with two collections per year - Fall/Winter and 

Spring/Summer. Many fashion professionals are working with 

multiple collections and delivenes every season. They are 

constantly searching for fresh idea and creating new products 

in order to meet their customer's aspirations. 'Fast fashion' 

companies have been successfully using various strategies to 

reduce the production lead time, increase their competitive 

advantage and expedite the design process. 

This research project was undertaken to examine the 

relationship between designer (ideation), product (innovative 

design) and consumer (aspirations). Consumption culture 

was discussed and design issues were identified in this paper. 

Based on cross-disciplinary literatures, a conceptual design 

model was developed. This paper Is attempted to identify 

research opportunities for the future, offer recommendations 

for fashion practitioners. 

Due to vast technological breakthroughs, our consumer culture 

has evolved greatly over the last twenty years. We are living in 

a fast-paced, experience-driven and knowledge-based society 

where consumers can access and obtain information freely, 

easily and quickly than ever before. Consumers are much more 

knowledgeable and aware of fashion trends, design features, 

and the characteristics and performance of a product. When 

they shop for a consumer product, they do not merely look 

for functional values. They often seek for multiple attributes 

of a product to satisfy their physical needs and aspirations. 

These attributes include functional, psychological (Kaiser, 

1990), emotional (Moor, 2006; Howard, 2001), symbolic (Levy, 

1959; Elliott and Wattanasuwan 1998), and experiential values 

(Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982) that affect the choices they 

eventually make. 

In response to this phenomenon, the fashion industry has 

been undergone substantial transformations to accommodate 

the needs and aspirations ofthe consumers. Fashion houses 

are constandy searching for fresh ideas and creating new 

products. They are now working with multiple collections 

and deliveries every year - the traditional Fall/Winter and 

Spring/Summer collections per year almost no longer exists.

Fast-fashion (Foroohar, 2005; Frazer, 2006) companies such 

as Zara, Hennes and fVlauritz (H&M) and Esprit have been 

successfully using agile manufacturing, lean production and 

quick response strategies to reduce the production lead time, 

increase their competitive advantage and expedite the design 

process. 

In order to address these ongoing challenges and remain 

competitive in the marketplace, fashion designers and 

professionals must consider many other factors beyond 

the visual design of a garment. It is pertinent to address the 

relationship between designer (ideation), product (innovative 

design) and consumer (aspirations). In this respect, a number 

of questions are raised and addressed in this paper. Questions 

such as: What constitutes the desires existing within a 

consumer's mind? How can a designer identify the basic 

aspirations of their customers? What type of product should a 

fashion designer offer if today's customers are'multi-attributes' 

seekers? And what kind of R&D (Research and Development) 

methods should be used for this rapid changing industry? 

To the best of our knowledge, the trichotic relationships of 

this particular topic have received only limited attention. 

This research study was undertaken to further examine the 

conceptualization, creation and configuration within the 

design process. Having briefly identified and discussed the 

nature of today's consumption culture in this paper, a cross- 

disciplinary research was developed and a case study is 

presented to support the interpretation. 

In the following section, this paper begins with a review of 

the literature. The next section explains the methodology 

employed and reports the results and findings. Due to the 

space constraints, some results have been omitted with only 

the most important and relevant content of the interviews 

included in this paper. The conclusions and implications can 

be found in the last section. 

Literature Review 

Prior studies have investigated and examined this topic from 

different perspectives that include consumer product, design 

innovation and consumer behaviour (Bloch 1995;0'Cass 2004; 

Pesendorfer 1995). 

Consumer and product 

There Is a substantial amount of consumer and marketing 

research literature devoted to product attributes. According 

to Hines and Swinker (2001), consumers often use concrete 

characteristics and abstract features of a product as 

evaluative criteria in making a purchasing decision. Concrete 

characteristics are comprised of intrinsic cues and extrinsic cues 

ofaproductwhereasabstractfeatures include aesthetic appeal, 

psychological expectations and performance expectations. 

O'Neal er al. (1990) also pointed out that consumers based 

quality on five differing dimensions: physical, performance, 

aesthetic, affective and connotative. The level of consumer 

knowledge, awareness, familiarity, interest, involvement, or 

value may also affect how consumers evaluate quality (Hines 

and O'Neal, 1995). Prior knowledge and experience could play 

an important role on acceptance and rejection of a product. For 

example, if consumers become dissatisfied with the usage or 

performance of a particular product, it might create a negative 

impact that would play an important role on the acceptance 

and/or rejection of similar products in the future purchases. 

According to the cue utilization theory (Richardson, et al., 

1994), today's consumers use different cues in making their 

assessments of a product (Szybillo and Jacoby, 1974; Dodds 

and Monroe, 1985; ZeithamI, 1988), and are classified as 

extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic cues are considered to be 

lower level cues that can be changed without changing the 

physical product (e.g. price, brand name, country-of-origin, 

warranty). Intrinsic cues are high-level cues directly related 

to the product such as fabric, style and quality (Aqueveque, 

2006). If consumers are familiar with the product, they tend to 

use intrinsic cues for evaluations, whereas, if consumers are not 

familiar with the products, they are more likely to use extrinsic 

cues (Brucks, 1985). Researchers have extensively examined 

and discussed the impact of both extrinsic and intrinsic cues 

across different product types and from divergent perspectives. 

In some cases, they focus their study on a singular cue of a 

product as opposed to multiple cues. For example, the topic 

of country-of-origin has often been studied asa significant cue 

in marketing fields (Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Papadopoulos ef al., 

1991; Cordell, 1992; Ahemed and d' Aston, 1993) and used as 

the sole criteria for the study. On the contrary, some researchers 

suggest that many consumers tend to use multiple cues when

evaluating a product rather than a single cue (Jacoby etal., 

1973; Simonson, 1989; Szybillo and Jacoby, 1974). In particular, 

the correlation between brand name, price and quality has 

been widely discussed and disseminated by many researchers 

overthe years. Brand name is regarded as being a very useful 

cue when consumers choose from a wide array of competing 

consumer products. During the buying process, consumers 

rely on information based on expenence from their external 

environment (e.g. advertisements, word-of-mouth referrals 

from friends). Positive acknowledgement of a brand name 

could reduce the perceived risk of a product (Peter and Ryan, 

1976), and shorten the decision-making process. Besides brand 

name, price may also be perceived as a product quality cue.The 

price-quality inference or price-quality heuristic has also been 

studied and investigated substantially In the past (Rao and 

Monroe, 1988; Rao and Monroe,1989; Rao and Wanda, 1992). 

In short, the most salient determinant of product success 

lies in its inherent value: innovative design, unique benefits, 

reasonable pnces, and high quality. 

Designer and Product 

Due to technological advancement, fierce competition, and the 

fluctuations of changing consumer tastes and market demand, 

fashion designers must response much quicker to the evolving 

global market, and to create products with 'newness' and 

Socio-eulturalValues Technology 

Behavioral Design Visual DKign 

'uniqueness'that differentiate them from their rivals. In order 

to understand what determines the success and failure of a 

product, it is essential to understand the design mechanism. 

A conceptual model was proposed for this study based on 

literature review include Don Norman's three aspects of 

design (see Figure 1). As indicated In the Table, visual design, 

behavioral design and reflective design are aspects that 

should be considered when designing and developing a new 

product for today's consumer market. 

Visual Design with Aesthetic Values 

The appearance of a product can stimulate an aesthetic 

response that creates a sensory experience (especially through 

vision).As illustrated in Figure2,fashiondesignersare viewed as 

an encoder of information sources, the product is regarded as a 

transmitter of idea and image, and the consumer is considered 

to be the receiver or decoder. In order to create an aesthetic 

product that will attract the attention of their consumers, 

designers constructively and intentionally use various 

design elements and pnnciples such as line, space, shape/ 

form, light, colour, texture, pattern, repetition, parallelism, 

sequence, alternation, gradation, transition, radiation, rhythm, 

concentncity, contrast, emphasis, proportion, scale, balance, 

harmony and unity (Davis, 1987) in their designs to shape the 

appearance and quality oftheir work. 

l^hicCffliitlKjitw. Cwnuy-oi

Behavioral Design with Utilitarian Values and Experiential 

Values 

Behavioral design is comprised of two primary components: 

utilitarian values and experiential values. Utilitarian values 

refer to funcrional benefits (e.g. fabric, quality, performance, 

fit, comfort) and economic values (e.g. price). Experienriai 

values consist of sensory pleasure, affecrive pleasure and 

cognirive pleasure. Sensory pleasure relates to five human 

senses of sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing engaged when 

using a product. Affective pleasure concerns consumer's 

psychological response and often refers to emotions, moods, 

and feelings towards an object (Crilly etal., 2004). Cognirive 

pleasure associates with consumer's experiential history, and 

his/her current experiences and knowledge ofthe product. 

Reflective Design with Symbolic Meaning 

Reflection design signifies the private, social, cultural and 

symbolic meanings and messagesthatare imbued in a product 

during its use. Some consumers may choose a product more for 

the social image evoked or symbolic meaning attached rather 

than for its functional performance or sensory benefits. 

These three aspects are interrelated with each other.Therefore, 

they should not be viewed as separate entlries. In many cases, 

the visual form or appearance of a consumer product can 

enhance the performance properries of a consumer product 

and offer sensory pleasure all at the same rime (Smets and 

Overbeeke, 1995). As an example, a pair of zip-off nylon pants 

can offers mulriple attributes to the wearers. Self-idenrity can 

be constructed, developed or expressed through the product. 

A layer can be removed to create new style (appearance) and 

avoid overhearing (performance), and the 'rustling' sound 

created by the movement of nylon fabric may be soothing 

and evoke a sensory pleasure. 

As menrioned eariier, modern consumers no longer seek 

monolithicfeaturesoronlya single attributewithin a productand 

are often demanding a range of multi-dimensional attributes. In 

orderto besuccessful in product design,fashion designers should 

not merely focus on'observable'design features (e.g. silhouette, 

style line, design details); they should also focus on'unobservable' 

design features (e.g. experiential pleasure, symbolic meaning). 

Design and its Functions 

Design plays a critical role in shaping and forming a new 

product; the translarion, integration and communication of 

new ideas throughout the process of design and product 

development are continually being employed. Based on 

Trueman's (1998) design attributes, there are some ideas 

that adapt and extend the role of design: communicator, 

differentiator, integrator and generator. First, design used as 

a communication tool conveys messages and ideas to the 

public. Likewise, it can be used as a means of construcring, 

developing and communicating the identity ofthe consumer 

(Elliott, 1999; Slnha, 2002). Second, the use of design can 

differentiate a product of one brand from other brands. 

Third, design can integrate new ideas and concepts into the 

product. Last, good design can generate more business and 

synergies for a company. 

Many research studies have indicated that a consumer's 

willingness to try on new products was closely related to 

the level of risk perceived for that product (Popielarz, 1967). 

In general, innovation and change of a product is likely to 

increase risk and uncertainty in the short term (Trueman, 

1998). Radical Innovation such as seen in new fashion styles 

carry a higher risk than incremental innovarions such as seen 

in fashion basics (e.g. basicfive-pocket jeans, T-shirt). Radical 

innovarion or fashion style is essenrially an invention of a new 

product, while incremental innovarion or fashion basic Is an 

improvement of an exisring product. Fashion styles generally 

have shorter life spans, whereas fashion basics have a longer 

life cycle because of their classic styling. 

in this customer-driven society, it is critical for fashion 

designers to understand what lies within the consumers' 

mind. However, according to Keiser and Garner (2003), many 

consumers felt that product developers including designers 

did not understand their preferences. Sixty-three percent 

indicated that clothing manufacturers did not understand 

what they were looking for, sixty percent expressed that they 

had difficulty finding styles that they really liked, fifty-six 

percent found today's fashion offerings were boring and fifty- 

one percent indicated that manufacturers did not make clothes 

for real bodies (Keiser and Garner, 2003, pp.29).These statisrics 

indicate that many designers do not really understand what

their customers want. As a result, they fail to offer a product to 

best fit their customer's needs and expectations. 

If a fashion company wants to succeed in the competitive global 

arena, they have to invest more heavily in R&D. Market and 

consumer research play an Important role on product design. 

Research findings and data can enable designers to create a 

more desirable product to their customers. Understanding 

consumer's needs and wants is a key factor In new product 

success (Andersen, 1983). In addition, good and innovative 

design can influence consumers' choice and behaviour. People 

may change or adjust their behaviour in order to engage new 

design features, new functionality and new experiences. 

Fashion Industry and Design Process 

Canadian Fastiion Industry 

The Canadian fashion industry has been facing fierce 

competition overthe last two decades. Dueto the globalization 

and liberalization of trade, the impact of World Trade 

Organization (WTO) and the rising of Canadian dollar, Canadian 

apparel and textile manufacturers lost their advantages and 

competitiveness against their global counterparts. Canadian 

exports to the United States have fallen by more than half a 

billion dollars, from $3.7 billion in 2004 to $3.1 billion in 2005 

(McNeill, 2005). Many Canadian manufacturers closed their 

local operations In favour of offshore production for cost 

savings. For example, Gemini Fashions closed its domestic 

garment production operation in April 2003, Western Glove 

Works closed one of its three Winnipeg plants, and Nygard 

International contracts out apparel production to Asian 

countries such as Sri Lanka and China (McNeill, 2005). In 

the first four months of 2003, imports from least developed 

countries (LDCs) grew by more than 66 percent, and imports 

from China increased by 20 percent. According to Statistics 

Canada (2004), the import of womens/girls cotton trousers, 

overalls, and shorts (# HS 620462) Increased from $44.3 

millions İn 1999 to $80.8 millions in 2003. Therefore, fashion 

companies should concentrate on design and product rather 

than patronizing "made in Canada". As quoted from Eros 

Scattolini, international public relations executive of Geox 

(Italian footwear company). 

"From our point of view, it doesn't matter where you 

produce, but how you do it. Outsourcing is a must, 

not a choice. You have to go aboard in those low 

labor cost countries if you want to keep a fair price, 

and I would add, if you want to survive. Outsourcing 

to cheaper locations does not challenge the integrity 

ofthe company itself, which keeps all logistics, design, 

marketing and financial departments in Italy, the brain 

and soul Is Italians, the body is foreign." 

In fact, not only the manufacturing sectors have been suffered 

fromtheliberalizationoftrade,theCanadianretailersalsofacing 

many challenges. Over the last ten years, many American and 

European retailers such as Zara, Hennes and Mauritz (H&M), 

Abercrombie and Fitch, and American Eagle Outfitters have 

been expanding their business to Canada. It becomes more 

and more difficult for Canadian fashion companies to survive 

and compete with those international retailers. According to 

Tang and Wang (2001), Canadian fashion companies are facing 

with the following four challenges; 

(1) Easy substitution of products, 

(2) Constant threat ofthe arrival of new competitors, 

(3) Constant threat ofthe arrival of competing products, and 

(4) Quick obsolescence of products 

In order to sustain their competitiveness, fashion companies 

should understand their customer's aspirations, offer relevant 

and Innovative product, and connect with their customers 

through various means such as innovative design, branding 

and advertising. 

Design and Product Development 

The formulation of idea and design concept is a significant 

stepfor product design. Creativityand design activities always 

involve identifying and resolution problems. According to 

Bruce and Cooper (2000), at least eighty per cent ofthe costs 

are determined at the front end of the process. Therefore, 

designers must consider the following fundamental values 

and functions of a product during the conceptual stage. 

1. Solve current problems 

2. Prevent potential problems

3. Resolve product-related conflicts 

4. Maintain and/or improve the quality of a product 

5. Provide innovative and aesthetic values to the 

consumer 

6. Incorporate sensory values in the product 

7. Offer a relevant and resonant product 

Creativity and design activities always involve identifying 

problem and solving problem. With this respect, a number of 

questions related to the design process and consumers were 

raised and investigated in this paper. Questions such as: How 

can a fashion designer understand their consumer's needs 

and wants? What research and design (R&D) method should 

be used to deal with the rapid changing market demand 

and taste? What determine the success and failure of R&D? 

What design elements and aspects a fashion designer should 

consider during the product development process? 

Based on our research, the design and product development 

process of a fashion company can be divided into three stages 

with eight sequential units (Figure 3), which is similar as Kotler 

and Path's new product development process. 

(1) Pre-development Stage 

- Market research and analysis 

7 CcÛTy' IViTiHf* 

(2) Design Development Stage 

- Formation of idea, design concept (e.g. style, materials, 

theme), colour palette 

- Formation of merchandising mix 

- Development of fabrics, trimmings, and ideation sketches 

- Selection of style and fabric 

(3)Product Development Stage 

- Development of technical sketches 

- Prototype development/production 

- Selection of prototype samples 

Methodology 

Figure 3: Model of Design and Product Development Process 

This pilot research project was guided by adopting qualitative 

techniques and methods (Strauss and Corbin, 1998; Ghauri 

and Gronhaug, 2002) to explore and validate the concepts and 

approachesfordeveloping and constructing a conceptual model 

of fashion design and the interrelationships between designer, 

product and consumer. Medium-sized fashion companies in 

Montreal, Quebec, Canada was selected for this research study. 

Observations and semi-structured interviews were conducted 

with fashion designers, managers and sales persons to 

understand design activities in their natural context. Questions 

forthe interviews were developed from the literature review, and 

some ofthe questions were adopted and modified from Kotler

and Rath's (1984) research study (Appendix İ). Questions were 

formulated and included: general information of interviewees' 

role, conceptual processes, the design process, market research 

and analysis. Each Interview lasted approximately from thirty 

minutes to two hours. Field notes were taken from both one-on- 

one interviews and observations. The content analysis method 

was used to analyze the data gathered from the interviews. 

The purpose of this qualitative study is not intended to 

offer a statistically valid conclusion, but rather to provide an 

understanding ofthe correlation between designer, product 

and consumer. 

Results and Findings 

According to the results of our exploratory study, the following 

areas were Identified as essential for designers to develop a 

successful product. 

Pte-devefopment Stage 

Trend and Market Research 

According to our interviews, a medium-sized fashion 

company In Montreal spent a substantial amount of time and 

money researching current styles and trends. Every season 

they sent designers and sales people to 'shop-the-market' in 

vanous metropolitan cities of North America and Europe. The 

intention was to gather Information, identify the key fashion 

trends, explore up-coming styles, and to purchase garments 

for reference. 'Shop-the-market' is one of the most popular 

market research methods employed by most ofthe Canadian 

fashion companies.This particular company also sent relevant 

staff to visit different trade shows, such as Premier Vision in 

Paris, and the Magic Show in Las Vegas. In addition, they hired 

several style and colour forecast services as well as purchased 

fashion and trade magazines, literatures and market reports 

for their pre-development planning. 

Consumer Research 

The interviewee (design manager of the medium-sized 

company) expressed thatthere was a limited budget allocated 

for consumer research.Therefore, the failure oftheir product's 

designs could be related to insufficient consumer research.The 

designers had too little knowledge about their consumers, and 

did not understand their aspirations and expectations. There 

are at least several other reasons to explain this situation. 

First of all, the designers were not a retailers nor marketers; 

they solely designed and produced 'private label' products for 

a number of Canadian department stores according to the 

stores'specifications, so they rarely received any point-of-sales 

(POS) information from the retail stores. Second, they lacked 

the expertise to carry out a thorough consumer research 

study. Third, due to the financial limitations, they could not 

afford to hire a marketing firm to conduct commercial surveys 

or research. In other words, direct consumer input was limited. 

The information discovered in this particular finding was 

similar to the May-Plumblee and Little's (2006) research study. 

Leadership of Design Process 

In order to remain competitive, fashion companies have 

to reduce their product development lead-time and react 

quicker to the market. The leadership of senior management 

should be as actively involved In the pre-deveiopment process 

as possible, as they play an important role in overseeing and 

establishing product definition, design strategies, and identify 

market opportunities. 

Communication between senior management and designers 

is a salient factor for a successful design chain. 

Design and Product Development Stage 

Focus on Core Product 

Due to limited resources, designers should focus on the 

core competency of the company when they develop a new 

product. If a product stretches too far away from their home 

base, it could be difficult to sustain its''core identity and 

competitive advantage. In 1990, Adidas extended their brand 

name into different product categories that included jeans, 

knitwear, ties and other fashion items. This extended the 

company far beyond their limitations. As a result, consumers 

became confused as to what exactly Adidas stood for and the 

brand's core market began to erode (Hang and Lutterbach, 

2003). As Rose Marie Bravo (Chief Executive of Burberry Group 

pic) said in an interview with WWD, 

"Every brand has almost a brand circumference and you 

always want to make sure you don't extend yourself I

think that's important, because I don't think every 

brand can do every category and do it well." 

The medium-sized fashion company used forthis study focuses 

primary on casual wear, with the majority of their business 

based in woman's blouses and knitted apparel. While their 

business annual sales have increased consistently over the last 

five years they have chosen not to extend their product line 

to other categories. The design manager specified that they 

did not have the overall expertise nor reliable suppliers to 

produce different types of products. It would take a long time 

to develop and build a new business, and due to the limited 

resources, they preferred to focus on their core products 

and expand that business into new and untapped markets 

terntones. In the next few years, for instance, they are planning 

to expand their markets into the United States. 

Expand on Product Attributes 

Although small-to-medium sized companies may be better 

off to focus on their core product type, inherent product 

attributes should not be disregarded. Today's consumprion 

culture is no longer the same as preceding generarions. In the 

past, consumers looked at fashion products primarily based 

function and appearance.Theynowviewthem in more inrimate, 

sophisticated and multidimensional ways, not merely looking 

for utilitarian values as they shop for a consumer product. 

They often decide whether to purchase or reject a product 

on a number of intangible factors - such as psychological 

{Kaiser 1990) or symbolic values (Elliott and Wattanasuwan 

1998). In fact, fashion commodiries have always been used as 

a symbol to convey consumers' identity (Davis 1994; Goffman 

1973), status (Davis 1994), and image to the public. Therefore, 

designers should design a product that pushes beyond its 

utilitarian values and create a product that can be used as 

a sign or means to communicate or express ideas with one 

another. In order to create an effecrive communicarion tool, 

designer should make the sign as clear and unequivocal as 

possible to avoid confusion and misunderstanding among 

their targeted customers (Redstrom, 2006; Mono, 1997). 

Aestlietic Values of Product Design 

Both colour and fabric are significant elements for crearing 

sensory pleasure and building aestheric values of a product. 

The aestheric values of a product are comprised of attractive 

and expressive attributes. According to the interviews, 

designers spent a lot of time on the attracrive attributes such as 

designing, constructing and selecting silhouette, style, colour, 

pattern and fabric for a product. However, limited attenrions 

were paid on the expressive attributes such as cultural values, 

symbolic meaning and personality of a product. In addirion, 

one ofthe designers admitted that he did not fully understand 

how to create a product with psychological and emotional 

values. He preferred to collaborate with markering people on 

designing a product with added-psychological values. 

Design New Product with Exclusivity, Uniqueness and Innovation 

In general, consumers are more willing to pay higher prices on 

a product that is exclusive, unique or innovarion rather than 

on a basic commodity. These qualiries within a product can 

enhance an Individual's self-image, self-esteem, social status, 

or presrige, making them highly desirable. According to the 

interviewees' response, they did not sell every style to every 

store. They exclusively offered innovarive styles to specific 

stores in order to create a sense of uniqueness to that item. 

These styles experienced an increasing demand from the 

consumer and were often sold at a higher premium. 

Conciusions 

Fashion designers should pay attention to the following areas 

while they design and develop a new product. 

(1) Product design and usage, 

(2) Sensory pleasure (e.g. attractiveness, beauty, tactile 

feeling) 

(3) Emorional pleasure {e.g. joy, excitement, fun) 

(4) Psychological benefits (e.g. self esteem, social status) 

A successful fashion product must consist of theaforemenrioned 

benefits and values. Most of the consumers evaluate or 

consume fashion products basing on those components such 

as fit, comfort, style, fun and pleasure. Thus, fashion designers 

should consider and Incorporate those elements during the 

idearion and prototype process. For example, designer may 

create a new dress with fun by using appealing and sensarional 

design elements. Innovative style with unique or unusual 

design details, sensory pleasure by using advanced materials, 

and cultural values with certain colour and ethnical motifs.

In short, this will be an ongoing challenge for many small 

to medium sized fashion companies in Canada. In order to 

compete with the rival brands and sustain the comparative 

advantages, they have to look beyond function. 

Implications and Limitations 

In order to offer a product that appeal to the consumers, it 

is critically important for fashion designers to gain a better 

understanding of their customer's needs and aspirations. As 

such, this paper Is attempted to offer recommendations and 

insights for fashion designers and marketers, and to suggest 

a conceptual model of interrelationships between designer, 

product and consumer for today's fashion companies. 

There are a couple of limitations to this study. First, the results 

based on only one medium-sized fashion company - thus 

the findings may skew towards a medium-sized company 

culture. This may not represent the Canadian fashion industry 

as a whole. Second, the sample size was small. Therefore, the 

validity ofthis study may be less significant. Further studies 

should be conducted in different industry other than fashion 

is recommended to strengthen the external validity. 

Appendix I 

1 .What role does the designers play In a fashion company? 

2. What types of research and design (R&D) method have been 

used? Are they effective? 

3. Are designers held accountable for their work through post- 

evaluation measurement and feedbacks? 

4. How long is the existing design and product development 

cycle time? 

5. Are you satisfied with the interface between designers, 

management team, production team and suppliers? 

6. What are the strengths and weaknesses ofthe current design 

system? 

7. How many seasons and deliveries do you produce per year? 

8. What are the current challenges and problems in developing 

a new collection? 

9. To what extent is fashion design concept utilized In product 

development process? 

10. To what extent is consumer research utilized in product 

design process? 

n. What orientation does the designer and product 

development staffs follow? Examples of orientation: aesthetic 

ideals without any compromise to the consumer's needs and 

preferences, with some modifications of product according to 

consumer's needs and wants, consumer's needs and preferences 

are essential. 

12. Does the design and product development team has 

adequate budget to carry out market, product and consumer 

research? 

13. Does the design and product development team has 

adequate knowledge and experience to carry out market, 

product, and consumer research, analyze findings and 

information, planning, coordinating and Implementation? 

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A F O D T W E A R D E S I G N P R D J E C T A S A D E S I G N D I S C O U R S E 

Assoc. Prof. Seçil ŞATIR 

İTÜ Department of Industrial Product Design, 

Istanbul-Turkey 

satirse@gmail.com 

Demet GÜNALERTAŞ 



ertas@itu.edu.tr 

Deniz LEBLEBİCİ 



Ieblebici2@itu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

The aim of this paper is to describe and analyze the way 

which students are introduced to the design practice process 

through the university-industry collaboration footwear design 

project. Students in the early stage of degree programs are 

inexperienced on design practice and may feel vulnerable. 

Therefore it is essential to encourage openness of the ideas 

and communication. 66 industrial product design students of 

Istanbul Technical University designed footwear for the year 

2056 in the first stage of the project, and in the second stage 

students updated and adapted theirdesignsforthe production 

phase. The project is focused on the significance ofthe design 

process rather than the final project. In orderto concretize this 

rather difficult issue for students, multidisciplinary methods 

were planned, developed and used by the project staff. Final 

designs were produced by the collaborating footwear SMEs. 

Key words: "Footwear" in design discourse, scenario writing, 

creativity, university-industry collaboration, SMEs. 

Introduction 

The footwear design project was carried out by 46 students 

of the Product Design 4 course and 20 students of Fashion 

Accessories Design Course, in 2006 spring term, at the 

department of Industrial Product Design in IstanbulTechnical 

University. The project is large scale university-industry 

collaboration. The collaborators are Istanbul Technical 

University Industrial Design Department {İ.T.Ü. - EUTB), 

Turkish Footwear Industry Sector Research, Development 

and Education Foundation (TASEV), Footwear Industrialists 

Association of Turkey (TASDj, Association of Turkish Footwear 

Components Manufacturers (AYSAD) and the Small and 

Medium Size Enterprises (SME) that has manufactured the 

projects. Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) has supported 

this collaboration project. The project was coordinated by 

i.T.U. academic staff and led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seçil Şatır. 

Students have researched the related topics ofthe given brief, 

generated concepts, written scenarios ofthe future lifestyles 

and designed footwear in the light ofthe outcome. The shoes 

were produced by the collaborative SMEs after they had been 

adapted to the year 2006 by the students. 

Conformity to the Themes of the Congress 

The paper conforms to the Design Discourse section of 

EAD07. If discourse is an arranged whole of indicators that

aim to interpret or define an object or a phenomenon, the 

project presented in this paper is one that has discourse 

both in terms of its application and in terms of the way that 

it interprets each phase in itself and transforms it into the 

next phase to get successful results. If we deal with discourse 

as a body of expressions which is made up of rules or laws 

related to a doctnne and which provides information about 

tangible or conceptual things or phenomena, we cannot 

talk about canonization of empirical knowledge. However, 

letting students make use of a few methods in concert and 

by transforming them to each other brings about a different 

dimension with the synthesis of methods. 

The relation between industry and design which has been 

under discussion since the 19th century may not pose a 

problem for advanced countries in our day. The industry can 

produce each complicated solurion generated by design, and 

companies may sell these products.The case is not that simple 

in Turkey. The original products conceived with enthusiasm 

by the designer cannot be put into producrion stage by the 

industry with the same eagerness. It is especially the SMEs' 

mentality that "the product should be different, but should 

not be too far away from those in the market". Therefore 

another discourse of this paper is to establish the educarional 

response to the question; How can we attain the originality 

of a product with a different touch, which is, however, similar 

to those in the market and sell well? Another challenge is to 

put this training into pracrice In products manufactured for 

SMEs which have limited means of production. The discourse 

here is a process and method of looking for a balance in an 

applicarion that has inconsistencies in it. The discourse is 

being able to attain a body of indicators which is different 

than a mere synthesis of methods, while making use of such 

synthesis in overcoming the difficulty of making design in an 

economy with limited means and inconsistencies. 

Objective and Method 

Working in collaborarion with SMEs to conclude projects 

was perhaps challenging work for second year students. For 

the norion of novelty for the SMEs In Turkey circles around 

the understanding that "the product should have a different 

feature, but should not be too far away from those in the 

market". And this is not specific to the footwear sector only. A 

large percent of SMEs from all sectors share the same opinion. 

This experimentarion is the general conclusion drawn after 5 

years of collaboration with SMEs from various sectors. 

The objective of the footwear design project, which has been 

realized with the second year students, is to Introduce design 

to SMEs, "which make 99.6 percent ofTurkish economy" (SPO, 

Turkish Premiership) and to revive the footwear sector, which 

dates back to Ahi Evran period (founder of Ahilik -literally, 

brotherhood, generosity-), an organized brotherhood in 

Anatolia between 12th and 14th centuries related to trade 

guilds that protect craftsmen, and help footwear sector 

attain an internarional level (Anonymous, 2004). These 

two objectives of university-industry collaborarion made it 

possible for undergraduates to have a closer ouriook ofthe 

industry and also led to another yet equivalent objective.This 

third objecrive was to help improve the creativity of second 

year students with various techniques. 

One method of this study is empirical research. In the empirical 

part ofthe study 66 undergraduate students were assigned 

to work in footwear production In close collaborarion with 33 

companies to breathe an air of professionalism. With a two- 

dimensionally written scenario ofthe subject, human lives 50 

years ahead of our time were portrayed. And together with a 

three-dimensional scenario the students were made to relive 

their childhood. The scenario, which differs from "fiction" by 

its division of the subject Into scenes and not into plots, is a 

method of analysis. 

Scenario wriring and role-play as a method of analysis is an 

internarionally known and applied method. 

Scenario Writing and Role Play Methods 

"There are many ways of co-teaching design. One of them is 

role-play. The concept of role play is not new; scholars did not 

find agreement on the definirion ofthe terms. Such words as 

role play, simulation, drama, and game are sometimes used 

interchangeably, but. In fact, they illustrate different notions. 

Some scholars believe that the difference between role ploy and 

simulation is in the authenticity ofthe roles taken by students." 

says Kodotchigova (2001). The existence of litrie nuances In 

role types in this excerpt which underpins the importance of

ole-play learning makes us think that playing a role which is 

tailored forthe training of creativity should be different. 

People learn from their experience. If real life experience is 

not feasible, or dangerous, or too expensive, then simulated 

experience is a substitute. Much of education makes use of 

simulated experience, in architecture schools, for example 

the process of designing projects in design studios simulates 

within carefully set constraints the process of designing real 

buildings in practice. Most simulation in education though is 

concerned with interactions between players in defined roles 

(Radford and Stevens, 1984}. Role playing method creates 

high motivation among students. 

The scenario technique has become established in design 

practice and has consistently proven its worth as a reliable 

instrument. The scenario technique was developed with 

approaches of Hermann Kahn in the 1960s. Scenario as a 

prognostic means was defined as developer's tool by the 

Japanese MichioKaku forthe products ofthe future generation 

of computers, biotechnology and medicinal technology. A 

striking example of scenario technique, which has become 

a useful tool for the application of design, was employed at 

Daimler Chrysler A.G. Under the direction of Eckard R Minx, 

Daimler Chrysler AG, for instance, retains an interdisciplinary 

study group divided between Berlin, Cape Town, Palo Alto, 

and Tokyo. The participating scholars were trained as both 

disciplinary specialists and interdisciplinary team partners. For 

Daimler Chrysler and other clients they pursued questions like 

the following: 

• How will people live In the future? 

• Which products will be needed for the future lifestyles? 

• How and where will these be produced? 

• How will the sale of these products be changed (by new 

technologies)?" (Bürdek, 2005). 

Following the questions about the future lives and needs of 

people, and about how and where the products would be 

manufactured in the future, starting from the 1960s other 

scenario writing and role-play studies were made for digital 

media. In the 1990s, the Philips Corporate Design Center in 

Eindhoven and the Domus Academy in Milan conducted 

a broad-based study on the future of digital media, which 

vividly formulated scenarios and visualized them using design 

concepts. The study was important for the company's internal 

dialog regarding questions of future product development 

(Bürdek, 2005). 

Customized Scenario Writing and Its Objective 

While the project work in a semester develops thoughts on 

human life in 2056 and stages them two dimensionally on 

sections, it brings about a scenario which Is both different 

from and close to fictionalization. For these scenes may form 

their fictions in the minds of the students. Scenario writing is 

employed at an international level In the field of industrial 

products to understand end user behaviors and impressions. 

Design students or professional designers may analyze end 

user behaviors through scenario writing. An example to this 

may be writing a scenario from the analyses of ironing actions 

or playing the part of an ironing person while designing irons. 

IN 

Figure 1. Ironing scenario and role play video filming in daily life. 

(Boom, Tejedor, 2000:155) 

The scenario and role-plays realized in this project did not 

include scenes that show the use of designed product, but 

staged childhood memories and games from decades ago. 

The roles here were the lives of people in retrospection and 

were used to bring about unconditioned creative ideas of 

the students. The roles here were similar to the game-like 

creativity tasks the executive officers from different companies 

undertake in international creativity seminars. However, the 

applications in a seminar take a short time, and so the scenario 

only functions as an introduction. A three-day seminar was 

held in April 1999 in Istanbul, which included experts of 

international recognition on creativity such as 'Min Basadur', 

'Frank Prince', 'Robert Alan Black', 'Andre de Zanger', Hedria 

Lunken', R.Paul McMillen', Maggie Dugan', and 'Greg Wolff' 

(Anonymous, 1999). The seminar, which introduced creativity 

to executives from different companies, had aimed to take the 

executives, who back to the past, to their childhood. Taking

the students back to their childhood is a similar process, but 

has some differences: 

• The first difference is that the process took a whole 

semester, and developed during the project. 

• Secondly, childhood games were staged by a drama artist 

and director and the synopses were not written by the 

students but were shaped spontaneously during acting. 

•Thirdly, performing again every week, the students staged 

the scene each time a little different from the immediately 

previous one. 

• Fourthly, with possible changes in thought which may 

take place, more authentic projects were targeted in the 

concurrent projects. Although measuring the workability 

of this last Item is quite difficult, the success ofthe resulring 

products is invaluable. 

In most studies on creativity, It is important that the 

thought should go back to childhood. 

Among the many answers to the quesrion, "How could we be 

more creative?" Trevor Bentley (1999) In his book Creativity 

suggests reviving the scenes from the past, "getting naughty, 

and letring out the kid in us". Rollo May (1991) defines the 

finding ofthe crearive idea as a kind of encounter. "Encounter 

may or may not include will power. For instance, game of a 

healthy kid has the basic features of an encounter and we 

know that this game is an important prototype of adult 

crearivity. The main point here is not the existence of will 

power, but the extent of preoccupation". The scenario in this 

scope filmed naughty vivacious children preoccupied with 

their street games in a theatre stage. Taking the students to 

their childhood aimed at erasing their condirioned thoughts 

and polishing their imaginarion and had nothing to do with 

testing end user behaviors.Therefore, they were different from 

other scenarios in product design or from playing the parts of 

end users. Dividing children's games to scenes with scenarios 

and role-playing them is a method all by itself 

The Status ofTurkish Footwear Sector and Design Needs 

The educarion problem, which is experienced in every sector 

in Turkey, Is one of the most important problems of the 

footwear sector."The occuparion of shoemaking is srill taught 

through master-apprentice relarionship, since the schools 

that give training are new and not enough in number"(Zlrek 

and Özcömert, 2003). Although there are schools that give 

training on footwear in diverse areas of Anatolia, they are 

not in a position to be compared with their counterparts 

abroad In terms of both technical infrastructure and staff, it 

is seen that the school in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul is in the same 

condition. The sector has for a long rime employed students 

from these schools as cheap labor (Tuncer, 2003). Although 

Turkey has many advantages in the production and exporting 

of footwear, only a small amount of producrion is exported. 

One of the major causes of this Is the problem in training. 

The difference brought about by educarion can be seen In 

the fact that Portugal and Spain, as current rivals ofTurkish 

footwear sector, had factory-like footwear schools even 30 

years ago. Untrained labor that obstructs productivity is also 

the main reason of the problems in the sector in markering, 

management, and design. The sector lacks the culture and 

vision provided by training. The most positive point in terms 

of training is that the sector Is aware of this problem. 

The other major deficiency ofTurkish Industry of Footwear is 

design. Again, deficiency in educarion was suggested as the 

main reason ofthe problem in design (Ülkümen, 2003). 

In the scope of Industry Congress, which was held in December 

2003, it was stressed that Turkey was at a fork in the road and 

that the main objective of our industry should be to increase 

added value in the producrion chain and thus increase profits. 

"The most significant means to increase added value are 

innovatlveness and creating difference. We should research 

not only the current needs of our customers, but also their 

future needs and design products accordingly. In this scope, we 

should focus on industrial product design which adds value to, 

and differentiates products, serves as a basis to become a brand, 

and has positive impact on production costs" (Küçük, 2003). 

In a survey among exporting footwear companies organized 

by Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, officials of the firms 

expressed that brand was an important investment which 

promoted the product, and that it was an important value 

that reinforces the image. Although the sector may seem 

to have understood the importance of becoming a brand, 

there have never been great investments about this issue, 

and brandization never took place. Recenriy a few companies

exert efforts on the issue, but these efforts are insufficient (İTO, 

2003), because these companies suppose that the creation of 

brand is possible oniy through advertising. 

Today the advancement of Turkish Footw/ear Sector depends 

on their ability to increase their exports through production 

of value added products. Therefore design and brandization 

efforts should be supported, the key point of which Is training. 

What is more. It Is important that trained youths, especially 

designers, should be encouraged to join the footwear sector. 

Experimental Footwear Design Project and the Concept of 

"2056" 

Analysis ofthe Subject 

Footwear design projects have been carried out three times 

within the context of Fashion Accessories Design course 

in previous years at ITU-EUTB and it's been observed that 

industrial design students have an intense interest in the 

subject. Footwear is an essential part of human clothing 

which is also used as a fashion accessory. With the developing 

manufacturing techniques footwear has evolved from a craft 

object to an industrial product. And today footwear design 

takes an important place in the industrial design world. 

Having approximately 2 billion dollars trade volume and 400 

thousand employments (İJİkümen, 2003). Turkish Footwear 

Industry is offering broad work opportunities for industrial 

designers and design graduates. 

This can be useful correspondingly. While product designers 

are contributing to the development of Turkish footwear 

design, developing footwear industry can offer more 

possibilities for designers. Thus footwear design needs to take 

its place in industrial design discipline inTurkey. 

From the design education point of view, students in the 

early stage of design programs are inexperienced in design 

practice and may feel vulnerable. Therefore it is essential 

to encourage openness, to teach the concepts of design 

originality, innovation and creativity and to make applications. 

Looking from this perspective the product "footwear" as a 

subject has been chosen purposely because it is thought 

that stylistic design phase of footwear design can enhance 

creativity. In addition to that, project theme has been given as 

"The Footwear ofthe year 2056". The students had to propose 

ideas and designs forfuture life styles, clothing and shoes.This 

enabled students to think widely, find alternative solutions to 

the problems, leave the stereotypes and think in a futuristic 

way. Therefore the subject was dealt with a pedagogical 

approach to design education. 

Another reason for choosing footwear is that it is assumed 

that people use all kinds of shoes every day. Footwear is an 

essential part of people's daily lives which can be analyzed 

physiologically and psychologically by students themselves. 

It is supposed that students will design something that is 

considered as a part of their body. Therefore they could work 

more consciously, eagerly and be more productive In idea 

generation. 

Collaborating with footwear sector associations allowed 

the students to build the prototypes of their final designs. 

The transition from two-dimensional design to the three- 

dimensional product is one of the most challenging phases 

of design practice process in design education. Engaging 

every student with footwear SiVlE has obtained an important 

experience both forthe students and forthe project staff. 

Design Process and Concept Generation Phase for the Year 

2056 

As mentioned before, the theme of the project was "The 

Footwear of the year 2056". The project has been divided into 

three stages. The first stage was announced as the research 

phase. Students were separated into groups ofthe following 

research topics; history, production techniques and materials, 

foot anatomy, physiology and health, footwear trends. After 

researching their topics, students presented their findings. 

The visual presentations helped students to collect visual 

material for inspiration in their design process. The group 

activity while researching and presenting has also supported 

the idea sharing and generation. 

In the first stage, it was aimed to find creative ideas and 

give innovative design decisions without taking production 

possibilities and market expectations into consideration. 

Before engaging with the SMEs' boundaries it was important 

to design shoes in an eternal freedom environment, in 2056.

Figure 2. 2nd year student Deniz Uyaniker's concept sketch. 

^ lib. 

Figure 3.2nd year student Gökçen Hotoman's concept sketch. 

Figure 4.4th year student Merve Tuna's concept sketch. 

The Process of Retrospective Scenario Writing 

At the methodological dimension, the latest findings 

from researches suggest the combinative use of different 

methodologies developed in different disciplines. Scenario 

writing is a common method in design process for idea 

generation phase. In this stage students were asked to write 

future lifestyle scenarios considering the foot and footwear. 

Based on these scenarios ofthe year 2056 concept boards were 

formed. Story boards and concept boards showed that students 

havedifferentconcernsforfutureandfuture living environment. 

Most common concepts were gaining positive energy, escaping 

from the stresses ofthe everyday lives, recycling processes of 

materials, multiplying usability of products, organic design, 

technological inventions, and innovations. 

The most important phase ofthis stage was theatricalization. 

A drama artist from "Istanbul Şehir Tiyatrosu", Bora Seçkin, has 

collaborated with the project academic staff. He has gathered 

with students once a week, discussed their future scenarios 

and led brainstorming sessions for scenario writing. The aim 

of the theatricalization phase was creating a performance in 

which each student would be a performer. Thus students 

have played the roles of Identities created by them. They 

have entered into future worlds which were designed by 

them. One of the students' concepts was applied for the final 

performance. It was"returnlng to childhood, playing childhood 

games". Bora Seçkin has directed the play. All students wore 

white cotton dresses and colorful socks on thelrfeet. Students 

playing games with each other in a complete white scene 

emphasized the pure child creativity. And colorful socks were 

the objects of design to create. At the final exhibition of the 

project, the recorded performance was presented. Although 

some students found this stage embarrassing, it resulted in 

students developing a new way of thinking. 

Figure 5. Scenario writing and role play pictures: coming to 

play arena and playing children games. 

OS! ^ ' I 

Figure 6. Playing childhood games in the play arena.

Transfofming 2056 Footwear Concepts into the Year 2006 

and Collaborating with SMEs 

The last stage ofthe process was the most challenging part for 

students. After an intense creative and imaginative stage, all 

of a sudden they had to land to the real wodd and transform 

their concepts into the year 2006. Besides the design process 

difficulties, It was the first time they were engaging with real 

producers. Three weeks time was given for the transformation 

and adaptation. The shoes had to be wearable, appropriate 

for human foot anatomy, trendy in market, suitable for mass 

production and always innovative. Many 2D sketches and 3D 

models were made in this stage of the design process. 

A meeting for matching the SMEs with students was organized 

by TASD, AYSAD and TASEV at the İTO building. Students 

presented the works that they had done so far. Firm owners 

or directors have chosen the projects suitable for their market 

segments or production capacities. 33 SMEs were paired with 

66 students. Meeting environment was like a design bazaar. 

Figure 7. Exhibition of the projects at the İTO Chamber of 

Commerce buiiding: presentation forthe SMEs. 

Figure 8. Exhibition of the projects at the ITO Chamber of 

Commerce building: design bazaar. 

Students have experienced an intense design practice 

process within the manufacturing plants of their firms. Most 

ofthe collaborating SMEs did not have a design experience 

therefore it was also a challenging from their point of view. 

But the sector is aware ofthe importance ofthe design factor 

in creating competitiveness. They were eager to work with 

designers so the results were satisfying both for the SMEs and 

the project staff. The results of the project were exhibited in 

the 35th AYMOD (Footwear Fashion) Fair on 8-11 June 2006. 

Figure 9.2nd year student Ceylan Uşakiereli's final prototype. 

Figure 10. 2nd year student Deniz Uyaniker's final prototype. 

Figure 11.2nd year student Gökçen Hotoman's final prototype. 

Figure 12.2nd year student Mustafa Özkeçeci's final prototype.

Figure 13. Exhibition poster of the project. 

Analyses of Project Work 

• Footwear project work has been useful in the development 

of university-industry collaboration. It was also a good 

opportunity for students to learn about the production 

techniques and processes ofthe firms, and to swap ideas with 

their executives and workers. 

•The collaboration of several institutions such as ITIJ, İTO, TASD, 

AYSAD, TASEV prepared an unprecedented project medium 

and made it possible to get rid of shortcomings. This project 

is important for the development of the sector and design in 

that it is the harbinger of other future connections between 

footwear sector and industrial product designers. 

• The idea of product design brought a different viewpoint to 

fashion design and fashion accessories. In the footwear design 

process not only the fashion and trends but also the technical 

innovations and contemporary features were taken into 

consideration and the conceptions of a future which is 50 years 

ahead of our time were transferred to the contemporary. The idea 

of product design added value to the development of fashion. 

• It was seen that product designers would not suffer from 

unemployment in Turkey if they broaden their fields of work. 

More importantly, with the initiatives of footwear sector 

associations, it was resolved that a footwear school should be 

opened. Althoughthereare vocational schoolsonfootwear,even 

one of which was founded with funds from European Union, it is 

a pity that there is no higher school where the graduates could 

continue their training. The studies in this matter continue. 

• Designing footwear, which the students use in their daily 

lives, made it easier for students to make use of their own 

experiences about and expectarions from footwear and made 

it a more entertaining subject for the students. 

• The students saw the producrion process of footwear and 

knew it beforehand and this led to better understanding of 

the transformations in the design process. 

• Some footwear prototypes differed from their 2D design 

presentarions. This was because the production facilities or 

shoe lasts in some SMEs could not adapt to the innovation. 

In this case design work adjusted itself to the means ofthe 

enterprise and helped their transformarion. 

• It was quite difficult at first to make all the students, who 

have unique characters oftheir own, accept the importance 

of scenario wriring and role-playing their childhood. But 

throughout the semester the rate of acceptance increased. 

As students felt themselves as part ofthe event, they showed 

more of their unconditioned thoughts and feelings. 

• Evaluative studies were made with students in which they 

tried to recognize the distinguishing features of their own 

interesting ideas among the many alternatives they acted out. 

• After the producrion and exhibition of footwear designed 

by 66 undergraduate students from Industrial Product Design 

Department, ITU, there has been a change in the opinions of 

the academic staff at Footwear Training Institute and ofthe 

companies that participated in the ITU-EUTB collaboration. 

They witnessed the importance of design and saw the 

difference brought about by designers and they expressed 

their need for designers. 

• Employment of different techniques together and a 

muitldiscipllnaryapproachtodesigntraining process assumed 

a dynamic dimension which had a positive impact on the

esults. Students inquired about, and were able to analyze the 

lifestyles 50 years ahead of our time. 

• Turkish industry and SMEs were shown the role of design 

in different areas and that design may earn them different 

viewpoints. 

• The field of design which requires having to take into 

consideration functionality, fashion, developments of the 

time, new technologies, ergonomics, innovation, market 

share ofthe company, competition, etc. plays an important 

role not only in footwear but also in other sectors. This role is 

a plus value for each of these sectors. The production sectors 

in Turkey should be taught about this role by model projects. 

This collaborative work is therefore invaluable. 

• Another plus of the collaboration with industry in design 

education is that the production methods of SMEs can be 

seen on site, and the ability to design products according to 

their market share and customer expectations. 

CONCLUSION 

Genera! evaluation 

There was not much difference between the training staff 

and production companies in the evaluation of the design 

work. However, in general companies wanted the designs 

to be shown in the recent exhibition and they also wanted 

products which target their current market and which are 

readily sellable. For the designs were really innovative which 

the companies thought would sell well. The project was useful 

in raising an awareness ofthe occupation. Industrial Product 

Designer, among Footwear manufacturers and gradually 

among other industrial corporations. 

Educational evaluation 

Our students who are doing industrial product design showed 

that an approach to footwear design that is different from a 

fashion designer's is possible. While fashion designers are 

influenced by trends, industrial product designers are aware 

of technical innovations and developments of the time, in 

addition to fashion and trends. This shows that innovation 

does not only lie in trends, but could be created in various 

ways. Making use of research, scenario writing, and role 

play in design, and being a university-industry project; the 

footwear design project has been an edifying process because 

it embodied many different methods and features. 

After the project which was realized in Spring Semester 2006, 

3 participant students continue their work with footwear 

manufacturer companies. This may be counted as another 

benefit ofthe project due to its collaborative nature. 

The project, together with its process, is also useful in 

that it is a mode! project for the future industry-university 

collaborations. 

Evaluation from the students' point of view 

The project has been an edifying one, for it allowed the 

students to see production, marketing, company relations, 

competitive medium, and the product's ability to meet 

company's expectations, al! on site. The realization of their 

designs, and their exhibition in two large trade fairs in Istanbul 

increased their self-confidence. 

The project led the students to ask "What are the differences 

in the creative priorities in the viewpoints of fashion designers 

and industrial product designers?" and showed the fact that 

different viewpoints resulted in quite different products. 

Evaluation from the companies' point of view 

For TASD, AYSAD and TASEV, it is a corporate success that 

their members participated in such collaboration and 

received favorable results. It has been a satisfactory and 

successful collaboration for membership enterprises. Taking 

into consideration the fact that footwear manufacturer 

associations organized footwear design contests In the past 

and the resulting products reflected the trends of day, the 

difference with the product design viewpoint can be better 

seen in resulting footwear designs upon conscious and 

customized design training. It was this difference that excited 

footwear manufacturer associations. A difference in viewpoint 

with a readiness to familiarize itself with all kinds of objects, 

which is open to new techniques and technologies, and which 

questioned and analyzed future lifestyles!

ITU Pavilion at AYMOD Exhibition and Award Ceremony 

industrial ProductDesign Department, ITU participated in AYMOD 

(FootwearPashionFair)thatwasorganizedinCNRExpoExliibition 

Center, Yeşilköy on 8-11 June 2006 with undergraduate student 

projects which were realized in collaboration with Istanbul 

Chamber of Commerce, TASD, AYSAD, and TASEV. The exhiblton 

was opened by KürşatTüzmen, State Minister. Then the minister 

presented the pnzes to students who came first, second and 

third from among 66 footwear designs by ITU students. Gökçen 

Hotaman was the first. Deniz Uyaniker and Uğur Keşan took the 

second place, Sahar Yıldırım and Tuğba Gijney was third. The 

jury ofthe contest included footwear manufacturer companies. 

The resulting exhibition and contest was quite a competent and 

motivating achievement for ITU-Industry collaboration. 

Figure 14. İ.T.Ü. - İTO -TASD - AYSAD - TASEV collaboration 

projects exhibition at the 35th AYMOD (Footwear Fashion) Fair 

at 8-11 June 2006. 

/â V 

Figure 15. Exhibition at the 35th AYMOD (Footwear Fashion) 

Fair at 8-11 June 2006. 

Works Cited 

Anonymous, 2004. T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Planlama Teşkilatı, 

SME Strategy and Action Plan, p:11. 

Anonymous, 1999. Eventus Conference & Bilgeyön 

International, Creativity/Istanbul '99/28-29 Nisan 1999, 

Konferans Broşürü, İstanbul, p: 3-20,Swİtzerland, p:263. 

Bendey, T, 1999. Takımınızın Yeteneklenni Geliştirmede 

Yaratıcılık (Creativity), Hayat Yayıncılık İletişim Hizmetleri, 

istanbul, p: 36. 

Bürdek B.E., 2005. Design, Birkhauser-Publishers for 

Architecture, Basel. 

İTO, 2003. Dünya Ayakkabı Pazan Büyüyor, Ayakkabı 

Sektöründe Uluslararası Fuadar Dünya Plyasalan Trendler 

Gelişmeler,10, p.35. 

Kodotchigova, A.M., 2001. Role Play in Teaching Culture: Six 

Quick Steps for Classroom Implementation, Tomsk State 

University, Russia . 

Küçük, CT, 2003. Sanayi Kongresi Kapanış Bildirgesi, İSO, 

İstanbul, Türkiye. 

May, R., 1991. Yaratma Cesareti, Metis Yayınları, İstanbul, p:64. 

Radford A.D., Stevens G., 1984. Role-Play in Education:A Case 

Study From Architectural Computing, Journal of Architectural 

Education, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, 

Inc. 

Tuncer, B., 2003. Ayakkabı Sektör Analizi, Hedef: İstanbulTekstil 

ve Konfeksiyon İhracatçı Bidİkleri Aylık Dergisi, 112, p: 74-79. 

iJlkümen, A., 2003. Ayakkabı ve Ayakkabı Yan Sanayii Raporu, 

Yayınlanmamış Sektör Raporu, İstanbul, Türkiye. 

Zirek S. ve Özcömert M., 2003. Ayakkabı Sektör Araştırması, Su 

Matbaacılık LTD. ŞTİ., İstanbul. 

Ülkümen, A., 2003. Turkish Footwear Manufacturers and 

Suppliers Industry Report, Unpublicized Sector Report, 

Istanbul, Turkey.

D E S I G N E R ' S M E T İ S 

Osman Şişman 

Anadolu University, Eskişehir,Turkey 

sismanos@yahoo.com 

Abstract 

The task of designer seems to be unethical by many because 

of the effects it does within the complex network of relations 

it has with production and consumption, and thus with 

economy, ecology and culture. Reviewing the literature on 

ethical concerns about design, there can be seen two distinct 

discourses, which are in a serious conflict. When the designer 

is considered as the manipulator of fashion, popular culture 

and consumption economy, i.e. as a conscript of capitalism, 

s/he is assumed to have the power of virtuosity on signs, 

and that of persuasion with his/her rhetorical skills. However, 

when it comes to the questions of ethics, this discourse 

attributing power to the designer ceases to exist, and leaves 

its place to the discourse ofthe meek.The designer, according 

to the latter, has nothing to do against the tendencies, mostly 

occurring as compulsions, of the market, and must adjust 

his/her compatibility with the flow of capital. This discursive 

shift is utmost critical; however It hardly proves the designer 

innocent. Some other works on design ethics mostly come 

up with humanistic and sometimes spiritual suggestions, 

ignoring the political-economical aspect determining the 

current position of design. The paper, detailing the analysis 

of these accounts, proposes 'metis' as the way to cope with 

designer's dilemma. 

Introduction 

The main question of this paper is whether industrial design 

can be the subject of an ethical inquiry, and if it can be so, 

how would it, as a discipline, which ought to reflect upon the 

basic principles underlying its course of action, answer the 

questions asked thereof 

There are many who attribute a serious responsibility, a duty 

of vigilance and didacticism to industrial design profession. 

while on the other hand, there are others who, without denying 

such an attribution, bring forward the issue of compulsions of 

the market, i.e. the rules of the universe in which design exists. 

While the former party idealizes the praxis, motivating it for a 

teleological route, the latter asks the question of freedom of 

industrial design. The limits of industrial design praxis are thus 

drawn by the skills and virtues attributed to the activity itself 

and by the borders of the obligations of the market. 

Reviewing some examples of these discursive pieces on 

ethics of industrial design, I would like to refer to a serious 

shift in comprehension of the limits and skills attributed 

to the practitioners of industrial design activity, and to the 

subject itself This shift reveals a conflict in conceptualization 

of the praxis, which results in a persistent avoidance from 

undertaking the responsibility and constructing an ethical- 

political set of principles of industrial design. 

After identifying, analyzing and positioning the discursive 

maneuvers on ethics of industrial design from my few 

examples, I would like to implement a rather novel use of a 

borrowed perspective from De Certeau for eliminating the 

seemingly contradictory understanding of industria! design 

and its determining relationship with the surrounding agents, 

most importantly, the market economy which seems to be 

the corrosive element in terms of ethics. Here, the nature of 

designerly argumentation, i.e, rhetoric, will be the path to 

reconstruct an ethical statement. 

Design Ethics? 

If ethics will be the concern, basically, we need agents, at least 

one ofwhom performing some acts with their own will, deciding 

by themselves freely, another party getting effected from the

deed ofthe former, and a set of principles the both parties agree 

upon, thus the former party can be considered responsible for 

their actions.Then, what is the relationship between ethics and 

industrial design? How can we construct the above-mentioned 

formula in the realm of industrial design? 

It is obvious that the practitioners of industrial design do 

perform actions such as deciding on the forms, functions, and 

natures of objects, the materials to be used while producing 

them, the ways to convey meaning through and by the 

properties the object has, the lifecycle the object (and its user, 

at least while using It - from the encounter phase to disposal) 

will go through.Thus, the decisions about the production and 

consumption ofthe objects are taken broadly by designers. 

However, there is something more than this: The decisions of 

users while living with, using and experiencing a product are 

mostly based on designerly decisions taken in advance. The 

object is designed to be used in a broadly defined (but defined, 

not in an absolutely indefinite) way, to cover a preplanned 

path, to fulfill a set of functions for the user. Moreover, there 

is always the possibility of misuse, abuse, or variations of 

usages that cannot be determined at design phase. Hence, It 

can be said that designer's decisive actions about the objects 

results In a question of responsibility In at least two layers:The 

first, a direct one resulting from the relationship between the 

designer and the object, and the second, the one between 

the object and the user. All the actions, their motivations 

and effects occurring throughout the life of an object, from 

production to consumption and disposal make up a giant set 

of probabilities in terms of ethical conduct. 

The second party which is effected by the actions of the first 

one is composed of many agents:The nature gets effected from 

the phases of production, energy consumption during usage, 

and disposal; other people besides user gets effected by the 

consumption and usage ofthe object: There are economical, 

cultural and sociological parameters being influenced bythe 

existence and experience of designed objects. 

Even this simple mapping of actions makes industrial design 

one of the most important key determinants in the middle 

of a complex net of relationships, agents of which vary from 

production, economy, technology, marketing, advertisement, 

and distribution to consumption, culture, ergonomics. 

ecology, etc. To make a specific match, industrial design Is the 

mediator between production and consumption, nature and 

body and mind of a subject, and economy and culture. 

Having identified these fairly obvious agents and leaving 

the discussion of freedom and responsibility to further 

chapters, things become more difficult when it comes to the 

third element of ethics: Are there, or can there be any set of 

principles to be agreed upon by the agents In order to have 

the action to refer? I think, a picture of the conditions in 

which industrial design exists is necessary to speculate on the 

possibility of such principles. 

Industrial design is, first of all, characterized by a dual alliance 

with mass production and mass consumption, the two 

phenomena, which determined nearly all its manifestations, 

within the framework of industrial capitalism, which created 

and continues to dominate design. Thus, design cannot be 

evaluated in isolation from these, but, on the contrary, the 

conditions In which it exists, and the results It brings about 

should be examined in the above stated context (Sparke, 

1986: xix). 

Findeli writes, strikingly and bitterly, however bluntly, about 

what It means to be characterized by the two phenomena, 

remarking that design has strongly been bounded to 

[...] the determinism of instrumental reason, and central 

role of the economic factor as the almost exclusive 

evaluation criterion; an extremely narrow philosophical 

anthropology which leads one to consider the user 

as a mere customer or, at best, as a human being 

framed by ergonomics and cognitive psychology; an 

outdated Implicit epistemology of design practice and 

intelligence, inherited from the nineteenth century; 

an overemphasis upon the material product; an 

aesthetics based almost exclusively on material shapes 

and qualities; a code of ethics originating in a culture 

of business contracts and agreements; a cosmology 

restricted to the marketplace; a sense of history 

conditioned by the concept of material progress; and 

a sense of time limited to the cycles of fashion and 

technological Innovations or obsolescence [...] 

(Findeli, 2001:6)

Attributing a certain degree of truism to the above-described 

universe industrial design is in, I vîll attempt to review the 

ethical accounts put forward. 

IVIany writers undoubtedly agree that the ethical dimension 

should be included to the discussions on industrial design as 

It a wide vanety of effects on many aspects. The conditions of 

the marl

into our environment and how it relates to the fruitful subject 

(Manzini, 1995:223). 

Although the analyses and assignments ofthe two modernists 

are agreeable, there is something lacking in both of their 

arguments: How will industrial design, and its practitioners will 

get free from the relations it has been bound with in the universe 

Findeli pessimistically sketched out, and become virtuous, really 

modern design/designers who will accord the course of action 

with the above mentioned facts, concerns and duties? 

A rationalist answer comes from Wolfgang Jonas (1994). 

According to Jonas, design ethics should become problem 

specific, because, unless it does so. It is doomed to remain 

philosophy/theory. However, the existing ethical theories are 

sufficient for implementation in an ethical design practice. 

Design should stop pretending that the ethical basis has to 

be elaborated (Jonas, 1994:42-43). The only thing to do Is to 

turn towards new ways of acting with the guidance of systems 

approach, from which an ethics would emerge, and then 

it will be no longer necessary to talk about it (1994:44). His 

suggestions are: 

In praxis: open, experimental, function oriented 

"problem design" instead of ultimate, object oriented 

"solution design". 

In theory: efforts towards a systems theoretic basis for 

continuous design theory building instead of adopting 

a brand-new stylish theory every decade. 

In education: process knowledge instead of factual 

knowledge, dialogue capability for cooperation with 

other future-shaping disciplines in interdisciplinary 

networks. 

(Jonas, 1994:43) 

Rational and systematic definitions of problems, desirable 

scenarios, and the necessary interventions for development 

into this direction (as non-massive as possible), with the final 

conception of materia! objects with the prior goal of saving 

resources (sustainability) are enough, according to Jonas, to 

solve the ethical problem of industrial design (Jonas, 1994:47). 

This idealistic, though fundamentally rationalist approach 

carries the modernists' argument to an extreme in which not 

only the principles of design are universalized, but also it is 

attributed to be immanent in the systems methodology, and 

can automatically be In charge once systems approached Is 

implemented. Once the ethical automaton is set according 

to rationalistic principles of action, it would inevitably end 

up with purely virtuous design solutions, which are isolated 

from all the filth around. Neither power struggles of capitalist 

economy, nor cultural, economical and social inequalities can 

stop the rationally constructed system. 

However, some think that the recent system of production 

and consumption is a product of a fully rationalized structure, 

and the last thing that is lacking is the implementation of 

instrumental reason. This account emphasizes the importance 

of the creative, the imaginative, and the spiritual side of the 

mind, which is weak and underrepresented, compared 

with the rational. Instrumental side. It is argued that greater 

acknowledgment of this "other half" in industrial design 

can lead to products that are expressive of a more balanced 

understanding of human needs. Such a shift would not only 

contribute to a culturally richer material environment, it also 

would allow us to more effectively address the principles of 

sustainability (Walker, 2000:52). 

Stuart Walker finds the roots of seeking fulfillment in and 

happiness through comfort and pursuing physical and 

sensory pleasures, hence those of spiraling consumerism, 

waste production, and environmental degradation in the 

dominancy of rationality over what he calls "inner dimension" 

(Jonas, 2000:53). He proposes an "inner development" which 

starts from the treatise that too many material things can 

distract us from inner attention (2000:54-55). 

Walker finds the solution for sustainable, thus ethical design 

(and, production and consumption) pattern in the reduction 

of the quantity of materials by virtue of a mystical treatise, 

which diverts consumption habits away from perfectionism 

of industrial production: 

A shift toward appropriate concern or adequateness in 

the quantity of goods has the environmental benefits of 

reducing resource and energy use, reducing production 

of waste and pollution, and preserving habitats. A 

sense of adequateness in the qualitative characteristics

of products has vanous implications for design, and for 

more sustainable ways of living. First, "adequateness" 

can be considered at a products inception - the 

conceptual framework of a product can be examined 

with regard to its potential in creating conditions that 

allow for inner attention and development. Secondly, 

"adequateness" can be applied to a product's physical 

characteristics, that is, how the product is designed 

and defined. An"adequate"or"good enough"approach 

to product definition suggests a quite different set of 

pnorlties than we have come to expect in the fields 

of design and mass production. High precision, close 

tolerances, and perfect finishes are constandy strlved 

for; but these are priorities of a design and production 

system that is, by and large, unholistic - driven by 

economic rationalism, severely detrimental to natural 

systems, and often ethically quesrionable. 

(Walker, 2000:56) 

Either rationalistic orspiritual, the ethical maneuvers proposed 

for Industrial design necessitates an educarional program in at 

least two layers: The first is the education of designers in such 

a way that both the ethical (thus, economical, political, moral, 

etc.) analysis of current praxis and the variety of principles 

developed and reconciled are taught to design students. And 

the second is the educarion ofthe consumer according to the 

same patterns. 

The methodological foundations for design learning, as a core 

attitude of professional educarion, that reaches reflecriveness, 

responsiveness and ethical responsibility, are of three types, 

according to Philippe d'Anjou: 

First, It Is important that the different dimensions 

of reasoning parricipate in the process of design 

so the students reach a comprehensive reasoning 

to holistically frame a design problem. Second, the 

students should have an anthropological model or 

vision for understanding the human person, the world, 

and the relarionships "man within the worid", in a non- 

anthropocentric holistic way, where the artefactual 

and professional actions take place as mediators 

between the user and the global environment. Finally, 

the students should become aware oftheir personal 

involvement and engagement atthe moment of choice 

in the process of design through a decision-making 

process that integrates the ethical dimension. 

(d'Anjou, 2004:214) 

It can obviously be seen that design ethics proposals all 

necessitate a fundamental change in our understanding of 

the object, production, consumprion, market, economy, the 

subject, the social and political relarions of the subject in 

the enrire system in such a way that the dominant mode of 

comprehension and acrion would alter. 

However, the power of market requirements drives designers 

into a dilemma, because the product could fail to address 

market demand possibly while it sarisfies the social and 

environmental needs. Thus, both greening and social 

responsibility include an utmost challenging complexity and 

indeterminacy, whose integration into a product can be seen 

as a nuisance rather than an opportunity for market success 

(BerchiccI & Bodewes, 2005:280-282). 

According to Viktor and Sylvia Margolin (2002), since the 

Industrial Revolurion, the dominant design paradigm has been 

one of design for the market, and alternatives have received 

litrie attenrion. Since Design fortlie Real IVor/c/appeared, others 

have responded to Papanek's call and sought to develop 

programs of design for social need ranging from the needs 

of developing countries to the special needs of the aged, the 

poor, and the disabled. These efforts have provided evidence 

thatan alternarive to productdesignforthe market Is possible, 

but they have not become dominant as a new model of social 

practice (2002:24). 

The writers remark that the aspect of social responsibility of 

design, which focuses on the needs of broader segments of 

society who are in need, has been underemphaslzed and state 

that little thought has been given to the structures, methods, 

and objectives of social design, and regarding the broader 

understanding of how design for social need might be 

commissioned, supported, and implemented, little has been 

accomplished. Nor has attenrion been given to changes in 

the educarion of product designers that might prepare them 

to design for popularions In need rather than for the market 

alone (Margolin & Margolin, 2002:24).

The writers, without resistance, accept that the rules of the 

marketcannotallowafull-dedicationto design and production 

of socially responsible products and they limit the scope of 

research for social design with public and agency perceptions 

of designers, the economics of social interventions, the value 

of design in improving the lives of under-served populations, 

a taxonomy of new product typologies, the economics of 

manufacturing socially responsible products, and the way 

that such products and services are received by populations in 

need. Moreover, they propose the formation of a new design 

segment, i.e. social design, students of which will have to learn 

more about social needs and how they are currently addressed 

by helping professionals. They might do an internship with a 

clinical team in a psychiatric hospital, a community agency, 

or a residential facility for the elderly. They would also need 

a stronger background in sociology, psychology, and public 

policy. (Margolin and Margolin, 2002:29) 

However, 'the society', or 'the social' which has many needs, 

cannot be limited to minorities such as the sick, the elderly etc. 

Nearly everybody is (or will be, in the near future) sick of the 

results of recent mode of production and consumption. The 

tendencies and compulsions ofthe market should not lead to 

the segmentation ofthe practice as above. The responsibility 

of designer should not be handed over to the chosen minority 

of designers, i.e. social designers, or eco-designers; on the 

contrary, in order to achieve ethical design, the responsibility 

should be generalized to the whole practice. 

Here, after reviewing the approaches to the problem, comes 

the question of methodology: How can such an ethical 

program be implemented while modernist approaches are 

too Utopian; rationality is charged with the current system; 

spirituality is not down-to-earth enough; market does not find 

green and responsible design suitable for its basic rules; and 

social design Is not adequate to save the world? Moreover, it is 

utmost difficult to find shared values and principles to employ, 

and attribute the profession such autonomy. 

Designer's Metis 

Adam Richardson (1993)announces that industrial design Is In 

a crisis of identity, purpose, responsibility, and meaning that 

have gone uncommented upon bythe practicing community. 

and he proposes the questions on the viability, boundaries 

and the values ofthe profession. He also asks what the impacts 

of design's products in societal and cultural contexts are. His 

answer is somehow pessimistic as he finds it inappropriate to 

attribute a dominant role to designer, neither in determining 

thefunction, and thus norin having influence onthe ideological 

issues concerning products. Designer, according to the writer, 

has to dwell with the form of the product, by which s/he has 

to validate in the eyes of the public not only the product, but 

also the process and ideologies behind it, in such a way as to 

make them appear unquestionably natural or, conversely, by 

distancing, by obscuring, or distracting them. The solution of 

this problem partly lies in the necessity that designers have 

to place themselves in a position of social consciousness and 

responsibility (Richardson, 1993:34-43). 

Reviewing the literature on ethical concerns about design, 

there can be seen two distinct discourses, which are in a serious 

conflict. When the designer Is considered as the manipulator 

of fashion, popular culture and consumption economy. I.e. as 

a conscript of capitalism, s/he is assumed to have the power 

of virtuosity on signs, and that of persuasion with his/her 

rhetorical skills. However, when it comes to the questions of 

ethics, this discourse attributing power to the designer ceases 

to exist, and leaves its place to the discourse ofthe meek. The 

designer, according to the latter, has nothing to do against the 

tendencies, mostly occurring as compulsions, of the market, 

and must adjust his/her compatibility with the flow of capital. 

This discursive shift is utmost critical; however it hardly proves 

the designer innocent. 

Attribution of on the one hand a great skill, a kind of 

maneuverability In using signs and persuasive forms in the 

service of promotion of consumption, and on the other, a 

ready surrender to the rules ofthe game called market, being 

limited to play in the borders so that missing the necessities 

of ethical responsibilities, makes designer a powerful 

servant, a contradictory being. Industrial design, in this way, 

is comprehended to be weak to go beyond the limits of the 

current economic and political context, and it adopts a servile 

obedience without resistance. In design education, designer 

candidates are equipped with the necessary skills to survive 

in the market, such as creativity, innovation, adaptation to the 

conditions ofthe market, negotiation skills, etc.

However, the ethical evaluation ofthe results of this tendency 

shows that something should change in the diverse way: 

We are surrounded by products that give us an illusion 

of choice and encourage passivity, yet we could have 

so much more, 

[...] Industrial design's position atthe heart of consumer 

culture, (after all, it is fuelled by the capitalist system), 

could be subverted for more socially beneficial ends by 

enriching our expenences. It could provide a unique 

aesthetic language that engages the viewer in ways a 

film might, without being Utopian or prescribing how 

things ought to be. 

(Dunne, 1999:85) 

There are two serious obstacles in front of this end; The first 

is that the practitioners of industrial design profession do not 

generally tend to perform ethical self-evaluations and political 

positioning of the profession on the global scale. Ethics 

and politics seem not to be the pnor sphere of interest for 

designers as they are focused on the production of artifacts, 

which will be appropriate for some other critena than ethical 

and political appropriateness.The second obstacle is that even 

if such an evaluation becomes standard, the implementation 

seems to be improbable in this case. 

These conditions remind Michel de Certeau's The Practice of 

Everyday Life. In this book, the writer investigates the ways in 

which users - commonly assumed to be passive and guided 

by established rules - operate; and analyze the systems of 

operational combination which also compose a "culture," and to 

bring to light the model of action characteristic of users whose 

status as the dominated element in society (a status that does 

not mean that they are either passive or docile) Is concealed by 

the euphemistic term"consumers"(De Certeau, 1988:xi-xii). 

De Certeau states that consumers of a certain cultural system 

are not merely destined to dwell in the stnctly fixed borders 

of that culture, but they become alternative producers of that 

culture. According to the writer, consumption is a way of another 

production, which corresponds to a rationalized and at the 

same time centralized, clamorous, and spectacular production. 

Consumption is devious. It is dispersed, but It insinuates itself 

everywhere, sllentiy and almost Invisibly, because it does not 

manifest Itself through Its own products, but rather through its 

ways of using the products imposed by a dominant economic 

order. Apart from the way a cultural system Is designed, it is 

important how the users make use of it. The users, De Certeau 

states, make innumerable and infinitesimal transformations of 

and within the dominant cultural economy In order to adapt 

It to their own interests and their own rules, and construct 

individual sentences with an established vocabulary and 

syntax (De Certeau, 1988;xii-xiii). 

If It is true that the grid of "discipline" Is everywhere 

becoming clearer and more extensive, it is all the more 

urgent to discover how an entire society resists being 

reduced to it, what popular procedures (also "minlscule" 

and quotidian) manipulative mechanisms of discipline and 

conform to them only in order to evade them, and finally, 

what "ways of operating" form the counterpart, on the 

consumer's (or"dominee's"?) side, ofthe mute processes 

that organize the establishment of socio economic order. 

These "ways of operating" constitute the innumerable 

practices by means of which users reappropnate 

the space organized by techniques of sociocultural 

production. 

(De Certeau, 1988:xiv) 

Even ifthe space that the consumer-producer moves about is 

technocratically constructed, written and functionalized, their 

trajectories form unforeseeable sentences, partly unreadable 

paths across a space. Although they are composed with the 

vocabularies of established languages (those of television, 

newspapers, supermarkets, or museum sequences) and 

although they remain subordinated to the prescribed syntacrical 

forms (temporal modes of schedules, paradigmatic orders 

of spaces, etc.), the trajectories trace out the ruses of other 

interests and desires that are neither determined nor captured 

by the systems In which they develop (De Certeau, 1988:xiv). 

De Certeau further makes a distinction between the motives 

of action and identifies two groups of action plans: 

I call a "strategy" the calculus of force-relationships 

which becomes possible when a subject of will and

power (a proprietor, an enterprise, a city, a scientific 

institution) can be isolated from an "environment." A 

strategy assumes a place that can be circumscribed 

as proper and thus serve as the basis for generaring 

relations with an exterior disrinct from it (competitors, 

adversaries, "clienteles," "targets," or "objects" of 

research). Political, economic, and scientific rationality 

has been constructed on this strategic model. 

I call a "tacric," on the other hand, a calculus which 

cannot count on a "proper" (a sparial or institutional 

localizarion), nor thus on a borderilne disringuishing 

the other as a visible totality. The place of a tactic 

belongs to the other. A tacric insinuates itself into the 

other's place, fragmentarily, without taking it over in its 

enrirety, without being able to keep it at a distance. 

(De Certeau, 1988:xix) 

He further remarks that many everyday pracrices (talking, 

reading, moving about, shopping, cooking, etc.) are tacrical 

in character. And so are, more generally, many "ways of 

operating": victories of the "weak" over the "strong" (whether 

the strength be that of powerful people or the violence of 

things or of an imposed order, etc.), clever tricks, knowing 

how to get away with things, "hunter's cunning," maneuvers, 

polymorphic simuiarions, joyful discoveries, poetic as well as 

wariike.The Greeks called these "ways of operating" mef/s. 

The producer-consumer identity fixes both the designer and 

the consumer. The designer Is obliged to consume the cultural 

and economic patterns ofthe recent system in orderto survive 

in the market, and the consumer is obliged to consume the 

ways of operating that designers propose with their designs. 

However, there is possibility for both to implement metis in 

their acrions: Tacrical uses of cultural elements would result in 

rhetorical diversity, which transcends the compulsions ofthe 

market economy, and reach out to novel persuasive sentences, 

produced by the same syntax, but have a meaning in contrast 

with regular sentences.The same goes for the consumer:Their 

usage of the elements of culture (objects or meanings) may 

alter the meaning imposed by the systematic act of planning. 

The key point here is to become open to alternative polirical 

analyses ofthe conditions, develop a crirical self-consciousness 

and self-posirioning, and to make use of cunning maneuvers 

to escape from the dominant ways of making sentences, 

i.e. designing and consuming. Since strategic and general 

solurions for the designer's dilemma (his/her power and 

weakness, his/her virtuosity and limitedness, his/her will and 

lack of freedom) seem not to be available, tacrical solurions 

might be sought. 

Conclusion 

The task of designer can be considered as unethical (I.e. 

immoral, not correct) through many perspectives because of 

the effects it does within the complex network of relations it 

haswith producrion and consumprion,and thus with economy, 

ecology, and culture. However, grand proposals to change 

it into something ethically good are not persuasive about 

their practicality. Before heading for such idealistic attempts. 

Industrial design should be posited as something etiiical, I.e. 

something that Is subject to ethical concern and evaluarion. 

Thence, only after this self-reflexive moment, could a plurality 

of attempts to evaluate industrial design, and to seek original 

ways for the betterment of the so-called ethical condirions 

together with economical, polirical and cultural contexts be 

comprehended. 

Besides the strateg/c attempts described in the first part of this 

paper, essentially tactical character of the realm of design. I.e. 

impossibility of unl-direction, being bound to local contexts 

of obligations and opportunities, etc., should not be forgotten 

while proposing ethical programs for industrial design. After 

admitting industrial design to be ethical, and the practice 

{of both the designer and the user) ending up with being 

indispensably tactical, should the designer, design student, 

theoretician, and educator, etc. attempt to explore the 

designeriy ways to construct a feasible ethical frame which can 

be adopted to the present context. Before saving the world, 

a session of self-reflection and a little modest exercise can be 

beneficial.

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Spring 2000, MIT

F R O M T H E U N I V E R S A L TD T H E P A R T I C U L A R : E M D T I D N A L R E S P O N S E S TD 

P A T T E R N 

Frances Stevenson 

University of Dundee, Dundee, Scotland 

f.stevenson@dundee.ac.uk 

Abstract 

Human beings. It seems, are "pattern searchers" (Kraft, 2004 p. 

276), constantly seeking the order and harmony that pattern 

provides and using 'it'to make sense ofthe v/orld. 

This paper will outline a recent pilot study that explored 

how we perceive surface patterns (ranging from ordered to 

disordered) In both a static and dynamic state and their impact 

on our senses. Specifically how pattern transforms sensory 

impulses through visual perception into emotional responses 

(the psychophysical). 

Visual perception theories discussed at the start of the 20* 

century by the Geştalt psychology movement (a movement In 

experimental psychology) are still relevant today. Gestaltists 

believe that when we see, we perceive our environment as 

organised patterns and forms rather than unorganised smaller 

parts and that our brain Interprets our view by grouping 

elements together in order to make sense of them. These 

grouping theories ofproximity, similarity, closure and simplicity 

have made an enormous contribution to our understanding 

of visual perception as they explain the relevance of groups to 

visual harmony. 

Throughout our lives we are constantly exposed to pattern, 

but our awareness and therefore our responses to it varies 

from a conscious to subconscious level. Some patterns have 

the ability to grab our attention and make us take notice 

while others do not. This pilot study is based on the theories 

of psychologist David Canter who explains how we respond to 

visual information in the form of pattern In what he calls our 

'arousal curve'. He argues that responses to pattern form a bell 

curve from non-engaging to over stimulating. This is significant 

as we look at the various functions of surface pattern, namely 

camouflage, to disguise or blend in; contrast to stand out, 

appear strong or confident, and decoration and ornamentation 

to attract, give pleasure or aesthetic satisfaction. 

There is a tendency in commercial pattern design to remain 

within the 'comfort zone' and this constant exposure to one 

area on the arousal curve may be having a numbing effect on 

our senses causing pattern to become almost meaningless in 

an emotional context and lack value In itself. 

This pilot study identifies ways in which we can explore all areas 

on the arousal curve and examine what types of patterns are 

associated with disinterest or boredom, excitement, fear and 

overload. The emotional consequences of static and dynamic 

patterns and their potential uses will also be explored. 

Introduction 

Surface pattern describes something that is a visual 

phenomenon. It refers to a plane comprising of shapes, lines, 

symbols and colours usually organised with repeating elements 

and some kind of order or symmetry. However, the 'plane' can 

change from static to dynamic depending on the situation it 

is in and the same pattern may potentially provoke a different 

emotional response from the viewer depending on its use.' 

Surface pattern in Its commercial sense Is normally associated 

with fashion; it is decorative and therefore ornamental. So when 

Adolf Loos declared 'Ornament and Crime' in 1910, western 

' use - refers to how the surface pattern is used, its scale, its moving 

state or the material it is applied to.

culture began to witness a rapid decline in the status, function 

and usageofdecorative surface pattern and arguably thedecline 

in our cultural capabilities to create, read and understand the 

language of ornament as a design aesthetic (Trilling, 2001). But 

reading and understanding visual pattern language may move 

beyond the parameters of aesthetics (as Geştalt psychologists 

suggest) and touch on something much more innate within us 

making surface pattern a potentially powerful tool with more 

than one function (currently decoration). 

This paper will discuss some of the theones of pattern and 

pattern perception in relation to surface design. It will outline 

an initial pilot study and a further proposed study that seeks 

to determine the effect that vanous decorative pattern types, 

when presented in both a static and dynamic state, can have 

on our senses. 

Pattern and Printed Textile Design 

As a printed textile designer/maker I continuously seek to 

produce decorative textiles through the application of pattern 

and colour onto cloth. Free from the constraints of commercial 

markets practice is intuitive, patterns are composed for vanous 

cloth surfaces where success Is measured by the harmony and 

pleasure experienced through viewing the final piece. The 

cloth itself takes the form of hangings or fashion accessories 

that provide a mainly decorative function; therefore they are 

purchased as desirable items. It Is this link between pattern, 

intuition and desire that started a curiosity about pattern and 

response to it. 

Pattern is used extensively in textile design and textiles are 

visible in every society In the worid today: they are one of 

the most essential and significant design products of every 

culture as they embody both a functional role and also reflect 

the ethos of that culture. Textile design is an intrinsic part 

of society and as such texriles change and evolve within it, 

becoming an historical and cultural reference point. Within 

our own culture textiles embrace traditional and innovative 

design and technologies, therefore their role today exists 

within and beyond traditional boundaries of cloth. 

National security and business investment is currently 

driving much of the innovation In textiles and technologies 

ensuring a healthy cross ferrilisarion of new and tradirional 

ideas between textiles, science and engineering. Wearable 

technologies and interactive systems are becoming a reality, 

and progress within textiles for use within medical research 

is undergoing a revolution. The function of textiles is rapidly 

evolving beyond its traditional and historical contexts but 

the purpose of pattern seems in contrast to be part of a 

relarively unimportant territory associated with decoration 

and ornamentarion. However the importance of this visual 

phenomenon (decorative pattern) parriculariy in terms ofthe 

inter-relation between maker, pattern and viewer is the focus 

of this paper. 

Visual perceprion theories discussed at the start of the 20th 

century by the Geştalt psychology movement (a movement 

in experimental psychology) are relevant to this debate. 'A 

Gestault' notes Dannet (2004, p230) "...is a wliole, a new icind 

of organisation witf] qualities and properties of its own which 

neither reside in the parts or can be reduced to them ". Geştalt 

theories are underpinned by the assumption that the viewer 

is seeking order and harmony to experience 'good geştalt' 

and that disorder results in a 'bad geştalt' thus provoking a 

negative emorional response in the viewer. 

Geştalt psychologists identified the four following grouping 

theories as particularly relevant to visual harmony, namely 

proximity (figure 1), similarity (figure 2), closure (figure 3) and 

continuity (figure 4). 

«09 

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Figure 1. 

The closeness of the elements in figure 1 (a, b and c), show 

how proximity of elements affects how we see them. We see 

figüre la as a square of dots and although figure lb and 1c are 

srill squares of dots, we read them as horizontal and verrical 

lines.

o o o o o o o 

o o o o o o o 

o o o o o o o 

o o o o o o o 

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o o o o o o o 

o o o o oo o 

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• • • • • • o 

o o o o o o o 

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o o oo o oo 

• • o • • D D 

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B 

Figure 2 

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oa o oo DO 

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Figure 2 shows how we group similar elements together. We 

see figure 2a as a square of dots and although figures 2b and c 

make up squares of similarly sized and weighted elements, we 

see them initially as horizontal and vertical lines. 

Figure 3 

Figure 3 demonstrates how the closure theory affects us. We 

see the Image as a triangle and not as three straight lines, even 

although there Is no triangle there. 

Figure 4. 

When we look at the Union Jack Flag in figure 4, we see that it 

is dominated by the following: the cross in the foreground is 

obvious and is depicted as a continuous line, but we can also 

read the broken X clearly behind it. We do not for example see 

the X as a V and an inverted V. 

All ofthe above groups are concerned with visual recognition 

and the arrangement of form, therefore they may be pivotal 

in our understanding of visual perception and pattern as they 

can help us understand the relevance of form organisation to 

visual harmony. The Geştalt grouping theories describe how 

the brain processes visual information so that when we see 

we perceive our environment as organised patterns and forms 

thatarewhole ratherthan unorganised smaller parts. Our brain 

interprets our view by grouping elements together in order to 

make sense of them. Gestaltists believed seeing to be an inter 

relation between the viewer and the viewed. Therefore there 

is great importance placed on the intuitive qualities of seeing 

and perception itself as seeing is an emotional/subjective 

reading ofthe whole. 

Therefore good Geştalt (interpreted as visual harmony In this 

study) within decorative pattern and surface design relies on 

the skill and knowledge of the maker. 

Soetsu Yanagi, a Japanese craft theorist, believed that in order 

to make a work of great beauty (and provoke the sense of 

pleasure in the viewer) the maker must be able to combine 

"seeing and knowing". Yanagi stated that seeing came first 

through an intuitive response to the subject and knowing he 

said is the intellect, he argued that seeing is superior in that 

it cannot be acquired and that in order to produce a thing of 

beauty'seeing' must precede'knowing'. He said," ...One may he 

able to turn intuition Into knowledge but one cannot produce 

intuition out of knowledge" (Yanagi, 1972 :^^0) 

Yanagi also stated that there is a natural order of things and 

this became very apparent in the relationship of beauty and 

pattern. Nature and natural form are continually featured in 

ornamental pattern in the form of translation or a human 

interpretation of a natural view. Historically, nature is never 

shown as an absolute copy therefore it is the interpretation 

into pattern from the view that provides the viewer with the 

sense ofbeautyand the emotions that beauty entails.The artist 

and theorist Owen Jones, also looked at this and discussed 

the importance of using nature and natural form within these 

groups for ornamentation purposes as he believes that the 

viewer will instinctively prefer/like It (Jones, 1856). 

Recent research by Patricia Rodemann (1999) cites Geştalt 

theories and Jones'theory as still relevant within the context of 

surface pattern. Shefoundthatdesigners needed to understand 

groupings within pattern design as they play a significant part

in the success ofthe design. Rodemann (who conducted her 

research in the USA) used an extensive archive of symbols 

and imagery and found thatthe participants preferred natural 

form within interior environments to all other symbolism. She 

concluded that surface pattern when presented in a static 

state in our interior environment, "can produce a broad variety 

of pltysicol, emotional, and psychological responses to those who 

view them, from cheerfulness and a desire to get things done to 

agitation and lethargy" (Rodemann, 1999, preface.) 

She also suggests that Geştalt theorists are correct in surmising 

that pattern language (symbols with meaning) are hardwired 

to our brain and that we do seek the order and harmony that 

repeating or symmetrical elements give. Gestaltists believe that 

symmetry is the key to providing us with visual harmony and 

balance as the following example (figure 5) demonstrates: 

Figure 5 

Symmetry (figure 5) provides us with visual balance. When we 

look at the above image we see 3 columns of 1, 3 and 5, and 

we tend not to see 2 and 4 easily as they are not symmetncal. 

Does this then mean that in order to achieve visual harmony 

(an essential contributor to beauty?), pattern must adhere 

to certain orders? What if we disobey the rules that theorists 

conclude are essenrial in providing harmony and look at what 

emorional response can result from disorder? In the above 

example greater interest may arise from crearing pattern that 

is influenced by columns 2 and 4, but how would the viewer 

respond to such patterns? Is our brain 'hardwired'to nature 

so that we insrincrively respond to patterns in a way that was 

once necessary for survival? 

Pilot Study 

An initial pilot study carried out in 2005 with a mulri-narional 

and multi-disciplinary group of eight postgraduate design 

students, set out to assess whether some ofthe established 

theories regarding decorarive pattern and aestheric preference 

are still relevant today. 

Two categories of pattern, namely natural and geometric, 

were selected from historical archives, with 3 differing types 

in each category. The selected categories represented two 

issues: the seeming disorder that nature engenders, and the 

order of geometry. All pattern types represented throughout 

this project were presented in greyscale in order to eliminate 

colour confusion. 

Care was taken to choose pattern designs that were not 'In 

fashion' at the rime of the research as Rodemann states In 

her research that pattern preference may be Influenced by 

fashion (Rodemann, 1989), and although this is an area for 

investlgarion Itself this pilot study focused on established 

theories about decorative pattern and aesthetics, and our 

emotional responses to it. 

The study set out to explore five visual asserrions, namely: 

1 .When looking at pattern, too much regularity makes the pattern 

appear uninteresting to the viewer; it is the break in the order 

that creates interest and possible pleasure (Gombrich, 1984). 

2. Hand rendered work is more aestherically pleasing through 

the irregularity ofthe hand ofthe maker (Pye, 1971). 

3. People prefer natural forms above all others (Rodemann, 1999). 

4. Natural form should always appear rooted (Jones, 1886).^ 

5. In pattern design, nature should never be an exact copy; 

it Is the interpretarion of nature by the artist that makes the 

design aestherically superior (Yanagi, 1972). 

The following six decorarive patterns each reflect some of 

the elements relating to the aforemenrioned asserrions were 

shown to the parricipants. 

^ In this study 'rooted' means that the natural forms appear to be 

growing and attached to stems

Figure 6,7 

Figure 6 represents an ordered, ail over structure with obvious 

symmetry that does not provide the viewer with an Interesting 

break in the order, therefore according to Gombrich we 

should find this relatively uninteresting, however the Geştalt 

law of symmetry tells us we should find it pleasing. The forms 

themselves are stylised showing an interpretation from nature 

by the artist but the forms do not appear rooted and seem to 

float.The design has probably been hand block printed and Is 

Asian in origin. 

Figure 7 represents a seemingly disordered pattern without 

any clear repetition or symmetry therefore according to 

Gombrich we should find this satisfying to view, as there 

are breaks in the order. The forms are stylised and show an 

interpretation from nature by the artist as well as appearing 

rooted. This pattern should according to the theories, have 

been the most successful in terms of aesthetics and visual 

harmony. The design is Asian in origin. 

Figure 8, 9 

Figure 8 represents realistic natural form, which looks almost 

photographic therefore it is depicting nature as it actually 

appears. The interpretation by the artist is more ambiguous 

than the other patterns and there is no repetitive structure, 

obvious symmetry or order. The forms are clearly rooted and 

'growing'from the branches. The design Is European in origin. 

Figure 9 represents a hand drawn Interpretation of a geometric 

design. There is no break In the order of the motifs and the 

forms do not appear rooted, they float within a grid structure. 

There is a strong sense of symmetry. The pattern is from a 

European wallpaper design. 

Figure 10,11 

Figure 10 has the same geometric design as 4 with elements 

{in theform of different decorative motifs} that break the order 

ofthe pattern. 

Figure 11 has the same pattern again, regular ordered 

geometry with no break in the order. It Is simply the same 

motif repeated within the grid structure. This design has a 

strong sense of symmetry. 

Evaluation 

There were eight participants ranging in age {21-41 years) and 

gender {three male and five female) from a mixture of cultural 

backgrounds (European, Asian and Chinese). Participants were 

shown all six designs on an overhead projector, and asked to 

respond to the following questions: Which design from figures 

6 to 8 do you find the most pleasing? Which design from 

figures 9 to 11 do you find the most pleasing? Which design 

overall do you find the most pleasing? 

Each participant was given approximately 5 seconds to view 

each of the pattern designs. For figures 6-8, which displayed 

the natural patterning, 87.5% of participants chose figure 7 as 

the most pleasing with 12.5% choosing figure 6. For figures 9-

11 which displayed geometric patterning, 100% chose figure 

6. The pattern they found most pleasing from the collection 

of geometric and natural patterns, 87.5% of the participants 

chose figure 7 (natural pattern) and 12.5% chose figure 8 

(natural pattern). 

From this small study four main issues can be directly drawn: 

1. Motif preference may be linked with culture. 

2. Age does not appear to affect choice. 

3. Natural form preference is cross cultural. 

4. Gender did not affect choice. 

The one Asian participant preferred figure 6, which originated 

in Asia, yet the Chinese and European participants chose figure 

7. Decorative patterns in the West have become hybrids of 

many styles emanating from various traditional symbols and 

structures. This result raises questions as to whether or not 

certain cultures still have a strong association with traditional 

motifs and layouts. A larger sample may help clarify this. 

Rodemann's study of pattern conducted in the USA in the 

1980s found that age affected participant preference for 

pattern, yet this small study did not. Are we becoming 

less sensitive to pattern through constant exposure to It? 

Decorative pattern has been revolutionised by the use of 

digital printing and there Is an abundance of choice in the 

marketplace and a greater exposure through the media of 

diverse Imagery. However, this study may not have had a big 

enough age range to make age an issue and the sample was 

very small. Future research should consider using a wider age 

group. 

Natural form was the preferred choice amongst the 

parricipants and 82.5% chose a rooted design, however the 

sample choice of designs presented from was small, and a 

larger variety of samples may provide a different result. This 

will be considered in a future study. 

Overall preference by the participants (100%) indicated that 

they did prefer designs that show an interpretation of nature 

by the maker, however a larger sample of parricipants and 

designs, particularly realisric motifs afforded through digital 

print work will be used in a future study. 

Further to these points it can be added that the most important 

factorto visual harmony in pattern design, in this study, was not 

orderand symmetry but breaks in order ordisorder (asymmetry). 

In general the pilot study confirmed that irregularity in pattern is 

a common thread in attracring visual interest as the participants 

found patterns containing irregular aspects more aesthetically 

pleasing. However there are issues with context, i.e. the 

participants were told they were going to be shown decorative 

pattern designs and then shown the selected patterns on aT- 

shirt, therefore they made their decisions accordingly, possibly 

connecring the patterns to something they would wear 

themselves. Would they have selected differendy If they were 

asked to select which one would be most aestherically pleasing 

within the context of a room? Future research would consider 

presenting patterns out with a specific context. 

Pattern may have more than one purpose. The researcher 

chose pattern types in this study that contained elements, 

that when viewed might ascertain whether or not certain 

theories relaring to decorarive pattern are still relevant today. 

However some of these assertions, dealing with nature and 

rooring for example, date back to the 19"' century. Yet this 

study found that generally a mixed group of individuals chose 

the design that contained all the necessary elements that 

should equate to a pleasant aesthetic experience. Is it then the 

rhythm of the pattern and the whole experience of the view 

that makes this work? Seeing the whole picture as Gestaltists 

say, can decorarive pattern have a purpose beyond pleasure? 

Can decorarive pattern confront or create unease? 

Proposed Future Study 

This second secrion ofthe paper outlines a proposed project 

that will conrinue this research, and attempt to establish 

what types of pattern provoke an emotional response In the 

viewer and to identify the emotional responses evoked. The 

quesrions leading this next stage are: Does surface pattern,^ 

^surface pattern - although surface pattern is a feature of many 

aspects of our lives, within this research it refers to pattern types that 

are available on a wide range of fashion and interior products In the 

high street market within western culture and may have originated 

in another culture.

when viewed in a dynamic'* state provofê the same emotional 

reactions in the viewer {positive or negative) as it does when 

viewed in a static state? 

This pilot study proposes to look at a method that could 

evaluate how we perceive (read and understand) various types 

of surface patterns in both a static and dynamic state and assess 

their impact on our senses I.e. pattern can transform what we 

are seeing into an emotional response (the psychophysical) 

therefore this study will examine the relationship between types 

of decorative surface patterns and the physical aspect of seeing, 

andthe individuals emotional response to the view. The outcome 

ofthis pilot study will help us to understand the potential of 

order and disorder within pattern, the role ofthe designer to see 

and interpret the'view'and the response ofthe viewer. 

Some patterns have the ability to make us take notice while 

others do not. A psychologist David Canter (1974:104) 

explains how we respond to visual information (In this study 

it is pattern) in what he calls our 'arousal curve'. He argues 

that responses to stimuli form a bell curve ranging from non- 

engaging to over stimulating and this is significant as we look 

at the various functions of surface pattern: camouflage to 

disguise or blend In; contrast to stand out, appear strong or 

confident, and decoration and ornamentation to attract, give 

pleasure or aesthetic satisfaction 

These 3 functions of pattern correspond with Canters bell 

curve as they move from one extreme to the other, where 

camouflage equals non-engaging, decorative equals comfort 

zone, and contrast equates to over stimulation. 

Within western culture decorative surface pattern is used 

extensively in clothing and interior products, therefore we are 

bombarded with one typeof pattern overall others. Therefore 

Is 'too much of the same' having numbing effect on our 

senses causing pattern to become almost meaningless in an 

emotional context and lack value In Itself? 

dynamic - refers to movement that is intended to appear as a) 

undulating or rippling and b) rotating image. Although there is 

a strong affinity with cloth the project itself is not using cloth or 

particular cloth types. 

Conciusion 

This proposed new research project builds on a pilot study 

carried out at an eadier stage and is intending to Identify a 

method of assessing emotional response to decorative pattern 

in botha statlcand dynamic state through information gathered 

from participants in theform of semantic differentials. As Canter 

(1974) points out, we emotionally respond to visual stimuli In 

various ways and he uses a bell curve to demonstrate how we 

move from the bottom of one side of the'bell', up through its 

arc to the summit, before descending back to the base again at 

the other side. This research then may help to determine how 

decorative pattern could be more effectively utilised within 

various contexts out with fashion. The results of this study 

could be beneficial in the following areas, for example: 

• NASA 'TransHab' project. TransHabs are Inflatable space 

station modules. This research would be relevant to the living 

environment and well being ofaTransHabcrewas pattern could 

help counteract horizontal and vertical confusion experienced 

by crewmembers in space. Also research into pattern language 

and symbolswith meaning would helpidentify pattern typesthat 

could be used as emotional anchors in an alien environment. 

• Research and Education. This research would contribute to 

the growing body of academic research into design, emotion 

and technology. I.e. Jane Harris' (Central St. Martins) digital 

studies of movement and cloth. As a lecturer in textile design 

the results of this study and the process of analysis will be 

utilised in textile design pedagogy. 

•Safefyivear. Pattern thattriggersoverstlmulatlon onthe arousal 

curve may be used effectively in the following contexts; 

• Children's outerwear. Work wear for various environments and 

conditions 

• Competitive clothing/sportswear. Patterns that appear strong, 

hostile or accentuate movement may set an opponent at a 

disadvantage 

• Health and wellbeing. Patterns surround us within healthcare 

environments. This study may highlight certain patterns that 

may promote relaxation and calmness or promote activity.

References Websites 

Adams, C, (2006). Crafting the mothership. Radical Crafts Jane Harris: http://www.researchatcsm.com/janeharris/ 

Conference. 24/3/2006. Pasadena. USA contacts.htm. Accessed on ? 

Canter, D., (1974). Psychology for architects. UK: Applied 

Science Publishers Ltd. 

Dannet, B., (2004). "If you have a lot of clutter it messes up the 

popup": The pursuit of good gestalts In online folk art. Textile: 

the journal of cloth and culture. Vol 2, Issue 3, pp226-25S. 

Frank, I., (2000), The theory of decorative art. An anthology 

of European and American writings, 1750-1940. USA: Yale 

University. 

Gombrich, E.H., (1984). The sense of order a study in the 

psychology of decorative art [2"'' Ed.]. London: Phaldon Press 

Ltd. 

Hamlyn, D.W.,(1961). The psychology of perception. [2"" Ed]. 

London: Routledge & Keegan Paul Ltd. 

Kraft, K., (2004). Textile patterns and their epistemological 

functions. Textile: the journal of cloth and culture. Vol 2, issue 

3, pp274-289. 

Jones, O., (1986). The grammar of ornament. [2'"^ Ed.] London: 

Studio Editions. 

Pye, D., (1995) [Revised Ed.] The nature and art of workmanship. 

UK: Herbert Press. 

Rodemann, P., (1999). Patterns in Interior environments: 

perception, psychology, and practice. USA: Wiley and sons. 

Stevens, P.S., (1974). Patterns in nature. [1" Ed.] USA: Atlantic- 

Little. 

Trilling, J., (2001 ).The language of ornament. London:Thames 

and Hudson Ltd. 

Yanagi, S., (1972). The unknown craftsman. [1" ed.] Japan: 

Kodansha International.

L I M I T E D U T T E R A N C E S W I T H I N J O U R N A L S : T H E F U N C T I O N A L I T Y O F 

A R C H I T E C T U R A L D I S C O U R S E O N E A R T H Q U A K E A S D I S A S T E R 

ZeynepTUNA ULTAV 

Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey 

zeynep.tunaultav@ieu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

The purpose ofthis study is to emphasizethe'criticalavyareness' 

ofthe ambiguous relationship between architecture and its 

discursive realm. Although it is possible to suggest the identity 

of architecture to be gained through the'structural, semantical 

or communicational nature'of discursive frameworks recalling 

Foucault's statement, "There is no non-discursive realm, 

that everything is constructed and apprehended through 

discourse", the association of architecture to the realm of 

discourse still constitutes a problematic to be dissolved. 

Sketchily defining discourse as a functional language, the 

argument through the paper will attempt to construct 

the functions -creative, constitutive, epistemological, and 

representational- of architectural discourse by means of 

a Foucaultian reading. Initially, it is essential to underline 

the productivity and creativity of discursive practice, which 

creates a 'center'and a 'margin'taking the role of socio-cultural 

reproduction in late modern societies. Secondly, discursive 

structures play a significant role in systematically forming 

and transforming their 'subjects' and 'objects', rather than the 

converse. Thirdly, discourse contributes to the construcrion 

of systems of knowledge. As a strategy, it constructs the 

architectural theory by conceptualizing the realm. In the 

fourth sense, discourse is a representational practice, that is, it 

brings phenomena into the scene. 

If we take granted that "the discourse is an actually occurring 

piece of language whose dimensions are dictated by the 

situation'; all the utterances -written and spoken- about the 

earthquake constitute a 'mega-utterance', which we can call 

'the discourse of architecture on the subject of earthquake'. 

Having established the funcrional task of discursive pracrice, 

this paper will make a systemaric survey of architectural 

discourse on the earthquake phenomenon as a case study 

through local architectural journals, namely l\/limar!il

idea is to convey and construct a mental map to understand 

the approach ofarchitectural discourse on the phenomenon 

of earthquake disaster, which is closely related to the practical 

realm of architecture. 

Initially and inevitably, it is significant to put forward the 

vague relationship of the field of architecture with the term 

discourse. Architecture itself can be put forward as a discourse, 

but as defined by Basa, it can also be considered as a concept 

shaped around a vast majority of concepts which function as 

another group of discursive figures. (Basa, 2000,97} Although 

architecture has visual tools to construct its identity, it also 

needs the support of the linguistic area to reinforce its status 

related with its identity. By these means, architecture presents 

its identity Including Its concepts through its discursive tools. 

Foucault's expression, 'There is no non-discursive realm, 

that everything is constructed and apprehended through 

discourse.'(ln Mills 1997, p. 55); will be a readily acknowledged 

idea to construct the scheme for this study. Since every single 

phenomenon is to be understood through discourse, the 

method of getting familiar with the phenomenon of disaster 

is to get familiar with the construction of its discourse within 

the realm of architecture. 

There are two modes ofthe existence of a discourse. A discourse 

may arise individually and belonging to a system of networks as 

well. The idea of selecting individual texts and analyzing them 

in order to merge on a spine emerges from this dual mode of 

existence. Therefore it Is essential to realize the relationship 

between "the self to itself'and "the relationship to the network of 

discourses"as mentioned by Brown (2000). According to Foucault 

(1972, pp. 73-75), this dual existence is affected by two levels: 

The mobility of the system of formation appears in two 

ways. First at the level ofthe elements that are being related 

to one another: these in fact may undergo a number of 

intrinsic mutations that are integrated into a discursive 

practice without the general form of its regularity being 

altered...but inversely the discursive practices modify the 

domains that they relate to one another. 

Within this approach, it is possible to suggest that the sub- 

elements of a discursive formation -in our case the discourse of 

architecture on disaster- play a significant role in the structure 

ofthe mega-utterance, the main discourse. Because it is much 

more important to figure out what kind of an understanding 

architectura! discourse develops about the phenomenon of 

disaster, how it analyses that phenomenon and how it reacts 

against that phenomenon than to understand the similar acts 

in the realm of sub-discourses. 

If the term discourse is characterised as a functional language, 

the argument through the paper will attempt to construct 

the functions -creative, constitutive, epistemological, and 

representational- of architectural discourse by means of a 

Foucaultian reading. In orderto make an analytical research on 

the discursive aspect of architecture, it is important to define 

the object of the study. In this research, the main aim will be 

to consider"text"as the object of discourse. The importance of 

the "text" is explained by Bazerman (1984, p. 31) as: 

The reflexive rhetorical turn in knowledge-producing 

disciplines has called attention to the text, which is the 

medium through which knowledge is transmitted and 

is the matter in which knowledge is embodied outside 

the consciousness of any individual. Although text only 

gains meaning through the interpretive act ofthe reader, 

nonethe-^less text is the representation of knowledge 

that reaches beyond the mind of any individual. Text is 

knowledge that stands between people. 

Text itself cannot be considered as discourse. Therefore, in 

order to analyse a text, or a group of texts, it is significant 

to locate them within the overall discursive practices. 

Discourses can be created by surveying texts, while texts are 

as well created by discourses. According to Cook (1994, p. 25), 

discourse, as opposed to text, is a stretch of language in use, 

taking on meaning in context for its users, and perceived by 

them as purposeful, meaningful and connected. This quality 

of perceived purpose, meaning, and connection is known as 

coherence. Discourse analysis is the study and explanation of 

this quality of coherence. A discourse is a coherent stretch of 

language. This coherent relationship between the text and 

discourse is elucidated by Fairclough (1992, p. 24) as follows: 

A text is a product rather than a process - a product of the 

process of text production. But I shall use the term discourse 

to refer to the whole process of social interaction of which

a text is just a part. This process Includes In addition to 

the text the process of production, of which the text is a 

product, and the process of interpretation, for which the 

text is a resource. Text analysis is correspondingly only a 

part of discourse analysis, which also includes analysis 

of productive and interpretative processes. The formal 

properties of a text can be regarded from the perspective 

of discourse analysis on the one hand as traces of the 

productive process, and on the other hand as cues In the 

process of interpretation. 

Texts are grouped into three by Werth as descriptive, narrative 

and discursive, (in Fairclough, 1992, p. 15)The texts summed up 

forthe study are considered to be discursive, and the discursive 

potentials of these texts will be explored. With the texts put on 

the map, the important work will be to intertextually analyse 

what kind of a discourse they construct and observe if they 

can function in the way discourses are assumed to function. As 

supposed by Fairclough (1997, p. 10), intertextual analysis links 

the text and discourse practice dimensions ofthe framework 

and shows where a text is located with respect to the social 

network of orders of discourse- how a text actualizes and 

extends the potential within orders of discourse. 

We will be limiting the scope ofthe study to the analysis ofthe 

texts within architectural journals. The reason here to recourse 

to journals, in other words, to assume that journals are the most 

Important sources is verified by Crysler (2003, pp. 3-4) as: 

I argue that journals and their discourses matten texts have 

a determinate effect on how we understand, imagine, and 

act in relation to the world around us. Texts and writing 

play an instrumental role in shaping the crit-iical and 

imaginative space in which members of a built environment 

profession - architecture, planning, urban design - operate. 

By intervening in the politics of writing we intervene In the 

politics of built form. Each journal is therefore studied as 

a space of knowledge, governed by shared methods and 

practices. 

2. The Content Analysis 

The initial step will be to categorize the texts acquired through 

a methodological survey through the local architectural 

journals. This categorization necessitates differentiating the 

contents of the texts. As Potter (1987, p. 41) puts forward, 

'the technique social psychologists have traditionally used 

to deal with participants' open-ended discourse is content 

analysis. This involves the generation of categones, which can 

be reliably coded and imposed over the data for the purposes 

of hypothesis testing. The categorization is significant since 

there is a network of discourses'. We are trying to distinguish 

a rational order or relationship between the discourses for the 

presentation of interrelation. Foucault puts this comparative 

method as; 

In the sixteenth century, the fundamental supposition 

was that of a total system of correspondence (earth and 

sky, planets and faces, microcosm and macrocosm), and 

each particular similitude was then lodged within this 

overall relation. From now on, every resemblance must 

be subjected to proof by comparison, that is, it will not be 

accepted until Its identity and the series of Its differences 

have been discovered by means of measurement with 

a common unit or more radically by its opposition in an 

order (In Harding 1992, p. 80). 

In the seventeenth or eighteenth century, scientific discourses 

began to be received for themselves; the author function 

faded away (Rabinow, 1984:109). Considering this idea of the 

disappearance of the authorship, we find it correct to analyse 

the texts Independent of their authors. Then what element. If 

not the authorship, is crucial for the analysis of texts? We put 

this constituentasthe'contentanalysis'forthis particular study. 

Therefore it is important to establish typologies for discursive 

objects in analysing them. We will realize the categorizations 

along with their identity and difference. 

Accordingly, the study will mainly rely on the content of that 

discourse under technical and social approaches including the 

sub-categones as follows: "The discussions on the technical 

reasons of the damage caused by earthquake in terms of 

materials, the construction type and the structural system 

and the discussions on the pnnciples of earthquake-resistant 

architectural designs; the discussions on the phenomenon 

in terms of the processes of urban planning and land-use 

decisions;thetemporaryand permanent housing problematic 

and their place In our design culture and their discussion

as a representational space in terms of ideology and the 

phenomenon of participation as well; the informative and 

historical discourse about the nature of earthquake and pre- 

earthquake cautions; discussing the social role ofthe architect 

in the disaster; the criticism ofthe politics ofthe municipalities, 

and the state as well, In terms of land-use decisions and 

post-earthquake applications and thus the transformation 

of a natural disaster to a cultural one; the influence of the 

earthquake phenomenon on architectural education". The 

categorized objects are listed as below: 

A. THE TECHNICAL APPROACHES 

1. Discussing the technical reasons of the damage caused by 

earthquake in terms of materials, the construction type and 

the structural system and the discussions on the principles of 

earthquake-resistant architectural designs: 

• Events of Nature Should not Turn into Disaster, M. Uçar, 

Tasarım, p. 118. 

• Can We Avoid Earthquake? S. Serinken, Mimarlık. 

• After Bingöl Earthquake, Y. Subaşı, Mimarlık 312, 2003, pp. 

64-5. 

• Resistance to Earthquake: Lessons to Be Taken From 

Traditional Buildings, E. Komut, Mimarlık 299,2001, pp. 33-40. 

• A Study On the Situations of Traditional Buildings After the 

Earthquake, A. R. Parsa, Mimarlık 299, 2001, pp. 41-42. 

• Impressions from the Studies of Assessment of Damage, D. 

Gülhan, İ. Özyörük Güney, Mimarlık 299,2001, p. 43. 

• 1999 Marmara Earthquake and the Principles of Earthquake 

Resistant Structure Design, M. Düzgün, Ege Mimarlık 40-41, 

2001, pp. 91-6. 

• Comparing the Damages Created by the Earthquakes of 1894 

and 1999, Affecting Istanbul, on Some Ottoman Buildings, B. 

Erçağ, Yapı 215,1999, pp. 33-4. 

•ThePre-assessment Reportfor Kocaeli Earthquake by Istanbul 

Technical University, Yapı 214,1999, pp. 29-33. 

•The Demolition of Buildings in Earthquake is Not a Fate,T. S. 

Arda, Yapı 214,1999, pp. 40-41. 

• More than the Schematism of Post-Earthquake, N. Ayıran, 

Yapı 216, ^ 999, pp. 57-59. 

• The Bitter Face of Nature: İzmit Earthquake, H. Sucuoğlu, 

Mimarlık 288,1999, pp. 17-19. 

• Two Earthquake Reports, Mimarlık 288,1999, pp. 20-23. 

• New Earthquake Regulation and Structure Design, M. 0. 

Akbaşak, B. Özlen, Ege Mimarlık 29,1998, pp. 10-11. 

• Adana - Ceyhan Earthquake, H. Topal, F. Okuîucu, Ege 

Mimarlık 28,1998, pp. 13-4. 

• Radius Project and the Educational Seminar in Japan, F. 

Selvitopu, Ege Mimarlık 28,1998, pp. 15-6. 

• Earthquake and Structures, A. Kurdik, Mimarlık 248,1998, pp. 

58-60. 

- Is Dinar Earthquake a Simple Theft Case? G. Birkan, Yapı 168, 

1995, pp. 26-7. 

' What Dinar Earthquake Makes Us Think of, S. S. Tezcan, Yapı 

168,1995, pp. 38-41. 

• What August, 17,1999 Kocaeli Earthquake Makes UsThink of, 

S. S.Tezcan, Ege Mimarlık 32,1999, pp. 4-6. 

• Observations on Marmara Earthquake, M. O. Akbaşak, Ege 

Mimarlık 32,1999, pp. 7-9. 

• Impressions from the Great Earthquake, M. Hamuroğlu, Ege 

Mimarlık32, }999, pp. 16-8. 

• What March, 13, 1992 Erzincan Earthquake Makes Us Re- 

Think of, F. S. Okutucu, Ege Mimarlık 5, 1992, pp. 17-8. 

• Observations from Erzincan Earthquake, K. Özgen, F. Çılı, O. C. 

Çelik, Yapı 129,1992, pp. 35-41. 

• The Preliminary Results of Bingöl Earthquake Observations, 

B. Güven, G. Gezin, Mimarlık 4-5,1971, pp. 30-32. 

•The Principles of Constructing Earthquake Resistant Buildings 

and Some Observations on the Recent Earthquakes, M. Ipek, 

Mimarlık 4-5,1971, pp. 34-39. 

• Earthquake and the Destiny of the Technical Man, H. Çakır, 

Mimarlık 4-5. 1971, pp. 41-42. 

• The Problematic of Earthquake, M. Göktuğ, H. Çakır, Mimarlık 

12,1971, pp. 43-44. 

• Gediz Earthquake, Ersin Anoğlu, K. Anadol, Mimarlık 4, 1971, 

pp. 45-55. 

• Report of Gediz Earthquake, Mimarlık, Chamber of Architects 

Istanbul, 1970, pp. 26-32. 

• Sakarya Earthquake, Mimarlık, Chamber of Architects 

Istanbul, 1967, pp. 8-11. 

2. Discussing the phenomenon in terms of the processes of 

urban planning and land-use decisions: 

• Re-organization ofThree Cities at the End of War and Disaster: 

Beyrut, Saraybosna, Erzincan, E. M. Komut, Mimarlık 306,2002, 

pp. 8-12.

• The City Formed By Earthquakes: Erzincan, A. Gül, B.Şengezer, 

E. Koç, Yapı 168,1995, pp. 78-86. 

• Restructuring ofthe City by Greening, T. Ando, Mimarlık 3^ 1, 

2003, p. 55. 

• Thoughts on Re-Development of Earthquake Areas, W. 

Schutte, Batı Akdeniz Mimarlık 13,1999. 

• Determination of the Massive Damage Regions and Its 

Importance in Urban Planning, D. A. Keçeli, M. Cevher, R Avdan, 

Mimarlık 316, pp. 59-61. 

• Thoughts on Earthquake and Urban Science, B. Çeçener, 

Mimarlık 290,1999, pp. 55-57. 

• Our Legislation in Disaster Viev^point: A Model Proposal 

Corresponding The Adjustment of The Institutional Structure, 

B. Şengezer, H. Kansu, Mimarlık 290,1999, pp. 49-54. 

• Re-Organization ofthe Processes of Planning and Structuring 

To Reduce Disaster Costs and METU Proposal, M. Balamir, 

yW/mc7r///c 288,1999, pp. 12-16. 

• Evaluation of Istanbul Earthquake Master Plan, A. Yeşilırmak, 

Mimarist 9, 2003, pp. 40-42. 

•The Success of Disaster Management is Related to the Success 

of Risk Management - Colloquy, A. Yeşilırmak, F. Öcal, Mimarist 

9, 2003, pp. 43-6. 

• The Scope and the Quality of Istanbul Earthquake Master 

Plan, M. Balamir, M/mar/sf 9,2003, pp. 47-54. 

• Istanbul Earthquake Master Plan; Avoidance and Action 

Planning through Geographical Information Systems, hi. 

Türkoğlu, Mimarist 9,2003, pp. 55-58. 

• Istanbul Earthquake Master Plan- Settlement and Law, IDMP 

YTiJ Project Group, Mimarist 9,2003, pp. 59-64. 

• Writing a Prescription on the Earthquake Glow of Istanbul, H. 

Sucuoğlu, Mimarist 9,2003, pp. 65-8. 

• Land-use Decisions in Earthquake Regions, B. Sayın Şengezer, 

Yapı 215, Ekim 1999, pp. 70-79. 

3. The temporary and permanent housing problematic 

and their place in our design culture and their discussion 

as a representational space in terms of ideology and the 

phenomenon of participation as well: 

• The Production of Housing for Post- Earthquake, I. Davis, 

trans. R Oymak, Mimarlık 76/3, pp. 10-14. 

• The Production of Housing after the Earthquake, M. Tapan, 

Mimarlık S-9,1975,11-12. 

• The Earthquake Housing of Ban: Paper Log-Huts, S. Ban, 

Arredamento Mimarlık, pp. 81-85. 

• Permanent Earthquake Housing in Adapazarı, Arredamento 

Mimarlık, pp. 93-5. 

• Sheltering in the Stage of Urgent Help after the Disaster: 

Sustainability-A System Approach, 5. Limoncu, Mimarist 

2006/2, pp. 36-43. 

• Structuring Proposals after the Earthquake -Post-Disaster 

TemporarySheltering Units, H. Katabey, Arredamento Mimarlık, 

pp. 104-9. 

• Container Houses, H. Tümertekin, İ. Bilgin, N. Sayın, 

Arredamento Mimadik, pp. 93-4. 

• A Different Option in Earthquake Houses: Bubble Domes, S. 

Özkan, Mimarlık 3,1972,35-7. 

• Mass Housing Applications on Account of Disaster, E. Subaşı, 

Mimarlık, 1978, pp. 53-6. 

• Earthquake and Prefabricated Structures, G. Birkan, Mimarlık 

4-5,1971, p. 42. 

• Temporary Earthquake House Proposal, Mimarti Design 

Group, Arredamento Mimarlık, pp. 86-7. 

• Earthquake Houses as a Representational Space, A. Baykan, 

Arredamento Mimadik, pp. 107-111. 

• Leaving Documentto History: On the Permanent Earthquake 

Houses (Colloquy) Mimarlık 309,2003, pp. 35-47. 

• The Studies Done in Marmara Region in the Second Year 

of the Earthquake and the Latest Situation, K. Savaşır, Ege 

Mimarlık 39,2001, pp. 30-32. 

• The Place of Earthquake Houses in Our Design and Planning 

Culture, G. Erten, Mimarlık 309,2003, pp. 48-9. 

• Temporary and Permanent Houses after August, 17 and 

November 12 Earthquakes-The Problem of Density, H. Yürekli, 

S. S. Saylağ, Mimarist 9,2003, pp. 69-74. 

4. The informative and historical discourse about the nature of 

earthquake and pre-earthquake cautions: 

• Micro Zoning, R. Pınar, Z. Akçığ, Ege Mimarlık 45, 2003, pp. 

43-48. 

• The Importance of the Geological Structure of Izmir in 

Urbanization, H. Gümüş, fge/W/mar///f 32,1999, pp. 12-15. 

• Earthquake Regions Map: A Macro Danger? Or a Micro One? 

Or A Macro Zoning? Or Is It a Micro Zoning Map? R. Demirtaş, 

Batı Akdeniz Mimadik 27,2004, pp. 19-21. 

• On Izmir Earthquake, C. Helvacı, Ege Mimarlık 6-7, 1992, pp. 

21-2.

• Seismology and Earthquake, K. Ergin, Mimarlık 4-5,1971, pp. 

32-33. 

• The Traces of Earthquake in Old Anatolian and Aegean 

Civilizations, Ş. Karagöz, Mimarlık 303, 2002, pp. 44-49. 

• The Great Earthquakes in Istanbul and Their Effects on The 

Cultural Heritage, the Precautions to Be Taken, Z. Ahunbay, 

Mimarist, 2005/4, pp. 17-1B. 

B. THE SOCIAL APPROACHES 

1. Discussing the social role ofthe architect in the disaster: 

• Forum-The Roleof the Architect in Transforming Earthquake 

into a Disaster, Mimarlık 307,2002, pp. 14-19. 

• Houses That Lose Confidence, S. Erder, Mimarlık 293, 2000, 

p. 69. 

• Necessities, Design, Earthquake, H. Topal, Ege Mimarlık 32, 

1999, pp. 19-20. 

• The Role of the Architect in Earthquake Sensitive Designing 

Processes - Colloquy, Mimarlık 308,2002, pp. 57-61. 

• Developing Earthquake Consciousness In Architectural 

Design, A. İ. Ünay, Mimarlık 290, 1999, pp. 46-8. 

• Have the Architects Passed the Earthquake Exam?, A. Şentek, 

/W/mar///c 288, 1999, pp. 10-11. 

• Earthquake Sensitivity in Architectural Design, E. Özkan, 

Mimarist 9, 2003, pp. 75-78. 

2.The criticism ofthe politics of the municipalities, and the state 

as well, in terms of land-use decisions and post-earthquake 

applications and thus the transformation of a natural disaster 

to a cultural one: 

• Re-discover of the neighbourhood, the executive officer 

of a district, and the architect in Gayrettepe: The Disaster 

Management ofthe Neighbourhood, Ahmet Turhan Altiner. 

• Earthquake Containers of Istanbul, the Chest ofthe State, XXI 

Nisan 2003, pp. 108-9. 

• Earthquake and Underdevelopment, I. Acaroğlu, Mimarlık 8- 

9,1975, pp. 8-10. 

• Earthquake and Afterwards, G. Birkan,/W/mar///c 8-9,1975,13- 

19. 

• Does Earthquake Still Continue? H. Günal, Mimarlık 307,2002, 

p. 20. 

• Earthquake and the Political Enactment, M. Balamir, Mimarlık 

307, 2002, pp. 21-3. 

•The Compulsion of a Consistent State Politics, E. Kulaksızoğlu, 

Mimarlık 310, pp. 33-36. 

• What August, 17 Earthquake Makes Us Think Of, G. Dinç, Ege 

Mimarlık32. ^999. pp. 21-22. 

•The Human Oriented Solutions after the Earthquake.Y. Gürsel, 

Vap/217,1999,51-55. 

• What Does Buildings Older Than 10 Years Should Not Be 

Interrogated Mean?, M. N. Cebeci, Ege Mimarlık 5,1992, p. 19. 

• In The Process of Restructuring..., H. Karabey, Mimarlık 289, 

1999, pp. 42-5. 

• The Restructuring of the State Should Be Overviewed, 

Colloquy: N. Cebeci, Mimarlık 289,1999, pp. 46-9. 

• Expertness and the Sphere of Architecture, M. K. Atabaş, 

Mimarlık 308, 2002, p. 62. 

• Following Dinar Earthquake, H.TopaL Mimarlık 266,1995, pp. 

55-56. 

• Gediz, Emet, Varto, Fethiye, Lice, Erzincan is not Enough ...And 

also Dinar, F. M. Uğurlaş, Mimarlık 266,1995, p. 56. 

• An Application Model For Post-Earthquake Restructuring for 

Erzincan Earthquake, H. Aksu, Mimarlık 248,1992, pp. 54-8. 

3. The influence of the earthquake phenomenon on 

architectural education: 

• Temporary Shelter after the Disaster: The Applied Project 

Study, S. Soygeniş, Arrec/amenfo Mimarlık, pp. 102-103. 

• Does This Earthquake Strike Architectural Education? B. Ak, 

Ege Mimarlık 32,1999, pp. 10-11. 

•The Design StudioTrials After the Disaster, A. Balamir, A.Tokol, 

Arredamento Mimarlık, pp. 82-5. 

• Idea Competition on the Earthquake Compatible Settlements, 

Mimarlık 309, 2003, pp. 28-34. 

According to the scheme above, it is straightforward to 

observe that some concepts are emphasized a lot more than 

some of the others. Repetition of a concept indicates that it 

constitutes a problematic. According to Mills (1997, p. 70), 

'Foucault focuses on the rarefaction of discourse as an internal 

discursive constraint. What he means by rarefaction is the 

surprising fact that although the utterances which could 

be produced by any one person are theoretically infinite, in 

fact they are remarkably repetitive and remain within certain 

socially agreed-upon boundaries'.

İn addition to the categorization process, it is also important 

to clarify the need to analyse the discourses. Discourses 

emerge from social contexts, and it is the mission of these 

social contexts to operate in the development, circulation and 

maintenance of discourses. This necessity is explained by IVlİİls 

{1997, p. n)as: 

Thus, a discourse is not a disembodied collection of 

statements, but groupings of utterances or sentences, 

statements which are enacted within a social context, 

which are determined by that social context and which 

contribute to the way that social context conrinues its 

exis-itence. Institutions and social context therefore 

piay an Important determining role in the development, 

maintenance and circularion of discourses. 

3. Thinking about the Functions of Discourse 

As mentioned by Mills (2003, pp. 62-4), Foucault describes 

discourses, or discursive formations, as groups of statements 

which deal with the same topic and which seem to produce a 

similar effect; for instance, they may be groups of statements 

which are grouped together because of some institutional 

pressure or association, because of a similarity of origin, or 

because they have a similar funcrion. Pursuing Foucault's 

statement that discourses have funcrions; the main aim of 

this part v^îll be to demonstrate the functions of discourse in 

an analytical approach. It should be thoroughly put forward 

because the clarification of the function of a phenomenon 

might most ofthe times indicates the clarification of its raison 

d'etre. Therefore to establish the functional scheme of a group 

of discourses will also lead to demystify the vagueness in the 

recognition ofthe realm of architecture as a discursive practice. 

A.THE CREATIVE FUNCTION OFTHE DISCOURSE: 

The reason of analysing the phenomenon of disaster through 

the texts -although there is a bunch of visual materials to 

make use of- is without doubt the convicrion about the power 

and productivity of the text. 

The crearive function ofthe discourse can be analysed through 

Its fruitfulness aspect. Fruitfulness, according to Potter (1987, p. 

171), refers to 'the scope of an analyric scheme to make sense 

of new kinds of discourse and to generate novel explanations. 

This is, of course, a general criterion of validity for scientific 

explanations and theories; If they can be used to generate 

fresh solutions to the problems in a field of research then we 

accord them more respect'. 

The fruitfulness can be observed in two modes: discursive and 

practical, which are respecrively the production of new texts 

and thus new themes and the production of new solutions 

in terms of design, construction and legal issues. In the first 

mode, it reproduces another discourse -e.g. representarional 

space- by mingling two discourses, so this reproducrion is 

also productive in the sense that It makes the audience also 

consider the other theme. In the second mode, the sub- 

discourses are provocative with what they propose. This 

provocation leads them to be creative. To lead new solutions, 

the necessity of which was not needed before the disaster, 

and to verbalize these solurions is valuable. All these attempts 

improve the vocabulary of design, construction and the laws 

related to both. Discourse is creative also in the sense that 

through novel concepts, it takes on a role of socio-cultural 

reproducrion. Through this discursive approach, a certain 

track is generated and this discursive approach delineates the 

agenda on that particular discourse. It also determines the 

social pracrices around that discourse. 

In no other discursive part of architecture, so many new 

approaches to a problemaric have been produced than the 

ones on the phenomenon of disaster. Thus it is likely to state 

that it necessitates being productive.The mode of productivity 

is indicated below under our pre-constructed categorlzarion: 

TheTechnical Approach: 

1. Innovative methods of construction, exploring new 

materials, new ways of earthquake resistant designing, 

reconsidering tradirional buildings. 

2. Novel proposals for re-development, a model proposal 

to heal the institutional structure, re-organization of the 

processes of planning and structuring to minimize earthquake 

damages; the urban funcrioning potentials of Istanbul. 

3. Improving the design culture and vocabulary by 

brainstorming about the new ways of housing either 

temporary or permanent one, to find ways of sustainable 

housing: the example of paper log-hut.

4. The inspiring historicai information might provide to be 

creative. 

The Social Approach: 

1. Discussing about the responsibilities ofthe architect may 

forcetheaudienceto be creative in the sense of neighbourhood 

disaster management, participation, getting organized, etc. 

2. The criticism of the bureaucratic institutions may develop 

a new consciousness including the architect. The criticism 

also makes the politicians consider novel solutions to land- 

use decisions and post-earthquake applications, supervision 

regulations or systems, expertise studies, compulsory 

earthquake insurance etc. or develop new penalties for poor 

treatments. 

3. The provocative and productive power of the earthquake 

on architectura! discourse provides the organization of 

competitions, summer schools, panels and symposia: 

• Earthquake Planary, 13 March 1986, Istanbul. 

- Earthquake Symposium, Kocaeli University, 23-25 March 

2005, 

• Earthquake and Architecture, Planary, Chamber of 

Architects, Antalya, Yapı 2000, 2-11. 

• Case Assessment in the Second Year of the Earthquake, 18 

August 2001, Istanbul, Panel-Forum. 

• Preparing Cities for the Earthquake and the Reality of 

Istanbul, Symposium, 8-9 February 2002, ITU. 

• Earthquake Seminar, 6 November 1999. 

• Urban Settlements and Natural Disasters II. Region Study 

Program Workshop. 

• Architects and Disaster, UlA Summer School 2004, 1-17 

July 2004, Izmir. 

• Natural Disasters: Designing for Security, UİA Study 

Program Conference. 

B.THE CONSTITUTIVE FUNCTION OFTHE DISCOURSE: 

Texts are sensitive barometers of social processes, movement 

and diversity. Thus textual analysis is an important method In 

studies of social and cultural change {Fairclough 1999, p. 204). 

In a Foucaultian reading, discourses exist with their capacity 

to produce changes. Constitutive function of discourses plays 

a significant role in forming and transforming their objects. 

According to Howarth (2000, p. 52), Foucault seeks to account 

forthe creation ofits objects within discourse by relating them to 

the body of rules that enable them to form as objects and which 

thus constitute the conditions of their historical appearance. 

The course of discourses modifies its objects. Constitution in 

this sense can be interpreted as the transformation and the 

reconstruction ofthe new systems of knowledge and belief 

Secondly, discourses,for Foucault, constitute objGctsfor us. One 

of Foucault's most famous quotations about the constitution 

of objects is thefollowing:'We must not imagine that the world 

turns towards us a legible face which we would have only to 

decipher, The world is not the accomplice of our knowledge; 

there is no prediscursive providence which disposes the world 

in our favour'{Mills 1997, p, 52). Constitutive role of discursive 

practice forms Its objects rather than the reverse as expected. 

It is possible to decipher this proposition as the constitution 

of social entities. The mode of constitution is indicated below 

under our pre-constructed categorization: 

The Technical Approach: 

1. Transforming the traditional methods of construction, 

design and supervision: obtaining good quality concrete, use 

of the steel skeleton, and the designing capacity in concrete 

buildings, the compulsory construction supervision, the 

compulsory earthquake insurance system. 

2. Transforming the regulations: regulations about shores, 

earthquake master plan, revision plans, development 

adjustment plan; transforming actions about Istanbul: 

learning to create and live urban life, action planning using 

GIS; transforming ways of disaster and risk management. 

3. Transforming traditional methods of housing: alternative 

housing to prefabricated ones, sustainable sheltering in the 

process of urgent help. 


1. Construction of a novel social model: the activation ofthe 

role of the architect, 

2. Construction of a novel model of the official relationships 

through the questioning ofthe legal arrangements. 

C. THE EPISTEMOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF THE DISCOURSE: 

The third function of discourse is to produce knowledge. Every 

field of science forms its own episteme. Episteme is called by 

Foucault, as Steiner (1992, p. 85} mentions, "the aggregate of

significant spaces, the underlying stratigraphy of intellectual 

life, the whole set ofthe presuppositions of thought'. Since the 

significance of knowledge production Is indicated by Deleuze 

as 'Everything is knowledge, this is the first reason why there 

Is no savage experience there is nothing beneath or prior 

to knowledge'(In Brown 2000, p. 109), it Is indispensable to 

argue that it is vita! for the field of architecture to produce its 

very peculiar knowledge. 

The discussion on the term discourse also emerges from the 

idea that episteme is produced through discourses. According 

to Cousins (1984, p. 27), discourse Is the first representation 

of thought. As such, discourse and knowledge are closely 

related to each other. Knowledge is like a language whose 

every word has been examined and verified. Thus discourse 

presents knowledge and leaves it open to discussion and 

interpretation so that it has the power to modify and transform 

the accumulation of knowledge till that date. 

How can we raise knowledge out of discourses? This can 

barely happen after discourse analysis since the ideas through 

discourses are coarse and they should be categorized. And the 

friction of the disparity provided by categorization presents 

us knowledge. This analysis should first clarify the status of its 

objects, the category they belong to and the function they 

possess. According to Foucault's discourse, 'knowledge is no 

longer sought through resemblances as It was in the renaissance 

understanding ofthe episteme, it is 5oughtthroughdistlnction'(ln 

Steiner 1992, p. 87). As a result, we view the discourses produced 

within architecture in the sense mentioned by Foucaultthrough 

their distinctive quality. There is a need for conflict, difference, 

relations for the discourses for the production of knowledge. 

It Isalsopossibletomalntainthatgathering separated domains 

of knowledge through the comparative method mentioned 

above leads to the way of constituting knowledge. According 

to Cousins (1984, p. 34) the totality ofthe signs is the corpus of 

knowledge. What we are trying to do In this study is to gather 

all the signs together and categorize them in order to make 

out the kind of knowledge coming out. 

After the categorization it is easy to sort out what kind of 

knowledge is produced by the discourses. Below is the mode 

of knowledge production: 


1. The knowledge of earthquake resistant construction systems 

and materials, e.g. obtaining good quality concrete; the 

knowledge ofthe scope of damage that the earthquake give rise 

to, design and construction faults, the faults in detailing, wrong 

geometric configuration;the knowledge of methods of repairing 

and solidifying; the knowledge about traditional buildings; the 

knowledge of protecting historical buildings from earthquake, 

the knowledge about perpetuating cultural heritage. 

2.The knowledge of howto make new master plans In relation 

to the phenomenon of earthquake; the knowledge of the 

political economy of urbanization and the risk of earthquake. 

3. The knowledge of alternative housing; the knowledge of 

how to realize a permanent building which is very peculiar to 

the phenomenon of disaster. 

4. The knowledge about the nature earthquake, e.g. about 

seismology, geological structure, tectonics; the knowledge of 

the earthquake ground studies, the knowledge of earthquake 

regions map and what to do about it; the knowledge about 

the history ofthe earthquakes, e.g. the traces of earthquake 

in old civilizations. 


l.The knowledge of the act of architects towards earthquake. 

2. The knowledge ofthe new regulations after the earthquake. 

D.THE REPRESENTATIONAL FUNCTION OFTHE DISCOURSE 

Discourse is a representational practice. That is to say, in 

Parker's terms,'discourses bring phenomena into sight, they 

allow us to see things that are not really there and once an 

object has been elaborated in a discourse it is difficult not 

refer to It as it were real' (In Basa, 2000, p. 31). 

In our case the object of the discourse is the earthquake 

disaster. Ideas are the representation ofthe object, which Is the 

earthquake. In a different approach, it is also possible to say that 

the authors, mostly the architects or other technical scholars 

studying about construction and urban planning, represent 

their idea on the "represented" object through discourses. 

Representational power of discourses thus differs from other 

modes of representations. It does not represent the objects as 

thGyare,butrealisethe representation after merging with other

epresentations tlirough the effective tools of interpretation 

and criticism. In this respect, a discourse puts forward signs, 

represents its object in terms of signs, these signs are our tools 

of analysis and means of representing order. According to 

Cousins (1984, p. 33-4), new forms of knowledge can inhabit 

this different mode of knowing. The sign functions by virtue 

of its deployment of this representative power. In this sense 

representations always analyse other representations while 

they represent them. So according to him, representation 

is not a mirroring, for the representation is within what is 

represented. Representation thus always represents another 

representation.Thus through the function of representation. It 

is possible to talk about the reproductive aspect of discourse. 

The mode of representation is indicated below under our pre- 

constructed categorization: 


1. The representation of the damage caused by earthquake, 

representation of the earthquake resistant structures, 

materials, designs, the representation of the idea of the 

reliability on the traditional buildings 

2.The representation ofthe urban related regulations 

3.The representation ofthe housing proposals, mass housing 

applications and the representation of their representative 

power as well 

The Social Approach; 

1. The representation of the idea of participation, to make 

society act, transparency, democracy, to be organized. 

2. The representation of the legal and the social dimension 

of the theft of the contractor; representation of the idea of 

the parallelism of underdevelopment and the earthquake 

damage and the prevention of knowledge accumulation 

through political pressure; representation ofthe idea of the 

irregularities of the state after the earthquake 

4. Conclusion 

To sum up, it can be said that this study is a discursive analysis 

on the functions of discourse. In this sense. It attempted to 

demonstrate the separated domains of knowledge, in our 

case the variety of discourses on the earthquake phenomenon 

could be linked through a discursive element of architecture 

under the functional aspects. In this course, it is not hard to 

claim that the discursive effect of architectural discourse on 

earthquake accomplishes the above-mentioned functions. 

Throughout the study, it was important to make a discourse 

analysis, because the common values and the understanding 

ofthe participants of discourse, in this case the understanding 

ofthe phenomenon ofthe disaster, are limited to the discursive 

practices. As surveyed in the paper, it was not difficult to 

argue that the formation of the sub-discourses in terms of 

their scope is not arbitrary, but determined by the overall 

discourse itself It is also important to generate an entire 

understanding on 'disaster' rather than an individual one in 

terms of a more effective 'circulation, valorisation, attribution 

and appropriarion'^ ofthe discourse. 

Finally, it isessenrial to putforward thatthisstudyhasattempted 

torevealsomeinsightsthatare not self-evident. It was important 

to demonstrate whether the discourse of architecture, which 

has been clarified as an active instrument of conveying ideas 

has paid adequate awareness to the phenomenon of disaster 

within its structure or not. In terms of qualitarive^ properries. 

Secondly, putring forward the funcrions was also resourceful in 

terms of demonstraring in which field architectural discourses 

concentrated more on than the others. In this respect, along 

with the inference of the study, it is possible to assert that 

architectural discourse establishes Its "mega-utterance" on 

earthquake more in the technical approach rather than the 

social one in terms ofthe quanrity ofthe texts, and keeps it in 

circularion more with the creative function.This consequence is 

conveyed In Table 1, which indicates the potential of the scope 

of the texts to function in relation to the above-mentioned 

roles of a discursive framework."" It is also possible to assert that 

the more function the category of a discourse has, the more 

it is 'circulated, valorised, attributed, appropriated'. Thirdly, the 

repetition of a category determines the agenda of architectural 

discourse. However the reappearance of a theme throughout 

^ The 'circulation, valorisation, attribution, appropriation' are four 

modes of discourse described by Rabinow (1984, p. 117} 

^ Quantitative approach is found irrelevant for this study. 

''The ranking is realized by the author in relation to the items 

identified through each functional item.

the discourse does not denote its importance. One should be 

critical against a fake reason, and should consider that the 

importance of a category does not necessarily depend on the 

quantity of thetheme. In this respect, in a comparatlveapproach 

between the technical and social aspects ofthe discourse, the 

technical part seems to have achieved more credit. 

Aside from this main inference, it Is also necessary to mention 

that a text might cover more than one function. In this 

respect, as shown in Table 1, if a text is assumed to constitute 

new objects, it represents these objects or we can say that it is 

creative. Also the information provided for the new object can 

be counted as knowledge. Finally, as a minor consequence, 

it Is also possible to suggest by considering the dates of the 

texts that architectural discourse does not have a continuous 

emphasis on the phenomenon of earthquake as disaster, 

because we observe that the concentration appears at the 

periods when a disastrous earthquake comes into the scene. 

Table 1. The comparative potentials of each categorical sub-discursive element in relation to their functional aspect^ 

Discussing the technical reasons ofthe 

damage caused by earthquake 

Discussing the phenomenon in terms of 

the processes of urban planning 

The temporary and permanent housing 

problematic 

The informative and historical discourse 

about the nature of earthquake 

Discussing the social role ofthe architect 

in the disaster 

The criticism ofthe politics ofthe 

municipalities, and the state as well 

The influence of the earthquake 

phenomenon on architectural education 

The Creative The Constitutive The Epistemological The Representational 

Function Function Function Function 

^ It should be mentioned that this schematic analysis has not been realised through a scientific data evaluation, but rather it is the outcome ofthe 

observation ofthe writer after sorting the scope ofthe architectural discourse on disaster

References 

BASA, i-, 2000."Linguistic Discourse in Architecture", Doi

A N U N - N A T U R A L W O R L D : T H E D E S I G N E R A S T O U R I S T 

VivekaTurnbull Hocking 

University of Canberra, Canberra Australia 

viveka.turnbull@canberra.edu.au 

Abstract 

This paper examines the design researcher through exploring 

the notion of how design research resembles tourism.The paper 

characterises the theoretical plane as the Un-Natural World and 

tells an allegory of the Tourists Journey within it. The aim of 

this allegory is to show the nature, role and potential of design 

research within discourse and for the everyday. The paper first 

looks at the nature of discourse as the formation of patterns, 

then describes the Un-Natural World, outlines the different 

kinds of Designer as Tourists and the wellbeing they seek. The 

paper looks at the Tourist Journey as the process of design 

research and returning home as solidifying research Into the 

artefact. The paper concludes with a recommendation for not 

just an ecology ofthe natural oran ecology ofthe artificial but 

also the ecology of the theoretical, suggesting that the design 

researcher, who spend most oftheir time travelling through the 

Un-Natural World, is in a good position to be the guide; to build 

an outline ofthe ecology ofthe theoretical in order to unite the 

disciplines in a discourse aimed at preventing disaster. 

Introduction: 

Design research is about dancing with disorder, a formation 

of patterns out of a dynamic array of possibilities. As Glanville 

suggests in Researching Design and Designing Research, 

patterns are a human construction (1999:85). To construct 

patterns of understanding is to create an artificial order out 

ofthe natural world, transforming the world out ofthe natural 

to form an Un-Natural World. This concept ofthe Un-Natural 

World has no physicallty, it Is the pattern created out of the 

process of knowing and knowledge; Quine's web of belief or 

Deleuze and Guattarl's rhizomatic network. 

This paper considers how, in this virtual landscape ofthe Un- 

Natural World, the Designer is a Tourist. We book our tickets 

to somewhere, guidebook in hand, adding new destinations 

along the way, and return with something; souvenirs, tales, 

increased understanding of the diversity of our world, and 

an ability to reassess the scaffolding of our own constructed 

world. This allegory explores the Designer as Tourist, a Tourist 

aided by poly-lingual abilities and a constructivist world view 

that can enable an ease of travel through many different 

nations and cultures. The Designer as Tourist, travelling and 

exploring abroad, can integrate Ideas from a vast variety 

of sources to form an interconnected understanding. This 

integrative approach has the potential to more effectively 

deal with the complex issues we face and aid in designing a 

more sustainable future. 

Not all Designers have enough time asTourists to travel widely 

or explore fully In order to gain an enriched interconnected 

understanding. Some are only able to get away for a short time, 

reliant on their guide and guide book for a swift and enriching 

trip. When the Designer as Tourist travels to another context, 

sometimes we seek solace in the similarities until we become 

adventurous enough to immerse ourselves In the differences. 

Those that are dependent on their guide book or tourist guide 

do not see past what is interpreted for them and miss those 

enriching experiences to be found off the tourist trails. Others 

are able to take the time to explore and discover their own 

routes for a unique perspective on the Un-Natural World. The 

Designer as Tourist who is able to immerse themselves in 

'The Journey' is In a good position to re-write the guide book, 

enabling others an insight into unique perspectives ofthe Un- 

Natural World. The design researcher is the fulltime Designer 

as Tourist. The researcher travels, explores, notices, converses, 

assimilates, discerns and on returning home recounts their 

travel stories for the design world. It is the design researcher 

that has the time to find new routes through the Un-Natural

World and is in a good position to take on the role of tounst 

guide. 

BeingaTourtstisaboutgettingaway,exploringthenew,different 

and universal, in search of wellbeing.The Designer as Tounst is 

also motivated by w/ellbeing, a wellbeing that can be translated 

into designs for a habitable w/odd. In the contemporary world 

the notions of wellbeing and sustaining habitability are of 

critical importance with the potential of looming disasters from 

climate change and social cnses becoming ever more present. 

This drives the need for the Designer to travel widely through 

the Un-Natural Wodd in order to find new ways of designing to 

avert possible disasters. 

This paper will examine how design research resembles 

Tounsm and explores Its potential to fulfii the needs of the 

contemporary world. 

Patterns: 

We exist In a natural world made up of a chaotic interplay of 

physical objects, spaces, actions and relationships. We simplify 

our natural wodd into some kind of order so we may understand 

it. We construct patterns of understanding so that we are able 

to act in the world:'[pjattern gives us objects and recognizable 

behaviours, allowing us to predict, and risk living by our 

predictions'(Glanville 1999:86).These patterns form the basis for 

our ideas, thoughts, knowledge, understanding and theory: 

Humans look for patterns... Pattern finding, the making 

of one concept from many distinct perceptions, is an 

intensely human activity. Theories are patterns given 

widespread credence and accepted as accounting for 

a part of our expenence (Glanville 1999:85). 

Concepts are formed out ofthe patterns we determine from 

our senses. Each pattern outlines a perspective and there are 

many different perspectives of this existence, many different 

contexts to make sense of our reaiity that enable us to act, 

react, create, disassemble and refashion in a rhythmic motion 

that sustains us in existence. No one perspective explains 

the whole of reality, though 'the more eyes, different eyes, 

we can use to observe one thing, the more complete will our 

"concept" of this thing, our "objectivity" be" (Nietzsche 1887). 

These patterns, although abbreviations, enable us to perceive 

the natural wodd so that we may act within it. 

'Research is an undertaking through which we strive to 

increase our knowledge (of the wodd)' (Glanville 1999:81). 

Research exists within a framework of an interconnecting 

network of patterns. Ian Stewart talks about this framework 

as a theoretical landscape in his popular science book Natures 

Numbers. Stewart talks specifically of the universe created 

by the mathematician's imagination: 'the collective minds of 

mathematicians has created their own universe' (2001 :xii); 

howeverthls theoretical landscape can be thought of as being 

created not only by the collective minds of mathematicians 

but of all thinkers. Fifty years previously mathematician 

and philosopher Wlliard Van Orman Quine described this 

framework as a web of belief: 

'The totality of our so-called knowledge or beliefs, from 

the most casual matters of geography and history to 

the profoundest laws of atomic physics or even of pure 

mathematics and logic, is a man-made fabric which 

impinges on experience only along the edges' (Quine 

1951:6). 

The web of belief suggests our beliefs are connected in such 

a way that changes to one belief will have repercussions 

across the web. In more recent times philosophers Deleuze 

and Guattan describe the interconnecting nature of the 

framework as a rhizome, a tuber such as an iris, ginger, potato 

or couchgrass:'A rhizome as subterranean stem is absolutely 

different from roots and radicals. Bulbs and tubers are 

rhizomes' (Deleuze & Guattari 1987 §1). Nodes connect in a 

non-hierarchical structure growing, not in a linear fashion but 

from the middle out in many different direcrions at once: 

Let us summarize the principal characteristics of 

a rhizome: unlike trees or their roots, the rhizome 

connects any point to any other point, and its traits are 

not necessarily linked to traits of the same nature...The 

rhizome is reducible neithertotheonenorthe multiple... 

It is composed not of units but of dimensions, or rather 

direcrions in morion. It has neither beginning nor end, 

but always a middle (milieu) from which it grows and 

which it overspills (Deleuze & Guttarri 1987:1).

A rhizome spreads under the ground and surfaces as isolated 

instances although Intrinsically part of a multiplicity of other 

instances, something that anyone who has ever tried to 

remove couchgrass from their garden would have an innate 

understanding of More recently still Bremner (2005:121) 

argued that this framework Is a world In its own right'Now you 

are in that [real] world, visiting me spasmodically, you tell me 

my world actually provides some respite from what you believe 

to be the excessive realltyofyour world. When you tell me this, 

I now think of you as the Tourist.' (2005:121). When Bremner 

talks about'My World'he is talking from the view point ofthe 

design academic and the world he is referring to is the world 

of research; the Un-Natural World. Bremner is talking to the 

design practitioner and thus suggests that when the design 

practitioner enters the Un-Natural World they are 'the Tourist'. 

It is from this analogy that this paper will build its allegory. 

The Un-Natural World: 

The framework of the Un-Natural World is built from 

perspectives that form patterns of understanding. These 

patterns interconnect and overlap, coming from a variety of 

origins in time and space. Some coagulate into conceptual 

entities that evolve and diversify, others converge in a 

memetic^ fashion and others are firmly embedded within 

this theoretical landscape. These conceptual entities interact, 

forming relationships with some and isolation from others. 

It Is a diverse, dynamic place with many different languages, 

cultures and views. This place is spherical in its intentions to 

comprehend the natural wodd, though is not made from 

nature but from the artefact. It is the Un-Natural World. A 

world of ideas, concepts, thought, knowledge, understanding 

and theory. Its languages span from poetry to mathematics, 

with regions of science, humanities and visual arts. Its world 

views Include objectivism, relativism and constructivism with 

cultural methods that abound. 

To consider theory, concept and thought as making up 

a world then (like our own world) Its components would 

include landscapes, countries, cultures and languages. We 

could consider disciplines as 'nations'within the Un-Natural 

World, with associated nations In the same'region'connected 

by some kind of commonality like similar world views; such 

as science being a region Including disciplines such as 

mathematics, biology and chemistry, all having a similar world 

view of objectivism. Other regions may contain multiple 

world views and instead have a commonality of language or 

approach that connect the nations within that region; such as 

the Humanities where disciplines such as History, Philosophy 

or Literature may take up any one of many philosophical 

paradigms; phenomenology,feminism, postmodernism and so 

on, instead being connected by a similar theoretical tradition. 

Within the Un-Natural World, 'language' would describe the 

differentformsofcommunicationwithin the disciplines such as 

mathematics, visual symbols, prose or poetry, with each nation 

having their own 'dialect'; the jargon specific to that discipline. 

Following this analogy the 'landscape' of each nation would 

be made up ofthe theories, thoughts and processes that give 

each discipline form. Together the theoretical landscapes, 

languages, dialects, customs and world views form an Un- 

Natural World of which design research is a part. 

Within this Un-Natural World design research would be a small, 

young nation located in a central location surrounded by 

various other nations. Many of design's thoughts and theories 

are influenced or derived from a variety of other disciplines and 

in this way it could be described as sharing a boarder with many 

of them. Characteristic of small centralised nations (like Holland 

or Belgium) is their ability to communicate with the different 

countries around them; often being poly-lingual. Buchannan 

(2000) talks about the ability of design as a new 'liberal arts'^ 

that can not only communicate with the other disciplines but 

also has the ability to Integrate; allowing Designers to travel 

through other disciplines picking up Ideas and integrating 

them into the fabric of the design nation. This mobility Is also 

aided by design's epistemology; the most common world view 

In the design nation Is constructivism and allows the Designer 

as Tourist to more easily travel through a multitude of nations 

being able to understand the cultures derived from both the 

relativist and objectivist world views. The allegory of Designer 

as Tourist is based on this mobile ability of the Designer to 

travel widely In the Un-Natural World as a Tourist. 

The Tourist: 

When we think of being a Tourist we think of getting away, 

of taking time away from the incessant deadlines of our 

everyday activities, of taking our time and investing in

wellbeing. It is about going somewhere else and exploring 

the similarities and differences that exist there; about finding 

new perspectives and universal understandings. For this 

allegory Tourism is about the Journey; a nodon of discovery 

achieved by immersing oneself in both the process and the 

destinations. If the Journey is a fundamental part of Tourism 

then some Tounsts are more successful at it than others. 

This allegory uses a numberof popular perceptions of Tounsts, 

Judgments formed by people who have travelled themselves 

or live in a tounst precinct, who form observations of the 

Tounsts around them, including judgments on who is good 

or bad at being a Tourist and common concepts of what 

makes an ugly Tounst. The optimum type of Tourist is one 

that is good at being a Tourist; if Tourism is about the Journey 

then the 'Good Tounst' is one who engages In the process of 

travel and immerses themselves in the destination. The 'Bad 

Tourist' in contrast is one that Is less willing to engage in the 

process of travel and is disinclined to immerse themselves 

in the destination, preferring to stay inside the luxury resort 

than venturing into the local district, hence they could be 

considered as those who are bad (or ineffecrive) at being 

a Tourist. The 'Ugly Tourist' Is a popular term often used by 

travellers and locals to describe the culturally insensirive 

Touristwho is unwilling orunableto immerse themselves in the 

nuances ofthe desrination, 'any person who shows ignorance, 

arrogance, and disrespect for another culture while travelling 

or living abroad'(Lee, 2003). They are characterised as being 

loud and obnoxious, and many travellers fear turning into the 

Ugly Tourist. In this allegory these analogies are applied to the 

Designer asTourist. 

The Designer: 

The Designer includes the practitioner, academic, researcher 

and student (industrial, graphical, architectural, and so 

on). The Designer enters into the Un-Natural World when 

researching. Although, as Glanville and Downton suggest, 

design as an acrivity can be seen as a kind of research such 

that the Designer as Tourist accesses the Un-Natural World as 

part ofthe design process; when researching, conceptualising 

and developing their designs, in order to access information 

and ideas that they then translate Into new designs. One 

could see these visits as Journeys through exotic destinations 

as a Tourist, so here i will explorethe norion ofthe Designer as 

Tourist in the Un-Natural Worid. 

The Designer like theTourist is seeking wellbeing. According to 

Manzini and Jegou 'the Idea of well-being is a social construct: 

it takes shape over rime according to various factors'(2003:39) 

dependent on what Is valued as facilitating and maintaining 

a positive state of being in the view of a parricular time and 

place. In this context the aim of the Designer Is to maintain a 

habitable world 'a worid in which human beings not merely 

survive but also express and expand their cultural and 

spiritual possibiliries' (Manzini 1992:220) and thus crearing 

wellbeing for its inhabitants. Entering the Un-Natural World 

is a time for Designers to Journey through the conceptual, 

accessing different disciplines In order to compile new plans 

for designing an inhabitable wodd. 

Designers include this tourisric quality of research within their 

design process in as many different ways as there are different 

types of Tourists. Some design professionals research only 

briefly (like a weekend away) others such as design researchers 

spend most of their rime travelling and there are many 

variarions in between. Like the Good, Bad and Ugly Tourist, 

some design uses research effecrively, others are ineffective, 

and others still enter into research without considering the 

cultural implications. 

When in the Un-Natural World the Designer as Tourist is able 

to travel abroad through many different disciplines. Equipped 

with a constructivist view the designer believes In both the 

objectivist's actual reality and the relarivist's subjective or 

socially constructed reality to form a norion that combines the 

views into the simultaneously objecrive and subjective; that is 

to say there may be real things out their to be discovered and 

understood but we also socially construct our understanding 

of them. With this view the Designer as Tourist is able to 

easily cross intellectual boarders, accessing a vast variety of 

perspectives from many different disciplines (from objectivlst 

disciplines in the Sciences to Relarivist disciplines in the 

humaniries) and Is able to construct an integrated approach 

to their travel plans. In this way the effective design researcher 

has great potential in helping to integrate the Un-Natural 

World and designing a guide book to the interconnected 

network of theory that makes up this world.

The Designer as Tourist: 

Entering into the Un-Natural Worid the Designer as Tourist 

embarks on an exciting Journey of discovery through the 

diverse array of perspectives that make up this world. For the 

Designer as Tourist it Is a time to 'take time' (Manzini 2000:13} 

to Invest in the generation of wellbeing. To explore; to look 

and notice the new, different and similar, making notions more 

tangible about what Is already good, what could be better, new 

ways of doing things, new contexts and understandings to 

improve quality of life and an Increased sense of wellbeing. 

The Designer as Tourist can take many different forms, from 

the Good the Bad and the Ugly." Often the label of'Tourist'is 

used to suggest being part of a superficial mass movement for 

those content with the packaged experience, however these 

are the worst characteristics of tourism, described by Rapport 

and Overing as: 

A packaged form of experience in which passivity 

prevailsandcontactwiththealien andthe real isavoided 

or prevented. Here Is a manufactured, emasculated 

travel, made safe by commercialism. Indifferent to local 

social reality,'suntanned destroyers of culture'scavenge 

the earth Intent on new pleasures, content to practise 

conspicuous consumption (2000:353-354). 

This stereotype of superficiality Is a notion that Is very similar 

to the stereotype In the design world ofthe style obsessed 

Deslgner'(Frayling 1993:3). Rapportand Overing's description, 

popularly defined as the Ugly Tourist, in this case acts as a 

warning against a similar Ugly Designer as Tourist. Consider 

a Designer as Tourist perhaps situated in an R&D^ position 

supported by a concept of commondification that focuses 

on the maximisation of consumption, with disregard for 'local 

social reality' and culture, seeing the world as a resource to be 

consumed. I cannotseeany wellbeing generated from the Ugly 

Designer as Tourist, neither for the Designer as Tourist who 

speeds through their trip following the tourist trails, ticking 

off sights to beseen, nor for the host culture being consumed, 

both left exhausted from the experience.^ The Ugly Designer 

as Tourist can be seen as seeking a 'product-based wellbeing' 

(Manzinl2002:141). It Isa notion of wellbeing that commodifies 

and consumes; a sense that the more products consumed the 

more wellbeing gained, a wellbeing 'of materialising complex 

services'and 'democratising access to them, producing them 

In increasing quantities at decreasing prices', of'individually 

possessing, showing off and consuming the products' with 

the freedom 'of choosing between different options and a 

personalised set of products'. In this idea of wellbeing 'life 

choices tend to be considered as choices among marketable 

goods and that, as a consequence, freedom of choosing as 

coincident with the freedom of buying' (Manzini 2002:141). 

This consuming Tourist exploits the local resources for their 

own means without regard for the Integrity of local cultures, 

creating a self-centred sense of wellbeing from having. 

It could be considered that what differentiates the Good from 

the Ugly Designer as Tourist is time, inclination, and support. 

The Good Designer as Tourist is what Manzini terms the 'off 

line designer'(2000:13) a design researcher who exists within a 

pocket In the momentum of productivity that is 'characterised 

by a different, slower tİming'(14).Thİs Designer as Tourist has 

the inclination to explore widely, not just within the safety of 

similarity but Is adventurous enough to immerse themselves 

in the differences in order to find new ways and means. 

Observing; with the use of experience, emotion, empathy 

and ethnography, 'characterised by their intent to provide a 

deep understanding of people through shared experience' 

(Hanlngton 2000:66). Engaging with the Un-Natural World 

using multiple, flexible and creative approaches. Following 

this description; the Good Designer as Tourist would have an 

explorative, inquisitive and creative mind willing to immerse 

themselves in alien languages and cultures to find out 

something essential and universal. They would actively strive 

to make connections between the entitles that exist within 

this Un-Natural World in order to find a sense of integrated 

wholeness. This intent to construct connections could be 

said to come from an Inclination to explore, not sameness, 

but the complex notion of similarity in difference. The third 

prerequisite for the Good Designer as Tourist is support, the 

leisure money to go away, the time to have away or 'off-line' 

and a belief in the benefits. The Designer as Tourist is endowed 

with the ability to see the sparkle of light off the ripples on the 

water and the gargoyles on the top of the GPO'. They are able 

to see things that the locals busily going about their everyday 

miss. This gives the benefits of Insight and the 'time off-line' 

aides in a refreshment and renewal that adds to wellbeing. The

Good Designer as Tourist gains a 'context-based-wellbeing' 

(Manzini 2002:145). This is a wellbeing that does not focus on 

consumption but on the context of life;'qualities of culture and 

spirit' (Manzini & Jegou 2003:47), 'common a5sets''^(48) and 

'contemplative time'^ (49). It Is a wellbeing that comes from a 

greater sense of belonging, from the time to make connections 

and form unified resources. The Designer as Tourist seeking 

context, immerses themselves In the local culture, makes 

connections and discerns the universal and the local. 

In contrast a Bad DesignerasTounst is one that would rather be 

at home, who at best looks for a home away from home. They 

are not interested in the new or the different and simply look 

for the same experience they have in their everyday. Staying 

at large hotels or resorts serviced by people from their own 

culture gives them an expenence they expect and are used to. 

The Bad Designer as Tourist seeks an 'access-based wellbeing' 

(Manzini 2002:142).These Designers asTounstsare turning their 

attention away from the consumption of products towards 

the consumption of experiences where the consideration of 

an immersion in local culture does not enter Into their plans. 

These Designers as Tounsts seek a wellbeing constructed out 

of an ease and frequency of service. They experience not a 

sense of place but a sense of experience, the quality of which is 

judged against the similarity to what they are used to: 

Quality of life tends to be related to the quantity and 

quality of services and expenences which it is possible 

to have access to (and, consequently, a new idea of 

freedom intended as freedom of access) (Manzini 

2002:141). 

Staying within their own language, traditions, culture and 

worid view this kind of Tourist is lulled into a sense of security 

and pampered by the excess of services available without ever 

leaving their hotel room or expenencing the new and different. 

This Designer asTourist is drawn to sameness'° and their Journey 

Is dnven by'superficial,'photogenic'styling'" (Jones 1990:17) 

There are other distinctions that could be made between 

different Designers as Tounsts; length of dme, distance 

from home and purpose of travel. The purposes of different 

Designers as Tounsts could be categorised by Frayling's three 

distinctions;'for','of'and'as'.^^ Forthis allegory these distinctions 

could be considered as Tounsm for being; those travelling 

to the beach for a tan. Tourism of being; those travelling to 

Europe to be part of a family reunion and Tourism as being; 

those travelling the world as an exploration of self and others. 

The first is primarily practical, the second is primanly reflective, 

and the third is an immersion In process. Each of the three 

purposes for travel have an Interested In wellbeing and could 

be Good, Bad or Ugly. All three purposes for travel are part of 

the explorative activity ofthe Designer asTourist (i.e. research) 

and can be seen as part of the design process 'a (restricted) 

design act' (Glanville 1999:81). 

There are also characterisric similariries that connect the 

different forms of Designers as Tourists. For all Designers as 

Tourists, the act of being a Tourist is intimately connected to the 

personal identity ofthe Designer and touring is an integral part 

of being a Designer; of engaging in the design process. Unlike 

other disciplines wherethe researcher is a benign observer,for 

the Designer as Tourist, the identity of the Designer is always 

evident In the paths we choose and the plans we make. The 

Designer as Tourist constructs their own travel plans, where 

other disciplines may have set procedures, the Designer as 

Tourist is free to explore and find their own route.The Designer 

asTourist utilises intuitive processes to find their way, sampling 

cultures, using different languages and tradirions, finding 

multiple routes set out by other cultures and ones created 

from their own. The Designer as Tourist's Journey is not driven 

so much by purpose but by process, such that even though we 

may start with a quesrion the process ofthe Journey ultimately 

determines the purpose for the travel. 

The Journey: 

The first thing a Designer as Tourist needs to travel into the 

Un-Natural World is a ricket, in the form of a quesrion. As the 

Journey progresses more queries emerge and act as tickets 

to new routes through the Un-Natural Wodd. Set with the 

quesrion the voyage begins. Contemporary modes of travel 

such as the internet, like the jet aircraft, have opened up the Un- 

Natural World to the Designer as Tourist (and all researchers) 

making touring a more viable endeavour. Old fashioned 

modes, like the ocean cruiser or the automobile, are still 

popular to the Designer as Tourist and may include artefacts 

such as libraries of books and journals, museums of objects

or galleries of paintings. The modern versions of transport, 

by far the most popular, have increased the speed and ease 

of travel; the Internet of digital journal and e-newsletters, 

rapidly opening up the Un-Natural World for the Designer as 

Tourist. We hop on the internet, set with our question, type 

in our ticket of key search words, and are transported to our 

destination, another discipline, another perspective. The Un- 

Natural World spreads out before us, searching through the 

options of venues to explore. The Designer as Tourist may, for 

example, choose the route to the French feminist philosopher 

Luce Irigaray, exploring different papers finally arriving at 

one entitled To Speak is Never Neutral, and there the Journey 

begins. On reflecting upon this piece by Irigaray, the Designer 

asTourist may become aware ofthe role their identity plays in 

their Journey. 

Concepts within Irigaray's work'^ highlight the notion that 

the Designer as Tourist is not 'neutral', they say I, you, we, 

'I feel thus. I see such and such a thing. I want or I can do a 

thing, I affirm that' (Irigaray 2002:2}. The Tourist's identity in 

the natural wodd (who they are in the realm of the everyday) 

and Un-Natural World (their identity when theorising or 

conceptualising) are one and allows fortheir personal identity 

to characterise their Journey. The rhythm with which the 

Designer as Tourist moves through the Un-Natural World is 

derived from their identity and it is this personalised rhythm 

that helps determine their momentum and direction through 

the landscape. This sense of personal Identity allows the 

Designer as Tourist to converse openly within the discourse, 

bringing a thoroughly human quality and unique perspective 

to the process. These conversations, between the Designer 

as Tourist and the discourse ofthe Un-Natural World, are an 

iterative process cycling through observation, interpretation, 

action and back again: 

Of continuous modification and unification, the 

inclusion of more and more in a coherent whole; 

occasional re-start, extension, and revolution; the 

increase in range and of simplification ("Less Is more"). 

From our (re)new(ed) understanding, we suggest how 

experiment allows us to test our simplification through 

an interaction in which both we and the personal reality 

we make for ourselves find confirmation, extension, 

and modification (and renewal) (Glanville 1999:87). 

In this circular process the Designer as Tourist explores 

the similarities and differences to conceive an overall 

understanding, changing plans to take a different route to a 

differenttheoretical paper,finding the paththattakes usfurther 

afield to a different discipline and the one that takes us directly 

to the sight of a particular article, testing our understanding 

by engaging with the local culture, communicating with 

researchers from different disciplines, coming away with a 

better understanding of who we are and how we perceive the 

world as Designers and as a modern society. 

In order for the Designer as Tourist to find their way to an 

Integrated and enriched understanding, their Journey will 

follow many different paths. Sometimes following paths set 

out by other disciplines such as the ethnographic methods 

from anthropology or the path of measured experiments from 

science or survey from marketing. Sometimes the Designer as 

Tourist creates their own paths, immersed In context, emotion 

and creativity (Hanlngton 2000). Sometimes the Designer 

as Tourist seeks out routes to special sights within the Un- 

Natural Wodd which are exemplars of the local culture. The 

Designer asTourist explores the extent and nature ofthe site, 

reflecting on and discussing its qualities to gain a glimpse 

into the inner workings of the culture and traditions of the 

location (Downton 2004:19-20). The Good Designer as Tourist 

is able to not only travel the well established Tourist paths but 

also explore the less known routes in order to find their own 

unique perspective ofthe Un-Natural World. 

During the Journey through the Un-Natural World the 

Designer as Tourist collects souvenirs along the way; citations, 

references, bibliographic entries, concepts and quotes. They 

are the mementoes of discoveries and experiences; they 

remind us of our trip and are a traditional way of validating our 

Journey on returning home. When recounting our travel tales 

the souvenirs help to solidify our ideas into new perspectives 

and directions, such as a paper on new approaches to design 

or creating plans for a new piece ofdesign. 

Returning Home: 

On returning home from the Un-Natural World the Designer 

as Tourist brings with them the experiences and discoveries 

of their Journey; back to the natural world and enacted in the

artificial world. To fill in a kind of conceptual solar system, if 

the theoretical plane is the Un-Natural World there would also 

be two other worlds associated with it; the natural wodd of 

which we are physically part and in which we live our everyday 

and the artificial world created by exerting our will on nature 

to form the man-made. These three wodds ofthe Un-Natural, 

natural and artificial form a kind of three bodied problem. We 

know {thanks to Newton) what will happen in a relationship 

between two bodies, however, adding one more throws the 

equation into chaos {in the mathematical sense ofthe term). 

Three bodied problems are unpredictable (Gnbbin 2004:14- 

17) and it is within this notion that the dancing with disorder 

becomes apparent. The Designer as Tourist on returning 

home goes about dealing with the complexities inherent In 

how these three worlds interact and creates designs that help 

to bind the three wodds together; the Designer develops the 

plans for artefacts that helps us act In and conceptualise our 

natural wodd. 

The Designer as Tourist on returning home has the potential 

to integrate their understanding of the Un-Natural World into 

a dynamic travel story that talks of similarity in difference and 

extracts'regenerative solutions'''' {Manzini 2002:145) that help 

repair the connections throughout the Un-Natural, artificial 

and natural wodds. The prospect of gaining an increased 

understanding of diversity and an ability to reassess the 

scaffolding of design has the possibility of creating designs for 

an artificial world that will sustain habitability ofthe natural 

world and facilitate wellbeing for our existence in it. Hence, 

put into practice for the everyday the Designer as Tourist 

contributes to an environment that is healthy, nice fnendly and 

connected with clean air and water, a pleasant surrounding, 

lively neighbourhood community and a strong connection to 

the rest ofthe wodd {Manzini & Jegou 2003). The hope is that 

this more holistic view could be more able to deal with the 

complexities ofthe contemporary wodd. 

There is a growing need to dance with the disorder of the 

three bodied problem in order to sustain a habitable wodd. 

Journeying through the Un-Natural World can help in the 

generation of designs for this purpose. The design researcher 

as the fulltime Designer as Tounst has the potential to help 

in this process by fulfilling a role of tounst guide helping to 

direct swift, effective and enriching travel. 

Conclusion: 

There is time and room in the contemporary wodd to be 

idealistic about the potential of design research. As Designers 

we have a part to play in how we think of, act upon and re 

fashion the wodd. We can choose the current trajectory which 

will leave us barren and isolated at best or we can choose a 

different future; a habitable re-connected wodd with a sense 

of wellbeing that can sustain us into many future scenarios to 

come. We can only do this by forming connections between all 

levels of life; having an ecological view not only of nature but 

of artefacts'^ and theory. Design research is in a good position 

to integrate the theoretical (Un-Natural) wodd: 

Design... could form a fundamental, common ground 

of intellectual endeavour and communication across 

the arts, sciences, and technology... an interdisciplinary 

study accessible to all (Cross 2001:54).'^ 

and there is a growing need to do so. 

Without integrative disciplines of understanding, 

communication, and action, there is littie hope of 

sensibly extending knowledge beyond the library or 

laboratory in order to serve the purpose of ennching 

human life (Buchanan 2000:4). 

The need is made ever more insistent by the complexities of 

contemporary issues. Looming disasters such as climate change, 

social crisis and the need for a sustainable future require an 

integrated approach. Design researcher asTourist, is in a good 

position to write the guide book for the ecology of the 'Un- 

Natural'. Such an endeavour could help reconnect discourse by 

dancing with disorder to repair fractures, rebuild connections 

and establish bridges forming an interconnected whole out of a 

diversity of parts. With this'ecology ofthe theoretical'perhaps as 

Cross suggests a communication between disciplines could be 

strengthened through the common ground of design. It seems 

logical that a combined effort is more effective than isolated 

instances of designing a discourse against disaster. 

Footnotes 

' Nietzsche uses 'eyes' in this extract to mean perspective 

seeing. 

^ Memetic comes from the word meme coined by Richard

Dawkins İn his book The Selfish Gene to suggest that human 

concepts evolve in a similar way as genes; popular concepts 

thrive and diversify where as unpopular ones die out. The 

term memetlc is used by Langrish In Darwinian Design: The 

Memetic Evolution of Design Ideas. 

^ Buchanan defines Liberal Arts as 'a discipline of thinking 

that may be shared to some degree by all men and women in 

their daily lives and is, in turn, mastered by a few people who 

practice the discipline with distinctive insight and sometimes 

advance it to new areas of innovative application' (2000:6). 

Good, Bad and Ugly are terms not intended as a value 

judgment but as reflecting popularly terms used to define 

different types of Tourists. Refer to the explanation underthe 

headings 'The Tourist'and 'The Designer'. 

^ Research and Development (R&D). 

The Ugly Designer as Tourist: by no means is this 

characterisation suggesting that all commercial enterprises 

conduct such design research, however, I have noticed some 

Instances where practices seem unwilling to Invest time, money 

or support for their Designers to pursue research because they 

do not see the value. Some practices, while trying to save time, 

end up wasting it by actively avoiding research. 

^General Post Office (GPO). The main Sydney post ofiîce in 

Martin Place has gargoyles on it, which after living in Sydney 

for many years I only noticed after returning from a trip 

overseas. Still in tourist mode looked at the city I grew up in 

with tourist eyes, I was amazed what I found. 

^Common assets: in previous papers Manzini uses the term 

'Common Goods'to refer to the same concept. Manzini and 

Jegou define this concept to mean 'tangible and Intangible 

systems which help create a context and Its particular quality, 

and which by their very nature belong to everybody'they give 

examples of'physical assets such as air and water, through 

social ones such as neighbourhood community or the civic 

sense of its citizens, to more complex ones such as landscape 

or urban public space or a sense of security' (2003:48). 

^ Contemplative time: Manzini and Jegou define this concept 

to mean 'time for 'doing nothing'... or alternatively time in 

which 'something Is done' but by choice slowly. Above all, this 

expression denotes intervals in time when the flow of targeted 

or purposeful action is voluntarily broken' (2003:49). 

'°Designersdrawn to samenessrthis concept comes from notions 

expressed in Jones'articleThe Dress ofThoughtand highlighted 

in the quote from Trimarchi 'we already have everything that's 

beautiful In the world and it's all the same'd 990:17). 

" Superficial, 'photogenic' styling: is from Jones article. The 

Dress ofThought, where he paraphrases an interview with 

Manzini (1990). 

In the paper Research in Art and Design, Frayling talks about 

'research for design','research of design'and'research through 

design'. Others such as Glanville in Researching Design and 

Designing Research change the 'through'to'as'.'Research as 

Design' seems to have a more definite meaning and is the 

reason why I use It in this context. 

'Îrigaray's notion ofthe researcher notbeing neutral comesfrom 

a discussion on scientists.This acts to emphasize the difference 

between disciplines and the extent to which the identities of 

the researcher is utilized within the research process, hence, 

highlighting the importance the design tradition gives to the 

role ofthe Designer's identity in the designs process. 

'••Regenerative Solutions: Manzini describes this concept as 

'systems of products and services which have to be endowed 

with high regenerative potential, i.e. that have to act as positive 

agents in a process of regeneration of the different qualities of 

the contexts' (2002:146). 

'^The 'ecology of the artificial' is a concept that Is explored 

in some detail by the Munich Charter and by its signatories 

including theorists such as Ezio Manzini (1992). 

'^This quote is from Designedy Ways of Knowing: Design 

Discipline Versus Design Science where Cross Is paraphrasing 

Herbert Simon and although the quote is talking about design 

science. Cross goes on to discuss how this integrative nature İs 

true for design in general. Bucannon supports this view in his 

paper Wicked Problems In DesignThinking (2000).

References 

BREMNER, C, 2005. Open Manifesto: An Open Letter to Design 

Practitioners, In: K. FINN, ed. Open Manifesto: Some Thoughts 

On Graphic Design, Sydney: The Manifesto Group 

BUCHANAN, R., 2000. Wicked Problems in Design Thinking. In: 

Margoiin, V. and Buchanan, R., The Idea of Design: A Design 

Issues Reader, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 3-20 

CROSS, N.,2001. Designeriy Ways ofKnowing: Design Discipline 

Versus Design Science, Design Issues, 17 (3), 49-55 

CROTTY, M., T 998. The Foundations of Social Research; 

Meaning and Perspecrive in the Research Process, Sydney: 

Allen and Unwin 

DAWKINS, R., 1976.The Selfish Gene, Oxford: Oxford University 

Press 

DELEUZE, G. and GUATTARI, F., 1987. Thousand Plateaus: 

Capitalism and Schizophrenia Vol. 2, Minnesota; University of 

Minnesota Press, 1-13 

DOWNTON, P., 2004. Design Research, Melbourne: RMIT Press 

FRAYLING, C, 1993. Research in Art and Design, Royal College 

of Art Research Papers Series, 1 (1), 1-5 

GLANVILLE, R., 1999. Researching Design and Designing 

Research, Design Issues, 15{2) 80-91 

GRIBBIN, J., 2004. Deep Simplicity: Chaos, Complexity and the 

Emergence of Life, London: Penguin 

HANINGTON, B.M., 2000. Innovation and Method in Design 

Research. Proceedings of the Poiitecnico di Milano Conference 

{May 18-20, 2000), Milano: Poiitecnico di Milano, 64-69 

IRIGARAY L., 1985. Is Science Sexed? Cultural Critique, 2 

(Autumn), 73-88 

IRIGARAY, L, 2002. To Speak is Never Neutral, London: 

Continuum 

JONES M., 1990.The Dress ofThought, Design, (September),16- 

19. 

LANGRISH J.Z.,2004.DarvyinianDeslgn;The Memetic Evolurion 

of Design Ideas, Design Issues, 20(4), 4-19. 

LEE D., 2003.The UglyTourist, ln:Things Asian: Experience Asia 

Through the Eyes of Travellers, http://wvyv^.thingsasian.com/ 

stories-photos/2533 

MANZINI, E., 1992. Prometheus ofthe Everyday; The Ecology of 

the Artificial and the Designer's Responsibility, Design Issues, 

9(1), 5-20 

MANZINI, E, 2000. Design Research: Reasons and Possibilities; 

The Producrion of Design Know/ledge taking time in the age of 

real-rime. Proceedings ofthe Poiitecnico di Milano Conference 

(May 18-20, 2000), Milano: Poiitecnico di Milano, 13-15 

MANZINI, E., 2002. Context-Based Wellbeing and the Concept 

of Regenerarive Solution: A conceptual framevôrkfor scenario 

building and sustainable solutions development. Journal of 

Sustainable Product Design, 2 (3-4), 141 -148 

MANZINI, E. and JEGOU, F, 2003. Sustainable Everyday: 

Scenarios of Urban Life, Milan: EdIzionI Ambiente 

NIETZSCHE, F., 1887. On the Genealogy of Morals. In: Nehamas, 

A., 1985. Nietzsche, Life as Literature, Cambridge:Harvard 

University Press, 96 

QUINE, W. V.O., 1951.Two Dogmas of Empiricism, Philosophical 

Review, 60 (20-43); reprinted in 1953. From a Logical Point of 

View. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 

RAPPORT, N. and OVERING, J., 2000. Social and Cultural 

Anthropology The Key Concepts, London: Routledge 

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Pattern in the Universe, London: Phoenix

D E V I S I N G T H E P L D T : C D M M U N I G ATI N G D E S I G N E R S T H I N K I N G T H R O U G H 

S T O R Y T E L L I N G 

Dr Louise Valentine 

University of Dundee, Dundee, Scodand 

t.valentine@dundee.ac.u!< 

Abstract 

The way practice-centred design researchers use language to 

communicate their creative practice in an academic context is 

a problem. In current design research writing, the voice ofthe 

practitioner is lost because the relation between thinking and 

making is not adequately discussed and argued. 

This paper shares the results of a small qualitative study aiming 

to develop an approach to critical writing about designing that 

draws upon individual thinking practices (i.e. tools, techniques 

and methods for nurturing individual creativity). Discussion 

attends to the challenges facing the design researcher when 

communicating the rhetorical relation between personal, 

subjectiveexperiencesandobjectivecommunicationof concepts, 

strategies and operational decisions in design thinking. 

In the study, storytelling is used as the means of developing 

a style of writing that bridges academic writing and visual 

research; creative thinking and research language; individual 

creativity and collective communication. As such, the paper 

asks if the method of storytelling is an effective, efficient and 

valuable method for communicating practice-centred research 

to a diverse audlence.Th rough analysis of stories and evaluation 

of workshop discourses, the paper closes by articulating a series 

of recommendations for developing a strategy for practice- 

centred design researchers to communicate their thinking 

through writing to diverse audiences. 

Introduction 

Design practitioners usually communicate their thoughts and 

Ideas through product design, as is evidenced in the work 

of, for example, graphic designers Paul Rand and Wally Olins, 

textile designer Junichi Aral and Reiko Sudo, fashion designers 

Hussein Chalayan and Zandra Rhodes, and industrial product 

designers Tom Kelly and Philip Starck. On the other hand, 

design researchers often have to communicate in written form. 

Those who have come from practice and are now engaged In 

research often find it difficultto articulate the creative thinking 

processes (i.e. conception & planning, inspiration generation, 

imaginative development and problem-finding processes) 

through critical writing. 

Thomas Rasmussen, of the Danish Design School (2005) has 

noted that some research writing in design Is often "either 

sympathetic descriptions of Interesting subjects - worthy of 

scientific investigation-ordocumentations of successful design 

processes." It is primarily not, he has argued, 'research writing'. 

David Duding, Professor of Design, Middlesex University, 

has also raised the issue of 'quality' in research wnting. As a 

consequence of reviewing abstracts and papers for inclusion 

in an international conference, he noted during the Design 

Research Society Symposium, 2005, (15 July, London), 

"[Ajbout one third [of submissions] are rejected 

because they are simply not research. They are 

sometimes practice with no research context, or a 

survey with no conclusions, or occasionally just a rant 

about something held passionately. Another third are 

lost between accepting the abstracts and reviewing 

the papers. Either the effort of actually writing is too 

much, or reviewers find that the aspirations expressed 

in the abstract are not met in the reality". 

Rust, 2001; Rust and Robertson, 2005; Neidderer, Biggs and 

Ferns, 2006 have all provided guidelines on how written 

communication could be improved.

Mike Press, Rachel Cooper, Nigel Cross and Steven Heller have 

ali exemplified good research v^'riting relating to practice. 

Nevertheless, this writing tends to focus on the product of 

thought ratherthan onthe individual's process and experience. 

Thefocus is on design as a problem-solving activity. In contrast, 

the thinking and hence the writings by practitioners tends 

to be directed towards problem finding (Buchanan, 1995). 

Although there have been 'calls' by many design theorists in 

recent years for designers to resolve this communication issue 

(Krippendorf, 1998; Margolin, 1998; Buchanan, 2005; Biggs, 

2005; Cooper, 2005), the challenge remains. 

The problem Is being tackled at Duncan of Jordanstone College 

ofArtand Design, University of Dundee. Forexample,inthe work 

of Wendy Gunn in her Arts and Humanities Research Council 

funded project'Learning is Understanding in Practice' (Gunn, 

2005), and by Gavin Renwick in his research on 'Postcolonial 

Aesthetics'. Here he uses stories and storytelling as a means 

of capturing, communicating and incorporating indigenous 

knowledge into designs for new Inuit communities (Renwick, 

2003). Donna Leishman too, in an ongoing investigation into 

the interplay between internet based digital narrative, image 

and interaction, also uses storytelling as a fundamental tenet 

of her work (Leishman, 2004). In the author's doctoral thesis, 

'The Activity of Rhetoric within the Process of a Designers 

Thinking' (Valentine, 2004), storytelling was the method of 

integration. The story element took the form of six prefaces 

where each preface introduced a different discourse. The 

purpose of each preface was to introduce and acknowledge 

previous experiences (i.e. events, comments, situations), 

which had influenced the author's thinking and had therefore 

affected her decision-making. The use of serendipity, chance 

and/or the ability to create and use opportunities within 

the research framework, were acknowledged. Inspirational 

thinkers who had influenced the author's thinking were also 

highlighted. The prefaces therefore communicated the values 

held by the researcher during the design research. They were 

contextual statements. 

This paper alms to provide insight into how one small group 

of practice-centred design researchers used creative writing 

and storytelling to extend and communicate the meaning 

embedded In an artefact, (where artefact is process, product 

and/or experience). 

Storytelling 

In this exploratory study, storytelling was the means of 

developing a style of writing that would bridge academic 

writing and visual research; creative thinking and research 

language; individual creativity and collective communication. 

It was a way of nurturing a discourse about the artefact, 

investigating new ways of presenting the creation of an 

artefact as research, and looking at the relationship between 

text, image and artefact In practice-centred design research. 

Stories are an effective means of communication and are one 

of the oldest forms of conveying information. They can be, for 

example, entertaining, enlightening and explanatory. People 

respond to stories; they want to know what happens next: they 

are innately curious. Stories, discourse and dialogue are also 

recognized asa means of managing tacit knowledge (Alee, 2003; 

Gamble & Blackwell, 2001;Tiwana, 2000; Valentine, 2004). 

Stories usually follow what happens to one or more characters. 

The character needs introducing. The context or situation 

needs setting up. If this is done successfully, the reader will 

want to know what happens to the character and what the 

character does. There is an interest and a relevance to the 

content of the story. In many ways this mimics the act of 

designing where there Is an initial searching for characters, 

development of understanding of their situation, mapping 

out of the plot, appreciation of the various points of conflict, 

linking ofthe sub-plots and communication ofthe separate 

acts within the overall performance. The strength of using 

storytelling in the research context is that if the designer is 

sufficiently supported, the reader wiil want to know how the 

story and deeds unfold, and the generic significance of the 

ways of working and the system of thinking through making. 

Rust and Robertson (2005) in their work on the concept of 

the Research Exhibition considered the issue of narrative 

when communicating creative practice in a research context. 

They posit a combination of text and image as a suitable 

construct for narrative, advocating 'clarity, appropriateness 

and relevance' of communication when supporting the 

audience's Interpretation. The role of narrative, including the 

relationship between text and image where the ambiguous 

space in between both is considered, must help the viewer to 

'understand and evaluate the research'.

İt is often suggested thatthe complexity involved in designing 

actually defies description due to its richness, and that verbal 

language holds little to actually enhance such a process. In 

this study, the issue of complexity was fully acknowledged 

when communicating through storytelling, the journey or 

experience of working with the imagination. This was one 

reason why we agreed a more creative and complex narrative 

structure was required when using the written word to 

communicate the open-ended process of designing, and the 

experience of being a designer. 

Research Method 

A pilot study vâs conducted using a group of five designers, 

all of whom were involved In practice-centred research. They 

came from the disciplines of pnnted textile, jewellery and 

participatory design (and were Marlene Ivey, Hazel White, 

Frances Stevenson, Jane Keith and Louise Valentine}. 

Creative v/riting was chosen as it isa method of communication 

encouraging exploration, analyses and articulation of creative 

thinking. It helps to illuminate it. Storytelling, was considered to 

be an appropnate medium to weave together different strands 

of designers thought, influence, constraints and challenges, 

planning, development, production and reception. As Kirby 

(1991:3} explains, "...narratives articulate not just isolated acts 

but whole sequences of events or episodes, thereby placing 

particular events within a framing context or history." 

To ensure each that participant had sufficient knowledge and 

understanding of storytelling a creative writing workshop was 

organized. An external consultant who specializes in storytelling 

and narrative facilitated the workshop. This event provided 

a forum for discussion, encouraged the group to increase the 

quantity of their reading and to read unfamiliar genres of text. 

Participants werealso asked to collectarangeof journal articles, 

academic papers and/or examples of text that provoked them 

- be it positive or negative provocation. This was to facilitate 

the shanng of opinion and ideas, to generate their own stones 

and to strengthen the bond of friendship between them. 

The parricipants worked in pairs whereby each member ofthe 

group interviewed a fellow parricipant, using a common set of 

open-ended questions relating to the self, and the process of 

creating and making a piece of visual work. The questions were 

a starting point from which to begin the process of devising a 

plot, identifying the central characters and creating a story. 

Once the stories were written, a second, final workshop 

was organised to allow the group to reflect on three issues. 

Firstly, the writings about their individual thinking process 

(created by other participant), secondly, on their writings of 

other designers, and finally, on the methodology used within 

the study. A telling ofthe stones was used to facilitate these 

discourses. The main Issues Identified were: planning, co 

ordination, collegiate framework, time and editing. 

Discussion 

The five participants selected their partner by picking a name 

'out of a hat'. They then proceeded to meet. Interview and 

write their partner's story over a three-month penod on the 

following themes, 'Listen to the Pattern' (by Hazel White), 

'Biting Revelations' (by Madene Ivey), 'Introducing Francis 

Bacon to Francis Bacon' (by Frances Stevenson),'Buddies'and 

'Moments inTime'(by Louise Valentine, 2006). 

The stories In length ranged from 800 - 1500 words, they 

provided insight into the realities of learning to write a story 

and the expenence of being a designer. For example, In 'Listen 

to the Pattern', White writes a story of Frances Stevenson's 

imagination and aspiration of creating textiles for the future: 

"Imagine a fabnc, which when touched, crashes like 

the waves which decorate the cloth's surface, imagine 

tracing a finger along an undulating line and heanng 

a scale nse and fall. Frances Stevenson, dreams of 

'patterning'cloth with sound. 

In Stevenson's texriles, naturally occurring forms and 

rhythms inform a creative process, which takes pigment 

and pattern and configures them into an emorional 

celebration of life. This process results in vibrant works 

on paper, which become part of rhythmical, iterative 

process as they are worked and reworked, considering 

colour, composition and tone, before coming to life as 

sonic cloth".

In this part of the story, White gives insight into Stevenson's 

conception and planning of ideas for new work and in doing 

so allows the reader's imagination to engage in the act of 

dreaming, visioning. This is achieved through inclusion of the 

innovation of sonic cloth, in the description of how Stevenson 

is inspired by nature, and how the emotion engendered by 

nature is interpreted and translated Into textile design. This 

aspect ofthe story does not deny the integral characters of 

subjectivity and emotion and In doing so, nurtures an intimacy 

between the reader and Stevenson's ideas. 

In 'Moments of Time', Valentine writes, 

"Listening to private, personal desires and passions can 

reveal who we are, who we have become and who we 

would like to be. One of Hazel's aspirations in life is to 

travel. Korea, Australia, NewYork, Barcelona and Shetland 

are places, spaces and cultures, which are rich in intrigue 

for her. She views travelling as a way of exploring what 

it means to be Hazel White at a new moment In time. It 

offers two pathways: the independent traveller where 

adventure and personal experience is primary, and the 

co-dependant traveller where shared experiences are the 

essence. Irrespective of which pathway is embarked upon, 

the experienceof travelling to other countries or new parts 

of one's home country ultimately adds to the repertoire of 

visual, emotional and linguistic references, which she can 

draw upon when engaged In creative thinking." 

Valentine captures qualities of White's character and explains 

the significance of'travelling'In terms of developing a visual 

and cultural knowledge bank, from which tacit knowledge 

can be accessed. On one level, this aspect of the story reads 

as a piece of journalistic text and on another, a theoretical 

construct. It implicitly informs the reader of Hazel's approach 

to one aspect of practice, the process of'feeding the mind'and 

how travelling is an important way of doing this. The difficulty 

with this piece of Valentine's writing is that on its own, it 

would not offer the viewer sufficient support when looking at 

White's artefacts. A willingness to allow the personal to inform 

the narrative is a necessary condition for the storytelling 

approach to work. But injecting the 'personal' is difficult 

when communicating someone else's practice as a subjective 

interpretation of a subjective topic results. 

One of the groups' concerns perhaps fears, lay with their 

perception of what they'ought'to be doing as narrators and what 

would consitute a narrative: what was the'right'way to approach 

developing a tool for supporting written communication of 

practice-centred design research? How would our work (method) 

be compared with other research writing? 

Despite these anxieties, we were also aware that 'academic 

convention' for practiced centred research in the visual 

disciplines (for example, design, art and drama) remains a 

'work in progress' - a new form of research requiring further 

investigation: a practice heavily supportive of uncertain 

situations, where ambiguity is a fundamental tenet ofthe act, 

and subjectivity or tacit knowledge a necessary characteristic. 

The initial workshop conversations, for example, ranged from 

intense criticism ofthe dry, impersonal academic approach of 

much research writing, to also favouring the objectivity and 

evidential substantiation found in much ofthe same writings. 

The participants criticised their own prior efforts for side 

stepping the issue and for failing to contribute to the ongoing 

discourse. The conversations also reflected on the knowledge 

and experience gained from attending and participating 

in design research conferences between 1995-2005. (The 

Doctoral Education in Design conferences, Ohio, 1998 and 

Arizona, 2005; the European Academy of Design conferences 

in 2001, 2003 and 2005, and the Design Research Society 

conferences, specifically Common Ground, 2002). In doing 

so, the issue of design research writings in practice-centred 

investigations were considered. 

Evaluation 

Quality writing requires quality time and care to be given to 

the task. The participants in this study were British practice- 

centred design researchers employed on a mixture of 

part-time and full-time contracts by the respective Higher 

Educational Institution. Irrespective of their contract type, 

they were committed to a remit that, more often than 

not, required them to juggle heavy teaching and learning, 

administration, research and/or professional practice on a 

weekly basis. Subsequently, the amount of time invested in 

creating each story was variable, ranging from two to seven 

days. Participants rarely devoted consecutive days to the task.

The stories were created over a thee-month period. This was 

partly due to external academic commitments and the level 

of intense concentrarion that inherently comes with learning 

a new skill. 

Editing of the stories took up a significant proportion of each 

parricipant's total time and clearly contributes to quality 

wriring. Nevertheless it was agreed that an insufficient 

amount of rime had been invested in this part ofthe process. 

The main concern had been to complete a story. The volume 

of words was not an indicator ofthe amount of rime given to 

the task, nor to the success of a story (in relation to the study 

objectives}. Ivey, for example, commented on the significance 

of editing a new form of narrative, noting that, 

"Although our research culture is configured to give us 

rime and opportunity to develop our research wriring 

skills, i realise that we have no provision that might 

allow us to reflect/build a writing style for the discipline. 

If'design has it's own way of doing things'[as inrimated 

at Wonderground, 2006], might it not also be distinctive 

in communlcaring what it does?" 

The participants agreed that the editing phase of storytelling, 

which involves appraisal, cririque and refinement, required a 

greater Investment. Time had permitted the creation of a story 

with a beginning, middle and end, but had not been followed 

by the crucial process of ediring. The parricipants agreed that 

the process of editing was an iterative process that opened-up 

new ideas as well as closing others down, it was seen as open- 

ended and therefore did not have an absolute point of'closure'. 

Further development ofthe ediring phase offered a way of 

achieving 'creative rigour' and of communlcaring a crirical 

narrative that supported the designer's creative thinking. 

It was clear to all parricipants that 'thinking' for research 

precedes 'writing', and writing type or style Is the outcome of 

research 'type', it was also understood that the act of'reading' 

for research precedes 'thinking' which precedes 'wriring'. As 

such, the study considered reading as a principal determinant 

ofthequalityofwriring.Asmalldossierof reading material was 

collected as a result of this but what was most significant was 

the collegiate nature ofthe group. In many ways the product 

or outcome ofthe dossier task was secondary and the process 

and experience primary. As Stevenson expressed:"working as 

a team and discussing problems / difficulties openly, helped 

to alleviate anxiety when wriring". Sharing knowledge and 

experience of different writing styles and genres of writing 

was cited as a valuable means of building trust between the 

group in a short space of time. 

The high level of commitment and enthusiasm given by 

every member ofthe group and that the level of achievement 

experienced was an agreed feature of the work. Progress was 

individual and therefore communicated In various ways. Each 

participant agreed the study had facilitated a more relaxed 

and confident approach to research writing. It provided a 

structured style to narration that supported communicarion 

of the self and individual creative pracrice. Stevenson 

commented that the pilot study "was a learning curve that 

started as a difficult challenge and ended up as a llberaring 

experience". Ivey's summarion arriculates the essence of why 

there was positive momentum during and after the study, 

"This project was a very well co-ordinated, innovative, 

effecrive, social and interesring method for, a) becoming 

acquainted with the research/practice of colleague(s) 

in rime deprived scenarios, and b} providing focus for 

a pluralistic discourse in the subject area - thinking, 

saying, doing and making design research writing". 

The study helped illuminate how researchers could support 

one another in their quest for authenric communicarion of 

their thinking and the generarion of a new kind of design 

research writing. However, wriring stories and sharing the 

experience and outcome ofthe project was insufficient In itself 

to ascertain whether the project was successful in terms of its 

aim.The Issue of exhibiting the stories alongside artefacts from 

each parricipant's design research pracrice was considered a 

necessary future acrion with Ivey noring this as a meaningful 

way in which to fully evaluate the method of storytelling and 

crirically comment on storytelling as an effective and efficient 

tool for design research writings. She noted the "...most 

interesring for me... were the connecrions that arose between 

exhibiring design research and design research writing and 

the methods that might be used to create well co-ordinated, 

innovative, effective, social and interesting interfaces between 

research and audience-whomever they are."

Conclusion 

As design researchers, we have a shared responsibility to 

continually build our research capacity. This project was 

intended to support this objective by substantially increasing 

the confidence and ability of young researchers to capture 

their thought processes, articulate this deeply hidden process 

and write-up practice-centred research. 

The following recommendations are intended as an aide to 

developing a strategy for writing and communicating practice- 

centred design research.They are an outcome ofthe pilot study 

and will provide a springboard for future research in this area: 

• Ensure adequate investment (intellectually and financially) is 

given to storytelling.The researchers must be given adequate 

time and'space'to think, not just to'do'. 

• Develop the idea ofthe'dossier'to include examples of texts 

from authors who write about how writers use themselves 

thoroughly in creating stories should be referred to; writings 

that demonstrate how this technique is not concerned with 

autobiography, but with authenticity. 

• Widen the contextual reading on the subject of storytelling 

to include research from ethnographic studies In a range of 

disciplines. 

• Extend the period of story creation and incorporate more 

intensive creative writing workshops perhaps considering a 

bespoke residential creative writing package, atthe beginning 

and end of the storytelling task. 

• Use collegiate methods, for example, the 'buddy' system as 

it promotes knowledge transfer, builds trust and engenders 

dialogue, which collectively increases individual and team 

confidence. 

In addition, the following are worth further consideration: 

- Consider mounting an exposition ofthe study to demonstrate 

the use of storytelling to illuminate the thinking behind 

creative design practice, and to further evaluate the results in 

terms of audience understanding. 

• Evaluate the exposition (artefact and stories) with a group 

of researchers from a diversity of disciplines to appreciate the 

range of interpretation and the degree to which storytelling 

deepens understanding of embedded knowledge and creative 

thinking in design research. 

• Incorporate a range of simple creative writing techniques 

that will nurture a willingness (on the part of the narrator) to 

allow the personal to inform the writing process, as this is a 

necessary condition for the storytelling approach to work. 

As a consequence of this pilot study there is an increased 

confidence to communicate research, and greater 

collaboration was engendered across the different specialist 

boundaries. The project cannot claim to be solely responsible 

for the new collaborative partnerships that the participants 

are now involved in. However, there is some evidence that 

the potential for multi and cross-disciplinary research projects 

undertaken, completed and successfully disseminated 

increased as a result. 

Biography 

Dr Louise Valentine Is a Design Lecturer and AHRC Postdoctoral 

Research Fellow, in the School of Design, University of Dundee. 

She manages a multi-disciplinary research team investigating, 

'Past, Present and Future Craft Practice', has published in the 

area of visual thinking, intuition, mindfulness and rhetoric, 

and supervises a number of PhDs in the craft disciplines. 

Valentine also has responsibility for development of a new 

interdisciplinary/inter-university postgraduate programme 

entitled,'Capitalising on Creativity'which synthesises creative 

and management practice. 


The author wishes to acknowledge the critical support and 

input of the following: Marlene Ivey, Jane Keith, Frances 

Stevenson, Hazel White, Professor Tom Inns, and Professor 

Seaton Baxter of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & 

Design, University of Dundee, and Stuart Delves, Director of 

Henzteeth, Edinburgh, Scotland.

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D E S I G N R E D U X 

Stuart Walker 

Faculty of Environmental Design, 

University of Calgary, Canada 

vyalkers@ucalgary.ca 

Abstract 

Many designers and design academics are exploring ways of 

responding to the contemporary challenge of sustainability 

in their approaches to the creation of a meaningful and 

responsible material culture. A significant issue in this debate 

is that of profligate waste, especially in electronic products. 

This paper provides an overview of some significant current 

trends in digital design, music, theatre and product design 

in order to develop a basis for design engagement. Several 

design examples, developed by the author, illustrate an 

approach that emphasizes product re-use, recontextuallzation 

and localization for evolving a more sustainable rendition of 

functional objects.The examples combine discarded and low- 

value products with locally achievable components to create 

'mash up'objects that have been termed here"Design Redux". 

These design examples are considered in relation to product 

value and it is demonstrated that such designs can draw upon 

various, interrelated aspects of'value'in order to restore their 

useful life. 

Introduction 

Changes are occurring in design. We are witnessing a 

flourishing of diversity, complexity, playfulness, energy 

and freshness. These developments are happening for a 

variety of reasons ~ economic, environmental, moral and 

ideological. Within an information-rich global milieu these 

new directions are being informed and influenced by many 

sources, and individual designers can make their work known 

to a very wide audience. The reasons, the approaches and the 

outcomes are numerous and varied but, collectively, many of 

these directions indicate a burgeoning of creativity coupled 

with a new democratization of ideas and often a heightened 

sense of responsibility. 

However,thesechangesarenot happening within mainstream 

industrial design, which seems largely out-of-touch with 

such developments. It may be that industrial design has 

been part ofthe corporate leviathan for so long that it is no 

longer able to flex Its creative muscles and, unused, they have 

atrophied. Even where the contribution of industrial design 

has been most successful, in companies such as Apple and 

Dyson, the design contribution, while certainly accomplished, 

remains essentially conservative in character. In contrast, 

many contemporary directions outside the mainstream are 

indicative of a quite different sensibility. The most notable 

work challenges the pre-packaged homogeneity that 

mass-manufacturing presents as a fait accompli, but which 

relegates us to passive consumers with little opportunity for 

deeper understanding or involvement. The new design Is 

often more enabling, more approachable, more expressive 

and, consequently, more engaging. Tellingly, it can often be 

characterized by words prefixed by're'- responding, restoring, 

recovering, remixing, recycling, reusing, reducing. It may even 

be about redemption. This design work may be recent, but the 

question it addresses is not. Implicitly, much ofthis work is an 

attempt by designers to suggest an answer to the question, 

'How can we live decently?' It is the same question that Balzac 

asked over a century ago (Gopnik, 2004) and which many 

others have asked before and since. 

This type of design requires a rather different process than 

has been prevalent in design schools for many years. The 

standard 'representational' approaches, whether paper- 

based or computer-based, become secondary - there is a 

greater emphasis on intuitive, hands-on, tactile, physical and 

reciprocal methods that respond to the world as it is. Recalling 

the creative flourish during the early decades ofthe twentieth

century, they involve collage, assemblage, and bncolage, and, 

where deemed appropriate, these are used in combination 

with the latesttechnologies to provide newdesign possibilities. 

Significantly, these approaches often make use of pre-existing 

objects in ways that are not only stimulating and aesthetically 

inspiring, but also attendant to new sensibiliries and new 

responsibiiiries related to social equity and the environment. 

Here, I discuss several of these new direcrions with respect to 

contemporary environmental and socio-cultural concerns. 

However, to develop a more comprehensive appreciation of 

the process and the conceptual differences between these 

emerging direcrions and products of conventional industrial 

design and mass-production, it is useful to actually engage 

in the process of designing. Therefore, several examples have 

been developed that explore ways of incorporaring pre 

existing products in new functional designs. The process of 

design engagement, and reflecring on the artifacts it yields, 

allows for a deeper understanding ofthe design decisions, and 

the potential contributions these new direcrions can make to 

our contemporary ideas of material culture. 

Appreciation 

The morning I sat down to write this paper 1 received an e-maii 

from a colleague who had just returned from a visit to India. 

He wrote, "I agree with what all great minds have said: one never 

comes back the some. I actually struggled with what I would say 

when asked 'hov^ was India?'... I came back feeling more blessed 

than ever-content with what I have, and no longer desiring what 

I don't hove (that is the most significant change) - a gift I did not 

expect" (Boulanger, 2006) Only the previous evening, when 

I had been making notes to structure this paper, I had at one 

point written prominently across the page, "Appreciate - what 

we already hove'. Implicitly, this is a significant aspect of many 

ofthe emerging directions in design, which draw upon sources 

that are already present within the human-made environment - 

the capacity that exists at the local level, as well as the unvalued 

detritus or forgotten productions of modern society. The Sear's 

Style project and the Salvation series (Boym, 2002,28-37,56-61) 

and the fûltidao, Banquette and Alligator chans ofthe Campana 

brothers, v^hich use soft toys, such as dolls and animals, as the 

cushioning and upholstery (Campana and Campana, 2004) are 

examples of this design approach. They contrast starkly with 

convenrional mass-production methods that make heavy use 

of virgin resources and which, among other things, have such 

detrimental environmental consequences. 

Being content with what we have seems to be something of 

a rarity In modern society. This Is not only strange and rather 

sad, it Is also profligate and deeply damaging. The culture of 

dissatisfaction that pervades the richest countries in the worid 

is a key driver of consumerism and a critical component of our 

current notions of wealth creation. It is also a major contributor 

to environmental destruction and runs contrary to meaningful 

understandings of sufficiency and of human happiness 

(see note 1). The Imaginative directions that are emerging 

in contemporary design indicate that some designers are 

wresriing with these issues and attempring to reconcile ethical 

and environmental concerns within their creative endeavours. 

The results suggest a trajectory for design that can help reduce 

some ofthe negative consequence of consumerism and allow 

a re-valuing of what we already have, while also contriburing 

to economic wellbeing. 

Design Redux 

The term'redux'was used by film director Francis Ford Coppola 

in 2001 when he released a newly edited version of his 1979 

film. Apocalypse Now; in this later edirion, 'Redux' was added 

to the tirie. The term, which has its origins In the 17th century, 

means'bring back'or'restore'. Coppola used it to re-present his 

film to a new audience, as well as to those who had seen the 

original version. The longer 2001 version included substanrial 

secrions of previously unseen footage, which provided a 

useful basis for re-markering a significant film that was, at the 

rime ofthe new release, 22 years old. Some might criticise this 

as a cynical way of making money from an old movie, but it is 

can also be seen as an opportunity for re-appreciaring what 

we already have, while also generating economic activity. 

The producrion of consumer goods, like film-making, requires 

ideas and efforts by many people,as well as materials and energy 

resources and, inevitably, a certain amount of waste, pollution 

and environmental damage will occur. Thus, by re-presenring 

and re-valuing older productions, be they films or products, we 

restore and re-acknowledge them as contributions to human 

culture.We also acknowledge the creativity, work, resources and 

environmental costs that have already occurred in the course

oftheir production. In other words, we show appreciation and 

demonstrate respect. When income generation and aesthetic 

and/or technological upgrading is included, potentially, it 

becomes possible to create meaningful, creative work and 

contribute to economic interests, while simultaneously 

moderating both our use of materials and energy and their 

associated environmental effects. 

Designer Jurgen Bey has taken old chairs and re-covered them 

in glass reinforced Polyester (Ramakers and Bakker, 2004, 32- 

33). In another design, he envelopes an old chandelier in a 

cylinder of two-way mirror foil (Droogdesign, 1999). In both 

these designs, older products are restored to use, made 

contemporary and re-appreciated. New materials are used, 

yes, but in relatively small quantities. In these examples, the 

objects have to be carefully selected. This is true too, of the 

Bootleg series by Wolf, Bader and Oschtz - where admired 

'classic' designs of music equipment, that retain a certain 

'design'cachet, have been modified to play fVlP3 files (Ramakers 

and Bakker, 2004, 34). 

The approach I take here is rather different. It is an attempt to 

appreciate, or re-appreciate still-functioning products that are 

no longer valued; those products that are so readily discarded 

and replaced by newer versions which are aesthetically more 

up to date and which may have minor technical advances. 

These products, which are perhaps 10 to 20 years old, have 

no 'design' cachet and therefore generally find their way to 

landfill. In addition, the focus is on electrical and electronic 

goods because these are especially problematic in terms of 

their environmental consequences (WEEE, 2002/03). Through 

discussion and designed examples, the approach illustrates a 

potentially constructive direction for addressing sustainable 

concerns within our contemporary and evolving conceptions 

of material culture. 

General Considerations for Design 

In developing new approaches to design, the saying, 

"everyone is smarter than anyone" referred to recently by Brian 

Eno (Eno, 2006), is pertinent. When many people contribute, 

the results of our endeavours can often be significant and 

surprising. Today, this idea Is being facilitated by the internet 

where projects such a the online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia 

(Wikipedia, 2006), the Linux open source operating system 

(Linux, 2006), and a development known as Mash Up (see Note 

2) are offering new kinds of solutions and new opportunities 

for creativity. Often these solutions can be contributed to, 

updated and improved by hundreds of people ail over the 

world. In some cases, these developments utilize pre-existing 

resources which are simply re-assembled in new ways. While 

these phenomena are challenging our conventional notions 

of authorship and intellectual property, they can also make 

possible a productive and creative evolution of ideas. Eno 

has also given the example of researchers who place their 

academic papers on the internet - to be aired to the scholaHy 

community, improved upon and added to by others, as an 

alternative to the more conventional journal publication 

where there are perhaps one or two authors (Eno, 2006). 

These recent practices have strong parallels with much more 

ancient traditions. For example, the stories, mythologies 

and histories kept alive in oral cultures became compelling, 

intricate and profound because they were allowed to evolve 

over time, were contributed to by many, and in the process 

accumulated layers of meaning and complexity. We just have 

to think of the many stories from the oral tradition to see that 

this is the case. These stories, such as the fables attributed to 

Aesop, the Thousand and One Nights, and the Odyssey, have 

stood the test of time and are still appreciated today. In a 

somewhat similar vein, Manzini and Jegou have developed 

'Enabling Solutions', which offer a method for developing 

viable, affordable and desirable services at the local level and 

in the process, they engage people and community (Manzini 

and Jegou, 2003). However, in mainstream product design, 

practices that encourage local engagement and facilitate this 

kind of design evolution are far less apparent. 

The example used by Thackara, of Canto Ostinato, is useful 

in indicating a way forward for design (Thackara, 2005, 211). 

Unlike conventional musical compositions, this piece for four 

pianos is far more loosely defined. The composer provides a 

basic structure, an idea in the form of an incomplete score. 

Each performance will be different because it is affected by 

place, audience, and the players'interpretation. 

When we consider these various examples in the context 

of design, collectively they suggest a way forward that not 

only challenges many of our assumptions about the role

of the designer, but they also offer a constructive path for 

incorporating sustainable concerns. Firstly, they challenge our 

notions of authorshlp.The conventional Ideathatthe'deslgner' 

Is the pnmary influence In defining the nature and appearance 

of products is less important here. Secondly, the contemporary 

norm of large companies producing virtually identical mass- 

produced products for wide distnbution, and with little, if any, 

long term responsibility forthe product, is questioned. Instead, 

a direction is suggested that allows a continual and dynamic 

approach to making, adapting, recovering, restoring, re 

interpreting, re-making and re-presenting; an approach that is 

contingent on locale, cultural preferences, local materials and 

skills, and local engagement. Such an approach also enables 

the priorities of sustainabllity to be more easily embedded into 

our conceptions of material culture and it helps to transcend 

a culture in which people become mere passive consumers of 

pre-packed products, instead, material culture becomes the 

beneficiary ofthe diversity and input of many voices, which not 

only enables us to more effectively address the many issues of 

concern surrounding contemporary product production, but 

could also lead to a more intimate, interesting and preferred 

rendition of functional objects. Within such an approach, mass- 

production has a vital role to play. However, the dominance of 

mass-production, In producing complete, inviolable products 

for mass-consumption is challenged. Moreover, these new 

directions in design suggest that it may be possible to bridge 

the chasm that has grown between traditional craft design 

and Industrial production, a chasm that emerged during the 

late 19'*' century when these two important approaches to 

production went their separate ways. 

The key to progressing such approaches in the field of product 

design seems to be the development of a way forward that 

enables input and engagement at the local level. Like the 

examples referred to above, a starting point has to be developed 

that provides an idea, and a basic structure. This must be 

defined rather loosely, so as to enable flexible interpretation 

and engagement, at a level that is appropriate to the local input, 

in addition. It must allow for the benefits and contriburion that 

mass-production can offer, because it has to be recognised that 

not everything can achieved locally. In terms of sustainabillty, 

In order to moderate waste and reliance on new resources, 

and to provide a basis for rethinking material culture such an 

approach would also have to be able to address the hundreds of 

products that are regularly discarded.These discarded products 

can provide a useful starting point for considering a different 

path for design and provide one way of addressing Thackara's 

suggesrion of closing the loops in the flow of materials and 

energy at the local level (Thackara, 2005,226). 

A Design Approach - an example 

In developing a way forward to address these ideas, an 

attempt has been made to urilize discarded, un-valued 

objects. Parricular emphasis is placed on electronic goods 

as these become aesthetically and/or technically outdated 

especially quickly and are creating a severe problem in terms 

of disposal. For example, in Canada over 272,000 tonnes of 

computers, phones, TVs, stereos, small appliances and other 

electronic waste go to landfill each year (Natural Resources 

Canada, 2006). However, a design approach that attempts 

to incorporate discarded electronic objects in new design 

solutions, and to do so in such a way as to include local input, 

faces several significant challenges. 

FIrsriy, a standardized approach is not possible because ofthe 

sheer variety and unpredictability of these discarded 'source' 

materials. 

Secondly, It seems propitious to develop an approach 

that avoids the need for product disassembly that would 

break down the products into their component parts. To do 

this would be rime consuming and expensive, and would 

inevitably create waste. It would also require sophisticated 

and expensive technical expertise In order to find new uses 

for these components. An alternative is to use the products as 

they are and, through design, offer opportunities for them to 

be re-valued. This Is also İn accord with the first two and most 

important of the three R's i.e. Reduce and Reuse, only after 

that option is attempted should we consider Recycling. 

Thirdly, local engagement and input would be facilitated by 

devising an approach that requires little in the way of capital 

investment, but rather makes use of relatively low-tech and/or 

inexpensive methods to achieve new design solutions. 

Lastly, the design challenge here is notto prescribe a stepwise 

method, nor to develop a finished product (except for

purposes of illustration) but to provide enough of a structure 

or idea that will allow people atthe local level to create finished 

designs that are contingent, infinitely variable, dependent on 

context, attendant to notions of reduction, moderation and 

appreciation, and which can ameliorate, in many small ways, 

the problems associated with disposal and waste. Such a 

direction would not only enable new renditions of functional 

objects to be developed and environmental issues to be 

addressed, it could also serve the community by providing 

locally available, creative work and local opportunities for 

product re-use, re-production, repair and recovery. 

These considerations are consistent with Thackara's seven 

design frameworks of, sense & respond; deep context; seeding 

edge effects; smart recombination; social fiction; designing with 

us; and design as service (Thackara, 213). The phenomenon 

of'remix', which is also an aspect of Mash Up, (see above) in 

contemporary music has somewhat similar characteristics to 

this type of design approach, where segments of pre-existing 

music or speech are put together in creative combinations, 

and sometimes added to, to create new musical works. Older, 

perhaps forgotten, songs and videos are fused together into a 

new whole and, through this process, they can be appreciated 

by a new audience. An example of Mash-up in music is a recent 

production of Beatles music for the Canada-based circus 

theatre company Cirque du Soleil. Here, the original music Is put 

together in new combinations, 'mashed up', added to with new 

composition, speeded up, slowed down and reversed (Martin 

and Martin, 2006).The result is a fresh, contemporary rendition 

of very familiar music. Similar developments are affecting 

other areas of human creativity. Scripts of old plays are being 

manipulated, edited and new material is being added to create 

radically new creations that are relevant to a contemporary 

audience. For example, a play at the Hampstead Theatre in 

London, entitled Faustus, combined parts of Christopher 

MaHowe's Doctor Faustus, written in the 16"' century, with 

material from the 2003'Insult to Injury'project by contemporary 

British artists, the Chapman brothers (Haydon, 2006). 

In such approaches, the pre-existing, human-madeenvironment 

is 'mined' for resources, which then form the material for 

new creations. This constant borrowing, appropriation and 

re-use, across many fields, is a growing characteristic of our 

time. It challenges our conventions, because there is often 

less concern with traditional boundaries and established 

notions of attribution. In previous times, the resources of the 

natural world were'harvested'at will, without too much regard 

for consequences, but today, such methods are becoming 

increasingly difficult to justify. It therefore seems appropriate, 

and more consistent with sustainable principles, to consider 

the discarded and forgotten products of modern society, and to 

draw on these as a basis for creating new design opportunities. 

Process 

To address the challenges poses by 'the local' it is necessary to 

adopt a design process that is flexible and responsive to the 

diversity that exists at the small, particular, local level and within 

those areas that are immediate, physical and cognitive. Planning 

ahead, with fixed ideas, becomes an obstacle, it is important 

to allow a more intuitive process that attempts to relate a 

plethora of complex, interdependent 'background' ideas and 

understandings about products, the environment, people and 

function.The result ofthis wayofworking is, in any singular design 

example, imperfect and partial - to which we can respond again, 

using it as a basis for reflection, and move to the next attempt, 

which will be informed by new ideas suggested by the previous 

piece, together with other ideas from readings, observations and 

further reflection. Whether or not such a process is considered 

valid, depends on what we are attempting to achieve, and on 

the criteria we use to validate. However, it is an approach that is 

modest and deeply grounded in an interdependent relationship 

between the rational and the intuitive, and the functional and 

the aesthetic; and this much more so, in my view, than the 

more removed, large-scale, rationalized approaches to product 

design and production that tend to dominate our culture. This 

smaller, more local, and more direct approach draws upon tacit 

knowledge, responds directly to local conditions, can yield 

solutions that address sustainable concerns, and can contribute 

to the development of a more varied and potentially more 

desirable rendition of functional objects. 

'Harvesting'the Discarded 

The intention in this design exercise was to explore ways of 

re-using discarded products that could be found locally. In 

addition, it was necessary to effect such re-use in a manner that 

was suited to local scale, and which would provide a feasible

asis or template for adoption and adaptation by others, in 

other locales. For the reasons outlined eadier, emphasis was 

placed on the re-use of objects, with little or no modification, 

rather than on disassembly. Consideration was given to the 

nature and form of local Input, as well as to the incorporation 

of new components or products that would enable the 

discarded products to have a new life in an acceptable manner. 

In summary, a design approach was required that: 

~ would make use of locally available, old, otherwise discarded, 

unwanted products. 

- can be achieved locally. 

- is highly flexible In its ability to incorporate a wide variety of 

products or product combinations. 

" enables people at the local level to develop design variations 

that appeal to their own tastes, reflect aesthetic preferences or 

that reflect cultural preferences. 

- retrieves, re-uses, re-appreciates, and re-presents objects in 

ways that are useful and desirable. 

- contributes to the moderarion of waste and the requirement 

and desire for'new'objects. 

A Locally Enabling Proposition 

As was mentioned earlier, a feasible way forward depends on 

the development of an Idea or basic structure that allows pre 

existing objects to be incorporated In new designs, while also 

enabling achievable input and engagement at the local level. 

In the following examples, this basic structure centres on the 

norion of a simple, locally produced 'frame' that provides the 

foundation for a new funcrional composition.The use of a frame 

stemsfrom eariier workthat looked at issues such as productform 

(Walker, 2006,139-166) and ephemerallty. Here, it is used again 

but for different reasons. The frame allows the Incorporation of 

discarded, but srill funcrional products, together with addirional 

elements,withlna new, locally produced composirion.The frame 

serves a number of purposes that collectively allow previously 

rejected objects to be seen and valued anew. 

Chapman has suggested that for people to maintain a 

prolonged engagement with functional products, designers 

should explore ways of that support continued growth and 

evolution; to re-fashlon the interaction In order to facilitate 

an ongoing relarionship (Chapman, 2005, 186). The 'frame' 

proposed here is one example of how this might be achieved. 

Essentially, it serves as an enabling device that allows the user 

to see the object as an element within a newly defined, discrete 

and particular context. In effect, the frame separates the object 

from its surroundings and places it within a specially designed 

composition. In doing so, the discarded object becomes one 

element within this new composirion and, in the process, it 

becomes re-contextualized. The discarded object becomes 

an essenrial compositional constituent which contributes 

essentially and materially to the functional whole. In addirion, 

the intrinsic qualities of the object, i.e. its outdated aesthetic 

qualities - Its form, its colours, its worn or damaged surfaces, 

become essential qualitative characteristics of this new whole. 

Within this separated frame, individual elements and the enrire 

composirion can diverge considerably from our usual ideas of 

what is appealing and tasteful - and yet can srill be regarded 

as having aesthetic appeal. The intentional separarion from 

the surroundings, through the use of the frame, suggests that 

this can indeed be the case. Thus, the use of the frame appears 

to effectively enable a wide variety of objects to be used 

again. At this point, it is relevant to note that mass-produced 

consumer products are designed to be used within a broad 

range of domestic contexts. However, as particular products 

age, they become Increasingly undesirable, often because 

they are regarded as no longer appropriate or pleasing within 

their specific context of use. Products are associated with social 

standing and personal expression and so, as objects become 

old and shabby, they are replaced. The re-presentarion of 

objects within a specificallydefined contextoffers oneexample 

of how older, perhaps deteriorated products, can be re- 

appreciated. The frame serves a similar purpose to the rarefied 

context of the white cube art gallery. Both have the effect of 

elevaring the objects or art pieces. While some artists regard 

this as inappropriate and challenge it in their work (Veiteburg, 

2005), perhaps it is exactly what is needed in the case of lowly 

and otherwise discarded consumer products because it allows 

them to be re-noticed, re-used and re-valued. 

Thus, the frame is a way of addressing, through design, a 

sustained engagement with objects. It offers one approach 

to building more sustainable narratives and an alternative to 

the "box fresh" ideal of newness so prevalent in contemporary 

culture (Chapman, 111,132).

As a localiy achievable, sustainable solution, the frame: 

- can be built in a simple workshop using a variety of readily 

available materials such as softwoods and sheet stock (MDF, 

plywood etc.). 

~ its dimensions are variable and can be specified to suit a 

wide diversity of locally available discarded objects and other 

compositional elements. 

~ provides a foundation for the application of many different 

finishes to suit local preferences, as well as finishes tailored to 

be compatible with the compositional components. 

- provides an easily changeable foundation for the 

composition itself, and allows for the integration of locally 

available mass-produced and locally-produced elements, as 

well as the combination of new elements with old. 

~ facilitates reduction, re-use, and recovery through 

aesthetically varied, locally created and potentially desirable 

design solutions. 

- offers a means for re-using products in a potentially cost 

effective, locally appropriate manner. 

~ offers a means for developing local employment that could 

reduce electronic waste while providing highly creative work 

opportunities. 

Thus, the frame concept appears to be an effective, locally 

enabling device that provides a basis for exploring sustainable 

solutions. It is not prescriptive, but provides a highly flexible 

basis for local interpretation and for a wide variety of design 

solutions. 

A number of examples have been created to illustrate the idea. 

Winelight (Figure 1) is a wall sconce comprising three re-used 

wine bottles combined with new, off-the-shelf electrical parts 

and mounted on a white frame with shelf constructed from 

pine and MDF. RePlay (Figure 2) combines a 1980's vintage 

cassette/radio with a new MPS player, again mounted on a 

locally produced white frame with shelf. ReCast (Figure 3) 

uses a 1970's vintage radio as the speaker output for an l-Pod 

- in this case the frame was finished in a patterned wallpaper 

and other elements are added to complete the functional 

composition - this example also explores notions of taste and 

compared to the earlier examples, illustrates that the basic 

frame device allows for a variety of aesthetic possibilities. 

ReCall (Figure 4), a re-presentation of a 1980s wall phone uses 

the 'canvas' of the frame as a basis for re-contextuallslng the 

'discarded'object-in this case with a painted background and 

the addition of elements that are suggestive of a somewhat 

institutional, ratherthan domestic, context. 

Figure 1. WineLight, re-used bottles, new electrical fittings, 

shades and low-energy bulbs mounted on a locally-made 

white frame with shelf (MDF and pine). 

Figure 2. RePlay, re-used 1980s cassette player, new MP3 

player, mounted on a locally-made white frame with shelf 

(MDF and pine). 

Figure 3. ReCast, re-used 1970s radio, new l-Pod, mounted on 

a locally-made frame (MDF and pine) with vintage wallpaper 

and shelf finished In wood-grain adhesive plastic film.

t 

J 

Figure 4. ReCaiS - re-used 19805 telephone, mounted on a 

locally-made frame {MDF and pine) with latex paint finish, 

doodles, notes and pencil on cord. 

Re-Valuing Objects 

Walker.and Chaplin (1997,165-166) havedistinguished several 

kinds of value that can be attributed to an artefact: 

- Artistic value - intrinsic excellence, aesthetic quality, 

significant content. 

- Use value - pracrical funcrion irrespecrive of appearance and 

aesthetic attributes ("use" value can also include decorative, 

symbolic, memorial, ideological and polirical value.) 

- Sentimental value - private, biographical and emotional life 

of an individual. 

- Exchange value - monetary value Is variable because of 

fluctuations in the market and the economy. 

In several ofthe re-used artefacts presented here, the original 

value would have been primarily their use value, coupled 

with their'newness' - i.e. aestherics attributes related to the 

perception of innovarion or fashion. Thus, their exchange 

value within the then current market was dependent, to a 

significant degree, on their perceived newness in funcrionality 

and aestherics. Over time, both functionality and aestheric 

attributes become outdated, relative to later models and so 

the value of those attributes becomes diminished, which is 

reflected in the minimal exchange value of such objects. 

In re-presenring the artefacts within funcrional compositions, 

as illustrated, arrisric or aesthetic value can be restored 

- partly by presenting the artefacts as components with 

larger, aestherically sensitive assemblages, and partly 

because within these compositions, their old-fashioned 

styling can be appreciated (i.e. valued) anew. This Is because 

the reappearance of a rejected or discarded object within 

a contemporary composition can afford the object a fresh 

decorative value. Moreover, if the underiying basis of such 

a re-presentation is understood as a contribution to design 

for sustainabllity, the composirion can also acquire a certain 

ideological or even political value. In addition, the fact that the 

re-presented product is old-fashioned can mean that, within 

the functional composition, it acquires a certain sentimental 

value ~ stimulating memories of an eariier rime. Lastly, when 

the old product is combined with new technology to provide 

a new functionality, its use value becomes reinstated. 

Thus, the functional composition or 'Design Redux', as 

presented here, would seem to be one avenue for designers 

to fruitfully explore In their attempts to address sustainable 

concerns. It offers a means for restoring value to rejected 

objects in a manner that touches upon all the categories of 

artefact value identified by Walker and Chaplin. In the process, 

it contributes to a re-appreciation of existing artefacts, and can 

help moderate the need for new artefacts, and help reduce 

the number of older products entering landfill. 

Notes 

1. Spiritual teaching from around the wodd, from the Bhagavad 

Gita to the Gospels have taught that material possessions 

can be impediments to happiness and contentment. Many 

contemporary studies tend to be in accord with these 

teachings. Although results of research into'happiness'differ, 

as would be expected with such a subjective notion, a 2003 

study published in the New Scientist suggested that wealth 

is not directly linked to happiness and that many of the 

wodd's happiest people live in poorer countries. Key criteria 

for happiness included a generic propensity to happiness, 

marriage, friends, and desiring less (BBC, 2003). In a 2006 UK

study, researchers suggested that consumerism is related to 

unchanging'happiness'trends (Easton, 2006).The conclusions 

of a recent study, again published in the New Scientist, has 

bucked this trend to some extent, suggesting that those 

living in the wealthiest countries are among the happiest. 

However, even here, the main criteria for happiness tend to be 

associated with health and education, with economic security 

also being a factor (Khamsi, 2006). A survey on 'happiness' in 

British Columbia in August 2006 identified the key'happiness' 

factors as family, friends, career/work, health, and personal 

freedom (Mustel, 2006). 

2. 'Mash Up' is a term that applies to utilizing digital data 

from different sources and recombining them in new ways. 

The term refers to the phenomenon of re-mixing in music 

and video as weil as other web-based applications. Google 

maps, for example, have been combined with information 

from other sources to produce useful solutions for particular 

interest groups. A general introduction to Mash Up is available 

at Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_{web_ 

application_hybrid), accessed Dec. 2Bth 2006 

An article describing Google Maps mash ups is available at: 

www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-01-2006/jw-0116-google. 

html, accessed Dec. 28th 2006 

References 

BBC (2003) Nigeria tops happiness survey, BBC NEWS, October 

2nd 2003, http://news.bbc,co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/bi/africa/ 

3157570.stm, accessed October 30th 2006 

Droogdesign (1999) Droog Design Website, Collection section, 

www.droogdesign.nl/, accessed: December 28th 2006 

BOULANGER, S., 2006. Personal correspondence, 30th October 

2006, Director of Design, BoldWing Continuum Architects Inc., 

with permission 

BOYM, C, 2002. Curious Boym, Princeton Architectura! Press 

CAMPANA F. and CAMPANA, H., 2004. Zest for Life, Design 

Museum, London 

CHAPMAN, J., 2005. Emotionally Durable Design: Objects, 

Experiences and Empathy, Earthscan/James and James, 

London 

EASTON, M., 2006, Britain's happiness in decline, BBC News, 

May 3i-d, 2006, accessed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/- 

/I /hi/programmes/happinessformula/4771908.stm, October 

30th 2006. 

ENO, B., 2006. Free Thinking Festival, Opening Lecture, 

Broadcast in BBC Radio 3, Friday 3 November 3rd 2006 

21:30-22:15, accessed at: i^ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/ 

freethinking2006/pip/132yy/, November 3rd 2006 

GOPNIK, A., 2004. In the introduction to The Wrong Side of 

Paris by Honore De Balzac, Random House, New York 

HAYDON, A., 2006. Faustus, Hampstead Theatre, London, 

Review, October 26th 2006, at: http://www,culturewars.org. 

uk/2006-01/faustus.htm, accessed November 19th 2006 

KHAMSI, R„ 2006. Wealthy nations hold the keys to happiness, 

NewScientist.com news service, 28 July 2006, http://www. 

newscientist.com/cha nnel/being-h uma n/dn9642'wea Ithy- 

nations-hold-the-keys-to-happiness.html, accessed October 

30th 2006

LINUX, 2006. accessed at: www.linux.org/, December 28th WIKIPEDIA, 2006. accessed at: http://en.wikipedla.org/wlki/ 

2006 fVlain_Page, December 28th 2006 

MANZINI, E. and JEGOU, F., 2003. Sustainable Everyday - 

scenarios of urban life, Edlzionl Ambiente, Milan, 2003 

MARTIN, G. and MARTIN, G., 2006. The Beatles "Love", Liner 

Notes to CD, EMI Music Canada, Mlssissauga, Ontario, 2006 

MUSTEL, 2006. August 2006 Happiness Survey, for British 

Columbia, Canada, The Mustel Group, Market Research, 

http://www.mustelgroup.com/pdf/a498hsjha.pdf, accessed 

October 30th 2006. 

NATURAL RESOURCES CANADA, 2006. Electronic Waste: 

Making mountains out of Megabytes, Natural Elements. 

At: www.nrcan.gc.ca/elements/issues/06/e-recycle_e.html, 

accessed July 18th 2006 

RAMAKERS, R. and BAKKER, G., 2004. Simply Droog, Droog 

Amsterdam, 2004 

THACKARA, J., 2005. In the Bubble - Designing in a Complex 

World, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2005 

VEITEBERG, J., 2005. Hybrid Practice: A Craft Intervention in a 

Contemporary Art Arena, Kunsthogskolen I Bergen (Bergen 

National College of the Arts), at: 

http://www.khib.no/index.php/khib_en/content/download/ 

3836/36743/file/Veiteberg.pdf, accessed: November 4th 2006 

WALKER, S., 2006. Sustainable by Design: Explorations in 

Theory and Practice, Earthscan/James and James, London 

WALKER, J. A. and CHAPLIN, S., 1997. Visual Culture: An 

Introduction, Manchester University Press, 1997 

WEEE, 2002/03. Waste Electrical and Electonic Equipment 

Directive, EU directives: Directive 2002/96/EC and 2003/108/ 

EC, accessed at: 

www.netreQS.gov.uk/netregs/2 75 2 07/1 631 1 1 9/ 

?version=^l&lang=_e, December 28th 2006

D A N C I N G W I T H D I S O R D E R : S Y N E R G I Z I N G S Y N E R G I E S W I T H I N M E T A D E S I G N 

John Wood 

Professor in Design 

Goldsmiths College, University of London 

j.wood@gold.ac.uk 

Abstract 

Whilst 'design for sustainabillty' has made enormous strides 

in the last forty years or so, it has failed to reduce the global, 

net increase in harmful modes of consumption. One reason for 

this is that the key forces are beyond the normal remit of the 

designer. In seeking to remedy this problem the paper offers an 

ambitious vision of'metadesign', suggesting that metadesign 

teams should assist in the general task of governance. 

Here, 'metadesign' is defined as a cooperative, consensual, 

imaginative, catalysing, and self-steenng process of social 

enterprise. 'Design thinking' is a way to orchestrate a variety 

of professional practices in ways that might replace orthodox 

bureaucratic approaches that are currently maintained at the 

nominal, fiscal, legislative, or planning levels. The current, two- 

year phase will receive funding by the UK's AHRC.This research 

is informed by twelve months of preliminary work that was 

supported bythe UK's EPSRC and AHRC. In seeking a viable way 

to evaluate the outcomes of metadesign the paper proposes a 

framework that seeks to measure different modes of'synergy' 

as a substitute for the concept of'environmental sustainabillty'. 

The current work will culminate at the end of 2008 with the 

delivery of a benchmarking system that would enable trading 

bodies, governments, or corporations to evaluate many 

simultaneous efficacies. The final aim for this scheme would be 

to calibrate appropnate Indicators that would summarise many 

orders of synergy within a single value. Theoretically speaking, 

the highest mark of assessment would imply that there is a full 

'synergy of synergies'(Fuller, 1975). 

Introduction 

The 1995 Wodd Summit on Social Development defined the 

notion of 'sustainable development' as "the framework for 

our efforts to achieve a higher quality of life for all people." 

A later Summit (2002) expanded this definition to identify 

what it called "three overarching objectives of sustainable 

development". These were: eradicating poverty, protecting 

natural resources, and changing unsustainable production 

and consumption patterns. Whilst these objectives sound 

reasonable, they may continue to elude our grasp until we 

can re-design their relationship to one another. It Is becoming 

increasingly obvious that the discourse of'sustainabllity' has 

failed to halt what Giddens (1999) calls the 'runaway world' 

of globalisation and economic growth. As we are now seeing, 

this failure is playing a significant role in the extinction of many 

living species, and is bringing about a troubling change in 

the climatic conditions that have sustained human existence 

so far. Part of this problem is the mindset of 'sustainable 

development' that was inspired by the Brundtiand Report of 

1987. In wanting to support the humanistic desire for a fair 

and dependable future. Dr. Brundtiand adopted the verb 

'to sustain'. Whilst she originally used it as a qualifier for the 

notion of 'social development' subsequent writers have 

increasingly tended to omit the word 'development' and to 

stretch meanings from the word 'sustainable'. In some cases 

this has created confusion, and in others it has defied semantic 

logic altogether. 

Sustainabllity is Unsustainable 

Confusion surrounding the term 'sustainabillty' is common 

within environmentalism and almost ubiquitous beyond it. 

For example, many people now speak of'sustainable business' 

in a sense that ignores the earlier environmentalist sense of 

the word. The literal meaning ofthe adjective'sustainable'may 

be, in the short term, appropriate for describing economic 

endeavour. However, because of its more common usage in

environmentalism, it also conveys an air of moral credibility, 

whether or not this was intended or, indeed, deserved. The 

term 'sustainable consumption' is also confusing. Use of the 

word 'consumption' originally derived from a study of the 

habits of e newly affluent class, byThorstenVeblen, who coined 

the term 'conspicuous consumption' (1899). Although it was 

later adopted in a less socially critical way by the economist 

John fvlaynard Keynes, the earlier meaning of the verb 'to 

consume' means 'using something up' so that it cannot be 

retrieved. Although this sense ofthe meaning may have been 

eroded, we still use It disparagingly to describe citizens who 

shop without reflection or restraint. It is therefore surprising 

thatthe United Nation speaks of 'sustainable consumption'. At 

the literal level, this term is an oxymoron whose usage needs 

clarification. How helpful is it to continue to use an expression 

whose meaning distracts us from the truth? 

Sustainability Sustains Capitalism 

In seeking to deepen our understanding about the meaning 

of what we have now come to call 'sustainability', it Is helpful 

to explain what preceded it. Since the 1960s, many of us have 

spent a great deal of time thinking about 'alternatives' to the 

status quo. Up until the early 1980s, the idea of'Alternative 

Technology', for example, seemed totally reasonable. Today, 

within the mindset of'globalisation'lt makes virtually no sense. 

'Alternative'to what? The Idea of'alternative possibilities'had 

emerged from a world In which capitalism and socialism co 

existed as bitter rivals within the same world. The interest in 

'alternatives'therefore carried strong political undercurrents. 

The Brundtland Report prepared the intellectual ground for 

globalisation. Published two years before the Berlin Wall was 

torn down, it reconciled the idea of 'sustainable development' 

with economic growth with a desire to bring about a 

fairer economic deal for the poorest nations. In this sense 

'sustainability' is associated with a vision of globalisation. In 

order to clarify the meaning of any of the above terms it is 

helpful to analyse the deeper meaning ofthe verb'to sustain'. 

The verb to'sustain' is transitive, and implies that there is clear 

distinction between subject and predicate - i.e. 'that which 

does the sustaining', and 'that which Is sustained'. It is easy to 

forgetthat it has both a temporal and a non-temporal meaning. 

In other words, we may sustain something over a period of 

time, or we may sustain it within each passing moment, in a 

literal sense, by'holding It together'. If it is true that everything 

Is reciprocally dependent, chaotic, and non-linear, then the 

second meaning may be the wiser one. 

What is it that Sustains Sustainability? 

In the West, the grammar we inherited from the ancient 

Greeks has given us a heightened awareness of'purpose', and 

a rather linear understanding of'cause'and'effect'. However, 

we may note that the direction of causation is often unclear 

when we reflect upon what sustains what. What we assume 

to be a cause may turn out to be an effect, and vice versa, 

because actions are usually co-creative. We now therefore 

know that the world is rather less predicable than we had 

hoped. It is Important to look beyond this notion and to get a 

sense ofthe full complexity ofthe world. In effect, our worldly 

power in is limited by our biological nature and context. We 

need to remind ourselves that our continued existence Is 

sanctioned by an ecological system, of which we are only a 

tiny (if troublesome) part. This can be illustrated if we take the 

context of a given situation, then frame questions about it in a 

simple language of cause and effect. For example. 

•What is it that sustains our lifestyle? 

•What is it that sustains food, shelter, and health? 

• What is It that sustains our technology? 

• What is it that sustains our capital? 

'What is it that sustains our society? 

•What is it that sustains our culture? 

•What is it that sustains our belief system? 

• What is it that sustains the environment? 

•What Is it that sustains nature...? 

•What is it that sustains God? 

Whereas the syntax of sustainability upholds the linear, 

causal worldvlew, ecology itself Is emergent and manifold. 

Attempts to offer replace the word 'sustainability' with terms 

such as 'sustainment' (Fry, 2002) or 'co-sustalnment' (Wood, 

2000) have not yet become generally adopted. We need to 

consider what sustains what, and for how long. Do we sustain 

technology or does technology sustain us? Where, and what 

is the primary source of economic exchange? Isn't money a 

self-organising system? At a deeper level, aren't we implying 

that 'green' industries can sustain Nature...? Surely, nature

sustains us?). As we all know, not everything can be sustained. 

Philosophically speaking, we would not expect to sustain, say, 

time itself. Temporality, and its essence within Nature, seems 

to be an inescapable fact. Birth and death are intrinsically part 

of'time', and we perceive this as a process of flow. However, 

our transactional system thrives on the rhetonc of ownership 

and authorship. It is common for vendors to be paid for 

aspects of their products they did not create. Hence, they 

may, routinely claim them by association. This is so common 

that, as consumers, we half believe their claims. One reason 

why this is so is that we live in a 21 st century belief system in 

which human agency is perceived to be all-powerful. Hence, 

for example, we may want to sustain our supply of fresh food. 

Technology has enabled us to achieve this, up to a point. 

Although the freshness itself cannot be sustained, advertisers 

work very hard to sustain the illusion that their product is the 

very source of freshness. Hundreds of years ago, when world 

population levels were far lower, this kind of conceit was 

unimportant. However, because we urgently need to develop a 

closer accord with Nature, it can be understood as dangerously 

self-deluding. It is only an example, but it is symptomatic of 

the belief system within which most designers are trained to 

operate. This is one reason why eco-design has failed. 

Designers Need to Re-Design Capitalism 

Up to now, every attempt to Invent a mode of 'design for 

sustainabllity' has been marginalised, appropriated, and 

subverted within a wasteful market system in which designers 

must uphold the status quo. How might we develop an 

economy that truly 'co-sustains' the eco-system? Although 

this represents a massive undertaking, it Is not impossible. 

But In order to achieve it, we would need a more 'joined-up' 

society. At the professional level, where specialist 'eco-design' 

practices are an important, but inadequate response to the 

whole problem we need a more collaborative, shareable 

discourse across the design disciplines. Designers would 

probably need to orchestrate many more types of knowledge 

within a common professional framework. Some believe that 

it Is not their job to solve social and environmental problems. 

However, if, as it is claimed, 80% ofthe environmental Impact 

of today's products, services, and infrastructures is determined 

at the design stage (Thackara, 2005) we may agree that 

designers have failed to live uptotheirfull potential in regard 

to the above problems. Since the 1950s we have tned to 

create a 'sustainable' world by 'reforming the environment' 

(Fuller, 1975), reducing the scale of enterprise (Schumacher, 

1973), or creating biodegradable, longer lasting products. 

However helpful they may be, attempts to inform designers 

about the'best practices'of Eco-design (e.g. Datschefski, 2001 ; 

Fuad-luke, 2005) have failed to stem the growth of a global 

economic systemthatthreatensourshared well-being. Despite 

attempts to emulate nature (Benyus, 1997), 'de-matenalise' 

products (Diani, 1992) or make them leaner (Stahel, 1982), 

cleaner, slower, service-based (Manzini, 1994), designers in the 

1980s became resigned to working with, ratherthan against 

market forces (Burke & Elkington, 1987; Dewberry, 2000). 

Global carbon emissions are rising steadily, and bio-diversity 

continues to fail. Unwittingly, designers have helped to create 

a society driven by over-consumption and waste. 

The Emergence of Synergy 

In wondenng how to evaluate the effectiveness of such a 

complex system we asked whether It could be evaluated by 

using 'synergy' as a performance indicator. Society would 

need to enhance the better-known synergies within food, 

or energy production, it would also need to look for new 

levels of synergy that might emerge from within, between, 

and across many social, political, ideological, economic and 

biological boundanes. Fritzhof Capra (2002, p. 202) depicts the 

ecosystem as a flexible, ever-fluctuating network. Its fiexibliity 

is a consequence of multiple feedback loops that keep the 

system in a state of dynamic balance. One aspect of this is 

what is sometimes called circular causality (Foerster, 1984). 

Many complex systems have no discernible single externa! 

cause. When we explore what sustains them we find the most 

signilîcant'causes'to be aspects oftheir own make-up. On the 

other hand weshouldrememberthatthe idea ofa closed system 

Is dubious or limited. Probably all systems are open systems. In 

many social systems, poor levels of human adaptation tend to 

cause deterioration In relations and this creates a noticeable 

increase in the level of conflict (Brennan & Peter, 1995). The 

idea of 'feedforward' therefore becomes important. This is 

an anticipatory (often cognitive) process that is important to 

most complex endeavours. Because, in practical terms, time 

Is irreversible, leaping cat cannot use feedback to change 

direction in mid-air. It must therefore envision its journey using

processes of feedforward. This process cannot be entirely 

precise, so we need some predictive processing. Many problems 

get so tangled up in the efforts we apply to solve them that we 

cannot be sure whether we really solved them or not. Gregory 

Bateson, (1972) notes that abductive thinking is rife in nature. 

This is another way of saying that creative guesstlmation plays 

an important role within the communication process. It gives 

us an important (post-romantic) context for the future role of 

creativity and the imagination. 

Towards a Synergy of Synergies 

As if this were not complex enough, Nature works across 

individual systems In order to enable emergence to be 

coherent. James Lovelock's famous Gaia hypothesis (1979) 

reminds us that virtually all 'discrete' systems are embedded 

within - and influenced by - larger or parallel systems. Their 

dynamic nature means that the need to adapt is endemic 

In nature. Another way to put this is to describe the need 

to create dynamic synergies across, among, and through 

existing synergies. Here, Buckminster Fuller's grand, if 

somewhat mysterious idea of a 'synergy of synergies' (Fuller, 

1975) Is helpful. I would define it as a totally comprehensive 

equilibrium that emerges from manifold diversities and mutual 

adaptabilities.This exemplifies the high level of design thinking 

that Fuller pioneered. Although his term 'synergy of synergies' 

was Intended as a description of Nature, it is nevertheless 

Inspiring to apply it to the idea of metadesign. Fuller sought 

to consider the whole human species within its habitat. In 

place of'sustainability' arguments, we believe that a lattice of 

mutually enhancing synergies would be more effective, and 

appealing to 'users'. Simple synergies are well understood. 

Their uses are well documented İn traditional studies of 

metallurgy (Fuller, 2000), chemistry (Polanyİ, 1969). However, 

applying the same principles to metadesignlng is unlikely 

to be straightforward because social, cultural, ecological, or 

aesthetic synergies are less quantifiable and predictable than 

their mechanical counterparts. Complex systems can become 

sub-optimal or even self-defeating. (Fuller, 1975; Corning, 

2003). Some elusive and intangible synergies may therefore 

hover on the edge of chaos. If so, they may even be affected 

by the participant's state of mind. This raises new practical, 

political and philosophical questions for metadesigners, who 

might try to 'seed' the conditions for optimism and positive 

consensus within the process of'co-design'. Our research will 

therefore explore the practicality of methods for cultivating 

'luck' (Wiseman, 2003), 'happiness' (Cziksentmlhaiyi, 1991), or 

'beneficial memes' (Wood, 2003; Spring & Wood, 2005). 

A Post-Darwinian Discourse 

In order to ensure that design works at the level of lifestyle 

metadesign teams would need to integrate many systems. It 

may not only need to work at the primary levels of energy, 

food production and transport, but also within the creative 

industries, education, politics, and religion. As climate change 

and resource depletion kicks in, over the next few decades, 

our energy-dependent systems that sustain intensive farming 

and long-distance transportation will begin to fail. There will 

be a plethora of 'quick-fix solutions that try to solve these 

problems with technology and legislation but these will fail 

unless they are sufficiently comprehensive and integrated. We 

need a new discourse that is able to explain how things work 

in a more holistic and relational way. This would be needed in 

order to promote a more consensual, de-centralised system 

of governance. Whatever system of metadesign we adopt 

will therefore need to make individuals more creatively 

responsible and ecologically attuned. But, even if we could find 

one, how would we evaluate the efficacy of such a complex 

and interdependent system? One way to do this, our team 

concluded, would be to lookfor processes that fulfil the'law of 

increasing returns'(e.g. Romer, 1987), and provide'ecologies 

of scale'. In order to enhance the efficacy of these process, we 

would need to measure their synergy levels as well as we can. 

A Cross-Disciplinary Team 

Throughout 2005, working with funding from the UK's AHRC 

and EPSRC, we worked with a cross disciplinary team of 

fourteen researchers to ask whether some form of'metadesign' 

practice might be useful. In 2007 we were awarded a far larger 

grant from AHRC that will enable us to explore different orders 

of synergy that might emerge from the complex practice of 

metadesign. What do we mean by 'metadesign'? This was 

one of our first questions. We began our answer by adopting 

Ascott's (1994) idea that'design as planning'could be replaced 

with 'design as a seeding process'. In consultation with 

metadesign expert Dr. Lisa Giaccardi, of Boulder University

we envisaged a unified, consensual, systemic practice that 

would act as a 'systems integrator' (Galloway & Rabinowitz, 

1983). The team of researchers we invited included both 

theorists and practitioners. For example. Bill Dunster's work 

entailed managing the efficiencies of energy conservation 

and generation. This aspect of his work dovetailed with the 

findings of two other of our researchers, a building scientist 

and a practising architect. Professor Philip Jones, a buildings 

scientist, uses laboratory methodsto Improvethe conservation 

and management of energy In very large buildings around 

the world. His work is closely integrated with the designs of 

architects and planners, to ensure that synergies at one level 

can be maintained by synergies at another. A disadvantage of 

discrete, specialist design practice is that it offers incomplete 

solutions. Hence, the advantages of living in a low-energy 

house would easily be cancelled out by driving long distances 

to work, even In a 'low energy' car. Jan-IVlarc Petroschka, our 

expert in social housing is also an innovator in the design of live- 

work dwellings In London. Under his guidance we discussed 

the feasibility of 'scaling-up' the suburban BedZed agenda 

to become a fully interdependent urban 'living style'. This is 

because greater economies of scale can be achieved within 

cities, rather than in rural areas. Some of Jan-Marc's Ideas on 

space-saving'live-work'architecture are shown in his critically 

acclaimed housing project (Astra House, MacDonald Egan & 

Partners), recently completed in the Deptford area of London. 

Whilst neither the BedZed, nor Astra House projects have 

required significant technical innovation we were interested to 

know why pioneering initiatives like these often take a great 

deal of time to gain acceptance, or even to inspire imitations. 

Designing a Metadesign Profession 

Some researchers have tried to work with the really 'big 

picture', as this seems to be the most sensible approach. One 

attempt became fashionable In the 19ö0s and 1970s as a 

number of ideologically-driven attempts to build 'alternative' 

communities that would reduce consumprion and focus 

attenrion onto sustaining local wellbeing, rather than upon 

maximising corporate profits. This approach implied a new 

design agenda, based upon ecological lifestyles, rather than 

economic products or services. However, for this reason it 

became Increasingly marginalised within a polirical order 

that made economic growth its primary goal. Where the 

quest for'alternative', or modest lifestyles the larger economic 

context has driven up the necessary scale of operarion. 

One of the more fitring strategies is the idea of reframing 

'consumptlon'as a repetirive, unbroken cycle of opportuniries 

for sustainable business (Hawken, Lovins and Lovlns, 2000). 

As I have suggested, industry has so far found It hard to think 

too far outside the economic status quo. Attempts to design 

industrial systems as a 'zero-waste'process (Murray, 2002) or as 

a system of production that can be orchestrated from 'cradle- 

to-cradle' (MacDonagh, 2002) look promising, but have yet 

to be perfected. It is likely that this type of system will take 

a long to perfect, but it is important to identify a vision and 

aims that will help to rally support. What if metadesign teams 

were to run governments, farms, and banks? This is a highly 

amblrious, entrepreneurial and, perhaps, even subversive idea. 

Nevertheless, it is worthy of considerarion. Whilst we would 

not want to erode exisring traditions of professional practice, 

society needs to change very rapidly if we are to avoid the 

impending environmental calamity that is looming. 

A Four-fold System 

We developed several mapping methods that facilitate close 

inquiry into such a quesrion. In one example (figure 1), the 

early difficulries in gaining acceptance for a novel scheme can 

be grasped by monitoring the acrions of four 'players' and the 

six relations that co-sustain them. 

current 

community 

context 

vested 

interest 

planning 

constraints 

current 

economic 

context 

Figure 1. Simplified (four-fold) model of the challenges in 

housing innovation

Whilst useful, this is inadequate way to represent the vast 

number of tiny, but significant factors that are, to a significant 

extent, reciprocally self-creating. In short, it may not contain 

enough information to be effective. Complexity must therefore 

be apprehended as a whole entity. In this case, for example, 

BedZed needed to gain the support of a cluster of interested 

parties, each ofwhom may have a different'vested interest'. 

The support of a given individual is usually, also, influenced 

by the perceived views and likely actions of others within the 

cluster. Figure 2 shows all ofthe above 8 players (the dots on 

the diagram) linked together (by lines) in a minimum set of 28 

links. If we are to represent all of the possible relations within 

the system, it would be wise to explore each linkin turn, using a 

positively creative, opportunistic, and open-minded approach. 

This may mean that the 28 links can also be represented as 56 

relational viewpoints. By using this map opportunistically and 

creatively it is possible to design points of critical Intervention, 

and to devise new solutions to this kind of complex problem. 

We believe that this mapping system can enable complex 

'vicious circles'to become transformable into more 'virtuous 

circles'. As such. It is a useful tool for metadesigners. 

massmedia 

adjacent 

residents 

house 

buyer 

property 

developer 

housing 

market 

planning 

authority 

politicians 

with interest 

the 

banks 

Figure 2. The 28 possible relationships in an 8-player system 

Working with super-complex systems 

The relational mapping method we used In fig. 2 was 

inspired by some original research by another of our 

researchers, (Dr. Vadim Kvitash). Vadim holds many patents 

on a comprehensive system for evaluating something that is 

akin to the'equilibrium', or'balance'of whole systems within 

a medical context. His system of 'Relonics' (Kvitash, 1983 

& 2002) offers a powerful, systemic language of complex. 

Interdependent relations. In one application he finds a use for 

the otherwise discarded data taken from laboratory analysis 

ofthe blood samples. Arguably, in orthodox medicine, if the 

experts only look for 'abnormal' levels of particular chemicals 

associated with a given illness most ofthis data is Ignored. 

In Vadim's system, we are also interested in the total set of 

relations between each individual factor, and each otherfactor. 

As the number of factors increases the resulting number of 

relations rises exponentially. This means that when we use a 

reduced set of isolated indicators to make a judgement, we 

are overlooking some of the Information. Mathematically, 

the number of factors in a given set determines, with 100% 

accuracy, the finite number of relations implied. At this level 

of logic, we can therefore know exactly how many relations 

are possible. How we Interpret them Is another matter, but 

Dr. Kvitash can forecast, with 95% accuracy, whether a patient 

will live or die within three years of a heart operation. Where 

more discrete, analytical methods tend to look for single, 

identifiable parameters, his system plots relations against a 

non-statistically derived set of self-balancing norms (he calls 

'relons'). We have evaluated his system using urban planning 

situations, rather than medical data, concluding that it is likely 

to be just as useful. 

Transforming Vicious Circles into Virtuous Circles 

Another of our researchers, Hannah Jones, looks at the 

potential for sustainable urban planning by seeing the spaces 

between buildings as possible sites of unintended potential. 

By describing these unconsidered zones as'awkward spaces', 

she acknowledges the inescapable ambivalence between 

that which is planned and that which inevitably follows as a 

by-product of the logic of form and flow. At a time when the 

public rhetoric of'iconic buildings' is used to totalise an ethics 

of grace and power, Hannah prefers to celebrate the maladroit, 

the uncanny, the chaotic, and the dissipative. In working to 

establish a comprehensive language of urban Incompleteness, 

she opens up unforeseen possibilities for the metadesigner. 

One of the alms of her project is the prospect of transforming 

'vicious circles'into'virtuous circles'. (See figure 3)

p reva (ânca of 

'nsn-places' 

{cJ Aug. 1999) 

and artificial 

environ menla 

cynical fûîreat frorti^ 

the public aplinta, 

Ir) the beliaf that 

nothing can changa 

vicious circle 

tasiflowing 

ione J of 

re la lively rapid 

meübolJfalLon 

'fear-lroîan' 

indwiduals, 

who feal loo 

disenlranchlsad 

Eo chanâ l^s 

environment 

xan&i of organic 

AJldemess thai 

dsmaristraifl 

acological 

(Jlvartincatlon 

dawning asvaref 

of Ihe posaib 

alfcrdances wii 

the ahareO ipi 

ol Ihe city 

virtuous circle 

byways of 

mieraciion. in 

i^riich meaning 

crealQd and 

ûhchanged 

actively awara 

individuela, who 

fad aulficisntly 

engagad la [>lay 

and aclrve rcia 

Figure 3. Transforming a 'vicious circle' Into a 'virtuous circle' 

Mapping Synergy 

Although the concept of 'synergy' appears to be well 

understood in management, and elsewhere, its definition 

is surprisingly vague. This Is parriy because synergy itself 

is elusive and changeable. Indeed, all of the definitions we 

found were too generic to be useful. In seeking measurable 

outcomes, we therefore defined four fundamental 'orders' 

of synergy that would help us to map, and to manage the 

complexity of a pracrical system. This scheme regards Peter 

Coming's (1983) observarion that some bioeconomicsynergies 

include 'informarion-sharing' capabiliries. I adopted this as 

our 'second order' synergy, the added 'data-storing synergy' 

(first order), 'knowledge-sharing synergy' (third order), and 

'knowledge-sharing synergy' (fourth order). This tool makes it 

possible to'metadesign'for complex condirions by mapping 

them as manageable task domains that can subsequently by 

re-integrated within the whole. 

information-sharing 

synergies 

data-sharing 

synergies 

knowledge-sharing 

synergies 

wisdom-sharing 

synergies 

Figure 4. Using our 4 Orders of Synergy to map a 'Synergy-of- 

Synergies' 

Figure 4 shows a crude mapping of our four Orders of Synergy. 

It reflects four levels of complexity intended to encompass, 

and 'synergise' a wide range of other synergies. Where, for 

example, the 'data-sharing' level might include, say, smart 

metallurgical synergies, the 'information-sharing' level might 

facilitate sophisticated energy management systems. Where 

the 'knowledge sharing' level might be used to guide the 

cultivation of shared social benefits, the 'wisdom-sharing' 

level would probably include highly ephemeral and emergent 

phenomena, perhaps at the eudemonic, or spiritual level. 

1) Data-sharing synergies 

Working with one of our research consultants, the buildings 

engineer Professor Phil Jones, of Cardiff Welsh University we 

have tried to map data-sharing synergies. 

Examples include: 

a) Harnessing some of the properties of smart materials, or 

nano-scale metallurgy, (e.g. Toyota's'gum metal') 

b) Harnessing some of the properties of self-regulating 

materials within autonomous systems (e.g. Buckminster 

Fuller's floating geodesic city) 

c) Utilising the innate properties of thermal mass of buildings 

d) Utilising the innate properties of passive air circularion 

within certain forms 

e) Harnessing the climatic properties of local vegetation 

f) Accommodaring the yeariy balance of wind to sunshine ratio 

g) Passively harnessing the daytime changes in shading from 

direct sunshine 

h) The use of self-cleaning surface technologies 

2) Information-sharing synergies 

These are synergies that emerge from the sharing of 

information. Some of these will include mechanical or 

electronic systems that integrate human decision-making 

with data-sharing synergies (e.g. energy regularion from 

thermostats that work within human environments). Many 

biological systems will also fall into this category (e.g. Emperor 

Penguins huddling together to keep warm). 

3) Knowledge-sharing synergies 

Thesearesynergiesthatemergefromthesharing of knowledge. 

This process may occur at a rudimentary social level in which 

skills emerge alongside the affordances ofa changing system

(e.g. flying geese). Other modes of collaboration may include 

new orders of cooperation (e.g. communication using tag- 

based web media such as Web2). 

4) Wisdom-sharing synergies 

These are synergies that emerge from the sharing of wisdom. 

Buckminster Fuller claims that '...only mutual behaviour Is 

synergy. Synergy is the only word in any language having 

this meaning'(Fuller, 1997). James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis 

speaks of the earth as an emergent whole that acts in a 

concerted way. This would resemble what Buckminster Fuller 

called Nature's'synergy-of-synergies'(Fuller, 1975). 

Much of our theory behind the management of our 

mission was underpinned by the multi-facetted research of 

another of our research team. Dr. Otto van NIeuwenhuljze. 

Otto's work includes some of the topological Insights that 

Informed communication issues. Including co-authorship 

(NIeuwenhuljze & Wood, 2006). Some of the methods, or 

tools we used emerged partly as a response to difficulties of 

interpersonal relations that, for a short time, threatened our 

momentum when conducting practical workshops. Here, we 

used a corresponding, butdifferent mapping system. Assigning 

each researcher to one of four levels reduced unhelpful 

conflict, thereby enabling her/him to play an optimum role. 

We created four levels of collaboration, each represented by a 

'group'for holding the identity of one of the four roles. 

Complexity Role / Group Approach/Mode of Inquiry 

HIGHER 1 NEW KNOWING Intuitive / spontaneous / 

A anticipatory 

1 2 ENVISIONING imaginative/critical/ 

self-reflexive / tactical 

1 3 LANGUAGING discursive / interpretive / 

adaptive/facilitating 

V 4 PUSHING/DOING hands-on / decisive / 

LOWER resourceful / managerial 

Figure 5. The Four Groups and Their Roles 

Where the 'New Knowing' group acted as a kind of 

unconscious mind for the whole team, the'Languaging'group 

was able to create new meanings that would promote better 

communication. Where the 'Pushing & Doing' group focused 

on the delivery of specified outcomes, the 'Visioning' group's 

role was to anticipate possibilities, and to present options. 

synergies ^ 

within the 

domain of 

tools/methods 

/resources/ 

synergies at the conscious/ 

anaiyCica! / intellectual level 

O 

synergies at the somatic/ 

emotional/metabolic levels 

Figure 6. The Four Collaborative Roles 

synergies 

atthe 

interpersonal 

collaborative 

Gvels 

On March 21st, 2006 we gave the system a final test In the 

presence of a stakeholder, Andrew Carmichael, ofthe Creative 

Lewisham Agency. The workshop was extremely successful. 

During the 5-hour workshop we used the above tool to deliver 

several innovative solutions to Andrew's practical problem. 

THANKS: lam are grateful to ProfessorTom Innsand Vicky Hale 

for initiating and managing the Design in the 21st century 

project, and to the EPSRC and AHRC for their support. I am 

also indebted to our researchers: John Backwell, Professor 

Karen Blincoe, Andrew Carmichael, Dn Caroline Davey, Richard 

Douthwaite, Bill Dunster, Professor Naomi Gornick, Hannah 

Jones, Prof. Phil Jones, Prof. Milan Jaros, Dr. Vadim I. Kvitash, 

Anette Lundebye, Dr. Otto van NIeuwenhuljze, Jan- Marc 

Petroshka, Mathilda Tham, Professor Martin Woolley. 

FURTHER READING 

(See our m21 web-site - http://attainable-utopias.org/m21)

References 

Ascott, R., (1994) in Giaccardi, Elisa"IVletadesign asan Emergent 

Design Culture", Leonardo Journal, Volume 38, Number 4, 

August 2005, pp. 342-349 

Corning, P., (1983), "The Synergism Hypothesis", IVlcGraw-Hill, 

UK [see also http://www.complexsystems.org/publlcations/ 

pdf/synselforg.pdf] 

Douthwaite, R., (2006), "Economic Synergy", Journal of 

Landscape and Urban Planning, Landscape Ecology, Planning 

and Design ISSN: 0169 (at press) 

Dunster, W., {http://www.bedzed.org.uk/ 

Fuller, R. B., {1975), "Synergetics: Explorations In The Geometry 

OfThinking", in collaboration with E.J. Applewhite. Introduction 

and contribution by Arthur L. Loeb. Macmillan Publishing 

Company, Inc., NewYork. 

Galloway and Rabinowitz, (1983), quoted in Giaccardi, E. (2005). 

"Metadesign as An Emergent Design Culture" in Leonardo, 

Volume 38, Number 4, August 2005 

Giaccardi, E. (2005). "Metadesign as An Emergent Design 

Culture", in Leonardo, Volume 38, Number 4, August 2005 

Gornick,N.,{2006),"Convergence:NewManagementlmperatives 

and their Effect on Design Activity", Design Management Review 

Spnng 2006 Vol. 17 No. 2 (ISSN 1045-7194) 

Hawken, P., Lovins, A. B., & Lovins, L. H., (1999), "Natural 

Capitalism", Earthscan, 1999 

Jaros, M., (2006), "Towards re-definition of space-ness in the 

post-mechanical age: Methodological notes". Journal of 

Landscape and Urban Planning, Landscape Ecology, Planning 

and Design ISSN: 0169 (at press) 

Jones, H., (2006), "Sustainable Future Cities: How can Re 

evaluating the Potential of Awkward Spaces in the City lead to 

a Creative and Sustainable Urban Design of London?" Journal 

of Landscape and Urban Planning, Landscape Ecology, 

Planning and Design ISSN: 0169 (at press) 

Jones, P., (2006),"Modelling the Environment In Cities", Journal 

of Landscape and Urban Planning, Landscape Ecology, 

Planning and Design ISSN: 0169 (at press) 

Kvitash, v., (2004), "Balascopy System and Method with 

Improved Sensitivity", U.S. Patent No. 6,768,948 

Maturana, H. R. (1997) Metadesign, available at http://www. 

hum.auc.dk/'-rasand/Artikler/metadesign.htm 

McDonough, W., & Braungart, M., (2002), "Cradle to Cradle: 

remaking the way we make things, Rodale Books 

Murray, R., (2002), "Zero Waste" Greenpeace Environmental 

Trust 

Nieuwenhuijze, O., & Wood, J., (2006), "Synergy and Sympoiesis 

in the Writing of Joint Papers; anticipation with/in imagination" 

InternationalJournal of Computing Anticipatory Systems, edited 

by Daniel M.Dubois, published by the Centre for Hyperincursive 

Anticipation In Ordered Systems, Liege, Belgium, Volume 10, 

pp. 87-102, August 2006, ISSN 1373-541 (at press) 

Romer, P., M., (1987), "Growth Based on Increasing Returns 

Due to Specialization," American Economic Review, American 

Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 56-62, May 

Wood, J., (2005) "The Tetrahedron Can Encourage Designers 

To Formalise More Responsible Strategies", for the "Journal of 

Art, Design & Communication", Volume 3 Issue 3, Editor, Linda 

Drew, UK, ISSN: 1474273X 

Wood, J., (2005), "(How) Can Designers Learn to Enhance 

Synergy within Complex Systems?" conference paper given 

at the 'DESlGNsysîemEVOLUTlON' conference in Bremen, 

Germany, March 2005 

Wood, J., (2006), "Synergy City", Journal of Landscape and 

Urban Planning, Landscape Ecology, Planning and Design 

ISSN: 0169 (at press)

D I S C O U R S E T H R O U G H M A K I N G : T H E R O L E O F T H E D E S I G N E R-R E S E A R C H E R 

IN E L I C I T I N G K N O W L E D G E F O R I N T E R A C T I V E M E D I A L E A R N I N G R E S O U R C E S 

TQ S U P P O R T C R A F T S K I L L S L E A R N I N G 

Dr Nicola Wood 

Sheffield Hallam University 

nicola@nlcolawood.net 

Abstract 

In this paper I describe the development of techniques for 

eliciting craft knowledge for use in an interactive learning 

resource, illustrated with examples from two practical research 

projects. In each I explored the skills of both expert and novice 

craftpracl1tloners,firstly in thefield of traditional bowl turning 

and secondly in the field of traditional clog making. 

The result of this work was to highlight the personal, context- 

specific and highly tacit nature of such craft knowledge which 

Is explained through a review ofthe writings of Michael Polanyi 

and Donald Schön. I conclude by redefining the concept of 

knowledge elicitation and transmission in this context. I 

describe the role ofthe designer-researcher as helping the 

expert to articulate their tacit knowledge through stimulating 

reciprocal reflection between the expert and a novice, and 

designing interpretation to help bridge the knowledge gap 

between the two. 

Context for the research 

The central problem for my research has been, from the 

perspective of a designer of interactive media, howto understand 

and transmit the expert knowledge of skilled craftspeople, with 

particular interest in craft skills that may be disappearing even 

though there are people interested in preserving those skills 

and learning them. For example, many traditional rural skills are 

essentialforpreservlngourheritageofbuildingsandotheraspects 

of rural life, but there are few people left to pass on the knowledge 

and learners do not have the time for traditional apprenticeships 

(Heritage Lottery Fund 2002). My main aim has been to develop a 

body of knowledge to assist with the development of interactive 

learning materials that support learning of craft skills. 

In this research I have used a practice-led approach to explore 

the craft skills of both expert and novice practitioners in the 

fields of traditional bowl turning and clog making. In the 

light of outcomes from the practical work I have reconsidered 

the current context for craft knowledge and developed a 

framework to understand craft learning. Whilst they are not 

mutually exclusive, this paper focuses the first of three specific 

contributions to knowledge made by the research: in the field 

of multimedia design it establishes techniques for eliciting 

craft knowledge.' 

Documenting the research 

To manage the dual designer-researcher role undertaken In 

this research it was important to have an accurate recording 

process that allowed consideration from different perspectives 

and in the light of new knowledge as it emerged. However, for 

the research setting to be realistic, the recording process must 

not distract those under observation from their practice and 

equally must not require too much attention from myself 

When I reviewed the documentation of practical work 

undertaken during my previous research (Wood 2003), 

including use of handwritten notes, photography, audio and 

video recording, I concluded that video recording could most 

' The other two contributions: development of the interactive learning 

resource, refining previously published principles (Wood 2003); and 

development of a framework for understanding craft skills learning, 

shall be published separately at a later date. The complete research 

findings are available in my PhD thesis (Wood 2007).

closely meet these requirements through reinforcing the 

strengths and managing the problems. The major strength of 

video recording was being able to capture a very rich record, 

Including those events whose significance only became 

apparent later. 

However, the "always on" policy led to generation of a 

large number of tapes that needed to be catalogued and 

referenced and this was managed through a simple event 

logging procedure.The event logs summarised both activities 

and speech, aiming at a clear and concise narrative of the 

proceedings rather than a complete record. By wnting them 

Immediately afterthe recordings had taken place, I was abie to 

review them from the dual perspective of designer-researcher. 

They served both as a reminder of events that had taken place 

and allowed me to observe myself In action. 

Whilst some ofthe outcomes were explicit, such as decisions 

about camera angles or specific lines of questioning, many 

were tacit and I only became aware of them later, such as the 

conflicting opinions ofthe practitioners on the properties of 

timber described below. As Buur et al (2000) propose, "video 

recordings ... are no longer hard data but rather the first 

attempts to create stones that frame the design problem and 

impose order on the complexity of everyday life". 

Formal elicitatton with the bowl turner 

In my first practical project I expenmentally used a systems- 

onentated approach to explore the tacit knowledge within 

the practice of an experienced traditional bowl turning 

practitioner, Robin Wood.^ This involved a series of interviews 

and observations to elicit craft knowledge from him, using 

a low-fidelity prototype learning resource as a means of 

representing that knowledge, and observing learners applying 

the knowledge through using the resource to support their 

learning. In this paper I shall focus on the elicitation part of 

the process. 

^ I shall refer to the craft practitioners by their first names to avoid the 

confusion between 'Wood' the practitioner and 'wood' the material 

he works with. 

Dunng the elicitation! experimented with both on-line and off 

line verbal reportagetechniques using concurrentverbalisation, 

where Robin was filmed giving a verbal report as he earned out 

his normal practice; and stimulated recall, where he was filmed 

undertaking his normal practice and immediately afterwards 

reviewed the recording and commented on his practice. After 

both sessions issues arising from the reportage were used as 

a basis for semi-structured interviews with the aim of probing 

more deeply into his knowledge. 

Whilst Robin appeared at ease talking in front of the video 

camera In both sessions, my attempts at questioning were 

frequentiy dismissed or prompted defensive answers. For 

example. In the observational video he could be seen regulady 

stopping turning to inspect the surface of the wood and as 

he did so he often ran his fingertips over the surface too. On 

four occasions I suggested that the sense of touch played a 

part in this inspection, but he constantly denied or avoided 

the issue: 

01.02 RESEARCHER: You can just see those bumps or 

can you feel them? 

PRACTITIONER: You can tell when they've gone 

because ofthe noise it makes. 

01.15 RESEARCHER: That's what you're feeling with your 

hand? 

PRACTITIONER: I was seeing them. 

RESEARCHER: Seeing them? 

PRACTITIONER: Yes I turned it slowly round and I 

could see them - and 1 could see how deep they are so I 

can see how much to take off in this cut here. 

01.27 RESEARCHER: You're also stroking It aren't you? 

PRACTITIONER: Yes - a littie bit - yes - I'm pointing 

there at - um - I'm pointing there at where it needs to be 

cut ofl". 

11.21 RESEARCHER: And there you're checking it - is that 

visual or feel or both? 

PRACTITIONER: It's mostly visual: you can see the 

tear out and I'm making an aesthetic decision on what 

quantity is OK. 

(Wood 2007:35)

However, my initial feelings about this observation were 

confirmed about a year later when I was asked to contribute 

video material showing craft makers using their sense of 

touch for an exhibition. In this context I asked Robin again 

about using his sense of touch and he talked quite openly 

about feeling with his fingers to differentiate between tear- 

out on the surface of the wood that needed to be removed 

and natural dark markings in the wood grain, which did not. 

Asobservedbyotherresearchers in similarsltuations (Shad bolt 

& Milton 1999, Edwards 2003), when pressed into talking 

about elements that he did not have immediate answers for, 

the practitioner's initial reaction was to give quick responses 

that gave minimal insight into the situation. Argyris (1995) 

commented that when individuals discovered a difference 

between their espoused theory and their theory-in-use their 

natural tendency was to attempt to preserve their espoused 

theory, or at least minimise damage to it. 

Such defensiveness proved a block to the elicitation process in 

the early part ofthe project, but Robin became much more open 

once engaged with helping the learners directly. For example, 

when one learner was critical of what he thought he had been 

told by Robin and explained how he had modified a technique 

to make it work, Robin was quite accepting ofthe criticism: 

LEARNER: One thing that's quite difficult. You're saying 

that I'm to put It In at this angle, at times anyway, but 

you're also saying to turn it this way, whereas if it's flat 

onto that and I turn it this way then obviously it comes 

out. So I've just been inching my hand along. 

PRACTITIONER: So you've been listening to what I say 

then v/orking out the actual way to do it, obviously! 

(Wood 2007:126) 

However, upon reviewing the video of the Robin's original 

instruction, I surmised it had been correct and the problem 

had been that the learner had not remembered what he had 

been told., Given this, it is notable that Robin did not respond 

in a defensive manner and Instead provided encouragement 

that the learner had worked out what to do. 

I concluded that, whilst elicitation via purposeful interviews 

and observations provided much useful material, it triggered 

a defensive attitude in the craft practitioner which limited 

the knowledge elicited. More was revealed by involving the 

practitioner in the subsequent work with the learners and the 

developing learning resource, and this led to an adaptation of 

the techniques for the following elicitation with the clog maker. 

Gradual elicitation with the ciog maker 

In the second project I undertook a series of video-recordings 

with a traditional clog maker, Jeremy Atkinson, during which 

I developed a less intrusive elicitation technique based on 

increasingly focussed observation and Interviewing. This 

overcame the defensiveness encountered with the first 

practitioner with whom I had Initially used an elicitation 

approach based on his descriptions of his practice. 

The elicitation technique used during this phase of practical 

work involved a hybrid ofthe focussed observation, concurrent 

verbalisation and semi-structured interview techniques that 

had been used with the previous practitioner. I started with 

very general observation and open questions aimed at gaining 

contextual Information, and then gradually Increased the focus 

of observation and questioning as my understanding grew. 

To help with contextualisation, the interviews were nearly 

all based in the workshop whilst Jeremy was undertaking his 

regular practice. 

I visited Jeremy six times over a period of approximately two 

months. During each recording session I would watch his work, 

take notes, and talk to him whilst also continuously filming 

proceedings. Afterwards, I would watch the video, compare 

with my notes and decide upon areas requiring further 

clarification to be used as the basis for discussion during the 

next session. So, each session built upon the proceeding one 

with any gaps filled In by the semi-structured interviewing. 

Only thefinal session was more formal In nature, where I asked 

direct questions to fill in specific areas of uncertainty. By that 

stage he was completely at ease with the recording equipment 

and myself and readily talked directly to the camera in answer 

to the questions. 

Dunng these recordings I was also able to observe and record 

Jeremy's interaction with someone he was teaching. This 

learner was not a complete novice, having experience both

of working with anotfier practitioner and working on İıİs own. 

Dunng the interview i gained the impression that working 

with the learner had made Jeremy think much more about his 

own skills through trying to communicate his practice to the 

learner. Whilst I was unable to openly interview the learner 

and had little time with him when Jeremy was not present, 

I felt his perception of the craft to be very useful. In further 

research I plan to explore the role of the 'expert learner' as an 

aid to elicitadon. 

This process of gradual immersion enabled me to come 

to a wide-ranging understanding of the craft without the 

difficulties encountered in the first, tentative stage of practical 

work, showing that this stage was effective in refining and 

developing elicitation methods. However, my official remit 

whilst undertaking the recordings of Jeremy was to generate 

archive footage so I did not have the opportunity to develop 

and test a learning resource which led me to consider other 

ways of validating the knowledge I was eliciting. 

Boundaries to knowledge 

Whilst I was able to undertake some quite deep questioning 

without triggering defensiveness in the clog maker, there still 

remained some issues where his stated theory was at variance 

with my understanding. As I did not have the opportunity to 

develop any interpretation for such theory and test It through 

a learning resource, I undertook a deeper investlgarion which 

revealed boundaries to his knowledge. 

For example. In the documented history of clog making, alder 

and birch were the most commonly used clog timbers. Itinerant 

labourers would fell the trees and rough-cut them Into clog- 

blocks which would be sold to clog makers who would refine 

the shape and nail on the uppers. Jones (1927:46) states, "the 

blocks must be left to dry for some months before they can be 

shaped into so!es."Jeremy wasof the opinion this was because 

otherwise it would split. His experience of working alder dated 

to the 1970s when he was originally taught the craft 

"what we used to do was we'd go out, we'd cut a tree 

down, we'd come back, we'd rough cut it and ... we'd 

leave it on the north side of a stream, under cover 

against a wall. I mean you couldn't get a damper place. 

It would be left there in the air to circulate on a rack for 

six weeks, maybe, at least five, if you didn't do that it 

would crack on you." 

(Wood 2007:92) 

However, Robin's experience of using green alder to make 

bowls was that it suffered from a large amount of shrinkage as 

it dried. As this shrinkage was not even; tangenrial shrinkage 

can be as much as twice radial shrinkage (see Figure 1) the 

wood will definitely warp and could split To stop the splitring, 

his method of working any green wood, but parriculariy 

alder with its high rate of shrinkage, was to remove the pith 

and central few growth rings where the tension was at its 

greatest. 

Figure 1. Timber shrinkage. 

Jeremy's experience of the problems of cracking might have 

been caused by his own teacher's inexperience, as at that 

time he too was quite new to the craft Thirty years later when 

teaching the novice who was now working with Jeremy, this 

teacher appeared to have overcome the problem in the same 

way as Robin described: 

CLOG iVlAKER, splitring the remaining log in two:"When 

you cut alder you are supposed to get rid ofthe centre 

anyway." 

RESEARCHERS NOVICE:"Mmm." 

CLOG MAKER: "So Robin told me" 

NOVICE: "Trevor [the teacher] told me that as well." 

CLOG MAKER (sounding surprised): "Did he? Must be 

true then, must be," 

(Wood 2007:93)

As the itinerant block-cutters were able to cut and dry whole 

blocks presumably without many of them splitting, this must 

have been common knowledge at the time and it should have 

been equally feasible to cut and dry complete soles without 

them splitting. I fee! a more likely reason for this not being 

done was because the sole would shrink and warp as it was 

drying making it uncomfortable and uneven to walk in. 

Jeremy, having had a bad experience with alder, put his energy 

Into learning to use sycamore. Having solved his problem 

through switching tracks he was disinclined to re-examine 

why he had struggled with alder, preferring to believe it was 

thefault of the wood. In his case I feel It was lackof other craft 

masters that left these assumptions unchallenged. 

Unpicking the possible origins of Jeremy's beliefs alongside 

my own and Robin's provided insight into the difficulties 

caused to the elicitation process bythe context-specific nature 

of such knowledge. It highlighted the importance of the 

interplay between representation and validation of elicited 

craft knowledge In learning resource design. It would not be 

possible to investigate the'truth'of all elicited knowledge and, 

as such investigation could also lead to defensiveness from 

the practitioner, it would also be inadvisable. The designer 

would need to validate any Interpretation they created for 

the learning resource and other material generated during 

elicitation should retain its original context whenever possible 

so the learner can form their own judgement and make their 

own interpretation. 

The nature of craft knowledge 

To fully explain the means by which this elicited knowledge 

could be used by a novice and the role of the designer- 

researcher in the process, I shall firstly provide a brief literature 

review relating to the nature of craft knowledge and the ways 

in which it can be transmitted, illustrated by examples from 

the research. 

The greatest insight into the nature of the knowledge that 

governs craft practice was provided by Michael Polanyi who 

sought to challenge the perception of scientific knowledge 

as an exact, impersonal entity through drawing parallels with 

more creative professions. He proposed that any expression 

of knowledge was greatly influenced by a complex range of 

knowledge possessed by the person in the act of knowing 

and suggested that, whilst explicit rules or formulae might 

Influence a skilful performance, it was actually the performer's 

wider personal knowledge that played the largest role In 

guiding the performance (Polanyi 1958). He observed that 

much ofthis knowledge was so internalised and interwoven 

it was not possible to express: "we can know more than we 

can tell" (Polanyi 1966:4) and such knowledge became widely 

known as tacit knowledge. 

On a functional level, tacit knowledge could beseen as offering 

advantage to the craft practitioner by reducing cognitive load, 

freeing the mind from one level of a task to enable thought 

to be directed at another. This element was described bythe 

clog maker, Jeremy, when talking about the difficulties ofthe 

novice he was training: 

"[the novice has] got to the point where he can manage 

everything but he's concentrating so much on each 

individual task he doesn't look at the whole. Which Is 

easy to do. It's just a sort of transitional thing. He can do 

all the Individual things but because he's concentrating 

so hard on it he's not always stepping back." 

(Wood 2007:122) 

Polanyi (1966:10) differentiated between two terms of 

tacit knowing: the proximal and the distal and described 

the functional relationship between the two as knowing 

the proximal term only by relying on our awareness of it 

for attending to the distal. This explains the difficulty the 

practitioners had describing the theory that governed their 

practice, they only knew it through attending to their practice. 

He further described the phenomenal structure of tacit 

knowing as that we attend from the proximal to the distal: we 

attend from the theory to things seen in its light, hence theory 

could only be learned through practising its use, a process he 

called interiorisatlon (ibid:17) (see Figure 2). 

Polanyi (ibid:18) also considered the reverse of this process, 

where the focus of the practitioner's attention was returned 

to the theory. The immediate result of the action becoming 

proximal and the theory distal was often a complete loss of 

meaning; "By concentrating attention on his fingers, a pianist

can temporarily paralyse his movement". How/ever, Polanyi 

believed the long-term effect need not be negative, destructive 

analysis of such i

Donaid Schön (1987:101) similarly referred to "an apparently 

unbridgeable communication gap" between novice and 

expert, however he suggested the solution was in "reciprocal 

reflection-in-action" implying that the expert needed to make 

as much effort as the novice in the process of bridging it. The 

expert needed to view the novice's actions in response to 

instruction as revealing the meaning they had constructed 

for that instruction. They needed to observe the novice's 

actions reflectively and respond back until they felt there was 

a convergence in meaning {ibid;104). 

fvly perception ofthis process is illustrated In Figure 3.'^ At the 

top there Is the personal knowledge ofthe expert practitioner 

and below is that of the novice who Is seeking to bring 

their craft skill at least up to the level of the expert. Initially, 

however, there is a 'knowledge gap' between the two where 

the novice struggles to Imitate the expert's practice, being 

unable to interpret their own observations. To assist, the 

expert attempts to articulate their tacit knowledge through 

use of explicit concepts. These might be adapted and refined 

through reciprocal reflection until the novice and expert are 

in accord, the novice gains experience which enables them to 

dwell in the actions ofthe expert, and the gap is bridged. 

Figure 3. Bridging the knowledge gap between craft expert 

and novice. 

''Whilst this may look like a graph, it is not intended in any way as 

a mathematical representation, but merely as an illustration ofthe 

concept. 

My role in this process has been both to encourage the 

articulation, helping negotiate reciprocal reflection between 

expert and novice, and to design the 'bridges': the explicit 

concepts that could help a novice access the expert's tacit 

knowledge. 

This was demonstrated In the research where I helped Robin 

articulate his knowledge of how to achieve the correct 

cutting angle ofthe tool (Wood 2007:121). During the formal, 

experimental elicitation I had undertaken I had failed to 

understand his technical explanation using angles. Working with 

the novice appeared to help Robin reflect on his explanation of 

the cutting angle of the tool. As the novice struggled to respond 

to his guidance he tried both modifying his explanation and 

physically putting the tool at the correct angle. Whilst this 

reciprocal reflection was not entirely satisfactory as the novice 

continuedtostruggletousethetool,afterwards Robin continued 

to reflect on the experience and came up with the notion of 

dividing the movement into three which he demonstrated for 

me to record on video. Although this explanation was hesitant, 

it was sufficient for me to gain an understanding and then to 

use the prototype learning resource to develop interpretive 

drawings with other learners. These helped the learners gain 

experience ofthe correct cutting angle ofthe tool as a starting 

point for building their own personal knowledge of tool use. 

Once the novice has sufficient skill, they will become 

increasingly able to interpret the actions of the expert without 

need of bridges. This was Illustrated by Robin when he 

described watching another turner who uses the same sort of 

hook tools but on an electric lathe, making a bowl on Robin's 

foot-powered lathe: 

"He just naturally turned the tool over and cut back at 

it from that side, which I'd never done before and I said, 

"oh no, you don't use it that way" and then I stopped 

and thought, "ah, that's actually quite helpful" and so I 

do that quite often myself if I've not got a flat rim. So I'd 

been a full time professional turner for 5 years before I 

started doing that" (Wood 2007:128). 

As they reach this stage, the learners will increasingly be able 

to use the broader scope of a learning resource, making use of 

a wider range of video clips provided without interpretation.

Conclusion 

The practical l

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Sheffield Hallam Universityavailablefromwww.nicolawood.net

BEYOND DISASTER: ON ESTABLISHING A GREEK-TURKISH DESIGN RESEARCH 

PROGRAMM E 

Artemis Yagou 

Dr, MA CourseTutor, AKTO art and design (Atlnens) 

artemis@yagou.gr 

Abstract 

The "Catastrophe of Smyrni", or in other words the Izmir 

disaster of 1922 which brought a ternble end to the Greei

Greeks, Armenians and Jews.^ During the 19th century, the 

foreign inhabitants had transformed both its image as well as 

its social character,turningthecitylnto a typical, cosmopolitan, 

bourgeois port of late colonialism.^ Like other big ports ofthe 

eastern Mediterranean, Izmir constituted a place of "Intense 

meeting" with European capitalism.^ Most of the trade was 

in the hands of Greek merchants, who created through their 

activities an extensive network of relations between Ottoman 

markets and those of the West. In the late Ottoman Empire, 

Greeks and Armenians formed the majority of merchants 

and nouveau riche entrepreneurial groups.^ Greek and other 

foreign communities were sources of a variety of cultural 

influences emanating from the West.^ In this way, they acted 

as agents of modernisation and "Europeanlsatlon". 

Following the disaster, Greek society was fertilized by 

the refugees on many levels and their contribution in 

the formation of modern Greece has been invaluable.'" 

Their massive number was itself a major factor, as It added 

significantly to the available workforce and at the same 

time enlarged demand in the local market. The population 

exchanges resulted in the creation of a rich, multilingual and 

multicultural human force, bearing numerous traditions and 

different types of professional knowledge, including weaving, 

tapestry, ceramics, woodcarving, metalwork, and decorative 

painting." Special skills and competencies were transplanted 

and new industrial sectors introduced, such as carpet- 

making and tobacco cultivation. The special skills of Asia 

Minor refugees certainly constituted the motivation behind 

the establishment of several new industries In the 1920s.'^ 

Furthermore, many Greek entrepreneurs who were relocated 

from Asia Minor enriched the local business environment 

through their know-how and networking.'^ The ramifications 

of the 1922 events acted as a major catalyst and it may be 

argued that they signalled the true start of Greek modernity.'" 

In his discussion of Greek industrialization efforts in the 19th 

and early 20th centuries, a Greek historian notes that perhaps 

the local society needed external pressures to change; these 

were provided by the 1922 events.'^ 

A recent study emphasizes the need to understand the impact 

ofthe 1922 disaster both in terms ofthe conjecture, as well 

as within an international context.'^The presence of refugees 

affected in three ways the development ofthe manufacturing 

domain (both large and small-size industries): first through 

the expansion of the internal market that it caused, secondly 

through the entrepreneurship skills that the refugees brought 

with them, and thirdly through the Increase in workforce 

availability. All three factors were related to design": The 

first one, the expansion ofthe internal market, increased the 

demand for manufactured consumer goods, contributed 

to the emergence or maturing of a consumer society and 

in this sense paved the way for developments in the design 

domain. The second one, the import of entrepreneurial skills, 

is also relevant if we consider design as one of the tools in the 

arsenal of an entrepreneur, although this point might not be 

as clear at that time as İt is today. The third one, the increase 

in workforce availability has a crucial quantitative dimension, 

but also an important qualitative one, as many ofthe refugees 

were skilled workers, agents of significant know-how in 

their respective, applied arts domains. Thus, they enabled 

an Increase In productivity and supported the development 

ofthe manufacturing sector. In practice, however, the effect 

ofthe disaster was not an isolated phenomenon and should 

not be examined within a deterministic conception of history; 

its action relied heavily on pre-existing structures of Greek 

industry.'^ Between 1917 and 1922, warfare conditions had 

created increased demand for products but also made imports 

more difficult. Thus, they had created favourable conditions 

for local Industries producing consumer goods.'^ 

Also, before 1922, Greek industry was characterized by 

intense fragmentation into small or very small firms based 

on the exploitation of low wages and there was no tendency 

towards the accumulation of capital. This tendency was 

further intensified by the urgent employment needs of the 

refugees, who had to be incorporated into the workforce as 

quickly as possible. Light industry was an appropriate outlet 

for the newly arrived masses of unemployed. By becoming 

poorly paid workers, they would contribute to the increase of 

production for an expanded market, while at the same time 

they would help keep the investment demands at a low level.^" 

It might even be argued that the disaster turned out to be a 

blessing for industrial capital, because it provided the missing 

element for a decisive transformation of merchant capital to 

Industrial capital: a proletariat formed by the "up-rootIng" of 

Greek-speaking populations from Minor Asla.^'Thus, there was 

a complementary, dynamic relationship between the numbers

and types of refugees and the structures and pnorities already 

established in the country. 

As one can imagine, despite substantial state support to the 

refugees, their adaptation and survival in the new "homeland" 

was a Promethean task. The social and cultural conditions in 

mainland Greece ofthe 1920s were radically different from 

those in multi-cultural, cosmopolitan izmir.The majonty ofthe 

newcomers were urban rather than agrarian populations.^^ 

They were accustomed to cultural variety, to which they 

were daily exposed in their homelands, and considered 

locals as narrow-minded, uneducated and crude." They 

criticized them for lack of professional and entrepreneurial 

knowledge, and decried the poverty of the Greek state.^'^ 

On the other hand, although they shared religious beliefs 

with the locals, the "Greekness" of the refugees was gravely 

questioned. Their presence In Greece constituted a true 

"cultural shock". Their parricularities of language, customs 

and mentality added up to what was perceived by the locals 

as a threat to their own supposed cultural purity. Feelings of 

mutual suspicion, even hostility, soon developed and stood in 

the way of co-existence.^^ The social and political alienarion 

that the newcomers experienced further intensified their 

sense of distincrive identity.^'^"We, the people of Asia Minor" 

they would say, In order to distinguish themselves from the 

Inhabitants of mainland Greece. Memory was central to the 

life of refugee communiries In Greece, even five decades after 

their deportation. A study of urban ethnography in 1970s 

Athens reveals that the refugees and their descendants srill 

perceived themselves as having a distinct identity of which 

they were proud." 

Nationalisms and modernities 

The culmination of the destrucrion of Izmir in 1922 was the 

Great Fire that wiped out the "Frank" district, the commercial 

and cultural centre of the city at the time, as well as the 

Armenian and Greek quarters. "The Great Fire Involved the 

literal and symbolic destrucrion of the city, which from 

being an unremarkable small town in the sixteenth century 

had experienced spectacular growth and development to 

become in the nineteenth century the most favoured port of 

the Eastern Mediterranean. Late Ottoman Smyrna embraced 

a cosmopolitan population of over 200,000 in which the 

demographic and economic dominance of the non-Muslim 

groups significantly marked the city."^^ The Great Fire of Izmir 

did not only consume three quarters ofthe formeriy bustling 

city, it also signified the symbolic destruction of space and 

history. Disasterand destrucrion were in this case also creation, 

an attempt to build places of counter-memory by eradlcaring 

the imagination ofthe dying Empire and constructing a new 

narional imaginary.^^ Kemalist authority was defining itself as 

antagonisric to the Ottoman past; Ottoman centuries were 

deleted from Turkish history or limited to a large parenthesis 

speaking of corruprion.^" Alongside the elimination of the 

Ottoman past, very litrie has been written on the historical 

role Greece has played in the formarion of modern Turkey.^' 

On the other side of the Aegean, similar strategies were 

employed in the attemptto solidify the ideological dominance 

ofthe nation-state. A deliberate decoupling of the "oriental" 

Ottoman past from the quasi westernized post-revolutionary 

Greek state had been taking place within the process ofthe 

construcrion of the narion-state since the mid-nineteenth 

century.^^The Ottoman reality of neariy four hundred years is 

rourinely overlooked till today, unless it is invoked asa negative 

influence and the cause of contemporary problems resulting 

from a supposedly "oriental" mentality.^^ The instrucrion of 

history in schools perpetuates the conceprion of the "purity" 

of Greek culture, which Is presented as "uncontaminated" 

from foreign elements. As in the case of Izmir, Salonica, and 

many other dries, reconfiguration of the cityscape has been 

fundamental to the process of crearing a narionalist imagery, 

in his fascinaring historical account of Salonica, Mazower 

states:"[...] Forgetring the Ottomans was part of Greece's claim 

to modernity."^'' 

Indeed, "narionalism comes with an acrive process of forgetring 

and selecrive remembering; remembering what was supposed 

to be forgotten brings about one of the most significant 

challenges against nationalisric senriments."^^ Through 

such processes, both Greek and Turkish narional formarions 

have achieved a high level of homogenlzarion, leading to a 

generalized and standardized culture, where pre-modern 

cultural varieries have been absorbed into a homogenous 

whole.^^The Asia Minor refugees themselves have been socially 

constructed as a homogenous group, a fact which facilitated 

their subsequent polirical and institutional manipulation.

especially their assimilation into the Greek "national body". 

The social and cultural variety of these people was suppressed 

for the sake of national unification." Nowadays, however, a 

process of'retrospective re-reading"of the histories of Modern 

Greece and Turkey Is underway through various research 

initiatives."^^ There are numerous Indications of an Increasing, 

mutual interest in unraveling without prejudice the conditions 

and consequences of Greek-Turkish co-habitation which lasted 

several centuries.^^ As Mazowerargues,"Nation-states construct 

their own image ofthe past to shore up their ambitions for the 

future. [...] But today the old delusions of grandeur are being 

replaced by a more sober sense of what individual countries 

can achieve alone. As small states integrate themselves in a 

wider world, [...] the stringently patrolled and narrow-minded 

conception of history which they once nurtured and which 

gave them a kind of justification starts to look less plausible 

and less necessary. Other futures may require other pasts."'''' 

Research resources and possible directions 

A designscape is the design equivalent of a landscape or 

cityscape, the set of material and human elements which 

constitute a design-related situation. The reconfiguration of 

designscapes during nation-stateformation and development 

is a process analogous to the reconfiguration of cityscapes 

already mentioned; it is perhaps less visible, but no less 

real. My paper calls for a contemporary reconfiguration of 

designscapes in Greece and Turkey, through joint research 

projects that will discover, bring to attention and analyze all 

that has been forgotten, hidden or manipulated. In this final 

part of my paper, I will suggest sources and point to possible 

research directions in the design. 

Naturally, the cultural influences brought by the masses of 

refugees complemented their Impact on politics and the 

economy. One of the best known examples from the cultural 

domain is that ofthe rebetlko music typology.The emergence 

ofthis typology in Greek urban centres has been studied in 

connection to the musical tradition of refugees fro m Asia Minor, 

a tradition which had assimilated both folk and cosmopolitan 

elements.'" Influences in the visual and design domains have 

been however more obscure and under-researched. One 

Interesting exception Is the ethnographic work on refugees by 

Hirschon, who notes the symbolic roles that many mundane. 

household objects, such as chairs, tables and beds, held 

for the refugees. These objects were invested with special 

significance within the household, as they stood for the sacred 

values of family unity, sociability and hospitality."^ Generally 

speaking, cultural elements emanating from the refugees or 

from other local ethnic groups were undesirable and were 

adapted to conform to nationalist cultural and aesthetic 

ideals. For example, in interwar Greece, local traditional arts 

were baptized "Greek folk art" and "nationalized'^ thus losing 

all their multiethnic Balkan and Turkish-Islamic cultural wealth 

that had been developing since the eighteenth century." 

Other recent work shows how the concept of Greekness has 

been widely employed throughout the twentieth century to 

invest products of industrial and graphic design with desirable 

qualities. In accordance to prevailing nationalist ideologies.""' 

There is currently a wealth of material which remains hidden 

and unexploited, and could become a valuable resource 

for design historical research projects between Turkey 

and Greece. At a first stage, domain-specific comparative 

studies could be developed in order to bring to light original 

archival material, generate factual information and visual 

documentation, and create the basis for further research. 

Carpet-making is perhaps the most significant area of design 

and manufacturing in terms of refugee involvement. Just after 

the 1922 disaster, carpet-making experienced a boom, which 

was supported by the availability of cheap labour, especially 

female labour. Companies which had been operating from 

Izmir or other parts of the Ottoman Empire became active 

from a Greek base {usually Athens) and continued to supply 

European and American markets."^ Ceramics, bearing a long 

tradition In Asia Minor, Is another area which deserves special 

attention. Subsequently, more specific research questions and 

projects may be formulated in the areas of aesthetics, product 

typologies and product uses. Possible research resources are 

historical and folklore museums in Greece and Turkey, such 

as the BenakI Museum, the Greek Folk Art Museum and the 

Museum of Traditional Pottery, all in Athens;''^ the Centre for 

Asia Minor Studies, Athens;''^The Programme ofTurklsh Studies 

ofthe Institute of Mediterranean Studies, University of Crete;''^ 

various university departments dealing with Modern Greek, 

Turkish, Balkan or South-East European studies, photographic 

archives in the respective institutions, the press (newspapers 

and popular magazines), as well as private collections. Most

ofthe resources available have so far remained untapped due 

to prevailing, persisting beliefs that obstruct a historically- 

informed understanding of our shared past, present and 

future, 

Conclusion 

Having a major disaster as its starting point, this paper has 

identified gaps and possibilities in design historical research. 

It has been suggested that those changes In Greek and Turkish 

societies which are related to the Izmir disaster constitute a 

privileged field for studying the processes of formation of 

modern societies from a design perspective. The paper has 

provided a bnef outline of this emerging research area, which 

appears very promising from a design history point of view 

and offers exciting opportunities for cross-disciplinary, cross- 

national and cross-cultural research. 

CV 

Artemis Yagou (PhD, MA) is a design researcher and educator 

based in Athens, Greece. She teaches on the interdisciplinary 

MA in Design course at AKTO art and design (private college, 

Athens), and pursues independent research Into the history of 

Greek design. Currently, her work Is pnmanly focused on the 

uses of nationalism in design, on the history of Greek design 

education, as well as on design history in the context of the 

history of technology. She publishes regularly in international 

journals and In 2006 was invited speaker at the National 

Technical University of Athens and the University of Leeds. 

She is a member of the Executive Committee of the European 

Academy of Design. Personal website: www.yagou.gr 

Footnotes: 

1 Matthew Stewart, "Catastrophe at Smyrna", History Today, 

vol. 54 (7), July 2004, 27-33. 

2 Renee Hirschon, Heirs of the Greek Catastrophe - The 

Social Life of Asia Minor Refugees In Piraeus, Athens: Cultural 

Foundation of the National Bank of Greece, 2004, 17-18 [in 

Greek]. English edition: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989,94-95. 

3 Mark Mazower, The Balkans - From the End of Byzantium to 

the Present Day, London: Phoenix Press, 2000, 116-123. 

4 Yorgos Tzedopoulos, Beyond the Catastrophe - Asia Minor 

Refugees in Interwar Greece, Athens: Foundation of the 

Hellenic World, 2003. [in Greek] 

5 Caglar Keyder, "History and Geography of Turkish 

Nationalism", in:Thalia Dragona and Faruk Birtek (eds), Greece 

and Turkey - Citizen and Nation-State, Athens: Alexandria, 

2006, 26 [in Greek]. English edition: Faruk Birtek and Thalia 

Dragona (eds), Cirizenship and the Nation-State In Greece and 

Turkey, Oxford: Rouriedge (Taylor & Francis Group), 2005. 

6 Ibid, 35. 

7 Faruk Birtek,"TheGreek Bull in theChina Shop of theOttoman 

'Great Chimera' - The Role of Greece In the Construcrion of 

Modern Turkey", in: Dragona and Birtek, 100. 

8 Keyder, 26. 

9 For example, major architects in the area -mosriy of 

Greek origin - renewed local architecture by introducing 

new typologies and employing novel aestheric styles. For a 

discussion of Izmir architecture, see: Vassills Colonas, Greek 

Architects in the Ottoman Empire (19th-20th centuries), 

Athens: OIkos, 2005,92-125. 

10 Hirschon (1989), 23. See also: Kostas Katsapis, "The 

Rehabilitation of Refugees in Interwar Greece: The General 

Ouriine", In Tzedopoulos, 38-40.

11 Eugenios Matthiopoulos, "Fine Arts" in: Christos Hadzİİossif, 

History of Greece in the 20th Century, 1922-1940 The Interwar 

Years, vol. B, part 1, Athens: Viviiorama, 2003, 402 and 412. [in 

Greek] 

12 Hirschon (1989), 165. 

13 Hirschon (1989), 43-44. 

14 Alkis Rigos, The 2nd Greek Democracy 1924-1935, Social 

Dimensions ofthe Political Scene Athens: Themelio, 1999, 74. 

[In Greek] 

15 Alexis Polltis, "A Small Piece of Global Experience", in 

Imprints of Time - Historical Essays for a Non-theoretical 

Theory, Athens: Polis, 2006,198-211. [in Greek] 

16 Christos Hadziiossif, "The Refugee Shock, the Constants 

and Changes of Greek Economy", in Christos Hadziiossif (ed). 

History of Greece in the 20th century. The Interwar Years 1922- 

1940, vol. B, part 1, Athens: Viviiorama, 2002,10. 

17 It should of course be stressed here that the word "design" 

did not have at the time the sense that it has now, nor did 

the word "designer" exist in its present meaning, especially 

in Greece. On the issue of terminology, see: Artemis Yagou, 

"What is Design? The Issue of Greek Terminology in the Area 

of Industrial Design" [In Greek], 3rd Conference ofthe Hellenic 

Society for Terminology: "Greek language and terminology" 

(Conference Proceedings), Athens, 1-3 November 2001, 129- 

137. On the professionalisation of design; Artemis Yagou, "The 

Emergence of Industrial Design in Interwar Greece 1922-1940" 

Design History Society Newsletter, no 100, January 2004,9. 

18 Hadziiossif, 23. 

19Katsapis,33. 

20 Hadziiossif, 20. 

21 AristotleTympas,"What Have We Been since'We Have Never 

Been Modern'? A Macro-Historical Perİodizatİon Based on 

Historiographical Considerations on the History ofTechnology 

In Ancient and Modern Greece", ICON, vol. 8,2002,76-106. 

22 Hirschon (1989), 99. 

23 Keyder, 80. Hirschon (1989), 53. 

24 Keyder, 85. 

25 Katsapis [2], "Confrontations between Locals and Refugees 

in Interwar Greece", in:Tzedopoulos, 113. 

26 Hirschon (1989), 122. 

27 Ibid, 17-18. 

28 Biray Kolluoğlu Kırlı, "Forgetting the Smyrna Fire", History 

Workshop Journal, issue 60,2005, 25-44. 

29 Kırlı, 27. On the refugee experience In relation to nationalism, 

see also: loanna Laliotou, "Refugees and the Refugee Issue In 

the 20th century", InTzedopoulos, 175-184. 

30 Hamit Bozarslan, A History of Modern Turkey, Athens: 

Savalas Editions, 2004, 48. [in Greek] French edition: Hamit 

Bozarslan, Histoire de la Turquie Contemporaine, Paris: La 

Decouverte, 2004. For an extensive discussion of modernity 

and secularism in Turkey, with special emphasis on the visual 

domain, see: Alev ÇInar, Modernity, Islam, and Secularism in 

Turkey: Bodies, Place and Time, Minneapolis: University of 

Minnesota Press, 2005. 

31 Faruk, 83-84. See also: Hakan Erdem,'"Do not Consider the 

Greeks as Labourers'-The Reactions of Ottoman Authority to 

the Greek Revolution", in: Dragona and Bİrtek, 137 and 154- 

161. 

32 Kostas R Kostis,"The Formation ofthe State In Greece, 1830- 

1914", in: Dragona and Birtek, 52. 

33 Thalia Dragona, Büşra Ersanll, Anna Frangoudaki, "How 

Greek and Turkish Pupils Perceive History, Nation and 

Democracy" In: Dragona and Birtek, 336. 

34 Mark Mazower, Salonlca City of Ghosts, Christians, Muslims 

and Jews 1430-1950, London: Harper Perennial, 2005,474.

35 Kırlı, 38. 

36 İlkay Sunar, "Thoughts on Nations and Nationalism with 

Reference to Turkey and Greece", In: Dragona and Birtek, 354- 

355. Also: Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism, London: Sage, 1995. 

37 Yorgos Tzedopoulos, "Introduction", in:Tzedopoulos, 15. 

38 Birtek, 87. Selected examples of related initiatives are: 

Renee Hirschon, Crossing the Aegean - An Appraisal of the 

1923 Compulsory Population Exchange Between Greece and 

Turkey, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2003; Nationalism, Society 

and Culture in Post-Ottoman South-East Europe (International 

Conference), St Peter's College, University of Oxford, 29-30 May 

2004; Nationalism in the Troubled Tnangle: Cyprus, Greece and 

Turkey (International Conference), University of Cyprus, 10-11 

November 2006; South European Society and Politics, vol. 

11, issue 1, 2006 (special issue on the anthropology of Greek 

views of Turks). 

39 New trends in historiography in the areas of Balkan History 

and Turkish Studies are discussed in: Christina Kouloun, "New 

ChallengesfortheStudyofModern Greek History", presented in 

the 1 stHellenicObservatoryPhDSymposiumonModernGreece: 

"Current Social Science Research on Greece", London School 

of Economics, 21/6/2003, http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/ 

heilenicObservatory/pdf/symposiumPapersoniine/LSE- 

published%20paper.pdf (accessed 1/3/2007). Kouloun also 

stresses the need for a comparative approach at regional or 

European level, an approach which is rarely adopted. In the daily 

Greek press, there are also reports of mutual interest among 

the wider public of Greece and Turkey, for example: Thanassis 

Vasilelou, "Turkey in Bookshop-windows'^ Kathimenni, 2/10/ 

2005, Arts & Letters Section, 5, and Alexandros Massavetas. 

"Hellenomania: The New Fashion of Turks", Kathimenni, 1/10/ 

2006,14. [in Greek] 

40 Mazower (2005), 474. 

41 Gail Hoist, Road to Rembetika. Music ofa Greek Sub-culture. 

Songs of Love, Sorrow and Hashish, Denise Harvey (Publisher), 

2006 (1975); Stathls Gauntlett, "Between Orientalism and 

Occidentalism - The Contribution of Asia Minor Refugees to 

Greek Popular Song and its Reception", in Hirschon (2003). 

42 Hirschon (1989), 247- 258 and 425-426. 

43 Matthiopoulos, 408. 

44 Artemis Yagou, "Connecting Past and Present Narratives 

of Heritage and Modernity in 20th Century Advertisements 

for Products 'Made in Greece"' Connecting: A Conference on 

the Multivocality of Design History and Design Studies, 23-25 

August 2006, University of Art and Design Helsinki - Estonian 

Academy of Arts, http://tm.uiah.fi/connecting/proceedings. 

html (accessed 1/3/2007); Artemis Yagou, "Metamorphoses 

of formalism: National Identity as a Recurrent Theme in the 

History of Design in Greece", Journal of Design History, 20.3, 

2007 (to appear). See also: George Parmenidis, and Efrossini 

Roupa, Bourgeois Furniture in Greece, 1830-1940: A Century 

of Construction of Design Rules, Athens: National Technical 

University of Athens Press, 2004. [in Greek] 

45 Hadziiossif 26-28; Matthiopoulos, 413. 

46 http://www.culture.gr/2/21/toc/hist_mus.html (accessed 

1/3/2007). 

47 http://users.otenet.gr/~kms/ (accessed 1/3/2007). 

48 http://www.ims.forth.gr/ims/turkish_studies/turkishJndex. 

html (accessed 1/3/2007).

A G E N E R A L L O O K AT C R • S S - C U LTU R A L U S A B I L I T Y M E T H O D S A P P L I E D IN 

I N T E R A C T I V E I N T E R F A C E D E S I G N : L O C A L I S A T I O N A N D T U R K E Y 

Asım Evren YANTAÇ 

YÜdİz Technical University, Faculty of Art and Design, Com. 

Des. Dept., Istanbul, Turkey 

eyantac@yildiz.edu.tr 

Prof. Dr. Oğuzhan ÖZCAN 

Yildiz Technical University, Faculty of Art and Design, Com. 

Des. Dept., Istanbul,Turkey 

oozcan@yiidiz.edu.tr 

Abstract: 1. introduction 

Over the past decade, international usability has grown as a 

sub-field of usability as a result of the increase in the number 

of computer and internet users. This study analyses the effect 

of culture In designing interface to serve the needs of a certain 

culture or different cultures. Especially recently, researchers 

have rather been working on adapting the cultural research 

methods used for printed media for use in interactive media 

design. Taking a general look at the field of usability as an 

introduction, this paper analyses the development process of 

cross-cultural usability in the last decade. As the next step, an 

evaluation ofthe studies concerning Turkey and Turkish users 

Is made. In the light ofthe researches In question, the paper 

discusses how a cross-cultural usability study on Turkish users 

should be made. Moreover, it is emphasized that it Is essential 

to go through a three-stage study process which involves 

evaluations based on present interfaces, the guides that will 

be formed as a result of these analyses and the realization of 

usability tests of guide-aided designs. As a result of all these 

evaluations, the paper concludes by stating the significance of 

realizing Turkish user oriented cross-cultural usability studies 

and preparing reference guides forthe design process for the 

development of Informative Interactive interface design in 

Turkey. 

Keywords: cross-cultural usability, measurement of usability. 

Interface design, interactivity 

This article first takes a general look at the topic of usability, 

and then focuses on the studies carried out In the field of 

cross-cultural usability. While summarizing the literature of 

usability tests with a history of 30 years and our personal 

experience, the sections written on cross-cultural usability 

make up a compilation of the studies carried out within 

the last decade: When user needs were given priority in 

interactive interface design, the field of cross-cultural usability 

gained significance. Similarly, as interfaces started addressing 

to a broader mass due to an increase in the use of internet, 

the concept of cross-cultural usability was Introduced to the 

agenda. On the other hand, when the literature Is overviewed, 

not many studies based on Turkish culture seem to have been 

carried out. However, for an Interface design which aims at a 

user that belongs to a particular culture, it is essential to take 

into consideration the characteristics ofthe target user type. 

For this purpose, the effect of Turkish culture on Interface 

design and the preparation of reference guides for design by 

taking these factors into consideration constitute a significant 

research topic which will be worked upon In the following 

period. 

This article aims at providing basic information for the 

realization of the researches in question, summarizing the 

development process of the issues mentioned above and 

presenting an evaluation ofthe methods developed for cross- 

cultural usafa/7;fy studies.

6. References CA: National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis. 

BUXTON, W. A. 1995."ChunI

TURK, A. and TREES, K. 1998. "Culture and participation In the 

development of CMC: Indigenous Cultural Information System 

Case Ssytem". In Proceedings Cultural Attitudes Towards 

Communication and Technology '98, University of Sydney, 

Australia. 

TURNAGE, T., W. and Mc GINNIES, E. 1979. "A Cross-Cultural 

Comparison of the effect of Presentation Mode and 

Meaningfulness on Short Term Recall," American Journal of 

Psychology, 86(2), 369-381. 

WANG, H. 2005. "The Influence/Impact relationship between 

the GIS users and HCI of GIS." School of Information Sciences 

and Technology, Pennsylvania State University.

I N T E L L I G E N T P R O D U C T D E S I G N S T H A T I N V O L V E C O N V E R G E N C E O F M U L T I P L E 

T E C H N O L O G I E S : T H E E X A M I N A T I O N D F R E L E V A N T A P P L I C A T I O N S IN T U R K E Y 

Slia Yiğit 

Koleksiyon Tasarım Mobilya ve Orman Ürünleri San. A.Ş., 

İstanbul Turkey 

info@silayigit.com 

Abstract 

Today the development of information and communication 

technologies causes interactive products to become daily 

objects of our lives. The most important factor in the 

development of interactive products is the convergence of 

multiple different technologies. As a result ofthe convergence 

of industries and the disappearance of industry boundaries, 

differentiating the products w\th value creation becomes 

important. The only way to create value through profitable 

growth is innovation. In today's applications of innovation, 

intelligent product concept arises. The term "intelligent 

product" is defined in two levels. First level product 

intelligence allows a product to store data about itself and 

to communicate effectively with its environment. Second 

level product intelligence allows a product to participate in 

decision process through assessing its function in addition to 

communicating its status. 

In this research, the product development process is examined 

through interviews with firms that develop intelligent 

products in Turkey. One white goods manufacturer: Arçelik 

and another consultancy firm which serves for the companies 

that outsource design expertise: T-Design; are selected within 

firms. In the analysis ofthe interviews, through the comparison 

of these two firms; first and second level intelligent products 

and common and different applications in the intelligent 

product development process are determined. 


1.1. Importance of the subject 

In recent years objects that have a constant role in our daily 

lives are becoming intelligent. The rapid development 

of information and communication technologies causes 

these technologies to enter into industrial product designs 

and interactive products to enter into our daily lives. The 

disappearance of technology and interfaces on objects with 

the growth of embedded technologies, allows ordinary 

physical objects to involve computing technologies and 

network systems {Preece et al. 1997). 

The most important factor in the development of interactive 

products is the opportunity of the convergence of multiple 

different technologies. Converging technologies are causing 

industry boundaries to blur; therefore the nature of products 

and services changes (Prahalad et ol. 2002). 

As a result of the convergence of industries and the 

disappearance of industry boundaries, differentiating the 

products with value creation becomes important. Today, 

the only way to create value through profitable growth is 

innovation. In order to generate value and innovation in a 

sustainable manner; a new point of view is required, one 

that allows individual customers to co-construct their own 

consumption experiences through personalized interaction, 

thereby co-creating unique value for themselves. In the 

further applications of innovation, the focal point will pass 

from products and services to experience spaces created by 

the consumers and the producers (Prahalad etol. 2003). 

In today's applications of innovation, intelligent products 

which create value through covering multiple technologies are 

becoming important The term "intelligent product" is defined 

in two levels. First level product intelligence allows a product 

to store data about itself and to communicate effectively with

its environment. Second level product intelligence allows a 

product to participate in decision process through assessing 

its function In addition to communicating its status {Agarwa! 

etol. 2002). 

Inthis research, the product development process of intelligent 

products which contains multiple discrete technologies is 

examined through open ended interviews with firms that 

develop intelligent products in Turkey. One well-known 

white goods manufacturer: Arçelik and another consultancy 

firm which serves for the companies that outsource design 

expertise: T-Design; are selected within relevant firms. The 

interviews cover four main categories: the firms'point of view 

about the terms converging technologies and intelligent 

products, the process of product development, pursuing 

technology and integrating its findings into products, the 

further positioning of intelligent products in Turkey. In the 

analysis ofthe interviews, through the companson of these 

two firms; first and second level Intelligent products and 

common and different applications in the intelligent product 

development process are determined. 

2. Interaction design concept 

Winograd (1997) defines interaction design as "designing 

environments for human communication and Interaction". 

What is meant by interaction design is developing interactive 

products that help users in business and daily life.This requires 

creating user expenences that will expand and enhance the 

way people work, communicate and interact (Preece et al. 

1997). Now HCI, human-computer interaction goes beyond 

designing computing systems for one user sitting in front of 

one machine. It covers pervasive and ubiquitous computing 

technologies (Ankan and Çendeoğlu 1997). 

3. Convergence of technologies and intelligence concepts 

Converging technologies are causing industry boundaries 

to blur; thus the nature of products and services changes 

(Prahalad et al. 2002). Traditionally, different industnes 

and businesses serve different markets such as education, 

communication, leisure time and entertainment. Consumer 

electronics industry covering audio visual products like 

television, computer industry developing desktop and 

portable computers and other industries like communication 

devices, software, music and film can be given as examples. 

Not more than 20 years ago, all these sectors had different 

competitors and specific competitive dynamics. A camera and 

a video camera were completely different products. The clear 

distinction between products and industries such as television 

and computer was accepted by manufacturers, competitors 

and consumers. 

However in today's digital consumer environment, the 

boundanes between products and industries disappear so 

computers allow the user to access television broadcast 

and televisions provide data transfer from computers. For 

example Sony "Airboard" defined as "commercial personal IT 

television" puts together personal computer, audio system 

and television. The product operating with a touchscreen 

uses wireless network technologies and provides internet 

access. It also allows displaying electronic mail, video and 

digital photographs without the need of a personal computer 

(Mobilemag 2004). 

Figure 1. Airboard (Sony). 

Today, developing intelligent products which create value 

through covering multiple technologies is an ascending trend 

in order to generate innovarion. According to the Oxford 

English Dictionary (Thompson 1996) an intelligent device or 

machine Is one which is"able to vary its behaviour in response 

to varying situations and requirements and past experience". 

Intelligent product Is defined as a manufactured item which is 

equipped with an ability to monitor, assess and reason about 

its current or future state and if necessary influence its desriny 

(Ashton etal. 2002). 

The intelligence concept is also defined as follows (Agarwal et 

al. 2002);

"The definition of an intelligent product is one that has part or 

all ofthe following five characteristics: 

1. Possesses a unique identity. 

2. Is capable of communicating effectively with its 

environment. 

3. Can retain or store data about itself 

4. Deploys a language to display its features, production 

requirements etc. 

5. Is capable of participating in or making decisions relevant 

to its own destiny". 

^" level product intelligence allows a product to communicate 

its status so it is information oriented and covers points 1 to 3 

ofthe intelligent product definition above. 2"'' level product 

Intelligence allows a product to assess and influence its 

function in addition to communicating its status therefore it 

is decision oriented and covers points 1 through to 5 ofthe 

intelligent product definition (Agarwal et al. 2002). 

4. Methodology 

4.1. The phases of research 

The phases ofthis research are as follows: 

1. The concepts of "interaction design" and "convergence of 

technologies" are examined. 

2. Turkish companies, developing "software" and "industrial 

product" using interaction design and related technologies 

recently, are determined. 

3. These companies are determined as Yoğurt Technologies, 

T-Design, Arçelik and Vestel. Their interactive products are 

examined. 

4. The concepts, constituted as a result of improvements in 

interaction design after 1990 and convergence of technologies, 

are examined. 

5. These concepts are determined as "persuasive technologies", 

"Netsmart product", "U-commerce" (ubiquitous commerce) 

and "intelligent product". 

6. The concept of "intelligent product" is selected for research 

considering the existing "industrial product" applications in 

Turkey. 

7. The term "intelligent product" Is defined in two levels as 

follows: r' level product intelligence allows a product to 

store data about itself and to communicate effectively with its 

environment. 2"'^' level product intelligence allows a product to 

participate in decision process through assessing its function 

in addition to communicating its status. 

S.The aim ofthe research is determined as analysing"intelligent 

product development process" in companies developing 

products which fits this two levelled definition. 

9. Two companies are selected within this aim: Arçelik which 

develops and produces intelligent products in white goods 

industry andT-Design which is another consultancy firm which 

serves for the companies that outsource design expertise. 

10. Open-ended interviews with Arçelik and T-Design are 

made. 

4.2. Interview method 

"Semi-structured" interview method is preferred according to 

the aims ofthe research and an outline of questions is prepared 

before interviewing Arçelik andT-Design.The question outline 

is formed "open-ended"to ensure a detailed conversation and 

the interview is directed according to the answers. 

4.4. Research questions 

The outline of the interviews covers 4 main subjects: 

• The companies' point of view about the concepts of 

"intelligent product" and "convergence of technologies". 

• The intelligent product development process within Arçelik 

andT-Design. 

• Pursuing technology and integrating its findings into 

products. 

• The further positioning of intelligent products inTurkey. 

5. Analysis of the interviews 

These steps are taken in order to analyse the open ended 

interviews with Arçelik and T-Design. 

• Within the aims of the research, interview questions are 

formed and grouped under 4 main subject headings. Two 

question forms are constituted as there are differences in the 

products development processes in Arçelik and T-Design. 

• First interview was taken on March 17, 2006 with Alper 

Baykut, the technology group leader of R&D department, in

ArçelikTuzîa Campus. 

• Second interview was taken on March 28, 2006 with Murat 

Armağan, the genera! manager and leader of design team in 

T-Design Maslak office. 

• Both tv\fo interviews are recorded and full transcripts are 

written down. 

• The full transcripts are categorized and diagrams are 

constructed according to the topics emphasized in the 

interviews. 

•The results are analysed with the companson of data collected 

under the same category. 

5.1. Why Arçelik and T-Design? 

Arçelik İs one of the biggest companies within the domestic 

equipments industry. It offers its customers a wide spectrum 

of products ranging from furniture to computer and from 

white goods to a vanety of small household appliances. 

The company, owning two of the most well-known brands 

of Turkey, has a market capacity over 50 %. It has gained a 

product range so as to address all consumer segments via its 

positioning in international markets with the brands Elektra 

Bregenz, Blomberg, Arctic, Leisure and Flavel, which were 

acquired in accordance with the company's international 

growth strategy, as well as the brands Arçelik, Beko, Altus, and 

Arstil (Arçelik A.Ş. 2006). 

The reasons why Arçelik is preferred for examining Intelligent 

product development process are as follows: 

• Arçelik undertook the intelligent technologies of white goods 

in the "Intelligent House" project exhibited in Compex Digital 

fair between the dates 7-10 February 2002 (NTV-MSNBC 

2002). Arçelik's intelligent refrigerator, washer, dishwasher, 

cooker and cooker hood which are given publicity in this fair; 

are suitable examples of first level Intelligence. 

• "Telve"Turkish coffee maker is appropriate for analysing new 

product development process, according to these reasons: 

being the original and inlrial product in its field, determination 

of user needs about a completely new product concept, 

innovative studies in research and development process. R&D 

studies for Telve lead up to 8 patents such as anti-spill, cook- 

sense and spin-jet technologies (Aydablr 2005). As a result 

of these investments for technological research; the product 

cooks Turkish coffee without the need of blending and stops 

hearing at the proper time In order to prevent it from boiling 

over. Telve also won the industrial design award at İF Design 

2005. 

• In the development process of intelligent products, Arçelik 

outsources some required technologies such as the distant 

control of white goods via telephone (SesTek 2006). 

• Arçelikservices in the area of renting consumer durables such 

as white goods or electronics (Aydablr 2004), This applicarion 

is an Innovative approach In service sector from these aspects: 

determining user needs of a different target audience and 

constructing their consumption experiences. The target user 

model differs in pursuing technological developments, willing 

to experience every new technology or relocating very often. 

• As a result of investments on technology and R&D studies, 

Arçelik develops products counted as "the first" worid-wide 

such as Turkish coffee machine, washers for clothes weighing 

3,5kg and 7kg, refrigerator with A++ energy consumption 

level, 

T-Design works as a consultancy firm which serves for the 

companies that outsource design expertise. The company 

differs from standard design offices as it participates InTeknoloji 

Holding and develops innovative technological solutions and 

services (Teknoloji Holding 2006). T-Design was transferred to 

Brightwell Holdings BV from Teknoloji Holding on the 1st of 

June, 2006. Alphan Manas, as being the founding partner of 

Teknoloji Holding, broke off business relations with Teknoloji 

Holding and founded Brightwell Holdings BV. T-Trade, T- 

Tronics, Labranda, Teknomar and Teknosis companies are also 

transferred together withT-Design.The Brightwell Group is now 

a private investment company that invests globally in the areas 

of energy, environmental technologies, media content and 

entertainment, transportation technologies and services and 

a variety of Innovative technology solurions. Sub-sectors that 

the company specializes in innovarive technology solurions are 

industrial product design, consumer electronics, information 

and communication technologies, payment systems, biometric 

systems and smart homes (Brightwell 2006). 

The reasons whyT-Design is preferred for examining intelligent 

product development process are as follows: 

• Within the service of "Innovation management consultancy".

T-Design aims to develop patent-focused design strategies 

and serve its customers in tlieir requirements of differentiating 

with a new product (T-Design 2003). 

" T-Design develops conceptual projects without any definite 

customer and Teknoloji Holding makes investments on 

these projects if an opportunity about commercial success 

is foreseen. T-Design distinguishes from standard design 

offices that serve for companies outsourcing design expertise, 

with this facility of supporting and allocating resources for 

technological product ideas and innovative projects. The 

"Water Taxi" project can be given as an example for this 

(Armağan 2006). 

• "T-Meter" intelligent water meter, which Is developed and 

manufactured within the company as a commercial product, 

directs its user by giving warning at critical points (Armağan 

2006). For this reason, T-iVleter is an example of 1" level 

intelligence. 

- "Ferris" refrigerator and "E-Pantry" stock control and 

shopping system are conceptual projects involving 2"'' 

level of intelligence. These projects are developed inside 

the company through innovative scenarios constituted by 

researches of future life styles and pursuit of technological 

improvements. They are also built up without any specific 

customer request (Armağan 2006). 

5.2. Point of view 

First of all, the concept of "intelligent product" is defined 

clearly at the beginning of the interview so as to examine 

the intelligent product development process in the company 

"Arçelik". According to this definition, first level product 

intelligence allows a product to store data about itself and 

to communicate effectively with its environment. However 

second level product intelligence allows a product to 

participate in decision process through assessing its function 

in addition to communicating its status (Agarwal ef ai 2002). 

Arçelik stated that they agree with this two levelled definition. 

In addition, intelligence concept is defined as products 

behaving In an "adaptive" manner, within the consumer 

durables industry. According to this definition, an intelligent 

product follows 3 steps: perception, control and adaptation. 

A product must "perceive" the conditions in the course of 

user-product interaction, then "control" these conditions, and 

later on adapt to user habits within these controls, Therefore 

it can upgrade to the 2"'' level of intelligence and participate 

in the decision process and determine its functions. 

Adaptive systems, in other words, products that adapt to the 

consumption experiences and learn user habits can only be 

personalized. In this way a product fits in with the concept of 

"intelligence" rather than "automation" For instance, a washer 

has multiple washing programs like woolies 40 degrees, hand 

wash 30 degrees, intensive with prewash etc.The product can 

offer the last selected program or the most preferred one to 

the user. One step ahead ofthis, the product is able to perceive 

the change of user preferences between seasons, adapt from 

washing woolies in winter to cotton ones in spring, thereby 

offer a more suitable washing option (Baykut etal. 2006). 

The "Intelligent Home" project of Arçelik, launched as 

"intelligent" when it is first introduced to the market, is named 

"Home Automation" today. Automation means, applying 

human perception patterns to the products by means of 

sensors. Namely, the definitions and rules set by the algorithms 

during product development period, stays the same at the 

time of using. A system must learn the user preferences, 

adapt to the users' behaviour pattern and participate in the 

decision process in order to be defined as "intelligent". The 

definitions of'inîelligence" and "automation"concepts change 

continually due to technological improvements. For instance, 

"speech-sense" technology described as "intelligent" before is 

now placed in "automation" category. A product's answering 

according to its user's speech is considered as "intelligent" in 

today's technology. The first product that Arçelik introduced to 

the market as"intelligent"in the eariy 90's, is the"intelligent mini 

oven". What makes this oven intelligent is a "timer" operating 

like an alarm clock. The oven warns with an alert when the 

time set by its user is up. This feature considered as automation 

today, was seen as "intelligence" formerly, in consideration of 

facilitating user's cooking expenence (Baykut et al. 2006). 

Arçelik conducts studies for the development of 1" and 2'"^ level 

of intelligent product designs. However the products put on 

the market indicates 1 st level of intelligence in general. "Home 

Automation" system, that covers white goods connected to 

a common network such as refrigerator, washer, dishwasher 

and air condition, is an example of 1" level intelligence. These 

products are introduced to the market and offered for sale by

means of Arçeİık's corporate web site in 2003 and sold together 

as a set in order to operate compatible with each other and the 

user. The products are controlled via internet and via telephone 

by speech recognition technologies without pressing any 

button. Users are able to run air condition, washer or dishwasher 

according to the home coming time and increase the cooling 

temperature by means of internet at work or telephone 

in shopping. The products use "Bluetooth" technology to 

communicate through a wireless network (Aydabir 2002). 

As an example of 2"^ level intelligence, the type of refrigerators, 

named as"No Frost"within the white goods industry, involves a 

"defrost" system which decides its own defrost time by means of 

sensing user experiences and adapting user behaviour pattern. 

But how does a refrigerator decide its own defrost time? At 

the time of using, an ice layer occurs in the freezer part ofthe 

refrigerator. If the thickness of this ice layer exceeds 2 cm, it covers 

the canals at the back of freezer. This has a negative effect on 

freezing and itis hard for the user to melt down this thick layer. 

Thus, a "No Frost" refrigerator must start the defrost process at 

the proper time before reaching 2 cm. As the technology for 

measuring the ice layer thickness is too expensive, the product 

must predict the thickening speed of the ice layer. In order to 

make this possible; the refrigerator must perceive the frequency 

of the users' opening and closing its door, the humidity and 

temperature of the air entering, the amount and temperature 

of food put inside. The"defrost"system analyses these data in an 

"intelligent" way to predict the ice thickness. Besides, the door 

must be closed, dunng the defrost process so it must be done 

at night. The No Frost refrigerators "perceive" Its users' eating 

and sleeping time intervals with the help of door opening and 

closing histograms, and then "control" the ice layer thickness 

by arranging the defrost period at nights, and finally "adapt" to 

the user e:

Figure 2. "T-Meter" water meter (T-Design). 

The "intelligent life style"constituted by"Ferris"and"E-Pantry", 

serves in the management of food, shopping, health and time 

with the use of multiple technologies. "E-Pantry" handheld 

terminal has a role both at home and in shopping, as being 

portable. Before shopping, it reports the number of stocked 

goods such as food or detergent to the user by interacting 

with the systems at home (like "Ferris" refrigerator), warns the 

user about decreasing goods and arranges a shopping list. At 

the time of shopping. It connects to the local network of the 

supermarket in order to show the market layout on its screen 

and sets the shortest shopping route by matching the need 

list with the layout, directs the user by showing promotions 

and campaigns, functions as a barcode reader to let the user 

see the prices. When the shopping Is over, the handheld 

terminal connects to the supermarket network and makes 

the payment. In this way information about user such as kinds 

of goods purchased and amount of money spent, is stored 

and user profiles are formed according to these data. After 

the user reaches home, this terminal communicates with the 

storage units in the house and updates the stock information, 

thus the act of shopping is completed till the next warning 

about stocks on the decrease. Furthermore, all storage areas 

within a house are counted as an "intelligent" stocking unit in 

this system. "Ferris" refrigerator constitutes the cooling part 

of these "intelligent" units. Others can be a pantry unit for 

storing spice, pasta and grains or a storage area of cleaning 

products. Consequently, data about past usage of goods and 

current stock information in these intelligent units is stored 

in "E-Pantry" handheld terminal which functions as a point of 

direction in this system. Storing data about user consumption 

patterns and participating in the decision process with 

processing this information makes the life style offered by 

"Ferris" and "E-Pantry" 2"'* level intelligent (Armağan 2006). 

Figure 3. "Ferris" refrigerator (T-Design). 

The conceptual system formed by "Ferris" and "E-Pantry" 

offers "service" in the management of food, shopping, health 

and time, with the convergence of multiple technologies like 

network, wireless communication and RFID. What makes this 

"intelligent" system serve in such different industries is the 

opportunity of processing data about the user consumption 

experiences. The new product and life style ideas in T-Design 

are the result of using "information" to offer "service". 

Û 

E-Parmy ' W^venj system, 

Figure 4. "E-Pantry" handheld terminal (T-Design). 

5.3. Product developmerît process 

Arçelik constitutes the new product ideas in the product 

development process as a result ofthe pursuit of technological 

developments, making use of these technologies within 

products, new ideas about user needs, the trends and

tendencies come on the scene witiiin the domestic equipment 

sector Wke "energy efficiency". For instance the new product 

idea for the"Telve"Turi

The new product development process within T-Design 

is conducted in four different ways; commercial product 

development upon customer request, conceptual projects 

developed considering future scenarios with no specific 

customer, projects that Teknoloji Holding allocate its 

resources and makes investments, products developed within 

innovation management model {Armağan 2006). 

In the commercial product development process, the new 

product request and design brief come from the customer so 

the process begins with an aim of developing a commercial 

product. "T-Meter" prepaid water meter, shampoo bottles and 

cream packages developed for Canan Cosmetic are examples for 

this process. The design criteria in this cosmetic packing project 

is reducing the weight ofthe plastic packages and developing 

the 500ml and 700ml bottles with the same cover to make a 

decrease in cost and mould number (Armağan 2006). 

Figure 5. Shampoo bottles for Canan Cosmetic (T-Design). 

The second type of product development process is 

conceptual projects developed considering future scenarios. 

In this type, there is no specific customer before the product 

design idea is formed. The project is completed in conceptual 

level, preliminary engineering studies and marketing analyses 

are accomplished. Hereafter, customer researches are put 

in action. The project is presented to selected companies 

which are suitable for this in their manufacturing facilities, 

vision, company profile and giro. The companies can be both 

local and abroad. "Ferris" and "E-Pantry" shopping system is 

an example of this type of product development. 2nd level 

intelligent products are generally developed during this 

process. The company uses future scenarios in which new life 

styles are constituted, in order to foresee future user needs 

and consumption experiences. "Ferris" refrigerator and "E- 

Pantry" shopping system can be also given as examples for 

the development processes of products where every user 

constructs its own consumption experiences (Armağan 2006). 

The "Water Taxi" project can be the example of third type of 

product development process. Teknoloji Holding allocates its 

resources and makes investments on the projects which are 

developed conceptually without any customer request. This 

kind of projects sometimes does not fit in with any company 

profile from Turkey or abroad as they have the characteristics 

of a system design. If a commercial success opportunity 

is detected, T-Design offers this project to the investment 

group in Teknoloji Holding for further researches and the 

investment group makes presentations to the management 

board. Consequently Teknoloji Holding makes investment 

on this kind of projects according to the resolution of 

board. For instance, Teknoloji Holding founded "Teknomar" 

and "Labranda" companies in order to realize "Water Taxi" 

project. "Teknomar" company is a vessel operator for small 

(Water Taxi) to large-scale (ferries) vessels with capacities of 

10 to 150 people (Teknomar 2006). "Labranda" is a material 

supply company that designs platforms to promote the use 

of composite materials and develops, tests and produces 

various composite materials. Water Taxi is the first product of 

the Labranda platform. Many composite materials are used in 

the fabrication of WaterTaxi components (Labranda 2006). 

Figure 6. WaterTaxi (T-Design). 

The last type of product development process is the 

"innovation management model". It covers these services: 

researches about patents and existing products on 

the market, invention evaluation report and product 

development strategies with innovative design ideas. This

model alms to meet the new product development needs 

and differentiation requirements of the customers within a 

well defined methodology. In Turkey, especially small and 

medium size enterprises experience difficulties In the design 

approach while developing new products. The design briefs 

constituted by the customers generally involve developing a 

product similar to a competing one in the market, without a 

proper methodology. In the innovation management model, 

T-Design defines a process from the researches about patents 

to the product development strategies with innovative design 

ideas and forms the correct design brief with the customer at 

the beginning of this process. At the end, this commercial 

model provides the customer a patent, a design registration 

or a utility model, thus the differentiation requirement of the 

customer Is brought to a successful conclusion with an added 

value (Armağan 2006). 

5.4. The pursuit of technology 

Arçelik uses CECED (European Committee of Domestic 

Equipment fvlanufacturers) platform consisting of European 

domestic equipment manufacturers so as to pursue 

technological improvements within this industry. The 

members ofthis committee develop projects and constitute 

work groups such as (CECED 2007): 

• Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting 

(EEDAL). 

• Ceced Home Appliances Interoperating Network (CHAIN). 

• Product Information project which covers delivery of product 

information via electronic media (PI). 

• Eco Design Requirements for Energy Using Products (EuP). 

• Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). 

Arçelik enrolls as a member of CHAIN, WEEE, RoHS and EuP 

work groups. The platform, called CHAIN (Ceced Home 

Appliances Interoperating Network), defines the protocol for 

connecting large appliances in a single "multi-brand" system. 

The aim of a "multi-brand" system Is to let the user connect 

appliances from different brands to the same network and 

operate them in a compatible way.This is designed for control 

and automation of key services in a home, such as remote 

control of appliance operation, energy or load management, 

remote diagnostics and automatic maintenance support to 

appliances, downloading and updating of data, programs, 

and services from the Web (CHAIN 2003). The objective 

of CHAIN is to build a fully automated house, giving a high 

added value to the consumer in terms of easiness to control 

the house, security, energy management, etc (CECED 2007). 

Arçelik participates in this group in order to make the "Home 

Automation" project progress. 

Arçelik follows the automotive and communication industries 

which are the leader sectors in technology. They integrate 

the suitable technologies gained in these researches into the 

products in different ways; within the firm, with cooperation 

of foreign companies or collaboration of universities and 

TÜBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research council 

of Turkey). Arçelik doesn't put some products developed 

inside the firm like refrigerator with television and dryer 

with microwave technology on the market as a result of the 

company's corporate strategies about safety regulations, 

service network, brand policy and taking low risks (Baykut et 

al.2006). 

T-Design uses "All Futurists Association of Turkey" platform 

and "internet" in orderto pursue technological improvements. 

The company follows the information and communication 

industries because they consider these sectors as leaders 

of technology. The promising new technologies, on which 

companies from various sectors made investments, are 

integrated Into conceptual products within the future 

scenarios (Armağan 2006). 

5.5. The future 

Arçelik stated that consumers in the home market expect some 

features for "personalization" like offering the most preferred 

washing program to the user or for being "user-friendly" 

like remaining time display, from the washers that they buy. 

However the future consumer demands in Turkey's market 

will advance and consumers will expect Interactive products 

that involve more "intelligence" such as adapting user habits 

and personalization according to multiple user profiles. For 

this reason, the "Home Automation" project which was called 

"Intelligent Home" formerly is kept on developing without 

being put on the market till the consumers demand this level 

of intelligence (Baykut et al. 2006).

Arçelik directs its investments according to the targets and 

goais determined by five or ten year plans. Within these plans, 

the company aims to develop products that are controlled 

directly with the users'voice in 2010. Investments are made so 

as to develop required technologies and to incorporate know- 

how with some collaboration (Baykut et al. 2006). 

T-Design stated that economic parameters will take a key 

part in the future of "intelligent product" concept in Turkey. 

If the economic scenarios allow the Turkish industry to make 

investments on the R&D studies, this concept can make 

progress. Besides, it is also stated that Turkey has a promising 

potential in the software development and application fields 

for information and communication industnes. The company 

plans to allocate Its resources and investments to the services 

of "innovation management" consultancy and "commercial 

product development" rather than conceptual projects 

(Armağan 2006). 

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T E C H N Q M E T H Q D D L D G Y : I N T E R F A C E D E S I G N A S A H Y B R I D D I S C I P L I N E 

B E T W E E N S Y S T E M D E S I G N A N D E T H N D M E T H D D D L D G Y 

Victor Zwimpfer 

Institut fur Medienwissenschaft, Basel 

{Pro*Doc Intermediale Asthetik) 

victor.zwimpfer@gmalLcom 

Abstract 

Technomethodology is a new approach to bring together 

social science and system design. It proposes the foundation 

of a hybrid discipline which unites the crucial concepts of both 

disciplines. As a consequence ofthe advent of social computing 

the notion of computer literacy ought to be reconsidered 

and conceptualized in a broader context such as provided by 

ethnomethodology. It is the merit of ethnomethodological 

studlestoputthefocusonsocialpractlces.Ethnomethodological 

workplace studies in particular offer important theoretical 

insights into how everyday practices work. This paper sketches 

a way from conventional notions of interface design and the 

question of computer literacy to the issues of workplace studies 

which show the intricate interplay between human beings and 

computers. Finally it introduces the notions of accountability 

and abstraction as basic tenets of ethnomethodology and 

system design respectively. Integrated this two disciplines offer 

an idea of technomethodology as an up-to-date and top-notch 

discipline capable of tackling interface problems. 

Introduction 

The history of human-computer interaction is a history of 

the ongoing attempt to find means of operating computers 

in efficient and comfortable way. One important step in 

designing the relationship between human beings and 

computers certainly was the shift from the concept of'type 

and remember', implemented as the command line feature, to 

the concept of'see and point', implemented as today's familiar 

graphical user interface. The development of the graphical 

user interface brought about the introduction of iconic, 

indexical and Interactive features in the use of computers. By 

developing screen selection and corresponding Input devices 

the direct manipulation of virtual objects was made possible. 

An abstract command language no longer needed to be 

memorized and the state of affairs and what could be done 

was Immediately evident. The computer was turned into an 

ordinary tool of information and document processing. One 

ofthe advantages ofthe graphical user interface was that it 

could be handled In a literal sense: The mnemonic burden 

was relieved by making things visible. So-called 'cognitive 

artefacts'functioning as external aids enable human beings 

to enhance cognitive abilities. 'It is things that make us 

smart. Some assistance comes through cooperative social 

behaviour; some arises through the development of tools 

of thought - cognitive artefacts - that complement abilities 

and strengthen mental powers' (Norman 1994, p.43}. It is this 

notion of cooperative social behaviour which for me is crucial 

in thinking about interaction as a main concern of interface 

design. Cooperative social behaviour Is always dependent on 

the means and methods of bringing togetherthe co-operators; 

It Is the form taking shape through inter-actior).^ Since all 

interactions take place in a socio-cultural context it seems well 

worth thinking about interface design beyond ergonomic and 

cognitive approaches. One way to do this is by referring to the 

concepts of ethnomethodology, namely workplace studies 

grounded in everyday practices and their accountability. 

Somehow accountability indexes the way computer literacies 

are thought of and are enacted in daily routines. 

' In the sense of: "The word 'interaction' was not badly chosen; only 

the number and type of'actions'and the span of their'inter' relations 

has been vastly underestimated. Stretch any given inter-action and, 

sure enough, it becomes an actor-network"(Latour 2005, p,202).

Computer literacy 

Since the advent of the computer information technology 

had to deal with a new İ

autonomous actors who are supposed to take total control of 

the situation. Such concepts belong to the past and must be 

complemented by social concepts. 

Prevailing interface concepts refer to the notion of computer 

supported cooperative work" or ubiquitous computing.^ Both 

concepts loose the tight coupling between a single user and 

a personal computer. The advent of a post-PC world holds 

out the prospect of invisible computing at any place and 

time. Dyadic interaction of any kind is no longer the point at 

Issue, but rather a complex network of multiple cooperations. 

Therefore our focus has to shift from traditional graphical user 

interfaces to new interface modes suiting intertwined inter 

actions. Future computing will be characterised by features 

such as mobility, wearabillty, connectedness or situatedness. 

Computers will become 'Everyware' (Greenfield 2006). In this 

sense information technology is inducing a new kind of literacy. 

As already mentioned above, however, the term 'literacy' 

conceals the fact that it refers to more than the mere ability to 

read and write. Rather it is about living in an environment where 

human beings and computers are working together in way we 

can hardly describe. We certainly will no longer be able to rely 

exclusively on traditional means of description such as means- 

end relationships pursuing and fulfilling predefined tasks. 

Situational contingencies will have to be taken into account. 

Literacy Vv'ill then mean the ability to manage situations in an 

ad hoc manner. And since computers are everyware computer 

literacy has to grasp the emerging patterns of ubiquitous and 

invisible computing:everyware is not something you sit in 

front of, intent on engaging... What it is is a radically new situation 

that will require the development over time of a doctrine and a 

body of standards and conventions ~ starting with the Interface 

through which we address it'(Greenfield 2006, p.39). Everyware is 

about a new manner of managing situations choreographed and 

mediated by multifarious players - be they human or artefact. 

It is not my aim here to describe or develop an educational 

program for computer literacy. Rather I propose studying 

•*Theoriginal reference to the Idea of computersupported cooperative 

Work (CSCW) isGreif 1988. 

^The original reference to the idea of ubiquitous computing isWeiser 

1991. 

the use of digital media guided by ethnomethodological 

strategies of observation so that we learn to understand 

how we are making use of the new gadgets of information 

technology.These strategies of observation will hardly provide 

us with guidelines for everyware artefacts, but in the process 

of observing we might encounter some tracks worth following 

in our pursuit of innovative design strategies. 

Workplace studies 

Workplace studies are an effect of ethnomethodology.'^ 

Ethnomethodology's main concern lies in the observation 

and description of everyday practices as seen and carried 

out by participants in social constellations: 'Their central 

recommendation is that the activities whereby members 

produce and manage settings of organized everyday affaires 

are identical with member's procedures for making those 

settings 'account-able'... I mean observable-and-reportable, 

i.e. available to members as situated practices of looklng-and- 

telling. I mean, too, that such practices consist of an endless, 

ongoing, contingent accomplishment... and are made to 

happen as events in the same ordinary affairs that in organizing 

they describe' (Garfinkel 1967, p.1). This approach suggests 

that action cannot be described adequately in terms of human 

mentalities but rather has to be described in terms of associative 

practices. The prevalent notion of presupposing conditions 

such as detailed plans and strict rule following is undermined.^ 

Scrutinizing situated action as instant orders of participating 

members is recommended instead. Action 'is organized in its 

very doing' (Button 2003, p.367) and always 'takes place within 

a swarm of contingencies that are demonstrably oriented to by 

people in the conduct of actions'(ib., p.365). 

Following function - a well-known central theme of design 

history - is still a valid strategy to find the form ofthe interface. 

But in my opinion this strategy has to be complemented by 

researching inter-actions. Referring to ethnomethodology's 

program the research theme is to work out"'What More"there 

is to the unquestionable corpus status of formal analytical 

''A good overview is provided by Luff et al. 2000. 

Cf Suchman 1987 as the fundamental work relating to human- 

computer interaction.

investigations...' {Garfinl

The second example outlines the conduct of team work as 

outlined by Heath and Luff (2000, p.88ff).Team work cannot 

exclusively be described in terms of formal structural and 

operational structures, hierarchy and workflow diagrams 

respectively. On the contrary the tasks at hand are carried 

out by the emergent/nter-ocf/on ofthe team members'work, 

which is able to change easily and adapt to different conditions 

and circumstances as they occur. Team work is accomplished 

by 'the v/ays in which their [the participants'] activities are 

thoroughly interdependent and interactionally co-ordinated 

with regard to the contingencies "at hand'" (lb., p.89). The 

control room of a London underground line is a complex milieu 

of multifarious artefacts such as train describers, line diagrams, 

announcement details, closed-circuit TV etc. These artefacts 

participate materially in the conduct of team work keeping 

regularly running the tube line.They are assistants which make 

possible the coordination of the different tasks of the team. 

Although each member seems to follow his individual task by 

operating the artefacts they are always embedded in the flow 

of the team work. Since the members' individual activities are 

produced with regard to simultaneous activities of otherteam 

workers they are continuously meshed in the overall practice 

ofthe line control group.'Indeed, it appears that individual 

task and activities are inseparable from, and thoroughly 

embedded in, ongoing concerted interaction with colleagues 

within the local milieu...The"situated"organisation ofthe line 

control is the interactional and contingent accomplishment 

of a body of routine tasks' (lb., p.117). Thus team work means 

being involved with one another's activities and taking notice 

of the current mediations of technological assistance. The 

main Issues of team work as seen by workplace studies can be 

exemplarily summarized as follows: 

Whilst the mutual availability of particular sources of 

information is utilised in making sense of each other's 

actions and co-ordinating them. It is the mutual visibility 

of the use of technology within Individual activities 

which provides an important resource in the production 

of collaborative action. For example, a glance towards 

the fixed line diagram, a gesture towards the radio 

phone, or a scroll through a display ofthe points at a 

particular junction, can all provide resources through 

which a colleague can recognise the actions or activities 

ofanother.Theuseofa particular tool, even looking ata 

particular piece of text such as the timetable, can render 

the activity of a colleague visible; allowing others to co 

ordinate their own actions with the apparent conduct 

of another (Heath and Luff 2000, p.121). 

Workplace studies shed light on 'seen but unnoticed 

backgrounds'(Garfinkel 1967, p.llS) which inform the ongoing 

coordination of activities. The'seen but unnoticed'features of 

everyday affairs provide indexical clues as to 'What to do next?" 

(ib., p.12) so the activities can temporally be concerted in situ. 

Concerning issues of interface design I want to emphasize two 

points. First, it is crucial to render activities visible. This notion 

coincides with the concern of information visualization, where 

information is rather thought of as contextual indices guiding 

actions than as objective facts. In this sense information 

visualization provides signposts of orientation and navigation 

for ongoing actions. Secondly, workplace studies show 

that action is meshed in a net of actions and thus has to be 

conceived of as inter-action. In this sense interaction styles 

serve as patterns for practices in a socio-technical environment 

where both human beings and artefacts play their respective 

roles. Taken together information visualization and interaction 

styles are essential contributors forthe accountability of actions 

in everyday practices. In the Gesto/t of Visual Programming they 

mediate the course of ordering the situation and in that make 

sense of the work. From this point of view they could help to 

accomplish a suitable awareness ofthe situation at issue. But we 

have to keep in mind that"'awareness"is momentarily produced 

In and through action and interaction of the participants 

themselves; It is not an ability, but a socially organised and 

contingent achievement'(Heath and Luff 2000, p.90). 

Technomethodology 

Technomethodology is an attempt to bring together 

ethnomethodology and system design. It comes along with a 

social turn in the domain of human-computer interaction. In 

this field it is standard to rely on ergonomic and psychological 

tenets, which -by providing usability standards, laws of Geştalt 

etc.- directly instruct and inform the design practice. But what 

about taking Into account 'social factors' in developing and 

using technical artefacts? In the chapter on workplace studies 

I pointed out that every action or interaction is embedded in

its social situated-ness;and itis in the same way that computer 

use relies on work settings. In my introduction I mentioned 

that I was Interested in the kind of cooperative social 

behaviour achieved by both human beings and artefacts. I 

claim that bringing together these actors as co-operators is 

not an easy task and cannot be done without the sensibilities 

contributed by ethnomethodology's account-ability. In my 

opinion technomethodology Is a serious candidate for the 

development of a kind of hybrid design discipline which 

integrates the disciplines of ethnomethodology and system 

design. In the present context the term hybrldity characterizes 

a way of reciprocal learning ofthe two disciplines. From the 

point of view of system design Button and Dourish (1996, 

p.22f) present three complementary ways of Integraring 

ethnomethodology and system design: 

- Ethnomethodology as personal proxy: An 

ethnomethodologist Is closely involved in the design 

process so as to inspect the field setting and contribute the 

relevant (social) usability criteria. The social scienrist serves 

as proxy insofar as she has to represent the users' concerns 

as an intermediary between users and designers. Put simply: 

Ethnomethodology serves as a kind of usability tesring. 

- Ethnomethodology as accounting practice: Design itself 

Is sensitive to social actions or work setrings and designers 

know about the importance of the account-ability of social 

practices and writing upthe users'daily rourines. in contrast to 

data gathering as performed In marketing studies rendering 

accountabilities and presenting accounts is an attempt to 

grasp the users' involvement and experience. Put simply: 

Ethnomethodology helps to re-specify the context by applying 

a kind of user-centred design. 

- Ethnomethodology as discipline: Not only the observation 

methods but also the very study policy of ethnomethodology 

Is introduced into the design process as a crucial element. 

The relationship between ethnomethodology and system 

design is considered on a theorerical plane: By developing 

and integraring fundamentai principles of both disciplines 

the hybrid discipline of technomethodology emerges.'On the 

one hand, it deals direcriy with the generally operarive social 

processes which are the currency of ethnomethodology; 

elements such as situatedness, pracrical acrion and 

representarion, achievement and mechanism, phenomena 

of order, and accountability. On the other hand, it deals 

with the fundamental, almost implicit, aspects of system 

design - generalisation and abstraction, configurarion, 

data and process, fixedness and mutability' (lb., p.22). Put 

simply; Ethnomethodology and system design converge in 

technomethodology as an innovative design discipline. 

Technomethodology as a hybrid discipline refocusses the very 

concept of design by establishing a foundarional relarionship 

between ethnomethodology and design. A foundarional 

relationship Implies more than the pracricalities of developing 

guidelines fordesign processes. More than project management 

issues or design instrucrions are at stake. Technomethodology 

is about a new foundation of system design, because it does 

not only provide new design methods but changes the 

understanding ofdesign at its roots. In otherwords, it undermines 

unquesrioned common sense categories such as for example 

tasks, goals, context etc. and replaces them by questions about 

the way these categories occur in everyday practice. These 

categories are not natural facts from which design needs can be 

derived but are factuallzed in social acrions. 

Technomethodology as a design discipline is still in its infancy 

and is still in need of much elaboration and assistance before 

It can be considered as a real alternarive to tradirional design 

efforts. But be that as it may, technomethodology brings into 

focus new design concepts to master everyware computing 

by scrurinizing the tricky and often ambiguous processes \n 

cooperative rievworks of interconnected men and machines. 

At least the first ground Is broken by conceiving of a 'deeper' 

relarionship between ethnomethodology and system design; 

By a "deeper" relationship, we mean one that sarisfies two 

criteria. The first is that it attempts to draw not simply on a 

set of observations of a specific working setting, but rather 

on ethnomethodology's fundamental insights about the 

organization of action as being a moment-to-moment, 

naturally occurring, improvisarional response to practical 

problems. The second is that it attempts to relate these 

understandings not simply to the design of a specific 

Interacrive system aimed at a specific setting, but rather, at 

the basic, fundamental principles around which software 

systems are developed... we need to address the problems in

an equally systematic way, considering not just this design or 

that design but the basic models around which those designs 

are built (Dourish 2001, p.77f, referring to Dourlsh and Button 

1998, Italics In the original). 

As a point of departure the technomethodological approach 

suggests drawing 'on a relationship between the notion of 

"abstraction"in system design andthe notion of'accountability" 

in ethnomethodology'(Dourish and Button 1998, p.413). 

- Accountability: Essential notions In ethnomethodology 

are those of account and accountability. The basic tenet is 

that every action must be accountable which means that 

the agents participating in situational actions can and do 

attribute sense to the actions carried out. First and foremost 

ethnomethodology wants to know how social order is 

achieved and maintained by the conduct of adjacent actions, 

how action is 'observable-and-reportable'. Accountability Is 

not just a form of bookkeeping accountancy, but a way of 

performing actions as both Indexical expressions and reflexive 

Interpretations at once.'Accountability lies in the reciprocality 

of action and understanding' (Dourish 2001, p.79, italics in 

the original). Accountability requires an adequate reduction 

of complexity so that action is rendered expectable and 

reasonable without the air of arbitrary contingency. 

- Abstraction: System design is the process of making 

machines accountable for users. Abstractions allow to hide 

the very interior of a computer and therefore make computers 

accessible to users. Thus abstraction Is a way of managing 

complexity by bringing crucial aspects of an issue Into the 

fore.'ln system design, abstractions typically function as"black 

boxes".They are defined bythe nature oftheir Interactions with 

the outside world... what we typically refer to as the "interface" 

to the ab.straction' (Dourish and Button 1998, p.414). 

Technomethodology addresses the problem of the 

accountability of computers that is it investigates how the 

relationships between internal behaviour and external 

utterances are conceptualized and designed as abstractions 

in the form of visualized Information or possibilities of 

interaction. Since it is the interface which indicates possible 

accounts of the behaviour of computers 'Interface design 

should concern itself with representing wtiole actions with 

multiple agents' (Laurel 1993, p.7, italics in the original). The 

Interface has to show its action adapted to the flow of practices 

In the situation at hand.'So the account should not simply be 

an abstract description of the system's behaviour, but rather 

an explication of how the system's current configuration Is a 

response to the sequence of actions that has led up to this 

moment, and a step on the path toward completing the larger 

action in which it is engaged' (Dourish 2001, p.84). 

One way of following up the matter of technomethodology 

lies In the notion of prototyping. On the one hand we can refer 

to the concept ofthe prototype in cognitive science where 

It stands for typical semantic categorisations of everyday 

objects.^ In this sense prototypes serve as media or indices of 

accountability arising out of folk theories or exactly ofthe very 

notion of ethnomethodology, namely the understanding of 

everyday practices (methods) ofthe ordinary people (folk). On 

the other hand we can refer to the concept ofthe prototype 

in industrial design, where it refers to the first model of a 

product before the launching of industrial mass production. 

This version brings out a rather static picture of a prototype 

as a specimen produced in advance. Since action is a practical 

process and computers do not participate in actions in a 

passive way, information visualization and interaction styles 

of the interface cannot be conceptualized as mute objects 

or dumb waiters. Objects too have agency (cf. Latour 2005, 

p.63ff). In a way we have to deal with a never-ending process 

of sensemaking which Implies an Infinite prototyping phase. 

Prototyping Is just another name for this process of testing 

arrangements of the agents involved. It experiments in the 

field of considerable latitude opened up by the need to 

handle contingencies. An important aspect of prototyping is 

to frame the problem and then to explore the ins and outs 

ofthe situation at stake. Since everyday situations are always 

transitory, we could put forward the idea that prototyping 

has to orchestrate the interplay of the agents involved. 

Thus prototyping can be seen as the perpetual and iterative 

process of finding balanced relationships between the agents 

involved. Prototyping is the procedure of giving an account 

forthe actions in the here and now. Perpetual prototyping, like 

'The original reference for the idea is Rosch 1973.

non-intentionai design, 'refers to tlie day-to-day redefining of 

the defined' (Brandes and Ediioff 2006, without paging). 

Conclusion 

Information technology induces a new kind of literacy which 

has to deal with phenomenon of everyware computing. In the 

post-PC area we are challenged by new forms of computing 

which simply cannot be reduced to concepts of dyadic 

human-computer relationships as conceived of in ergonomic 

and cognitive approaches in human-computer interaction. 

Everyware demands new ideas and concepts for developing 

interfaces in keeping with the times. This is why 1 shift the 

focus to workplace studies designed in accordance with 

ethnomethodological approaches. They offer remarkable 

contributions to grasping the role of Information technology 

in day-to-day organizing. Both human beings and computers 

are considered as interplaying and interacting participants of 

work ensembles which carry out actions In situ. So I introduced 

technomethodology as a fruitful step towards future design 

conceptions. In a paradoxical way technomethodology offers 

both more and less than instructive insights for interface 

design, On the one hand it proposes the new foundation of 

a hybrid discipline which is about to revive and renew the 

traditional assumptions of design. The traditional frame of 

reference of interface design Is no longer taken for granted 

but called Into question. On the other hand It is incapable of 

simply adding an instrumental support or a new method. In 

other words: Technomethodology is not a toolbox but a new 

way ofthinking about interface design. 

Maybe I have asked more questions than I have answered. But 

to call into question so-called common-sense assumptions in 

human-computer interaction is a good means of reflecting 

upon well-trodden paths and may lead to new descriptions 

of possible relationships between human and non-human 

beings. Such a policy of re-describing traditional descriptions 

from another point of view entails innovative forces. In times of 

emerging new Information technologies It is unsound advice 

to stick to rather outdated concepts without bearing in mind 

alternative options. As Coyne (2005) puts it, re-visiting and re- 

descnbing wicked problems again and again is not a hopeless 

task but helps to bring forth an adequate understanding. We 

are only at the beginning of describing human-computer 

interaction in terms of technomethodology, but I think 

continuing on this tangled path is well worth every effort. 

'The task is to imagine methods when they no longer seek the 

definite, the repeatable, the more or less stable. When they no 

longer assume that this is what they are after' (Law 2004, p.6). 

As in picture puzzles, ambiguity ensures that the (re-)search 

is going on by oscillating between different accountable 

possibilities.

References 

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Neuorlentierungen In den Kulturwlssenschaften, Relnbeck 

bei Hamburg: Rowohlt. 

BRANDES, U. & ERLHOFF, M. 2006. Non Intentional Design, 

Köln: daab. 

BROSZIEWSKI, A. 2003. Aufschalten. Kommunikation Im 

Medium der Dlgitalitât, Konstanz: UVK. 

BUTTON, G. 2003. Studies of Work In Human-Computer 

Interaction. In: J. M. CARROLL, ed. HCI Models, Theories, and 

Frameworks. Toward a Multidisciplinary Science. Amsterdam: 

Morgan Kaufmann. 

BUTTON, G. and DOURISH, R 1996. Technomethodology: 

Paradoxes and Possibilities. Proceedings of ACM CHI 96 

Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1,19-26. 

COYNE, R. 2005. Wicked Problems Revisted. Design Studies, 

26,5-17. 

DOURISH, R 2001. Where The Action Is. The Foundations of 

Embodied Interaction, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. 

DOURISH, R and BUTTON, G. 1998. On "Technomethodology". 

Foundational Relationships between Ethnomethodology and 

System Design. Human Computer Interaction, 13,395-432. 

GARFINKEL,H. 1967.Studies in Ethnomethodology, Englewood 

Cliffs: Prentice Hall. 

GARFINKEL, H. 1996. Ethnomethodology's Program. Social 

Psychology Quaterly, 59,5-21. 

GREENFIELD, A. 2006. Everyware. The Dawning Age of 

Ubiquitous Computing, Berkeley; New Riders. 

GREIF, I. ed. 1988. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work; A 

Book of Readings, San Mateo: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. 

HEATH, C. and LUFF, R 2000.Technology In Action, Cambridge: 

University Press Cambridge. 

KAY, A. 1990. User Interface: A Personal View/. In: B. LAUREL, 

ed. The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design. Reading: 

Addison-Wesley. 

LATOUR, B. 2005. Reassembling the Social. An Introduction to 

Actor-Network-Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 

LAUREL, B. 1993. Computers as Theater, Reading: Addison- 

Wesley. 

LAW, J. 2004. After Method. Mess in Social Science Research, 

London; Routledge. 

LUFF, P., HINDMARSH, J. and HEATH, C. eds. 2000. Workplace 

Studies. Recovering Work Practice and Informing System 

Design, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

MANOVICH, L. 2001 .The Language of New Media, Cambridge/ 

London: MIT Press. 

NORMAN, D. A. 1994. Things that makes us smart. Defending 

Human Attributes in the Age of Machine, Reading: Addison- 

Wesley. 

ROSCH, E. 1973. Natural Categorization. Cognitive Psychology, 

4,328-350. 

SUCHMAN, L. A. 1987. Plans and Situated Actions.The Problem 

of Human-Machine Communication, Cambridge: Cambridge 


WEISER, M. 1991. The Computer for the 21 st Century. Scientific 

American, 265, 94-104.

O R D E R A N D D I S O R D E R IN K E Y B O A R D S - M E M E T I C S O F T Y P I N G 

Aysun Aytaç 

Izmir Institute ofTeclinology, Izmir,Turkey 

aysunaytac@yahoo.com 

Abstract 

The main purpose of this study is to introduce and explain the 

terms 'meme' and 'memetics' with a brief descnption of the 

principles of natural selection and survival of the fittest rule 

in Biology. It also shows that memetic and genetic evolution 

are subjected to the same basic pnnciples. With the help of 

memes, the study focuses on the idea that the principles of 

evolution of Industnai Product Design ideas work similar to 

the pnnciples of natural selection in Biology and analyses the 

world of Industnai Product Design from a Darwinist point of 

view. Therefore, design ideas are presented as memes, mostiy 

built on previous ones within the case study of typing including 

keyboards, keyboard layouts, and some functional keys.Typing 

is analysed as a transmitted and a settied behavioral pattern, 

the memetics of QWERTY keyboard layout and the Shift key 

meme is put into practice, analysing the mechanical, electnc, 

and digital phases of these memes. As a conclusion, the study 

suggests Biology and memetics to be put to practical use in 

Industnai Product Design wodd beside other sciences. 

Memes and Memetics 

The term meme was invented and first introduced by Richard 

Dawkins -a Darwinian zoologist- in his book The Selfish Gene 

in 1975. Bnefly, Dawkins explains biological evolution which 

does not happen for the good of the species, nor for the 

group or the individuals, it is purely for the benefit of the 

genes themselves. Although selection takes place largely at 

the individual level, it is the information in the genes that is 

copied, They are the replicators and it is their competition that 

drives the evolution of biological design (Dawkins 1989). "A 

replicator is something that copies itself, though not always 

perfectiy.The environment must be one in which the replicator 

can create numerous copies of Itself, not all of which can 

survive" (Blackmore 2000a: 114). The DNA coded 'selfish' gene 

is not the only replicator on this planet according to Dawkins; 

he introduces the other'selfish' replicator; the meme: 

Examples of memes are tunes, ideas, catch-phrases, 

clothes fashions, ways of making pots or building arches. 

Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by 

leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes 

propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from 

brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, 

can be called imitation (Dawkins 1989:192). 

Memetics Is the study of memes and their social effects (Grant 

1990). It deals with the evolutionary models of information 

transmission. "Memetics is all about why some memes spread 

and others do not" (Blackmore 1997:45). It extends Darwinian 

evolution to culture. Though memetic and genetic evolution 

are subjected to the same basic principles of blind vanatlon 

and natural selection, memetic evolution is basically a much 

more flexible mechanism. Memes are equivalent to genes in a 

way but that does not mean that memes can only work if they 

are like genes in every way (Blackmore 1999b). 

Memes as Replicators 

Darwin's principle 'natural selection' requires three main 

features; variation, selection and retention (heredity). If there 

is 'variarion' among the offspring then not al! the creatures 

would be identical, second not all the offspring can survive, 

there must be an environment in which some varieries do 

better than others, which Is called 'selection'; and finally the

survival offspring having some special characteristics is passed 

on to the next generation which is called 'retention (heredity)'. 

Then It returns to the start again. 

The three main features; variation, selection and retention, 

leading to evolutionary algorithm are to count something as 

a replicator. If memes are also replicators and can sustain an 

evolutionary process, those principles must be valid for them 

too: 

1. Memes have variation,for example, stories are not generally 

told exactly the same way twice which means when a meme Is 

passed on, the copying Is not always perfect. 

2. Secondly, there Is memetlc selection, some memes are 

good at being copied, they are successfully passed on, but 

some do not even grab attention and fail to get copied 

between people. 

3. Finally, there is retention of some ofthe Ideas in the memes 

that are passed on; 

something of the original meme is retained.The memetherefore 

fits into Dawkins's idea of replicator and the evolutionary theory 

(Blackmore 1999b). 

iği 

in 

«» -' 

Figure 1. Some earlier Nokia mobile phone keypad 'variations' 

(Source: http://www.gsmshop.nl/shop/shopimages/ 

Nokia3650_cover_SKR324.jpg 

http://www.gsm4u.ru/lmg/phones/Nokia_7600.jpg 

http;//www.mundosemfio.com.br/images/jorge/Nokia6630.jpg) 

1 2 3 

4 5 6 

7 8 9 

* 0 # 

Figure 2.The'selection'and the'retention'of today's Nokia 

mobile phone keypad, a recent model; Nokia 6288 

(Source: http://www.nokia.com.tr/ld97420.html) 

An Example; Modernist Architecture from a l\êmetics 

Point of View 

There Is no rule stating; the successful memes are 'always' 

good, useful, true, beautiful, ergonomic, aesthetic, practical, 

functional etc. Forexample;forSalingarosand Mikiten modern 

architecture - in spite of its announcement and acceptance 

as being perfect - roughly does not answer the physical and 

psychological needs of human beings (Salingaros and Mikiten 

2002). 

They explain how once memes have been encapsulated 

and institutionalized they acquire a rigidity that makes them 

extremely difficultto remove. From that perspective,they bring 

forward some explanations for the remarkable persistence of 

modernist architecture and urbanism in spite oftheir negative 

aspects.Taking the meme's eye view on, they review modernist 

style of architecture - otherwise called the Internotiono! Style - 

that has been the overriding building style from the 1920s until 

2V^ century. The style is easily recognisable by its geometry 

of cubes and rectangular slabs; flat plain surfaces; the lack of 

thick connective boundaries; the use of steel, glass planes, 

and concrete panels; and In many cases the elimination of 

color and structure on the human range of scales Imm-lm. 

They compare modernist architecture to military and prison 

architecture and show some stylistic similarities between 

them: defense installations and castles (experienced from 

the outside), dungeons, prisons, crematoria etc. (experienced 

from the inside) (Salingaros 1995). Representative buildings 

include the Bauhaus building (1926) by Walter Gropius; the 

Pavilion Suisse, Cite Universitaire (1932) and Carpenter Center for 

the Visual Arts (1961) by Le Corbusier; the Casa delFascIo (1936)

y Giuseppe Terragni; the UN Headquarters (1950) by Wallace 

Harrison and iVlax Abramovitz; the Seagram building (1958) 

and the Neue Nationolgalerie (1968) by Ludwig Mies van der 

Rohe; and the National Theatre (1967) by Denys Lasdun (see 

Fig. 3 - 6). 

Figure 3. Pavilion Suisse, Cite Universitaire (1932) by LeCorbusier 

and Dover Castle, England (Sources: http://ww/w.sciences- 

sociales.ens.fr/hss2001/logement/galene/leCorbusier.html 

http://wvyv»/.dover-castie-friends.org/fodc/Home.htm) 

Figure 4. Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts (1961) by Le 

Corbusier and Gosford Casde (1850s), England (Sources: 

http://www. woddandi.com/newhome/public/2003/august/ 

arpub.asp http://www.gosford.co.uk/ca5tie6.html) 

Figure 5. National Theatre (1967) by Denys Lasdun and Dover 

Castle, England{Sources:http://www.bluffton.edu/~SULLIVANM/ 

england/london/lasdun/theatre.html 

http://keep3.sjfc.edu/students/fmw7062/unitplan/dovercastle. 

htm) 

1". k 0. -"îsN^ 

Figure 6. Faculty of Architecture in Middle East Technical 

University; inside view - 2nd floor and inside of a pnson 

(Source: http://www.shadowspawn,net/temp/tc_prison.jpg) 

Universal Darwinism and Industrial Design 

Universal Darwinism (first introduced by Dawkins) is applying 

evolution and its principles to several different fields of enquiry. 

It can be applied to any system that has variation, selection 

and heredity. The fundamental principle of Darwinism is this: 

If living things vary in ways that affect how well they 

can survive, and If they produce more offspring than 

can possibiy survive, and if the few survivors pass on 

their characteristics to the next generation, then the 

characteristics that helped them survive will be more 

common in the next generarion.That is, the members ofthe 

next generation will have evolved In some way compared 

with the previous one; they will be better adapted to the 

environment In which the selection took place. 

Let us replace some words with the terms of design: 

if designs vary In ways that affect how well they can 

survive, and If they produce more variations than 

can possibly survive, and if the few survivors pass on

their characteristics to the next generation, then the 

characteristics that helped them survive will be more 

common In the next generation.That Is, the designs ofthe 

next generation will have evolved in some way compared 

with the previous one; they will be better adapted to the 

market in which the selection took place. 

There are 8 premises which evolution is based on: (To apply 

the evolution system to any population a biological entity 

is not necessary, it just should compete for resources, have 

unique characteristics, can reproduce, produce offspring that 

Inherit their characteristics and whose offspring might be 

different (Silby 2000a)). 

1. In Ideal circumstances {limitless resources), populations will 

grow exponentially. 

2. Resources are limited. 

3. Individuals within a population have unique characteristics. 

Figure 7. Different typewriter keyboards having different 

characteristics 

4. An individual's characteristics are passed on to its offspring 

(Inheritance) (Figure 8). 

5. Change can occur, and this sometimes results in offspring 

having slightly different characteristics to their parents. 

(Figure 9). 

6. Given the fact that individuals have varied characterisrics, 

it is reasonable to suppose that some individuals will have 

characteristics that give them a better success at acquiring 

resources and reproducing (Figure 10). 

CanKu4(I92-t) 

Figure 8. The inheritance of the QWERTY keyboard layout 

within Corona typewriters and word processors. 

IQ, w "E,'Tr!rL(y; 'U]\rş t 

[A] i Sj [cT ii] ;g. TH; .TI ia: Tj 

Figure 9. Pittsburg No.lO typewriter (1898) presenting the 

QWERTY keyboard (which was first Introduced in 1874 by 

Remington) with a slight change (Source: http://ednixon.com/ 

pix/2003/typewriters/Pa136415.jpg) 

0 ^-.V:". - . 

Figure 10. The huge keyboard of a mechanical typewriter 

having both capital and small letters on its keyboard and 

another mechanical typewriter keyboard - similar to today's 

PC keyboards - having only one type of letter on its display but 

presenting a shift key (in white circle) in orderto'shift'between 

upper and lower cases. It Is clear here which type of keyboard 

was successful at acquiring resources and reproducing

7. Characteristics that enhance an individual's survival 

and reproductive success wWl be passed on to subsequent 

generations - 'survival of the fittest'- natural selection. 

Figure 11. The i

Re-design 

"... every picture ovês more to other pictures painted before 

than it owes to nature" (Gombrich qtd. in MichI 2002). 

it may seem odd but, designers, in practice, can not start from 

scratch generally. On the contrary, it can be said that designers 

start off where other designers (or they themselves) have left 

off which means design is also something about improving 

earlier products, and that designers are thereby linked to 

earlier objects, or actually to their own or their colleagues' 

earlier solutions ~ and thus to yesterday. This is how It was in 

biological evolution. (MichI 2002:14) 

George Basalla argues this deeply In his bookThe Evolution of 

Technology (1988). Basalla sheds light on evolutionary history 

of design and technology emphasizing on:"Any new thing that 

appears in the made world Is based on some object already in 

existence" (45). He builds an evolutionary explanation of how 

steam engines, hammers, trucks and transistors have come 

about. He emphasises the slow progressive process of change 

through Imitation and variation. For example, many features 

of wooden buildings were reproduced in stone by the Greeks, 

the first iron bridge built in the late 1770s was modelled on 

woodworking practices, and even the plastic bucket often 

still shows signs of its origins in metal. Basalla questions the 

idea of technology progressing towards grand goals such as 

'the advancement of humanity' or the 'the overall betterment 

of the human race'. He depicts the relation of evolutionary 

perspectives and artifacts which are included in the design 

domain. 

In public perception, design is typically regarded as the act 

of talented people creating some nice forms. Design is not 

always just an individual's creative activity, but creativity with 

a collaboration ofthe past and the future. To redefine design, it 

can befocusedonthe word'design'itself.The word itself Is lack 

of some perspective, which is the collective, cooperative and 

cumulative dimension ofdesign. MichI suggests considering 

the word 'redesign', which has the advantage of containing 

the word 'design' already. If it is accepted that functionality of 

artifacts is always the result of step-by-step improvements to 

thetoolsavailableatanytime,then the origin of any intelligent 

contrivance becomes easier to understand (MichI 2002). 

Evolutionary Design Practices on Typing - the Memetics of 

the QWERTY layout and the Shift, Ctrl and Alt Keys 

One of the examples for the replicating behaviour through 

generations Istyping.Whenthe subject Istypingthe main product 

to be examined is the keyboard. Today keyboards are commonly 

seen as auxiliary equipments that are connected to computers. It 

is the device used to enter information and instructions Into the 

computer. Most keyboards have all the letters of the alphabet, 

numbers 0-9 and additional special operational keys. Most of 

the keys, their functions and locations derive from the antique 

mechanical typewriters which are not used today. 

The Mechanical Phase 

The evolution of the 'writing machine' from early IB"" century 

concepts to the modern electronic typewriter represents a rich 

history of efforts by many individuals in several countries. The 

idea ofthe typewriter can be traced to the early 19'^ century. 

Until 1874 - the time when the QWERTY layout was presented; 

the first six letters of the keyboard layout of the first commercial 

mechanical typewriter - there had been different ideas of typing 

apart from the common keyboard type used today. 

Thefirst commercial typewriter was Introduced to the U.S. market 

by Remington In 1874 as the'Type Writer'(see Fig. 13) which was 

evolved from the unit invented and built by Sholes and Glidden 

in 1867. The'Type Writer'was heavily influenced bythe workings 

and the appearance of the sewing machine, which was also 

produced by Remington. 

Figure 13. Sholes Typewriter (no shift key) - Remington, 1874 

(Source: http://www.officemuseum.eom/IMagesWWW/1874_ 

Sholes_Glldden_NMAH_SI_OM.jpg)

This early typewriter had its limitations; it typed invisibly {the 

operator could not view the result while typing) and pnnted 

only in capital letters (Shift key appeared on the keyboard of 

Remington No.2) {Beattieâ Rahenkamp 1981). However, the most 

important point about Sholes Typewriter was the presentation of 

the QWERTY layout to the market. 

How did QWERTY layout designed? Before 1874, while Sholes 

was working on typewriters, there were some problems 

with the printing mechanism; the key slugs would easily get 

jammed when a key was pressed before the previous one had 

returned. Sholes solved this problem by experimenting with 

the most common English two-letter sequences and assigning 

the most frequent couples to opposite sides of the keyboard. 

This resulted in the QWERTY layout (see Fig. 14), which was 

optimal in avoiding key jamming (Buzlng 2003). 

F G H J 

C V 

Figure 14. The QWERTY layout layouts were not QWERTY 

(Sources: http://www.maquinasdeescreverantlgas.com.br/fotos/ 

hammond%201.JPG 

http://www.portabletypewriters.com/blickensderfer_front_ 

closeup.gif) 

The QWERTY layout Is a typical visual memetic pattern, which 

had been active for 133 years and it still lasts. It has been 

accepted as the universal or the standard keyboard design 

in English-speaking countries around the wodd today. Some 

reasons behind QWERTY layout's great Initial advantage are Its 

presentation on the first commercial typewriters that entered 

the business offices and the huge number of typists that 

Remington Company trained for this keyboard (Buzlng 2003). 

Throughout the typewriters evolurion, the Shift key was one of 

the first special keys which have been added to the keyboard 

layout. In orderto print both upper and lowercase letters with 

a single letter key, two typefaces were placed on each type- 

bar. When a letter key was operated within a platen-shifting 

mechanism, either the upper or the lower case version of the 

letter could be chosen to print. It was in 1878, Remington 

No.2 Typewriter had a shift key on the left bottom corner of 

the keyboard and since that mode!, nearly ali the mechanical 

and electric typewriters had shift keys (see Fig. 15). it was a 

real ease to write both lower and upper cases with one layout, 

otherwise there had to be a doubled keyboard (see Fig. 16). 

Figure 15. Remington No. 2 Typewriter (with its shift key), 1878 

(Source: http://www.officemuseum.eom/l 878_Remlngton__No._ 

2 front OMJPG) 

Figure 16. A doubled keyboard typewriter (no shift keys)

Like the variety in biological evolution, there had been 

various designs of typewriters, keyboards and keyboards 

arrangements in the market. For some reasons typewriters like 

HammondandBlickensderfer{seeFig.17)couldnotthreatened 

the market-leading position of Remington. Maybe It was 

because Bllckensderfer did not have the production capacity 

that Remington had, or the early QWERTY market penetration 

gave Remington a slight but decisive advantage. In addition, 

the Remington typewriter had won some important typing 

contests. These competitions were very common those days, 

for example the famous Cincinnati contest in 1888, which was 

won by Remington's star typist Frank McGurrin. The New York 

Times stated that this victory made clear that the Remington 

machine (with its QWERTY keyboard) was technically superior 

which makes the QWERTY arrangement superior.This was the 

best kind of advertisement that Remington could wish for and 

it put many competitors out of business. In fact, it is said that 

the performance differences were rather small (Buzing 2003). 

This way or that way selection was made through variety; 

some Ideas have died some have survived. Remington was 

selected, so was the QWERTY 

Figure 17. Hammond 1884 (left) and Bllckensderfer No.5 1893 

(right), their keyboard 

In 1895, the Wagner and Underwood Company (see Fig. 18) 

produced Underwood No.1 typewriter. It was the one which 

developed the style known today. It was the first modern 

typewriter having superior technical features, shared by al! 

subsequent typewriters. In addition, it was put on the market 

with its QWERTY keyboard and shift keys on It.This can be called 

as the retention (heredity) of the QWERTY and the shift key 

memes. It is simply Darwinian and it is analogical to biological 

evolution; characteristics that enhance an individual's survival 

and reproductive success will be passed on to subsequent 

generations -'survival ofthe fittest'- natural selection. 

Figure 18. Underwood No.1,1895 

(Source: http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/everyday_ 

life/work/1880-1939/rL.0376/) 

After being the dominant one in 1890, many alternative layouts 

continued to appear against QWERTY claiming to be more 

efficient and fasterthus superior.The most famous alternative was 

the Dvorak's Simplified Keyboard (see Fig. 19) patented In 1932. 

Nevertheless, whatever had been claimed, the QWERTY meme had 

always been the fitting meme through the design of typewriters 

and keyboards after a certain time. Even though the QWERTY 

layout Is not yet proved to be the most efficient keyboard layout 

possible, as a meme - efficient or not, ergonomically correct or not 

(these are not the cases here) - it had been a successful replicator 

and gained success through the meme pool against the other 

memes (layout designs). It was successful because It managed to 

replicate itself; this increased the possibility of being the fitting 

meme underthe conditions ofthe existing environment. 

o J K X S 

Figure 19. Dvorak's Simplified Keyboard; the most popular 

alternative to QWERTY keyboard (the small letters in the 

corners represent the QWERTY layout) 

(Source: Buzing, Comparing Different Keyboard Layouts)

This case is similar to the competitions between recording 

systems of VHS and Beta. There were no real technical 

differences initially between Beta and VHS even though some 

claimed Beta Is better. This is also similar to the contention 

between the operating systems of Macintosh and Microsoft- 

DOS. Most of the people consider what the people around 

them choose or likely to choose. This helps memes spread 

also. Economists call this network externality, which means the 

value ofthe good depends in part on how many other people 

It can connect to (Katz & Shapiro qtd. in Liebowitz 1994). 

Changes in the mechanical typewriter design have evolved 

over rime.Through many Innovarions, these limited mechanical 

devices were to evolve into sophisticated electronic typewriters 

with improvements. Some of the important improvements 

were the shift key mechanism, visible wriring and portable 

typewriters. There were numerous different designs; but 

whatever has changed the QWERTY and the shift keys kept 

on 'living'. They were successful memeric patterns. Following 

figures show different rimes' mechanical typewriters with their 

QWERTY keyboards and shift keys, and alsoa French and aTurkish 

typewriter with their shift keys. Shift key was such a successful 

meme; its location and its mission were always transferred even 

though the layout ofthe keyboard was different from QWERTY. 

Figure 20. Williams No.6 (1904) and below Franklin {1891; 

(Source: http://ednixon.com/pix/2003/typewriters) 

Figure 21. Corona 3 {folding) {1912) and below Bing (1927) 

{Source: http://ednixon.com/pix/22003/typewriters) 

Figure 22. Above Torpedo (1920s) with its French keyboard 

layout and below Patria with its Turkish keyboard layout 

different from QWERTY and with their shift keys placed the 

same as most ofthe typewriters. 

The Electronic Phase 

Another advance in typewriters came with the development 

ofthe electric typewriter. The advantage of an electric machine 

was greater speed and legibility. The first commercially 

successful electric typewriter put in the market had presented 

QWERTY layout and shift keys on its keyboard, like mostly 

used mechanical typewriters. It was marketed by IBM as the 

ElectricTypewriter Model 01 (Improved) in 1935. 

The shift key meme and the QWERTY layout meme were again 

successful at repllcaring themselves in the era of electric and

eiectronic typewriters and word processors. As the shift key 

was located on the left bottom of the mechanical typewriter's 

keyboards, it was also commonly located on both the left and right 

hand side ofthe electric and electronic typewriters too; below the 

caps lock and enter/return key. The shift key was again used for 

typing capitals and special characters. Following figures are some 

examples to this electronic era ofthe QWERTY and shift keys. 

Figure 23. IBM Model 04 (1947) and below a prototype of IBM 

Model A (1940s) 

(Sources: http://www.etypewriters.eom/l 947-04.jpg 

http://ednixon.com/pix/2003/typewriters/Pa136452.jpg) 

i 

•Hi 

\ 

'ft - - 

Figure 24. IBM Model A (1950) and below Smith Corona Electric (1959) 

(Sources: http://www.etypewriters.eom/l 950-a-1 .jpg 

httpy/www.portabletypewriters.com/smith_corona_5le_htm.htm) 

Figure 25. IBM Selectric 1961 and below Brother AX-325 (?) 

(Sources: 

http://teclasorg.coolfreepage.com/colJBM_Selectric.htm 

httpy/www.bestoffer.com/pages/General/IDetall.jsp?item-15495) 

The Digital Phase 

After the keyboards ofthe mechanical, electric and electronic 

typewriters, the QWERTY layout and the shift keys had been 

'transferred'also to the computer keyboards with other keys. 

Computer keyboards have changed very little in layout since 

their introduction. In fact, the most common change has 

simply been the natural evolution of adding more keys that 

provide additional functionality. As a gained characteristic 

which enhance the keyboard's survival (one of the basic 

premises of evolution), the presence and the location of the 

shift keys did not change; on the left and right hand side, 

below the caps lock and enter/return key. Although layout 

did not change much, computer keyboard designs have 

presented interesting solutions time to time (e.g., the split 

left/right layout, adding a ten-key pad), but the QWERTY 

letter arrangement continues to be used. Following figures 

show some keyboards of different periods and the evidence 

ofthe /lererf/ty of QWERTY layout and shift keys through the 

evolution of technology in digital era.

' ] 1 i i J 1 ) ! i t i •• 

Figure 26. Apple I (1975); the first PC and Apple II Enhanced 

(between 1979-83) 

(Sources: http://www.apple2.org/aboutimages.html 

http://computermuseum.50megs.com/images/col lection/ 

apple-lle.jpg) 

Figure 27. Apple Adjustable Keyboard (1992) and Fountain Hills 

FH201 PC keyboard 

(Sources: http;//tim.griffins.ca/gallery/keyboard/all.html 

http://www.farclip.com/hardware/images/Apple_ 

Adj usta bl eKeyboa rd-M 1242.jpg) 

Figure 28. The IVlyKey PC keyboard and The Kinesis Advantage 

Pro PC keyboard (2003) 

(Sources: http://tim.grİflîns.ca/galiery/keyboard/all.html 

http://www.atpm.eom/9.01/kinesis.shtml) 

Figure 29. ErgolVlax PC keyboard and Logitech Cordless Desktop 

LX (2000s) 

(Sources: http://tim.griffins.ca/gallery/keyboard/all.htmi 

http://www.yenra.com/cordless-keyboard/cordless-keyboard. 

jpg)

Figure 30. Del! Inspiron 3200 Notebook Keyboard and Folding 

Palm PC keyboard 

(Sources: http:/Mww.fo! d i ngkeyboards.com/Palm%20Key board 

%20W_400.JPG) 

I '""\ •^'7''~^J''~TTiiii 

/- iri 

Figure 31. HP IPAQ Pocket PC - mobile phone (2004} and Nokia 

9300 SmartPhone (2004) 

(Sources: 

http://wwvi^mobiletracker.net/archives/images/9300__3.jpg 

http://www.gi2modo.com/archives/images/nokia_9300jarge.jpg) 

J- 

~ 

Figure 32. Examples for virtual keyboards; a Palm PC and 

Siemens mobile phone (2000s) 

(Sources: 

http://blog.llvedoor.jp/kanta6489/archives/158855.html 

http://asia.cnet.eom/i/r/2004/hp/39019980/virtual_keyboard 

^600.jpg) 

As it is seen in the above figures the shift key still keeps its 

location and its importance, in fact it has been doubled. It 

still offers a big ease since it allows combinations with other 

keys In orderto type special characters beside its function of 

writing in capitals. This means, combinations with the shift 

key allow some special features in most of the computer 

programs. In the time of mechanical typewriters and electric/ 

electronic word processors, shift keys were there just to write 

capital letters and special characters, but due to the changes 

In the environment, the shift key had to take on some other 

duties in order to survive in the system. Its function had been 

transferred beyond writing capitals through the system itself. 

Here are two widely known examples ofthe usage ofthe shift 

key within the Windows Operating System apart from word 

processing and forming special characters: 

1. The keyboard is not the only device In the system of 

interaction with the computer; there is also the 'mouse'. If there 

is no mouse then a touchable screen is needed. Therefore, the

shift key also has a relation with the mouse beside other keys. 

For example, within Internet Explorer (the default web browser) 

while a web page is viewed, it can be used to open another 

link presented in that page in a new window, ifthe new link 

is clicked while holding down the shift key, the web page will 

directly be opened in a new window. It is tike a short cut. 

2. Another widely known example would be the delete 

command. A file, a folder etc. can be deleted 'permanently' 

by shift key + delete key. Otherwise the file would be kept In 

Recycle Bin folder for a period of time. Control key (Ctrl) is also 

similar to the shift key in function. It is located just under the 

shift key on computer keyboards. Control key is pressed along 

with other keys to perform system tasks or special tasks within 

an application program. It is widely used with the program 

fVlicrosoft Word that Is a kind of an extension ofthe electronic 

word processors. One can create and edit text and graphics 

in letters, reports, web pages, or e-mail messages by using 

Microsoft Word, There are some keyboard shortcuts within 

Microsoft Word like cutting or copying (a word, sentence or 

a figure) in a document and pasting it into another. They are, 

in order, Ctrl X, Ctrl + C and Ctd + V. These shortcuts are 

also valid within other programs too. Most ofthe computer 

users are aware of these shortcuts and can easily guess that 

they wlil work within other suitable programs too, also within 

the operating system itself in any context e.g. editable text 

regions, windows explorer, desktop etc. In fact, users do not 

just guess them; but they expect them to work, because they 

are memetic patterns.Those widely known shortcuts working 

within software for years are now transferred to the hardware 

also; some keyboards are produced with those shortcuts 

wntten on the keys like reminders (see fig, 33). 

Figure 33 The keys of Vestel PC keyboard 

Such uses have become the basics ofthe computer systems 

and programs. Generally, all computer users and computer 

program designers are aware of those, since it is simply 

memetic and it fits to the evolutionary system. Being aware of 

the opportunities ofthe Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys in the system, 

computer users also try to use those keys in every computer 

program possible, if It Is needed. While using a computer 

program, when a feature or a command is newly learned, 

generallyif it is plausible, the user would also try that command 

with holding down one or two of those keys too, guessing 

that something extra would happen regarding the command. 

This is because the special features ofthe shift key had been 

memeticly transferred for years. There Is an expectation of a 

settled behaviour. As a design, those key combinations survive 

and ttiose survivors pass on tlieir cliaracteristics to tlie next 

generation, then tiie characteristics tiiat iielped them survive will 

be more common in the next generation. 

As examples, the programs that designers use in genera! can 

be referred to, like Adobe Photoshop. Shift, Ctrl and alt keys 

are important keys In such programs. A very simple example 

to the use of the shift key would be its acting as a snap 

command which means it iielps to draw totally horizontal and 

vertical lines. Drawing such lines is also possible by turning 

on the 'snap to all' command but it is still not as easy as just 

holding down the shift key. When a new user realises the 

easiness that shift key offers be/she would try it during the 

use of other commands too. Another ease is the use of the 

ctd -f- alt keys in combination. Holding down both keys in 

Adobe Photoshop creates a copy of a desired layer. Of course, 

all those commands need the use of a mouse at the same 

time. As industrial designers know such combinations are also 

important in 3d modeling programs too, e.g. Rhinoceros, 3d 

Studio Max, and Catia V5. They offer Important features and 

ease. The most Interesting combination of those three keys is 

within the software called Alias Studio; a special program for 

Industrial designers. In order to use this program inan efficient 

way, the user is directly and definitely dependent on the shift, 

ctd and alt keys with the mouse. 

The shift key started its life offering a simple combination; 

capitalizing letters. It worked out, and it has been transferred 

to the next generations. However, since the environment was 

changing and the circumstances were altering, in order to

Üve on, the shift key has become responsible for some other 

combinations too with some added keys like Ctrl and Alt while 

kept on capitalizing letters. Once the user experiences that 

those keys enable some extra features, he/she will try them 

as much as possible during the use of any other program 

convenient. In addition, computer program designers and 

product designers are aware of this behaviour too, and 

actually, it is this fact that lets the shift key used for years with 

an increasing popularity. The altering behaviour of the shift key 

has been transferred since 1878 and different combinations 

have been added to It until today. 

Conclusion 

Industrial Product Design, not only during the design process 

but also in research context deals with a wide variety of 

disciplines such as engineering, social sciences, humanities 

etc. In this paper, beside those sciences. Biology is tried to be 

presented as a useful science for Industrial Product Designers 

and design researchers to take advantage of 

During this study, the Design world Is tried to be presented 

as a population for which the premises of natural selection 

and evolution are valid, thus it is regarded as a population 

which evolves like biological entities.Therefore, the important 

pattern in this population is design memes. Throughout the 

paper, some design memes are tried to be revealed and how 

memes drive the evolution of an industrial design product is 

tried to be presented. 

Consequently, 

• Memes are replicators analogous to genes in Biology 

which work in non-biological systems, e.g. Industrial 

Product Design. Thus, they work according to similar 

principles of natural selection and survival ofthe fittest 

rule In Biology. 

• Design ideas are memes that can replicate, compete, 

mutate, co-evolve and may die. 

• Biology as a science offers enough contribution and 

assistanceto Industrial Product Designers to benefit from 

during their design processes and design researches 

beside Physics, Mathematics, Psychology, Sociology, 

Ergonomics, Anthropometry, Engineering Sciences etc. 

• Typing Is one of the memetic behavioral patterns 

which co-evolve with Its design memes like typewriters, 

keyboards and their layouts, shift, Ctrl and alt keys etc.

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Idl86_2.doc (20 December 2004).

T H E D A N C E O F D I S O R D E R : C A N A N U N D E R S T A N D I N G D F C H A D S A N D 

F R A G M E N T A T I O N L E A D TO A D E S I G N A P P R O A C H F O R A S O C I A L L Y I N C L U S I V E 

P U B L I C R E A L M ? 

Bradley Braun 

University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada 

babraun@ucalgary.ca 

Contemporary approaches towards addressing issues 

of socially fragmented landscapes are firmly rooted in 

philosophies that attempt to superimpose structures of 

stability, order and control on to what is perceived to be an 

utter state of confusion and disorder. This paper investigates 

whether chaos theory offers potential forthe development of a 

design approach for socially inclusive urban landscapes. Itthen 

proceeds to investigate the potential for complexity theory, 

or more specifically, complex adaptive systems to provide a 

framework for design interventions that seek to dance at the 

edge of chaos. The paper argues that inclusive landscapes can 

not be designed in themselves; socially inclusive landscapes 

are the products of a dynamic and chaotic growth. Finally, 

it investigates whether the notion of a social condenser can 

provide the vehicle for the insertion of design Interventions 

that seek to evoke change through a dance of collision and 

chaos. It will propose that the role of the architect Is to create 

the potential for this to occur through the design of urban 

fields in which this dance of disorder can occur. 

introduction 

In its expectation to find complex behavior as a result of 

simple systems, and in its understanding that complex 

systems give rise to simple behavior, in holding that 

the laws of complexity hold universally, caring not at 

all for the details of a system's constituent parts, chaos 

is indeed diiferent from classical physics. Chaos theory 

demonstrates self-similarity, retrieving Leibniz's notion 

that "the world is in a drop of water" to understand, 

finally, that everything is connected (Alberto Perez- 

Gomez 1999: 343). 

The traditional notion of chaos as anti-thetical to the forces of 

modern planning at first brings up Images ofthe application 

of anarchy to dissolve the structural nightmares created 

through the imposition of stability, order and control through 

the auspices of modern planning. Upon deeper examination, 

however, the implication is actually one of the Imposition 

of notions of fractal geometry to provide a mechanism to 

reconcile forces of fragmentation, and through a concept 

that examines the notion of patterns of complexity that span 

across a range of scales to bring a wholeness from what first 

perceived to be an utter state of confusion and disorder. 

Chaos and Complexity 

Perhaps the most popular depiction of chaos theory as captured 

by the minds ofthe public was by Edward Lorenz In his seminal 

talk entitled Predictability: Does the Flop of a Butterfly's Wings in 

Brozilsetoffo Tornodoin Texas.?(1972).This provocative question 

actually only captures one ofthe properties that define chaos as 

a theoretical construct-that of sensitivity to local conditions. 

Before proceeding any further, it is perhaps best to explore 

some definitions of chaos as they apply to this paper. According 

to the Oxford Dictionary, the origins of a definition for chaos 

can be traced back to notions of creation, where chaos stood for 

'the formless void of primordial matter, the great deep or abyss 

out of which the cosmos or order of the universe was evolved' 

(2006). This leads to a traditional reference that frames chaos as 

'a state resembling that of primitive chaos; utter confusion and 

disorder' (Oxford 2006). With the advent of chaos theory, the 

notion of chaos was redefined. No longer simply a state of utter 

confusion and disorder in a global sense, it began to bethought

of as the presence of phenomenon, that while still exhibiting 

behaviour that was inexplicable at a localised scale, could 

ultimately be described as an accountable set of phenomena of 

a larger system. In essence, chaos has become synonymous with 

'the behavior of a system which is governed by deterministic 

laws but is so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to its 

extreme sensitivity to changes in parameters or its dependence 

on a large number of independent variables'{Oxford 2006). 

As a discourse, Chaos Theory seeks to explain the behavior of 

non-linear dynamical systems which exhibit the phenomenon 

referred to as chaos. Here, chaos is the product of patterns of 

mathematically deterministic behavior(s), the complexity of which 

are unobservable at a localized scale and/or time frame. It Is this 

inability to perceive an underiying complexity In a given system 

that results In the appearance of chaos (Rublnowicz 2000). 

For Rubinowicz (2000), the relationship between geometric 

order and chaos within urban forms has resided within the 

formarion and evolution of complex compositions since the 

dawn of urbanizarion. It is this relarionship that provides an 

organizarional tension to otherwise disparate city fabrics; 

which creates a sense of place In otherwise staric compositions 

of mass and void; that allow spaces to transcend the logic of 

funcrional relarionships provided for in their conception. Within 

this model geometry provides the organizarional logic of space 

while chaos infuses it with a layer of complexity that provides 

for an 'individual dimension' (Rubinowicz 2000: 200). This 

relarionship exists at different spatial scales, from the geometric 

logic ofthe square In front of St, Peter's basilica inserted into 

the urban chaos of Rome, tothe individualization of doorways, 

balconies and window ledges imposed on the orthogonally 

ordered facades ofthe eclectic collection of mixed use buildings 

that line the streets of the tradirional city core (Image 1). 

Rubinowicz (2000) further posits that this interweaving of order 

and chaos is evident within the abstraction of a plan view of 

the tradirional city, even where an orthogonal grid provides 

an ordering structure. The principles of this idea can be seen in 

the following image ofa portion ofthe residential urban fabric 

of Lisbon (see image 2).' The area in the image Is a porrion of 

Lisbon that has evolved over the past century, with the majority 

of inlrial construction occurring prior to the arrival of modernist 

influences. At first glance the photo depicts an orthogonal 

grid of streets lined with buildings. Closer examinarion reveals 

an accumularion of plants, parios, sheds, fences and assorted 

structures that have evolved over rime within the interlorized 

porrions ofthe city blocks depicted In the photo. 

Image 1. The imposition of chaos on a Lisbon street facade. 

İÜ 

1 

Image 2. Aerial photo of Lisbon showing the accumularion of 

complexity over time. 

' The original drawings İ3y Rubinowicz demonstrate this process of 

revealing chaos in built form through two examples; decomposition 

ofa segment ofthe urban fabric of Barcelona, and decomposition of 

the facade of a tenement house, also located in Barcelona. For further 

information see Rubinowicz (2000), p. 202.

According to Rublnowicz the patterns evidenced in this 

example demonstrate the emergence of complexity through 

chaos; a process he defines as self-organisational in that It 

results through natural processes over time, as opposed 

to a structured ordering through the application of design 

principles. According to Rublnowicz, the absence of this 

level of spontaneously emerging detail in the urban fabric of 

modernist frameworks represents the failure ofarchitectural 

and urban design to comprehend the Importance of the 

fourth dimension of space In within the role of design; that of 

'the creation of complex and chaotic compositions' (203). 

-îi. 

Image 3. Aerial photo of the Av. Alfredo Bensaude housing 

project in Lisbon. 

The argument posited by Rublnowicz Is illustrated in Image 

3, which depicts an aerial photo ofthe Av. Alfredo Bensaude 

housing project in Lisbon. Located along the northeast border 

of the city, the project was constructed as part of an overall 

strategy to redress the severe housing shortages and resultant 

blight of shantytowns that have plagued the city in recent 

decades.^ This Image typifies the approach of utilizing large- 

scale ordered blocks of highly structured, socially planned, 

low-income communities that has resulted in the emergence of 

projects throughout the peripheral regions of Lisbon. 

The essence of the argument forwarded by Rublnowicz Is 

that chaos is a process that is dynamic and self-organizing - a 

^ Completed in 2001, this project consists of 357 housing units in 

three buildings. The informal housing visible to the north of the 

project is actually located in an adjacent municipality. 

principle that will be examined In the next section through 

the theoretical framework proposed by Mark Taylor. 

Chaos, Complexity and Self-Organisation 

Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, 

coastlines are not circles, and bark is not smooth nor 

does light travel in a straight line. 

More generally, 1 claim that many patterns of Nature 

are so Irregular and fragmented that, compared 

with Euclid -a term used in this book to denote all of 

standard geometry- Nature exhibits not only a different 

degree but an altogether different level of complexity 

(Mandelbrot 1983:1). 

The Implications, if not outright application of chaos theory 

and its associated qualities of fractal geometry is evidenced 

in numerous architectural projects throughout the 1970's, 80's 

and 90's. In housing, one of the earliest examples can be seen 

in the Habitat 67 project, designed by Moshe Safdie for Expo'67 

in Montreal.While the theoretical underpinnings of this project 

were still thoroughly rooted in modernism, the processes 

that governed the design resulted In an expression of fractal 

geometry. Rubinowicz punctuates his argument for the need 

to apply an understanding of chaos theory In design through 

the utilization of cellular automata software to emulate the 

conceptual processes of Safdie's design for Habitat 67. 

Image 4. Habitat'67 (photo by Brian PIrie, any use must credit 

the source as set forth In the terms ofthe Creative Commons 

Attribution 2.5 License agreement).

By running a cellular automata program informed by essential 

design principles for the project {an assemblage of uniform 

concrete cubes informed by the need for a roof garden for 

every unit, daylighting on at least two sides) Rubinowicz was 

able to derive results from the computer program that closely 

resembles the Habitat structure. 

Fractal geometries arising from the application of chaos theory 

are visibly present in the de-constructlonist architecture 

of Zaha Hadid, Daniel Liebeskind and Frank Gehry. For 

Taylor, Gehry was the first architect to successfully realize an 

expression of complexity through his non-linear design for 

the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao: 

The resulting forms range from the rectilinear to the 

curvilinear as well as from the small and intimate to the 

vast and overwhelming. Though dearly distinct, these 

forms remain intricately interconnected; indeed, it is 

precisely their complicated relations that articulate their 

distinguishing differences... Instead of preprogrammed 

or permanent, the order of this structure is emergent 

and transient (2001:43-4). 

Taylor (2001) posits that a distinction must be drawn 

between chaos and a condition he refers to as the'moment 

of complexity' if the application of chaos is to derive meaning 

in design (5). Taylor notes that chaos theory is primarily 

focused on the investigation of determinant systems 'in which 

extreme sensitivity to initial conditions creates effects that are 

disproportionate to their causes' (13), while complexity theory 

is interested in the investigation of complex adaptive systems. 

He describes chaotic systems as determinant due to the fact 

that although they may result in the creation of results that are 

disproportionate to the initial inputs, they are still governed 

by definable sets of rules. This principle is evidenced by the 

predetermined rules utilized by Rubinowicz in his emulation 

ofthe Habitat'67 design. 

Taylor points out that chaos theory developed as a response 

to inexplicable conditions that arose within the analysis 

framework of closed, linear systems thinking as defined bythe 

principles of Newtonian physics. Chaos theory demonstrated 

two key principles that led to complexity theory ~ first, that 

finite linear systems are actually open systems that must be 

understood as incomplete; and secondly, that some open 

systems are defined by recursive relationships that cannot be 

explained by linear, causally determinate models. These non 

linear recursive systems, according to Taylor, are defined by 

'complex feedback and feed-forward loops'where the initial 

inputs are often beyond our ability to detect, thus resulting in 

the production of unpredictable results beyond a limited time 

scope, a condition we refer to as chaos (24). 

Complexity theorists generally describe four distinct types 

of complex systems. The first type Is known as a single point 

attractor system, where the system will always gravitate 

towards a single outcome, regardless ofthe inputs. The second 

system is referred to as a cyclic or periodic attractor system. 

This system, while being in a constant state of change where 

individual cycles may be atypical, is still predictable due to its 

cyclic nature. The third type of system is known as a strange 

attractor system. Characterized as the classic chaotic system 

in which outcomes are highly unpredictable, it is nonetheless 

a limited outcome system due to the fact that the Individual 

attractors in the system are bound by predetermined rules 

that govern their behavior. The fourth type of system is the 

complex adaptive system. The characteristics that define 

this system are its ability to respond, adapt and change to 

conditions both internal and external to itself; essentially this 

is the definition of a self-learning system. 

Complex adaptive systems emerge through intense non 

linear interactions between autonomous agents that result in 

the creation of new system properties. Both agents and the 

resultant new system properties can range in scale from highly 

localized to system-wide in their scope. Examples of system- 

wide changes in complex adaptive systems are the emergence 

oflanguageandcultureswithin human populations.The notion 

that system-wide change can emerge from the interaction of a 

single-person agent acting autonomously with other agents, 

be they individual or collective In their nature, across all scales 

of social systems is what makes it so appealing as an avenue 

of investigation for design. 

Taylor (2001) describes complex adaptive systems as non 

linear recursive systems which are In a continuous state of 

dynamic, evolving change, a condition that can only occur 

in a system that resides in a state of tension between chaos

and order. Taylor posits that meaningful, dynamic processes of 

change can only occur in a system that resides between order 

and disorder; too much order and systems tend to self-correct 

towards a condition of static equilibnum, too little order and 

systems degenerate into a non-functional state. Complex 

adaptive systems that reside 'at the edge of chaos far from 

equilibnum' (14) achieve the ideal state 'at which complexity 

reaches the critical condition where self-organizing systems 

emerge to create new patterns of coherence and structures 

of relation' (24). 

While traditional applications of complex adaptive systems 

theory have focused on the natural sciences, the implications 

for social and cultural systems are immense. Applications of 

complex adaptive systems theory have already been applied 

acrossadiverserangeculturalandsocialissues,includingseveral 

studies that examine issues of inequality, marginalization and 

power relationships.^ For Taylor, the notion of social-cultural 

structures thatembracetheconcept of residing atthe'moment 

of complexity' can best be exemplified by the emergence of 

contemporary network culture. Taylor begins his discussion 

with an examination ofthe underlying pnnciples of industnai 

society on which the precepts modernism were based, '[T]he 

logic ofthe assembly line is obviously mechanical, serial, and 

linear. Separate individual, entities, and events are joined in 

a predictable chain where effects are proportional to causes 

... in addition to establishing a division of labor, the assembly 

line separates managers from workers...' (29). Critical of this 

framework as a social structure, he goes on: 

^The research conducted by Samuel Bowles and Suresh Naidu atthe 

Santa Fe Institute provide insight on applications of complex adaptive 

systems theory to social and cultural issues. In particular, their 2005 

paper titled "Evolutionary Dynamics of Class Structures" examines 

how dominant elitist structures can be explained through a stochastic 

complex relationship. More intriguingiy, the article provides a basis 

for investigation as to how the introduction of an emergent complex 

adaptive system could disrupt a complex relationship that resides in 

a state of equilibrium. For more information, see http://www-unix. 

oit.umass.edu/~bowles/ (the paper can be found under the recent 

papers link). 

'The workers' day, like the assembly line, was 

divided into equal but separate parts. Within the all- 

encompassing logic of industnalization, work, leisure 

and rest are designed to promote efficiency and thus 

increase profitable production. [...] From Ford's early 

efforts to organize the lives of his workers and Pullman's 

town planning, to postwar American advertising and 

suburbanization, industrialists have realized that for 

capitalism to thrive, it must become a total way of life' 

(Taylor 2001:29-30). 

The structure which makes this all possible, according to Taylor, 

is the rational logic of the Cartesian grid. Tracing the history 

of the gnd back to the enlightenment as an organizational 

structure of industnai society to impose ideals of universality, 

logic, order and rationalism, he equates the organizational 

pnnciples of the grid as a structure that 'can quickly lead to a 

uniformity that excludes or represses everything and everyone 

deemed different' (31). For Taylor the gnd, industrial society, 

and (by its association with them) modernist architecture 

equate to a type one complex system. 

Collisions and Condensors 

When it all shakes out, the guiding real estate principle 

turns out to be this: telecommunications networking 

can add great value to localiries where relatively well 

off people would like to live. It can remove constraints 

that have prevented them from doing so in the past. 

But it doesn't do much for localities that have no 

Intrinsic attraction. Nor does It help people who find 

themselves trapped in marginalized, underserviced 

areas and are too poor to move (Mitchell 1999:77). 

In Learning From Las Vegas, Robert Venturi states: 'The 

emerging order of the Strip is a complex order. It is not 

always the easy, rigid order of the urban renewal project or 

the fashionable "total design" of the megastructure. It is, 

on the contrary, a manifestation of an opposite direction 

in architectural theory...' (Venturi et al. 1962: 289)." While in 

agreement with Venturi's analysis, Taylor argues that while 

Quoted in Taylor 2001,37.

postmodernism rejects the structures of modernism, it fails 

to 'explore alternative architectural forms and structures' 

(38).The industrial grid still dominates In the language ofthe 

architecture of automobile, the organizational structures of 

modern frameworks of space still order the recompositions 

of deconstruction.The complexities of sign and symbol, while 

rejecting modernism, lead to the development of'alternative 

forms and structures [that reflect] a society that is no longer 

industrial but not yet postindustrial' (Taylor 2001:40). It is the 

morphing and interweaving ofthe grid with the structures of 

thenetworkrealized by Gehry that finally realizes the evolution 

ofarchitectural form to the edge of chaos required in a type 4 

complex system. In her analysis of the architecture of Gehry, 

Amy Gilley confirms the analysis put forth by Taylor: 'It Is an 

opportunity to question the artifices of Euclidian geometry. It 

is a chance to redefine the concept of landscape, to describe 

the iteration of form, the built form, as the iteration of the 

landscape' (2001: unpaginated). 

While Taylor posits that the architectural form of the Bilbao 

Museum achieves a level of complexity that equates to the 

conditions required for the emergence of complex adaptive 

systems, he disregards the larger issue of an architecture 

produced for consumption within a structure that still remains 

enmeshed within the processes production and consumption. 

Conceived as a Mecca of tourism situated on the urban 

landscape, it fails to engage in a dialogue with issues of social 

inequality and marginalism that plaque contemporary urban 

structures. In her examination of the Vancouver Public Library 

by Moshe Safdie, Loretta Lees (2001) provides insight into 

another building that was again intended to act as a cultural 

icon on the landscape. Her study examines how spaces ofthe 

Vancouver Public Library has become partially interwoven into 

networks and webs ofthe layers of sub-cultures that comprise 

the multiplicities of urban realities through acts of subversion 

and appropriation. Recognising the potential to utilise the 

primary programmatic intent of the library to condense users 

in a variety of overlapping secondary programmatic elements, 

the buiiding incorporates a public space that bisects the 

building while providing several venues that are appropriated 

for a range of social uses. Lees points out the composition 

of the population of Vancouver has undergone a major 

transformation that reflects its new presence on the global 

stage. Observing two people (a Caucasian man and an Asian 

woman) sitting at a table over a cup of coffee , Lees tells us 

of their conversation. 'He was telling her how to be Canadian 

[...] Soon the conversation drifted beyond what it meant to be 

Canadian and into a discussion of attracting the opposite sex. 

Before leaving the man gave the Asian woman his telephone 

number...' (2001:72). Lees goes on to state that'the library was 

transformed into a site In which cultural values were being 

worked through while playing out the mating game...'(2001: 

73). Lees goes on to tell us of her experiences while in the 

newspaper section of the Library: 

I remember an elderly English gentleman said to me, 

as he rattled The Times, 'Foreign newspapers are so 

expensive, so with time on my hands, I'm retired, I 

come here to find out about back home.' An elderly 

German gentleman said to me 'It's quiet here and cosy 

and I can catch up on events back in Germany in peace.' 

A Chinese woman walked around the reading-tables 

searching for a particular Chinese newspaper...Through 

their reading these users transform the library into a 

place of connection in which the everyday horizons 

are extended back or forward from contemporary 

Vancouverto imagined elsewheres...These connections 

and the meanings they give the space of the library 

are not pregiven but continually (re)shaped and 

(re)produced (73). 

It is the third vignette, however that is the most poignant: 

After a coffee break and before sitting down to do some 

more work 1 decided to go to the toilet. On entering 

I came across a homeless woman looking under the 

door of one of the cubicles. [...] Perturbed, 1 went into 

the adjacent cubicle. [...] I came out [of the cubicle] 

and I began to wash my hands. At the same time the 

homeless woman began to undress and to fill the sink 

with soapy water. I did not stay and watch, but the 

woman began to wash herself as I left... 

This homeless woman appropriated the library for 

her own purposes ~ to bathe. She used a public space 

to undertake a private activity. She made a public 

space temporarily a private one, as evidenced by my 

uncomfortableness - 1 felt like I was intruding In her

space. [...] This capacity to tal

a social condensor as thG"programmatic layering upon vacant 

terrain to encourage dynamic coexistence of activities and to 

generate through their interference, unprecedented events" 

(2003,72). Koolhaas along with Bruce Mau further investigate 

notions of social condensers in the books Delirious New York 

and 5, M/., L, XL. As built form, the current approach to social 

condensers are expressed as the intentional overlap and 

intersection of programs with circulation flows to create nodes 

where otherwise disparate social communities will interact. 

Nodes in this regard are best described as points of interaction 

where diverse agents, agendas and programs are brought into 

collision. Programs and circulation are seen as flexible and 

dynamic, as opposed to static expressions with the intended 

result that these elements will foster the continual creation of 

new patterns of circulation nodes, resulting In the ongoing 

creation of new social fields. The goal in the creation of social 

condensors is the breaking down of the inscription of social 

hierarchies embedded In architectural language through the 

production of fields of social encounters with the intent of 

fostering of socially inclusive attitudes. The idea is to resist, 

or at least not reproduce contemporary hierarchies of social 

practice embedded In urban forms and fabrics. 

The Dance: Bringing It All Together 

Architecture is first and foremost a cultural capital, 

the most tangible one, precipitating and solidly 

materializing in cities. If cities are the marketplace of 

such an invaluable resource, the need for their careful 

design and management is pressing. In spite of the 

overwhelming amount of funds allocated for the 

construction and rehabilitation of cities, the end result 

is often a low quality living/working environment 

due to the lack of expertise, creative thinking, and 

consideration for social justice (UlA Istanbul 2005 

- Cities: Grand Bazaar of Architectures. International 

Union of Architects) 

So far I have attempted to demonstrate how social condensors 

offer a potential framework to localise the notion of a design 

intent to create a field of interaction on the edge of chaos. 

As alluded to earlier in this paper, contemporary approaches 

to the design of social condensors have been limited, for 

the most part, to insertions Into urban landscapes that 

can be considered to be intended for consumption. Their 

incorporation into spaces within public buildings that serve 

to function as tourist meccas severely limits their potential 

to act within the spheres of interaction inhabited by the 

marginalized and disenfranchised inhabitants of the city. As 

emphasised through the studies by Lees, when they do tend 

to function in these environments their impact attests to their 

ability to create collisions, however they also tend to reinforce 

boundaries of difference rather than create opportunity for 

meaningful interaction when the context in which they are 

located is heavily coded for consumption. Their potential 

remains largely unexplored within an approach that attempts 

to incorporate social condensors into an exploration of 

uncoded space that can be appropriated, reconfigured and 

otherwise occupied and inhabited by otherwise socially 

disparate inhabitants ofthe city. In those projects where social 

condensors have been incorporated into parks, plazas and 

otherforms of civic spaces, these locations tend to be removed 

from the locale of peripheralized, marginalized populations. 

An approach that seeks to utilise social condensors to bring 

meaningful design, that seeks to amalgamate disparate 

populationsin close proximitythroughafield of unprog rammed 

urban space, that seeks to collide multiple meanings through 

spontaneous occupations of such space, offers interesting 

potential for further investigation. The principles of a type 

four complex adaptive systems approach invite the utilization 

of a design approach synonymous with the notion of a social 

condensor. To be successful, such an approach must free itself 

of conventional grid structures aligned with production and 

consumption. Nor can it simply replace grid structures with 

a vision of a network society driven by the same forces. A 

design approach that seeks to enfold the collisions of a social 

condensor field within the dance at the edge of chaos to 

create the potential conditions for emergence of a new form 

of complex adaptive system must, paradoxically, be freed of 

the constraints of programmatic design.

References 

GILLEY, A., 2005. Fractalled: The Interstitial Spaces and Frank 

Gehry. Visual Mathematics 7 (1). Unpaginated. 

Accessed online: December 20, 2006. http://www.mi.sanu. 

ac.yu/vismath/pap.htm#n61 

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF ARCHITECTS, 2005. UIA Istanbul 

2005 - Cities: Grand Bazaar of Architectures. International 

Union of Architects. 

Accessed Online: May 12, 2006. http^/www.uiaarchitectes.org/ 

texte/england/Congress/lstanbul2005/2cp2b.html#confrontation 

KOOLHAAS, R., B. MAU, J. SIGLER & H. WERLEMANN., 1995. S M 

X XL. NewYork: Monacelli Press. 

KOOLHAAS, R., 1978. Delirious New York : a retroactive 

manifesto for Manhattan. NewYork: Oxford University Press. 

McGETRICK, B. & KOOLHAAS, R., eds., 2004 . Content. Köln; 

Tashen. 

MITCHELL, W., 1999. E-Topia: "Urban Life, Jim - But Not As We 

Know It". Cambridge: MIT Press. 

LEES, L., 2001. Towards a Critical Geography of Architecture: 

The Case of an Ersatz Colosseum. Ecumene 8 (1). 51-86 

LORENZ, E., 1972. Predictability: Does the Flap ofa Butterfly's 

Wings in Brazil set off a Tornado in Texas? Talk given to 

December 1972 meering of the American Association for the 

Advancement of Science In Washington, D.C. Reproduced in E. 

LORENZ, ed. (1993). The Essence of Chaos. Seatrie: University 

of Washington Press. 181-185. 

MANDELBROT, B., 1983. The Fractal Geometry of Nature. New 

York: W. H. Freedman. 

NUNES, J, S; SERRA, N., 2004. 'Decent Housing for the People': 

Urban Movements and Emancipation in Portugal. South 

European Society & Politics 9 (2). 

Oxford English Dicrionary Online Edirion (2006). Oxford: 


Accessed December 29,2006. http://dictionary.oed.com 

PEREZ-GOMEZ, A., 1999. Architecture as Science: Analogy 

or Disjunction? In P GALISON and E. THOMPSON, eds. The 

Architecture of Science. Cambridge: MIT Press. 337-352. 

RUBINOWICZ, P., 2000. Chaos and Geometric Order in 

Architecture and Design. Journal for Geometry and Graphics 

4(2), 197-207. 

TAYLOR, M., 2001. The Moment of Complexity: Emerging 

Network Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 

VENTURI, R., SCOTT BROWN, D., & IZENOUR, S., 1972. Learning 

From Las Vegas. Cambridge: MIT Press.

OBJECTS FOR PEACEFUL DISORDERING: INDIGENOUS DESIGNS AND PRACTICES 

OF PROTEST 

Tom Fisher 

t.h.fisher@shu.ac.uk 

Sheffield Hallam University 

Sheffield Sn 8UZ 

UK 

Abstract 

What do a piece of plumbing pipe, some w/ire netting, some 

adhesivetape,twoloopsofnylonw/ebbingandacarabinerhavein 

common? Nothing, until they are assembled. In a design, in turn, 

the object these components comprise comes into being only 

with the presence of human beings. These are the components 

of a device known as a 'lock-on'; some sundry objects that you 

would find in a builders' merchant and some people's bodies - 

peace activists pursuing non-violent direct action. Peace activists 

use lock-ons to join themselves together by the arms to enhance 

the power of their passive resistance. This paper identifies a 

number of theoretical approaches to objects of this sort. It is 

intended to Initiate a discussion of the lock-on as an example 

of an 'indigenous' design that has appeared without designers, 

evolving as part ofthe practice of peace protest (Langrish 2004). 

The paper concentrates on the sense of'practice'that found in 

the sociological study of culture, tracing its use in the work of 

Bourdleu (1977) and others, summed up recently by Reckwitz 

(2002). Drawing as It does from a range of sources, including 

the social study of technology,'practice theory'seems to have a 

good deal to offer a conception ofdesign that seeks to influence 

the world positively beyond the point of sale, in common with 

other recent strands In design research such as the Participative 

Design that has grown out of the study of human computer 

interaction, practice theory acknowledges that our relationships 

to objects are socially Important. Together with cultural 

knowledge and embodied skill objects form'compounds'with 

people that evolve through time (Shove 2006). 

This paper raises the possibility that the transforming power of 

designing may be enhanced if it is acknowledged that it is most 

powerful when It takes place in full articulation with practices. 

This principle is Inscribed in contemporary 'user oriented' 

design process, but the lock-on is an extreme example of it, 

since no professional designers are involved in its producrion 

and its social purpose Is not commercial but polirical. Politically 

engaged design is often directed at issues of sustainabillty and 

work with NGOs and these contexts for designing may be the 

closest in kind to that which has produced the lock-on. 

A 'pracrice orientated' approach to design might be abie to 

engage with the full relationship between things and the 

agents they Imply, their bodies, their minds, the knowledge 

they have, the emorions they feel, the discourses they engage 

with. For this reason it seems to be a useful framework 

through which to understand an object like the lock on which 

has emerged out of an identifiable pracrice. The nature of this 

practice may also be inspiring in itself, as In this example, which 

works againstcrimes such asweapons of mass destrucrion.The 

paper offers an inlrial analysis ofthe evolurion and current use 

of the 'lock-on' in UK non violent direct acrion as an example 

of an indigenous design that is part ofa pracrice and indicates 

the potential for further research that would seek more fully 

to understand the history and development of the lock-on in 

order to both test the applicability of practice theory and to 

seek Insights for designing in other contexts. 

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis 

and foster such a tension that a community which has 

constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront 

the issue. It seeks so to dramarize the Issue that It can 

no longer be ignored (King, 2000:77).

Introduction 

it would be reasonable to assume thatthe words'design theory' 

are an inclusive term that refers in a straightforward way to a 

body of ideas about the contemporary activity of designing in 

a professional commercial context. This is the sense in which 

they are used, for instance recently by Nigel Cross (2006), in a 

short review of key work in design research since the 1960s. 

From this perspective, the object of study of design research, 

and ofthe theory that comes out of it. Is to better understand 

the processes of designing that result in configurations of 

material - designs - that are effective as judged according to 

objectives relevant to the context In which the activity takes 

place. Commercial objectives usually feature prominently and 

are sometimes accompanied by others that are more broadly 

'human' (Buchanan 2001). To the extent that they seem of 

Interest to 'design theory' these processes seem always to 

be more or less 'professional' - though they often Involve 

professionals and non-professionals working together. 

It would also be reasonable to assume that it is possible through 

such 'design theory' to understand 'designs' - things that work; 

objects that humans have brought into being that do something 

relevant to humans. This paper inspects the possibility that some 

types of thing, which are clearly designs because they work, may 

not be completely understood by such theory because they do 

not develop through the activities of professional designers. 

It discusses such an object - something called a 'lock-on' that 

is used in non violent direct political action. It considers how 

such an object might have come Into existence and discusses 

its use by peace activists in the UK, especially those who protest 

against nuclear weapons at Faslane, Scotland, where Britain's 

armed forces keep the UK's nuclear bombs. The paper intends 

only to open a discussion, not to present definitive conclusions 

about this object, or what understanding it might tell us about 

design theory. Rather, the paper briefly describes the history and 

current use ofthe lock-on and makes some suggestions about 

theoretlcalapproachesthatmlghthelpto understand it, andtheir 

possible consequences. Of course, if the reader considers the 

only fit purpose for design theory to be to understand the ways 

in which professional designers operate, then this discussion will 

be of no interest. However, the facts that motivate those who 

over the decades have contributed to the design of the lock-on 

may in themselves be of interest to many. 

Britain currently has four nuclear missile submarines and up to 

165 warheads. Each warhead has the destructive power of up to 

seven ofthe bombs that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945; therefore 

Britain has at its disposal one thousand one hundred and fifty 

times the destructive power of that bomb, which, along with 

the one dropped on Nagasaki, killed three hundred and fifty 

thousand people, the great majority of whom were civilians. 

The international court of justice ruled In 1996 that the threat 

to use nuclear weapons would be illegal under International 

law. It is facts such as these which motivate peace protest and 

therefore the design of lock-ons. For peace activists 'locking 

on' means using their bodies, and some everyday hardware, to 

disrupt the normal running of part ofthe military machine with 

the objective of making nuclear weapons and other weapons 

of mass destruction an 'Issue that can no longer be ignored' 

as Martin Luther King put It. Locking on has a relatively long 

history. From the late nineteenth century suffragettes chained 

themselves to railings in public places as they campaigned for 

equal democratic rights with men. Campaigners have chained 

themselves to a bewildering variety of Inanimate objects as 

part of different protest campaigns since then. Besides peace 

campaigns the most notable among these in the UK have been 

campaigns by environmentalists against road developments. 

This paper mainly refers to one ofthe variety of configurations 

of materials used by peace campaigners to lock themselves 

onto things and each other (figure 1). It consists of a piece of 

150mm plastic pipe, a piece of nylon webbing or climbing 

rope and a carabiner - a quick release hook used by climbers 

- as well as the bodies of at least two participants. Despite Its 

having human components when in use, and only coming 

Into existence when it is used, campaigners do refer to this 

configuration of pipe, webbing and carabiner as a lock-on. 

Its use in direct actions involves the participants locking 

themselves together by inserting their arms into the tube and 

connecting their wrists with the webbing and the karabiner. 

This makes their passive resistance to being moved out ofthe 

way more effective, since they are joined together In groups. 

The security forces can separate them against their will but 

only by cutting through the thick plastic ofthe pipe to get at 

the karabiner. They use saws to do this and presumably for 

this reason the tube Is often covered with wire netting and 

then industrial tape to keep its construction concealed and 

increase the time it takes to forcibly unlock the participants.

Figure 1. Lock-on in use at Faslane, Scotland, 2006 (Fasiane365) 

As well as being the product of a non-professional design 

process, the lock-on might seem like an unusual sort of object 

to consider In the academic study ofdesign because it is also 

not a discrete object but Is made up of people's bodies along 

with Its Inanimate components. In order to exist it requires the 

presence of the bodies of the peace campaigners who use it 

to 'blockade' a military site. The lock-on clearly is 'a design' In 

that It is an arrangement of material In a form that furthers 

a human purpose. However, It does not seem to have been 

'designed' in the sense that we use the term in manufacturing 

or the design profession; it seems to have grown up as part 

of the pracrice of non violent direct acrion. To this extent it 

can be thought of as 'indigenous' because It is a design that 

belongs to and has grown out of the groups that use It. 

Design theory can provide some insights Into the way the lock- 

on design has come about It has some things in common 

with what Christopher Alexander (1964) calls a 'traditional'as 

opposed to a'modern'design process. In which objects change 

and develop through small improvements that progressively 

make them a better fit with the 'problem field' that brings 

them into existence. In this case, the problem field consists 

of finding a configuration for the lock-on that will be easy to 

put on, will be easy to get off should the need arise, will baffle 

tiie police as to its construction for as long as possible, will be 

difficult and time-consuming to break into, will be portable 

and will be cheap. Finally, and in this charactenstic the lock- 

on conforms quite closely to Alexander's'traditional'type of 

design, its configuration needs to be able to respond over 

time to the setting in which it is used. Because the lock-on 

only comes fully into existence when it is used, this aspect of 

the process of its 'design' involves modifications not only to its 

inanimate components but also its human ones. Participants 

in an action design the use of the lock-on by considering how 

many should lock together, where they should do so, how 

they will use diversions and the element of surprise. A lock-on 

is anything but an inanimate object - it is part of a process of 

use, which is in turn part of a wider practice. Because of this, the 

lock-on has come to exist through a process and is therefore 

also not 'modern' in another sense that Alexander's analysis 

proposes in that it is not individualisric but is a configurarion 

that has grown out of various types of collecrive pracrice - 

political activism.' 

Having identified a relarionship between the lock-on and 

design theory (Alexander 1966), the discussion that follows 

considers what sort of'thing' a lock-on might be and what 

frameworks exist that might help to understand it. It refers 

to a further theoretical strand in Design to consider the 

'performative'nature ofthe lock-on (Pine and Gilmour 1999) 

and to determine whether the lock on can be said to have 

evolved (Langrish 2004). The discussion then considers 

whether work in Archaeology may help to understand the 

relarionship between the lock-on and its'designers', identifying 

approachesthatseekto understand artefacts as part of specific 

cultural practices (Conkey 1990). The discussion then focuses 

on work in Sociology that takes cultural practices to be the 

' Although Alexander offers a stereotype of the modern designer as 

someone who works alone, contemporary design processes do not 

necessarily conform to this individualistic pattern. However some of 

the characteristics of Alexander's 'modern' design process are found 

in the commercial production of contemporary artefacts. These are 

often individualised through a brand, and sometimes through the 

identity ofa named designer, for all that there are now conventionally 

many players in any process of new product development including 

teams of designers.

'site ofthe social' (Reckwitz 2002) and which acknowledge the 

significance of object in such practices {Kopytoff 1986, Shove 

1995 & 2005). This discussion Intends to point up principles 

which may be applied to designs that work as part of other 

practices and which might facilitate changes In those practices 

and to identify further work on the lock-on, and other similar 

artefacts that might clarify these principles. 

Ways of understanding the lock-on as a design 

First it is appropriate to identify the processes and agents 

through vifhlch this object has changed by briefly considering 

how the lock-on has come to its present form in the practice 

of non violent direct action. A complete understanding of 

the development of lock-on devices since the early C20 

would require detailed ethnographic and historical work 

which is beyond the scope of this paper. Also, given the close 

relationship between the specific design of a lock-on device 

and the time and place İt is to be used, such an enquiry might 

not uncovera progressive'development'oftheform. However, 

we can get some useful insights into how lock-ons work by 

noting their variety and their relationship to the groups of 

people that produce them. 

Central to these Insights is the fact that a lock-on does not 

exist as a discrete object but Is a manifestation ofthe process 

of non violent direct action, a 'locking-on' rather than a 'lock- 

on'. It is a verb ratherthan a noun.This observation could Imply 

a relationship to the recent business theories that emphasise 

dematerialised services, sold as'experiences'(Pine and Gilmour 

1999). However, the fact that the lock-on is not provided in the 

usual commercial sense means it a different case from those 

personalised experiences which are apparently the basis of 

contemporary service-based economies. 

To the extent that it is an object, a lock-on device has more 

in common with things we might make ourselves to wear 

than objects with which we have a more distanced physical 

relationship and which we buy already made. Like clothes, the 

ways In which lock-ons are worn, their design in use, seem to 

have both practical and symbolic aspects. These two aspects 

can also coexist in the way that a lock-on device Is made to 

look, as one ofthe keys to a successful locking-on is to deceive 

the police Into ignoring the lock-on device until it is too late 

for them to stop it being used. One tactic Is to disguise the 

lock-on tubes as something else as in Figure 2. At its most 

creative, such disguise can involve transforming an apparently 

Innocent object into a lock-on - wheelchairs and Zimmer 

frames are useful for this (Rundberg, 2006:4). 

Other aspects of the appearance of lock-on devices are more 

conventionally symbolic, such as painting the tubes with the 

checker pattern that is part of our collective Image of a nuclear 

missile, or a policeman's hat, as in Figure 3? 

Figure 2. Lock-on disguised as a CND symbol (Peace News 2006) 

Figure 3. Lock-ons with chequer board pattern (Faslane 365,2006) 

^ Although lock-ons do have symbolic content, the fact that Its 

purpose is to confuse the opposition, rather than to maximise 

their ease oftheir use puts them in a particular relationship to the 

application of theories of language to design found, for instance, 

in the writing of Klaus Krippendorff (2005). The exact nature of this 

relationship warrants further research, particularly the way in which 

their symbolic content is subversive not normative.

The idea that these loc[

These facts indicate that the c/es/^mng ofthe locl

Design is much more than that which is applied to a pot; 

it is the most essential set of processes that bring form 

into existence. Al! artifacts and all cultural production 

are the result of a series of - or a 'pathway' through - 

mental and manual processes set in and defined by a 

historical and social framework (Conkey 1990:13). 

It is notable for this discussion that her perspective starts 

from the premise that'design'means what identifies a type of 

artefact and allows it to be positioned in a typology by virtue 

of its formal relationship to the design of other artefacts, 

rather than meaning a professional, commercial process that 

results in artefacts, though it allows for both meanings. She 

acknowledges that it is practices - what groups of people 

do - that result In objects with particular form and refers 

to the notion of 'praxis' found in Marx and Bourdieu. She 

suggests that we can only understand objects if we think 

of them 'as praxis, as productions, as symbolic acts in their 

own right! This thought is echoed in more recent work on 

consumption in sociology and anthropology, for example 

Miller's counterpoising of a theoretical/ semiotic approach to 

the analysis of consumption with an empirical/ ethnographic 

approach (1995,1997). Seen in this way, production for Conkey 

is a 'constitutive endeavour! The production of the lock-on is 

part of a collective endeavour that shifts and changes through 

time and space and constitutes the practice of non violent 

direct action as well as being constituted by it. 

Considered in this way, the somewhat unfamiliar, perhaps 

bizarre, character of the iock-on may help to shed light on 

the way that more'mainstream'artefacts come Into being and 

how they might change to further aims besides the creation 

of profit. If the fact that the lock-on changes as a consequence 

of changes in the practice of peace activism is accepted as 

a principle for artefact change more generally and in more 

'mainstream' settings, then changes to other types of object 

are likely to rely on changes to practices. This point has not 

been lost on those interested in working out how to modify 

practices that are arguably unsustainable in environmental 

terms. Sociologist Elizabeth Shove, for instance, has studied 

the way that everyday practices such as laundry, bathing and 

the heating and cooling of houses have grown up and the 

elements that keep them in existence in their current form in 

the developed world (2005). 

Drawing from sociological and anthropological studies of 

technology Shove inspects the premise that societies and 

technologies 'co-evolve' - citing Kopytoff's assertion that 

societies 'simultaneously and in the same way construct 

objects as they construct people' (Kopytoff 1986: 90). She 

suggests that there are three dimensions to the co-evolution 

of people and technologies made up of relationships between 

'sociotechnical systems' that are 'collective conventions and 

arrangements', the'habits, practices and expectations of users 

and consumers' and the 'symbolic and material qualities of 

sociotechnical devices/ objects' (Shove 1995: 48). This allows 

her to consider the material and the symbolic aspects of 

technologies as well as the ways in which they 'stabilise' as 

large scale structures and are appropriated at a local level. So 

in her analysis of bathing she is able to make a relationship 

between the domestic technical arrangements we live with 

every day, the infrastructure that provides us with the means 

to make these arrangements work and, crucially, the very 

powerful sets of ideas that motivate us to clean ourselves in 

the particular ways that we do. What is notable in her account 

is the coherence with which she integrates these elements of 

bathing and traces the ways in which they change overtime. 

Shove's account has in this respect a good deal in common 

with the much more abstract body of theory that can be 

found in contemporary sociology that engages with 'social 

practices! Andreas Reckwitz writes an overview of this'practice 

theory' In sociology (Reckwitz 2002). He suggests that this 

way of thinking about the social offers an alternative view of 

human actions to that offered by other strands of thought. 

In his view, culture is the 'site of the social' and distinguishes 

pracrice theory from theories of culture that emphasise mind, 

discourse and interaction (2002:241). 

Reckwitz sums up a 'practice' as; 

A routinised type of behaviour which consists of several 

elements, interconnected to one another: forms of 

bodily activities, forms of mental activities, 'things' 

and their use, a background knowledge in the form 

of understanding, know-how, states of emotion and 

morivational knowledge (Reckwitz 2002: 251). 

It is characterisric of practices that these elements are 

interconnected and 'carried' by individuals, in whom many

different practices intersect. Tiiey are sustained, not by norms 

or rational choices, but by routines - habits as it were - which 

are embodied routines that draw on 'knowledge'that can be 

either explicit or based in emotion. They change through 

'ruptures' in the routines that sustain them. 

Despite its theoretical abstraction, Reckwitz' account of 

practice theory points towards some quite down to earth 

aspects of humans' relationships to the material world. 

In a parallel to the principle that mind and body can't be 

distinguished in a practice, in this view human interactions 

with particular physical things are built Into the meaning of 

practices. Echoing writers in the sociology of technology 

tradition such as Latour (1992, 2000), Reckwitz proposes 

that things 'mould' activities. Things '...enable and limit 

certain bodily and mental activities, certain knowledge and 

understanding as elements of practices'(2002:253). In contrast 

to views of human object relationships that stress their 

discursive and symbolic content. In this view the matenality of 

objects, how they'handle', constitutes the'forms of behaviour' 

of which they are part. 

Practices depend on knowledge and motivations - we 

have to know what to do and we have to want to do it. This 

knowledge includes but surpasses explicit'knowing that'and 

includes 'aesthetic' knowledge, feeling, emotion. Knowledge 

held in our feelings lets us know what to do In a situation 

or with a thing. Knowledge In a practice '...embraces ways 

of understanding, knowing how, ways of wanting and of 

feeling that are linked to each other within practice (Reckwitz 

2002: 253). 'This compound of different forms of knowledge 

includes an understanding ofthe values that may motivate 

the practice as well as how to act in accordance with them 

that is made evident through feelings, a certain 'emotionality'. 

Emotions are therefore practice-specific; they define, and 

reproduce the practice. 

The lock on as a thing in the practice of non violent direct 

action - any lessons for conventional designing? 

The development of lock-on devices and of the ways they are 

used in non violent direct action set out above seems to fit 

rather well with the features of social practices that Reckwitz 

identifies. It is reasonable to class non violent direct action 

in peace activism as a 'practice' in this sense^• it Is collective; 

it operates according to shared routines; it involves specific 

(disobedient) bodily activities; it is motivated by knowledge 

of the illegality of 'our' weapons of mass destruction; this 

knowledge is felt as a passionate desire for action; it is based 

on an understanding that collective political protest can effect 

change. Most relevant for this discussion however, non violent 

direct action involves the development and use of particular 

'things'-for locking on. 

The lock-on in non violent direct action is a perfect example 

of a'thing'that is part ofa practice. The physical transgression 

of accepted behaviour that locking on requires draws on a 

tradition of dissent that has deep roots in British political and 

cultural life; it is part of a long established practice of dissent. 

Locking on is very obviously embodied and the way the lock- 

on device 'handles' both in its materiality and in the discourse 

of power and resistance that it'speaks' is crucial to the practice 

itself The routines of non violent direct action change In 

response to 'ruptures' provided by the security forces that 

result in changes to many elements of the practice - changes 

to the lock-on devices themselves being only the most visible 

of these. The tactics in which lock-ons are employed change 

In response to modifications in the knowledge that is brought 

to the practice. 

The lock-on device could be almost too perfect an example 

of an artefact that is part of a cultural practice. It would be 

possible to dismiss practice theory as a useful starting point 

for thinking about designs on the grounds that while the 

lock-on fits the theory very closely It only does so because It 

is a pathological ratherthan normative design in social terms. 

Such a criticism might point to the usefulness of an approach 

^ One feature of practice theory that is not immediately clear is the 

grounds for naming a particular activity as a practice, rather than its 

components, or activities of v/hich it is a part. It seems reasonable 

to assume that sociologists v/ould base this classification on the 

activity having social significance - being a genuine'site ofthe social'. 

However it is not clear how this criterion should be used empirically. 

Given that different interests are at stake in Design than in Sociology 

it is also reasonable to assume that different classification criteria for 

practices might validly be used in the two disciplines.

to designs that stresses their symbolic character, appealing to 

the well developed body of theory that stresses the symbolic 

aspect of our relationship to artefacts in consumption 

(Baudrillard 1993} and design (Krippendorff 2005).'' 

Such a criticism might derive from a political judgement 

that rests on a view ofthe proper'ends'for designing and as 

suggested at the beginning of this paper different political 

positions will result in different evaluations ofthis discussion. 

It might also relate to the question of the appropriate 

definition of 'design theory, since, if Alexander's definition 

of'modern' design is the only one considered acceptable it 

would be possible to argue that the lock-on has not properly 

been designed at all. If the only proper ends for designing are 

the creation of profit, then yes, the pathological character of 

the lock-on makes it an unfit model. If design is understood to 

be an activity circumscribed by its professional definition then 

the lock-on is similarly unfit. 

However, it is possible to see in Shove's analysis of practices on 

the level of interlocking social, cultural and material systems an 

urgent purpose for alternative ways of understanding designs 

and designing, similar to those adopted in the 'participative' 

design tradition (Ehnand Kyng 1991), but with the more radical 

purpose of exploring the potential to use this understanding to 

modify practices in the service of, for instance, environmental 

sustainability.The'practlceoriented'approach outlined above 

in relation to the lock-on has the potential to provide sufficient 

understanding of these systems to allow them to be changed 

by policy, and by practice oriented designing. Understanding 

material things requires understanding practices. Given that 

practices and things are mutually constitutive, changing 

things might accompany changing practices. 

The discussion above implies further work that would make 

it possible to more confidently specify the insights the lock- 

on, and other indigenous designs, can provide. A more 

complete historical/ ethnographic study of the way the 

design has come about, and how it changes, would be a very 

Archaeology provides other ways of conceiving of the meaning of 

objects, for instance Schiffer's (1999) account of the communicative 

potential of artefacts. 

significant element in this work. This would make it possible, 

for instance, to ascertain whether the group organisation 

involved in non-violent direct action and the development 

of lock-ons was equivalent to, or significantly different from, 

the organisation of the participative and community based 

design traditions that appear to be its closest relations. With 

an opposite disciplinary orientation, such a study would also 

make it possible to determine the significance of the lock-on 

for sociological theories of human/ object relationships. 


This paper has been strongly influenced by my participation 

with Sabine Hietscher in the 'Designing and Consuming' 

workshops organised in 2005/2006 by Elizabeth Shove, 

Matt Watson and Jack Ingram. It would also not have been 

written without Jill Gibbon's and Rosa Fisher's courageous 

participation in Faslane365 and their kind advice on writing 

the paper.

Footnotes 

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London: Sage 

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BOURDIEU, P (1984) DIsrincrion: a social cririque of the 

judgement of taste, London: Rouriedge 

BUCHANAN, RICHARD (2001) 'Human Dignity and Human 

Rights: Thoughts on the Principles'Design Issues, 17,3:35-50 

CONKEY, MARGARET W. and CHRISTINE A. Hastorf (1990) The 

Uses of Style In Archeology, Cambridge: Cambridge University 

Press 

CROSS, NIGEL (2006) 'Forty Years of Design Research' Design 

Research Quarteriy, 1,2: 3-5 

EHN, PELLE, KYNG, MORTEN (1991): 'Cardboard Computers'. 

In: Greenbaum, Joan, Kyng, Morten (Eds.) Design at work: 

cooperative design of computer systems. Lawrence Eribaum 

Associates 

FASLANE365 Blockading Tactics, ari http://www.faslane365. 

org/en/blockadmg_tactics. Accessed 10.12.2006 

HOLBROOK, M. (1996) 'Romanticism, Introspecrion and the 

roots of Experiential Consumprion: Morris the Epicurean', in 

Belk R., Venkatesh, A, & Dholakia, N. (eds) Consumption and 

Markering: Macro Dimensions, Cincinatri: South Western 

College Puibishing 

KING, MARTIN LUTHER (2000) Why We Can't Wait, Signet 

Classics 

KRIPPENDORFF, KLAUS (2005) The Semanric Turn: a new 

foundation for design, London: Routiedge 

LANGRISH, J. Z. (2004) 'Darwinian Design: the memeric 

evolurion ofdesign ideas'. Design Issues, 20,4:4-19 

LATOUR, B. (1992)'Where Are the Missing Masses?The Sociology 

of a Few Mundane Artifacts', in Weibe Bijker and John Law (eds), 

ShapingTechnology/Building Society: Studies in Sociotechnlcal 

Change, (pages 225-258) Massachusetts, MIT Press 

LATOUR, B. (2000) 'The Berlin Key, or How to do Words with 

Things', in P M. Graves - Brown (ed), Matter, Materiality and 

Modern Culture, London: Routiedge 

MCCARTHY, JOHN & PETER WRIGHT (2004) Technology as 

Experience, Massachusetts:The MIT Press 

MILLER, D. (1995) 'Consumption and Commodities', Annual 

Review of Anthropology, Vol 24P141-161 

MILLER, D. (1997) 'Could Shopping Ever Really Matter', The 

Shopping Experience, London: Sage (Theory Culture and 

Society) 

POLANYI,MICHAEL(1966)TheTacitDimenslon, Massachusetts: 

Doubleday and Company 

RUNDBERG, ANNA-UNNEA (2006) '64 down, 301 to go' Peace 

News, 2480-2481 December 2006 - January 2007:4 

RECKWITZ, A. (2002) 'Towards a theory of Social Practices: a 

development in culturalist theorizing' European Journal of 

Social Theory, 5,2:243-263 

SCHIFFER, MICHAEL B. (1999) The Material Life of Human 

Beings: Artifacts, behavior and communication, London: 

Routledge 

SHOVE, E. (2005) Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: the 

Social Organization of Normality, Oxford: Berg 

SHOVE, E. (2006) A Manifesto for Practice Oriented Product 

Design, Designing and Consuming workshop, Durham 

University 

WAYMIRE, G., M. BARRY & R.C. HALL (1995) 'Materializing 

Culture', Design Management Journal, Spring, p40-45

KİLLER PRODUCTS İN THE MARKET ECOSYSTEM, THE ROLE O F DESIGN İN 

KİLLER PRODUCTS 

MelehatNilGÜLARI 

IstanbulTechnical University, 

İstanbul, TURKEY 

nilgulari@gmaii.com 

Abstract: 

There is an obvious analogy between market space and 

ecosystem. In this analogy, products might be regarded as 

species, market success as natural selection, etc. The market 

space has its "invisible hand" as natural forces beyond control 

of humanity, and we watch it in awe just as we watch (and 

try to predict) the evolutionary processes. In fact, we are not 

helpless in this regard, and design is our best tool to intervene 

the market forces. 

From this fertile analogy this paper proposes to examine killer 

products, making comparison with "killer weed" (Caulerpa 

Taxifolia) in the Mediterranean; a type of algae, generally 

used as aquarium ornamentation, accidentally released to the 

Mediterranean Sea. This seaweed prevents other plants from 

growing leading to the nickname "Killer Algae". 

Their "success", might be harmful to the ecosystem as a 

whole. 

In this paper several killer products and technologies 

(including IPod, IBM PC, digital cameras and some others) 

are investigated. Whether killer species-products are 

unpredictable and uncontrollable are questioned. In short, 

the paper tries to summarize what makes a product "killer" 

and the role ofdesign in this process. 

Introduction 

For those having a chance to gaze around the Caddebostan 

coast of İstanbul, (the Sea of Marmara, Turkey) there Is only 

one type of algae that can be noticed. It Is Caulerpa Taxifolia, 

frequently referred to as "killer weed", which covers so dense 

a space in the sea floor that it prevents other sea plants 

from growing. At first, it was an aquarium ornament. But 

it was accidentally released from Monaco in 1984, to the 

Mediterranean, becoming so pervasive in this area that it 

got the nickname "killer algae". As a designer, dwelling in 

Caddebostan neighbourhood, I am inspired from this killer 

weed and motivated to think about whether products are 

similar to it. Killer products in the market eco-system might be 

a good, new investigation subject in design area. 

This paper aims to understand the role ofdesign in creating 

a killer product and what makes a product "killer". This is 

achieved by comparing killer weed (Caulerpa Taxifolia) with 

killer products (iPod, IBM PC, QWERTY keyboard, Viagra etc.) 

considering the new market economy and its dynamics. Most 

appropriate similarities are chosen to provide a starting point 

for determining role of design in creating killer products. 

The current trend of the market evolution is from "traditional" 

to what we call "new economy". In the old "traditional" 

economy, competition takes piace primarily through price or 

output on the margin and through incremental innovation. 

In contrast, in the new economy, industries experience 

rapid technological change; competition, radical innovation 

or creative destruction through investment in research 

and development and on intellectual property (Stanborg, 

2002). Killer products are established by "market-destroying 

innovations" (Evans and Schmalensee, 2002). A key term, 

creative destruction, introduced by the economist Joseph 

Schumpeter, describes the process of industrial renovation 

which goes along with radical innovation leading to sustained 

long-term economic growth (1942).

Increasing competitiveness in the market, winning by design, 

explosive growth, and dominating the market become 

significant issues for the business. The demand is for products 

that have high market share, are competitive, smart and satisfy 

the user while making the purchase decision more certain. In 

other words, the Industry is well positioned to create killer 

products to disorder the market 

As Evans and Schmalensee mention: 

...firms engage in dynamic competition for the market 

- usually through research and development (R&D) 

to develop the 'killer' product, service, or feature that 

will confer market leadership and thus diminish or 

eliminate actual or potential rivals. Static pnce/output 

competition on the margin in the market is less 

important (2002:1). 

The economic importance of spa rkingideasfor"killer products" 

that will positively impact the company's success and growth 

is clear, but the characteristics of killer products or which of 

these characteristics are critical for the design process are less 

widely discussed. 

This paper forms analogies between killer algae that disorder 

the seafioor, and killer products that disorder the market 

to examine killer products. Certainly, every analogy has its 

limitations and v/eaknesses but it is still worthwhile to consider 

the resemblances. 

The contents of this paper are as follows: firstly, a definition of 

"killer product" is attempted. Second, similarities ofthe killer 

weed (Caulerpo Taxifolia) are analyzed. Following this, design 

elements behind killer products are identified. Finally the 

user relationship, in terms of culture and human interaction 

are considered, and the paper concludes by Identifying 

implications for future research within this field. 

1. WHAT IS A KILLER PRODUCT? 

Firsdy, a definition of "killer" is "An impressive, formidable, 

or excellent person or thing; one who kills". It is described 

as "Very effective; excellent, sensational" (Oxford English 

Dicrionary). Secondly, the weed Is a plant, frequenriy wild and 

unwanted. A critical aspect about killer weed is that human 

actions can turn a plant to a weed by transferring to a habitat 

where no natural grazing predators are living; and they will 

compete with other plants for resources. Following these 

descriprions, a definition for killer product might be formed. 

A killer product is so desirable or successful that it covers a 

very large space in a parricular market Since it disorders the 

market rivals gradually disappear because not enough free 

space remains in the market. These products are generally 

smart technologically innovative and easily mass produced in 

large numbers. They are not always icons ofdesign but might 

have the potenrial to be turned into a design icon. 

1.1 Killer application 

Secondly, regarding software industry; killer applicarion (killer 

app.) might be defined. "An applicarion which is parricularly 

significant or useful; a feature, function, or applicarion of a 

new technoiogy"that intenrionally or unintentionally compels 

the consumer to make the decision to buy the system the 

application runs on. "it is presented as virtually indispensable 

or much superior to rival products; also in extended use" 

(Oxford English Dicrionary). Clearly killer applicarion is a 

specific form of killer product 

According to Downes and Mui, "Killer applications will 

redefine the entire manufacturing-distribution-retail-finance 

business cycle, crearing gigantic new markets while it 

undermines existing ones" (2003: Chapter 1.3). The impacts 

of killer applications are indirect and unpredictable. 

And their second order effects, which are far reaching and 

unintended, are more significant than first order effects. 

(Downes and Mui, 2003). 

IBM never would have believed that its own markering 

of a personal computer, with software and hardware 

from tiny partners Microsoft and Intel, would devastate 

their mainframe-centered business model and shatter 

their computer industry dominance in only a few years 

(Downes, L, Mui, C, 2003. Chapter 1.3). 

However,a killer product may notalways be digital. An example 

from medieval rimes Is the srirrup; a medieval weapon which 

helped Franks forces at war.

Charles Martel, leader of the Franks, understood from 

his victory that the stirrup hadn't simply improved 

the effectiveness of his forces, as a nev^^ w/eapon 

or fighting formation might have done. Rather, it 

changed his entire military strategy. Stirrups made 

possible a mounted cavalry, a new element in the 

battle equation, and Charles Martel immediately 

made them a permanent feature (Downes, L., Mui, C, 

2003. Chapter 1.3). 

1.2 What is Eciller? Product, technology, brand 

It is a good question to consider whether the killer is the 

technology or the product or else the brand. Bonaccorsi 

speaks about radical products: "Significant role is played 

by technological evolution, but the interplay between the 

understanding of customer needs and the opportunities 

offered by technology is not subject to a thorough analysis." 

(2006:2). It is feasible to look at the subject with respect 

to different layers like killer brand, killer technology or 

killer product. Some intersections are obvious. Examples 

to possible combinations; a killer brand produces killer 

product with introducing killer technology. Nevertheless, a 

company may not be the pioneer of the killer technology 

or have the drastic innovation but still have the killer 

product. 

1.3 Types of killer products; revolutionary vs. persistent 

In support of killer products, an abstraction Is promising 

regarding modes of evolution. On the one hand, there are 

killer products that we were using in the past, using now 

and probably will use in the future. These products resist to 

evolution.They hardly change in time even if they have some 

troubles in terms of design and usage. They are persistent 

killer products. QWERTY lay-out keyboard, jewel box CD 

case are in this group. On the other hand, there are killer 

products that are opening new categories. They become 

pervasive with respect to a technology or functionality or 

a user group they introduced. They are forcing evolution in 

other words they are revolutionary killer products. They 

are more temporary, short-lived, lose their impact in time. 

Ford Model T, IBM PC and Sony Walkman are not killer 

anymore, although they left something to the knowledge of 

technology, human interactions, and culture. Revolutionary 

killer products are short-lived because they mainly depend 

on available new technology. Technological improvements, 

changes significantly affect the product life cycle. 

There are also some killer products neither revolutionary nor 

persistent. It is also possible that some revolutionary products 

are also persistent. 

1.4 Killer products create new categories 

One significant feature of killer products is that they open new 

categories in the market therefore owners of these products 

become early leaders. 

Bonaccorsi states: 

Radical product innovation can generate entire new 

industries, as in the case of the PC, low cost airlines, 

or mobile communication, but also can sustain 

the competitive advantage of innovative firms in 

established industries, as in the case of IPod in the 

entertainment industry, or Geox in footwear (2006:2). 

1.5 Killer products make money 

Winners get large market shares and high profits for a while. 

(Evans, Schmalensee, 2002). Table 1 demonstrates top 20 

companies ranked by market value in billions of dollars 

as of December 31, 1970, 1985, and 2000. Regarding this 

table, it is potential to draw some conclusion representing 

killer product's success. For instance, having the 1980's 

killer product, PC, IBM became market leader. However 

PC lost its killer effect and rivals adapt the technology 

following IBM lost its position in 2000. Moreover, Cellular 

Phone technology leads Nokia Corporation, one of the 

world's best-known brands, to high level of market value. 

Moreover, at present, every third mobile phone sold in the 

world is a Nokia (Kulkkaniemi, 2004). In other words it is 

possible to state that firms that have killer products, have 

great market value.

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2 AT&rCısp. KvviBi Corp. 

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10 Cinli Corp. Aııuıtıı Cıu[>, i.16,0 

11 Dil Pail iJ;' V*-!tâ'.ı 

ş.i4:^_=; 

Tabîe 1. Top 20 Companies ranked by Market Value 

Source: FactSet Research Systems inc 2001 Fact set collects 

financial datas from the 10-Qof the firms with out standing 

securities publicly on all U.S. Markets} 

2. SIMILARITIES OF KILLER PRODUCTS ANDTHE KILLER WEED 

The concept ofthe killer product as Itself is difficult to define, 

offering a method to explain killer products is also a difficult 

task. On the other hand the market place and ecosystem have 

common charactenstics. The examination of killer products in 

detail by building an analogy between the killer weed; Caulerpo 

Taxifolia and killer products is promising. Although Caulerpa 

Taxifolia is a weed that is certainly unwanted, harmful to the 

ecosystem entirely, killer products are often desirable, and their 

effects are reasonably complex. However the parallel between 

them are considerably appealing and informative. Mainly, 

identifying these basic features constitutes a starting point for 

determining role of design in creating killer products. 

2.1 Accidentalness 

Caulerpa Taxifolia, commonly used for aquanum 

ornamentation, was accidentally released to coastal 

waters of Mediterranean where It turns to killer algae 

(Meinesz etal, 1993). 

Drivers of innovation are sometimes matter of luck and 

accidents (Geroski, 2004). Changing the environment of a 

product, its habitat might turn it to an amazingly successful 

product. Pfizer produced Viagra originally a medicine for heart 

conditions. Accidentallydlscoveredsideeffectsmake ita widely 

known treatment for male sexual dysfunction. Nevertheless, 

It is essential to understand the reasons behind this accident: 

what similarities and differences between environments or 

intended users that produce something differently. "Post it" 

notes. Aspartame are also examples of accidentally developed 

successful products (Geroski, 2004). 

2.2 Pervasiveness 

Caulerpa taxifolia is pervasive. Itis the fastest-growing seaweed 

in the world and covers the sea bed like a thick blanket. It is 

capable of extremely rapid growth; up to I cm per day 

Killer products are easily mass produced In large numbers. 

Moreover distribution channels are powerful, and their growth 

appears to "snowball". Internet; world-wide network, Microsoft 

products are used to control virtually all ofthe world's PCs and 

laptop computers (albeit smaller shares of mobile phones, 

hand-held and server computers). Wintel computers, Windows 

working with Intel computers are ubiquitous. We can describe 

killer products pervasiveness with positive feedback and 

network effect. 

2.2.1 Positive feedback and network system effect 

Positive feedback is a system response sometimes called as 

snowball effect; reinforce a process, affects even more in the 

same direction. For instance products attract users, which lead

to an increase in perceived product vaiue, wh\ch in turn leads 

to more users being attracted to the product. One common 

example of positive feedback is the network effect. Network 

effect is: 

The phenomenon whereby a service becomes more 

valuable as more people use it, thereby encouraging 

ever-increasing numbers of adopters {http://www. 

marketingterms.com/dictiunary/network_effect/). 

Where the more people are encouraged to be a part of a 

system or have the product, the association becomes larger. 

The result is that the network grows more and more quickly 

over time that leads to produce higher distortion. 

Robert Metcalfe, formulated a law related for network effect, 

states that the value of a telecommunications network is 

proportional to the square ofthe number of users ofthe system 

(n^). First formulated by in regard to Ethernet, Metcalfe's law 

explains various networkeffectsof communication technologies 

and networks such as the Internet and World Wide Web. 

The example of fax machines is used to illustrate the Metcalfe's 

law (Figure 1). A single fax machine is useless. However, the 

potential usefulness of every fax machine increases with the 

sum of fax machines in the network as the number of people 

associated with each other as each user may send and receive 

documents increase. 

Figure 1:Coetzee, D. (2006) 

In all cases the use of common standards plays a critical role 

in linking network users (Stanborg, 2002:3). In addition, users 

might easily exchange data, (Word documents, spread sheets) 

sell the output more easily when there is a common standard. 

Moreover, design education in schools is affected by this 

positive feedback. School computers are donated by particular 

software programmes, as an answer to professional work 

expectations. Students are educated with these dominant 

software programmes making them more widespread after 

they graduate. 

Network effect helps to reinforce the leadership position 

of firms, Software developers tend design programmes for 

killer brands like software to sell their outputs more easily. 

Therefore, making it difficult for small firms to survive unless 

the significant product innovation. 

2.3 Invasiveness, suffocating 

Caulerpa Taxifolia is invasive, competes for space. First It disorders, 

then replaces and dominates the flora (Meinesz et al., 1993). 

Ecologists are worried because the killer weed is choking off food 

that sustains fish and sea birds, forcing many species to leave 

their home grounds and forage elsev'jhere (Madl and Yip, 2005). 

2.3.1 Types of innovation 

One ofthe significant features of a killer product isthe level of 

innovation it covers. Innovation is often characterized by its 

impact on existing markets or businesses.There are two types 

of innovation: incremental innovation or radical innovation. 

Incremental innovation a modest type innovation, offers 

improvement, but a follower innovation ofa radical innovation. 

Radical innovation invades a particular market, replacing 

the older technologies. Killer innovation might be called as 

radical innovation "disruptive innovation" (Christensen, 2003) 

or breakthrough innovation". 

2.3.2 Disruptive technology 

Disruptive technology, was introduced by Harvard Business 

School professor Clayton Christensen, r/ie/nnovotor'sD//emma 

1997, is defined as: "A new product or service that disrupts 

an industry and eventually wins most ofthe market share" 

(http://www.wordspy.com/words/disruptivetechnology.asp). 

Companies aimed to resize marketsharewith having disruptive 

technology. Disruptive innovation often marginalized

or displaced older technology. For Instance, Disruptive 

digital photographing technology is pervasive. It Is In the 

form of digital camera or integrated to the mobile phones. 

Furthermore, It is easy to use, convenient, simple, cheaper, 

and quicker. Photographers substitute film-based cameras 

for digital ones, then chemical photo processing labs go out 

of business because their services no longer are needed. An 

example is AgfaPhoto, a chemical film based company, which 

announced they provide no digital equipment (Harrison, 

2001) afterwards they went bankrupt in 2005 (http://www. 

dpreview.com/news/0510/05102102agfa_end.asp). 

2.3.3 Creative Destruction 

Killer products are recognized by market-destroying innovations 

and creative destruction. The economist Schumpeter explains 

the process of industrial transformation that come with radical 

Innovation. According to his view, innovative entry was the 

force that sustained long-term economic grovrth. (Schumpeter, 

1942). "Creative destruction occurs when something new kills 

an old thing. A great example of this is personal computers. The 

Industry, led by Microsoft and Intel, destroyed many mainframe 

computer companies~but in doing so, entrepreneurs created 

one of the most important inventions of this century" (http:// 

www.investopedia.com/terms/c/creativedestruction.asp). 

Figure 2 (based on Innovators' Dilemma, Christensen, 1997) 

demonstrates the performance outcome of disruptive 

technology. 

Tima 

Figure 2: Disruptive technology (1997) 

2.4 Particularity 

Caulerpa Taxifolia was not killer in warm water however it 

turns into a killer species in colder water like f>/tediterranean. It 

has been discovered off the coasts of Australia and the United 

States, though none of those encroachments are anywhere 

near the scale of what is happening in the /Mediterranean. 

A product is killer In a niche market."A dominant design needs 

to be established In a particular market" (Geroski, 2003:127). 

"The products based on the disruptive technology initially only 

satisfy a niche market segment, which values dimensions of 

performance on which the disruptive technology does excel." 

(Danneels, 2004:247). For example, pervasive mp3 player iPod 

Is very crucial, but only for its target user. 

2.5 Dominancy 

Plant and animal diversity and abundance are reduced 

where Caulerpa Taxifolia has invaded. The aquarium 

strain of it has been documented to displace native 

vegetation, particularly sea grass beds, and become 

the dominant plant life (MadI and Yip, 2005). 

"Dominant products are an important part of the story 

evolution of new markets because they are the result of 

a process of standardization which drastically reduces 

product variety" (Geroski, 2003:122). Their success might 

be harmful to market ecosystem. An explanatory example 

might be from QWERTY keyboard. The computer keyboard 

originated from the typewriter. The standard typewriter 

keyboard (nicknamed QWERTY) was designed overa century 

ago. The type-bar system and the universal keyboard were 

the machine's novelty, but the keys jammed easily. To 

solve the jamming problem, another business associate, 

James Densmore, suggested splitting up keys for letters 

commonly used together to slow down typing (http://www. 

sciencemuseum.org.uk/online/typewriters/page4.asp). This 

became today's standard "QWERTY" keyboard and now is 

used for to write fast. "QWERTY has become a controversial 

Issue, because many individuals feel that the sequential 

keyboard market is being monopolized by a sub-optimum 

layout" (Noyes, 1983:266).

QWERTY introduces the concept of layout design. On the 

other hand, now it does not let any lay-out design to grow 

in the market because it covers everywhere becoming the 

standard. Today's technological availability, it is meaningful 

to design a keyboard depending on language; in terms of 

mostly used letters arranged closely. "F keyboard" Is a Turkish 

keyboard layout designed for efficient typing in Turkish 

language, a general winner of typing contest (http://www. 

Interstenoturk.com/ihsanyenerhtml). The keyboard was 

designed over resolution of which letters combined together, 

and how often. However; It is hardly find even in Turkey since 

QWERTY keyboard is so pervasive. There are few F keyboards 

for desktop computers, but hardly any for laptop computers. 

2.6 Aggression 

Caulerpa Taxifolia, a highly invasive weed, produces 

large amounts of toxins give harms to competitors 

(Ruesink, Collado-Vide, 2004). 

Killer products limit the growth in a system by fixing prices 

or preventing competitors from distributing their products. 

Certainly, there has to be antitrust regulations to prevent 

market domination by a single firm. For example. In 2006 

iMIcrosoft released an Mp3 player;"Zune"with such aggression 

that they advertise it as "new enemy" and "iPod killer" (www. 

zunescene.com). 

Microsoft also does not let new entrants in the market. There 

exists a big battle In the operating system arena between MS 

Windows and Linux. Microsoft products are specifically made 

not to be compatible with Free Software. Moreover, Microsoft 

cooperates with other software giants to make their software 

compatible only with MS Windows. 

Unlike many other media players, IPod was designed not to 

play music files from other competing music stores. Napster 

or MSN Music uses rival DRM technologies like Microsoft's 

protected WMA or RealNetworks' Helix DRM. Moreover 

alternative royalty free audio formats, such as Ogg Vorbis and 

FLAG, are not supported, possibly because they are developed 

by media standards bodies of which Apple is not a member. 

No support for particular formats is actually a way of releasing 

toxins. Furthermore IPod offers a converter for non-DRM WMA 

files, which is provided with the Windows version of ITunes. 

This Is called displacement. 

3. PRODUCT-USER RELATIONSHIP, CULTURAL EFFECTS OF 

3.1 Redefining human interactions, habits 

A killer product has potential to reshape human interacrions, 

habits from bottom to the top.These products have big impact 

on target users' life. Besides they quickly become necessary 

for their users. For example "e-mail" was purposely a network 

of scientists' computers. Now redefines human interactions, 

communication habits. Cellular phones, PC, television and 

internet are first coming examples that work neariy the same. A 

killer product becomes central to its specific user and creates a 

novel category her/his life similar impact as in the marketplace. 

Wright and McCarthy argue that the implementarion of 

technology is rebuilt by designer in terms of experience and 

culture (2004). For instance; with the introduction of mp3 

technology users gained a new ability "Randomness" which 

is not available before. The 'iPod Shuffle' cleveriy integrates 

this new technology to re-construct user experience. "Life 

is random" is the design concept of 'IPod Shuffle' which has 

no LCD display or play list offers oprions for regular play or 

random order with shuffle button. 

A killer product offers or seems to offer pleasure, satisfaction 

and fulfilment to Its user, it is presented as virtually 

Indispensable or much superior to rival products; also in 

extended use. A user, who purposefully or non-purposefully 

buys the product, appears unable to avoid it later. 

A product has to be personalized in order to become 

indispensable to its user, in iPod success, personalization 

might also be achieved because of its simplicity, "In a society 

of mass customization, only the simple can become the "my" 

(Wallace, 2006:20). 

Because the killer products become indispensable in our life, users 

lacking these products are marginalized. Not only many of us

cannot imagine life without some killer products, but also we are 

having difficulties to understand a person withoutaklllerproduct. 

Moreover their unavoidable characteristic such as mobile phones, 

e-mails assumed as a mandatory in contemporary life. Lacking 

these facilities and resistance to them such as turning mobile 

phones off (let alone not having any) or not checking e-mails 

dally become unusual. Internet and mobile technologies create 

many opportunities, solve problems; nonetheless, pervasiveness 

and their dominancy dictating human interactions and attacking 

individuality as being constantly"on call"both at workand in free 

time. Expectations from human pace increase with Increase in 

speed that is technologically available. 

In short, in 90s it was no home without TV, in 2000s; no home 

without internet, now; none without mobile phones, and no 

young without portable music player. 

3.3 Cultural fabric of society 

In our commercialized and entertainment oriented society, 

catching people's attention to/with pleasurable objects Is 

widespread. Killer products are so pervasive that they become 

integrated into the cultural fabric of society. Pleasurable 

objects are movie stars, heroes. 

In the following subsections some examples are given about 

how IPod cleverly and pervasively advertise the product. One 

can see the pervasiveness of IPod very easily. In daily life, in 

books and in series etc 

3.3.1 IViovie; Firewall, kidnapping 

In this movie the main character; Father working for a bank is 

played by Harrison Ford. His family Is kidnapped. He needs to 

transfer money from 1000 thousand accounts to the bad guys' 

account to save his family. He thinks of using IPod to achieve this 

task, needs his daughter's IPod.The picture ofthe related scenes 

is, father comes to the bed where the mother is looking with big, 

frightened eyes, and the daughter is sleeping with listening IPod. 

The dialogue between father and daughter: 

Father:"Honey, I need to borrow your IPod" 

Daughter: "Do I get it back?" 

Father:"Sure, I promise" 

The above dialogue demonstrates the level of importance of 

the product and intense product attachment. The daughter, 

who is thinking of her iPod while being kidnapped, Is pathetic. 

In the Following scenes ofthe movie the father uses IPod to 

change accounts, saves his family. 

3.3.2 Book; Fielding H. (1999) Bridget Jones' Diary. 

Penguin, London 

The Bridget Jones called a person as "Mr iPod". Wright and 

BIythe state in cultural study of iPod; "The experience of the 

IPod is made up not just of stories about the songs creation, 

her (Bridget Jones) own memories and the song itself, but 

also of her moral and political attitudes to the technology: 

the experience ofthe IPod then, is not only social, cultural and 

aesthetic but also moral and political" (2005:6). 

3.3.3 TV serial; iVIedical Drama House on Fox released 20 

September 2005/Tuesday prime 

The main character; Dr. House uses his IPod help diagnose 

a young patient's heart problem. Picture of the serial is "Dr. 

House and his associates gathered round a table upon which 

lies his trusty white IPod, hooked up to a speaker. Mr. House 

touches the click wheel to play the heart sounds he's recorded, 

and keeps replaying them until one of his associates 'hears' 

the problem. Then, while they hustle off to deal with the 

patient. House goes back to listening to classical muslc.""Wlth 

the iPod's help, they managed to solve the episode's medical 

mystery!" (McCunications, 2005). 

3.4 Generality, generic products 

Because of the powerful impact of killer products on society, 

they are used as generic terms or renamed the objects. For 

example, when Wallace states: "Everywhere you look, there 

Is another cleaner, less encumbered user interface. Call It 

the IPodization of our world" (2006:21), He uses the term 

"iPodization" for something much broader than the product 

itself. His description reminds minimalism. Either he perceives 

minimalism as "IPodization" or at least he uses the name 

"iPodization"for a movement such as cubism, futurism.

İn addition people start to use to iPod as a generic name for 

mp3 player. The announcement on Australian Airlines plane 

"Could you please turn off your iPod please?" Rose (2003) calis 

iPod as"21st-Century Walkman." 

The sticky notes that allow removal and reattachment to 

paper are frequently called "Post-it". "Although Post it" is a 

registered trademark under the license of 3M, It used as a 

generic term for any such product. 3M manufactures other 

products towards the Post-it note concept, leveraging the 

success of the brand. This ubiquitous originally yellow square 

spread to the computer software in versions like Stickles or 

PtiMemo, 3M markets its own software under the name of 

'Post-it software note'. 

Eventhoughkillerproductsseemtoemphasizepersonalization, 

user creativity and identity, in turn individuals become 

predefined typical users being a member of a target user 

group. Although Wallece introduces "iPodization" to describe 

simplicity and clean lines, it is possible to redefine"iPodization" 

as a social and cultural process that iPod build its society. It 

represents not only a change on how we think about personal 

audio-entertainment gizmos, but also a change in the way 

redefining individuality, social interactions with products and 

technology in our lives. 

CONCLUSION 

The weed is often an undesirable plant, unwanted and their 

effects harmful to ecosystem as a whole; however, whether 

a killer product is a designer's dream or fear is unclear. In a 

sense, killer products are like beautiful monsters. Caulerpa 

Taxifolia offers a great opportunity to understand killer 

products, with regard to the parallel between marketplace 

and ecosystem. Companies are well positioned to eliminate 

their rivals through discovering killer products produced by 

radical innovation. Many other firms are trying to predict 

and act accordingly to the next killer product in the market. 

However, because of the uncertainties and risks associated 

with killer products, it is difficultto create, select and introduce 

such products. There is no pattern to the nature of successive 

innovations in a particular sector, or in the speed at which 

they follow each other (Geroski, 2004). In this regard killer 

products are unpredictable. They create new categories and 

improve the product quality. Killer products reduce some of 

the transaction costs (money and time) for buyers and sellers 

including search costs, information costs and decision costs. 

In this paper we have assumed that designer's role in creating 

a killer product is the interpretation of new technology, 

its application in the development of new products, and 

in identifying opportunities for radical innovation, for its 

particular sector via understanding the user's broader needs 

and expectations. The process of creating a killer product calis 

for realizing the product attachment, market dynamics, and 

technology. 

Designing a pervasive product to its passionate user 

needs crucial design criterions like providing user-centred 

functionality, integrating insight with advanced technology 

and implementing the details weil. Enriching the experience 

of fullness in ones mind with forms and functionality is the 

designer touch to the product. 

The impact of killer products might be harmful to the design 

process. They are dominating the marketplace therefore It 

becomes difficult to design new products. They limit the 

product range and variety of design. Besides, they dominate 

a kind of aesthetic, and the coming products starts to look 

like killer products (an example of this was when Apple first 

introduced the i-mac with a brightly-coloured, translucent 

plastic case - soon lots of other products, not just computers, 

started to adopt the same aesthetic). Unfortunately, users 

sometimes unintentionally make inappropriate purchase 

decision since killer products limit the choices. 

Killer products influence human relations, communication 

habitsand expectations, Arguably,theirdominantcharacteristic 

and pervasiveness have a harmful, suffocating effect on us 

as individuals (choice, identity, freedom) and on society. It is 

obvious that killer products largely affect the society therefore 

my further research will seek for answers to the questions like 

whether killer products are ethical or moral to design a killer 

product. How it affects humanity in terms of globalization and 

personalization. Moreover, further studies might look for the 

idea of refusing and resisting killer products, and will discuss 

whether the killer products are actually killer or fad.

Iwouldliketothankmyprofessorsin Sheffield Hallam University 

for their leading contribution especially; Dr. Peter Walters, 

Dr. Tom Fisher, Prof. Dr. Pauİ Chamberlain and Steve Bort. 

Particularly, Peter Walters' help is needed to acknowledged, 

not only for his contribution with his knowledge but also his 

positive support all the time. 1 would also thank the colleagues 

in MA Design for their encouraging feedback, especially Scott 

Hawkins. I would like to show appreciation to Alp Öztarhan 

and Dr. Aren Kurtgözu, who give confidence to write about 

this subject. I am also grateful to my family and my dear friend 

Ash who constantly encourage me for progress. 

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PERİDDIZATIDN IN A RESEARCH ON THE HISTORY OF DESIGN IN TURKEY 

GülnatneTuran 

IstanbulTechnical University, 

Dept. of Industrial Product Design, 

Istanbul,Turkey 

gulname.turan@itu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

This paperfirstshortlydiscusseswhen the concept of'everyday 

life"entered the field ofdesign historiography and then relates 

"history of design" to a "periodizatlon proposal" constructed 

for a research on the history of design In Turkey focusing on 

the everyday life.The proposal presented here Is a narration of 

author's ov/n experience related to her ongoing PhD research 

in Art History Programme of ITU Institute of Social Sciences. 

Before going into detail, it is necessary to tell thaf'design" refers 

to industrial dessgn and "Design History" refers to the literature 

on the history of industrial design through out this paper.' 

The Challenge of Periodizatlon in Design History and the 

"Everyday Life" 

Design historians and researchers practice the same basic 

methodological, theoretical and ontological problems as do any 

historian (Walker. 1989). Historians from different specific areas 

have been reflecting on the discipline for a long time. The study 

of the problems and the way history has been and is written is 

"Historiography" (Furay and Salevouris, 1988). Therefore, as we 

study 'historiography; we do not study the events of the past 

directly, but the changing interpretations of those events in the 

works of individual historians. Design historians in the 1990s had 

fiery discussions on design historiography and the discipline itself,^ 

' Meta Meta Disccurse as J. Walker puts it in his "Design History and 

the History of Design". 

•^Special issue of Design Issues on Design History, 1995, Volumue 11, 

No.1. 

Design Historiography is a field where changes in practice, 

methodology, philosophical theories and definition of 

'design'and of'history'play a principal role. Therefore "What 

is design?" and "What is history?" is an Issue of the literature 

of Design History. The Introductlve parts of most volume In 

Design History literature usually try to handle the definition 

problems and the whole writing practice is Inevitably 

constructed according to the accepted definitions of the 

historians (Ozdemir, 2002). So, Design History could be the 

"history of design theory" and "design research" in paralel 

to the discussions of the relationship between history and 

theory. But it won't be wrong to say that Design History up to 

now, with its exceptions, stayed far from being reflections of 

design theory and research. This is understandable to some 

point. The studies labeled as design history and published 

as commercial books are targeted to a wide group of people 

from diverse background who are unfamiliar with design 

theory and research. So, change in the design of industrially 

produced products in terms of physical appearance and 

meaning seem to be more appealing than the reflections of 

the change in design theory and research. On the other hand it 

is inevitable that these reflections lay somewhere In between 

lines of those texts forthe ones who want to trace them, and 

who are already familiar with design theory and research. 

Development of Design History as an independent field of 

research is still arguable. In my opinion Design History has been 

more under the effect of Social History and Material Culture 

Studies in the past twenty five years. One of the prominent 

areas of exploration driven from History introducing new 

sources is the concept ofthe everyday life". Everyday life has 

become an established subject matter of history a few decades

efore than it did for design history.^ Retrodiction of histoncal 

expenences and ways of the life of the ordinary were of the 

main distinctions of the tnumph of the Annales School. The 

history ofthe everyday life became a more Important arena 

following the texts like Lefebvre's"Everyday Life In the IVIodern 

Wodd" in 1968, Zlmmermann and Poltner's "The Attitude of 

the Everyday Life" in 1970, Heller's "The Heterogeneity ofthe 

Everyday Life" In 1970, Bourdieu's "Class Tastes and Lifestyles: 

the culture of the necessary" in 1979 and de Certeau's "The 

Practice of Everyday Life" in 1984. in 1995, Lijdtke acted as the 

editorof'the History of Everyday Life: Reconstructing Histoncal 

Expenences and Ways of Life". While attention of historians 

were directed to the everyday, the definition of design In 

design history literature shifted from tactile artefact and visual 

attributes that rooted in art history perspective into a more 

profound understanding of design partly following design 

theory, design research and new paradigms in historiography. 

"The Inclusion of the everyday life In the literature of design 

history" has Its roots both In history and design theory. 

What could be expected afterwards may be a set of new 

methodologies In studying the hlstoryofdesign in the everyday 

life, new approaches of periodizarion and classificarion as 

well as introduction of new sources. As the subject matter 

of design history broadened itself intersecting the realm of 

consumption studies, anthropology and ethnography through 

the seminal texts in the 19805 new methodologies and sources 

were Introduced. But the periodizarion approaches stayed 

somehow static and parallel to the previous approaches. 

IVleanwhlle historians from diverse research areas have been 

criricizlng the periodizarion approaches and terminology they 

have been using (see Georg G. Iggers, 2004). 

Periodizarion as subdivisions of historical rime is a product of 

the human mind to be able to study the past and to assign to 

the present its place within the stream of history. It Is a general 

attitude to divide the passage of time into past, present and 

future. Although certain things about rime do remain static, 

time is to be viewed as a relative phenomenon, a flexible and 

a changeable entity (Black and MacRaild, 1997). "The past" in a 

^ After Braudel, most ofthe historians of today are on the wing ofthe 

inclusion of "everyday life" into history (see Jenkins, K, 2003). 

certain research may be "the today" of a different one, or "the 

today"of a research may lnclude"the pa5t"of others. Periodization 

does not block rime segments to flow Into each other. Historical 

research focus on a segment of rime In which periodization 

serves to limit the extent of rime studied. Since design historical 

research tends to focus upon the industrial design ofthe modern 

age, it mostly deals with the present and the recent past (Walker, 

1989). But when does this recent past begin? The number of 

the different correct answers to this question makes past and 

present dlsrincrion somehow arbitrary, But on the other hand 

this distinction makes the researcher situate herself/himself in 

an a-historical vantage point, the present, from where she/he 

can observe the historical realm ofthe past (Walker, 1989). 

The everyday life as an area of research opens new ways to the 

concept of "rourine".The everyday life consists of rourines. The 

change in these routines asks for new patterns of periodization. 

Is setting up a case specific periodizarion system for certain 

subjects like "the history of design In the Turkish everyday 

life" mapping the change in the routines via design possible? 

It is not necessary to have a certain periodization system for 

a subject that can be approached from a vast majority of 

viewpoints? What is Important here Is to set the period blocks 

Into right places In the design of the research project. The 

periodization pattern Is to change according to the level and 

detail of research and the conceptual frame ofthe study. What 

the historian needs to be conscious of are the differences 

which separate one period from the other and conrinuiries 

which link the two according to the concepts being focused. 

Probes to Set the Periodizing 

History of Design in Turkey 

Blocks - The Case for the 

The conceptual frame in the beginnlg of my PhD research was 

the historical relationship betweenTurklsh modernizarion and 

Industrial design in the everyday life. This was a wide frame 

and for a more focused study the llmiîarion of the everyday 

life to "the domestic everyday life" and "the change in the 

design of domesric household products" in parallel to "the 

Turkish Republican Modernization" was a decision taken after 

accumulation of new data. 

The historian periodizes the time section he is studying 

according to the detail and importance of changes he wants

to focus on. If the historian wants to study the time section he 

has chosen in a macro level, then the periods he determines 

will be of longer time. The periods he determines has to be 

of shorter time if he wants to chase the changes In detail. 

The importance ofa change or event differs according to the 

extents ofthe period being studied {Tekeli, 1998).The historian 

has to periodize the time section he wants to study coherent 

with the aims and objectives ofthe research in orderto make 

reasoned Inclusions and exclusions. Each branch of history 

writing tends to periodize the past differently according to the 

posibilities of their chosen subject. When the subject matter is 

the history of industrial design -stressing different aspects like 

the physical appearance of goods. Ideologies, consumption, 

production, Individual designers or firms etc.- the earliest 

dates commonly taken in the literature is the beginning of 

the industrial revolution namely the second half ofthe 18th 

century. A telling volume of Design History literature starts 

with the industrial revolution, division of labour, and say 

something on Wedgwood, the Great Exhibition, Thonet and 

then design ideologies like Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau 

confronting the general production of the 19th century 

constituting a similar infrastructure. The end extent of the 

time period varies according to the scope and the conceptual 

frame of the author, where even the year of the publishing 

may be the arbitrary end of time studied. The traditionally 

set "umbrella period" of Design History In the western sense 

has been the period between the 1750s and the end ofthe 

20th Century. This makes 250 years which is periodized into 

many sub-periods according to the researcher's subject and 

detail he aims to focus onto. The time section of my research 

inevitably overlaps with a certain period of the umbrella 

period of Design History in general. 

If the subject is the history of industrial design in Turkey, 

"when to begin" is a hard one to deal with than "when to 

end". In the beginning of my research I started reading on the 

late 18th century which is a period parallel to the European 

Industrial Revolution as well as the early established structural 

changes in the Ottoman Turkey. A large number ofTurklsh 

and foreign historians have been studying these changes In 

detail and published work in terms of economy, technology, 

politics and etc Is high qualified. Cultural history fn the 18th 

and 19th century OttomanTurkey have been a neglected area 

for sometime, although the past 20 years witnessed a series 

research and publication on the Ottoman daily life and culture. 

For an early design history research, begining with the second 

half of the 19th century as a starting point seemed convenient. 

The end ofthe 1950s seemed to be a fitting ending time as my 

further reading on the existing design history and the general 

history ofTurkey supported. These years were accepted as the 

initial guidelines forthe beginning which was to change when 

necessary within the course ofthe research. 

Certain patterns promising to act either as "period blocks" 

or as characteristics of periods to fix the guideline dates of 

the "umbrella period" to be used in the research, which are 

exemplified later below, were mapped. Setting 1850 as the 

beginning period block may seem to bearbitrary when weask 

If a period of time have a specific beginning and/or an end?"No 

matter if a period has a beginning and an end, historical studies 

include strong temptation to Impose neat storylines {Walker, 

1989). Setting the first"period block"on 1850 served as a good 

point to start the story. If industrial design Is accepted as a 

phenomenon ofthe modern times, modernization in Turkish 

national economic system, governmental structure, industry 

and the life of theTurkish society al! points to the second half 

ofthe 19th century as in certain countries falling to the east 

of Europe. Starting to trace evidence of design in the modern 

sense. In a comparative approach with the west, makes the 

second half ofthe 19th century a fruitful place to start with. 

But it is a hard one to relate It to the life of theTurkish everyday 

because ofthe lack of archival data. 

1950 is notan exact extent for the end ofthe research, as 1850 

is not. Historical studies on the 20th century Turkey point to 

certain changes that took place In the social structure and 

everyday life after 1950^ The period between 1920 and 1950 

Is named "the early republican period" in economic, social and 

political histories ofTurkey. Setting the "initial period block" 

on 1850 and "end period block" on 1950, was a search forthe 

patterns that led to the modernization of the Turkish daily life 

and its reflection on the design and use of household products. 

"Periodprobe"\s a phrase that I use for the pattern search to fix 

the period blocks to the right points and intervals. 

Alan Duben's Works on the life of the Turkish family gives deep 

information on these changes.

When "the umbrella period" is decided then come the sub- 

penods. These periods may be regular units of time such 

as decades which are random decisions, or be irregular 

segments of time their beginning and end decided according 

to the material of history. This material of history can differ 

according to the subject and the conceptual framework of 

the study. Natural disasters, economic cnses, political changes 

or new developments in manufacturing systems can be 

materials fixing end and beginning ofa penod {Tekeli, 1998). 

The design historian can elect either to use general economic/ 

technological/ political segments such as'the era of capitalism', 

'the epoch ofthe industrial revolution','The Victorain age', or to 

use boundaries more specific to design itself (Walker, 1989). 

Historical studies include certain periods like introductory and 

afterwards since itis usually necessary to review what preceded 

and what followed the chosen period. But how backwards 

and forwards should they range? In the following sub-periods 

proposal, the first penod acts as a means of understanding 

structural changes in the everyday life and domestic use of 

household products of the following period. The umbrella 

penod 1850-1950 is divided into two sub-penods: 

- Pre-Republican Era 1850-1920 as an introductory chapter 

to the main period of study, 

- Early Republican Era 1920-1950, main penod of study. 

Why "1920" is accepted as a penod block is explained later In the 

following lines. Period probes to decide on these intervals were 

close to each other for both periods since they were for the same 

conceptual frame and the same society, but were not the same. 

Pre-Republican Period 1850-1923 

1850-1923 period acts as an introductory part that helps to 

make an understanding of the following the Early Republican 

Era constituting the main period of the research. As I stated 

above, my aim was to study the historical relationship between 

Turkish modernization and industrial design in the everyday life. 

The results of the probes do not maintain the researcher with 

"professional design activity" but these are the situations that 

have led to professional design activity In west, and tracing them 

in eastern as an introductive part Is promising and abundant. 

Period probes searching patterns of proto-industnal design in 

the everyday life household products in orderto the beginning 

block time for the umbrella period on 1850: 

1- Commercial treaties with western countries of the 

industrial revolution, and new regulations of commerce and 

production: New regulations of commerce and manufacture 

were clearly figured in the second half of the 'İ9th century. 

Turkey was undergoing a phase of new structural development 

in terms of military, monetary and governmental system since 

the second half of the 18th century. By the new reformations 

of 1839 called "Tanzimat"^ and the commercial treaties ofthe 

first half ofthe 19th century, "change" versus"lnertia" has rapidly 

taken its place in the industnalization and commodlfication of 

Turkey in the modern western sense.^ Many ofthe new central 

institutions of the second half of the 19th century were means 

of leading the way to the establishment ofthe Turkish Republic 

and still have their impact in the social institutional structure. 

At the end ofthe 18th century and in the beginning ofthe 19th 

century, the commercial trade with Middle and Eastern Europe 

In Turkey was more Important than the one with Western 

Europe.^ The tableau was in a rapid change dunng the ten 

^Tbe term means reorganization resembling a period of reformation 

that lasted from 1839 to 1876. 

^ The ultra nationalist economic approach to the Ottoman history 

has always blamed the 19th century commercial treaties signed with 

European powers as the reason for the "under-development" of the 

"dependency". This scenario with a xenophobic hint and backed by 

dependency paradigm of Marxism as well as nationalist historiography 

have been finding the scapegoat of Modem Middle Eastern history 

in the commercial treaties ofthe mid-nineteenth century, and mainly 

the 1838 Anglo-Ottoman Commercial Convention. See Zafer Toprak, 

"The Ottoman Realities And Economic Mind In The Age Of Nation State 

(1839-1914),"The University of Athens Doctoral Program in Economics 

Monday Economic History Seminars 2004/2005, http://www.econ.uoa. 

gr/UA/files/811318924..pdf (accessed August 18,2006). 

'' The Empire extended to the Balkans, Anatolia, Syria, Tunisia, 

and Egypt in the end ofthe 18th century. Greece already had her 

independence in 1832 although some regions that belong to Greece 

today were still underthe rule ofthe Ottomans; such asThessalonica 

from where many manufacturers exhibited their products.

decades period between the end of Napoleon wars In Europe 

and the First World War. Commercial relationship between 

the Western Europe and Turkey got stronger with commercial 

treaty conventions. The Ottoman economy was exporting 

raw material, food substance and alimentary products while 

importing manufactured goods and certain alimentary 

products. Hand-woven rugs and carpets are worth of noting 

as exported manufactured goods. fKfter"theCommerciol Treaty 

of Balta Umonİ"\n 1838, Britain had the privilege to export her 

product into the Ottoman market with a very low duty. Turkish 

market as a foreign liberal trade arena started to develop 

after the Crimean War.^ One of the main Turkish Industries 

was textiles.The local weavers started to use cheaper English 

fibers and yarns. However, the change in the origin of cotton 

fibers did not affect weaving industry as one might think of. 

The English design did not attract local people who went on 

consuming fabrics with local taste {Pamuk, 1988).The number 

of the looms Increased rather than decreased In the wake of 

liberal foreign trade (Toprak, 2004).This is arguably due to the 

traditional consuming habits allocating certain amounts of 

the market to local manufactures with local taste In general. 

2- First domestic industrial manufactures: State supported 

manufactures and inauguration of imperial factories such as 

Imperial Beykoz Porcelain and Glass Factory (Beykoz Fabrika-İ 

Hümayun), the Imperial Hereke Rug Factory (Hereke Fabrika- 

i Hümayun), The Imperial Feshane Garment Factory (Feshane 

Fabrika-i Hümayun). Products stamped "Eser-i Istanbul" as the 

first Turkish Trade Mark. 

3-Standardization and mechanization: manufactures 

for military, in garments and the products of the Imperial 

factories. 

^ The Crimean War lasted from March 1853 until April 1856 and was 

fought between Imperial Russia on one side and an alliance ofthe 

United Kingdom, Ireland, the Second French Empire, the Kingdom 

of Sardinia, and the Ottoman Empire on the other. The majority of 

the conflict took place on the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea, 

with military conflicts also occurring in western Turkey, the Baltic Sea 

region and in the Pacific Ocean. 

4- Industrial exhibitions on national and international 

level: In thesecond half of the 19th century Turkey participated 

into worid exhibitions first participating In the Great Exhibition 

of 1851. The reflections of these exhibitions in the mainland 

took place as the new national exhibitions of Industry and 

commerce beginning wlth"Sergi-i Umumi Osmanl". 

IViJllllil.^ irillıİN-llİü lI'ClLlrhlltliilll iillciiili 

Figure 1. Industrial products of Uşaklıyan Efendi In Bursa 

Exposition of 1909. 

5- Periodical issues on house, home, decoration, appliances 

etc. 

Figure 2. Amel-i Elektrik, 1917, Istanbul.

6" Advertisements of household products 

7- Critics on products by professional e.g. In publications and 

periodicals of professional institutions. 

liVjl I^1 j.C 

• j>.jjjl JjJ 

^ i..J^Vj .Vj- .ill 5,1 

iwi - J " ' .j/J.-i- 

. j.U >-• Jl - J.J. 

jî .-i.J? JJV 

Figure 3. Amel-i Elektnk, 1917, Istanbul. 

8- New architecture and housing policies: New palaces 

and Interior decoration In the western sense. Neo-classical 

kargir houses due to the regulations after the Hoca Paşa Fire 

In Istanbul in 1865. Introduction of new furniture pieces and 

related furniture workshops. 

Early Republican Era: 1923-1950 

The periods of time seem to get shorter In the twentieth 

century, as the developments ofany kind in the realm ofdesign 

have gained acceleration. "Decades Approach"in historical has 

been common and Walker (1989) find this 'decades' approach 

problematical since the historians feel compelled to detect a 

unique style or spirit ofthe age in each decade whether there 

was one or not In my periodization proposal sub-periods for 

1923-1950 is not proposed. 

The first period proposed ends with 1923 that is the 

establishment of the Turkish Republic and the end of the 

Ottoman rule in Turkey. As stated above periods may end 

or begin with certain political change. 1923 is not fixed as 

a penod block of the study just because a very important 

political change has occured. The 1923-1950 is the period 

when profound changes with the establishment of modern 

Turkey took place in the society and when 'design' served as 

one of the agencies in this modernization ideology. A new 

nation started to be designed with a new Turkish Identity. The 

Turkish Language foundation and Turkish History Foundation 

were inaugurated serving to form the new Identity. Latin 

alphabet instead of Arabic was started to be used. The literacy 

ofTurkish people with the new education system introduced 

accelerated. Women got their rights for voting and election 

while special schools for educating woman as "the modern 

republican woman" were established.The education system in 

Turkey was unified underoneminlstry. New vocational schools 

for boys and girls were established.The way to dress In western 

sense was stabilized with laws. Another important point 

that deserves attetlon Is that the period of 1923-1950 Is also 

parallel to the western "modernism" In design. Academicians, 

and professionals who left national socialist Germany started 

to work in the academies of Turkey in this period, 

Period probes searching patterns of Industrial design and Its 

relation to the everyday household, for fixing the main period 

of study extents under the umbrella period: 

1. New Industry and development plans and laws supporting 

domestic production. 

2. Campaigns and propaganda on the use of domestic 

products. 

3. Design education in fine arts faculties. 

Figure 4. Ceramic teaset by Ismail Hakkı Bey, Yedigün 1933, No. 47

4. New housing plans and policies. 

5, The gender politics ofthe Republic. 

6.The idea of "hygiene"supported with official campaigns. 

7. Change in the use of kitchens. 

8. Increase in the periodicals related to "home", "women" and 

"family". Introduction of modern design through media. 

i 

Sİ 

hanelere merbut yazı masaiarmm 

ışında kim çalışmak istemez? ; 

^TJt •>««• -|-. 

.1 • , - 

I \ •• U , . 1 J 1 ,a il- ır I- ' I i 

I lı.'- ' 1 I 1. ı 1 -.1. 1. J r c V'l 1 t I iIJMV 

V. , l ,1 n i[ ! l n r ıfi iti »n v ^tt 1 d 

Figure 5. Design news from abroad, Yedigün 1933, No.52 

9. Critics on the design of products and advertisements 

focusing on the physical appearance ofthe goods. 

10. Translations of texts on design. 

Conclusion 

Here I tried to present the two main periods of my research and 

depict the story of how I reached this periodizatlon schema. 

Time periods can not be accounted as an explanatory variant 

that leads to 'historicism', which Is highly unwanted in this 

research. But periods are needed in order to tell a clear story 

line. The case of design history in Turkey, does not have very 

case specific time intervals. The change in the routines is in 

paralleltothe European peripherakcountries.The proposed two 

periods have many similarities with the existing Design History 

literature (order). On the other hand, the two main periods 

proposed heredoes not truly fit the general periodlzation in 

official national histories and Turkish art history, but offers a 

new periodizatlon for the early design history ofTurkey. 

Reference 

FURAY, C, and SALEVOURIS, M.J., 1988,The Methods and Skills 

of History; A Practical Guide, Harlan Davidson. 

IGGERS, G.G., 2004, Historiography in the Twentieth Century, 

Wesleyan University Press. 

JENKINS, K., 2003, Re-thinkIng History, Routledge. 

ÖZDEMİR, G., 2002. Writing the History of Design, Unpublished 

MScThesis, ITU Institute of Science andTechnology,Supervison 

Prof. Dr. Ayla Ödekan. 

PAMUK, Ş., 1988, History of Economics Ottoman-Turkey In 100 

Questions, 1550-1914, Istanbul; Gerçek Press, (In Turkish). 

TEKELİ, I., 1998, Tarih Yazımı Üzenne Dijşünmek, DostYaymevi, 

Ankara. 

TOPRAK, Z., 2004, "The Ottoman Realities And Economic Mind 

In The Age Of Nation State (1839-1914)," The University of 

Athens Doctoral Program in Economics Monday Economic 

History Seminars 2004/2005, http://www.econ.uoa.gr/UA/ 

files/811318924..pdf (accessed August 18,2006). 

WALKER, J., 1989. Design History and the History of Design, 

Pluto Press, London.

T H E P A R O D Y D F T H E M D T L E Y C A D A V E R : D I B P L A Y I N G T H E F U N E R A L O F F A S H I U N 

Robyn HEALY 

Rmit University, 

Melbourne, Australia 

robyn.healy@rmiteclu.au / robynhealy@optusnetcom.au 

Abstract 

This paper considers the ephemeral, fugitive nature of fashion in 

the context of documenting and presenting the history of design. 

Garments breaking down physically defy their original functions 

of wearability, the ideal image of attractiveness and overt display. 

Extending the ephemeral, confronts the issues about the very 

nature of fashion, the design ideas that relate to a time and place. 

! propose a parallel exhibition dialogue and w/itness expenence, 

which considers thedetritus.This approach would perhaps create 

a path leading away from the traditional vista of the museum 

spectacle or the department store gaze. Within this context the 

deterioration of a garment is read other than a conservation 

issue. The radical and irreversible changes that occur through 

decay propose a framework to consider design the continuing 

breakdown creates a disorder that cannot be contained, one 

that symbolically challenges the authority ofthe museum itself. 

The nature of fashion 

"For fashion was never anything other than the parody 

of the motley cadaver, provocation of death through the 

woman.andbittercolloquywithdecaywhispered between 

shnll bursts of mechanical laughter. That Is fashion. And 

that is why she changes so quickly; she titillates death 

and is already something different, something new, as he 

casts about to crush her...' (Benjamin 2004:63). 

' The incomplete study by Walter Benjamin on the subject of the 

Paris arcades, see Lehmann for a detailed discussion concerning 

Benjamin's writing about fashion. 

Benjamin's caustic depiction of fashion' opens this discourse, 

to consider the physical nature of things, the idea of renewal, 

the object of desire, absence and presence; addressing the 

radical changes and irreversible transformations that occur in 

the inevitable funeral of fashion. Referencing the satirical work 

of Leopardı, Benjamin brings forth sisters Fashion and Death, 

mythically related through their mother Decay, in the original 

dialogue their similarities are clearly laid out the sisters are 

united through their family trait of destruction and their innate 

ability to change the worid (Leopardi 1983:51). In this potent 

yet rather outrageous associarion, fashion plays forever with 

death, her continuing attraction presenting the 'new' 'the 

very latest' stylish offerings relying on her ephemeral nature 

and ensuing speedy death. The seducrion of fashion's original 

appeal is rapidly disfigured into a decayed and rotting corpse. 

This paper considers the ephemeral, fugitive nature of fashion 

in the context of documenting and presenring the history of 

design. Garments breaking down physically defy their original 

funcrions of wearability, an ideal image of attracriveness, overt 

display, commodity value and representarion ofthe latest style. 

Attempring to reconslderthe philosophical, political, aestheric 

and commercial values placed on fashion and investigate 

how these readings impact on the placement of fashion in 

the museum, this paper gives pause for reflection about the 

experience of clothing when it is no longer 'fashionable' or 

pristine. ^ 

^The research for this paper is based on a curatorial project developed 

for the National Trust of Victoria (Australia) entitled Noble Rot: an 

alternate history of fashion displayed at Como Historic House and 

Garden, Melbourne Australia from 16 February to 7 May 2006.

Exhibiting fashion in public institutions 

The act of collecting, selecting, preserving and in turn 

displaying fashion, within the context of a public collection, 

provides a form of Immortality for the 'dated'. Extending 

the ephemeral, confronts the issues about the very nature 

of fashion, the design ideas that relate to a time and place. 

However, if fashion exhibitions can only offer a random 

sampling of the best condition garments, unfortunately then 

the most used and perhaps the most successful, are discarded 

due to a lack of newness, these examples are then destined to 

languish in storage awaiting conservation, or perhaps remain 

in permanent incarceration, are therefore totally dismissed, 

never seen. In calling forth these absent histories, it is my 

intention to invite an alternate view, a transgression to invoke 

the poetics of decay, the vicissitudes of transformation, the 

remnants of destruction into the display spaces of a public 

museum, to question the politics of appearance and the 

experience of fashion. 

Over the past decade the fashion exhibition has become a 

major cultural phenomenon. Popularity generated through a 

mixture of slick marketing, extensive conservation, styling, and 

theatrical and multimedia effects, producing an extraordinary 

experience, well-attended exhibitions making substantial 

revenue for museums woridwidel Here the missing pieces 

are described or replaced, petticoats are remade, clothes are 

padded and preened, accessories are assembled, and to further 

create a sense of completeness garments are dressed on 

mannequins. However the gloss and a constructed or Imposed 

newness placed on objects to look good in an exhibition, 

understandably bestows these garments a seductive veneer 

eventually provides a bland offering where everything starts to 

look the same. The expectation of the museum experience to 

resurrect fashion is articulated through the continual reliance 

and identification with a body, to animate the garment and 

perhaps recall a living memory. The cabinet of curiosities 'a 

storehouse of knowledge', that formed the basic model for 

^ For example Chanel staged at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 

New York 5/5/05-7/08/05 drew crowds of 463,603. Listed in The Art 

Newspaper annual listing of the world's top exhibition attendance 

figures at thirteen. CHANEL sponsored the exhibition. 

the Museum, where a range of exotic objects were collected 

in a purpose built cabinet did not include clothing. Instead 

early references to accumulations of fashion are listed in 

household Inventories, assets that were named and housed in 

the Wardrobe. (Roche 1994:73) However the clothing display 

vernacular Is based around the glass showcase and mannequin 

form, rather than the storage chest, thereby appropriating 

devices deriving from a retail experience- the world of trade 

fairs, the dressmaking atelier and the department store. 

Interestingly the waxworks exhibition provided an influential 

model, establishing a tableaux format, and defining fashion 

as an essential temporal mechanism. The waxworks spectacle 

democratized celebrity culture. Introducing effigies based 

upon the accurate likeness of dignitaries and famous people. 

These figures were appropriately dressed in sophisticated 

replica clothing and accoutrements, or in many cases original 

historical pieces were procured to offer a potent degree of 

authenticity, and consequently invite a popular experience of 

time and place (Pilbeam 2003)." 

As fashion acts as'an expression ofthe times','measuring the 

essence of its time', 'capturing the spirit' and perhaps in this 

most simplistic form, museum collections provide a sequential 

time line by decade or century. However the adoption 

of mannequins for the display of clothes and accessories 

introduces a supplementary element that can be disturbing 

or inappropriate. Some museums resist the temptation to 

dress-up mannequins with make-up and wigs In an attempt to 

evoke another era, and as a result select the simple 'headless' 

and'limbless'tailor's form to fill In the costume void.The use of 

mannequins introduces a further debate about clothing and 

the relationship to the body and the methods employed to 

simulate this representation. 

Ephemeral 

Following a Derridean approach this paper studies the 

transformational possibilities offered by proposing a parallel 

exhibition dialogue and witness experience, which examines 

the detritus and the absent body. This approach would 

perhaps create a path leading away from the traditional vista 

The first waxworks exhibition is recorded in 1756.

ofthe museum spectacle orthe department store gaze. Within 

this context the deterioration of a garment is read outside the 

conservation parameters. The radical and irreversible changes 

that occur through decay propose a framework to consider 

design and the culture of dress, the continuing breakdown 

creates a disorder that cannot be contained, one that 

symbolically challenges the authority ofthe museum itself. 

Standard museological practice selects and parades only the 

best, curators abiding to strict collection briefs and ethical 

guidelines.^ Works in the best condition are preferred, pieces 

that have survived ravages of time, whims in fashionable taste, 

are periodically exhibited in a place where the endless process 

of decay Is retarded, where time on display is restricted and 

lights are turned down low. Yet even In this environment 

the aging process and the act of disintegration continues, 

which destroys the original appearance; the Ideal new Image, 

the aura of attractiveness progressively fades, dies and 

morphs into something else. In a museum condition reports 

document this progress through a language of vulnerability 

and loss, with descriptions of shattered silk, degraded fibres, 

disfigunng stains, and insect attacks. When discussing museum 

collections and the ephemeral nature and vulnerability of 

the actual fashion objects, it is necessary to address the 

perhaps obvious questions of selection and survival-'What is 

preserved and what can be preserved' (Roche 1994:7) and the 

rather random, and incomplete selection of items that have 

survived (Blau 1999:33-34}. The sampling of clothes that have 

somehow survived and are selected for a museum, provide 

only a hint of dressing complexities, the fashionable layering 

of these confecrions or their arrangement, with the common 

occurrence of various pieces missing, unfortunately the most 

used, the most loved are worn out, sometimes discarded, lost 

forever, leaving only the remains. 

^ ICOM (International Council of Museums) 'sets minimum standards 

of professional practice and performance of museums and staff'. 

http//icom.museum/ethics.html 

Costume guidelines formulated by the Costume committee offer 

basic standards of care, and display ethics that are adopted by 

museums worldwide. The intention of the document, which was 

last updated in 1998, is to assist curators and museum management 

dealing with fragile costumes. 

For clothes are so much part of our living, moving 

selves that, frozen on display in the mausoleums of 

culture, they hint at something only half understood, 

sinister, threatening; the atrophy of the body, and 

the evanescence of life. ...clothes without a wearer, 

whether on a second-hand stall, in a glass case, or 

merely a lover's garments strewn on the floor, can 

affect us unpleasantly, as if a snake had shed its skin 

(Wilson 1985:1}. 

Clothing can cause apprehension, which is not experienced 

through the viewing of other artefacts. In the context of a 

museum the absent body, provides quite different readings 

from fashionable dress observed worn on the streets, marketed 

in the media, merchandised in a shop, or hung in a private 

wardrobe. In a public setring iike an exhibition where wearing 

Is no longer the rationale, and clothes are no longer a dressed 

composirion, we are left with something else, an abstracrion, 

an object haunted, and the threat of transformation. 

Consequently in this state of 'absented presence', is where 

we examine the meaning of what is not represented, the 

conditions of representation itself. (Heidegger 2004). 

Clothing metaphors 

Fashions incremental and inevitable decay, the concomitant 

changing aesthetics of appearance brought on by rime and 

use is something that Is charged with potent symbolism. 

Throughout history clothing is metaphorically appropriated, 

Lehmann (2000:82) noted throughout the 19th century 

clothing represented 'beauty, open or repressed sexuality, 

social aspiration, or moral deviarion'. Wilson (2004) identifies 

fashion's 'magical dimension^ the extraordinary element 

that ignites the imaginarion, the irrational, and the extreme 

elements that inspired the Surrealists to translate clothing in 

a metaphoric way. While clothing representing an allegory 

for humanity is drawn from the characteristics associated 

with masquerade or camouflage such as the implication ofa 

deception, a covering up, the secretive, the veil and multiple 

layers of meaning (Hollander 1993: 446). Another source for 

poeric inspirarion is disrilied from the clothing industry itself, 

drawing from the economic and social structures including 

the circulation of new clothes to the second hand clothing 

trade and the collection of rags, imparring a poignant imagery

which documents a trail running from luxury to'abject misery'. 

(Roche 1994: 367) The rag picker is discussed by Benjamin 

(1989: 79), to epitomise the motif of the down trodden yet 

picturesque scavenger, who wandered the streets seeking out 

materialsfor recycling and revival, picking through the cultural 

detritus left behind by capitalist societies. Marx employed the 

clothing metaphor in his theory of commodity fetishism and 

the hieroglyph of value. The story of the linen seller and the 

coat wearer illustrates the veneration which industrial society 

has towards the product, over the alienation of the worker 

who laboured over its production (Roche 1994:518). 

Of particular interest from this genre is the satirical novel Sartor 

fîesorfusortheTailor patched (Cariyle 1948: iv), which İs cleverly 

structured around the history and vernacular of clothing 

cultures, suggesting that the fabric of life is reflected through 

this construct. In the character ofthe make-believe Professor 

Teufelsdrockh (Professor Devil's dust)^ Cariyle proposes a 

philosophy of clothing,'the grand Tissue of all Tissues, the only 

Real Tissue'. Bossche (1991) suggests that Carlyle's clothing 

metaphor 'represents the fundamental historicity of cultural 

institutions and the inevitability of periodic revolution. Since 

nothing can prevent the processes of decay that destroy old 

clothing. Sartor's persuasive organic imagery suggests that 

revolution and historical change are natural, noncataclysmic 

processes.' Playfully throughout the novel Cariyle^ refers to 

the occurrence of clothing sans a wearer; in these departures 

he observes the fetish value, and status symbols of particular 

costume types and engages in the notion of reverence and 

idolatry. He claims: 'That reverence which cannot act without 

obstruction and perversion when the clothes are full. May 

have full course when they are empty' (Cariyle 1948:180). 

^ Devil's dust was produced by the woollen manufacturers when they 

converted old clothing rags into cloth called shoddy, the process 

created clouds of dust, which consequently caused a major health 

problem, an aftermath ofthe industrial revolution. Carter suggests a 

possibility for the origin ofthis insidious name is found in Engels, The 

Condition of the Working class in England 1844 (London: 1892). 

^ For an intensive study of Carlyle's work in the context of Dress 

studies refer to Keenan and Carter. 

As a result of these observations Professor Teufeldrockh's 

categorizes thisdisplacementfromthebody,craftingaclothing 

nomenclature released from the burden of humanity, now 

a void or a receptacle of memory, subsequently christening 

these vessels with titles like 'an ornament', 'an architectural 

idea', 'shells', 'the outer husks of bodies', 'cast clothes', 'past 

witnesses', 'instruments of Woe and Joy', 'the hollow cloth 

garment','empty clothes'or'ghosts of life' (Cariyle 1948) 

What still dignity dwells In a suit of Cast Clothes! How 

meekly it bears its honours! No haughty looks, no 

scornful gesture: silent and serene. It fronts the world; 

neither demanding worship or afraid to miss It. The Hat 

still carries the physiognomy of its Head: but the vanity 

and the stupidity, and goosespeech which was the sign 

of these two, are gone. The Coat-arm is stretched out, 

but not to strike; the Breeches, in modest simplicity, 

depend at ease, and now at last have a graceful flow; 

the Waistcoat hides no evil passion, no riotous desire; 

hunger or thirst now dwells not in it (Cariyle 1948:181). 

Carlyle's descriptions allude to a state of redundancy where 

the empty state ofthe clothes Implies dereliction. 

Decay aesthetics 

The potency of ruins, the aesthetics of decay, and their 

study and reflection, is an intrinsic part of Western cultural 

tradition stemming from antiquity (Lyons 1997, Woodward 

2001). Buildings devastated by human interventions or lack 

of intervention, or the degrading forces of nature over time, 

elicit an emotional charge generated by a nostalgic longing 

for that which is lost, a sense of abandonment and a blurring 

and redefinement of visual boundaries describing beauty and 

value. To Western sensibilities ruins reveal the susceptibility 

and impermanency of civilization. In contrast to this view the 

Japanese aesthetic concepts of wabi and sabi which also draw 

on the vestiges that time produces, conceive time as a cycle 

of natural flux: the beauty found in the patina of the worn, the 

surfaces ofthe decaying or the absence in the imperfect are 

admired (Crowley: 3-4). 

The ephemeral nature of fashion is intrinsically related to 

its fugitive construction - as soon as it Is made it starts to

disintegrate, to age, to cliange colour. Surfaces distort and 

perhaps break down. Eventually everything falls apart! 

The reaction and response to the breakdown of fashion can 

rangefrom keeping items from view, discarding,orconservation. 

Garments breaking down physicallydefytheiroriginal functions 

of wearability and overt display, In its place these objects can 

convey the abject, and the picturesque concurrently through 

the act of transformation and disfigurement. Studying 

language and the application of particular terms used to 

articulate ideal or unfavourable personal attributes, shows that 

these are intrinsically linked to condition. The term respectable, 

for Instance is connected to dressing in a proper way. Clothes 

well maintained and tidy are a reflection of the body within. 

The fashion vernacular aligns negative associations with a 

change In condition, an altered condition or a less than perfect 

one. Phrases'dressed In rags'or'in tatters'^ are maligned states. 

In which clothing and Its deteriorating condition Is linked, 

historically, to the morals of man. The word stain bnngs Into 

piay the most extreme cultural standards {Douglas 1980) 

relating not only to hygiene, but purity, mora! and social 

order, Histoncally fine clothing Is a marker of social status and 

morality. A stain Is provocative In the way it disturbs, the way 

it mars a surface. Dirt has long been viewed as an enemy. It 

threatens appearances and the status of respectability. It causes 

work, and effort through the duty of care. Freud {1995: 734) 

has suggested In regards to this obsession with eradication 

of dirt that" we are not surprised in setting up the use of soap 

as an actual yardstick for civilization.' Fashion's dark secret is 

the continual struggle with and demands for an ideal Image; 

looking good, maintaining the best condition through cleaning 

and storage- prolonging an aesthetic of beauty that demands 

the control and continuance of pristine fashion surfaces. A 

garment's condition Is impregnated with responsibility and 

value. Donations to a museum collection for example are often 

generated through the moral obligations experienced by the 

family who feel overwhelmed by the duty of care placed upon 

them and the threat of neglect, consequently gifting an item, 

in anricipatlon that the Institution will return It to It's former 

glory. The Miss Havlsham scenario Introducing the withered 

^Tatters, refers to torn and ragged clothing. Atatterdemation was a 

ragged child, person dressed in old clothes. In use from 1608. 

and yellowed wedding dress coordinating successfully with the 

occupant Is a ghastly reminder ofthe fate of old clothes. 

Haunting device 

However the concept of clothing as a haunring device (Jones: 

14) serves to represent the previous wearers even though they 

have long departed and reveal the 'spirits of the past'. (Derrlda: 

26) The 'cast-off clothing', 'empty dress', 'ghosts of life' are no 

longer connected to the living but bear their marks.The interior 

of a garment Is a privileged surface, which offers an aspect of 

familiarity known only to the maker, the cleaner, and the wearer 

and perhapsthecurator.lt Is tlie most Inrimatesurfaceof clothing, 

touching the body. It Is a facade that conceals and reveals the 

mysteries of construcrion, and knowledge of the lining, guards 

the maker's label, protects the visible stitching trails, the repair 

secrets and alterarions, and shrouds the stains and signs of wear. 

The interior has the Intimacy and breath of the wearer upon it. 

A garment inside out or outside in can reveal how a shape Is 

formed, why fabric falls In a particular way. Its complexity can 

be quite astounding, contrasting a modest aesthetic rendered 

through humble materials and colours drained by wear and 

washing, that often contradict the impressive exterior. 

By contrast museum condition reports document a garment or 

accessory within the criteria of degradarion, damage, previous 

repairs, alteration, soiling (surface) and staining (penetraring) 

with degrees of severity from minor to major, good, fair or bad. 

There are listed activities to stabilise these conditions, 

proposals to make the work strong again, revive it, to restore 

its appearance. Yet these maligned states also mark out other 

activities or events, histories that recall past texrile technologies, 

the essence of fragility and record the way a garment wears. 

Naturally there are many signs, traces of a former use are 

left behind which imbues the garment with the presence of 

the wearer: staining caused by splashed champagne, tea or 

rain; mud engrained on hems; jam dribbled on a child's dress 

turns black with age, white smoke eventually rots through 

a 19th century skirt. Coloured dyes morph into bizarre hues 

exacerbated by heat, damp or strange chemical breakdowns. 

Black follows a faded journey, white withers, spots, and yellows. 

Rubber perishes and gelatine sequins dissolve.

Coloured dyes morph Into bizarre hues brought on by heat, 

damp or strange chemical breakdowns. Skirt trains trap mud 

from the streets, keeping it away from the finer materials. 

Inside delicate nineteenth century silk bodices rubber sweat 

pads protect the fashionable garment from bodily fluids, and 

the horror of underarm discolouration. 

The darned, patched, recycled, dyed and worn document the 

cycle of clothing culture as garments are revived, clobbered 

and translated over again to renew. The Second-hand, the 

Third-hand and so it goes on... 

Inevitably the care and maintenance of clothes is critical to 

achieving standards of appearance, longevity of material 

assets, and sustaining the'new'look.This certainly is no simple 

undertaking. Historically it involved complex, time consuming 

processes; cleaning, mending, plus putting clothes correctly 

away, in and out of storage (Walkley 1978). Contemporary 

care labels list stoically the fibre content and recommended 

cleaning and preening methods, while wardrobe and storage 

specialists offer efficient systems for packing clothing away or 

discarding unwanted items. 

Contemporary design and referencing the worn-out 

A garment's shifting surface and construction can create 

extraordinary compositions from the formulation of shredded 

silk surfaces to the patterning formed by ironmould. 

Fashion designers have responded to the process of aging and 

the transformation of fashion as an aesthetic device but also one 

that can be appropriated to charge an item with political and 

social meaning by unsettling the status quo. In response to the 

fetishist desire for new clothes and the status of appearance for 

instance Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood in the late 

1970s concocted an anti-establishment aesthetic based around 

the irregular and the worn out, selling t-shlrts and trousers that 

were soiled, ripped and decorated with worthless objects or out- 

of-date trims. The 'destroy' shirt is perhaps the most recognized 

example of this genre, best remembered as the uniform of the 

notorious Sid Vicious in the punk music group the Sex Pistols. 

Contemporary designers continue to exploit the aesthetics of 

decay for example Rei Kawakubo of Comme Des Garcons, Hussein 

Chalayan, John Galliano, Martin Margiela and Jun Takahashi, 

seeking the patina and palette ofthe worn and the discarded. 

Evans {257) has observed that' rather than simply configuring 

Images of dereliction, these designers introduce the idea of 

narrative and history into their clothes.' 

Perhaps the most Interesting response to the organic 

and ephemera! is from Martin Margiela^ working with a 

microbiologist he created a museum installation where clothes 

modelled from recycled'old'clothes were sprayed with various 

types of mould spores, and placed in conditions to encourage 

their growth. Consequently the garments were installed 

outdoors and continued to evolve throughout the course of 

the exhibition- resulting in the creation of'livlng'garments. 

Artefact experience 

Warhol's interventions in the Museum environment, offered a 

controversial stance against conventional institutional policies 

relating to display and conservation through his preference 

to present things to'look as they are'. His personal collection 

displayed In the Folk and Funk exhibitions^ documented an 

eccentric preference for accumulating artefacts that revealed 

signs of use, misadventure, or even a fabrication fault. (Ostrow 

1969) In the exhibition Raid the Icebox /", his predictably 

^ Martin Margiela: 9/4/1615 Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 

Rotterdam June 6-August 17 1997. For details ofthe exhibition and a 

critique of Margeila's work see Caroline Evans, The Golden Dustman: 

A critical evaluation of the work of Martin Margiela: Exhibition (9/4/ 

1615), Fashion Theory, volume 2, issue 1,73-94. 

'° Andy Warhol's" Folk and Funk" staged atthe Museum of American 

Folk Art 20/9-19/11 1977. 

" Raid the Icebox 1 staged at the Museum of Art ofthe Rhode Island 

School of Design in 1969, selected by Andy Warhol from basement 

storage. The exhibition included the holdings of the entire shoe 

collection, housed in the original museum storage vessel,all shoes were 

displayed in situ with no special preparation, and visitors were invited 

to open the door of the cabinet and peer inside. Warhol insisted that 

full cataloguing details were researched and published for all exhibits, 

making no distinction between entries for the rubber galoshes or the 

Cezanne painting, ignoring traditional hierarchies of artistic practice.

unconventional approach and sometimes overtly subversive 

choices, confronted the practise of the expert and museum 

professional (Bright 2001:280). By selecting entire collections 

of objects including their storage vessels, acknowledged 

fakes, multiples ofthe same object, items of varying condition, 

and 'value'Warhol proposed another trajectory for museum 

artefacts to be observed. Forging a narrative outside the 

usual hype surrounding classification, and labelling, where 

significance is oversimplified by referencing bland descriptive 

terms like masterpiece, priceless, rare, and treasures, instead 

Warhol's curation placed emphasis on the evidence of 

experience (Bright 2001: 288). 

When reconsidering the scope of public dress collections 

in regards to content, access and approach, it is perhaps 

pertinent to consider what is missing? 

Maynard (1994: 4) has argued that everyday dress is not well 

represented, and that collections contain a predominance of 

the more expensive, high fashion garments. My argument in 

this paper is not simply about institutional collection policies 

but to further investigate how the collections are presented, 

prepared and consequently perceived. For instance in current 

practice the acquisition rationale aligns with condition, 

'value'aesthetics, which favours identifying garments which 

consequently reveal the minimum signs of wear or aging or 

can respond well to remedial work within a restricted financial 

and time regime. This established doctrine of best condition, 

is further articulated and reinforced through consistent use 

of mannequin display, which relies on clothing in a premium 

state. A strategy, which further emulates the shopping 

environment, and the window display of a new product, in 

contrast to Warhol's museum philosophy, where an object was 

recognized for it's worn patina or irregular characteristics. 

Conclusion 

My purpose by placing fashion in the museum outside of the 

body is to negate the demands of appearance that the body 

commands, which potentially positions'past"old'fashion in 

an anti-fashion role, where clothing can age and the traces 

of experience are exposed. Why not view garments splayed 

on the floor, lying in a drawer, inside out, or positioned in a 

dishevelled state? In my alternate narrative the well-preserved 

exquisitely crafted are juxtaposed with items that are darned, 

patched, recycled or worn out. In this scenario possibly the 

considerationoffashion'sfuneraiproposesa pathway to present 

metamorphosis? My subversive methodology attempts to 

further examine the guidelines and protocols underlying the 

museum experience, to re-imagine the conventional vision of 

historic fashion, from the choice of artefacts, exhibition design 

and their display. In this dialogue it is my purpose to broaden 

the presentation of fashion cultures, explore notions relating 

to image and reality, the seen and the unseen. 

My intention outlined in this paper is to set the modishness 

of fashion against the ephemerality and wear and tear of 

the clothes themselves and provide a crucial intervention 

in the usual expectations and presentations of fashion and 

museology itself. 

'Clothing is a worn world: a world of social relations put upon 

the wearer's body...clothing reminds' (Jones 2000:3). 

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WOODWARD, C, 2001. In Ruins. London: Chatto Sf Windus

H D W O F T E N D D Y O U W A S H Y O U R H A I R ? D E S I G N A S D I S O R D E R I N G : 

E V E R Y D A Y R O U T I N E S , H U M A N O B J E GT TH E O RI E S , P R D B E S A N D S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y 

Sabine Hielscher 


Sabine.Hielscher@student.shu.ac.uk 

Dr. Tom Fisher 


T.H.Fisher@shu.ac.uk 

Dr. Tim Cooper 


T.H.C00per@5hu.ac.uk 

Abstract 

New/ objects can create disorder in our lives - particularly when we 

try to appropriate and make sense of newly developed products 

that do not fit our routines. Ultimately, through exploring objects' 

affordances, our relationship to them develops into a routinised 

practice - we no longer reflect on them. Hair care is universal and 

(often) an 'ordinary' part of our daily routines. Our cleanliness 

routines consume resources and therefore are implicated in 

the issue of environmental sustainability. However, routines are 

complex and difficult to change when they are set in a culture 

of individual consumer choice. The disorder inherent in the 

process of appropriation raises the possibility that design might 

deliberately create a useful 'disorder' in routinised practices to 

facilitate sustainable strategies In everyday life. 

The paper proposes an approach of investigating routinised 

practices in relation to deliberately creating disorder in everyday 

routines and practice theory. Further, it outlines a pilot study 

that uses the design-led method of'probes'and considers its 

potentials in generating disorder. It identifies creative disorder 

in the process of designers developing the probes, participants 

interacting with them to finally designers receiving the results. 

Thinking about the process in terms of disorder is seen to be 

valuable in facilitating, applying and developing probes, not 

only to inspire the designer but also to sensitise the designer to 

private and intimate areas of everyday life such as hair care. 

Introduction 

Hair care is universal - even deciding never to wash, cut or style 

your hair is a form of'caring'that is defined by conventional 

practices. Hair care is also (often) an unspectacular and 

'ordinary', part of our daily routine, 

My hair care diary entry: Wednesday 29.03.06 

Round one: A clean day? Getting out of bed - straight 

into the shower I turn it on. Still with my eyes half closed, 

tumbling from one foot to the other, I am trying to get 

my hair wet without foiling asleep. Grabbing for the big 

tube and squeeze - a big blurb of cleaning product on my 

hands - uncontrollable in the morning. Washing my hair 

and body once, twice (this time I watch out and actually 

can control the liquid coming out of the bottle). I am 

somebody who needs two towels in the morning: one 

around my head, the other bigger one to dry myself and 

keep my body warm. End of round one. 

In doing these routines we interact with a variety of tools, 

facilities and fluids whilst carrying out a variety of activities in 

relationship to particular parts of our body. 

Questions such as 'what are my tools for hair care?; 'when 

should I care for my hair?', 'what hair should I care for?', 'why 

should I care for my hair?','how do I do my hair care?'are often

unconsciouslyanswered, as they'gounder'in our daily routines 

(Sliove 2002). However, when something in the context for 

our hair changes, a special occasion, a visit to a friend, perhaps 

even a tnp to the supermarket, these questions may come 

back into people's consciousness and can create 'disorder' in 

people's hair care routines. 

Such questions may also need to be answered when using 

unfamiliar bathrooms: 

My hair care diary entry: Monday 23.08.06 

Hair care in Germany: Bathrooms in Europe iooii the same 

so i should be able to do my morning routine of looking 

after myself quite easily More than once, I had to learn 

that this is not the case. More than once, I had to learn 

this the hard way: does the tap need turning to the right 

or to the left, will the water come straight at me or will it 

flow out of the bathroom tap first, will the water be hot 

or cold, what needs to be turned, pushed or squeezed in 

order to channel the water through the showerhead and 

not through the bathroom top? 

Trial and error, tacit knowledge, former expenence and 

immediate feedback mechanisms such as a cold jet of 

water on the back guide people in the process of'getting to 

know' a new environment, or new appliances and objects. 

An unfamiliar place that causes a 'disorder' of our hair care 

routines may force an adjustment and a re-think ofthe daily 

routine in order to accomplish at least part ofthe routine of 

having a shower and washing our hair. 

This paper builds on research with Boots the Chemist 

UK to develop an understanding of the multi-relational 

elements that constitute the practice of hair care and explore 

opportunities for changed practices linked to sustainable 

design. Our cleanliness routines consume resources and 

therefore are implicated In the Issue of environmental 

sustainabillty. Showering and bathing accounts for 17%- 

18% of the daily domestic water consumption In the UK. 

On average people spend seven to eight minutes under the 

shower whilst power showers pump out between twenty and 

fifty litres a minute. These figures for the water consumed in 

showenng account for only part of the resources consumed 

in hair care as, among other environmental impacts, they omit 

the energy consumed to heat the water or to power hair care 

appliances and the waste produced from used packaging or 

unwanted appliances. Whatever its precise level, the amount 

of resources used in hair care is not a 'given', indeed, trends 

such as daily showering and the use of power showers have 

displaced traditional British bathing habits {Shove 2003). 

Sustainable design strategies often disregard the significant 

environmental and social implications of products in the 

use phase (Sherwin et al 1998). The Demi website {Fletcher 

et al 2001) documents design for sustainabillty principles, 

strategies and ideas, noting that the principle of efficiency, 

which emphasises improving the environmental profile 

of products and processes such as design for disassembly, 

recycling and dematerialisation, choice of material and 

designing life cycle efficiencies should not be the only focus 

of design for sustainabllity. These approaches concentrate on 

technical innovations that try to reduce the environmental 

impacts of manufacturing and disposal, but ignore the more 

slippery phase of use. To design for sustainabillty in the use 

phase requires a change of emphasise from manufacturing 

processes to everyday behaviour and routines. However, 

routines are complex and difficult to understand and in 

principle difficult to change when they are set in a culture of 

Individual consumer choice. 

We do share routines, in hair care among other activities, by 

virtue ofthe Ideas we share, the technical systems we buy into 

and the equipment that Is available to us {Shove 2003).These 

routines decrease improbabiliries and order our lives, for good 

or ill. According to llmonen {2001:17), people are 'imprisoned 

by learned routines,'that accrue over a long period of rime 

unril they are conducted unconsciously and non-reflexively. 

The notion of disorder runs through the paper. The first 

section of the paper proposes an approach to exploring 

routinised pracrices in which design might deliberately 

generate a creative'disorder'in rourinised pracrices to explore 

the potenrial for sustainable design in hair care, concentrating 

parricularly on llmonen's (2004) model of appropriarion and 

on the 'pracrice theory' laid out by Reckwitz (2002). Further, it 

reviews the literature on 'cultural probes', especially Gaver et 

al (1999,2004) and integrates discussions of concepts relaring 

to everyday routine. The second section draws on the notion 

of disorder and Gaver's et al (2004:55) 'mulri-layered process

of expression and interpretation'to evaluate a pilot study that 

is inspired by the principles of participant-completed probe 

packs^ to explore ways of doing hair care at home and reflect 

on the probe design to aid the development of future probes. 

To conclude, the paper identifies useful disorder in a number of 

respects. The designer's drawings or graphics within the probe 

intentionally disorder the participant's routinised thinking 

about hair care. The participant's response to the probe is 

also disorderly in that their activity cannot be predicted or 

controlled and the returned probe may create disorder in the 

researcher's assumptions about the subject. 

Besides this broadly empirical aspect of the process, there 

is a further emphasis on recognising the potentials of using 

probes as creative 'disorder' to move from designing the 

probes to gaining information and/or inspiration from the 

returns, as discussed in fVlatteimaeki et ai 2002, Westedund et 

al 2003, Graham et al 2005, Gaver et al 1999, 2004. 

Disorder, routines and practice tlieory 

dISoRdEr - a lack of order can relate to people, situations, 

and/or objects and the environment they live in, People 

can be disordered, create disorder or be disordered by their 

surroundings. Being disordered might be associated with 

feelings of confusion, disarray, and uncertainty. Disorderly 

people could be described as being untidy, chaotic, without 

restraint, unruly, undisciplined. Finally, people can be involved 

in communal disorder for example in riots or revolution. People 

can also 'disorder' objects by deranging or dismantling them 

and can disorder other people, themselves and situations by 

being unpredictable, behaving out of the norm or against 

the law. To summarise, people can create disorder, be part of 

disorder and be disordered. 

' Probes packs are packages of open-ended, creative activities 

that participants engage with on their own terms and in their own 

time, including creative tasks such as maps to complete or cards to 

fill in, as well as cameras, photo-albums and postcards. Ultimately, 

the ambition is to develop new areas for design by provoking 

'inspirational responses'from people (Gaver et al 1999), 

Objects can play a part in creating disorder. Whereas the 

sociology of consumption has often stressed objects'symbolic 

value as a mediator in people's relationships, particularly 

for social distinction (limonen 2004), the materiality of 

objects and their arrangement can play a more active role 

in their relationships with humans. Work on human object 

relationships has invoked concepts such as domestication 

(Silverstone 1992), scripting (Akrich 1992) and affordances 

(Fisher 2004) to discuss the active and passive role of people 

and objects in these processes, as well as llmonen's writings 

on the process whereby objects are appropriated. This 

appropriation can trigger disorder. This paper concentrates 

on states of routine and disorder by drawing on a simplified 

version of llmonen's model of appropriation and noting ways 

in which objects can be irregular, unfamiliar, disarranged, and 

unpredictable. 

llmonen's model has four stages. The first stage involves 

acquiring an object from the market and in the second 

people actively appropriate new objects and fit them into 

their existing ways of life. It is in this stage that new objects 

can create disorder, as people make sense of them and adapt 

them to their routines. After fully appropriating the object in 

our lives during the third stage people are able to routinely 

use them and start to learn how to apply them in new ways. 

Finally, in the fourth stage people are capable of inventing new 

use situations. This process of appropriation can influence our 

relationship to object - they become ours and additionally 

they can alter the practices, the ways of doing and saying, in 

which we are active. 

According to Reckwitz (2002:252), people 'carry' practices, 

in other words practices exist through people's routinised 

bodily and mental activities, their understanding, know how 

and desiring. This implies that people are neither self-directed 

and rational nor 'judgmental dopes who conform to norms' 

(2002:256). Practice theory adds detail and subtlety to the 

analysis of the dynamics and changing patterns of everyday 

life and may provide a useful vocabulary and framework 

through which to understand existing routines, ideas, objects 

and actions such as hair care, To use an analysis based on 

a practice theory approach in designing and developing 

strategies for sustainability seems exciting and appropriate. 

Firstly, in practice theory subject-object relations are seen

to be as significant as subject-subject relations. Secondly, 

it recognises tiie significance of ordinary, unconscious and 

unreflective interaction with objects within practices. Thirdly, 

the theory of practice combines an ability to account for both 

reproduction and innovation of practices that may lead to a 

practice changing. This last would invoke the principle that 

Reckwitz identifies whereby practices change through the 

"'breaking'or'shifring'ofstructures"through "everyday crises of 

rourines". ReckvWtz emphasises the role that lack of knowledge 

or'interpretive indeterminacy'plays in such crises (2002:255). 

Disorder, cultural probes and practice change 

The disorder inherent in the process of appropriarion raises 

the possibility that design might deliberately bring about a 

crearive 'disorder' in routinised practices and that this might 

have parricular merit in the context of sustainable design in 

the use stage.This'disorder'ln rourinised behaviour may cause 

an adjustment and re-think of our dally cleanliness rourines. 

Over the last years the design academy has developed new 

methods ofdesign research as aids In the design process. These 

methods attempt to reveal insights Into lived experiences and 

opportunities for design. In the second part of the paper the 

authors consider the design-led method of cultural probes 

and its potenrials in generaring disorder. 

Cultural probes have opened up new ways ofthinking about 

design-led research methods that can work alongside, or 

contest, more reductive science and engineering based 

approaches to designing and research. Cultural probes are 

packages of open-ended, creative actlviries that participants 

engagewlthontheirownterms and intheirownrime, including 

crearive tasks such as maps to complete or cards to fill in, as 

well as cameras, photo-albums and postcards. Bill Gaver and 

colleagues atthe Royal College of Art invented cultural probes 

to challenge tradirional methods in their potential firstly to 

quesrion preconceprions of technology itself and its definition 

through culture, funcrion, aestherics and polirics and secondly 

the 'dubious stereotypes' that exist when designing for 

unfamiliar groups (Gaver et al 1999,2004:54). 

Sociologist and designers have adapted and re-interpreted 

probes for a variety of settings and design/research projects to 

understand something of people's lives, values and aspirations 

(Joensson 2004). However,there are cleardistincrions between 

Gaver's et al work and these adaptations. For instance, 

Graham et al (2005), Mattelmaekl et al (2002), Westerlund 

et al (2003) highlight the potential of gaining informational 

data by combining probes with interviews and criricise the 

'lack of formal analysis'in the probe technique (Mattelmaekl 

et al 2002). The more Instrumental use of the probe method 

in the adapted approaches has led to Gaver et al (1999, 2004) 

emphasising the uncertain, ambiguous, and subjective nature 

of probes, criticizing this 'tendency to rationalise' the method 

(2004:53). Fundamentally, Gaver's et ai (2004:53) approach 

to probes emphasises 'the norion that knowledge has limits'. 

The returned probes provide 'fragmentary clues' about the 

parricipant's lives, experiences and routines and as such 

Inspire and offer opportuniries to discover new design. 

Figure l.The dream recorder (Gaver et al 2004) 

The notion of disorder relates to the idea of applying probes in 

the design process in two ways. The concept of inspiration and 

the ability to enable people to become aware of and transcend 

their usual way ofthinking and living seem to go along with 

possible interpretations of disorder, for instance lack of order, 

abnormality as well as being unfamiliar, disarranged and 

unpredictable.This idea points to a question that Gaver answers 

himself concerning the reason for 'deliberately confusing' 

people and the designer. He reasons that the purpose of this 

confusion is 'to prevent ourselves from believing we can look 

into their heads'(Gaver et al 2004:55). Furthermore, he illustrates 

in the model of'expression and interpretarion'the process of 

crearing complex meaning through the merging and separarion 

of meanings between the designer and the participant.

DtSIGMER 

i ıı:.;-. 

VOLUNTEER 

DESIGNER 

Figure 2. 'Multi-layered process of expression and 

interpretation' (Gaveretal 2004) 

Carefully designed probe tasks reflect an articulation of the 

designer'sthoughts and ideas.Theparticipantshaveto interpret 

the designer's form of expression and by undertaking the tasks 

they express theirs. These interpretations and reflections are 

finally reflected in the returned probes often challenging the 

designer's own perceptions. In the process, it might be difficult 

to take apart who or what is actually disordering who or what. 

To emphasise this, Joensson (2004:24) draws attention to the 

'friction'included in the probes that potentially can encourage 

participants to view their environments, situations and objects 

in a new light'wlth new glasses'. 

A pilot study - disorder in hair care 

There follows an outline of a pilot study into hair care that 

adopts the design-led method sketched out above. It explores 

the dynamics of disorder between the participant, designer 

and probe - who or what Is actually disordering who or what. 

In other words, it examines the activity of people or objects 

creating disorder, as well as being part of the disorder and 

being disordered by the process.This reveals that these aspects 

of the process do overlap and this analysis might simply 

provide a way of thinking about the process that aids the 

development of future probes. Further, there is an emphasis on 

recognising the potential benefits of using a creative'disorder' 

to gain information and/or inspiration from the returned 

probes. The outline draws on Gaver's model of'expression and 

interpretation' to examine what is happing in the process of 

designers developing the probes, participants interacting with 

them and finally the designers receiving the results. 

The pilot study so far has involved introspection, keeping a 

personal hair care diary interviews and probes.^ The process 

of designing the probes was influenced by Reckwitz's (2002) 

theory of practice and Shove's (2002) work on laundering as a 

system innovation. Shove particularly highlightsthe integrative 

nature of materials, conventions and temporal arrangements 

and further the evolution of ideas, actions, and provisions In 

everyday routines. While trying to keep the aesthetics of the 

probes true to their origin of Gaver's et a! work, the pilot study 

attempted to freely run through their several interpretations, 

using probes as informational data, as inspirations for design or 

as a transcending method to enable people to go beyond their 

usual way of thinking about hair care. As a result, the probes 

were somewhat innocent and experimental. 

Figure 3. Probes pack 

Expressions of the designer - the designer intentionally 

disorders participants 

In the pilot study some of the design 'expressions' comprised 

the material ofthe probes, which consisted of different formats 

of paper (cut into shape, folded, in different sizes, textures and 

colours) and objects such as cameras, postcards and labels. In 

order to engage in the tasks - the participants had to use the 

probes during their everyday routines of hair care, comment on 

images, use their imagination to draw ideas, take pictures in their 

^The sample ofthe pilot study for the interviews so far consisted of 

six non-experts of hair care: three male and three female between 

the ages of 25-50 and one hair care expert of the formulation team 

from Boots the Chemist. The sample ofthe probe study consisted of 

six participants: two male and four female between the ages of 25- 

35. One participant out ofthe six did not return the probe pack.

home, and write stories. Each tasl< included a short description 

ofwhat it involved, the information kept short and open to leave 

room for interpretation. The probes in the projects outlined 

above varied from collections of coloured pens, glue, drawing 

pads and post-it notes in the probe packs and an approach that 

valued and emphasised the aesthetic used {Gaver et al 1999, 

2004). The reasoning for the designed aesthetic in Gaver's et al 

{1999:25) probes was that it not only made them more'appealing 

and motivating' but also in presenting the probes informally the 

design team 'opened up' a quasi subjectivity to the participants 

to encourage them to reveal their own. 

The pilot study's graphics and formats were inspired by the 

object of study and vaned from being informal and illustrative 

to representing recognisable visuals and symbols. Gaver's et al 

(1999,2004) approach to probes draws on the traditions ofthe 

art and design world, for instance using allusions to surrealist 

art that emphasises the unconscious mind, dream-states and 

absurd juxtapositions. The probes were kept'abstract'to help 

trigger the participants into taking a new view of everyday life 

{Gaver etal 1999,2004). One of Gaver's etal probes exemplifies 

this. The participants were meant to produce a diagram 

that represented their individual relationship to their family 

members and instead of simply listing these relationships, 

they were presented with the graphic ofa cricket pitch'(Gaver 

et al 2004). The ambivalence between the graphic and the 

family relationships caused by the designer's 'expression' in 

the probe has the potential to create disorder by creating a 

rupture in the participant's un-reflectlve day-to-day thinking. 

Simllady, in the pilot study the probe related to visualising the 

position of private and public activities of hair care in a 'castle 

and keep'illustration that created disorder or rather confusion 

in the participant's usual way ofthinking. 

Figure 4. Drawings 

r Guardian 

Hair care fasiıion - how people care for their hair ail over the world 

Figure 5. Familiar images 

Visualise the position of pnvate and public activities of hair 

care In the'castle and keep'illustration! 

Figure 6. Probe: Example of an ambivalence between graphic 

and context within the probe Intentionally disorders the 

participant 

In addition to creating ambivalence between graphic and 

context In the pilot study, the designer provided an already 

invented situation In the form of a drawing or a fictional 

scenano. Here, disorder might be caused by the fictional 

nature of the invented situation. The participants had to 

interpret the sometimes obscure visuals imaginatively to write 

a story giving their view. These fictional scenarios have some 

similariries to vignettes used In some interview-based research. 

These fragmentary short stories about imaginary characters in 

specified situarions help to elicit normarive statements due to 

interviewees commenring on an external situation ratherthan 

on themselves (Finch 1987). The interplay between real and 

ficrion represented in the probes seems very important. On 

the one hand, in using recognisable symbols the parricipants 

could relate to the context of the fictional representation 

whilst providing a space to transcend their usual ways of 

thinking and elicit norms about hair care. However, some of 

the returns were left empty. Indicating that the participants 

may have lost interest or found the task too ambiguous to 

engage with. This demonstrates either a need for the support 

that can be provided in Interviews where vignettes are used or 

the need to develop more engaging probes.

4 \ 

Figure 7. Fictional drawings 

s SI 

Imagine you are on a tent holiday! Write a card to a friend 

- describing your hair care experience! 

TO a^&u ' t^Stiir Tite tJM^'« KfftTo^"'"" 

imtm'. i . 

: ':112.^';1"OQ016 

Figure 8. Probe: Example ofthe designer's graphics within the 

probe intentionally disorder the participant 

Participants interact with probes - interactions cause 

disorder 

In the above probe developments the dynamics of disorder, 

the potential to confuse the participant productively, are 

represented in the 'disorder within the probe' expressed 

through the designer's drawings or graphics. These drawings 

and graphics might represent fictional scenarios or create 

ambivalences between context and graphic. The aim is to 

encourage the participant to view their routinised hair care 

practices in a new light. This consideration is expressed in the 

probe returns and finally inspires the designer. Further, the 

interaction between participant and probes can be part ofthe 

disorder. The designer creates a probe for the participant to 

consider and use in an everyday activity such as a 'once a week 

shampoo' that was applied in the pilot study or a 'listening 

glass'that is held to the wall to listen and record what is heard 

(Gaver etal 1999). 

A new revolutionary product - use this shampoo and you only 

have to wash your hair once a week. 

+ 4 

-F 

Once a week 

Figure 9. Probe: Example of the participant response to the 

probe is disorderly in that their activity can't be predicted 

The probe is used as an object to disorder the participant's 

usual ways of doing things - hair care in this case. Indeed, 

the probe creates the kind of disorder that has similarities to 

the second stage of llmonen's (2004) model of appropriation 

and has the potential to create what Reckwitz's describes 

as times of'crises of everyday routines' (2002:255). Here, the 

probe presents a new product that people actively try to 

'fit' into existing ways of knowing, conventions, temporal 

arrangements and the 'complex' of objects used to realise 

the practice of hair care. As a result, the interaction with the 

'probe object'creates disorder, or a potential crisis of everyday 

routine. In the process it provokes routinised behaviour to 

rise to a state of consciousness. These patterns of behaviour 

embodied in practices rely on 'expert' knowledge that is 

literally 'scripted' into the objects involved - instructions 

on the bottles and mechanical configuration of devices for 

instance. Reckwitz emphasises the role that lackof knowledge 

-'interpretive indeterminacy' - plays in such'crises'(2002:255). 

Probes may be useful to the extent that they are designed to 

be unpredictable and 'irregular'. A familiar object might be 

used in an unfamiliar way (the listening glass) or might offer

unfamiliar qualities (once a week shampoo). These dynamics 

raise questions that may be helpful in identifying ways by 

which hair care practices might change, providing potential 

for sustainable design. 

Expressions of the participants - returned probes cause 

disorder in the designer 

The returned probes provided several informational insights 

into the participants' routines, ideas and ways of doing hair 

care. The probes designed to facilitate the examination of 

information acquisition were provided with clear instructions 

for the task in hand, asking the participants to record for 

example the steps and stages of washing their hair or to list 

their hair care rules. 

For Participant One these rules include a number of practical 

and time-related actions: 

Wear it down wiien its clean, wear It up when it needs 

washing, leave It to dry naturally in the day, use curling 

tongs v/hen going out, wash hair every other day, comb 

through before rinsing off conditioner, use conditioning 

treatment once a fortnight, shave underarms every other 

day, shave legs if wearing a skirt, don't bother shaving 

legs in v/inter. 

For ParticipantTwo, hair care rules gave a view more orientated 

towards display: 

Wash every day, keep it nice and groomed, make sure I go 

out with it styled and not like a haystack!! 

The rules Participant Three mentioned stressed convenience 

and lack of effort: 

Having to styling as less as possible - easy haircut, use as 

less products as possible due to allergy to certain soaps 

and shampoos and eco-freakiness, don't over style unless 

mad party is on. 

This probe indicated ideas about the cycles and flows of hair 

care ('wash everyday') and the steps and stages of practicing 

hair care ('comb through before rinsing off conditioner'). It 

revealed a number of conventions in hair care ('shave legs if 

weanng a skirt'), reasoning for hair care ('easy haircut uses less 

products'), standards of haircare ('keep it niceand groomed') and 

pathologies such as'freakiness','naturarand'allergy'. Comparing 

the three sets of rules makes visible variables that relate to the 

appearances of hair and practices of hair care influenced bythe 

effort expended and perceptions of acceptability in relation to 

presentation inside and outside the home. Participant Three 

does not seem to be too concerned with hair care - the easier 

the better, unless there Is a party, an occasion that implies 

ideas of a 'carnival'where no rules apply. Participant One uses 

a domestic/functional language to describe her hair care rules 

and utilizes a variety of specialised hair care tools that might 

signify special competence and efficiency in practicing hair 

care. The acceptability of the self to others underlies 'shave 

legs if wearing skirt' - but only these facts are provided, not 

justifications. In contrast, ParticipantTwo appears to reflect on 

his behaviour and justifies it according to the outside world: 'I 

go out with it styled and not like a haystack'. 

Please, write down your hair care rules. 

Figure 10. Probe: Example 'informational probe' 

To summarise, several insights derive from the returned 

probes, but these provide only glimpses ofthe participants' 

hair care routines. Deeper and more systematic understanding 

might be gained through in-depth interviews based on real-

time interactions where the interviewer is able to prompt and 

clarify the context. The possibility of gaining informational 

'facts' within the returned probes is somewhat frustrating 

in the context of this research project. As Gaver et al (2004) 

points out the returned probes cannot simply be translated or 

even less analysed. The continuous process of expression and 

interpretation creates a complex layer of meanings resulting 

in a vague and subjective picture ofthe participants. 

Indeed, this is particularly exemplified in some cases of the 

returned probes within the pilot study. These caused disorder 

- they mystified the designer. For example, on the 'hair care 

products have a conversation' probe, the design of the probe 

was innocent, wondering how participants would react to 

such a'play writing'task with fictional characters and what the 

themes of the dialogue would consist of. The returns of these 

probes were startling in that the participants were able to 

create a conflict between fact and reality. On the one hand the 

participants might have included real life information relating 

to the everyday interaction with hair care products, but on the 

other they might have had simply a bit of fun in creating a 

tale with characters that resemble the teapot or the playing 

cards in 'Alice in WondeHand'. This raises questions about the 

reliability and value ofthe tasks. 

Your hairdryer, shampoo, scissors and razor are having 

a conversation - what would they say? Please fill in the 

conversation! 

Your hiWriwr. liampoo, «İâorjand raiware having a ernivcriaODn - 

- —"What wouU they uy? 

fltii nil tn carwtmOon 

_. yfîr hp o/f"^. _.. ^ 

„R»z=^ iW ihf^..MXih.liû^

event famous for its rainy weatlier and flooding of tents, where 

style is important and the dampness normally creates wild cudy 

hairstyles. This can lead to ideas of using some ofthe equipment 

of the tent to create 'controlled' curls. Instead of applying the 

idea of dampness and a'thing that can be rolled Into hair'to the 

tent holiday. It might be used to spark off ideas for the home. 

Slowly, design proposals have appeared that, on reflection, 

inspired potential ideas for sustainable hair care practices and, 

most significantly, sensitised the designer to the very intimate 

complexities of hair care. 

Figure 12. The first sketches arriving from the probes 

Summary and conclusion 

The paper has provided insights into the theory of practice and 

the use of cultural probes within a context of creative disorder. 

The authors propose that practice theory provides a useful 

framework to develop a multi-relational understanding ofthe 

complexities of everyday routines. More significantly, practice 

theory allows room for practice change through 'crises of 

everyday routines', indicating a potential to use the theory in 

examinations into sustainable design that are concerned with 

the product use phase, everyday behaviour and routines. 

The paper has considered the notion of disorder that is 

potentially created by the design-led method of probes as an 

aid when reflecting on the probes process in numerous ways. 

Firstly, the designer's drawings or graphics within the probe 

Intentionally disorder the participant's routinised thinking 

about hair care. Secondly, the participant's response to the 

probe is also disordedy in that their activity can't be predicted 

or controlled.The probe interferes with the lived experience of 

the participant's routines, ideas and conventions, which could 

provide starting points for changes in practice. Finally, the 

returned probe may create disorder in the design researcher's 

assumptions about the subject an in the process sensitise 

the designer to the complexities of everyday behaviour in 

ways that may raise unforeseen questions and even open up 

opportunities for sustainable design. 

The authors do not advocate separating these elements of 

disorder when applying the probes, as they overlap. The 

differences can be valuable in facilitating and thinking about 

the process of developing and applying the probes and may 

be even when using the returned probes as inspirations. 

The paper builds on the first author's PhD programme that 

is in the pilot study stage. Indications for sustainable design 

and evidence for the significance of practice theory will be 

explored as part of the wider research study and was not the 

intention of this paper. This research seeks to develop novel 

strategiesforsustainabledesign by exploring a multi-relational 

understanding ofthe practice of hair care. The research will 

explore approaches to sustainable design that uses design- 

led methods not to gain factual information (for which other 

methods such as interviews seemed more appropriate} but 

to inspire and sensitise the designer when thinking about 

hair care and sustainable design. Indeed, it aims not only to 

Inspire the designer but also to be challenged by participants 

to identify opportunities for changed practices.

While some designers tried to keepfaithful tothe craft ideal like 

Henry van de Velde, others tried to reconcile industrialization 

v^'ith the qualities of good design and sav^ the effects of 

mechanization as an opportunity to create better standards of 

living for the masses like Hermann IVluthesius, the main figure 

behind the foundation ofthe Deutsche Werkbund and later 

the founders and followers ofthe Bauhaus school. 

In the 1930s and 1940s, similar to Europe, American industrial 

designers were also considering social responsibility. As 

Whiteley (1993) states: "The first generatior) of American 

industrial designers such as Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, 

Walter Dorwin Teogue and Raymond Loewy often sought to 

justify their activities in terms of creating a better world by 

making products more efficient, easier to operate and more (in 

today's language) 'user-friendly". Their work however became 

the symbols ofthe mass production and consumption ethos 

ofthe capitalist development. 

A radical critique of the practice of design came from Victor 

Papanek, an Austrian born designer based in the US. The 

majority of his work cnticizes consumerism and obsolescence. 

In his best known book, Design for the Real World (1971), 

Papanek's main argument is that designers are harmful 

regarding their present function but that they can make a 

difference by using design to solve the"real"problems faced by 

human populations (Papanek, 1971; 1984). Papanek worked to 

make design accessible for the Third Wodd by designing low 

tech products. Following Design for the Real World, The Green 

Imperative served to elevate green design in professional 

practice (Margolin, 2003). 

In the 1980s when Papanek had written his influential book 

Design for the Real World, International Council of the Society 

of Industnai Designers (ICSID) chose "Design, Society and the 

Future" as the theme of its sixth Conference. Designers and 

planners addressed many issues about the trauma of the 

industnai society in this conference. 

Also, in the mid 1980s environmental problems have been 

widely recognized by scientists and Intellectuals. Social 

concerns and environmental Issues were conceptualized and 

were Introduced to public. As a response to this, the concepts 

of green design, eco-design and bio-design emerged. The 

increased awareness ofthe social and environmental problems 

of the Wodd thanks to the works and activism of individuals 

such as Ralph Nader or organizations such as Greenpeace and 

the Friends of the Earth helped In the appearance of ethical 

consumption preferences and habits. The severity of the 

dangers that the World is faced with, has led many people in 

the advanced countries including the design thinkers to work 

with alternative concepts and business models. 

Contemporary Examples of Alternative Movements for 

Social Responsibility in Design: PSS, Hacking, Parasitism 

Product Service Systems (PSS) is one of these concepts. The 

Product-Service Systems (PSS) concept promoting a shift 

in the focus from selling just products to selling the utility, 

through a mix of products and services, has been embraced 

by design thinkers and educators in the developed countries 

and became subjects of individual courses in design schools. 

Sharing the life-cycle thinking promoted bythe United Nations 

Environment Programme and the ideal of reaching sustainable 

production and consumption, the PSS concept was followed 

bythe slow design and solution oriented partnership concepts 

(Manzini, Vezzoll and Clark, 2001; Manzini, Colllna and Evans, 

2004; Fuad-Luke, 2006). 

The social impact ofdesign has also been an issue for Massive 

Change founded by Bruce Mau and the institute without 

Boundaries. Massive Change explores paradigm-shifring 

events, ideas, and people, investigating the capaclries and 

ethical dilemmas of design in manufacturing, transportarion, 

urbanism, warfare, health, living, energy, markets, materials, 

media and information. The outcomes of this explorarion take 

a variety of forms: A traveling exhibition, a book, a series of 

formal and informal public events, a radio program, an online 

forum and a blog (Leonard and Mau, 2004). 

The possibiliries offered by the internet and the overall 

advancement of the communication technologies brought 

new and crirical practices ofdesign. 

At this point it is important to mention the transfer of some 

concepts such as parasitism, hacking, hijacking and do-it- 

yourself to design. Hacking, developed as a concept developed 

inthevirtual world, embodies taking overthe means of running

a process and using it for another purpose. Having borrowed 

this idea, several design initiatives have been hacking fashion 

shows, production lines, design stores, etc. 

As an example of hacking in design, six Norwegian designers 

came together m a three days workshop to hack a shoe factory 

called Dale Sko in Norway In April 2006 and the outcome 

appeared in the London Fashion Week 2006. The aim of this 

project was to take over the production line to question the 

post industrial situation in mass production where there Is no 

room for spontaneity, co-operation, involvement of crafts and 

happy accidents. According to the co-organiser ofthe project 

Otto von Busch this project breaks the determined line of a 

system to make room for creativity, authorship and flexibility: 

"Using tlie metcplior ofiiacl

NewYork based Cat Mazza choses to use the internet for her 

microRevolt projects. One of her tools knitPro translates digital 

input to knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross stitch patterns. 

When an image is uploaded, knitPro translates it into fabric to 

subvert "corporate /7egemony" {www.microrevolt.org). 

Hacking couture is a workshop based by Giana Gonzales from 

Panama. During the workshops participants research and 

evaluate certain codes and characteristics of major fashion 

designers like Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent. These 

codes are then used in re-making workshops to build clothes 

with the analysed designers' visual language. The post- 

production is presented to public as open source for codes to 

be commonly used {http://www.hacklng-couture.com/). 

These projects address the post-industrial symptoms of the 

meaning and the role of design both in the market system 

and in the society. The essential aspect of these projects are 

that they require almost no investment to be realized. Most 

of them are lead by individuals and most of them are side 

activities done in the left over time of professional practice. 

Having a hand-made and home-made quality, they foster 

possibilities to intervene for all of us. 

One of the first critical design collectives Droog Design's 

product designers respond to social issues. The Netherlands 

based Droog Design have been working on design for 

emergency, cooperation with local manufacturers and 

questions like what makes consumers chose a product, what 

determines the pnce of a product can objects influence 

social behavior, how can users make a personal mark on 

products. One ofthe Droog projects that has focused on re 

use, memory and how to intervene in a product's life cycle is 

their collaboration with Franck Braglgand {Figure 3). in this 

project, called Restoring Daily Life, Bragigand painted the 

objects that visitors brought to give them a new life. Another 

product Anapurna commissioned by Italian door handle 

manufacturer Valli&Valli was developed by Ronald Rewelissa 

with the intention of reducing parts in laser cutting (Figure 4 

and 5). Held In 2005 Milan and developed by Niels Vam Eijk 

and Minam Van der Lubbe, Value forf\/loney is an installation 

that asks visitors the following questions: What determines 

the pnce of a product? The amount of raw matenal? The 

value of the material? Production time? Labor costs? Edition? 

Uniqueness? The name and reputation of the designer or the 

brand? {www.droogdesign.ni). 

Figure 3. Franck Bragigand's work 

Figure 4. Anapurna 

Figure 5. the minimization for laser cutting 

The influence of Droog Design spread to design practitioners 

and design educators and was ennched by other designers 

who subvert product design such as Dunne&Raby, Marti Guixe, 

Krzystof Wodicko, Michael Rakowltz, Lucy Orta and Front 

Design. According to the founders of Dunne & Raby; Anthony

and Fiona: "Dunne & Raby use products and services as a medium 

to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry 

and the public about the social, cultural and ethical implications 

of emerging technologies, fâny oftheir projects are collaborative, 

v\/orklng i^//f/i Industrial research labs, academia and cultural 

institutions to design both speculative products and services." 

Placebo, one of their projects is a conceptual experiment 

to explore people's interactions with electromagnetlsm. 

A Placebo product Electro-draught Excluder, made out of 

conductive foam provides an electromagnetic free space to 

create a comfort zone {Figure 6) (www.dunneandraby.co.uk}. 

Figure 6. Electro-draught Excluder 

For Design Tide 2006, Front Design a Swedish design collective 

chose the world s most commonly used plastic chair to Intervene. 

The anonymously designed -2 Euro- white plastic chair was re 

interpreted by Front by transforming it to an exquisite armchair 

by adding a leather cushion (Figure 7) (www.frontdesign.se). 

Figure 7. leather and plastic Front chair 

In the crochet bags, Front's armchair, Dunne&Raby's Electro- 

draught Excluder it is noticed that democratizing innovation 

demands an amateur spirit rather than the sleekness of 

professionalism. Thus, designers find room to express 

themselves In the looseness of amateurship. In the above 

examples one of the advancements that liberated both the 

designers and the customers was technological plurality. With 

the help of technological plurality information started to be 

distributed rapidly; providing access to the majority of people. 

Technological plurality broke the cartels in various areas. 

Besides the Interventions mentioned above, the design 

practice has been sensitive to theoretical suggestions of 

design thinkers. Some concepts suggested by Manzini in 2006 

have the potential to create great Impact for designers who 

want to follow alternative paths for better well-being. 

For social innovation in design, Manzini's suggestion for 

joining creative communities and collaborative networks is 

an applicable model. According to Manzini social innovation 

emerges from new behaviors, new forms of organization and 

new ways of living as In the simplistically transformative way 

of thinking In Front's armchair. Thus, a new way of thinking 

Is essential beyond all other necessary Investments. This 

approach suggests people to reconsider their lives, their 

society, and their work from a different perspective not to 

build new forms from scratch but to re-organize the existing 

patterns for more sustainable results. This Is the basic Idea 

In the formation of creative communities (Manzini, 2006). 

Building creative communities requires smart planning instead 

of economical power. For this reason, this model is socially 

and economically appropriate to developing countries where 

people already have adopted to think in a way of making an 

economyofmaterials, goods and food. Manzini defines creative 

communities as: "groups of Innovative citizens organizing 

themselves to solve a problem or to open a new possibility, and 

doing so as a positive step in the social learning process towards 

social and environmental sustainability" (fânzlni, 2006). 

Besides creative communities building collaborative networks 

is another opportunity that designers can use extensively. For 

instance, open source movement creates a base for everybody 

to contribute and share free from geography or country. 

As in the example of Additional many designers and design 

groups use the opportunities of the internet to spread the

alternative approaches ofdesign as much as possible to create 

a social impact. Internet has not only brought the means to 

publish cookbooks so that users can learn how to do things 

themselves but also houses the opportunities of the open 

source movement. 

Open source movement has enabled to create a common 

knowledge source like Wikipedia and new platforms for 

people to get together to share design knowledge that can be 

necessary to start alternative paths of doing things. 

Challenging the copyright system leads several different 

end products to be developed based on the primary input. 

Designers use the internet as a base of sharing via developing 

softwares for designers. These free softwares are primarily 

used as vehicles for visualization such as drawing, modelling 

and animating. The variety of such alternative open source 

programs enable designers to break the linear mode of 

professional practice bound to major professional softwares. 

Besides,the open source movementhas encouraged designers 

to share the result oftheir projects. For instance, although not 

using the open source on the run, Cameron Sinclair contributes 

to the open source movement by opening the designs he gets 

done for the countries in need to public. 

Finally, one of the latest concepts In socially responsible 

design is the idea of being distributed. The development of 

the idea of being distributed has been Implemented In design 

for sustainable development. According to Manzini (2006) "the 

term distributed adds to substantive to v^hich it is related, is the 

idea that it has to be considered as a web of interconnectedness, 

autonomous elements, i.e. elements that are capable to operate 

autonomously, being, at the same time, highly connected with 

the other elements ofthe system." 

Being distributed enables partners to function independently 

yet In an Interconnected manner.The dispersed partners can be 

anywhere.Thus, it supports the local development by accepring 

local production as part ofa bigger network (Manzini 2006). 

Up to this point, we tried to make a brief review of the ideas 

and the movements that were developed or followed by the 

designers or design educators in the advanced countries. 

These lines ofthinking or movements have been followed with 

interest and looked upon by the design circles situated in the 

developing countries. However, these countries are usually not 

the source of them or they are not fully embraced by designers 

or design education in these countries. An exceprion to this 

may be cited as the Indian case. Having a vast population, 

Indian designers or design educators developed Ideas dealing 

with their needs and problems specifically. 

'Design for Development' Conference organized jointly by 

ICSID and UNIDO in 1979 at the National Institute of Design in 

Ahmedabad, India constituted an historical platform for Indian 

designers or thinkers to share their ideas with prominent 

designers of the Worid at that time. 

Romesh Thapar, a keynote speaker at this Conference stated 

thati"To raise so many (people) to recognized levels of healthy 

and crearive living poses problems which have no parallels 

In lands which have already developed and advanced. The 

design needs of "development" and affluence are different. 

The Indian designer cannot afford to be fanciful, sensarional, 

'expressive'or indulge in art for art's sake. He cannot, through 

his design, overspend scarce materials and money. Unlike 

many industrialized countries, the investment in India should 

be considered in terms ofthe unskilled many and not money... 

The India of today cannot be a "few-decades-ago" Italy. Today's 

global concerns of environment, energy crisis, pollution, the 

desired life of a product, side effects during its life and effects 

after Its life, should be equally important considerarions for 

the Indian designer as they are for his counterpart in any 

industrialized country" (quoted in Balaram, 1998). 

In line with the views ofThapar, Balaram (1998) also mentioned 

the need for the Indian product designer to understand and 

base his designs in his own context while at the same rime 

looking at and taking inspirarion from design developments 

all overthe world. 

Balaram's proposal for designers as to turn to service design 

rather than concentrating on consumprion oriented objects 

and to design strategies are very much In line with the 

sustainable design and the latest thinking developed in 

the field of design management. According to Balaram "the 

designers of today should offer creative solutions to problems

on a variety of issues rather than create more and more 

varieties of objects. Design would then become a mission 

instead of what it is today- a commission". 

The experience of Turkey on the other hand differs from 

the Indian case in the sense that neither the Turkish design 

education nor the Turkish designers were forthcoming with 

original approaches addressing specifically the needs of the 

local people or the industry. 

This observation constituted the starting point for our paper. 

In the following section we will put forward our ideas for the 

reasons ofthis observation on theTurkish situation. 

The Turkish Situation: The Reasons for the Mental Barrier 

Although there are some recent examples of original thinking 

developed in the Turkish context on the questions of how 

design can contribute to the Turkish industry and industrial 

regeneration and what the nature ofthe design management 

education should be with a local and global appeal (Er and Er, 

H.A., 1999; Er and Er, H. A., 2003; Er, H. A., 2004; Er, 2005; Yasak, 

2006), theTurkish design scene has not been a productive one 

in terms of developing novel ideas specifically addressing the 

local needs. Below, we will mention some possible reasons for 

this situation. 

Like most of the developing countries, Turkey started her 

industrialization process on the basis of imported technologies. 

Like the technologies, design education was also imported as 

part of a "modernist development paradigm" (Bonsiepe, 1991; 

Er, 1994). As stated elsewhere (Er, 1991; Er, H. A., 1994; Er and 

Er, H. A., 2006), "long before the new product design needs of 

the Turkish industry materialized, industrial design schools 

had been planned in order to meet the future demand which 

was expected to emerge as a result ofthe import substituting 

industrialization strategies implemented in Turkey in the 60s 

and 70s". 

Latecomer industrialization, a process that Turkey has gone 

through as well, based on learning rather than invention or 

Innovation (Amsden, 1989), is sequential in nature aiming 

finally at catching up with the industrialized countries. 

A successful indigenous learning sequence is defined as "one 

that enables a firm (or an industry) to create and develop a 

complete set of'in-house'engineering skills-that is product design 

skills, process engineering capabilities, and production planning 

and organizational skills - so as to be able to compete on its own 

both In domestic and in International markets" {Katz, 1985 In N. 

Rosenberg and C. Frischtak ed., 1985 quoted in Er, Ö., 1995). 

While Latin American countries, Turkey and India tried going 

through this sequential process of development by trying 

to develop their local industries behind protective barriers, 

other developing countries or city states such as South Korea, 

Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore implemented export 

oriented industrialization policies (Er, 1994; Er, Ö., 1995). 

The process of gradual development although inevitable for 

acquiring product development capabilities also brought a 

mentality to the people who live indeveloping countries thatthey 

have to bearthe same consequences in terms of social, economic 

and environmental problems with the advanced nations and 

they can't deal with them in the same manner with such countries 

unless they come to the same development level. 

The catching up mentality and the ethos of modernization 

meant that the craft based production; "the traditional means 

of production" were seen as inferior or simply ignored by the 

design education.Asthe design education was imported like the 

technology itself, its links with the local reality remained weak. 

The Imported model of industrial design education with the 

expectation that through the process of gradual development, 

the Turkish industry would need human resources able to 

come up with original design concepts, has kept graduating 

industrial designers waiting for the industry to make use of 

their expertise in the way they do it in the advanced countries. 

The delay In the materialization of this expectation caused 

disappointment and a search for alternative design careers 

mostly in the area of Interior decoration and graphic design. 

The constant feeling of lagging behind together with the 

effects of an unsophisticated consumer culture due to the low 

income level ofthe majority ofthe people and limited product 

offerings became a mental barrier for the designers to create 

solutions or business models dealing with the local needs and 

conditions.

The fact that industrial designers have reached a cntical mass 

in Turkey and that they are much more connected to the World 

either through the possibilities offered by the internet or by 

taking partin international networks of production, this mental 

barner seems to be weakening. Already, there are signs of the 

Turkish design education or designers building links with the 

local dynamics either in the cultural or industrial scene. 

The web portal Dexigner started by a young design graduate 

In Turkey has built itself as a bilingual platform to have both 

a local and global appeal. Through Its Turkish and English 

newsletters and discussion forums it provides a platform of 

knowledge shanng among the Turkish design community 

and also between the Turkish and the international design 

communities. Another design portal Designophy tries to build 

a knowledge base for theTurkish design community. With the 

possibilities offered by the Internet, it creates this knowledge 

base by making use not only the know-how ofthe local experts 

but also the leading figures of design all over the World. 

A project focusing on the regeneration of a local industrial 

district with the help ofdesign is fVlade in Şişhane, coordinated 

by Aslı Kıyak İngin. Şişhane of Istanbul, being famous for its 

small lighting manufacturing workshops, was a district in 

need of redefining itself to keep its existence in the face of 

rough competition from China. İngin brought designers, 

architects and artists together and matched them with the 

lighting manufacturers of the district to redefine the local 

manufacturing base by design and maintain a sustainable 

future for it (Yasak, 2006). 

The Design for SIVlEs project inititated by the Department 

of Industrial Product Design at ITU in collaboration with the 

Istanbul Chamber of Industry is another example of design 

education tailoring itself to the particular needs of theTurkish 

industry (Er and Er, 2003). The project has been implemented 

successfully since 2003. 

Another such example came from Izmir University of 

Economics as for the first rime a Turkish design school 

organized a scientific conference focusing on a theme valid 

in its geographical context namely design for agricultural 

industries with a particular focus on wine and olive oil (Izmir, 

2005). 

These examples are enough to show that the design 

community in Turkey tries to break through with the mental 

barrier created by the particular industrializarion and the 

accompanying modernization process that the country has 

gone through. This mental barrier involves the feeling of 

being late, sometimes inadequate too. The hyper modernist 

idea that developing countries should first catch the advanced 

ones has made many designersthlnking limited to traditional 

models of development. 

The above discussions suggest examples of alternative design 

models, mainly in developed countries and starting slowly in 

developing countries. Relying on these, it can be suggested 

the depending on the advancement of communication 

technologies, the internet and the open source movement, 

designers can create alternative ways of existence genuine to 

their roots if they can overcome the mental barrier. 

Let us finish with a quote from Balaram: 

"First of all, a country must define for Itself development 

related to its own needs: socioeconomic, political, cultural, and 

appropriate to its resource. This will decide the arricularion of 

the type of policies for design or those having a bearing on 

design, imitaring the successful policies of others may be easy 

but In the long run may be wasteful and harmful... It must be 

realized that development is not"catching up with yestarday's 

West or East". It is developing one's own capabilities to the 

maximum. Not only that, true development is to realize one's 

best and to use it to become a pace-setter in some areas, to 

stand with dignity In a competitive world" (Balaram, 1998). 

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H A R N E S S I N G D I S O R D E R A N D D I S A S T E R IN R E S P O N S I V E N A R R A T I V E S Y S T E M S 

Dr. Donna Roberta Leishman 

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design 

Dundee University, Dundee, United Kingdom 

d.leishman@dundee.ac.uk 

Harnessing Disorder and Disaster in Responsive Narrative 

Systems. 

The premise of this paper is that the culturally negative 

attributes of disorder and disaster have purposes when 

designing interactive/responsive narratives - indeed even a 

positive role in realising the intended design outcomes. The 

scope of practice and theory covered in this paper explores: 

• the visual opposed to textual, 

• screen-based opposed to physical, 

• responsive opposed to linear. 

An intrinsic part of non-linear or multi-linear, layered and 

open-ended systems is the presence of disorder. This is 

normally structural and is companioned by a struggle in terms 

of achieving cognitive immersion. Primarily citing doctoral 

practice, the paper discusses an aesthetic, and details a 

conceptual treatment that uses duality, dissonance, disorder 

and disaster in an affirmative manner. 

1 Introduction 

Post 1960s, our mainstream cultural understanding has been 

that disorder is bad. It comes hand In hand with the notion of 

hierarchy and implied order as being good. At a basic level, 

to create disorder is to be dissident, and deviant from the 

normal. In today's landscape, being dissident is problematic 

and often linked with acts of terrorism. Being dissident has 

not always been so contentious - there is an interesting and 

important history of protest movements giving birth to Anti- 

imperialism, Socialism, Civil Rights, Feminism, to name but a 

few. In terms of this paper, digital literary interactivity belongs 

(at least in terms of its origins) to the loosely categorised 

movement that represented the anti-hierarchical late 19605 

and 70s. It is most prominently illustrated in the politic of 

video art, performance and happenings, where the audience 

were invited to become participants in art events rather than 

passive receivers of a generalised or mass communication 

(such as in film or pulp books). The artist/author/designer lost 

her fixed control over what would happen and the participant 

gained more prominence In the events. 

The paradigm of clear hierarchy, articulation and concrete 

outcomes is the prevailing hegemony In responding to 

most design problems. However, within responsive narrative 

systems (also known as digital literature) such a mode is 

proven to be problematic, as one ofthe defining characteristics 

of the medium is in resisting unified, all-encompassing, 

and universally valid explanations. Within responsive non 

linear artworks, the participant uses primarily perceptual 

and explorative actions: looking, listening, selecting and 

interpreting often simultaneously. These multiple types of 

communication exchanges are unusual (Aarseth 1997: 64), 

because perceptual and interpretive functions are married 

with extensive explorative interactions. Understanding signs 

in an interactive environment demands more perception and 

more commitment, as the structure and rules of behaviour 

tend not to be standardized or taught to us at a young age. 

Part of the author's doctoral practice as discussed within this 

paper (hitherto called DevianV) explores physical (onscreen 

' Possession of Christian Shaw [Online]. Glasgow School of Art. 

Available from: http://www,6amhoover.com/xxx/ 

[Accessed March 2007]

point and click) as well as mental interaction, visual rather 

than textual signs (as a way to free up more of our cognitive 

energy to perceive the rules) and amongst others -- questions 

both the presence of disorder and how the threat of disaster 

acts as a stressor in creating this desirable heightened state 

of awareness. This is intended to enable viewers to have a 

meaningful discourse with the expression and become active 

participants in new modes of exchange and new, unusual and 

participant-led methods of reading. 

Given the multiple permutations, non-linear structures that 

attempt to attain an explicit articulation or outcome would 

misalign themselves with existing traditional media. This 

often results in ersatz rather than appropriately mediated 

experiences. Such media, which do facsimile existing models, 

often exude a lack of self-belief This paper will specifically 

deal with responsive, visual and narrative artworks whereby 

the dominant model could be said to be the pnnted book 

- as typified by the Bible. Culturally, at least in the West, the 

printed book is linear, containing orthodox rules and reading 

procedures such as: formulating the text letter by letter, 

word by word, left to right, top to bottom. Structurally, the 

conclusion is found at the back and not midway or at the front 

and so on. Traditionally the whole premise of the book is to 

minimize disorder. In contrast, responsive narrative artworks 

tend to employ non-linear structures, self-refiexivity, cyclical 

loops and deliberately play with participants' expectancies. 

Within Deviant an interactive environment, disaster, disorder 

and their by-product dissonance were fundamental features 

in the communication of the project. How these aspects 

function and their importance in terms of Its objectives will 

be detailed in the following sections with reference to how 

the aesthetic sits within the broader discipline of interaction 

design. The end sections will go on to discuss how this model 

of dissonant communication can be harnessed into a positive 

and what qualities responsive narrative design as an emergent 

discipline can offer further design specialisms. 

2 An overview of Interaction Design 

Interactivity is one ofthe defining charactenstics of new media 

and arguably one that keeps the 'new' alive in the noun, the 

others being the fusion and remixing of previous media types. 

freedom in the distribution mechanisms and opportunities for 

data visualisation^ In terms ofdesign it should be recognised 

that the modes of interactivity available are numerous and 

that the type(s) deployed are as important as the visual 

aesthetic or content to be delivered. The mode of interaction 

can significantly impact on the participants' emotional 

involvement. More pnmacy is needed when we as designers 

conceive of the value of the participants' expenence. This is 

supported by Michael Nİtsche who argued that applying the 

cinematic three-act structure (from Aristotle) would simply 

suggest "[the] Interactive narrative is the product of gluing 

together a narrative structure with an Interactive method". 

Instead he proposed that the three-act structures can be 

projected onto the user's experience, that "his/her experience 

as the plot" (1998:69-73). 

As a discipline, digital narrative design arguably originated 

in 1952 with Christopher Strachey's Love Letter generator for 

the Manchester Mark 1 computer (Wardnp-Fruin 2005) and as 

such has yet to reach maturity In terms of best practice. The 

reader,filmgoer, theatre or radio audience has always mentally 

'interacted' with the text (i.e. the message). Within the digital 

realm the reader/audience often corporally interacts with the 

message - that is, they actively change the body e.g. looks, 

sequence or content of the text. This active element Is the 

opposite to the low level mental interactions of watching a 

formulaic film. In interactive artworks the participant is always 

aware of her decision-making. Interactivity is not just the 

space between a click and arriving somewhere else. It's about 

what happens mentally in-between for example: anxiety, fear, 

surprise, apathy or confusion? 

Models of Experience 

* By far the most dominant style of online interaction 

is Transactional: literally buying or selecting access 

to information or products. In this model very little 

^Data visuaiisation examples available from: 

Fry, Ben http://benfrycom/ [Accessed March 2007] 

Galloway, Alex /RSG collective http://r-s-g.org/carnivore/ 

[Accessed March 2007] 

Jevbratt, Lisa. http://jevbrattcom/ [Accessed March 2007]

interpreting is required, the interface must be clear and 

intuitive to facilitate an easy purchase or exchange, 

(see http:/Mww.amazon.com) 

* Transactional, is seconded by w/hat the author terms 

the Gaming model: where the İnteracdvİty is orientated 

towards propping up the win or lose axiom. Through 

persistent and detailed interaction the participant is 

rewarded by gaining access or witnessing the goal or 

occasionally even more explicitly -- given a'mark. 

(see http://www.trevorvanmeter.com/flyguy) 

The following are more unorthodox and lesser-seen modes: 

* Consequential: this model is little used outside the 

Gaming mode and is normally subservient to the 'ultimate 

goal'. Consequential interactions are set-up to incite 

emotion from the participant; often orientated around: Do 

we care about the character? Can we make their situation 

better? Are we by our choices to blame for some event? 

Consequential interactions are often narrative, utilising 

mystery and drama. 

(see: Kosovo £//'http://www.futurefarmers.com) 

^ Explorative: where the interaction is more open-ended 

than the Gaming mode and often is without a clear goal 

or is goalless and which may contain surprises. In this 

type of work the participant must bring motivation and 

normally their own interpretations (unless its an abstract 

environment). Explorative is normally much more reflective 

than the Gaming model, 

(see: http://www.vectorpark.com) 

^ Kinetic: whereby the experience of interaction is much 

more immediate and situational - the simple joy of seeing 

normally an audio-visual response to the participants 

onscreen touch, Kinetic interaction is primarily about 

participation and empowerment (the participant is the 

driver as much as the designer). Often there are no concrete 

results or outcomes - it's about the participant feels in the 

moment of interacting. 

(see: http://showstudio.com/projects/031/031Jnteractive. 

html) 

* Linked to Kinetic due to its emphasis on touch and 

response but worthy of its own category, is Quasi-Corporeal 

interaction which offers or refers to a virtual human-to- 

human (or computer) tactility. When onscreen interactivity 

mimics, intensifies or refers to our'real'senses. 

(see: http://www.entropy8zuper.org/skinonskinonskin/) 

* Creative interactions offer up new visual combinations, 

remix or distort existing content. It can be about enjoyment 

(like Kinetic) and perception - looking at things in a new 

way. It also covers work that allows the participant to be 

authorially creative for example: personalise a character 

applications; add text to a narrative. Creative interactions 

are about giving at least equal if not more power to the 

participator. 

(see: http://www.impermanenceagent.com/agent/) 

* Desfrucf/Ve: the primary ideological assumption about 

technology is that it should work. The term interactivity 

presupposes a fait accompli that links and connections 

will be successfully made. Faulty or actively destructive 

interaction sits alongside the notion of the 'post-digital'^ 

which refers to works that rejects the hype of the digital 

revolution.Where purity, pristine sound/images and perfect 

copies are abandoned in favour of errors, glitches and 

artefacts that become not whole but decayed. Destructive 

interaction isthe polar opposite to the Transactional mode 

where confusion and de-powerment ofthe participant is 

given primacy. 

(see: http://404.jodi.org and 

http://www.requiemforadream.cum) 

* And of course Hybrid mixes, where interactivity is 

essentially eclectic, a mix ofthe above. 

^ Post-digital (Cascone 2000) is often linked with the Post-conceptual 

which refers to work where there is no distinction between works 

of self-expression and works of social critique e.g. they are part and 

parcel of the same activity and they stand alone. Post-conceptual is 

associated with the anti-theory turn in art production ofthe mid to late 

1990s, This paradigm abandons much of post-modernism's practices 

e.g. of re-use, appropriation, media-critique, re-presentation, cut-up, 

"deconstruct! on".

3 Introduction to Deviant a Hybrid model 

Dewant (Figure 1) is a hybrid (Consequential and Explorative) 

artwork that deals with life amid the ruins of history and 

meaning. It alludes to a Scottish witch-trial narrative from the 

Eady Modern period, which is generally unknown outside the 

academe/' As a piece of research It articulates a particular type 

of dissonant expenence for the participant. It also questions 

and explores duality - the tension between what is expected 

and what is offered. In particular, it subverts the conventions 

of cybertext and hypertext fiction; has no back buttons or easy 

re-readings; and deliberately lacks the expected Gaming goal 

orientated 'making a difference' tasks. Deviant is presented 

in a visual and almost entirely non-textual way, although 

the piece has a textual basis. Its narrative premise uses post 

modernist notions such as ambiguity and fragmentation 

and its defamiliarising or confrontational aspects can 

easily be felt. Unlike most responsive artworks,^ the project 

meaningfully cuts off possibilities. The project communicates 

in a significantly unconventional manner and as such the 

narrative content may often be hidden, at least initially. Thus 

the combined impression ofthe artwork is decidedly'other'.^ 

•'Base Narrative: 

In the year 1696, the 11 year old daughter of John Shaw, the Laird of 

Balgarran, fell victim to one of the most notable cases of'demonic 

possession' in Scottish History. It resulted in a large number of locals 

being implicated as her tormentors, concluding with three men 

and three women being put to death on Paisley's Gailow Green on 

the 10th of June 1697. Through the passing years, and as society 

became more skeptical and atheist about the likes of witches and 

demons, the character of Christian has come under close scrutiny, 

in particular the possible motivations that drove her actions and 

caused her condition'. Recently, using a feminist angle, scholars have 

investigated the first-hand documentation of the case (McLachlan 

& Swales 2002). They uncovered a decisive fact that these original 

documents were written by an anonymous author. To cast further 

aspersions on the truth of these historical artefacts ~ the documents 

contained many striking resemblances, in tone, and language, to the 

more famous Salem witchcraft outbreak in New England in 1692just 4 

years earlier (Rosenthal 1993). With such capricious origins and being 

recently placed m the hinterland of'true'history the text was ideal for 

mapping onto a multi-linear structure and exploring hybridism. 

Figure 1. Select screen grabs from Deviant: 

The Possession of Christian Shaw (Leishman 2004) 

A treatment of Disorder 

Some disorder is inevitable within responsive narrative 

artworks if non-linear structures are present -and then, 

depending on the treatment of the conclusion, i.e., classic 

denouement, looping (no end), open-ended or un-conclusive- 

disorder can be said to be a key feature in the media 

characteristic. Deviant sutures a total disjuncture between 

narrative immediacy, and the fractures caused by non 

linear paths and a confrontational aesthetic, by employing 

a narrative skeleton - this is an essentially linear supportive 

base that creates a type of narrative coherency that still allows 

for multiplicity of sequence and some ambiguity. Outside this 

Êxamples where the interaction is interwoven or'open'enabling 

the participant to revisit either intentionally or randomly previously 

visited areas available from: Fisher, Caitlin, (2001) These Waves of 

Girls, http://www.yorku.ca/caitlin/waves/ [Accessed March 2007] 

Jugovic, Alexandria & Schmitt, Florlan, Requiem For A Dream. 

http://www.requiemforadream.com [Accessed March 2007] 

Smith, Patrick. Vector Park http://www.vectorpark.com 


^'Other'opposed the'same'. Emmanuel Levinas's Totality and infinity: 

An Essay on Exteriority (1969) describes how subjectivity arises from 

the idea of infinity, and how infinity is produced in the relationship 

ofthe self with the other. Also see Sartre I'Etre et le neant (Being and 

Nothingness) (1943).

narrative skeleton, the narrative In the practice has lost its 

authority, requiring significant attempts at interpretation from 

the participant. Narrative flow became a narrative emulsion, a 

low-charged visual lyricism rather than a traditional narrative. 

This, combined with the sonorous elements, created an 

atmosphere of dissonance: a sense of disorder in the world. 

The participant's experience of the project does not initially 

reveal the plot. First is an accumulative experience of 

atmosphere. Dissonance strikes, but after awhile, although 

coming from a position of ignorance, the participant absorbs 

the available narrative content and also actively explores the 

world, and continuously searches for the hidden. 

Secondly, and towards the end of their first reading, 

participants cognitively construct the information they have 

experienced in a process similar to Murray's understanding 

of'immersion'' (1997:181); at this stage they may or may not 

begin to form an interpretation - create a conceptual order. 

Thirdly, once they have reached the epilogue text, and if 

they re-enter the project, a further round of atmospheric 

accumulation occurs, fuelled by a better awareness of what is 

being witnessed. 

This is unlike experiencing most other narrative forms. For 

example, structurally, the participant's experience of the 

project does not work like games, which often use the model 

of increasing the difficulty of the participants' tasks as they 

move through its structure. Nor does it use the conventional 

beginning,middieandend.lnstead,inDev/onr the participants 

are required to re-enterthe project (preferably multiple times) 

to gain their own sense of conclusion or a Meta ordering. It is 

hoped that the feeling of incompleteness fosters an urge to 

retrace their steps, traverse the narrative again - a common 

stumbling block In responsive artworks. 

^ Murray distinguished three main qualities of this new medium: 

immersion, agency, and transformation. By immersion, she means 

the power of the medium for helping the user to construct beliefs 

ratherthan suspending beliefs. (Murray 1997:181) 

The first, second and third steps are repeated until the 

participant has perceived all the narrative information and 

is atmospherically replete. At this participant-specific point, 

they may have achieved 'order' within their understanding of 

the project or not (they may formalize a different and still valid 

interpretation). 

The threat of Disaster 

Disaster as a phenomenon ensures that society has a right 

to fear It. Various texts through the ages serve to remind us 

of the cultural impact of the (natural) disaster, such as the 

Atlantis myth from Plato in The Critias and The Timaeus (cited 

by Benjamin 1871), the Great Fire of London from The Diary 

of Samuel Pepys (Pepys 1659-69) and the Black Death from 

the Journal of The Plague Year (Defoe 1722). True to disaster's 

etymology in astrology (which suggests that when the stars 

are in a bad position a bad event will happen), disastrous 

events have long had a transformative impact on culture and 

philosophy. Notable in this vein was the Lisbon earthquake of 

1755. The arbitrariness of surviving the earthquake motivated 

Voltaire's Candlde (1759), whereas Jean-Jacques Rousseau 

(Masters and Kelly 1992) used the earthquake as an argument 

against cities as part of his desire for a more naturalistic way 

of life. At a larger scale, attempting comprehension of disaster 

helped develop debates in Theodicy (disasters as possible 

illustrations/proof of evil) and the notion of the'Sublime'.^ 

In the light of modern history at least, making an argument for 

positive disorder is not radical. As stated in previously, dissidence 

and rebellion have resulted in positive outcomes. Making an 

argument for positive disaster clearly hinges around the scale, 

type and context of disaster discussed (physical or natural verses 

social or emotionalj.There is also a particular function of disaster 

when associated with disorder. Conventionally, having disorder 

can be a type of disaster for those who control or benefit from 

^ Where Schopenhauer in The Wodd as Will and Representation 

(1819:39) listed examples of the transition from the beautiful to the 

most sublime. For him, the feeling of the beautiful is pleasure in 

simply seeing a benign object. The feeling ofthe sublime, however, 

is pleasure in seeing an overpowering or vast malignant object, one 

that could destroy the observer.

the order. What is important in Deviant is the tlireat of narrative 

disaster, how the threat affects the participant and how they 

perceive their role when this threat and other more secondary 

permutations of disaster can be experienced. 

ltisweliacl

6 By Practice as a metiiod 

As an area of study, responsive narratives given its digital and 

narrative concerns problematically spans a number of fields - 

- Hyperfiction, Narratology, Games Studies, Human Computer 

Interaction to name but a few. In the early part of thie Millennium 

it has been acknowledged that as an emergentfield it suffered 

from being over theorized given its links to deconstruction 

and poststructuralist ideologies with scant few master-texts 

rich enough in terms of transparency In authorial process. 

Joyce (1987), Moulthrop (1991) and Jackson {1995) being the 

exceptions {Douglas 2000).Typical of this eady period was with 

critique and theorizing of these artworks without the insight 

of producing the practice. This problem was also recognised 

in the early years of Game Studies where many theorists did 

not have sufficient insights into neither playing nor creating 

games {Frasca 2001). 

This practical knowledge is especially key epistemologtcally, 

as creating responsive narrative is a complex and emergent 

process in Itself Much ofthe articulation of expression comes 

'hardwired'from the very decisions ofthe designer who controls 

the imagery, structure and narrative content, by programming 

and creative acts. Then additionally, once the non-linear 

structure comes into effect the text generates expressions 

that the designer may not have comprehended or intended, at 

this stage the imagery, structure or narrative content is again 

edited, trimmed and reworked by the designer until the project 

articulates in an open non-linear but as desired manner. 

Critical to offsetting the inherent subjective qualities In 

creating research by practice the author used a group of 

eleven experts'" to reflectively review Deviant (2004: Chp 2.2). 

This group was invited on the basis of their interdisciplinary 

abilities, personal voice and commitment to the research area, 

and comprises a mix of digital artists (cybertext, hypertext 

fiction and media), designers {website, applied computing 

and games), writers (academic and journalistic), a poet and a 

curator. The strategy they employed to achieve a reading was 

not prescribed. This, it was felt, would allow for a naturalistic 

experience for both the participant and the author. The only 

specificoutcome required wasa typed and emailed description 

of their journey. Their responses helped further clarify the role 

and experience of the participant within Deviant. 

Findings: given the disorder, how does the designer keep 

the participant on board? 

Visuality: the first unanimously held opinion about the project 

wasthat, in visual terms, it is successfully compelling.The design 

choices, such as the depiction ofthe protagonist and the large 

level of detail within the drawings, were unanimously valued. 

The latter was the most mentioned, not only in rendering terms 

but also in the way in which the project moved, a common 

analogy being that it was at 'pixel' level detail. This resulted in 

'"The Expert Participants 

Prof Mark Amerika is Professor of Digital Art at the University of 

Colorado in the US, 

Mr George Fifield is a media arts curator, writer, teacher and artist. 

He is the founder and director of Boston Cyberarts Inc., a nonprofit 

arts organization which produces the Boston Cyberarts Festival. 

PhD candidate Gonzalo Frasca is a videogame researcher and 

developer, currently working at the Center for Computer Games 

Research at the IT University in Copenhagen. He's co-founder and 

senior producer of Powerful Robot Games, a videogame development 

studio. 

Dr Raine Koskimaa has published four monographs and some 

forty articles, reviews, and essays dealing with digital literature, 

hypermedia, cyberpunk fiction, postmodernist fiction, narratology, 

and empirical participant-response studies. 

Ms. Cynthia Lawson is an Assistant Professor & Director of the 

integrated Design curriculum at Parsons the New School for Design. 

She is also the project manager on Salman Rushdie's Midnight's 

Children multimedia study environment. 

PhD Candidate Nick Montfort is an author and programmer of 

interactive fiction and co-author of several internet based electronic 

literature projects includingThe New Media Reader (2003, MIT Press). 

DrAnjaRau is an independent scholar who writes on the aesthetics 

of digital literature and is the editor of Tekka.net. 

Dr Roberto Simanowski is an assistant professor in the department 

of German Studies at Brown University. He is also the founder of 

Dichtung-Digital.de an online journal on digital aesthetics. 

Ms. Stephanie Strickland is a poet, writer and academic. 

Dr Jill Walker is an assistant professor of Humanistic Informatics at 

the University of Bergen in Norway, 

Or Noah Wardrip-Fruin writes e-iiterature, and produces evaluative 

articles about it.

a feeling of having to observe the project in a unique manner, 

lool

possibİİities in terms of conclusion. 'Freedom' can only come 

from a persona! interpretation generated through exploration 

and interactions. 

DeWanf taîces a gamble with frustration, as it requires intensive 

interactions to move chronologically forward. However, once 

the participant has passed a branching intersection, they are 

cut off from this until another re-reading; they have to move 

forward. In this sense. Deviant has to be significantly attractive 

and or playful in sustaining interest. Using the tropes of 

mystery and the stressor sensation associated with the threat 

of disaster "the participants where propelled forward by their 

curiosity, excitement and fear (for both themselves and for 

the narrative protagonist). This stressor helped provide more 

cognitive attention in 'reading' the environment and being 

more perceptive of paths not taken. 

One of the strengths of responsive media is the ability to 

generate multiple outcomes and experiences. Depending 

on the brief at hand this layering of meaning can be valuable 

- especially when complex ideas or situations need to be 

reflected upon. As part ofthe author's reflective analysis and 

comments from the expert readers the need for conceptual 

rigor over the various elements that make up the sum total 

of the participants 'take-away' experience was highlighted. 

Otherwise, a negative disaster can occur where the participant 

has no desire to invest in the dialogue (a problem in high- 

concept experimental artworks where the visuality is either 

niche or intentionally abrasive). Within Deviant, disorder was 

developed into 'otherness' and rooted, supported and fed 

by the source text. This conceptual depth or roundness is 

essential given the inevitable volume of effects from disorder 

and dissonance. The participants' struggle to create meaning 

(order) creates a more individual and original experience than 

possible in most other linear media. 

At least currently when disorder and disaster exist, so does 

a state of'otherness'and its subsequent dichotomies: other/ 

self, different/same, new/old, truth/lie etc. This offers a way 

to highlight what is normal, hegemonic, expected - the 

status quo. Concreteness, universally valid explanations or 

immovable 'order' should be questioned and revisited, and 

singular truths depending on context can be problematic. 

Responsive artworks are particularly rich for exploring the 

approach to narrative as laid out in this paper - as often 

multiple positions exist simultaneously, and this offers the 

valuable ability to interrogate differing positions and at a 

more individual or un-dialectical manner. 

Transferable Elements: 

" The key tenet of responsive narrative design is that 

conceptualising and orchestrating the participants 

experience is a core element to the brief. Following 

Nitsche (1998), Deviant treated and applied it as a 'plot'in 

its own right complete with escalations, non-sequitars and 

unconventional denouement. 

" An understanding that interaction design can offer more 

approaches than the Transactional or Gaming model. 

Unconventional methods of communication have much 

to offer in a marketplace where mass passive methods and 

standardisation are wide spread. 

" The possibilities of exploring the dramatic tension 

associated with the threat of disaster as a way of creating 

better attention and perception. Fuelled by the correct 

position of (natural) disasters as being negative, the threat 

of disaster will always act as a stressor. Considering and 

offsetting this condition can allow the designer to harness 

the participants'focus and nervous energy, which in turn 

can be used for a close reading. Being more attentive in a 

dialogue can create an opportunity to leframe, comment 

and reflect on the multiple or complex issues contained 

within. 

Vistas resident in Deviant: 

••' Exploring the feeling of complicity as a tonic to passivity 

and societal malaise. Creating experiences that make the 

participant more aware of their roles in society. 

* The potential in re-presenting historical or non-fictive 

disasters, and imagining concurrent witnesses with a view 

to eliciting: change of perspective, cautionary tale for the 

present and a better awareness of history.

Responsive narrative as a practice is currently emergent and 

may be emergent for some time given the opportunities 

driven by technologies and the scope available in the 

vanous interaction models as detailed above. This process of 

emergence is in itself full of disorder, experimental, containing 

testing and theorerical analysis alike. 

The models and approaches being tested and generated can 

offer fruitful insights for other design fields where the users/ 

parricipant experience is of value. 

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DESIBN AGAINST AND FDR CRIME IN URBAN LIFE: 

GRIME PREVENTÜHN THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (GPTED) VERSUS DESIGN FOR CRIME 

Deniz DENİ2 

İzmir Institute ofTechnology, 

İzmir, TURKEY 

dnzdeniz@yahoo.com 

Asst. Prof. Dr. A. Can ÖZCAN 

Izmir University of Economics, Dept. of Industrial Design 

Izmir, TURKEY 

can.ozcan@ieu.edu.tr 

Abstract 1. Introduction 

Crime is a daily occurrence of the contemporary urban 

life. Particularly in urban environments, people experience 

crime in different and varied formats. It is also believed 

that particular types of crime can be reduced by a better 

design and maintenance of the built environment as weW 

as public and personal safety tools. Using design to reduce 

opportunities for crime Is known as Crime Prevention through 

Environmental Design (CPTED). CPTED advocates that a better 

design and an effective use of the built environment can lead 

to a decrease In crime and the fear of crime, as well as an 

improvement ofthe quality of life. Although CPTED has been 

effectively used for more than 40 years to reduce crime and 

improve a community's quality of life, it has been criticized for 

its limitations. As the main argument ofthis particular study, 

design as a tool does not serve in one, and a positive way. Any 

design move brings about a counter design reaction especially 

in conflicting situations where opposing parties like criminal- 

victim or offender-defender exist. 

Keywords: crime, design, crime prevention through 

environmental design, design for crime. 

Crime is a dally occurrence of the contemporary urban life. 

In urban environments, people experience crime or fear of 

crime in public places that diminishes people's quality of 

life. Especially, there are increasing rates of street crimes and 

violence against persons, in every major city. That is why 

increasing attention is being paid to crime prevention through 

design. 

It is obvious that particular types of crime and fear of crime 

can be reduced by a better design and maintenance ofthe 

built environment. In this case, in areas where opportunities 

for crime and fear of crime are high, environmental design 

can play a crucial role in reducing opportunities for crime and 

improving perceived safety. 

Although CPTED has been effectively used for more than 40 

years to reduce crime and Improve a community's quality 

of life. It has been criticized for its limitations. Design as a 

tool does not serve in one, and a positive way. Any design 

move brings about a counter design reaction especially in 

conflicting situations where opposing parties like criminal- 

victim or offender-defender exist. In this study, the main 

purpose is while examining the relationship between crime 

and the spatial built environment by measuring the principles 

of CPTED to analyse and present also the ANTI-CPTED design 

tools ofthe offending parties.

2. Different Approaches to Crime and Crime Prevention 

through Design 

2.1. Understanding Crime and Fear of Crime 

Although the question-what is crime-seems to have a Sim pie 

answer. It does not have a clearly defined answer People 

have differing views of what Is considered as a criminal 

act and what is not. Unfortunately, crime and the fear of 

crime are getting one of the most serious problems of cities 

and today there are increasing rates of street crimes and 

violence against persons. It is obvious that particular types 

of crime and fear of crime can be reduced by a better design 

and maintenance ofthe built environment. Crime and anti 

social behaviour are more likely to occur Ifthe design ofthe 

built environment is unsuccessful. Briefly, every person who 

lives in cities is potential victims for any crime incidents. 

2.2. Crime Prevention through Environmental Design 

CPTED Is an approach combining psychology, behavioural 

and learning theory that focuses attention on the physical 

environment, rather than the social environment and also 

primarily tackles crimes such as street robbery and vandalism, 

as well as fear of cnme In public places. CPTED advocates that 

the proper design and effective use of the built environment 

can lead to a decrease in cnme and the fear of crime, as well as 

an improvement of the quality of life. 

CPTED strategies mainly fall into four broad categones; 

territonal reinforcement, surveillance, access control and 

space management. Territorial reinforcement is one of the 

crucial points In the concept of CPTED. Community ownership 

of public space sends positive signals to the community. In 

other words, places that feel owned and cared for are likely 

to be used and revisited. People are also more likely to be 

protective of places with which they feel some connection. At 

that point, effective design, planning and space management 

help to stimulate natural community policing. 

People feel safe in public areas when they can see and interact 

with others, particularly when they are connected with 

that space. Criminals are often hesitated from committing 

crime in places that are well-supervised. In this case, natural 

surveillance can be achieved by creating effective sightllnes 

between public and pnvate space which include access ways 

and meeting places. On the other hand, matching lighting 

types with crime risk and using attractive landscaping are 

also crucial. 

Access control is another point that physical and symbolic 

barners can be used to attract, orientate or restrict pedestrian 

and vehicle movement. They minimise opportuniries for crime 

and increase the effort required to commit crime. By making 

It clear where people can and cannot go, it becomes difficult 

for criminals to reach potential vicrims and targets. Effective 

access control can be achieved by crearing landscapes and 

physical locations that channel and group pedestrians into 

areas. 

Finally, space management is linked to the principle of 

territorial reinforcement. It ensures that space is well used 

and maintained. Strategies include activity coordination, 

site cleaniiness, rapid repair of vandalism and graffiri and 

the refurbishment of decayed physical elements {McCamley, 

2001). 

2.3. Crime Prevention through Product Design 

If designers can prevent an object or a place being targeted 

by manipulating opportunities via design planning and 

details, it is possible to prevent the crime occurrence. Crime 

Prevention through Product Design involves integrating 

protective features into products in order to reduce their 

potential to become targets of criminal activity, as well 

as preventing their use as instruments of crime. It also 

emphasizes integrarion between a product and its protective 

features, which is a more effective and efficient approach 

than later relying on standard target-hardening measures 

for security (Clarke, 1999). 

In addition to the physical features of the sparial built 

environment, furnishing and the details of designed street 

furniture are also crucial In order to prevent crime and the 

fear of crime in public places. Products or any details may 

somerimes increase the possibility of crime by encouraging 

criminals or potenrial offenders.

Figure 1. Crime Reduction through Product Design (Lester, A., 

"Crime Reduction through Product Design", Trends and Issues 

in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 206, Australian Institute of 

Criminology, Canberra). 

3. Measuring the principles of CPTED 

In this study, design features ofthe area and whether or not 

it has any impacts on crime and the fear of crime have been 

considered in the light ofthe official crime data, systematic 

observation and user questionnaire. In orderto clarify whether 

there are relationships between design and crime or not, users 

of Konak Square have been asked detailed questions about 

usage and design characteristics ofthe area In addition to the 

systematic observations. 

. . .»fi-'-,' -P 

• " ^ 

Figure 2. General view from Konak Square 

3.1. Crime Characteristics ofthe Study Area 

Considering the official crime records, the types of crime In case 

area are classified as; pickpocketing, snatching, wounding, theft 

from shop and forgery. In addition to the recorded crimes, there 

are another types of crime or anti-social behaviour which are 

not recorded but existed in study area; such as physical or verbal 

harassment or vandalism have been considered according to the 

results ofthe questionnaire and interviews with police officers. 

At that point, the safety questionnaire has consistently 

reported that there are specific differences between recorded 

incidents of crime and the fear of crime of the respondents. 

In other words, users of Konak Square perceive their risk to 

be significantly higher and therefore discourage people from 

using the area, particularly at night. Another crucial point is 

that users ofthe study area, particulariy women, feel Insecure 

and vulnerable to crime especially after dark and the perceived 

fear of crime discourages them from using the area. 

Figure 3. Konak Square-2006 

3.2. Design Characteristics of the Study Area 

In order to measure the principles of CPTED, Konak Square 

has been selected as a study area as being one ofthe most 

important and recently redesigned public space of Izmir. One 

ofthe main problem ofthe area is its incompatible activities 

that make the area crowded, disordered and thus, dangerous 

in many ways. However, considering the public spaces, the 

area should have been overlooked by surrounding activities 

in orderto be safer. 

Figure 4. Design details from Konak Square

In addition, poorly lighted areas such as pedestrian routes or 

around quay or potential concealment areas such as public 

toilets or in and around of subway provide hiding chance 

for potential offenders and also Increase fear of crime of the 

users of the area. On the other hand, because of several ways 

Into and out of an area, there are potential escape routes for 

potential criminals. It has also been considered that, criminal 

activities are more likely to occur If spaces are unwelcoming. 

4. Results 

Figure 5. Design details from Konak Square 

Figure 6. Night views 

In this study, the respondents have provided a rich source of 

data, concerning their personal safety concerns in and around 

of the study area. Although the findings support Crime 

Prevention through Environmental Design theory in many 

aspects, it also highlights the positive and negative effects 

ofdesign on crime. The study area has been analyzed In the 

light of these principles; lighting, sightllnes, concealment 

and entrapment spots, surveillance and visibility by others, 

land use mix and sense of ownership. At that point, the safety 

questionnaire has consistently reported that there are specific 

differences between recorded incidents of crime and fear of 

crime of the respondents. 

Although the recent design of Konak Square does not 

completelyadjusttothe principles of CPTED, itcan be accepted 

as "developed" when the former design of the area has been 

considered. The first specific finding is that the numbers of 

crimes in Konak Square have decreased after redesign ofthe 

area. Konak Square includes vaned user profiles that use the 

area for many purposes. The area is an over-crowded public 

space during day time, because of being the intersection 

point for public transportation, and having official buildings, 

commercial places and shopping possibilities. 

It Is obvious that complicated situation of the area creates 

some security problems in Konak Square. In this case, limiting 

some of these incompatible activities may help to reduce 

the population of the area and thus, it makes the area more 

Identified. In orderto do that, some activities could have been 

kept away from the area. These kinds of precautions which 

limit the activities reduce and control the population of the 

area; it may also help to be more stable and secure. 

The results of the safety questionnaire also have shown that 

users of Konak Square have not been satisfied with the security 

precautions ofthe area, in this case, they need additional security 

precautions in order to feel safe in i

Clarke, R.V. 1999. Reducing Opportunities for Crime, Paper 

prepared for the UN Workshop on Community Involvement in 

Crime Prevention, Organized bythe Ministry of Justice ofthe 

Argentine Republic Buenos Aires. 

Clarke, R. V. and Mayhew/, R 1980. Designing out Crime. 

London: H.M.S.O. 

Ekblom, P 1995. 'Less Crime, By Design'. Annuals of the 

American Academy of Political and Social Science, 539: 114- 

129. 

Ekblom, R 1997. Gearing Up Against Crime: a Dynamic 

Framework to Help Designers Keep up with the Adaptive 

Criminal in a Changing World, International Journal of Risk, 

Security and Crime Prevention, Vol 2/4:249-265. 

Felson, M. and Clarke, R.V. 1998. Opportunity Makes the 

Thief Crime Detection and Prevention Series, Paper 98. Police 

Research Group. London: Home Office. 

Lester, A. "Crime Reduction Through Product Design", Trends 

and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 206, Australian 

Institute of Criminology, Canberra. 

McCamley, Phil. June, 2001. Crime, Design and Urban Planning: 

from Theory to Practice, the Royal Australian Planning Institute 

Magazine, New Planner. 

ODPM. 2004. Safer Places: The Planning System and Crime 

Prevention. Office ofthe Deputy Prime Minister,Eland House, 

Bressenden Place, London.

C I T I E S A N D T H E D E S T R U C T I O N O F H U M A N I D E N T I T Y 

Michelle Ann Pepin 

Doctor, Learning & Teaching Co-ordinator 

School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment 

Nottingham Trent University 

United Kingdom 

michelle.pepin@ntu.ac.uk 

Abstract 

The next 20 to 25 years will see unprecedented growth in 

the size and scale of our cities. 2007 marks the first time in 

history that those living within an urban context outnumber 

those living in rural environments; by 2030 this will reach a 

staggering 5 billion (or 70%) of the world's population. The 

world stands on the brink of cities facing societal collapse, 

chaos and conflict. Architecture has always been considered 

to reflect its political, economic, social and cultural context, 

nowhere is this more evident than within the city. A call to 

democratise environments In line with a new global political 

ethos seems to favour a notion of non-Identity as our cities 

become increasingly homogenised to meet the needs of 

diverse populations. Conflict theory contends that protection 

of our human identity is so profound that a threat to that 

identity will lead to conflict. This raises concerns about the 

destruction of human identity within our cities and the 

inevitableconflictthat this will perpetuate, exposing the irony 

of democratising environments where the very notions they 

strive to uphold become the greatest threats to human agency. 

This paper poses questions vital for design and designers in 

the 21=' Century. 

CITIES ANDTHE DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN IDENTITY 

This paper looks forward suggesting a scenario of megacities 

on the brink of societal collapse, chaos and conflict. While 

the issues and concerns facing these cities of the future are 

profound, this work focuses on issues of human identity, where 

a fundamental human need to establish the sense of who we 

are is compromised by a global political ethoswhich dictates its 

manifestation through environmental democratisatlon. Along 

the way, it raises vital questions for design and designers In the 

21 st Century: How does, or can the city respond to changing 

contexts and in so doing, provide a sense of identity? 

Half of the world's population now live in an urban context 

with 2007 marking the first time in the history of our planet 

that urban residents outnumber those in rural areas. Estimates 

suggest that this will rise to over 70%, or 5 billion ofthe world's 

population by 2030. The speed and scale of this growth will 

however be more rapid in less developed communities. 

Developed regions will account for between 8% and 11% of 

the increase while developing regions see a rise of between 

89% and 92% living within urbanised contexts. A 2005 report 

commissioned by the World Bank on Global Urban Expansion 

suggests that by 2030 the built up area of developing country 

cities will treble (from 200 000 sq km to over 600 000 sq 

km). Additionally, while population densities generally are 

showing a declining trend due to rising incomes, the density 

in developing regions will be expected to reach over 8000 

inhabitants per square kilometre, while that of developed 

countries will increase by two and half times with a population 

density of 3000 per square kilometre (World Bank, Report on 

Dynamics of Global Urban Expansion). The global population 

presently stands at between 6.5 and 7 billion (having more than 

doubled in the last 40 years ofthe 20"" Century-from 3 billion 

in 1959 to over 6 billion by the close of that Century). By 2030 

slum dwellers will account for around 2 billion of the wodd's 

global population which is estimated to reach 8.1 billion. 

Reports also suggest that the rural population will stabilise at 

around 3 or 3.1 billion. The slum population will form part of

the urban context accounting for 2 in every 5 people (Figures 

taken from United Nations statistical databases). Previously 

derived social and cultural human frames of reference will 

no longer be relevant. What are therefore the new frames 

of reference likely to be? What sort of human identities are 

these likely to project? What responsibility do designers ofthe 

2P' Century have for creating the reference points? Or even 

do designers have some sort of perceived moral or ethical 

responsibility in this? Is there a conflict between sustainability 

and commodlfication driven by increased income levels? How 

do these questions relate to global mass urbanisation? 

By 2005, over 3 per cent of the world's population lived 

outside their country of origin. Economic migrants are the 

wodd's fastest growing group of migrants and additionally, 

about half of these migrants are women. England now ranks 

fourth in the v/orld for population density, with city densities 

higher than those of China, India or Japan. 2006 research by 

the Optimum Population Trust think-tank warns that while 

governments globally have tended to focus on the economic 

impact of migration, they have significandy failed to grasp 

potentially devastating environmental impacts.They urgently 

warn of massive resource and energy shortages facing even 

developed regions; concerns which so far appear substantially 

ignored (Optimum Population Trust). London currently boasts 

a resident population which represents each of the 192 

countries on earth. 

Hundreds of thousands of people continue to be uprooted by 

war, human rights abuse and natural disaster (some 19 million 

people currently fall within this category); these movements 

often occur between or within the poorest or least stable 

countries and consequendy those which are least equipped 

to deal with the issues this causes. Notions of identity and the 

establishment of the sense of who we are can no longer be, if 

It ever was, geographically contained. As a consequence, our 

human identity and relationship to place seems to become 

Increasingly fragile in the face of these global and global 

urbanisation trends. 

The city, as it has stood through time, is a place of marked 

contrast. A signification ofthe kaleidoscopic political, economic, 

social and cultural images of hope, power, leadership and 

wealth, simultaneous manifestation of utter despair, poverty. 

isolation, hopelessness, crime, corruption and violence, add to 

this a colliding symphony of odour and sound and the vision 

of the city becomes whole. Architecture has always been 

considered to reflect its political, economic, social and cultural 

context; arguably nowhere Is this more evident than within 

the city. However it would also seem that increasingly, while 

cities continue to reflect political and economic images, those 

images that reflect social and cultural contexts are becoming 

less evident, or at the very least, the social and cultural images 

which are reflected bear little relevance to notions of place or 

'traditionally held' cultural identity symbols. 

Architecturally, the discipline acknowledges the human 

being's relationship with their environment, recognising that 

the architectural landscape provides a built context for its 

people. Constructions of our expenences and understandings, 

are conditioned by the environmental images that surround 

us. The sense of who we are is intertwined with our 

environmental contexts. Consequently the city, and the 

architectural landscape that it presents, form vita! elements in 

the development of our sense of self. 

Increasingly there is a call to democratise our environments in 

line with a global political ethos. In parallel our cities are set to 

experience unprecedented growth and expansion not only in 

size, but also in the diversity of urban population, the scale of 

which does not yet seem to have been widely acknowledged 

within mainstream design discourse. With this comes a notion 

of spiralling anonymity and non-identity as traditionally held 

frames of reference for identity construction are threatened 

or rendered irrelevant. Bevan suggests that'architecture has 

become a proxy by which ideological, ethnic and nationalist 

battles are... fought' (2006:9). Whilst he relates this to conflict, 

speaking of the repression of architecture as symbolic of the 

repression of people, he also adds into this the destruction 

of buildings in the name of progress; 'as cities evolve and 

change, so structures become redundant'(11). This does not 

however diminish the ideological or political act which as a 

consequence is manifest architecturally. From an architectural 

position structures may become 'redundant' in terms what 

the new environmental context strives to express, but how an 

environment contributes to notions of human identity cannot 

so easily be consigned to redundancy. Issues of identity bound 

up with nationhood and culture,forexample, narional identity,

cultural identity and so on are brought into focus. The term 

global identity emerges perhaps as an alternative, hovêver 

this is tainted with the elitism born of globalisation, and in 

a wodd where notfonally 40% of urban residents, certainly 

within developing regions, will be living in slum conditions, as 

outlined previously, this seems to be at odds with itself before it 

begins. Conflict theory contends that protection of our human 

identity is so profound that a threat to that identity will lead to 

conflict; establishing and protecting the sense of who we are is 

non-negotiable. This contribution warns ofthe consequences 

ofthe destruction of human identity within our cities in terms 

of the inevitable conflict that this will perpetuate. The work 

also points out the Irony contained within the concepts of 

control, authority and order in the name of democratisatlon, 

and consequently demonstrated through environmental 

manifestation, but which in themselves pose some of the 

greatest threats to human agency and the human capacity of 

choice in the development of sense of self, of identity. 

The obvious question which is posed here is how cities work in 

terms of breeding conflict. Allied to that it is necessary to identify 

a methodology that will provide a useful frame within which to 

address this question. As suggested, increasingly emergent is a 

call to democratise environments in line with the global political 

ethos of democratisatlon, a term which Is also ever more being 

used to replace the much maligned one of 'globalisation'. 

While the former concept would seem to engender notions 

of empowerment, protection of human rights and the rights 

of individuals, human equality and human identity, freedom 

of self-determination, along with cultural and social agency, it 

also, and equally, would seem to contradict this. Environmental 

democratisatlon seems conversely also to favour the creation 

of environments that are homogenised, sterilised, synchronised 

and ordered to accommodate the growing diversity within and 

range of cultures, gender, races, religions and creeds that are 

set to become part of and form our Century urban societies. 

Add to this the unprecedented growth in the size of cities and 

number of inhabitants of those cities. What emerges is a global 

vision of megacities striving to uphold a semblance of political, 

economic and social order whilst simultaneously struggling to 

maintain even a basic infrastructure that will accommodate and 

facilitate the provision of the resources, goods and services to 

support the growing and potentially ever increasingly diverse 

population. Mexico City is a current example ofa megacity. Its 

almost 12 million inhabitants suffer from appalling levels of 

pollution, traffic congestion, inadequate water supplies, social 

problems and endemic crime. Johannesburg and its satellite 

towns - satellite in name oniy - (with a total population of 

around 10 million) is not far off this either with estimates 

suggesting that by 2015 Johannesburg will become the 12''' 

largest city in the wodd. 

With the massive increase in urban populations, one ofthe 

most crucial issues facing developing countries will be the 

property rights system and the rights to property ownership 

as ways of overcoming poverty. De Soto (2000) makes a 

compelling case which aligns property rights with creation/ 

generation of capital, suggesting that the differences 

between advanced nations and the rest of the world 'largely' 

parallels property rights systems. Essentially De Soto argues 

that those not integrated or 'legalised' into formal property 

systems are not connected Into economic systems and are 

thus not accountable to, nor can they be accountable within, 

governmental economic process, thus they neither contribute 

to, nor benefit from the advantages this can bring. Whilst this 

may currently hold true for developing regions, the expansion 

of urban centres in developed countries will not be immune 

from this concern either. Already growing property demand 

pushes the opportunity of property ownership beyond the 

financial reach of many, and with it the capital generating 

opportunity created through property ownership. 

Conflict Theory and Conflict Resolution Theory 

However, let us set these issues aside for a moment and 

consider what conflict theory brings to the fore. This contends 

that the establishment and protection of our human identity 

is so profound that a threat to that identity will lead to conflict; 

establishing and protecting the sense of who we are is non- 

negotiable. Conflict theory and human need theory are closely 

allied and agree on what are termed basic human needs, or 

BHNs: These are the need for recognition, security and identity. 

Work in conflict theory extends this contending that the former 

(recognition and security) are predeterminants for the latter; i.e. 

establishment and protection of the self (measured through 

recognition along with the security to establish who we are, as 

well as the right to make choices in this in terms of our human 

agency) are necessary for a sense of identity to be achieved.

Proponents of conflict theory and human need theory (for 

example, beginning with the early work of Burton in 1962 

through to 2001, and including key individuals in the field such 

as Deng and Zartman 1991, Doyle and Gough 1991, Druckman 

1993, Fisher 1990, Sandole 1990-93, van der Merwe 1989- 

93, Galtung 1976-96, Mitchell through 1990-2002 and Dunn 

2001-05 - the body of literature is vast and well established) 

all agree on the fundamental position that conflict arises 

when identity is threatened. Furthermore, in terms of conflict 

resolution theory whereas as wants are negotiable, needs 

are not; the need to establish the sense of who we are, our 

identity, and the right to choose this, is a fundamental and 

profound human need which cannot be negotiated. Human 

need theory also deals with Issues of human rights suggesting 

that human nghts are associated with particular systems of 

government and are therefore distinguishable from BHNs. 

Conflict resolution theory however acknowledges that just as 

the human need to establish our identity is non-negotiable, 

where human nghts become constitutionally entrenched 

these become a de facto need and are therefore equally non- 

negotiable (Doyle and Gough 1991). 

Conflicts range from minor disagreement through to violent 

confrontation or expression. At the core of conflict, almost 

without exception, challenges to identity can be identified 

as either the sole or significantiy contributory underpinning 

cause or influence which, if not addressed, will result In 

an escalation of the conflict Conflicts over identity are 

frequently difficult to determine in the first instance as the 

outward expression often, or even generally, masks the actual 

cause. These conflicts are also particulady difficult to resolve 

because 'what might work' in terms of conflict resolution is 

not considered to be something which can be negotiated. 

Conflicts about identity which are permitted to escalate can 

ultimately become so complex that they may never truly 

achieve lasting resolution because of the necessity to resort 

to a negotiated position at best or where systems of power 

and authority override the individual identity need. Identity 

conflict can be found in every sphere of society and at every 

scale of confrontation. 

Key elements of identity construction from the position 

of BHNs and conflict theory are reflected In the complex 

Interrelationship between recognition, security and identity 

along with the right to make choices regarding our identity 

Complex conflicts over identity, and those which are 

consequendy exceptionally difficult to resolve, normally occur 

when individual components relating to identity construction 

are either thwarted or threatened in different and often 

opposing ways. 

Phenomenology as methodology; its relationship to the 

environmental context and conflict theory 

Phenomenology provides the frame for an ontological 

epistemology which relates the sense of who we are, our 

identity, to the environmental context explaining that our 

identity is constructed through the lived expenence and that 

this lived experience occurs within an environmental context 

Since the work by Husserl In 1931, /deos; General Introduction 

to Pure Ptienomenology, and subsequently developed 

through the 1954 and 1978 texts by Heidegger concerning 

the study of the nature of being, which linked notions of 

building, dwelling and thinking as fundamental to the human 

concept of experience and existence, the nature of being has 

been considered to be concerned with experiences and the 

expression of those experiences in defining the human being's 

comprehension oftheir belngness. Heidegger (in translation 

from his text Vortrage und Aufsatze, Bauen Woiinen Denl

developed by others such as Merleau-Ponty (1960s), Satre 

(1958) and Casey in the 1990s. Phenomenology has been 

used architecturally to provide the methodological frame 

that endeavours to reconcile the esoteric nature of space with 

a 'lived-in' space which acts as a frame of human experience 

in its full complexity. The architectural landscape contains 

us as human beings, providing the context for and of our 

experiences. The link can then be made of the synchronicity 

between the architectural context and the contribution of 

this towards establishment of the human inhabitant's sense 

of identity. 

While the nexus between phenomenology and the 

architectural context is well established; the relationship 

between phenomenology and conflict theory as well as 

that between the architectural context and conflict theory 

are less so for these require a cross disciplinary engagement 

between architecture and international relations' enduring 

concerns with peace and conflict. The relationship between 

phenomenology and conflict theory works as follows. Conflict 

theory asserts that if identity is threatened then conflict is the 

likely and inevitably result. However conflict theory largely 

relies on human need theory (which identifies as BHNs the 

need for recognition, security and identity - with the former 

being subsumed into the latter) for its description of identity 

construction. What precisely is being threatened remains 

unclear. Both these theoretical areas lack an ontological 

epistemology within their discourse or at the core of their 

assertions about the nature of identity. Phenomenology posits 

that human identity, how we develop and attain the sense of 

who we are, is bound up with the lived experience and that 

this is part of a synchronicity and continuum of experience 

that is contained within a particular context at least part of 

which is related to the environmental. 

Empirical research conducted in squatter camps in South 

Africa between 1996 and 2004, principally around the 

migration of rural inhabitants to urban centres and the 

subsequent violence which occurred as a result of forced 

removal or the threat of removal of squatters from shacks 

to townships on the outskirts of the urban centres, supports 

the assertions of those such as Bremner (1998), an eminent 

South African architect and critic of apartheid architecture. 

Additionally research also suggests that the ontological 

epistemology presented in the phenomenological discourse 

holds true within the context of conflict and human need 

theory. Rural migrants had moved to urban centres to join 

the perceived urban economy. However the frames of 

reference held by these people in no way prepared them for 

the changed contexts that they were about to encounter. 

Contrary to many perceptions, work opportunities were 

limited and where those did exist, the skills and experiences 

of the migrants did not prepare them for entry into the 

labour market. People were rendered jobless and homeless 

and consigned to join swelling squatter numbers with very 

little real prospect of emerging from this. Their entire sense 

of self was under threat as they were forced to absolute 

poverty and living conditions of total human degradation. 

In a country of eleven 'official' languages (and others not 

rendered as 'official'), even basic communication was 

frequently problematic. Squatter numbers exploded and 

still migrants continued to besiege areas already hopelessly 

over crowded. Illegal migrants from neighbouring countries 

contribute to the problems. To compound matters even 

further governmental obfuscation over the status of 

homeless people (homelessness was a term used to describe 

those rendered homeless due to political structures under 

the apartheid system) post 1992 consigned the squatters to 

become 'informally housed communities'. The violence that 

erupts in these areas is fast, anonymous and unaccounted. 

These areas remain largely no-go areas, and violent conflict 

is endemic. Not only had these people had their identity 

stripped in terms of human dignity, they had and continue 

to be totally marginalised, and in consequence segregated, 

through the simple act of reclassification. The text by Cohen 

and Deng supports this finding, suggesting that the South 

African Government fails to recognise the millions of 'black' 

South Africans who lack land or adequate housing due to 

'displacement'under the apartheid system (see Cohen and 

Deng 1998). While many describe themselves as homeless, 

their plight of homelessness is now unrecognised. Bremner 

describes a new landscape whose properties are associated 

with the fear begotten of endemic crime that transcend 

the spatial; 'new urban spaces, new divisions of power, new 

urban cultures, whose primary properties are segregation, 

marginalisation, privatisation, militarization and fortification 

are emerging'{1998:B2).The irony ofthis statement is that it 

is made within the context ofa newly'democratic society'.

How do cities work to create conflict 

In simple terms, because the environmental context fails 

to provide reference points for its human inhabitant, it (the 

environment) fails to support a concretlsation of identity. As a 

consequence conflict resides between the human inhabitant 

and their environment. That outward demonstration of 

conflict subsequently manifests itself in different ways does 

not diminish that its root cause lies over issues of identity. 

Architectural discourse recognises the relationship between 

the human inhabitant and the environmental context and 

extends this through phenomenological methodology to 

contend that the environmental context, the architectural 

context that is, becomes integral to the development of 

human Identity. The role played by the environmental image 

becomes a profound contributor in the process of'beingness". 

In this delicately orchestrated synchronicity the objects and 

events of our lives are elevated to signs and symbols of greater 

understanding and significance. The architectural landscape 

emerges as more than merely a built form. Architecture 

can, for example reflect a polirical ethos, a narional identity, 

regional idenrity, cultural identity, the home becomes an 

outward concrerised manifestarion of its inhabitant and so 

on. In other words the architectural context is inextricably 

intertwined with the sense of who we are. 

Conflict theory is brought to the fore as a mechanism by or 

through which to explain the conflict which results from a 

threat, or challenge to, the environmental context. Equally, 

conversely, and perhaps more commonly understandable, 

the environmental context may be changed to reflect a 

changed status, such as polirical status, or new 'Identity' of 

inhabitant. For example buildings and streets, even dries are 

often renamed following the overthrow of political regimes; 

monuments acquire new meaning, street gangs will 'tag' a 

physical environment to demarcate the area with a particular 

identity, and physical landmarks may be forced to make way 

in the name of progress. In other words as a result of the 

need to establish an externalised manifestarion of identity, 

the environment is manipulated in some way to become 

a reflection of this. This process of changed Identification 

can result in anything from minor resentment to violent 

confrontarion as the inhabitants of that environment struggle 

to regain or bring their sense of identity in alignment with a 

sense of Identificarion with their environment. Environmental 

fortification is often an attempt to preserve a particular status 

quo ulrimateiy leading to segregarion and/or marginalisarion. 

Many European cities have for some rime now been adopting 

compact city policies In an endeavour to limit urban expansion 

and balance environmental impact These policies foster 

increased population density through Infill and intensification 

of existing urban settiements simply leading to different 

environmental concerns.There Is a greater mix in demographic 

profile leading often to either a sense of Isolation one the one 

hand or a type of cultural 'ghettoism' on the other. Clashes 

between the dominant community group and the'infill' result 

as a consequence ofthe destabilisation occurring within the 

existing urban structure. 

Our relarionship to place emerges as more vital perhaps than 

ever before, yet equally that relarionship now seems set to 

come under greater threat than ever previously experienced. 

Initially the work posed a series of questions vital to designers 

in the 2r' Century: about cities and changing contexts, about 

human frames of reference, even about perceived moral or 

ethical standpoints, about sustainability and commodlfication. 

These are essentially quesrions about the role of design in the 

21 "Century in terms ofthe products, services and architectural 

landscape, the cultural reference points for society that are 

created in the face ofthe Increasing fragility of human identity 

as consequence of the profound global urbanisation trends 

which will be faced In the next 20 to 25 years. 

Theperceptionisthatdemocratisingenvironmentswillinsome 

way eliminate identity and so cause some sort of cataclysmic 

conflict eruption. This is not the case. All that needs to happen 

is for people, human beings, to be faced with environments 

that fail to support the human sense of which we are, removes 

or subjugates human agency to environmental authority and 

in so doing creates environments that ulrimateiy alienate.The 

state of conflict becomes endemic within and at every level of 

society. It is complex, harder to identify and infinitely harder 

to resolve. 

The architecture ofa city expresses the very being ofa society; 

that being (the being of society) is an ordered being, of 

systems, power and authority; a regulatory framework of the

manner in which a particular society functions. Architecture 

serves the powers in piace, projecting the socioeconomic and 

political views of the existing power. From this notion emerges 

the concept of position, how the human inhabitant positions 

themselves, or is positioned, in relation to that framework 

which the environmental context has established. Through 

this notion of position, we are immediately cast back to the 

phenomenological context. Each individual occupies a space 

which at that time is uniquely and entirely their own, yet they 

continue to be subject to the authority of that space. The 

environmental authority conditions, the human inhabitant 

is merely temporary and provisional and in this process they 

become irrelevant and anonymous. These conceptions of 

a human being who is both irrelevant and anonymous, but 

simultaneously undergoing a lived experience which is in 

some way being conditioned by their environmental context 

is a contradictory relationship and must, if conflict theory is to 

be acknowledged, inevitably lead to conflict. 

A number of texts have emerged dealing with architecture 

as power system; specifically Dovey (1999), Framing Places: 

Mediating power in built form and Flndley (2005), Building 

Change: Architecture, Politics and Cultural Agency and most 

recently, Bevan (2006), The Destruction of Memory: Architecture 

at War. Findiey describes four spatial strategies used to 

exercise power which he identifies as: the construction of 

hierarchies, segregation, marginalisadon and finally, long- 

term, large-scale mechanisms of spatial transformation like 

apartheid, colonialism and globalization. He suggests that 

when these are extended to the architectural scale, they 

become'so enormous that individuals have little leverage to 

defy them or their attitudes of superiority' (Findiey 2005:4). 

The work continues asserting that 'such an exercise of power 

robs peopleof the ability to act on their own behalf In political, 

economic, cultural and spatial terms. The denial of agency is 

both a brutal outcome of repressive power and the seed of 

... resistance to it' (4-5). The environmental context is, by this 

process, an instrument of and conducive to conflict despite, or 

because of, its assertion of authority and order. 

While the 1954 Hague Convention made illegal the damage 

to any cultural property during acts of conflict:'It is prohibited 

to commit any acts of hostility directed against historic 

monuments, works of art or places of worship which constitute 

the cultural or spiritual heritage of peoples, and to use them in 

support of the military effort' (Second Protocol to the Hague 

Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property 

in the Event of Armed Conflict, The Hague, March 1999), a 

conference in 1999 In The Hague drew up a Second Protocol 

to the Convention endeavouring to more firmly entrench 

criminal responsibility for damage to such property. Currently 

the United Nations has formed a rapid reaction force to be 

deployed where cultural sites are at threat from war or natural 

disaster. While these developments are pleasing, relatively few 

countries have so farsigned up, and in reality during conflict very 

little regard has been paid to this. For example in Kosovo ethnic 

riots during 2004 saw Orthodox churches and monasteries in 

Prizren severely damaged or destroyed. Reprisals for this led 

to the destruction of the last remaining Mosque in Belgrade. 

Additionally not all property (and/or buildings) which are of 

cultural value are designated in such a way as to fall under this 

protection. In non-conflict situations this would of course not 

apply, acts against that which constitute cultural or spiritual 

heritage would face very little charge of illegality and would 

largely have to rely on public outcry. Ultimately, in more general 

terms, the decisions effecting manifestations of'cultural value' 

are all too often judged or determined by political or economic 

policies based on expediency. 

The discourse on memory study is rapidly becoming well 

established as a discipline in its own right exposing how 

memory is created, manipulated and chosen, forging and 

forming our human sense of who we are and providing the 

position from which to explain the understanding that we 

make of our world. Symbolism is implicitly intertwined within 

the creation of our spaces and places; the inherent identity 

of these that is In consequence created impacts on how they 

are perceived and understood. Constructed from metaphors 

and symbols, visual images and literary narratives, through 

to tangible built forms of the environmental landscape, the 

memories and truths that we come to hold become immersed 

within interpretation ofthe representations that surround us. 

These representations are part ofthe inherent human identity 

construct. 

To describe all the tenets ofdemocracy is notwithin the remit of 

this work other than in their broadest sense as outlined earlier. 

The two greatest threats posed to environmental contexts in

support of human identity are firstly (although not necessarily 

in a hierarchical sense) the subjugation of human agency 

within architectural systems relating to power and authority 

and, secondly, to the increasing calls to stenlise environments 

so as to rid them of all semblance of identification symbols 

whether these be cultural, religious or any other. Opinions on 

these actions are divided. Some suggest this makes for greater 

inclusiveness, social integration and regulation while others 

will argue for the sense of alienation and Isolation from that 

which is familiar and which ultimately engender a sense of 

belonging. The direction and answers are by no means clear 

or simple. But what is incontrovertible Is that environments 

of the future, whether these are within the context of the 

megacity or the compact city, will threaten human identity 

constructs as v/e know them. 

References 

BEVAN, R., 2006.The Destruction of Memory. London; Reaktion 

Books. 

BREMNER, L., 1998. Crime and the emerging landscape of 

post-apartheid Johannesburg. In: Judin, H., and Vladislafic, I., 

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CASEY E. S., 1993. Getting back into place. Bloomington: 

Indiana University Press. 

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Cnsis of Internal Displacement, The Brookings Institution 

Press, Washington D.C. 

DOVEY, K., 1993. Putting geometry in its place: Toward a 

phenomenology ofthe design process. In: Seamon, D., (Ed.), 

Dwelling, seeing and designing:Toward a phenomeno-logical 

ecology (pp. 247-269). Albany, NewYork: SUNY Press. 

DOVEY, K., 1999. Framing Places: Mediating power in built 

form. London, NewYork: Routledge. 

ELLIN, N., (Ed.), 1997. Architecture of Fear. New York: Pnnceton 

Architectural Press. 

FINDLEY, L, 2005. Building Change: Architecture, Politics and 

Cultural Agency. London, NewYork: Routledge. 

HEIDEGGER, M., 1954, Vortrage und Aufsatze, (Bauen Wohnen 

Denken), Veriag Gunther Neske, Pfullingen. 

HEIDEGGER, M., 1978. Basic Writings from Being and Time 

(1927) to The Task of Thinking (1964), Routledge & Kegan Paul 

Ltd., London. 

HUSSERL, E., (Trans by GIBSON, W.R.B.), 1931. Ideas: General 

Introduction to Pure Phenomenology. Woking; Unwin Brothers 

Ltd. 

JUDIN, H., and VLADISLAFIC, I., (Eds.), 1998, Architecture, 

apartheid and after, NAi Publishers, Rotterdam. 

NORBERG-SCHULZ, C, 1971, (New concepts of architecture) 

Existence, Space and Architecture, Studio Vista Limited, 

London. 

NORBERG-SCHULZ, C, 1980. Genius Loci: Toward a 

Phenomenology of Architecture. New York: Rizzoli. 

NORBERG-SCHULZ, C, 1988. Architecture: Meaning and place. 

NewYork: Rizzoli. 

OPTIMUM POPULATION TRUST, Think-Tank Report on Global 

Population Trends, 2006, [online]: Available at http://www. 

optimumpopulation.org/. 

THE WORLD BANK, Transport and Urban Development 

Department, Report on Dynamics of Global Urban Expansion, 

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I N V E N T I N G D E S I G N I D I D M S F R O M T H E P L U R A L I T Y D F I D E N T I T I E S IN 

S O U T H A F R I C A 

Phillip John du Plessis 

ijniversity of Johannesburg, 

Johannesburg, South Afnca 

phild@uj.ac.za 

Abstract 

Products can, and do, provide representations of the identity of 

a nation. The difficulties of appropriate representation in post- 

apartheid South Africa provide a locus for proposing new visual 

idioms, and for examining questions of identity, representation 

and presentation in products. This paper seeks to develop 

strategies for developing new idioms that anse out of the 

questioning of the boundanes of South African identity. Such 

identity is profoundly unstable, making It preferable to maintain 

a plural rather than a single identity for design in South Afncan 

products. The method used seeks to unsettle the hegemony of 

western aesthetics by transforming selected visual and tactile 

features of traditional Afncan art and contemporary Afncan 

crafts Into newstyllstlcfeatures. This ideology is put Into practise 

using strategies which navigate a path between modernity and 

tradition, and is expressed In the form of designs for two sets of 

cudery.The paper concludes by suggesting that the only viable 

way for Africans, so also South Africans, to establish new visually 

representarive identities In a globalised worid Is to reference 

local crafts and traditional artefacts. 

Introduction 

Twelve years Into democracy and South Africans of all 

cultures still wrestle with the idea of a fitting South African 

idenrity. This obsession touches all aspects of our lives, but Is 

especially prevalent In objects and visual devices which have 

the potenrial to symbolise our Identity. The reconstrucrion of 

Identlty(s) and the replacement of symbols Is driven by the 

need to signal that we are a new, democraric nation. 

The need to construct new identities to replace the old raises 

difficulries of inclusion and exclusion, since, on the one 

hand, symbols evoking the apartheid era are Inflammatory 

because of their exclusionary nature, whilst on the other 

objects symbolising tradirional black cultures (the obvious 

choice to represent incluslvity) cannot simply be uncritically 

appropriated without acknowledgement oftheir ownership 

by the cultures In quesrion. Alongside this search for 

appropriate symbols He the difficulties of accommodating 

the often conflicting demands of collective (national) and 

individual (private) idenrities in a country highly sensitive to 

the Imposlrion by one group of its culture (the white minority) 

at the expense of the others (the cultures of the black' 

majority). 

The subject of Idenrity formed part of my masters dissertation, 

tlried Afncan sfy/e' in cast products, which sought to explore 

how new idioms in product design might leglrimately reflect 

the complex nature of South African Idenrity. The dissertation 

proposes a number of strategies for developing these styles, 

or idioms, each strategy finding expression in a range of cast 

cutlery. Here I explain one ofthe approaches by which these 

strategies were developed, and how the strategies were 

applied In the design of two sets of curiery. 

' Black is used by the South African government to denote all non- 

whites, including so-called Coloureds (mulattos), Indians, and 

Asians. 

^ The African style in the title is deliberately ambiguous, since the 

notion of style forms a significant point of departure for discussing 

other concepts such as aesthetics and the exotic.

Towards arî African identity 

Figure 1. South African flag 

In South Africa examples are everywhere of new symbols 

acting as outwardly visible confirmations that the underlying 

structure of our society is changed, from overtly national 

symbols such as the national flag (Figure 1) and national sports 

teams and their supporters (Figure 2), to more commercial 

concerns such as the content of television and radio stations, 

and 'Africanised' interior styling suggestions in decorating 

magazines. 

V. V 

Figure 2. Springbok rugby team supporters 

Successful products designed and made In South Africa also 

become a source of pride for many South Africans, symbolising 

for them the ingenuity and manufacturing prowess of South 

Africans. So it might seem reasonable to expect a South 

African designer to want to create a South African style, and 

nota generalised'African'style. However, there are difficulties 

in claiming that a new style is either'African'or'South African'. 

'African style' Is preferred for this project, because although 

it may be seen as too generalised to allow the creation of a 

specific style, this very openness permits a wider range of 

sources. By contrast, the term 'South African style' Implies the 

creation of a symbol to help construct a national Identity. To 

claim to create such a symbol Is arrogant. I argue that whilst a 

designer can lay claim to creating a style, the adoption of such 

a style as a national symbol can only happen by a process of 

broad consensus. 

Representation and legitimacy: someone's been 

swimming in my sea 

Figure 3. Cartoon by Derek Bauer for The Weekly Mail 

The cartoon (Figure 3) by the late Derek Bauer (1989:64) 

succinctly captures the absurdities surrounding issues of 

ownership, legitimacy, and identity engendered by apartheid 

In South Africa. The Reverend Allan Hendrickse, 'coloured' 

representative and member ofthe tricameral parliament, took 

a swim from one of Port Elizabeth's Whites only beaches in 

January 1987. The then president R W. Botha demanded an 

apology from Hendrickse, and got It. 

On the issue of identity and ownership, Okwui Enwezor, 

artistic director of the 1997 Johannesburg Blennale, sparked 

off an intense debate in the art community of South Africa in 

his paper, Reframing ttie black subject: ideology and fantasy in 

contemporary Soutf) African representation (1997). The paper 

challenges the legitimacy ofthe manner in which many white 

artists represent the black body in their work. He believes that 

South African white artists still dominate the arena of visibility, 

and in their subject matter frequently (mi5)represent the 

black body as abject. Such (mis)representations work against 

the project of the rainbow nation and deny the creation of a 

new non-racist, national identity. The paper challenges the

legitimacyofthemannerin which many white artists represent 

the biack body in their work. He believes that South African 

white artists still dominate the arena of visibility, and In their 

subject matter frequently (mls}represent the black body as 

abject^ Such (mis)representadons work against the project of 

the rainbow nation and deny the creation of a new non-racist, 

national identity. 

Enwezor's paper elicited a barrage of responses in Grey areas: 

representation, identity and politics in contemporary South 

African art (Atkinson & Breltz 1999). it Is not possible to present 

the full range of responses here. 1 sum up the criticisms 

exclusively because they suit the purposes of this research. 

fVlany ofthe respondents supported and developed Enwezor's 

cntlcisms alongside their own criticisms of his paper. 

Firstly, Enwezor's Idea of how representation works fails 

to recognize that there is a significant difference between 

speaking about and speaking for {representing and being 

representative). White artists are not necessarily claiming to 

speak on behalf of blacks in South Africa when they speak 

about their repression. Secondly, Axel (1999:42-46) notes 

that Enwezor seems to suggest the apartheid notion of the 

male white body representing our national identity should be 

replaced by the male black body for the same purpose. This 

Is problematic because it supplants one monolithic idea of 

national identity with another. In the process It continues to 

disenfranchise women and other races. 

^The abject is a term used in a specialised sense in art criticism.The 

psychiatrist Julia Kristeva interpreted this term in a manner that was 

applauded by feminists, in her book Powers of Horror (1984). Dino 

Felluga of Purdue University (2003: online) summarises Kristeva's 

abject as "...the human reaction (horror, vomit) to a threatened 

breakdown in meaning caused by the loss ofthe distinction between 

subject and object or between self and other" The abject "...has to 

do with "what disturbs identity, system, order. What does not respect 

borders, positions, rules" (ibid). However, It Is not at all clear that 

Enwezor means to use the word In this sense. It seems to read, In most 

places, as the commonly understood 'without dignity', or'wretched'. 

See, for instance, pages 386, 388, and 397 of Enwezor (in Oguibe & 

Enwezor 1999). 

Thirdly, Enwezor is accused of performing the same (mis) 

representative error of which he accuses the artists. By 

Imputing intentions to the ardsts that they do not themselves 

express, they are robbed of the right to speak for themselves. 

Fourthly, Burnett (1999:79-84) points out that to disallow 

representation of, and access to, the other'' is to set up 

apartheid-like boundaries between race, culture, gender and 

sexuality. 

One can take this last point a step further. This restriction 

of representation does not take account of the Importance 

of the other In the construction of the self. This point Is 

especially Important In South Africa today because the 

old habits of polarising and separating people have not 

disappeared, In addition, the categones of race, language, 

gender, and nationality do not exist in any essentialist way, 

but are constructs. Their boundanes are fluid and blurred, 

so that any understanding of representation, advocacy 

(being representative), and Identity formation (e.g, 'national 

Identity') must first take account of the Inherent artificiality 

and instability of its own, created, boundanes. 

if the construction of identity In post-apartheid South Africa 

is to be In any sense democratic then it must encompass both 

the speaking about and speaking for across al! previously 

artificially constructed boundanes. Under these conditions It 

becomes difficult to conceive of a single national identity. In 

addition, the debate about identity in the arts forms only one 

component ofa national identity, and it Is a debate that Is likely 

to mutate and evolve along with changes In society. Identity 

cannot be fixed or finalised, it can only be a provisional locus 

of discourse about Identity. 

Although the above debate Is primanly situated in the visual 

art world. It has obvious resonances for this project. I have 

not made any direct representation of the (black) body, nor 

''This is a philosophical and sociological term denoting those aspects 

ofthe universe, including people, which we find strange, mysterious 

or alien. The otherness of unfamiliar objects, customs, and people 

from other cultures enables us to see ourselves the way vvfe do 

because it allows the construction of barriers that show where the 

self ends and the other begins. A limitless self is inconceivable.

do I attempt to speak directly about or on behalf of anyone 

in Africa who was, or is repressed. However, my intention to 

reference'traditional'African artefacts to create an identifiable 

style in products means the research must question rights of 

ownership (copyright), appropriation and the representation 

of aspects of traditional cultural artefacts. This is necessitated 

by my status as a westernised white South African male 

attempting to represent something about (black) Africa. 

Before continuing, there are at least two significant differences 

between designed objects and the artworks referred to by 

Enwezorthat must be taken account of. Firstly, designed objects 

and the artworks in question differ in their temporalities. The 

work ofthe artists with whom issue was taken by Enwezor look 

mainly at the recent past and deal primarily with politically 

sensitive questions. This project, on the other hand, although 

looking to be influenced by both a more distant traditional 

African past and a contemporary present, is essentially an 

anticipation of a future reception of newly invented styles. 

The greater temporal distances involved, both forwards and 

backwards in time, makes the research far less politically 

sensitive, shifts the emphasis to issues of economic upliftment, 

and positions it in a commercial wodd where concerns of 

consumerism take precedence over politics. 

Secondly, the nature of designed objects themselves have a 

very different contemplative role to that of artworks, whether 

one is looking at what may be intended or what may be 

interpreted in a designed object. The designer may intend to 

include his or her own individually conceived metaphorical 

or figurative meanings into the design of an object, but the 

intended functionality^ of a designed object is one that is 

agreed upon in a cultural and social context. In addition, 

functionality is a more significant aspect ofa product than It is 

of an artwork, and functionality is influenced by the technology 

used to make the object, the fact of its repeated mechanical 

manufacture, and the means and rationale ofthe commercial 

world by v^hich it Is to bedisseminated. The rangeof constraints 

that a designer deals with thus significantly narrows what may 

be expressed in the first place. Paradoxically, this widens the 

Âlmost any designed object can be used in ways not intended by 

the designer (see Gibson 1979;chapter 8; Dormer 1990:chapter6). 

scope of interpretations because these factors, which are 

outside the designer's control, already encompass aspects of 

the society we live in.The artist, by contrast, has much greater 

control over what he or she may express and also thus has a 

stronger, although by no means definitive, influence on what 

can be interpreted. 

The reception of designed objects, like artworks, is highly 

provisional. However, the many unanticipated uses to which 

an object may be put, and the range of contexts (physical, 

geographical, temporal and social) in which It will be found 

is very different to those of artworks. Thus Its meanings are 

accumulated, or altered, through factors different from 

those of the artwork. The designed objects of this project are 

conceived in an African context, but are meantto be consumed 

and interpreted in a world market. They are Intended to speak 

both about and for Africans. 

Nefarious boundaries: who am I? 

Thus far, identity within the local context of post-apartheid 

South Africa has proved to be profoundly provisional and 

complex. But identity is also shaped by interactions with a 

wider world. South Africa Is seen as the economic powerhouse 

of Africa, and Is the most modernised of African states, and 

thus more globalised than any other region of Africa. It 

has appointed itself as custodian of peace, the overseer of 

development, and the gateway to Africa under the guise of 

various regional bodies - AU, NEPAD, SADEC. Is it reasonable 

to assume that the influence of a post-modern First world is 

probably more pronounced here than elsewhere in Africa? 

There are a number of views of Africa vis-a-vis globalisation, 

modernity and post-modernity which entail complexities too 

lengthy for discussion here^ However, some comments from 

a Postcolonial Studies perspective are relevant to this study, 

and so are worth examining more closely. 

Postcolonial Studies seeks "...privileging particular methods 

and problematics so as to subvert the self confident 

^See Featherstone (1990), and Werbner & Ranger (1996) for a fuller 

discussion.

An important rider to this argument is that no-one should 

be discouraged from creating styles that reference a specific 

traditional 'ethnic'^ aesthetic. To do so would be to commit 

the same errors pointed to by this text. 

Sidney Kasfir, author of African art and authenticity: a text 

with 0 shadow (Oguibe & Enwezor ] 999:88-113), takes issue 

with a similar desire by Western museums and art collectors 

to define and proscribe limits for the notion of an'authentic' 

African art. Kasfir dismantles such categorisation by showing 

that it is not possible to establish valid criteria by which 

boundaries can be established for a 'pure' precolonial Africa, 

free of destructive Western'contamination'and intervention 

in African cultures, or a culturally static period of African 

history. For Kasfir, the reasoning by which the Western art 

world proclaims any African artwork authentic or inauthentic 

is deeply colonial, and in truth merely reflects Western tastes. 

Taste here is the elitism that attends connoisseurship. It is 

the selecting of objects for their status value, such status 

being conferred according to the values and mechanisms 

of Western markets. These markets have scant regard for 

the values of the Africans who conceived, made, and used 

such objects in everyday life (before they became objects 

for elite Western consumption). I am not here equating the 

conditions of inventing a new style with those of collecting 

African art, but wish to point out that it is the same sense 

of elitism that is operative in both spheres in deciding what 

may be termed authentically African. 

It should by now be clear that I take issue with the prescription 

and arrogation that I see as inherent in appending a national 

label to a newly invented style. The label Africa Is also 

problematic, in all of the same ways as described above, but 

has the advantage of allowing a far broader range of strategies 

to emerge for the creation of styles, and is genera! enough 

to circumvent the imposition of expectations regarding a 

South African style, 'Africa' is a deliberate strategy to clear a 

conceptual space for myself, yet still ground this project in 

South Africa. South Africa is the departure point for identity, 

and Africa the departure point for style. 

''Ethnicity should be recognized as a colonial, and thus problematic, 

strategy of categorizing. 

Transformations 

The theoretical research of my project allowed me to propose 

three ideals by which the strategies for creating new styles 

were developed. I present them here because they feature in 

the examples of cutlery that follow. 

The first ideal, which I have argued in the text above, is that 

the nature of African identity must be questioned so as to 

avoid producing stereotypical or ethically questionable 

presentations of Africa in the styling of products. 

The second ideal says the tropes of modernity and tradition, 

found in the manufacturing technologies of modern and 

traditional societies respectively, should be extracted to 

develop styles that do not reproduce either trope uncritically, 

but rather make use ofthe liminal space between the two to 

develop unique styles. 

The third ideal suggests that in the context of an aesthetically 

crowded world the use of exoticism, in particular that of a 

mythical 'Africa', is a particularly suitable strategy for stylistic 

differentiation. 

Thus, for this project, any inspirational source (whether of 

traditional or of contemporary African origin) is filtered 

through these ideals so that it can be transformed into a visual 

or tactile feature that is intentionally new and exotic. 

The main challenge for successfully including such ideals 

in the practical work has been to strike a suitable balance 

between the poles of modernity and tradition and their 

respective aesthetic logics. To follow too closely the aesthetic 

logic of modernity is to inscribe mainly Western values on the 

surface ofa product, thereby losing the distinctiveness to be 

had from a more obviously African (exotic) flavour. To buy too 

strongly into the aesthetics of traditional African art Is to risk 

creating an impression that the products have not gone far 

enough in interpreting and transforming such influences into 

something new.

Of course, the theoretical ideas emerged as part of the 

dialectic of theory and practise {praxis"^) that characterises a 

project of this nature. The postulation of ideals necessary for 

judging a style to be both unique and Afncan depended first 

on embodying fledgling ideas as drawings and models. These 

media readily permit the expression of intuitively understood 

ideas without the need to first name or categorize their 

distinctive conceptual features. Once expressed in concrete 

form, the ideas were analysed carefully for their expressive 

qualities. These qualities were then articulated as ideals for 

further analysis and refinement. The ideals that emerged 

from this process provided a constructive rationale by which 

to proceed more confidently In proposing new ideas, and for 

assessing the validity of eadier ideas. 

Strategy one: traditional African art 

Figure 4. Cutlery inspired by traditional African artefacts 

Educator Mark Smith explains the use of the term praxis by 

educators such as Paulo Friere {In Pedagogy ofthe Oppressed.! 972) 

and Shirley Grundy (in Curriculum: Product or praxis.! 987) to describe 

the interdependency of areas of knowledge once considered 

disconnected (for instance, Aristotle's threefold distinction of 

knowledge into theoretical, practical and productive areas) so that 

'There is a continual interplay between ends and means ...a continual 

interplay between thought and action... (involving]... interpretation, 

understanding and application in 'one unified process' (Gadamer 

1979:275).'(Smith 1999:online) 

mi 

Figure 5. Back view of cutlery inspired by traditional African 

artefacts 

The cutlery set in Figures 4 and 5 Is meant to be exclusively 

inspired by traditional Afncan artefacts. The idea came about 

because the feature on the heads of some Northern Nguni 

dance staffs {Figure 6) reminded me of eating utensils, so 

these features became the basis for the decorative elements 

of each utensil. 

Figure 6. Northern Nguni dance staffs,! 9th century, Wood 74.5 

cm - 78 cm (Theortof Southeast Africa 2002:118) 

The designs went through two iterations, the first set of models 

(Figure 7) being rejected because the formal features of each 

resembled too closely those of the Nguni staff heads that 

inspired them. Also, their handles were too thin, lacking the 

robustness that characterises much tradirional African art.

Figure 7. Developmental cutlery 

In the second version of this set the handles have been 

integrated with bov/l (of spoon and teaspoon), blade (of knife) 

and palm" (of fork) respectively to accentuate and transform 

some ofthe inspirational features from which they have been 

sourced. For instance, the spoon and the teaspoon no longer 

look like staffs but have a tv^lg and leaf like quality, even though 

the ndges on their undersides (Figure 8) are inspired by the 

heads ofthe Nguni dance staffs (Figure 9). 

Figure 8. Underside of cutlery showing ndges and feet details 

" i have coined this term in the absence of any authoritative source 

naming the flattened part ofthe fork between the handle and the 

tines. This flattened blade is visually analogous with the palm of a 

hand, the tines forming the fingers. It would be difficult, without 

naming this part, to describe the position of the features that are 

attached to it. 

Figure 9. The ridge on the Northern Nguni dance staff head (detail 

from Figure 6) is the basis for the ridge on the undersides of the 

spoon and teaspoon. Similarly, the feet on the Northern Nguni snuff 

kerrie (Figure 10, nest) are the basis for the feet on the teaspoon. 

This ridge has been echoed as a valley on the upper sides 

of the spoon and teaspoon. The forked legs on the end of 

the handle of the spoon prevent it from tipping to one side, 

something the ridge would otherwise cause it to do. The 

legs struck me as the type of zoomorphlc solution that many 

African craftsmen would use to solve this problem (Figure 10), 

so the same strategy Is used on the teaspoon. 

Figure 10. Northern Nguni snuff kerne, detail of head. 19th 

century. Wood. H. 13 cm.; L. 61.5 cm (The art of Southeast Africa 

2002:83). 

In the teaspoon theplacementandshapeofthefeetare influenced 

by the feet on the Northern Nguni snuff kerrie (Figure 11). 

Figure 11. The influence ofthe Northern Nguni dance staff 

head on the knife.

When the second version of the knife was taking shape its 

handle resembled the bone of an animal, a natural material 

often used by traditional African artists in jewellery, combs 

and other objects. The resemblance to bone is then carried 

through to all the handles of the cutlery set. The shape of the 

blade ofthe knife and the squared teeth behind the blade are 

inspired by the shapes on the head of the Northern Nguni 

staff (Figure 12). 

Figure 12. Northern Nguni dance staff head (detail from fig. 6) 

19th century. Wood. H. 13 cm.; L. 61.5 cm (The art of Southeast 

Africa 2002:83) 

The teeth on both suggest the serrations on knives. The 

decorative triangulated spines on the fork (Figure 13) have 

no specific inspirational origin, but take their cue from the 

widespread use of the triangle as a motif on objects of 

traditional African art. 

Figure 13. Fork detail showing triangulated spines 

The protuberances of the Northern Nguni sweat scraper 

(Figure 14) and the decorative motifs carved on the sides of 

the Zulu neckrest (Figure 15) are just two of many examples. 

Figure 14. Northern Nguni sweat scraper. 19th century, Horn 

H. 32 cm.; W. 3 cm (The art of Southeast Africa 2002:146) 

Figure 15. Swazi neckrest. 19th century. Wood 

H. 16.5 cm.; W. 41.5 cm (The art of Southeast Africa 2002:165) 

Strategy two: contemporary African crafts 

Figure 16. Copper wire miniature of VW Beetle. 

H. 3.8 cm L.8cm 

This second strategy celebrates the resourcefulness and 

inventiveness of the many African craftspersons who set up 

operations of manufacture and merchandising together, along 

the sides of roads, next to shopping centres, in flea markets, 

or wherever else they deem suitable. Much of their work 

reinterprets Western products by caricaturing them in miniature 

form (Figure 16), and much of It simply recognizes the gaze of 

the tourist In Its production of iconic figures by which Africa 

can be characterised and remembered (Figure 17). 

Figure 17. Recycled aluminium and galvanized wire gecko 

L.I 6 cm 

Their work succeeds at being either functional or sculptural 

using the most elementary of mass manufactured materials.

S O C I A L M O B I L E S A N D S P E A K I N G C H A I R S : 

A P P L Y I N G C R I T I C A L D E S I G N T O D I S R U P T I O N , D I S C O U R S E A N D D I S A B I L I T Y 

Graham Pullin 

Lecturer in interactive Media Design, 

Schools of Computing and Design, University of Dundee, 

g.pullin@dundee.ac.uk 

Abstract 

The rote of critical design is to ask questions rather than to 

propose solutions. It is being applied to different issues relating 

to disorder and used to provoke discourse. Provocation Is 

valuable because thinking may be stifled bythe overwhelming 

complexity or sensitivity of such issues; questions are 

appropriate because simple solutions are unlikely in these 

contexts.Two examples are described and compared: 

Social Mobiles applied critical design to the disruption caused 

by people using mobile phones in public places, to the 

disorder arising from the side-effects of this technology. It 

did this through five extreme concept phones, each of which 

modified its user's behaviour to make it less socially disruptive. 

This challenged the perspecrive of user-centred design by 

prioritising the people around the user for a change, a fresh 

perspective within an industry obsessed with self-expression. 

Social Mobiles successfully generated internarional publicity 

and cross-cultural debate and the extent to which this publicity 

has translated into dlscernable influence is discussed. 

Speaking Chairs is applying critical design to communication 

aids for people with speech and language impairment, 

'disorders' affecting their discourse with others. This is an 

area in which thinking has been inhibited by the genuine 

sensirivity of the issues surrounding disability. But current 

assistive devices are themselves not a neutral technology: 

a lack of emotion in Text-To-Speech technology can give 

listeners a false Impression that the person using it Is not only 

speech-impaired but also emorionally or even cognitlvely 

impaired. This project is exploring radically different ways 

to control not only what is said, but how this Is said - the 

intonarion and prosody ofthe generated speech. In orderto 

be more provocarive, working prototypes will be built not as 

conventional devices, but as chairs, which also opens up new 

questions for interaction design and social interaction. 

Critical design has to strike an interesting balance. Obvious 

exaggeration and over-simplification can be employed to 

signal the limited role that design can playand to acknowledge 

that design is never enough on Its own, given the complexity 

ofa social and cultural, even economic and political context. 

Yet the discussion that a memorable piece can provoke 

underlines the serious intent behind this apparent levity. And 

atthe same time, using design to give an iconic presence to an 

intangible issue serves to remind designers and non-designers 

alike that design and design thinking could be playing a wider 

and more influenrial role, 

Critical design 

Increasingly within research, design is valued not just for 

addressing or solving problems, but also for its role In making 

Issues visible and tangible, and thereby facilitating discussion 

and reflection. 

One emerging approach is 'critical design' which uses 

provocative designs to challenge convenrional wisdoms of 

the future path of technical development. It has been applied 

to many profound social issues and successfully seeded new 

discussions. Critical design has been described as "design that 

asks carefully crafted quesrions and makes us think" ratherthan 

"design that solves problems or finds answers" [5]. This is clearly 

in opposition to some tradirional, more technical definitions. In 

which design Is considered synonymous with 'problem solving'.

A defining example of critical design was the'Placebo project' 

[5] in which Dunne and Raby devised and built a series of eight 

prototype objects, each of which in some way gave a visual 

presence to Invisible, ambient electromagnetic radiation. 

The products were placed with members ofthe public, who 

'adopted' them, with the purpose of eliciting reflections 

on their function and thereby underlying perceptions of 

and beliefs about electromagnetic fields. And since a lot of 

ambient radiation is directly or indirectly created by electronic 

products, these reflections illuminated wider Issues of the 

cumulative effect of relentless product development. 

As the creators of Placebo state "Designers cannot always 

solve problems, we cannot switch off the vast electromagnetic 

networks surrounding us all. Although we cannot change 

reality, we can change people's perceptions of it." Hence the 

title 'Placebo': like a medical placebo, the objects do not 

actually have any direct effect on the cause for concern, but 

by providing psychological comfort may produce changes in 

behaviorand even outcome nonetheless.Thls is at once a more 

pragmatic and more ambitious role for design. Influence may 

be less tangible than direct Intervention, but more profound. 

Disorder and discourse 

The many meanings of the word 'disorder' include a diversity 

of issues that are also too large for design to 'solve'. Whether 

the disorder is social or clinical, applying to a population or 

an individual, it Implies a complexity of issues in which any 

designed intervention is just one piece in the jigsaw. Often a 

small piece. 

We will consider two instances of'disorder', one social, one 

clinical. In which design has or is being employed for reasons 

other than to solve any problem directly. We wiil then compare 

and contrast the role of design and question whether the 

existing term 'critical design' can comfortably accommodate 

both. 

Social Mobiles 

The first project was Inspired by the anger and frustration 

caused by other people's mobile phones. Conceived at a 

time when mobile phone use in Britain was reaching a level 

of ubiquity such that everyone's experiences of public spaces 

was coloured by Inconsiderate use of mobile phones. People 

holding annoylngly one-sided conversations that lasted an 

entire bus journey; irritating ring-tones going off in cinemas 

and art galleries. 

Social fVlobiles [7,15,18] consisted of five extreme mobile 

phones, each of which changed its user's behaviour to make 

it less socially disruptive. The first phone in the series, 'the 

Electric Shock fvloblle', delivered an electric shock through 

steel plates on the sides ofthe phone. The level of shock, from 

mild tingling to painful jolt, was in proportion to how loud 

the person on the other end of the phone was speaking. This 

feedback loop had a dangerous instability to it: if one person 

spoke loudly, the other might be hurt and yell with the pain. 

Inducing an even bigger shock in return... In this way, both 

parties were scared Into whispering. 

Figure l.The Electric Shock Mobile in use 

The third phone in the series was 'the Musical Mobile'. This 

was an oversized phone that must be played to dial a number. 

Ridiculous, but In many ways an elegant solution to the 

problem, it brings the moment of disrupting other people 

forwards to the act of dialling, before the caller is immersed 

in their telephone conversation and so often truly oblivious 

to those around them. How the user feels about this public 

performance acts as a Litmus Test for how appropriate It 

would be to make a call. 

There were three media through which the project was largely

disseminated: a bool

einforced the limited role of traditional design: emphasizing 

the people and often the 'undesigned' environment in which 

the products lived. 

Discourse and disability 

Another meaning of'disorder'is in connection with disability. 

There is understandably and rightly much sensitivity around 

disability, given the exclusion, both physical and social, still 

experienced by so many people with disabilities. 

Many assumptions relating to design and disability go 

unchallenged [11,12,13]. Many arise from stereotypes of a group 

of people every bit as diverse as the population as a whole. For 

example, that discretion Is always the priority In design for 

disability, above any other criterion, leading to a dominance of 

pink plastic medical devices, such as hearing aids, that may in 

fact Imply shame by attempting to conceal themselves. 

The'HearWear'project[17,19] sponsored bythe Royal National 

Institute for Deaf people (RNID) and Blueprint magazine, and 

exhibited In the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Invited 

a diversity of designers to approach hearing technology from 

new perspectives. More projects like this would be welcome, 

using design to provoke discussion and changes In attitude, 

rather than to directly propose solutions. 

The issues surrounding disability and underlying social 

attitudes towards it deserve to be taken seriously enough to 

risk the provocation that critical design might produce. 

Speaking Chairs 

The second project we will consider in detail concerns speech 

and language lmpalrments,'disorders'that can affect a person's 

ability to communicate with other people. 

Here, after centuries of diverse technological development, 

ranging from mechanical devices played as musical 

instruments [8] to electronic interfaces in which sounds can 

described by painting lines with a brush [3], the dominant 

technology today is Text-To-Speech (TTS) [6]. Hand-in- 

hand have come interfaces that are based on written rather 

than spoken language, as a result of which prosody, voice 

quality and those utterances not transcribed in text are 

underrepresented. 

The group of people most affected by this technical limitation 

are people who rely on communication aids to converse 

with others. A lack of emotional expressiveness in speech 

generated by communication aids can give other people 

a false impression that the person is emotionally and even 

cognitively impaired as well [1 ]. 

But people with speech Impairments are often affected by 

more general motor impairment, and so a user interface that 

demanded good manual dexterity might be Impractical to 

use. For example, many will access text not through a QWERTY 

keyboard, but via a smaller number of switches or options at 

a time. They may also have a deeper language impairment, 

whether as a cause or a symptom of their physical inability 

to speak. The net result of these profound challenges is that 

the field of communication aids are largely working within 

the constraints of TTS technology, rather than pushing its 

boundaries. 

The Speaking Chairs project is the first phase of an exploration 

of radical new Interactions with speech technology. It uses 

designed artefacts to explore new ways In which people might 

control the 'tone of voice' of synthesised speech. The chairs 

are inspired by a diversity of existing perspectives on spoken 

language from different disciplines; phonetics, linguistics, 

psychology and music. Each chair is a physical representation 

ofa mental model, translating it into a user interface. 

7. 

Figure 3. some Speaking Chairs 

i

Working models will be builtand experienced, illuminating the 

relative merits and shortcomings of these diverse principles in 

the context of live conversation. In this way, the possible future 

application of these new approaches to give speech-impaired 

people the opportunity to express themselves through 'tone 

of voice'will begin to be explored. 

The chairs are not be taken literally as designs for 

communication aids, rather they are illustrative of the 

principles on which future communication aids could be 

based. In many ways, the choice of chairs as the bases for 

these objects is arbitrary, but there are some advantages in 

choosing chairs: chairs support face-to-face communication 

without coming between the people talking; the scale of 

a chair allows computer technology and electronics to be 

hidden within it; chairs are more surprising in this context 

and so less likely to be taken literally than more conventional 

boxes. 

This project is very much work in progress and will be 

presented in full at future conferences. 

Prototypes, models and genotypes 

What Social Mobiles and the Speaking Chairs have in common 

is that design is being used to visualize issues that otherwise 

might go unseen and undiscussed. 

The Social Mobiles are oversized phones; the Speaking Chairs 

are anything but the boxed, electronic products normally 

expected. Yet their role is both to have visible presence, yet to 

downplay the role of purely visual design in this context. In both 

cases, the extreme appearance is aiming to be memorable, 

but representative ofthe interaction and behaviour. 

On reflection, the role of critical design is different in these 

two projects. Where they differ is that the Social Mobiles, 

perhaps with the exception ofthe Knocking Mobile, were not 

intended as even embryonic solutions to the problem of anti 

social phone use. Whereas the Speaking Chairs are being more 

open-mindedly conceived in the hope one or more of the 

chairs may form the basis for a usable and effective interface 

for people with speech and language. 

Perhaps then the term 'cntical design' is inappropriate to the 

Speaking Chairs? They are somewhat more optimistic. Yet 

returning to terms such as'conceptual design'or'experimental 

design'does not express the illustrative role ofthe chairs, in 

making visible and tangible and interactive, mental models 

of expressive speech. Conversely, the adjective 'illustrarive' 

or 'diagrammaric' does not convey the exploratory intent, 

implying a representation of something exisring. Dunne and 

Raby, in introducing crirical design, mention the related terms 

'haute couture', 'concept cars', 'design propaganda' or 'visions 

ofthe future'. None of these seem any closer. 

At design consultancies such as IDEO [9], where prototypes 

are a valuable but often costly part ofthe design process. It 

Is very Important that the role and scope of any prototype 

is not misunderstood by a client, After all, 'prototype' can 

be applied to a vast range of objects, from non-functioning 

sketch models, proof-of-principle technical rigs and full pre- 

producrion prototypes which may me indistinguishable 

form the finished product. Half an hour into a meering that 

everyone thought was converging on mutual understanding 

and agreement, a client leaned over an early blue foam model 

of a product and commented that they didn't like the colour 

and, digging their fingernail into the surface, that it wasn't 

nearly robust enough for use in hospitals. Most designers will 

have experienced something similar. 

In this context, the author and others developed a very 

simple, very explicit nomenclature; we spoke of 'looks tike' 

prototypes (visual models), 'works like' prototypes' (technical 

demonstrators) and 'looks likeworks like' prototypes (full, 

working prototypes). Later, with the advent of 'experience 

prototyping' [2], in which the interacrivity may be priorirised 

over the final graphical appearance, the vocabulary was 

broadened to Include'behaves like'.'Feels like'was added to 

denote the use of final materials ratherthan painted surfaces; 

'functions like' to denote the final technology being employed, 

with all its limitarions, rather than simulated. 

But this vocabulary was nevertheless usually applied to a fairly 

conventional development process, in which progress towards 

a solution to a problem was being gauged and assessed. The 

role of critical design and associated techniques is less direct 

and even more open to mislnterpretarion.

Perhaps a term is needed that combines the exploration of 

a landscape of different approaches, along with the visual 

representation of landmarks in this landscape. Dunne [4] has 

also described the distinction between 'the design object as 

prototype','as installation','as model', and'as prop'. A summary 

of my understanding of his much deeper description Is that 

a 'prototype' is a working device, ready for manufacture or 

at least implying this readiness; an 'installation' involves a 

more legible relationship to a gallery and a design conceived 

specifically for this context; a 'prop' refers an object seeded 

into a film or other medium and experienced through this 

medium; a'model', here Implying a non-working model, may 

not be so directly representative of a fully-developed design, 

more illustrative of the essence of a design idea. The word 

'genotype'Is also used as an equivalent. 

In this classification, the Speaking Chairs might be considered 

'working models', or even 'working genotypes'. They definitely 

seek to Illustrate and represent the essence of an Idea for an 

interface, rather than anything even approaching Its final 

format. Its principles rather than its execution. But at the same 

time these chairs are interactive and can be experienced 

not just contemplated. The author welcomes hearing about 

other classifications and precedents in this area that might 

help determine whether this approach Is after all part of an 

established tradition, or whether another new expression or 

hybrid might even be appropriate. 

Conclusions 

Design has a role to play in visualising and therefore 

provoking discussion about disorder, in its many complex 

forms. Provocation is valuable because thinking may be 

stifled by the overwhelming complexity or sensitivity of such 

Issues; questions are appropriate because simple solutions are 

unlikely In these contexts. 

Critical design is a recognised methodology In which design is 

used to ask questions ratherthan to directly propose solutions. 

But there are other design approaches between these two 

extremes and a richer, shared vocabulary ofthe different roles 

of design in this area would be valuable. 


'Social Mobiles'was a collaboration between a large team at 

IDEO and Crispin Jones, led by Jones and the author. Credits 

include modelmaking by Anton Schubert and Paul South, 

photography by Maura Shea and illustrations by Crispin 

Jones. 'Speaking Chairs' is an ongoing project In the Schools 

of Design and Computing at the University of Dundee by the 

author and Andrew Cook. Illustration by Andrew Cook.

References 

[I] Aim, N.&Newell,A. (1996) Being an interesting conversation 

partner Augmentative and Alternative Communication; 

European Perspectives by von Tetzchner, S. and Jensen, M. 

(Eds.), Whurr Publishers 

[2] Buchanau M. & Fulton-Suri J. (2000) Experience prototyping 

Proc. Designing Interactive Systems; processes, practices, 

methods, and techniques, NewYork, ISBN:1-58113-219-0, pp. 

424-433 

[3] Crystal D. (1995) The Cambridge encyclopaedia of the 

English language Cambridge University Press 

[4] Dunne A. (1999) Hertzian Tales, RCA CRD Research, Royal 

College of Art, London, ISBN 1 8741 75 27 6 

[5] Dunne A. & Raby F. (2001) Design Noir: the secret life of 

electronic objects Birkhaijser, Basel, 2001 

[6] Holmes J. & Holmes W. (2001) Speech Synthesis and 

Recognition 2nd ed, Taylor & Francis, London 

[7] Jones C, Pullin G. et al (2002) Social Mobiles IDEO, London 

(accessed 22.12.2006) and 

(accessed 22.12,2006) 

[8] Kempelen W. von (1791) Mechanismus der menschlichen 

Sprache nebst Beschreibung einer sprechenden Maschine JB 

Degen, Vienna 

[9] Myerson, J, (2004) IDEO: Masters of Innovation, Laurence 

King, ISBN 1856694259, p.156 

[10] Plant S. (2001) On The Mobile: the effects of mobile 

telephones on social and individual life Motorola 

[II] Pullin G. (2005) Exquisite design; inclusive design keynote 

speaker at Include 2005, Royal College of Art, London 

(accessed 22.12.2006) 

[12] Pullin G. (2003) inclusion, inspiration and lightness of 

touch in Inclusive Design: design for the whole population, 

eds. Clarkson J., Coleman R., Keates S. & Lebbon C, Springer, 

ISBN 1-85233-700-1 

[13] Pullin G. (2001) "I can't speak now" and other design 

stories... Proc. Cambridge Workshop on Universal Access and 

Assistive Technology, Springer 

[14] Redhead D. (2002) Shock treatment The Independent 

Magazine, 23 November 2002 

[15] Redhead D. (2004) Electric Dreams V&A Publications, 

London, ISBN 1 85177 409 2, p.l23 

[16] StandageT. (2003) Think before you talk: can technology 

make mobile phones less socially disruptive? The Economist, 

18 January 2003 

[17] Thomson H. (2005) Listen Up: HearWearis here Blueprint 

magazine, No.232, July 2005 

[18] Thompson H. (2005) The Phone Book, Thames & Hudson, 

London, ISBN-13; 978-0-500-51254-8, ISBN-10:0-500-51254-X, 

pp.142-143 

[19] Weaver T. (2005) Hear and now New Design magazine, 

issue 36, pp.34-39

N A Ç i g A L ' S G İ F T S : T H E A F F E C T S Q F E X T E R N A L D Y N A M I C S D N C O M P U T E R G A M E S 

Tongue İbrahim Sezen 

İstanbul University, Faculty of Communications 


tongucs@hotmail.com 

Digdem Islkoglu 

Istanbul University, Faculty of Communications 


digdemJ@yahoo.com 

Abstract 

Oral story traditions are one of the oldest forms of interactive 

entertainment. The Interaction between the audience and the 

story-teller is a limited form of interpersonal communication and 

is regulated by the internal dynamics of an interaction system 

called "open form" It is not uncommon for the audience and the 

story-teller to try to influence the storytelling process by other 

external dynamics, such as gifts and money. As one ofthe newest 

interactive entertainment systems, computer games are based 

on an interaction between the player and the game system 

regulated by rules. Like the "open form" these rules can be broken 

by several types of computer game cheating. It is interesting 

however to see the similanties of methods and objectives in 

these interactive systems from different centuries. Audiences 

and players are seeking the same kind control overthe system 

which can lead to new experiences or destroy the system. 

Internal and External Dynamics of Audience Participation 

in Oral Tradition 

Umberto Eco's "mobile artwork" is one of the earliest 

conceptualizations of "interactive" art. According to Eco an 

artwork after Einstein physics can no more be stable and solid as 

an artist's creation; or In other words be closed. He suggests that 

artworks will be open to audience participation and influence, 

andtherefore in the next phase become mobile. Mobile artworks 

consist of unfinished artistic pieces thatthe artist exposed to the 

audience and take their shape with interference ofthe receiver. 

In this process, it is aimed that the receiver participated to the 

text as interpreter (Eco, 2001, p: 151). He gives examples of 

contemporary painters and sculptors like Munan and Calder as 

artists with mobile artworks and claims thatthe mobility can (or 

will) be occurred In the field of narration and gives the example 

of Mallarme's experimental (and unfinished) 19th century 

project "Grand Oeuvre" (The Grand Masterpiece) or "Le Livre" 

(The Book). In "Le Livre'; the pages were not supposed to be 

in any order; groups were formed with a permutation system. 

Separate fascicles should be ordered randomly and each order 

is supposed to be meaningful. Mobile and shifting sheets in 

fascicles enable every possible permutation^ (Eco, 2001, p; 22). 

Di-nmatic Act 2 

DiTuruitlc Act 1 Dwmatic Act 3 

Figure 1. In this basic mobile model, organising the sheets 

containing dramatic acts in any order should give a proper 

meaning. 

' A later experimental narrative project with a similar mobile model is 

the movie "Lan Yue" (1997) by director Ko Yi-Cheng.

Based on the theories of Eco, Metin And uses the term "open 

form" to explain the interactive relation ofthe audience to the 

narrative text in traditional Turkish theatre. In "open form" the 

audience does not interact with the text directly, but interacts 

with it through the actors or puppeteers. 

Traditional Turkish theatre plays (Karagöz the shadow 

puppetry and Ortaoyunu) Is structured basically in 4 acts: The 

prologue (öndeyiş), the converse (söyleşme), the chapter (fasıl) 

and the final (bitiş). These acts follow the same order in each 

play but their content and length can be changed. Some of 

these changes planned by the actors/puppeteers before the 

play according to both their audience profile (funnier themes 

for children, erotic themes for male adults etc.) and to the time 

(i.e. during a religious festival) as well as place ofthe play (i.e. a 

big city or a little village). 

The audience can also interact with the narrative text during 

the play. Here occurs an interpersonal interaction in emotional 

level which affects both the audience and the actors and also 

the narrative text. Emotional responses to the play (and the 

actor) such as applause or laughter ofthe audience are the key 

elements for interactive narration process. Metin And assumes 

that, 'when supported by the audience with emotion waves, 

the actor or the puppeteer regains good humour, extends the 

converse, adds support characters to the play and prepares a 

revel show with dancers and acrobats' (And, 1985, p: 422). 

Although it is a new narrative experience; the new narrative 

structure created through the "open form" interaction is 

actually not a new dramatic act. It is an extended version of 

the original dramatic act of the play. While the original story 

remains, additional side-stories are integrated into it (And, 

1985, p: 423). 

"Open form" Interaction can also be found in other Middle 

Eastern oral traditions. In "Naqqall" (dramatic story-telling) 

tradition in Iran; story-tellers called "Naqqal"' use dramatic 

expressions such as acting, dialogue, singing and dramatic 

gestures to perform stories based on epic, historical or religious 

^ "Naqqal" can be directly translated in English as "transmitter", the 

one who transmits the tale. (Clayton, 2005} 

texts, One ofthe basic texts used by Naqqals is the Persian epic 

Shahname by Ferdowsi.'Each naqqali has a prompt book, a 

tumar, a compressed synopsis ofthe Shahname to help them 

remember the story. These are prose summaries of the story 

and tellers use them to weave their own variations, poems, 

songs and side stories into the plot' (Clayton, 2005). Although 

very similar to the Turkish "open form", Naqqali tradition based 

on written texts may not always be interactive. Bolukbâsh 

(Cultural Tradition in Iran (n.d,)) divides the Naqqals in two 

groups, according to the manner of storytelling: 

1) The Naqqals who read the stories from the books and 

then interpreted and expound them while sitting before the 

audience; 

2) Those who recount the stories by heart and their story 

telling are dramatic, because it is performed together with this 

or that element of dramatic expression. 

Yet even so, according to Clayton (2005), the written text is 

even today a product of performance: 

In Persian culture there is a fluid relationship between 

written and oral modes of communication. Storytellers 

draw on written versions of Shahaname then recreate 

the text in performance, composing and improvising 

new poetic sections, which then get added back into 

the written text. So the text Is in progress, constantly 

being remade by each teller, the storyteller preserving, 

transmitting, recomposing, and inventing the text in 

performance. 

Traditional Turkish story-tellers, "Ozans" also use "open form" 

in their performances. A traditional story performance starts 

with a musical section called "fasıl" followed by a playful 

formula called "döşeme". Both these sections can be changed 

by Ozans according to the wishes and responses of the 

audience. Traditional stories Ozans tell are combinations of 

verse and prose parts. Ozans are allowed to add side stories 

called "karavelli" to the main prose story arc without breaking 

the main dramatic structure. Yet in the Turkish story-telling 

tradition Ozans are not allowed to change the verse parts. 

According to Boratav (2002, p: 33), if the audience notices an 

Ozan changing the verse parts of the story, they protest and 

criticize him.

In "Open form" story-telling main dramatic structure is always 

preserved by the story-teller. Additional songs, poetry, jokes 

or side stones are created by the emotional interaction during 

the process. V^/e can say that "open form" is a combination of 

story-teller, audience interaction and non-interactive story 

telling. 

Nou-Iiitei-a clive IiiteiTictive N oil- InteiTi c Hv e Iiitei'nctive 

Side Stoi-j-1 Poem 1 

•— Draiitatic Act 1 — Side Syoiy 2 — Di'niio.ttic Act 2 — Poem 2 —^ 

Side Stoiy 3 

Poem 3 

Figure 2. "Open form" is a combination of interactive and non 

interactive story-telling 

"Open form"story-telling model seen above can be compared 

with the low-level Interactive narration models created for 

computer games. In one of these models Rouse {2001, p: 

216) divides the story structure of a computer game into two 

segments; "designers' story" and the "players' story". Designers' 

story defines a linear story around the playable parts of a 

computer game; mostly told in cut-scenes. Designers'story is 

very similar to the unchangeable dramatic structure in "open 

form". "Players' story" on the other hand means the interactive 

action sequences in a game. In these sections the player 

interacts with the game-world using different tactics; items 

etc. and resultantly experiences each time a different series of 

event. 

Noil-Ilıttın clive Interactive Noil-Interne live Interactive 

Ptiyer Sti:ateg>-1 Pbjer Sli-ateg>-1 

Cwt-fJcoiie I — Pl'iyer Stoteg>- 2 — Cut-.Sceue 2 — Pl'iyei' Söntegj- 2 _ _^ 

Pl,i>er Stratçgy 3 Plnyer Stmteg>- 3 w 

Figure 3. "Designers' - players' story" model is very similar to 

the "open form" model 

As the "players' story'^ the dramatic interaction sections 

in oral story-telling traditions are parts of the interactive 

process. We use the term "interactive"from the perspective of 

communication studies here. Interaction refers to two equal 

and mutually active sides of communication. Namely in oral 

story-telling the audience and the story-teller are equal sides; 

therefore their dramatic affection from each other and the 

change in the story-wodd Is a natural and internal outcome 

ofthe process. 

Cailols' (1961, p: 6 - 7) definition of playing can help to 

understand the interaction in oral story-telling and the 

concept of internal dynamics better. "The activity of playing 

takes place usually within the boundaries between specific 

time and place: playing starts with a signal and ends with one. 

In an ideal situation, events outside the playing field do not 

affect the playing". Like the activity of playing, oral story-telling 

takes place within the boundaries between specific time and 

place, and normally only the emotional Interaction dunng the 

process affects both sides and the story. Yet this is not always 

the case. 

As well as internal dynamics, external dynamics area part ofthe 

oral story-telling tradition.These dynamics occur between the 

story-teller and the audience outside the dramatic-emotional 

interaction level and create a new level of interaction. Some 

of them are natural results of the nature of the story-telling 

process. 

Naqqals tell their epic stones In 90 minute length sections, 

often one episode each day, the tales are left on a cliff-hanger 

each time; normally it would take them 6 months to complete 

the Shahname. Sometimes the audience begs the naqqai to 

continue and offer gifts or money to him (Clayton, 2005). 

In Turkish tradition Ozans also tell their stories mostly in 

more than one night, and even in one night, there are two or 

more sessions. The session after a break starts with a musical 

performance. Dunng the performance the Ozan asks the 

audience where he has left the story. Traditionally the Ozan 

himself has to answer the question. If someone else gives the 

answer, the Ozan stops playing and the one who gave the 

answer has to pay him to continue. It is also not uncommon 

for the Ozans to prolong the musical performance and force 

rich members ofthe audience to answer his question and pay 

for that (Boratav, 2002, p: 33 - 34). 

In the first example, we see how the audience uses an 

external matter/dynamic to force the story-teller to continue

the emotional - interaction and the dramatic experience.^ It 

is a way for the audience to speed up the story-experience. 

In the second example, the story-teller uses this will to gain 

money and breaks the interaction between himself and the 

audience. From the interactive-story structure perspective, 

in the second example the story-teller does not respond to 

the audience's emotional-will to continue the story until he 

receives an external factor from the audience. Although a part 

of the tradition, these examples create a disturbance on the 

"open form" of the story. 

Another and much powerful type of externa! dynamic, 

affecting the oral story-telling tradition results. Is not only 

changing the interactive parts of the "open form" but also 

creates a new dramatic structure and a chain of events and 

also a new ending for the story. As we have seen above, 

traditional story-tellers make arrangements in their stories 

before their performances in respect of their audience profile, 

time and place. Yet sometimes regulating side stories may not 

be enough to please the audience, especially in tragic and 

sadly ending stories. Offering Naqqals gifts such as animals or 

money to keep a dying hero alive is a widespread behaviour 

(And, 1985, 223). In theTurkish tradition both offering gifts or 

money to the story-teller but also threating his life to keep a 

hero alive is heard of One ofthe most notable examples for 

such actions is the general agreement of story-tellers in Kars 

area in 1800s. According to Boratav (2002, p: 69), the story 

tellers decided In this agreement not to tell the sadly-ending 

of stories, instead create new happy endings to avoid threats 

of the audience. Since then the stories in Kars area has happy 

endings with the exception of "Kerem and Aslı" story, which is 

told very seldom in the area. 

^This kind of mental connection to the narrative text is a result of 

mental identification. This is also similar to the "immersion" process 

in computer games. An immersive computer game creates an 

environmentfortheplayerwhereshe/he feels her/himself surrounded 

by it or in other worlds as a part of it. An immersive and interactive 

environment might create a deeper level of mental identification. 

Immersing in a game environment indicates to be engaged, not 

just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. It requires active 

participation ofthe player. 

A very interesting and rare record in "Güldeste-i Riyaz-i İrfan" 

from 1602 shows how an external dynamic can destroy the 

whole story-telling process. According to this record quoted 

by Boratav (2002, p: 68), during a story meeting in Bursa a 

group in the audience supports a hero while another group 

supports the other one. The situation becomes so tense that 

the meeting ends with a fight. 

i 

OitEiuLui^ rlip ]iLiei.irh«ii 

Figure 4. Audience Participation types in Oral Tradition. 

A non-interactive narrative text is closed to the participation of 

the audience. In the oral story-telling tradition the"open form" 

provides a limited interaction in the emotional-level, which is 

an internal dynamic ofthe process. External dynamics in the 

oral tradition can be separated into two groups; the ones 

which disturb the "open form" and the ones which disturb the 

dramatic structure and create a new one. Internal dynamics 

create non-obligatory results but external ones have a 

directing affect on the process and on both sides. 

External Dynamics in Computer Games ~ Cheats and 

Computer games as designed interactive worlds have a similar 

relation to the one between the story-teller and the audience 

in oral tradition, to the game player from the perspective 

of internal and external dynamics. Game mechanics and 

interactive interfaces create the internal dynamics for the 

game player to interact with. In addition to this, the concept of 

game is important for understanding the definition of internal 

and external dynamics in computer games. 

According to Huizinga (1995, p: 48), game is a voluntary action 

which is dependent on both temporal and spatial limitations as 

well as willingly accepted rules (game mechanics). Juul (2005, 

p: 12) describes computer games as a combination of rules 

and fiction. In this dual structure 'Rules describe what players

can and cannot do, and what should happen In response to 

player actions' (Juul, 2005, p: 56). 

Rules are the internal dynamics of a game and create order in 

a game world and disturbing the rules is often described as 

destructive.'There Is a peculiar and absolute order in the game 

world. Game creates a system; It is a system by Itself It creates 

a temporary and limited perfection within the complexity of 

real wodd. It requires an absolute system. Even a small-scale 

violation of this system ruins the game, destructs its whole 

quality' {Huizinga, 1995, p: 27). In "Homo Ludens", Huizinga 

(1995, p: 28-29) quotes from Paul Valery; '...no scepticism Is 

possible where the rules of a game are concerned... indeed, 

as soon as the rules are transgressed, the whole play-worid 

collapses.' 

Although game worid Is a closed structure where the game 

mechanics definethe interaction processes, it is not uncommon 

forthe players to break these rules or "cheat". Computer game 

cheating is defined by Yan and Choi (2002) as; 'Any behaviour 

that a player may use to get an unfair advantage, or achieve a 

target that he is not suppose to is cheating.' Kuecklich (2004, 

p: 2) emphasizes the connection between rules and cheats 

and says that most cheats '...give the player an advantage 

that the lules of the game do not allow for'. There are various 

definitions and perceptions of cheating in digital games. But 

we can still disringuish what cheating Is, using Consalvo's 

(Bedlgian, n.a.) easy but effective definirion: 'Cheating Is like 

porn - hard to define but we know when we see it' 

Technically there are three main types of chearing. The first 

group called 'cheat codes" are actually semi-official codes 

created by game designers and are hidden in the game-code 

to trigger extrii abilities for the player when activated. These 

abiliries are hidden features of the game but are not a part 

of the ofncial game-mechanics itself The second group is 

the strategy guides and walkthroughs. These are solutions 

for game obstacles written by players, game crirics or by the 

design company itself. Strategy guides and walkthroughs can 

be found on the Internet or are published and sold as books. 

The third type of cheating is hacking the game software. This 

can be done either by changing the game code itself or writing 

additional software. A forth type can be using the holes in the 

game mechanics or interfaces to cheat 

There are different levels of cheating for computer game 

players. While some players seethe chearing techniques listed 

above acceptable and even positive, for some they are firmly 

unacceptable and negative. Consalvo (2005, p: 2 - 3) presents 

three different perspectives on the perception of chearing by 

gamers: 

• "Purist" Perspecrive; Purists see anything else than a 

solo effort Is cheating. 'This group sees strategy guides, 

walkthroughs, cheat codes and hacking as all being 

cheating.' 

• "Code is Law" Perspective: 'This second group doesn't see 

the use of items like walkthroughs and guides as cheating, 

but they draw the line at cheat codes and hacking codes. 

Here also people accept the possibility of chearing in 

single-player games, where the manipularion of code for 

its own sake can be enough to draw the line.' 

• "You can only cheat another player" Perspecrive: 'The 

third group defines chearing as only exisring in relarion 

to another player. For this group, code is also the key to 

cheating; is not the mere use of code, but its use for the 

purpose of deceiving others.' 

For the "Purists" perspective every external Influence towards 

the game is cheating. "Code is Law" perspective on the other 

hand is rather a technical criterion as "You can only cheat 

another player" perspecrive Is a social one. 

Julian Kuecklich (2004, p: 2 - 3) classifies cheats in digital 

games in three different categories. These are platform, game 

mode and genre. Platform refers to the hardwares such as 

PC, console and arcade games. For example, PC games allow 

access to the game files (which allows hacking), on the other 

hand console and arcade games do not offer this kind of an 

access. Second term, game mode indicates the differences 

between single-player games,"closed" multiplayer games and 

"open"multiplayergames.Themajordifference between game 

modes is that cheating in single-player games affects only the 

person playing the game while in multiplayer games it causes 

a huge conflict Kuecklich's third category is genre. Computer 

game genres can be explained as a triangular matrix, according 

to their levels of narrativity, interactivity and openness. In this

model, interactivity refers to the frequency of the players' 

physical interaction v^'ith the game. Openness indicates the 

range of actions the players can choose from. According to 

this triangular matrix Kuecklich presents three genre-specific 

cheats; cheats that speed up narrative progression, cheats 

that increase the player's frequency of interaction and cheats 

that enhance the possibilities of the player's options. 

The first two of Kuecklichs' classifications are like Consalvos' 

perspectives have technical and social bases. The third 

classification where the"genre"refers much more on the game 

play dynamics. 

Typical effects of cheating on the game play can be listed 

as "invulnerability" which makes the player character 

invulnerable to damage, "invisibility" which makes the 

enemies not to see the player character, "flying" which makes 

the player character pass through walls or objects, "infinite 

resources" which gives the player an infinite amount of some 

resources, "unlocking items and characters" which unlocks 

hidden items or unused content in the game, and there are 

some other cheats giving the player additional to weapons or 

inventory items. As a common way of cheating walkthroughs 

are according to Neitzel (2005, p: 234) like '...a recipe for 

creating the ideal story, in other words, an instruction for 

actions'. 

Various perceptions of cheating differentiate the approaches 

to it. There are varied interpretations which present the cheats 

as both a contribution to game experience and a sabotage for 

fun acquired through game play. In other words, both positive 

and negative aspects of cheating can be found. 

When the player gets stuck in a game, cheats allow her/him 

back into the game. In this situation, the players make an 

instrumental move to keep game play. For instance, with the 

help of walkthroughs the player can pass the phase which 

causes him to quit and after that he/she can continue to play. 

This move may not cover the whole, but the level which the 

player cannot figure out how to pass (Consalvo, 2005, p: 4). 

Therefore, it is relatively acceptable. 

Cheating Is a way to slip out from limitations of the game 

world and creates a new experience. Kuecklich (2004, p: 2) 

claims that cheats seem to have only one thing in common: 

they change the way players experience the game. Cheating 

is not destructive all the time. It builds new experience 

opportunities. Consalvo (2005, p: 7) sees cheating not as a 

subversive concept; it's a way for players to keep playing 

through boredom and infertile scenarios. 

Cheats increase re-playability of a game. Cheat codes allow 

people to play in multiple ways. Different cheat codes draw 

new ways to follow. Each path provides a new experience. 

Trying different opportunities brings re-playability ofthe game 

product. According to Juul (2005, p: 199), '...the proliferation 

of semi-official cheat codes has made it possible for players 

to bend the rules of video games to accommodate their own 

wishes'. 

Cheats allow the player to just walk around and observe the 

game universe. Some people, -especially fans- don't want to 

beat the game, but they just want to walk around (Bedigian, 

n.d.) and watch the design elements such as ship models, 

costumes of game characters, weapon types or experiencing 

the atmosphere ofthe game. 

Cheats create a network through web-forums, game magazines 

and online walkthroughs etc. Cheats are a part of game 

genres. A game includes a set of generic cheats which gives 

an idea about the genre of the game. Sharing the information 

on games brings people together and creates a network. 

These aspects on cheating are focused much more on player 

- game interaction; where cheating as a external force creates 

an addition to the internal game mechanics and therefore 

expands the game experience. In contrary to these, there is a 

set of negative aspects on cheating in computer games. 

Aporia-epiphany conceptions are important issues in game 

play. Aporia means being stuck in a phase of an adventure 

game ora hypertext narrative, not able to advance any further 

and epiphany is the feeling of glory when someone finds 

the way to proceed In an adventure game or labyrinth-like 

hypertext (Aarseth, 1997, p: 33). Using cheats to come up with 

an obstacle in a game, makes the player feel himself/herself 

less successful and makes his/her glory worthless.

Playing In special modes -such as God mode- prevents 

the pleasure derived from game play. One of the basic 

components of game concept is risk, i.e. the possibility of 

losing. How/ever in God mode for example, there is no way 

to lose. Consequendy, fun does not advance through win or 

lose options; this destructs the winning desire as a definitive 

concept of game play. 

To discover hidden moves out ofthe game concept stops the 

continuity ofthe game and encourages the player to leave the 

game flow. In some genres, hidden moves are seen traditional. 

However, designers need to develop ways to keep players to 

discover the hidden moves within the context ofthe game. For 

designers, to supply the information about secret moves on 

web sites, in other publications is a possibility, but it is not the 

best method for several reasons. It both breaks the continuity 

of the game and encourages the player to leave the game 

flow. However, designers' primary concern is to keep players 

In the game as long as possible. Also, it is possible that they 

can't find the information they searched, causing a blockage 

to game play (Ray, 2004, p: 12). 

Especially in MMORPGs", If someone cheats, it affects the 

others: Many academicians and gamers think that cheating In 

single player games is not a big deal, because you play against 

computer, not against other humans. Because in MMORPG 

universe all the goods have a value both in game world and 

in real wodd and creating a character take a great deal of 

time. Items, superior characters are sold even In eBay. Due 

to both its economical background and time that is spent, 

cheating in MMORPGs cannot be tolerated. This situation is 

also closely related to the game industry. If cheats in a game 

becomes a problem for its gamers, it becomes a problem for 

its developers and publishers too: The growth in the number 

of cheaters in a game, people may choose to quit and leave the 

game. They don't pay their subscription fees, they don't buy 

additional products. The brand loses value and the company 

loses money (Zetterström, 2005, p: 11). 

Negative aspects on cheating much more consider it as 

a disturbance of internal mechanics and resultantly the 

' Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game 

game experience. Either used by players or encouraged 

by designer, an overuse of cheats ends with an unpleasant 

game-expenence. Using cheat codes in a multi-player game is 

a reflection of real life cheating and therefore is unacceptable 

for both players and designers. 

Positive Aspects Negative Aspects 

Cheating is a way to slip out 

from limitations of the game 

world and creates a new 

expenence. 

When the player get stuck in a 

game, cheats allows him/her 

back into the game. 

Cheats increase re-playabi!ity 

of the game. 

Cheats createa game-network 

through web-forums. 

Cheats allow the player to just 

walk around and observe the 

game universe. 

Playing in special modes-such 

as God mode- prevents the 

pleasure derived from game 

play- 

Cheats make you lose your 

epiphany. 

To discover hidden moves out 

of the game concept breaks 

the continuity of the game 

and encourages the player to 

continually leave the game 

flow. 

Especially in MMORPGs, if 

someone cheats, it affects the 

others. 

If cheats in a game becomes 

a problem for Its gamers, it 

becomes a problem for its 

developers and publishers. 

Table 1. Positive and negative aspects of computer game 

cheating 

Although in MMORPGs and other multi player virtual wodds 

cheating is considered unacceptable, using one other external 

dynamic is widely accepted both bythe players and designers: 

Money. 

Virtual worlds are simulations of an environment created 

by a computer or a network of computers. Users connect 

them through the Internet and the entities In this virtual

world act under the control of Individuals. The most popular 

virtual worlds are settings of massively multiplayer online 

role playing games and several people can participate into 

the environment simultaneously. This virtual environment 

continues to exist and develop internally even the users log 

off, this makes them persistent. 

In these persistent MMORPG worlds, in addition to the game 

developers and game world operators who fulfil players'needs 

offering them variety and new interests, there is a secondary 

market which allows players to acquire advantages through 

"virtual assets". 

Vili Lehdonvirta (2005) divides "virtual assets" Into four 

categories as "currency, personal property, realty and avatar 

attributes". Most of virtual worlds have their own internal 

currency such as "gold pieces" in Ultima Online, "platinum 

pieces in EverQuest" or "Linden dollars" in Secondlife. Virtual 

currency has the same functions as in real world. Another 

asset personal property or virtual items including weapons, 

armors, costumes, furniture and other transferable properties 

that an avatar can possess. These items can ease the player 

to achieve the objectives ofthe game. The third virtual asset 

category is realty. In some ofthe games the player can have a 

building or a land which also has an expressive value just like 

in real world. The last virtual asset is avatar attributes. Skills 

for an avatar are acquired through beating foes, overcoming 

conflicts etc.Therefore, the players cannot exchange the assets 

partially. They should transfer the whole account including all 

the avatar skills and its possessions. 

An experienced player can sell these"virtual assets"she/he has 

earned in the game on real-money markets such as e~Bay. Also 

there are both designer and third-group companies selling 

"virtual assets" on the Internet. The selling of "virtual assets" 

creates a reflection ofthe real wodd economics on the game 

world. A rich player can easily have an experienced avatar.This 

new economy is a totally external dynamic to the game play 

but still is accepted by all sides. 

Comparison and Conclusion 

Both oral story tradition and computer games provide an 

interactive system. In oral tradition the "open form" creates 

an interaction between the story-teller and the audience. In 

computer games the player interacts with the game through 

rule systems or game mechanic and interfaces. In multi 

player games there is also an interaction among the players 

themselves.The interaction process operates through internal 

dynamics. In oral tradition the story-tellers' preparations and 

the emotional interaction form the story. In computer games 

the internal dynamics are determined by rules; rules determine 

what the player can do and how the game will respond. 

External dynamics are attempts to influence the interactive 

systems from beyond the limits of their interaction models. 

Gifts and threats or different kinds of cheating for various 

reasons are such attempts. 

Losing the epiphany and coming back into the game through 

cheating are opposite approaches towards the same aspect 

of cheating; speeding up the narrative, This aspect is similar 

to giving a Naqqal gifts to continue his story. But although 

the affect on is similar, using a cheat code or walkthrough is 

manipulating the internal dynamics of the game, however 

giving gifts intends to speed up the narrative without 

manipulating the open-form. 

The opposite of Naqqals situation, Ozans slowing down the 

narrative to get gifts Is, on the other hand, similar to the 

conception of breaking the continuity of the game. Like the 

designer encouraging the use of cheat codes, here the Ozan 

indirectly forces the audience to give him gifts or money. In 

fact in this situation the Ozan is the one who cheats. 

Manipulating the story-teller by gifts or threats Is both a 

positive and negative way of approaching an interactive 

system. It creates a new narrative experience beyond the 

limits of the "open-form", where the interaction is limited to 

the level of side stories, and gives the audience the unique 

opportunity to be a part of creating a new dramatic arc. Yet, 

especially using threats is a compelling action towards the 

story-teller and destroys the interaction by forcing one side. 

Also it destroys the dramatic effects of the original story. A 

similar duality can be found in using cheats; they can create a 

new experience or prevents the pleasure derived from game 

play.

A clear act of cheating both in oral tradition and computer 

games is cheating against other individuals or groups. Both, 

fighting groups supporting different heroes, and cheaters in 

multi-player games have destructive effects on the interactive 

system. Like the real world, a cheat against an individual or 

group is not accepted in virtual societies. 

There are two issues which might create confusion: The first 

one is the sale of "virtual assets". This is similar to cheating 

against individuals or groups but is accepted by communities. 

It assembles real economics and social classes in to the virtual 

world. If It is reflected to the oral tradition; this is the difference 

between rich and poor story tellers. These are basic realities 

which can not be rejected especially by commercial games. 

The other one is the use of cheats for observing the game 

universe. This stops the game play and turns the game world 

into a design object. A player using cheats forthis purpose has 

the same motivations with someone who studies the design 

of shadow puppets. 

To sum up, while the oral story telling traditions are one ofthe 

oldest and computer games one ofthe newest examples of 

interactive entertainment, both cases show similar external 

manipulation attempts towards their systems. Although the 

ways of manipulation are entirely different, the desired results 

are very similar. Such similarities might help comparing 

and remixing historical forms of cultural expression with 

contemporary media practices.

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D E S I G N A S A N E G D T I A T D R B E T W E E N S E L F A N D ITS W O R L D - T O W A R D S A 

R E A S O N A B L E S T A T E O F D I S O R D E R 

Ahmet Zeki TURAN 

IstanbulTechnical University, Istanbul,Turkey 

zeki.turan@itu.edu.tr 

Abstract: 

The objective ofthis paper is to try to present a conceptual 

model for understanding the mutual existence of "disclosing 

- designing subject" and the "disclosed - designed object" 

w/ithin the concept of "disclosing whole". The text is also 

an attempt to understand and explain the necessity and 

possibility of somehow objective and verbally describable 

knowledge in design research and theory based on the 

concepts of "whole" and "wholeness". Disclosing whole Is 

presented as the primordial subject matter ofdesign research 

and it is deduced Into its primary sections, "the synchronic 

self" and the sequential world" leading the way to somehow 

objective knowledge in design. Finally, "doing" as the side of 

divisive order and "undoing" as the side of associative disorder 

are introduced as the primordial faces of human disclosure In 

order to gain an insight about mutual contexts of design and 

use. 

Introduclion 

Still today, as for other fields of meta inquiry, essential 

problems of modern design discourse, especially of design 

theory and philosophy are rooted through the ancient 

duality of "observing - manipulating subject" and "observed - 

manipulated object": ontological question of "what design is"; 

epistemological question of "how design does"; and ethical 

question of "what design should do"(Alvesson and Sküldberg, 

2000). The objective of this paper Is to try to present a 

conceptual model for understanding the mutual existence of 

"disclosing - designing subject" and the "disclosed - designed 

object" within the concept of "disclosing whole". Basically the 

text is in search of an insight for obtaining and sustaining a 

somehow "objectively reasonable" state of disorder or disaster 

within the universal set of life: that Is the whole of the world; 

besides and apart from local and partial orders and welfare 

within its subsets. 

Friedrich Hayek notes that artifice can be"the result of human 

action but not of human design"(Mitcham, 2001). Non-design, 

Hayek seems to say, always encloses design; design can never 

be ultimate, and therefore should recognize its limitations. 

Mitcham (2001) adds that the truth is that even in design, 

results extend beyond intentions and these results become 

phenomena to which we, even in our attempts to redesign 

them or to design around them, must accept. With a strong 

reference to the concept of"dialectlcs", Fry (2003) puts outthat 

whatever we identify, there is also which evades and escapes 

that is other and supplementary. Design, order and truth is 

never simply a victory over non-design, disorder and untruth 

but a perpetual struggle with its own internalized negation. 

Here, in this paper, I will try to present the construction 

process and outputs of an articulated holistic model that is 

a philosophical and speculative projection through a web of 

conceptual relations and Interactions. The act of projection 

aims to a deep understanding process ofthe mutual whole of 

designing and using, which is also producing and consuming, 

in order to design, to use and to pass as sustainable as possible; 

that is also sustaining a somehow objectively reasonable state 

of disorder. The text is also an attempt to understand and 

explain the necessity and possibility of somehow objective 

and verbally describable knowledge in design research and 

theory based on the concepts of "whole" and "wholeness"; 

especially In terms ofthe wholeness of primary dualities such 

as subject and object, natural and artificial, living thing and 

non living thing, order and disorder and part and whole.

Gaile (2002) points out that the philosophy of design is useful 

simply because it offers us insights about design which we 

could not obtain otherwise. Within the philosophy of design, 

all aspects of design and insights about them are obtained by 

rational reflection ratherthan empincai observation. Moreover 

it seems that these Insights could not have been gained by 

anything but such reflection. Essentially, the modeling is a 

meta effort to put out something about the"ur-phenomenon" 

of the disclosing whole. Goethe argued that, In time, or of 

commitment, practice, and proper efforts, the expenencing 

researcher would discover the ur-phenomenon, the essential 

pattern or process of a thing (Seamon and Zajonc, 1998): 

Ur~ bears the connotation of primordial, basic, 

elemental, archetypal; the ur-phenomenon may be 

thought of as the "deep-down phenomenon", the 

essential core of a thing that makes it what it is and 

what it becomes. For example in his botanical work, 

Goethe saw the ur-phenomenon ofthe plant as arising 

out of the interplay between two opposing forces: 

"the vertical tendency" and "horizontal tendency". The 

former Is the plant's inescapable need to grow upward; 

the latter, the nourishing, expanding principle that 

gives solidity to the plant. Only when these two forces 

are in balance can the plant grow normally. 

Necessity, Possibility and Reliability of Design Knowledge 

A widely known expression of Simon (1969) puts out that 

everyone designs who devises courses of acrion aimed at 

changing exisring situarions into preferred ones. For him the 

intellectual activity that produces material artifacts is no different 

fundamentally from the one that prescribes remedies for a sick 

parient or the one that devises a new sales plan for a company 

or a social welfare policy for a state. Design, so constructed, 

is core of al! professional training; It is the principal mark that 

disringuishes the professions from the sciences. Besides that, 

within meta discourse, design as the primary underlying matrix 

of life (Papanek, 1984), Is often presented as Indicating an 

"ontological space" that lies outside the boundaries of verbal 

discourse; that Is literally indescribable in linguisric terms. That 

talking of proposirional knowledge In this area, or making 

knowledge claims about the thinking process of designers, may 

be fundamentally wrong-headed (Daley, 1984). 

Design Is not an activity performed only by some distinguished 

professionals but is basic to all human acrivity, "All men are 

designers, all that we do, almost all the rime. Is design'; says 

Papanek (1984); It Is the conscious and intuitive effort to 

impose meaningful order. As Fry (1994) suggests, design is 

the anthropocentric imposition of direction. Fry (1999) says 

that design Is everywhere as the normality ofthe made world 

that is rendered background as soon as "design" becomes an 

Individuated object of focus. For him to reify design, which Is 

to present It In an objectified form removed from Its dynamic 

in process, is to misconstrue the vary nature of what design is. 

Design is prior to, within and independent of both the sciences 

and humaniries. Fry (1999) thinks that although we, and the 

worlds we occupy, are significantly determined by design. It 

has never actually arrived as a serious object of Inquiry. Besides 

that Krippendorff (2006) claims that, not everyone who acts to 

make the worid a better place calls him or herself a designer. 

He says: 

Design as a professional practice differs from design 

in everyday life by relymg on publicly acknowledged 

competencies, the use of methods, but above all on 

an organized way of languaging, a design discourse, 

that coordinates working in teams and with clients, 

justifies proposals for artifacts to their stakeholder, and 

distinguishes professional designers from those doing 

it largely for themselves. 

The necessity and possibility ofa reliable knowledge in design 

theory, practice and education lies in the understanding that 

for both levels of designing, everyday or professional, design 

as basic human capacity acts upon and directs a "wodd" 

that is shared by others. For contemporary design theory 

and philosophy the dlstlncrion between "everyday design" 

as conducted by so called "users" and "professional design" 

as conducted by so called "designers" disclose an essenrial 

dilemma to overcome; that contradiction may be stated by 

two mutual proposlrions; the first to be called as"subjecrive" 

or "hidden" and the latter as "objecrive" or "disclosed" (Jonas, 

2002; Friedman, 2002). 

1. Subjective issue: Design as a basic human capacity, a 

mode of inquiry and the underiying matrix of life seems 

principally and originally hidden, unattainable and

unİnterferabİG for objective icnowledge. İt implies an 

entity or an experience settled in an ontological space 

that resists to division, differentiation and inter subjective 

communication; It is beyond the limits of verbal language. 

So, design cannot be modeled as a system indicating an 

organization, a process and a product. 

2. Objective issue: Although that every single human 

being live end experience the outcoming results ofdesign 

by himself, the effects ofdesign and the direction it implies 

are disclosed, viewed and felt in a world shared by others 

distanced apart from the originator subject. That world 

seems somehow objective, affording Inter subjective 

verbal communication; it also allows things to be seen in 

organization indicating the existence of processes and 

products. 

As a necessity of the objective issue, the professional designer 

has a inter subjective, social or worldly "responsibility" of his 

actions, that he has to act by knowing, carefully and intentionally 

disclosing artifacts forming and ordering the world he share 

with others. Besides that as a necessity of the subjective Issue, 

the professional designer does not seem to have a reliable 

way to explain, to systematize and to organize the design 

process that is essentially covered and hidden for objective and 

verbal knowledge. While he İs responsible of his actions, the 

deep down structure bringing him into action, creating and 

transforming his intentions always stay beyond the limits of his 

worldly conceptualizations, systematizations, modeling and 

languaging. Design knowledge is crucial and necessary, while It 

Is systematically and linguistically Impossible and unattainable. 

That essential contradiction brings out a vital question: If all the 

organisms, and in accordance with particular theories all the 

particles in the universe are already and always processing to 

solve problems and ifdesign Is inevitablyactual and continuously 

going on within the whole of theexistence, then Is there a ground 

for the "necessity" of conducting design research for attaining 

Insights, bringing explanations and creating knowledge In 

the context of professional design? Besides its necessity, is it 

"possible" to reach to reliable knowledge by design research? 

Besides its necessity, possibility and reliability, where should the 

researcher or the theorist look at and head towards to disclose 

that hidden knowledge, what Is the source of It? What is the 

primordial subject matter of design research? 

The Ur-deduction ofthe Disclosing Whole 

Here the central, primordial or the original subject of design 

research and theory Is introduced as the disclosing whole 

that is complete, indivisible and an absolute thing in itself; 

in contradiction with Its disclosing character it is essentially 

concealed, hidden and covered to examination from outside. 

It has the basic capacity to design. Unlike the linguistic wholes 

that systematically and hierarchically divide into parts and 

combine into larger wholes, disclosing whole represent an 

ontological level that all the primary dualities that construct, 

control and sustain the wholes of language are in a indivisible 

and continuous wholeness, like subject and object, natural 

and artificial, living thing and non living thing, order and 

disorder etc. 

Von Bertalanffy (1971), the founder of General Systems 

Theory, notes that In one way or another, we are forced to deal 

with complexities, with "wholes" or "systems". In all fields of 

knowledge. He says: 

Nevertheless, the necessity and feasibility of a systems 

approach became apparent only recently. Its necessity 

resulted from the fact that the mechanistic scheme 

of isolable causal trains and meristic treatment had 

proven Insufficient to deal with theoretical problems, 

especially in the biological sciences, and with the 

practical problems posed by modern technology. 

He also adds that mechanistic approach just mentioned 

appeared to neglect or actively deny just what is essential in 

the phenomena of life. Jonas (2003) claim that design activities 

change the world, without being able to predict anything, 

except, maybe, the correct functioning of an artifact in a very 

restricted manner. He gives the example of cars as isolated 

artifacts are working ever more perfectly. Besides that he notes: 

Butdesignactivitiesalwayscomprlseandaffect"wholes" 

consisting of non-causally connected components... 

The external boundaries of these wholes are fuzzy, 

their internal relations cannot be defined in scientific 

terms, their behaviors are unpredictable. Therefore 

design should be theoretically conceived as a practice 

of not-knowing.

As a result of the subjective issue mentioned above, the 

concept of disclosing whole comes with an impossibility to 

comprehend, understand and know objectively; so in order to 

disclose the primordial relations and interactions that mode! 

it as an organized and processing system, as a necessity of the 

objective Issue, we need a deductive approach rather than 

an analytic induction where the concealed and unknowable 

whole Is spontaneously and synchronicaily spaced within 

itself, opened out and interrupted into its "primary sections". 

Methodologically, this may be seen as a "phenomenological 

reduction" or a "hermeneutical disclosure of something hidden 

deep inside" (Husserl, 1965; Vattimo, 1997). This primordial 

disclosure may be stated as deducing and interrupting the 

continuous, inconceivable, complex and unknowable whole 

into its primordial partitions; taking it away and removing from 

itself; creating a viewing and participating distance within 

itself in order to "make sense" and disclosing comprehensible, 

knowableandsomehowsystematicrelationsthatconstitute the 

pnmary subjects of knowledge, meaning and understanding 

in design research and theory, it is an eternal separation within 

the disclosing whole that is the "whole of human" that makes 

sense. Theoretical deduction of the disclosing whole aiming to 

understand, to know, to conceive and "to make sense" of it is 

not an interruption that has happened in a certain time and 

place but It goes on continuously and eternally as capacities 

of making sense, organization, ordering and cognirion are the 

main indicators of life (Csanyi, 1989; Eigen, 1992; Kampis, 1991; 

Maturana &Varela, 1987). 

I introduce an ur-phenomena! pattern, the primary sections of 

the essenrially concealed but actually c//sc/o5/ng whole; that are 

the "self" as the central agent and its "worid" as the periphery 

for which the self is responsible and takes care of by viewing, 

participating, ordering and forming. After deduction, one of 

the mutual primordial parts within the supposedly theoretical 

abundance will "necessarily" come forward, hold the centre 

and appear with the claim and mission of "representing" and 

thus taking the responsibility ofthe disclosing whole. So while 

the disclosing whole was unconceivable and unknowable pre 

deducrion,nowitmakessensebyacentralselfthatis"conscious" 

and reflects, interprets and knows Its peripheral world. The 

self represents the concealed whole pre~deducrion so it also 

represents the concepts of wholeness, uninterrupted oneness, 

undivided completeness and singularity; and it acts and 

behaves towards achieving those conditions. After deduction, 

the self conscious discloses and reflects "wholes" into its 

world that are principally "contingent". The representing self 

forces the parts of its world to create wholes of organizations, 

processes and products that afford verbal descriptions. So 

while the central self of the disclosing whole tends towards 

"lingulsrically unorganized wholeness". Its peripheral worid 

tends towards "lingulsrically organized togetherness". In other 

words, the self conscious of the disclosing whole necessarily 

represents the pre-deduction wholeness, thus it is responsible 

of its world. The world is known, made sense. Interpreted, 

reflected and controlled by the self conscious. Since the self 

acts toward wholeness. It discloses "wholes" in the partial 

world of abundance and plurality in "togetherness"; that are 

artificial and contingent wholes. 

As a matter of the subjective issue mentioned above self 

conscious ofthe disclosing whole cannot be divided; for each 

human being there is one actual, directly experienced and 

phenomenological "lived" necessity, one natural whole and 

center of meaning that is himself, constituring the pole of 

subjectivity. Although there is only one single "lived" necessity 

andconsciousnessforeveryhuman being that is himself, within 

the framework of ur-deduction, he has been distanced from 

himself disclosing a reflecting world where he contemplates 

some other selves as "necessarily living". As a result of that, 

a mediator world of contingency Is spread and diffused in 

between those selves constituting the pole of objecrivity. The 

disclosing human whole Is alone with himself, while together 

with others in his world. The self of the disclosing whole is 

necessarily and inevitably "lived" and "experienced" leading 

to the concept of subjectivity and the worid ofthe disclosing 

whole is conringently "viewed" "participated" and "shared" 

leading to the concept of objectivity The self conscious may 

be presented as a web of network that has boundaries with 

its wodd consisted of both other selves that are the origins 

of disclosures and also wholes of disclosed things that are 

spatially in togetherness and temporarily in sequence. 

Here firstly, design is introduced as a fundamental attribute 

of any disclosing human whole or system that is centralized 

and represented by immaterial "self consciousness" and 

surrounded by its material "worid" An essential and necessary 

"formal unfit" between the self and its world is recognized for

which design is a mediator as the basic capacity ofthe whole. 

This unfit is stressed as inharmoniousness or incompatibility 

on the widespread web of boundaries between the designing 

self and its world. Jonas (2003) also presents design as the 

agent/parasite/joker which creates temporary fits between 

the co-evolving systems of cultural evolution, namely: 

communications, consciousnesses, bodies, as autopoietic 

systems, plus artifacts as allopoietic systems. 

Secondly, a linear, local and sequential "world" rendered 

by Euclidean geometry of classic physics and science, and 

a non-linear, non-local and synchronous "self" rendered by 

fractal geometry of contemporary complex systems science 

and quantum physics are claimed to be the basic mutual 

entities Vv'ithin the disclosing whole (Martinez, 2001). Here, 

design is understood as a fundamental position ofthe whole 

as a negotiator through the widespread web of boundaries 

between non-linear, non-local and synchronous patterns ofthe 

conscious self, and linear, local and sequential organizations of 

its world. Design as a negotiator search for "contextual fitness", 

harmonyand compati bility between theselfand Its world which 

is projected as an instantaneous and temporary order within 

the fuzzy boundaries ofthe context; while simultaneously it 

may be faced as a disorder or a thread outside the context, 

within a wider whole (Van de Vljver et al, 2005). 

Martinez (2001) has developed a bio-cognitive epistemology 

explaining the process of knowing. In the process of knowing, 

he explains, bioinformation Is selected, stored and retrieved 

as contextual fields of Inseparable cognitive, biological 

and cultural parameters. These blo-informational fields are 

decontextualized from linear to non-linear space during 

storage and recontextualized from non-linear to linear 

space during retrieval. Bio-information is expressed linearly 

and locally through the nervous, endocrine and Immune 

pathways in a space of Euclidean geometry, and is impressed 

non-llnearly and non-locally in a space of fractal geometry in 

the totality ofthe field. 

Above, the primordial or the original subject of design 

research and theory Is Introduced as the disclosing whole that 

has the basic capacity to design. Unlike the linguistic wholes 

that systematically and hierarchically divide into parts and 

combine into larger wholes, disclosing whole represented an 

ontological level where all the primary dualities that construct, 

control and sustain the wholes of language are in a indivisible 

and continuous wholeness. After the primordial disclosure 

of the self and the worid, design research and theory may 

be seen as dealing with two levels of wholes and wholeness 

that are verbally describable and relations and interactions of 

which can be systematically modeled representing them as 

explainable organizations: 

1. Necessary and natural wholes that are disclosing and 

living entities as the "self". Human beings, both ordinary 

and professional who are continuously designing and 

using to disclose contexts of life are examples of these 

wholes. Designers, their clients and users as actual persons 

away from all kinds of titles and positions are examples of 

such central wholes for design theory. 

2. Contingent and artificial wholes that are disclosed and 

affording entities in the "worid". They are originated in 

and depend on necessary and natural wholes. Artifacts 

as wholes are disclosed by natural wholes as a necessary 

result of their orientation towards wholeness. They may 

resemble natural wholes in several manners but lack of 

an independent self consciousness. Although they have 

vital effects on natural wholes, since they are not originally 

representing entities, they are not responsible of those 

causes. 

The main important distinction between necessary - natural 

wholes and contingent - artificial wholes Is that, artificial 

wholes are not "disclosing" entitles in the sense that natural 

wholes are; which is also the indicator of life in natural wholes. 

Despite the fact that they may seem as disclosing, they are 

primarily disclosed entities and they"afford" means for further 

disclosures. They have no necessary existence independent of 

natural wholes.They basically take place in a world organized 

linearly, locally and sequentially.They are mediators, negotiators 

and fittings in between necessary and natural wholes that 

exist relative to each other in a worid of togetherness. Artificial 

wholes do not disclose some other wholes, represent them or 

take their responsibility but they do afford means of disclosure 

for natural wholes.The way taken by a car, the work done by a 

vacuum cleaner, the lighting streamed by a table lamp or even 

automated machines producing products out of disordered

aw materials may resemble natural disclosures but they are 

not disclosures in the sense that human wholes do disclose 

artificiality. These artifacts afford possible disclosures for the 

self Kroes (2002) suggests that technical artifacts have a 

dual nature: on the one hand they are physical objects (man- 

made constructions) that may be used to perform a certain 

function, on the one hand they are intenrional objects since It 

is the funcrion of a technical artifact that disringuishes it from 

physical (natural) objects and this funcrion has meaning only 

within a context of intentional human action. So, necessary 

and natural wholes disclose affordance into the worid, while 

contingent and artificial wholes afford disclosures for the self 

The Primordial Faces of Human Disclosure 

We may talk about a single stream of disclosure out ofany natural 

and necessary whole aiming to construct an order within its 

peripheral worid by creating contingent and artificial wholes. 

But this "construcrive" disclosure would have no meaning if 

there was not a state of disorder within the orientated worid 

of artifice. The self observes this disorder or problem out ofthe 

disclosures of other natural and necessary wholes that is the 

destructive face of disclosure. Although there is a single stream 

of human disclosure, it is relarively constructive or"de5tructive". 

As it gives an order and constructs something, it also creates a 

disorder and destructs something within a greater whole In the 

worid of togetherness. Everyday designing of so called "users" 

may be seen as the destructive face of disclosure relative to the 

professional designers who primarily construct ordered wholes 

to be used by them. Everyday designing disclose problems to 

be solved and disorder to be ordered. 

Buchanan (1994) tries to speculate on the term culture as 

follows; "Culture is not a state, expressed in an ideology 

or a body of doctrines. Rather it is an activity. Culture is 

the activity of ordering, disordering, and reordering in the 

search for understanding and for values that guide acrion." 

When designing Is taken as cultural dynamics of order, it is 

understood by the presence of its opposite, cultural dynamics 

of disorder. So disclosing human whole may be viewed through 

a basic mutual opposition; the face orthe side of ordering, for 

that 1 choose the term "doing" and the side of disordering that 

1 prefer to call as Its opposite: "undoing" (Turan, 2002). These 

are not the sides of the artifact, but In fact, ofthe human being 

and his acrive, parricipatlve togetherness with the artificial, 

social and natural environment, which he inhabits. I will 

express that participative togetherness with the term "human 

struggle" or "human disclosure" 

As presented here, "context of design" as put out by the 

construcrive face of human struggle in connection with 

ordering, producing and constructing, and "context of use" as 

put out by the destructive face of human struggle in connecrion 

withdisordering, consuming and destroying are interconnected 

mutual enriries of human disclosure into the worid in which 

he takes place and rime with other people and things. Since 

the Interaction of these enritles may be thought of holisric and 

mutual rather than analytic and autonomous, it is impossible 

to dismiss that some kind of using and disordering is involved 

within the context ofdesign, and some kind of designing and 

ordering is involved within the context of use, which makes 

them impossible to strictly determine, fvletaphorlcally I will 

point out two basic and Inherent sides of human disclosure 

just as left and right: "the side of divisive order" that is what I 

called "doing" as parrially projecring the context of design and 

"the side of associarive disorder" that is what I called "undoing" 

as parrially projecring the context of use (Figure 1). These two 

opposing enritles are in a constanriy changing mutual relarion 

without a clearly definable purpose. 

SKY 

GROUND 

T>ve„ 

Figure l.The Primordial Faces of Human Disclosure 

The doing of human disclosure, which is the side of divisive 

order, is the side in which relations as decomposirion, 

differentiation, opposition, separation, discrimination and

decision are originated. It systematizes, partitions, divides and 

orders in order to bring Into being by doing it. Although it 

seems like something constructive, it inhabits the destructive 

face of construction that is limiting the possibilities, freezing 

and solidifying the v^/orld. Depending on a permanent 

but unfounded web, it has the inner tendency to create 

a temporary ground to stand on, which is also replacing 

something old with something new. The doing Is like the left 

or right of human being in place and time. It is the other side of 

undoing. Just as left and right get mixed up, dispersed in each 

other in human strolling in time and place, doing and undoing 

are dispersed in each other in human struggling on the line of 

"horizon". Our world of experienced phenomenon embracing 

the contexts of design and use. Is a worid of continuous 

indeterminacy consisted of the osmotic transition between 

doing and undoing. Besides that, doing lowers, takes down 

to the ground what it partitions, divides and orders In order 

to bring into being by doing it is. Thus, it makes "knowable" 

and "visible". It is mainly related with the tangible and material 

ground, the below, underneath of disclosing human struggle 

into the world that is principally on the line of horizon. 

The undoing of human disclosure, which Is the side of 

associative disorder, is the side in which relations as unifying, 

making a whole, equaling, pairing, making synchronic, making 

identical and alternating are originated. It non-systematizes, 

completes, associates and disorders in order to take out of 

being by doing it is not; that is undoing. Although It seems 

like something destructive, it inhabits the constructive face 

of destruction that is enforcing the possibilities, boiling and 

vaporizing the world. Depending on a temporary ground to 

stand on, it has the inner tendency to create a permanent 

but unfounded web, which is also replacing something new 

with something old. The undoing is like the left or right of 

human being in place and time. It Is the other side of doing. 

Just as left and right get mixed up, dispersed in each other 

In human strolling in rime and place, doing and undoing are 

dispersed In each other In human struggling on the line of 

horizon. Our worid of experienced phenomenon embracing 

the contexts of design and use, is a worid of continuous 

indeterminacy consisted of the osmotic transition between 

doing and undoing. Besides that, undoing raises to the sky 

what it completes, associates and disorders in order to take 

out of being by doing it is not. Thus, it makes "unknowable" 

and "invisible". It Is mainly related with the intangible and 

Immaterial sky, the above of disclosing human struggle into 

the world that is principally on the line of horizon. 

Conclusion 

Doing as the constructive face of human disclosure indicates 

a vector from the centre to the periphery representing the 

selves' conscious disclosure into the common worid. Undoing 

as the destructive face of human disclosure indicates a vector 

from the periphery to the center representing the worid's 

cooperative response affecting the selves. Results of undoing 

as the context of use extend beyond Intentions of doing as 

the context ofdesign and these results become phenomena 

that professional designers, even In their attempts to redesign 

them or to design around them, must accept. With reference to 

Simon (1969), Kroes' (2002) expression presenting the duality 

of inner and outer environments promises useful insights 

about the mutual existence of doing and undoing. He says: 

In the design context, the main emphasis lies on how 

to construct a physical system (object) that realizes 

a certain function. This function is often described in 

terms of a list of specifications which the object to 

be designed must meet (inner environment). In the 

context of use, the outer environment presents Itself 

There, the function of the artifact in relation to the 

realization of goals (ends) is of prime importance and 

the physical constitution of the artifact becomes of 

secondary importance. 

Everyday designing of so called "users" (outer environment) 

may be seen as the destructive face of human disclosure 

relative to the professional designers who primarily construct 

ordered wholes (inner environment) to be used by them. 

Everyday designing discloses problems to be solved and 

disorder to be ordered. 

The concept of disclosing whole promises positive insights 

about ontological, epistemological and ethical articulation of 

design theory and philosophy; ontological question of "what 

design is", epistemological question of'how design does", and 

ethical question of "what design should do" are presented 

as interconnected and articulated in a disclosing whole

epresenting an ontological level that all the primary dualities 

that construct, control and sustain the v^^holes of language are 

in an indivisible and continuous wholeness, like subject and 

object, natural and artificial, living thing and non living thing, 

order and disorder etc. The concept of disclosing whole and its 

ur-deduction Is also useful in understanding and explaining 

the necessity, possibility and reliability of somehow objective 

and verbally describable knowledge in design research and 

theory. 

In this paper, I tried to follow the footprints and catch the 

clues of the deep-down phenomenon, the archetypal 

pattern or process within the terrain of design. Maybe not 

the ur-phenomenon itself, but the continuous process of 

experiencing, interpreting and understanding towards it has 

the potential to show us how to live, to design, to use and 

to pass within the limits of optimum sustainability, that is 

obtaining and sustaining a somehow "objectively reasonable" 

state of disorder or disaster within the universal set of life: that 

is the whole of the world; besides and apart from local and 

partial orders and welfare within its subsets. Heading towards 

optimum sustainabllity should at the same time mean the 

chase of deeper responsibility on volitional and intentional 

action in designing and ordering our material and immaterial 

environment. Sustaining an objectively reasonable state of 

disorder would not only stabilize materially visible pollution, 

but it will also decrease materially invisible pollution as well, 

which is the loss of quality In everyday human experience 

with the surrounding whole.

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D A N C I N G WITH D I S P L A C E M E N T : T H E C O N D I T I O N S O F D I S P L A C E M E N T IN A T H E N S 

EleniTzirtzilaki 

School of Architecture 

Poiytechic School of Athens, Greece 

nomadas@otenet.gr 

katsikogianni 9-Pslrl, Athens, Greece 

Tel.2103319852 

Abstract 

This paper addresses the transformation of spaces and objects 

In metropolitan conditions of displacement 

Refugees and immigrants without papers move to the great 

metropolises forced by wars, or other causes. Impoverished they 

reach the metropolises and transform the existing conditions in 

order to survive. Disorder results In the metropolises from the 

movement of displaced urban nomads. A newdesign, fluid and 

physical, results through everyday needs and habitation. 

Athens constitutes a stopover for people from Iran, Iraq, 

Turkey, and Eastern European countries on their way to other 

European Union countries. The refugee reception center in 

Lavrio and the other small centers run by non-government 

organizations cannot cover the needs created. Consequently, 

people are often forced to live in the streets or In crowded 

houses. The street the square, the public space and urban 

voids become spaces of habitation, work and expression for 

the displaced. Such areas are found in the center of Athens 

in streets, like fVlenadrou, squares, like Koumoundourou, and 

open markets, like the former Korean market 

The paper examines how the concept of place is transferred 

and what the characteristics of these temporary habitations. 

The nomads' autonomous tendencies lead them to create 

new spatial actions which are characterized by dispersal 

and disorder in the fabric of the city, as well as new objects 

through improvisation with makeshift materials.This disorder, 

however, also creates a new spatial transformational order. A 

number of architects and designers have received inspiration 

from these novel urban conditions. 

The case study of Athens 

Today we cannot talk about man's needs in terms 

of space but about the multiple, different needs of 

multiple, different people in terms of pnvate and public 

spaces {Vrychea 2003). 

I used to sleep in the park. We were driven out Now 

I sleep in a house at Petraiona. There are usually 100 

people sleeping there, not always the same. Staying 

there costs 3 euros per night The house has five rooms, 

a bathroom and two toilets. We live on top of one 

another. It was better before, when 1 could sleep in the 

park (A young Afghan living in Athens, 27-3-2005). 

The following case study took place in the Greek capital 

between 1999 and 2005. The methodology consists in a 

mapping through the researcher's physical expenence and 

wandenng in parts of Athens and in the bibliographical 

exploration ofthe various concepts. 

The fieidwork is based on the views of Clifford as analysed in 

the chapter on 'Spatial practices', in which the actual field Is 

the social space. The object of the project is not really Athens 

and the spaces it examines, but the social group to which it 

refers: the displaced urban nomads. Empirical research Is used 

to clarify as much as possible the meaning that 'habitation in 

travelling' or'habitation in motion' has for the displaced.

The journey Hospitality 

Few escaped the stormy sea 

Swimming to the coast, their skin roughened by salt 

And blissfully reached the land, having escaped death 

Homer, Odyssey 12, vv. 236-38 

From 1990 onwards, Greece received increasing numbers of 

displaced urban nomads. Given its position on the map, Greece 

constitutes a 'passage'which often becomes a stopover or a 

temporary abode for the new nomads. 

The country receives asylum-seekers from Asia and economic 

immigrants from Albania, the former Soviet Union, Poland 

and Rumania. They usually enter Greece illegally. To get there 

they have to travel great distances at a risk to their lives, on 

foot over land, or by sea in dangerous boats, and often they 

have to go back and set off again and again. Most new arrivals 

prefer Athens as their destination because they are close to 

public services and humanitarian organisations, there are 

more job opportunities and they can meet compatriots. 

Given the restrictive legislation, for a long time they are 

classified as 'without papers'. Although many have grounds 

for seeking asylum, they do not apply for fear of having their 

application rejected. The number of those recognized as 

refugees Is minima!.' 

According to the recent Act 3386 of 2005, getting a residence 

permit as an immigrant is a long process; it only applies of 

those who arrived in Greece before 31 December 2004 and 

requires proof of having entered the country legally and 

having secured employment. 

' In 2001, asylum was granted to 147 out of 5499 applications, plus 

148 on humanitarian grounds; in 2002 there were 5664 applications, 

36 granted and 64 on humanitarian grounds; in 2003 out of 8178 

applications just 3 were accepted, plus 25 on humanitarian grounds; in 

2004,11 applications were accepted plus 22 on humanitarian grounds), 

(data: UN High Commission for Refugees). 

Officially, hospitality In Greece Is only extended to asylum 

seekers, and then only in selected cases. 

For years Athens remains with a single, totally Inadequate 

Reception centre for asylum seekers in Lavrion and some small 

temporary facilities run by NGOs; a very few people are hosted 

in cheap hotels by the Ministry of Health, while the Nefell 

programme ofthe Ministry's Foundation for Social Work and 

the UN Refugee Agency has 5-6 apartments in West Athens, 

with two families living semi-independently In each flat. 

The people who are housed in the available facilities usually 

change every 6-7 months, but they can stay for as long as two 

years. After that, if they have the money they join forces to rent 

an apartment. In which case they are exploited by landlords who 

demand high rents for places with deficient lighting, ventilation 

and plumbing. Many are forced to stay in abandoned houses 

and factories, mainly in old neighbourhoods near the centre of 

Athens, while some end up living In the streets. These modes 

of habitation are characterised by fluidity and mobility. Since 

1999, when I started my research, the only permanent space of 

hospitality is the Reception centre for asylum seekers in Lavrion. 

As reported by the Greek Council for Refugees,^ 'the 

phenomenon of refugee movements has acquired a highly 

complex character, compared to the period of conventional 

refugees in the years 1959-90, ... countries such as Greece, 

which have not developed a comprehensive legal framework 

and the infrastructure for the protection of refugees, are 

inevitably dysfunctional.' 

The city as refuge 

How is it possible that on the way from Haftia to the 

Museum or from Omonia to the Ancient Agora - via 

Athinas Street you can travel to all eight corners ofthe 

Universe... to see your Own people and your Strangers 

walking and arriving at the Athineon cafe (loannou 

1980). 

'An officially recognised benevolent union at 25 Solomou Str., Athens.

'Our own'people and the strangers always come together in the 

centre of Athens. Whether refugees from Asia Minor or, later, 

internal immigrants, strangers have always hung around the 

city centre, in the area around Omonia Square, in search of jobs, 

accommodation or acquaintances. Often, even'our own'people 

become 'strangers'. The strangers are those that one comes 

across in the public spaces ofthe city- in the streets, squares and 

open markets.The question is: does the city function as a refuge 

for those who get here? And if so, why is it the city that functions 

as a funnel/shelter for people's new collective presence? 

As these people spend a lot of dme out of doors, they become 

the main users ofthe public space of Athens. This is facilitated 

by the complex and dense pattern of buildings in this area, 

the many abandoned spaces, the commercial character of 

this part of town, the intricate web of arcades and stairs and 

the existence of the central market and the vanous open 

markets around Monastiraki, all of which open doors of 

communication.These types of habitation In the city's spaces/ 

urban voids are of a fluid, changeable character, because once 

they are discovered they are banned, and the persecuted seek 

a new space in the city to host them. 

This is a mobile habitation, with the peculiarity of being effected 

through the body and its motions, with few other means. 

Wheelbarrows, large colourful bags, bundles, fabrics and 

cardboard boxes are the physical elements of this habitation. 

a. The habitation of Koumoundourou Square; a 'room' 

within the city. 

Koumoundourou square is a central spot in Athens, in the area 

south of Omonia square. One of its sides is on Pireos Street, 

a thoroughfare that follows the route of the ancient walls 

of Athens and links the city centre with the port. One of the 

buildings around the square, the former Foundling Hospital, 

houses the Municipal Gallery, The square is also the terminal 

for buses to the western suburbs of Athens. In the penod 

under consideration, the square and Its surrounding area was 

neglected enough to be described as an 'urban vold'.^ 

The settlement 

The settlement of refugees began in October 1999, when 

Kurdish men, women and children gradually made their home 

In the square. 

From the way some of them behaved, they seemed to be 

relatives or friends; or it may have been the common ongin 

which led to this close relationship. 

They used minimal materials to delimit their space in the 

square. Some slept In cardboard boxes, some on the benches, 

others on the grass under the trees. Despite their large and 

constandy growing numbers, they all managed to fit in. 

The vanous outcasts who used to hang around the square were 

forced to move out, while passers-by kept to the pavements and 

the surrounding streets.They looked on furtively, feeling thatthe 

square now belonged to those inside it. A clear boundary had 

been established: there was an 'inside' and 'outside' of the square. 

Later the refugees put up some tents and lived in them, in 

families or in male groups; one tent was taken up by a mother 

and her baby. When they were given some food, it was kept in 

plastic bags inside prams or hung on the trees. At one point, in 

the middle ofthe square, they used to roast Arabic bread and 

sing around the hre. 

Habitation 

In this form of habitation of a neglected square of Athens, 

an urban void is turned into temporary abode with minimal 

materials by a group of people who are themselves in a void. 

The square becomes a'shelter', an interim space between the 

place they left and their unknown destination. It is a temporary 

address, a 'room' or a house within the city. 

^ Urban voids are spaces created by the city itself in its process of 

transformation. They appear in the place of old buildings which were 

torn down or left to crumble, on empty plots, archaeological sites, 

disused public or private buildings, abandoned industrial facilities or 

sites. Their interest lies in the fact that, as abandoned places, they are 

open to transformation and to new situations in the city.

This room Is delineated by the limits of the square, by the 

boundaries of the settlement. There are visible signs of 

habitation: tents, cardboard boxes, clothes'lines, blankets, etc. 

Although clearly an outdoor space. It is characterised by 

introversion. It reflects the special traits of a group of people 

with common roots, and shows a uniform cultural and social 

behaviour; the memory of the birthplace Is carried in the 

language, the music, the habits. It is an unwritten address on 

the map ofthe Kurds. 

The concept of the threshold Is there: on New Year's Eve, the 

inhabitants ofthe square received the outsiders (the people of 

Athens) and celebrated together. 

The temporary residents of the square had a sense of 

ephemeral security, but no comfort. On the contrary, living 

conditions were hard and unhygienic. 

The habitation had a strongly impermanent character, as 

these people knew they could be turned out at any moment. 

To many, their presence was offensive and menacing.The local 

storekeepers asked for their removal, fearing that the district 

would be stigmatised. 

The habitation in the square lasted from October 1999 to 

February 2000, when the settlers were driven out by police 

forces. When the local authorities ofTavros and Egaleo refused 

to receive them at a former centre for infectious diseases, they 

were taken to the abandoned NATO base on Mount Pateras, 

but it was at a long distance from the city and the refugees 

gradually left it; many of them returned and tried to stay In 

derelict houses near the square. 

Today, Koumoundourou square has been renovated. Around it 

there are now many Chinese clothes'shops. The square itself is 

usually empty; few people sit at the small cafe or on the grass, 

while foreigners (Afghans, Pakistanis) prefer to gather in the 

surrounding streets - Menandrou Str., Sapfous Str., etc. 

b. Habitation in deserted buildings 

Many displaced people inhabit empty houses in the old 

neighbourhoods of Athens - Psyrri, Keramikos, Metaxourgio, 

Kolonos, Stathmos Larissis. They usually take over a house 

in groups (of men, mostly), and live under particularly harsh 

conditions. They have no water or electricity, and they often 

steal current from the main conductor. 

When the district of Psyrri was upgraded, they were forced to 

move to other areas such as near the Larissis railway station. 

In this area, there are large, disused industrial spaces.The one I 

visited housed 100 individuals, Iraqi, Kurdish and Afghan men, 

who had used packaging cardboard and other waste materials 

to divide the space. The living conditions were appalling, 

without toilets or water supply. 

Apart from an emergency solution, their action was a form of 

protest for the absence of hospitality. 

c. Menandrou Street 

Menandrou Street and the streets around it - Sapfous, Kirinis, 

Geranlou,Sofokleous, Eschylou, Evrlpldou-are the most typical 

meeting points for foreigners. This is an almost obligatory 

choice of area, as It lies near Omonia, the heart ofthe city, and 

Koumoundourou square, which we have already seen as one 

ofthe first places to attract the displaced urban nomads. The 

area has many abandoned houses, cheap hotels and hostels, 

and is easy to reach by subway from other parts ofthe city. 

Menandrou Str. Is one-way, from Omonia to Psyrri, and hosts 

the bus terminals for destinations in West Athens, Perama 

and Egaleo. There are many food and clothes shops run by 

foreigners, as well as many mobile phone stores. At the other 

end ofthe street stands the big church of St. Constantine. 

On weekdays, but more so on Sundays, the street fills with 

groups of foreigners from various countries. They gather in 

the pavements and in the middle of the street and spend 

the entire Sunday morning there, standing or moving slowly, 

doing nothing - they are just a presence. This invests them 

with a special kind of dynamic. 

They constitute a throng or a mass, which is sometimes 

a powerful enough element to obstruct both traffic and 

pedestrians.

The various nationalities use specific parts of the street, 

and this allocation determines also the merchandise in the 

shops. Pakistanis and Indians gather in the section between 

Aristofanous Str. and Theatrou Square, and small groups of 

Pakistanis meet in the afternoons inside and outside the 

restaurant of Anstofanous Str. The rest of the street up to the 

church attracts vanous nationalities - Pakistanis, Afghans, 

Africans, Arabs. The Arabs also gather at the small fast-food 

shop, while Indians and Pakistanis shop at the Indian-product 

markets. The area around the church of St. Constantlne Is 

the only meeting place for women from the former Soviet 

Union, who usually chat In large groups behind the sanctum 

of the church. One can also see a few African women In the 

street, or some Chinese women on their way to the shops. 

The cafes round the square on the other side of the church 

are frequented by Russian women who dnnk coffee or tea. 

At the same time an outdoor market emerges In the arcades 

and the pavements, for all kinds of products - mobile phones, 

socks, scarves.The peddlers appear around 11 In the morning, 

spread a cloth under the arcade and display their wares. Given 

thatthe area is rundown and'hidden'behind Omonia and the 

Central Market, the police have not interfered so far. 

This picture of the street is completed with the mosaic of 

languages and music. Dress code Is Important In this oudng: 

Africans In white robes and Indians in narional costumes, well- 

dressed and made-up Russian women, some with hats, and 

African women in long dresses, high heels and shoes can be 

seen walking up and down. 

The smells of spices fill the air. They come from faraway places 

and change from one block to the next, from Indian and 

Arabic to Chinese products and foods. The shop signs are a 

special element in this street, written In different languages 

and designed as they would be in the country of origin. The 

walls ofthe buildings are full of notices and advertisements 

addressed to the street's temporary Inhabitants. 

The function of the street changes as it turns into a space 

of congregarion and exchange of Informarion. It becomes a 

portal of communicarion. 

d. Street vendors at 

areas 

Monastiraki and the surrounding 

The market or pazarl [= bazaar] has always been a live, dynamic 

'space'of the city, which is constantly evolving. A place for the 

exchange of goods. Information and cultural references, it 

has a continuity across the history of Athens and generates 

variety and multiplicity.'Since pre-classlca! times the centre of 

commerce in Athens has shifted but a little, always following 

the shadow of the Acropolis'(Micheil, 1990:51). 

A fixture In the history ofthe city, the fair has always taken place 

at Monasrirakl and the nearby streets. In recent years. It spilled 

out into the densely built area of Psyrri, in Ogygou, Sarri and 

Lepenlotou streets. There are no boundaries, and while some 

vendors and their products have been on the same spot for 

years, new ones are added constantly and bring new products 

- clothing accessories, mobile phones and various small objects 

- as the market expands into the streets around Monastiraki. 

This expansion ofthe market adds variety and dynamism to 

the centre. On Sundays it turns into a feast as Athenians come 

from all over town.The fair represents the most accessible work 

opportunity for the foreigners who reach Athens. Those with 

steady jobs have work permits, unlike the foreign peddlers 

who have not and cannot get one, since most of them are 

'without papers'. 

On Sundays various Russians, Pakistanis and Africans arrive 

early In the morning with bags and wheelbarrows, spread 

their wares on the ground and delineate a 'space' next to 

each other using a shawl, a coloured paper or even the goods 

themselves.The selling is often accompanied by music, dance, 

snacks and drinks. 

Around the rime ofthe Olympic Games, there was a campaign 

by the city authorities to oust street vendors, who were forced 

to keep moving within the downtown area. 

Arrests are often made and the merchandise is confiscated 

by the municipal police. One can often see people trying to 

disappear through the narrow streets white saving what they 

can oftheir goods.

Street vendors do not give up - they just move elsewhere. 

Their latest site is the far end of Ermou Street, also known 

as the Korean market. This shifting to a new space, and its 

subsequent transformation, is a remarkable characteristic. 

The body as a vehicle for new spatial relations: 

A new narrative of Athens as a city of marginal spaces 

The body is the primary space of the displaced in the parts 

of Athens under examination: its everyday gestures and 

movements, its contact with such common functions as walking, 

resting, sleeping, eating, or sheltering from the weather. In other 

words, the body becomes a tool for designing and constructing 

spaces in hospitality centres such as those in Lavrion or Penteli, 

in publicareassuch as Koumoundourou square or in abandoned 

houses and factories. Humble materials-cardboard boxes, rope, 

cloth, nylon sheets - find new uses. Under these conditions the 

body rediscovers its forgotten skills. It draws heavily upon the 

memories ofthe homeland, and revives habits such as those we 

met at the Lavrion centre in our visits: you take off your shoes 

before entering the room and sitting down on a carpet for the 

tea ritual. During a visit, the space is transformed into a setting 

with elements of familiarity and hospitality. As the Kurds danced 

in the courtyard ofthe hospitality centre, their bodies conveyed 

memories from the native land and transformed the unfamiliar 

space. When street vendors spread cloths on the pavement to 

display their wares, the character ofthe street changes. 

The association with other dispersed persons forms 

habitations. At first, the feelings of absence and loss are 

intense as the displaced can neither detach themselves from 

the old setting, nor adapt to the new one. After a physically 

and psychologically harsh journey, their desire to establish 

a habitation is expressed primarily through their body and 

through their involvement with others. 

They are recognised by their walk, their postures, their accents 

and by the places where they hang around in groups. 

The spaces they create are scattered In Athens and constantly 

changing. As active entities rather than pitiful beings, as they 

are often portrayed by the media, they generate flows and 

motions which pierce through the urban web and change the 

patterns ofthe city. 

The difficulties they encounter make them adaptable and 

since in most cases they cannot go back, they accept their 

difference and opt to live with It, seeking others like them to 

share the journey. 

What matters under these circumstances are the networks 

and the flows that are generated. Dispersal becomes their 

metaphorical home which goes everywhere, without any 

limits. Dispersal is the essence of their habitations in Lavrion, 

in fVlenandrou Street, In Koumoundourou Square. 

Athens functions like a shelter. The various urban voids in its 

centre - shabby areas, abandoned buildings, archaeological 

sites - are like cracks in the urban web which enable such acts 

of dispersed physical habitation. In the heart of the city, another 

web is woven underground of an invisible city for the displaced. 

Their habitations are ephemeral; once a renovation projects 

start somewhere, they move at once to another part ofthe city. 

Independence and the path of desire they develop during 

the journey lead them to new spatial relations in Athens, to 

new modes of habitation, to improvisation and ephemeral 

materials. The body as a design tool, involvement and the 

concept of dispersal determine the spatial relations of today's 

urban nomads to Athens; and architecture is called upon to 

explore these relations. 

Dancing with displacement 

The tendency towards autonomy, as well as necessity, leads 

them to the creation of an ever greater disorder in the 

structure ofthe urban web through habitation.The medium Is 

the body which becomes the primary space ofthe migrant as 

s/he experiences what Agamben calls a'bare life'. 

With the body as a means migrants necessarily devise new 

spaces, transforming the existing ones-squares, streets, parks, 

or abandoned houses. 

Through the physical trip without means, full of absences, they 

are lead to the discovery of desire, which they subsequently 

define primarily in terms of space. 

They create new spatial relations - actions which are dispersed

S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y O F D E S I G N ; C O N T R I B U T I O N O F D E S I G N IN 

D E V E L O P M E N T O F N A T I O N A L I N D U S T R Y A N D E C O N O M Y 

Selen Devrim Ülkebaş 

İstanbul Technical University, İstanbul, Turkey 

sdevrlmu@gmail.com 

Abstract 

The purpose of the paper is to explore the theoretical 

underpinnings and practical implications of responsible 

competitiveness, w/here responsible business practices 

become a dnver of national development. 

The paper is based on literature search ofdesign policy models 

and new business models association with the economic 

development of Third Wodd societies. The paper is also based 

on a case study that argues cultural characteristics as a tool 

of making difference In competition and Its contribution to 

development of national Industry and economy. 

The paper concluded that responsible business pracrices by 

using possibiliries of Industry and using design, can contribute 

to national development. Furthermore in new business 

environment where competirion severe, the potential of 

Third Worid country markets are getting more Important. 

Unsarisfied needs of this market can be sarisfied with cultural 

aspects. Narional business and design strategies of narional 

industry can make difference in competition in this area, 


According to the Design Policy Partnership, Socially 

Responsible Design Model has social responsibility Issues such 

as sustainabillty, socially responsible decision-making, health, 

financial exclusion, developing worid issues, environmental 

quality, gender equality, economic vitality and social inclusion 

(Wootton, 2004). 

Although issues of social responsibility are very diverse and all 

of them are paradoxally connected to each other, contriburion 

ofdesign to Third Worid Countries will be argued In this study. 

Actually Alpay Er (1997, pp. 294) suggests that there is a great 

diversity among the countries of the so-called Third World, 

such as 'Developing Countries', 'Less Developed Countries', 

'Underdeveloped Countries', and 'Periphery' or 'Peripheral 

Countries'. We can assume that Turkey is in the 'Developing 

Countries', like other countries that will be Investigated In this 

study. 

There are 6,4 billion people on Earth today and it was only 

2.76 billion just 50 year ago (Anon, 2004). The majority of 

this population lives in developing countries. Furthermore, 

although the birth rates in developing countries are stable, 

these rates are conrinuing its growth In the developing 

countries. Charles Owen (2004, pp. 3) foresees the total 

popularion ofthe world will be 10 billion In the next 50 years 

and Owen also emphasizes that this population growth will 

cause serious economical and social problems. 

T'Ve;)i::li.il>i:C:i|:iVii- 

Figure 1.1 The Fundamental Problem: Popularion Growth. 

(Owen, 2004, pp. 3) 

These unfortunate social and economic condirions of Third 

Worid societies have always instigated designers and design 

scholars to pay attention to the needs of these two-thirds

of the world population. In this scope Richard Buchanan's 

definition of design for human dignity and human rights is 

very important (Buchanan, 2001). 

"Design is not merely an adornment of cultural life, but 

one ofthe practical disciplines of responsible action for 

bringing the high values of a country or a culture Into 

concrete reality... Design is the way we create all ofthe 

artifacts and communications that serve human beings, 

striving to meet their needs and desires, and facilitating 

the exchange of information and ideas that are essential 

for civil and political life. Furthermore, design is the way 

we plan and create actions, services, and ail ofthe other 

humanlyshaped processes of public and private life.These 

are the Interactions and transactions that constitute the 

social and economic fabric ofa country. Finally, design 

is the way we plan and create the complex wholes that 

provide a framework for human culture—the human 

systems and subsystems that work either in congress or 

in conflict with nature to support human fulfillment." 

This definition basically means 'design is for people' and if we 

start at this point design can make differences in Developing 

Countries. 

2. Design Policy 

Sulfikar Amir (2004, pp. 73) suggests that industrial-oriented 

design policy is not adequate to answer the problem of the 

Third World societies, which design policy should be aimed 

at society not solely at of industrial corporations. Likewise 

Buchanan's notion of the foundation of human-centered 

design. Amir proposes a human-centered design policy which 

is a sort of design that involves analytical as well as creative 

processes in solving social problems. 

Third World societies' foreign debts to First World financial 

institutions are very big problem. As Amir emphasizes this 

increasingly permeates and transforms the economic, social, 

and cultural fabric of theThird World, and creates its perpetual 

dependency on the First World (Amir, 2004, pp. 70). To reduce 

foreign debt and its burdensome implications. Third World 

countries have been trying to increase the export value of 

industrial products for international markets. Consequently 

this dependency can be eliminated by supporting national 

industry and economy. 

The design problemsof theThird World countries first find body 

withVictorPapanek.Papanekin his bookDesign forthe Real World 

frames the responsibilities of design as "design must become an 

innovative, highly creative, cross-disciplinary tool responsive to 

the true needs of men [and women]" (Papanek, 1974). 

In the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design 

(ICSID) organized the "Design for Need" conference in 

April 1976, it had manifested that the international design 

community's general awareness of design's responsibility in 

contemporary society, examining the social contribution of 

design at both the philosophical and practical levels. 

Different from Papanek, Gui Bonsiepe construed the issue of 

Third World design from the political and economic relations 

between the First and theThird World. 

Bonsiepe highlighted that there is an unequal value transfer 

from peripheral to central economies. Bonsiepe composed a 

model which is based on design transfers that would depend 

on an industrialization policy. This policy should promote a self- 

centered or autonomous economy, as against an outer-directed, 

dependent economy. Furthermore this policy should let design 

to"contrlbute to the satisfaction of local needs perfectly with local 

material and locally developed technology" (Bonsiepe, 1977). 

Bonsiepe suggested that Industrial design should be used as a 

tool in the process of industrialization of developing countries 

and also industrial design constitutes an indispensable 

instrument for endeavors towards development (Bonsiepe, 

1973). 

Over two decades after Papanek and Bonsiepe first conveyed 

their Ideas of design for Third World societies, the social and 

economic conditions of these societies have not changed much, 

because they lacked political dimensions in their implementation. 

Development of industrial design in Newly Industrialized 

Countries depends on development policies of governments. 

These policies mainly composed of trade regime and mode 

of technology transfer through foreign Investment policy.

and industnai structure through sectorial policies. But these 

policies don't give direct support to design. Consequently, the 

main effect of government involvement in the development of 

design capabilities appears to be to stimulate manufacturing 

firms to use industrial design asa comperirive tool in domestic 

and internarional markets (Er, 1997, pp. 299). 

Alpay Er has used Bonsiepe's design policy model to develop 

a new conceptual model that attempts to describe a specific 

) Proto-Design 

Piiase 

2 Embyonic 

Phase 

3 Emergence 

Phase 

4 Development 

Phase I 

5'Development 

Phase II 

6 Take - off 

Phase 

7 Maturity 

Pase 

DEVELOPMENT 

STRATEGY 

Primary Specialization 

in Raw Material Export. 

Pre-industrial Growth 

(All NICs)^ 

Import Substitution I 

(Asian NICs late 1950s 

and early 1960s; Latin 

American NICs, India, 

and Turkey 1950s and 

1960s) 

Import Substitution II 

(Latin American NICs, 

India, and Turkey 

1960s and 1970s) 

Export Promotion i 

(Ali Asian NICs 1960s 

and 19/05} 

Export Promotion II 

(Asian NICs, (Vlalaysia 

eariy 1980s) Liberal 

Trade Policies (India, 

Latin American NICs, 

and Turkey) 

Export Promotion II 

(deepening) (Asian 

NICs 1980s) 

Global Strategy 

(Korea...? since the 

eariy 1990s) 

Sectorial Scope of 

industrial Design 

industrial Design 

at firm level 

variable, the economic development strategies of Newly 

Industrialized Countries governments (Er, 1997, pp. 300), 

The most important part ofthe Er's IVlodel Is the'Development 

Strategy'because it determines the developments taking place 

In the following design categories, and facilitates a progression 

from one development stage to another. 'Development 

Strategy' is the government policies of industrializarion, trade 

and foreign investment. 

Industrial Design 

Education & Researcii 

N/A N/A N/A N/A 

Design-oriented 

low-scale, low 

tech industries, e.g 

giftware and furniture 

for home use. 

Design-oriented, largescale,investmentdriven 

industries, e.g, 

furniture for home ad, 

office use, ceramics 

and some basic 

consumer goods. 

Investment driven, 

standard technology 

industries, e.g. 

household appliances 

and most consumer 

goods. 

Specialized export 

industries e.g. 

consumer and, 

business electronics, 

sports equipment etc. 

Investment-driven, 

relatively more capital 

and technologyintensive 

sectors, e.g. 

capital goods such as 

transport vehicles 

New product 

development is 

practised in all major 

branches of industries 

Self-formed artistdesigner 

or architects. 

Outsider to industry. 

Design as a cultural 

mission. 

ID as a tool of 

'imitative'product 

modification. 

Individual designers 

employed by firms. 

in-house ID teams. ID 

as a tool of systematic 

product differentiation 

and adaptation on 

the basis of product 

modification (redesign). 

The recognition of ID as 

a competitive tool. 

In-house design 

teams + use ofdesign 

consultancy firms. 

Design as a marketing 

factor. 

Large specialized ID 

departments. ID is 

recognized as a part of 

corporate strategy. 

Design as a leading 

force in company 

strategy. Product 

innovation. 

Individual courses are 

created as extension 

to art or architecture 

prorammes. First ID 

schools in India and 

some Latin NICs, 

First generation 

ID teachers with 

art, architecture 

degrees or from 

foreign countries. 4 

or 3 years ID degree 

programmes. 

Second generation ID 

lectures with mostly 

postgraduate degrees 

from advanced 

countries. 

Postgraduate ID 

courses. Faculty staff 

with professional 

experience. 

Localization of ID 

education starts. 

Specialization occurs 

within design lil

'Sartorial Scope of Industrial Design' manifests Itself In the 

nature of industries in which industrial product design Is 

intensively practiced. Through this category, it is possible to 

trace the unequal development pattern of industrial design 

across industries in relation to development strategies 

implemented (Er, 1997, pp. 300). 

'Industrial Design at Firm Level' manifests itself in the nature 

of industrial design activity such as its role, integration into a 

firm's structure and strategy. Since design is a corporate activity 

occurring within a firm structure, this category serves to depict 

the changing function and organization of industrial design in 

relation to development strategies (Er, 1997, pp. 300). 

'Industrial Design Education and Research' manifest 

themselves in the development of design education and 

research at university level (Er, 1997, pp. 300). 

'Government Design Policy' manifests itself In actions taken 

to integrate industrial design within industrial development 

strategy, promotion programmes, and In the finance ofdesign 

events(Er, 1997, pp.300). 

'Design Discourse'—as in Bonsiepe's model— manifests itself 

in the propagation of design awareness (Er, 1997, pp. 300). 

With the help of these categories, the emergence and 

development of industrial design in Newly Industrialized 

Countries s can be described as a process with seven stages: the 

'Proto-Design Phase', 'Embryonic Phase', 'Emergence Phase', 

'Development Phases I and 11','Take-off Phase; and 'Maturity Phase! 

Amir also suggests another formulation of the concept of 

design for theThird World should begin from an understanding 

of the complex interrelationship between design and social, 

cultural, and political factors (Amir, 2004, pp. 69). 

Amir explains that how design can evolve from an individual 

activity of proximate designers into an "object" of politics by 

understanding the political economy of design. This begins 

from the notion of design as a process of creating artifacts 

that have economic value. In the aggregate, the economic 

value of design produces a considerable impact on economic 

systems. This economic significance brings design Into the 

political arena in which design is situated as a public policy 

object (Amir, 2004, pp. 69). 

According to Amir there are two good reasons for discussing 

design policy in Third World countries. First, Third World 

governments recently have shown an increasing awareness of 

design. Second, the endeavors to bolster design activities in 

Third Wodd countries are motivated by the idea that design is 

a strategic tool for business and commerce (Lorenz, 1990) and 

thus important for economic growth. 

Contnbution ofdesign to economy of countries can be clearly 

seen in Japanese and South Korean cases. These cases made 

the governments of developing countries to take attention 

to design policies. As Sulfikar Amir emphasizes, today we can 

see industrial-oriented design policy related with promotion 

center, design institutes. Like Malaysia Design Council, 

Indonesian Design Center, Japan International Cooperation 

Agency and the Japan Design Foundation, Product 

Development and Design Center ofthe Philippines, Office of 

Product Development & Design for Export, National Institute 

of Design in India, Artesam'asde Colombia in Colombia, Oficina 

Nacional de Disefio Industrial (National Office of Industrial 

Design) in Cuba, Mexico Design Promotion Center, Brazilian 

Design Center, SABS Design Institute in South Africa. 

Amir summarizes the factors of policy orientation, policy 

subject, and policy agency in three phases. First, economic 

interests characterize the orientation of design policy In Third 

Wodd countries, which treats design as a strategic tool for 

industrial competitiveness.Second,sincedesign policy isaimed 

at improving industrial competitiveness, it is very obvious 

that the subjects of the policy are Industrial corporations. 

The important feature of design policy Is to encourage those 

corporations to utilize design more intensively in product 

development and innovation processes. Third, even though 

some models of design policy emerge from the initiatives 

of non-governmental groups, the role of government in 

design policy undoubtedly is central and vital because the 

government conceives and approves design policy decisions, 

and provides financial support. 

Design policy appears to be serving industry's needs to 

increase its competitiveness in the International market, it

overlooks local people in terms of alleviating poverty and 

fulfilling their basic needs. Design policy focuses heavily on 

questions of how/ to utilize design more intensively in industrial 

production. 

As mentioned before Buchanan defends that design is for 

people so design policy in Third World countries should be 

revised, which has been heavily focused on competitive 

economic purposes. 

Amir emphasizes that the social and economic problems of 

Third World sociedes cannot be solved solely through the 

materiality ofdesign, such as creating low-cost products using 

local material, charity design, and the like. What underlies the 

problem is a structural condition that needs to be solved 

through a structural solution. This is the reason why the 

discussion of design policy Is relevant because it involves 

political factors in its implementation. 

Design policies in Third World countries are mostly aimed at 

increasing the competitiveness of Industrial products. This sort 

of design policy, however, overlooks the unfortunate social and 

economic conditions ofThird World societies. Human-centered 

design policy centers on people's social and cultural realms 

by incorporating participatory approaches in determining 

design policy outcomes. The industrial-oriented design policy 

seems to undermine the precarlousness of foreign debt that 

most Third World countries face. Indeed, foreign debt is a very 

crucial problem, but the effort to cope with it has commanded 

too much attention, while the actual needs of Third World 

societies have been neglected. Making design more socially, 

economically, and culturally useful for Third World societies 

through human-centered design policy is worth the effort. 

Owen (2004, pp. 3) also thinks the solution of this problem is 

connected with design policies and decision making process. 

Decision makers will need the best of creative thinking from 

the science community—and from a design community also 

prepared to contribute. In the not-so-distant past, politicians 

could make major errors of judgment without earthshaking 

consequences. Uninformed decision-making simply is no 

longer tolerable. Scientific advice must be integrated 

thoughtfully with the full range of advice given. And design 

advice must be similarly sought and incorporated. 

3. New Business Models 

Clayton Christensen developed the theory of disruptive 

innovation research-products or systems that create entirely 

new markets. Christensenjustifiesthat companies can generate 

growth and satisfies social and environmental stakeholders 

through a "great leap" to the base of the economic pyramid 

(Christensen,2002, pp.51). 

This kind of environment created millions of jobs, generated 

hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues and market 

capitalization, and raised standards of living by making 

available cheap, high-quality products. 

As Clayton Christensen suggests developing countries are 

ideal target markets for disruptive technologies and he gives 

two reasons for this idea. Firstly business models that are 

forged in low-income markets travel well; that is, they can 

be profitably applied in more places than models defined in 

high-income markets. 

After the World War II Japan economy and industry was 

almost destroyed and the country was very poor. Japan used 

the disruptive strategies as a national strategy of national 

economic development. This strategy make Japan economy 

one the biggest economy in the world. 

Honda is one of the significant cases of the Japan success. 

Honda began selling motorized bicycles in Japanese cities 

that were rebuilding from the ruins of World War II and now 

Honda Is one ofthe biggest leader firms in the motorcycle 

market. The basic factor that took Honda to this place is the 

disruptive strategy based on selling products in low prices. 

By this way Honda after satisfying needs of the markets in 

Japan, in sixties Honda entered the US market with low prices 

which was dominated by Harley Davidson. Honda caused a 

big competition in the market. 

Another good example is Chinese firm Galanz and its product 

microwave oven (Christensen, 2002, pp,53). Galanz used 

national needs to make difference in mature and shrinking 

microwave market, Chinese have small kitchens and the 

existing microwaves had been designed to fit into the homes 

of West. So these products were not adequate for Chinese

houses. Galanz used this gap in the mar[

Cultural characteristics are very important in defining the 

needs and desires of consumers. This is why in traditional 

marketing strategies, products are shaped according to 

the market conditions. The global corporations like Coco 

Cola, Burger King, and Mc Donald's also shape their services 

according to the conditions ofthe market. Cultural necessities 

play big role in this stage. 

Mehmet Asatekin explains products of same physical needs 

have different formations In different cultures. In these 

differentiations we can see the cultural characteristics ofthe 

culture and heritage (Asatekin, 1997, pp, 100). 

In traditional marketing strategies cultural necessities play 

big role in adaptations of the existing products. But in today's 

business environment this is not enough for competition and 

making difference. Customization ofthe local needs play more 

important role than product adaptations (Çakıroğlu, 2005, pp. 

81). De Souza also emphasizes the importance of culture as 

"culture is a new dimension In competition" (De Souza, 2004). 

Researches of the international corporations show that 

cultural differences will be one ofthe important factors shape 

the design trend in near future (ICSID, 2002). 

Another important point is the definition and limits of design 

activity in new business environments. By the help of the new 

technologies borders of the industry, products and services 

blurring and expanding. The nature of the products and 

services are changing. In this manner differences between 

products and channels are blurring. 

The Base ofthe Pyramid (DBOP) Project held by Illinois Institute 

ofTechnology, Institute of Design is a good example ofthis 

situation. The project focuses on the Base ofthe Pyramid in 

India. 

This is an initiative to develop human-centered design 

strategies and concepts for new products, services and 

businesses capable of generating sustainable economic 

improvement in the lives of people living In the vast base of 

the global economic pyramid (Whitney et al., 2005, pp.41). 

Base of tha Pyramid: 

over 6Ö'o of the worid's 

populsiion !hsî iives 

Figure 3.1. Designing forthe Base ofthe Pyramid Project, 

Pyramid of world income 

(http://www.id.iit.edu/profiie/gallery/de5ign_for_BoP/) 

Analysis of these businesses and related activities led to 

several design criteria that helped guide us towards solution 

concepts. Concepts that meet these criteria should all work 

together to improve not only living conditions, but the health 

and sustainability of local economies (Whitney et al., 2005, pp. 

44), (http://www.id.iit.edu/profiie/gallery/design_for_BoP/). 

o 

Access to «edil 

Ecotiomie iîportuiiilies i 

Transactionltfltiiparency ; 

Secuie oamings 

Land ownership ^ 

Itipioved liwng conditions' 

Reduce middkntan 

Create viable con'ânies 

. Concepts 

Table 3.1 Designing for the Base of the Pyramid Project, 

Mapping concepts to criteria 

One of these solution concepts is Mobile H20 project, a new 

business that could provide a reliable supply of fresh and clean 

water to slum homes by delivery vendors on the outskirts of 

slum areas. Slums usually have unnavigable dirt paths, and

as a result the mode of transport varies from slum to slum, 

from handcarts to small motorized vehicles. Using motorized 

vehicle is the important part of the solution because of Its 

effecrive solurion to needs and condirions of the local area. 

4. Industrial Design in Turkey 

Turkey has been an agriculture society almost for 80 years. 

Turkey is at the beginning of Its industrial journey when 

compared with developed countries. Narionally capitalized 

industrial investments haven't been at the expected levels. On 

the contrary internarionally capitalized industrial investments 

have srimulated the industry and disciplines related to this, 

especially design, have gain importance. Actually industrial 

product design education has been given some of the 

known universities InTurkey for 30 years and ETMK (Industrial 

Designers'SocietyofTurkey) established in 1988. As the country 

industrialized industrial design discipline gets an important 

role. Congruity process to European Union speeds up this 

process.There isn't enough literature, products and services In 

the area of social responsibility of design. As menrion before 

this is because industrial design is a new discipline in Turkey. 

Also there isn't any design policy aiming to heal the problems 

of country's social injusrice situarions. By this way design 

couldn't integrate to the macro-pollric areas like economy and 

industry, design has been only used as subsidiary factor (Er 

and Er, 2004, pp. 16). 

The private and government corporations are inacrive about 

design because of wrong or insufficient disorientarion. Some 

of the organizations like IGEME, KOSGEB haven't got clear 

perspective about design.These organizarions support quality 

and technology, but not design (Er and Er, 2004, pp. 17). 

Alpay Er and Özlem Er suggest design policies should be 

formed according to country's long-term economic and 

industrial development strategies. Before that, needs of 

Turkey's design and trademark development should be 

researched. Then design policy models in the world should 

be analyzed and effecrive strategy should be determined by 

forecasring. Essenrial mechanisms that will perform this policy 

and design policy should be detailed In sectoral base should 

be formed. 

Er and Er define the basic objecrives of design policy In 

national level: 

• to obtain the importance of design. 

• encourage and widespread the usage of design in 

sustainable competition In industry. 

• To assist improving the quality of human sources with 

national design substructure. 

The design policy should be evaluated in the view of 

exportation and innovation policies and it should be 

integrated with these (Er, Ö., 2001). Building and coordlnaring 

application mechanisms Intended fordesign promorions and 

Inducementsarecriricalforperforming design policies.Ministry 

of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of State responsible for 

export commerce and Ministry of Culture and Tourism should 

be take part in producing design policy. Design should have 

important role in National Innovarion System, there should 

be departments in the organizations (KOSGEB, İGEME, TTGV, 

DPT, TUSiAD,TlM, TOBB, TÜBİTAK,TSE, etc.) that is related with 

the application of design policy and integrarion other macro 

polirics (Er and Er, 2004, pp. 20). 

5. Exploring Cultural Characters In The Context of 

Competition and Making Difference Through Arçelik 

Turkish Coffee IVIachine"Telve"Case 

Arçelik introduced the Turkish coffee machine Telve to the 

market in 2004 with this machine, Arçelik intended to serve an 

industrial solurion to very known traditional custom, Turkish 

coffee making. Telve won one ofthe most presriglous awards 

in design, IF Design Award, in product design category. By 

this way. Telve has brought standardizarion and measurability 

which is very important for acceptance ofTurkish coffee in 

internarional markets. 

The tradition ofTurkish coffee is not only broad in Turkey but 

also common in close regions around Turkey, like Arabian 

countries and Greece for centuries and the rituals and tools of 

this custom haven't changed for ages. Turkish coffee making 

is commonly available In small communities like in houses 

and coffee shops. That is because traditional Turkish coffee 

making takes too long to cook for letting Its aroma released 

and small amounts of coffee can be cooked at once. This

makes this tradition collapse in small communities. By this 

way this tradition couldn't find place in contemporary life 

styles and business. In today's business environment cofi'ee 

making machine market is dominated by western style coffee 

making machines and there are plenty of prestigious firms in 

this market. The competition in this market is severe. In this 

contend, Telve has made difference in competition, but it has 

also made a contribution by giving a solution to this region's 

traditional needs and tastes. In short. Telve has filled the gap 

in this market. 

Arçelik has protected the R&D investments in this project 

with several patents. Turkish coffee machine Telve has patents 

in cook-sense technology, spin-jet technology, anti-spill 

technology and other technologies, 

Arçelik has gained big success in design and competition 

areas by using opportunities by combining new technologies 

with traditional Turkish tastes. By using possibilities of new 

technologies Telve has overcome the negative sides of 

traditional coffee making methods like length in time and 

disability in serving multi usage. Beside this. Telve has used 

traditional materials and processes which is important to 

get maintaince of the special taste Turkish coffee, with new 

technologies. 

Turgut Soysal, chief of the manufacturing and technology 

department, explains the design process of Telve. First of all 

there was a survey in design team which is also the users of 

Turkish coffee and bythis way expectationsform Turkish coffee 

machine has been determined (http://www.turkcadcam.net/ 

haber/2005-03-22.htm!). 

Telve is generally found body after several brain-storming 

processes. After determining needs and expectations from 

the machine, cost and concept researches were done. After 

the prototype process, finally Telve Turkish coffee machine 

was developed. While technical department was dealing 

with cooking process of the machine, design team deaied the 

appearance ofthe machine. All this test process took 2.5 years 

and after that time Telve had introduced to the market. 

By serving the needs of multi usage Telve made difference in 

cafes, restaurants and hotels. Moreover Soysal emphasizes 

that Telve is thefirst product in the market as a Turkish coffee 

machine. Soysal continues Telve has firstly introduced to the 

Turkish market and to the markets where Turkish population 

Is dense. 

Figure 5.1 ArçelİkTurkish Coffee Machine"Telve". 

Telve is a very special product by the means of contribution 

to the traditional coffee and coffee making as a cultural value 

as an industrial comment. Another issue ofthe awareness of 

Arçelik in contribution to the cultural values is Its partnership 

with Kuru Kahveci Mehmet Efendi which is the oldest coffee 

manufacturer In Turkey. At the end ofthis partnership some of 

the functions of Telve have been re-developed (http://www, 

sabah.com.tr/2005/03/21/ekol 12,htm). As a leading firm 

in Turkish coffee Kuru Kahveci Mehmet Efendi makes great 

opportunities to Turkish coffee culture and in this contend 

Telve Turkish coffee machine by this consortium with Arçelik. 

Furthermore, Telve has an important role not only for filling the 

gap in the market but also for creating a competition medium 

in this market. After Telve's success another electrical machine 

manufacturer Arzum also developed Turkish coffee machine 

called Kahwe. The competition in 450 million dollars small 

house appliances market had become active. According to the 

data ofthe Industry and Manufacture Union of Small House 

Appliances (KESID) total export of one year is over 400 million 

dollars {http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2005/02/13/599161. 

asp). There are 30 firms in this market and 8 of them are export 

firms. Arçelik exceeded the objects of trade in first 6 months. 

This success activated other manufacturers in this market.

6. Conciysion 

Radical solutions to the development of the Third WoHd 

countries can be achieved entirely by long-term planning. 

Weaknesses in democratic structures in these countries, 

and political and economic instabilities make it difficult to 

undertake progressive actions towards resolving these issues. 

Political and economic dependency to thefirst wodd countries 

makes this problem even more complicated. 

Increase in work force and the development in the industrial 

activities will reduce the economic and therefore polirical 

dependencies ofthese countries tothe First Word countries.This 

will create more stable polirical and economic structures and 

eventuallyitwill improvethe qualityoflife in these countries.The 

important role ofthe decision makers in this problem can not 

be controvertible, but industrial and manufacturing areas that 

are solidly related to the economical and social development of 

a country are also very important In this way these areas are as 

responsible as decision makers, health, education and cultural 

areas. At this point design with its connection to industrial and 

manufacturing areas has an important role. 

Most of the Third Worid countries are at the beginning oftheir 

industrialization adventure. Connected to this situarion there 

is no structuring and consciousness in design area. Even tough 

if there is any structuring and consciousness they haven't got 

much effect on decision making process. Design researchers, 

design educators and design professionals have responsibility 

in developing effecrive design policies. 

Design policies suggested by Owen, Amir and Er are worth for 

attention. Er and Er explain the national design policy criteria 

related with Turkey's condirions. Beside these policy models 

new business models of Christensen and Prahalad which is 

concern with joining labor and sources of Third Worid to the 

world's economy worth for pay attention. 

Today maintaining success in business environment is very 

difficult Comperirion Is intense and tradirional methods 

can not offer solurions to the problem. In this new business 

environment success occurs in result to state of the art 

innovations. Design and new technologies are the new actors 

of making differences. 

Besides the saturated markets of the first world countries, 

markets of the third wodd countries offer new opportunities. 

Distinctions between products, services and industries is 

blurring with the help of new technologies. Alternative 

business models are searching the ways to add value to 

product/service cycle. It is possible for such new models in 

Third World countries to fulfill the needs ofthe market if they 

utilize their own resources and adding a furthermore value 

to their economies. In this sense cultural characteristics play 

important role in customization and fulfilling the needs of this 

unsatisfied market Prahalad suggests that these markets offer 

great opportunities to multinational corporations. But this 

does not end the dependency of Third Worid societies to the 

First Wodd socieries in economic and poliric areas. This kind 

of solution can only make new job opportuniries and support 

the industry in these countries. Effecrive solurion Is to use 

these suggested business strategies and models to develop 

national industry and business. Design plays key role in making 

differences In fulfilling the local needs of this geography. As we 

have seen in South Korean and Japan cases national industry, 

design policies, business and design strategies can give an 

adequate solution to this problem. 

In Arçelik Turkish Coffee Machine Telve case we have seen 

satisfying cultural needs with successful usage of technology 

and design can make difference. Economic success of Telve 

shows the success of national design and industry. 

The social and economic problems of the Third World 

countries cannot be solved only by focusing on the material 

aspects of design. These solutions are not sufficient to tackle 

the problem entirely. But these solutions are just like castles 

of sands. Effective solution to this problem is the design and 

business strategies that will add value to economic structure 

ofa country. Arçelik Turkish Coffee Machine Telve has gained 

success in material aspects of design but more important 

than this it adds value to economic structure ofthe country. 

Furthermore this will increase with the export ofTelve. 

The problem Is difficult to solve and it needs high ethical 

values. Individual progress isn't independent from social 

progress. That's why design is also "responsible" from solving 

the problem.

References 

Amir, S-, 2004. "Rethinl

http://www.id.Jit.Gdu/profile/gallery/design_for_BoP/ 

http://www.sociallyresponsibledesign.org/srdlVlodel.htm 

http://www.index2005.dk 

h ttp://www. poverty.org 

http://www.un.org/ 

http://www.turkcadcam.net/haber/2005-03-22.html 

http://www.sabah.com.tr/2005/03/21/ekon2.html 

http://webarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/2005/02/13/599161 .asp 


I would like to take this opportunity to thank Alpay Er and 

especially Özlem Er for giving me support in this study and for 

helping me learn new things.

D E S I G N E R A N D C O N S U M E R A S V I C T I M S IN C D N S U M P T I D N C U L T U R E 

S.Seihan Yalçın Usal 

Haliç University, Istanbul, Turkey 

sselhan@hotmall.com 

Abstract 

Products are the solutions ofa long development process In 

every industry that occurs under quite violent circumstances 

and technology.The early problem can be shortly summarized 

as "the methods of production for increasing the production 

In quantity and quality". But it has been soon realized that 

solution ofthe producing problem Is not sufficient to make 

the economy last and to keep the economy busy. This is the 

beginning of a new era that's pointed out the customers 

which is called today: marketing. 

That new step was previously the cause to help the producers 

to keep production alive in all markets. Therefore in this case 

existing and potential customers were getting considered 

formedy. Whereas, a new problem had also appeared: The 

use of environmental supply sources and legacy products 

that were replaced by recently produced products, brands or 

models and their remains. 

This paper takes attention to victims of design which turns 

into a tool for production-consumption cycle, and ofdesign 

products which are imposed as'objects'. Furthermore, it aims 

to discuss how design can be used for the sake of social 

benefits, instead of encouraging consumption. 

Introduction 

Design can not be accomplished without interaction with 

matenal and production technology as well as form, function 

and aesthetical concern. In the previous century new forms 

in design have been derived thanks to development of 

material forming methods. Adaptation of new matenal and 

improvement of production methods influenced the design 

directiy and positively. Innovation is attained by new ideas 

and technological possibilities. 

Mass and flexible production, continuously progressing 

technology, globalization and escalating competitive market 

are the conditions manufacturers have to adopt themselves 

for. Technology Is also the factor which keeps competition 

alive. Technology is presented as a 'trend' and the product 

which has new technological features are Imposed to the 

consumer.Technology and design are'lnstruments'to provide 

production and consumption balance. Consumption Is 

attracted by defined or exposed yearly trends. The product 

which has recent technology Is to be a status symbol. Imposed 

meaning of the product and the social aspect the consumer 

acquires by using It are Important factors for preference. 

Although technical features and technology of product are 

emphasized on marketing, consumer is more Interested In 

'status'he will acquire. 

Long and various studies have been made on what and why 

the human consume, why he prefers more expensive ones of 

similar goods rather than the cheap ones even If they have 

similar qualities. In today's understanding of consumption, 

increasing importance of design and signature of designers 

and reflections of this on production is remarkable. Why do 

some commodities turn into 'desire objects' suddenly? How 

does possessing these products make people feel more 

different than or superior to others? The answers of these 

questions have been probed by sociologists, psychologists, 

consumprion researchers and marketing authorities, Objecrive 

of this paper is discussing the effects ofdesign and technology 

on excessiveness and addiction of consumption. In addition, It 

is aimed to think on ecological and ethic problems caused by 

this addlcrion, to discuss responsibilities of the designer who 

we can not separate from producrion process and finally to 

offer solutions.

First, consumption theories are examined in order to 

understandconsumerbehaviour. These theories help usexplain 

consumption habits. A survey was applied to determine the 

point of view of interior architecture students about design and 

technological products, brands and environmental sensitivity. 

Fourth grade interior architecture students were intentionally 

preferred because they were ready to be considered designers. 

Second, the answers were inquired to find out the effects of 

innovation and design on consumption. 

Consumer, Technology and Design 

We have basic requirements to live and we first buy the goods 

which have consumption priority. After we have consumed 

our basic requirements we buy some goods which we think 

increase our productivity and occasionally we buy some 

goods just to enjoy them. Maybe if we have high income we 

can buy the goods "just to enjoy" more regularly. This kind of 

consumption is basic and the motives are easy to understand. 

However, it is complicated to explain consumption motives 

and methods design objects and technological goods. Design 

objects and technological goods are not always consumed as 

basic requirements. Classification of that kind of consumption 

as'symbolic'and'conspicuous'is helpful to explain. 

Marketing theorist Odabaşı {1999:18) states 'symbolic' and 

'conspicuous consumption'as: 

Conspicuous consumption is based on comparing 

yourself to others. Consumption Isllkea mirrorto reflect 

who and what we are (for instance, leisure activities and 

consumption of related goods and services). However, 

symbolic consumption is the most widely mentioned 

kind with its identity forming dimension today and it 

is defined as the consumption style of post-modern 

culture. This kind of consumption İs distinguished by 

paying extreme prices for symbolic benefits. 

After the Fordist period ofthe 1930s when mass production 

and standardization evolved, wide markets were required, but 

consumer expectations were neglected, Post-Fordist period 

began when variety of products were increased, consumer 

expectations were considered, target consumers were 

defined, services were improved and life styles were presented 

to consumers. Popular culture identified with consumption 

culture, and brought up an understanding that imposed the 

necessityto consume permanentlyforselfexpresslon. In today's 

culture, people exhibit their identity by their possessions and 

by what they do. People are supposed to consume more and 

more to become happy and show their'toys'to other people 

for social prestige. As Baudrillard (1997) mentioned, the recent 

consumption concept is ostentatious rather than meeting 

people's needs. The products that you consume, inform about 

your social class and status and you can differentiate through 

objects you use.'Social class and social roles are the important 

motives that determine which identity an individual should 

live with and what he should do. Consumers who do not or can 

not consume the way demanded and expected are named and 

labelled as unsuccessful or loser.'(Odabaşı 1999:146-47) In order 

to climb the steps, exhibiting the purchasing capacity through 

increasing consumption is essential. Thus, the difference 

between social classes will vanish seemingly. People believe 

this because ofthe encouragement of commercials and mass 

media, and they assume to belong to a higher class with the 

help of products they possess. However, only the objects can 

be possessed and not the status. Thus, the meaning of products 

becomes more important than knowledge and culture. 

It was observed in a factory by engineers that, the workers 

who are paid the minimum wages change their mobile phones 

very often. Workers buy second hand products because they 

want to have new style mobile phones. They behave similar 

to the society in which they live so as not to stay behind it. 

Another sample is rather thought provoking. According to 

the results ofa student identification form In a high school in 

the outskirts of Istanbul, 90 percent of students have mobile 

phones, but 60 percent are unhealthy as a result of inadequate 

nutrition (Çakmakçı 2006). According to the survey applied 

in H.U. and M.S.G.S.U. to fourth grade interior architecture 

students, 56 percent of the students were disagree the 

proposition 'I continuously follow the innovations and so I 

change my mobile phone very often'. Nevertheless, 67 percent 

ofthe students bring outthat they will change it If the product 

becomes unwieldy.' 

' H.U.: Haliç University and M.S.G.S.U.: Mlmar Sinan Fine Arts University

It Is widely mistaken that people obtain differentiation or 

superiority in society and are able to create social distance 

through what they consume. People try to define their 

identities through the designer of design object they buy, and 

through the image, -such as freedom, prosperity and nobillty- 

,given by the object's commercial presentation on mass 

media. They also buy accessories to personalize it. Actually, 

people purchase the life style and even the idenrity which was 

offered with the product. For example, 49 percent of H.U. and 

M.S.G.S.U. students have stated that they consumed certain 

brands due to their sympathy for that brand. However, it is 

remarkable in terms ofthe importance of personalisation that, 

80 percent of the students pointed out that they will not buya 

mobile phone which is used by the majority. 

Sociologist Yaraman explains the sociological transformation 

through comparisons of modern and post-modern society, 

and discusses the changing personality characterisrics via 

survey she applied on university students and young people 

from Istanbul's outskirts. Yaraman (2003:78-9) states that: 

...narcissist tendency Is mulriplied while the increasing 

importance of image combined with the requirements 

of society, and therefore brand consumption appears 

as a 'cure'. Brand can not be accounted for only as a 

consumprion object, it is also conducted as a tool for 

adaptarion to society while the permeability between 

social classes could be so fast in actual process. 

...especially the classes that are culturally overwhelmed 

by modernity constitute the part of society hoping for 

help from brands. 

The survey Yaraman (2003) performed also indicates that 

brand can not be undervalued. While 20 percent of young 

people did not consider brand to be important, overâ3 percent 

revealed during the survey that they carry branded goods on 

themselves. Furthermore, 44 percent of H.U. and M.S.G.S.U. 

students stressed that they somerimes carry or wear expensive 

brand products. AC Nielsen's Global Purchase Influencers 

Report (2006) shows that the brand name/reputarion is 

important to help making final decisions, particularly about 

purchasing cars (46 percent) and mobile phones (38 percent) 

in global average. 

Sociologist Thorstein Veblen (1899/1934) who studied 

differences of social classes relating to consumption, 

menrioned in his book"TheTheory ofThe Leisure Class"dated 

1899, that prosperity could not be a status symbol by Itself 

and therefore prosperity should be utilized to make someone 

jealous through conspicuous attitude. 

Ritzer (2001:217) argues Veblen's theory in terms of two 

aspects under 'hyperconsumprion' conditions of our rimes. 

Goods were highlighted during the period which Veblen 

had lived in thanks to Industrial Revolution, Yet, according to 

Ritzer, goods can not be considered apart from conspicuous 

leisure in recent aspects, such as casinos, cruises, theme parks, 

entertainment and "retailtainment", 

Ritzer (2001:217) also argued that the new meanings 

of consumprion are: '...people do not simply consume 

commodities; they also consume the means of consumption. 

Another basis of invidious distinction is the places in which 

one consumes. Thus, the means of consumprion are stratified 

and participaring in those that have high status yields higher 

status for the Individual.' 

Veblen's tricle-down model (1899/1934) that states the 

connection between the classes through consumprion 

and its effects on fashion diffusion are important in terms 

of understanding the creation of innovation. According 

to the model, the new status symbols such as clothes and 

technologic goods which are assumed by the high social 

class are imitated by the low social class. Thus, when the 

high social class is imitated, they start to seek 'different' 

objects or styles. These attitudes provoke each other and 

this provocarion is a motive for innovation. In addirion, 

middle class has both Imitating and differentiating motives. 

However, this theory was criticized about which motive is 

used as priority by the middle class. It is not incorrect to 

say that lower class imitates upper class and this causes 

continuous consumption. 

Consumption and marketing styles have been developed 

which capitalize on the Imitaring motive of lower classes and 

are also defined as 'democratizarion of consumption'. Ikea is 

very notable mode! of this aspect with its publicized designers 

which enables lower classes to purchase products similar to

high class products (Ikea also indicates how to 'live'the life 

styles it created in catalogues). 

Consumption theories and researches Indicate that, -be it 

product or services, consumption symbolizes status or social 

class ofthe Individual. Individual intensifies his identity by the 

meanings imposed to the products he consumes and he reflects 

It to his circle. He is accepted to his circle and he gets social 

approval according to what he consumes. It is important for him 

to express his identity not only to his circle but also to himself.The 

individual permanently consumes to satisfy his identity which he 

has assigned to himself. Now he Is a slave ofdesign objects. 

Sociological accounts help us understand why consumer 

needsstatus5ymbols.lt Is essential to consider and understand 

not only social motives but also the factors of imposing the 

act of consumption. Franklin {2002:91) explains how accounts 

that considerthe influence ofdesign are more important than 

accounts that focus on consumer in this statement: 'Some 

of these accounts buy into a structuralism and reduce the 

activities of designers to the logic of capitalism, or certain later 

stages of it. Design is conjured up by the logic to create new 

markets from the diversification of products.' 

A product's contribution to the social Identity is emphasized as 

a function in recent years as well as its aesthetic and utilisation 

functions. It is impossible for designers to ignore that.Therefore, 

this situation makes it necessary to create new markets and to 

produce new products to satisfy capitalism which constantly 

boosts consumption.Onthe other hand,a productthat becomes 

a 'desire object'can generate extremely large markets. IPod is a 

remarkable sample. Levi's benefited from this desire object, by 

producing jeans that integrate buttons and cables so that an 

IPod can be control led easily through those jeans. Designers and 

producers try to benefit from almost everything that becomes 

an icon. Well-known designers created iPod covers for victims 

of status who were created by the incredible consumption of 

this object. Success of IPod inspires new products such as: sport 

shoes which display calorie, speed and distance, an armchair 

with loudspeakers and buttons for an IPod or a cradle playing 

a lullaby with iPod connection. IPod market is one ofthe most 

remarkable example of today's capitalist market. Sony Walkman 

wasalsoa'desireobject'of1980sand Franklin {2002:93) criticizes 

that: 'does the world reaily need all of those (700 worldwide) 

versions of the Sony Walkman? Was this not exploiting people 

merely to Increase capitalist markets?' 

At this point, it is required to explain how capitalist market 

exploits us so easily. Kotler-Armstrong (1999:611 -12) explains how 

materialism affects and how marketers contribute to this as: 

'People are judged by what they own rather than by 

who they are. To be considered successful, people must 

own a large home, two cars, and the latest consumer 

electronics.This drive for wealth and possessions hit new 

highs in the 1980s, when phrases such as'greed is good' 

and 'shop'til you drop'seem to characterize the times. In 

the 1990s, although many social scientists have noted a 

reaction against theopulenceand waste ofthe 1980sand 

a return to more basic values and social commitment, our 

infatuation with material things continues. For example, 

when asked in a recent poll what they value most in their 

lives, subjects listed enjoyable work (86 percent), happy 

children {84 percent), a good marriage (69 percent), and 

contributions to society (66 percent). However, when 

asked what most symbolizes success, 85 percent said 

money and the things It will buy.' 

As new products are being served to market continuously, 

'consumenewone'slgnalissenttoconsumerpermanently.This is 

one ofthe recent marketing methods. Compulsory obsolescence 

of products and launching the higher technology -especially In 

the computer sector- little by little instead of directly launching 

the top gear, are already criticized marketing approaches. On 

the other hand, we are subjected to technologically renewed 

products continuously as If they are essential and they must be 

purchased. Yet, thedesigner knows that shelflife of products will 

be losing their appeal nearly within two or three years {not only 

In fashion sector but also in electronics and furniture sector). In 

addition, according to the survey which was applied at H.U. and 

M.S.G.S.U., only 7 percent of students explained that they would 

purchase the new version of their technological product even 

If only its shape was changed. However, 30 percent of students 

claimed that they would prefer the recently designed product 

which hastheold technologically ratherthan the product which 

has the recent technology but Is old fashioned. Thus it can be 

concluded that personal liking and newness ofdesign could be 

more effective rather than technological innovations.

Even so, it is essential to emphasize why some forms stay 

unchanged for years along with technological renovations. 

Nobody knew that steel tubing cantilever chairs designed by 

Marcel Breuer for labour in the 1920s, would become esteemed 

design objects of today. Yet, we know thatthe chair which was 

not liked by labour in 1920s has been redesigned repeatedly 

based on the original form for so many years. Franklin (2002:92) 

reminds us that automobile Mini has not changed form 

between 1959 and 2001, and neither has the popularity of 

the shape ofthe Beetle, and its reproduction and redesign by 

Volkswagen in 2000. Franklin (2002:92-3) explains this as: The 

Beetle and the Mini are not exceptions and their product life is 

not reducible to a design principle, but involves questions of 

taste, style, and the assimilation of design into lifestyle.' 

Under today's conditions, new meanings that are imposed 

to consumption make It inevitable for design to earn new 

meanings as well. Status and social approval motives and 

illusion of gaining personality by design products, lead 

excessive meanings to be imposed to design objects. 

Technology, Design and Social Disorder 

Developments on information technology and globalism 

facilitate vanishing of borders and diffusion of innovations. 

Thus, very strong changes on design and trends affect 

competition significantly. Producer is driven by anxiety of 

continual innovation or diversity and pressure of launching 

earlier than his competitors. He also experiences paranoia 

of technological deficiency or theft. All these pressures and 

anxieties impress the designer as well. As a consequence, 

products which do not have updated technology but, have 

been renovated through their cover design or which are 

presented with insignificant technological innovations as if 

they were highly important have started to invade the market. 

Consumer can not understand the technological innovations 

entirely nor can he know if the product's effects on the 

environment are harmful or not. For instance, Hl-Tech shop 

assistants never talk about the harmful gases that are given off 

dunng LCDTV production process. On the contrary, consumer 

is encouraged in order to purchase the newest because of the 

need to refresh the consumption cycle. Marketing methods 

and credit cards are very productive assistants of this cycle. 

Psychiatrist Tarhan (Kredi l

'Technology must be tamed in order to realized things that 

have the simplest possible relation v^/ith man - we must reject 

technologically driven industrial goods that have no regard 

for human needs and no communicative rationality'. 

Dimension of design is changing gradually. Foster {2002} 

mentions that everything -from jeans to genesis perceived 

as a design object. Home, job, face, weak personality or DNA 

of your children can be designed as well. Design as a reflection 

of narcissistic personality, is an accomplice of production- 

consumption cycle. However frightening this account Is, we 

know how effective social life and marketing methods are on 

diffusion of innovation. Moreover,'possession of somethlng'ln 

general is a factor that decreases distance between the thing 

and human'. (Bilgin 1991:113) As technology is spread, people 

In every class have relations with technological products 

and fear diminishes. The mass of people using technological 

products encourages other people. 

Fear of technology is being replaced by fear of staying behind 

the technology. As well as the worries ofthe designer not to 

fall behind his rivals, consumer worries about buying product 

or thing with old technology and he may spend more with 

the feeling of having the newest. Because staying behind, is a 

very heavy concern. New technological products are imposed 

through the mediacontlnuously. High tech is always expensive, 

but If you will buya new thing you must buy the one with the 

newest and highest technology .Because the old ones belong 

to technology garbage. Paying more for a product that will be 

a trash someday is inevitable. However, nobody wants to have 

a trash from the start. 

Quality is defined as 'level of meeting the needs' and from the 

quality point of view, technological 'renovations' are bringing 

two important risks into our lives. First, the individual may 

not keep In step with the new requirements generated by the 

technological'renovations'and his quality of life can be affected 

negatively. And second, buying the newest technology only to 

prevent oneself from staying behind means buying something 

which has features that will never be used and/or that will 

never meet what is really needed. In other words, that means 

'money for nothing'. Result isa lot of damage on quality of life In 

many ways. Furthermore, high prices are paid to buy identities 

because of social concerns. The mistake in believing 'he who 

pays more is superior'and social classification formed by the 

objects consumed and showed off, causes social divisions. 

The mobile phone is one of the objects that reflect the 

technological developments best, now almost all new versions 

are also cameras as well. Misuse of this wonderful feature 

-such as blackmailing- has even caused suicides in Turkey. 

According to survey conducted by Jee Hyan Ha and presented 

in American Psychiatric Association's meeting in Toronto, 

South Korean teenagers who use their mobile phones more 

than 90 times per day are more timid and depressive than the 

ones who use theirs at least 70 times per day. Another well- 

known fact is; computers that are the symbols and main tools 

of information era, are causing addiction through Internet and 

video games, triggering antisocialism or social violence and 

even causing deaths because of by playing video games too 

long -such as for days. 

As well as the social problems caused by technology and 

technological products, there are also environmental 

problems and these two can not be considered independently. 

Continuously regenerated technology and design cause 

bought products to be used for shorter periods. This means 

more production, more waste, more use of energy and 

pollution. While's percent ofthe world population is using 25 

percent of all world resources, they also pollute at same levels. 

Everyday, more than 1 million tons of toxic waste is given to 

environment. 30 percent of natural resources have already 

been lost.'(Odabaşı 1999: 181) If the aluminium of 32 billion 

beverage cans thrown in garbage in the USA during the year 

2002 could be re-used, it would be possible to obtain needed 

metal resource to manufacture all trade planes on this planet. 

Despite this, a research conducted in Norway determined that 

74 percent of subjects prefer simple life to increasing income 

and materials with increasing stress. (Elgin and Mitchell 

1977) More importantly, for protection of our environment, 

countries should put sanctions İn order. According to Kyoto 

Protocol, signed by 129 countries ~ except USA, producers 

must let consumers know how they produce and Its effects on 

the environment. 

Nowadays, there is a very strong relationship between 

designer's success and his ability to use technology properly.

He must be able to keep up with new production techniques, 

new materials, research and development studies, and be able 

to evaluate consumer trends and life styles. At the same time, 

designers should obtain information about ethical values and 

about protecting environment, too. Firstly, designing products 

which are environment-fnendly, recyclable, and that can be 

produced with less energy must be aimed. Instead of focusing 

on creating new needs, meeting the existing needs must be 

focused on. Designer should be able to measure the possible 

damage level caused by the products they design, even 

though he can not obstruct the principle of the consumer 

being a vicrim of consumprion. For instance, a designer who 

knows that aluminium can be recycled many rimes should be 

conscious of immorality of not recommending that material 

for a non-recyclable product. Also,'design and design schools 

have had a profound influence over consumprion by trying to 

improve and extend the place of art in all levels of society and 

not simply as a plaything ofthe wealthy.'(Franklin 2002:94) 

It would be healthier to show designers the ways to design 

products which can be produced with less cost and which are 

more functional, encouraging longer usage, more ecological, 

harmless for nature (such as Levi's organic jeans), upgradeable 

by small and cheap additions (such as upgradeable home 

appliances). Design schools should teach ecology and 

consumption culture. Atthe same time, the consumers ofthe 

future should also be educated from the elementary school 

years on. 

GSU : lU MU MSGSU 8SU IBUN MLTU : Yu OutsWrts : TQlal % 

Yes 1 :7 1 0 8 2 ; 5 ; 2 S ; 25 20 

No • 12 ; 12 13 10 4 13 6 : 10 20 ; 100 80 

Total : 13 'Ti 14 10 12 15 . 11 - 12 25 ~"ıoÖ' 

No 

Table 1. Is 'brand' Important for you? 

GSU lU MU MSGSU BS 

:"9 

4 s 

~'4" 

7 7 

Source: Yaraman 2003:79. 

U 

"ii" 

1 

To" 

s 

MLTU yu : Outskirts Total 'i'a 

"'9" 

• 2 

'"lb" 

• 2 

"12 

' 13 46 

" 63^2 

Total 13 . 13 '. 14 10 • 12 15 , 11 ; 25 125 100 

Table 2: Do you carry a branded object right now? 

Source: Yaraman 2003:79. 

36,8 

Aqtea 1 SomstimesAcfreii 

M5.G, 

S,U. H.U. 

1 M-S.f3. 

av, • S,U. H.U, av. 

Dlsaqree 

M.S.G. 

SAJ, H,U. av. Total 

Ii % % % % % ?t 'h % 

1 continuouily follow up 

i 15novation so 1 thange 

mv mobile phone very often. 

For me, new mobiFe phones 

6 14 11 6 48 33 88 38 56 100 

take loo much time to get 

used 10. 

lalwaysweartarrya product 

13 18 16 0 14 9 88 68 75 100 

which belongs to 

an expensive brand. 

1 prefer to bu/s^Jme brands 

19 14 16 19 59 44 63 28 40 100 

because ihey .ire reflecting my 

personality. 

Ttie rqcontly designed produtl 

which does not have new 

technology is better than the 

product wiiicli has the recent 

technology but is old 

37,5 55 49 37,5 34 35,5 25 10 15,5 100 

fashioned. 33 25 30 31 39 36 31 36 34 100 

1 can not use high complexity 

electronic products -such as 

mobile phones- and 1 don't 

need to uso their all functions 

either. 44 21 29 25 41 35,5 31 38 35,5 100 

Ism reserved about improving 

technological products. It is 

hard lo change my unwieldy 

product. 6 10 9 31 21 24 63 69 67 100 

I'm Inleresled in harmtul 

technology and 1 don't buy 

products which are not 

environmental. 63 34 44 25 41 36 13 24 20 100 

My camera/mobile phone is 

the answer to my need but 1 

want to buy neivor. 31 21 25 6 29 20 63 50 55 100 

1 will buy the new version of 

my technological product 

even il it is renewed only 

formally. 7 7 7 0 17 11 93 76 82 100 

Nobody uses the V brand 

mobile phones in my 

neighborhood. But If majority 

used it, UTOUM buy il. 6 10 9 6 14 n 88 75 so 100 

Table 3: The survey conducted on fourth grade interior 

Conclusion 

architecture students. 

Almost everything -purchasable or not purchasable- Is a tool 

of today's consumption culture. It Is known that symbolic and 

conspicuous consumption leads to stratifying and, social and 

cultural alienarion. Consumption addiction and antlsoclalism 

are also important psychiatric disorders. Created identity 

via consumprion objects always needs revision. It Is shown 

at the survey that the majority of students take the idenrity 

issue Into considerarion. On the other hand, designer can 

not avoid designing for consumprion-production cycle. 

However, designer should be aware of social disorder and 

environmental problems the cycle causes. According to the 

survey, minority of students/designer candidates are not 

interested In environmental goods. Although it is the thought 

of minority, this is a worrying result. Therefore, design schools

have a very important role to train conscious young designers. 

In this century, designer has a significant responsibility about 

designing environmental products with social consciousness. 

References 

AC Nielsen, 2006. Global Purchase Influencers Report, 

September 2006. (online) 

Available from: http://www.acnielsen.com.tr 

BARNARD, M., 1998. Art, Design and Visual Culture: An 

Introduction. USA: St.Martin's Press. 

BİLGİN, N. 1991. Eşya ve İnsan. Ankara: Gündoğan Yayınlan. 

ÇAKMAKÇI, N., 2006. Öğretmen Kendini Unutmuş Öğrencisine 

Üzülüyor. Hürriyet Pazar İK, Nov. 26, pp.26. 

CHAPMAN, J.,. 2005. Emotionally Durable Design: Objects, 

Experiences and Empathy. London: Earthscan Publications. 

ELGIN, D.S., MITCHELL, A., 1977. Voluntary Simplicity: Life-Style 

ofthe Future?The Futurist, August, pp.203-6. 

FIELL, C, FIELL, P., 2001. Designing the 21 st Century. Köln: Taschen. 

FOSTER, H., 2002. Design and Crime (and other diatribes). 

Verso Edition and NLB. 

FRANKLIN, A., 2002. Consuming Design -Consuming Retro-. 

In S. MILES, ed. Changing Consumer: Markets and Meaning., 

Florence, KY USA: Routledge, 2002. 

Kredi kartı depresyon sebebi. 2006. Source:İHA. 22 March. 

Available from; http://www.maksimum.com/saglik/haber/51/ 

58233.php 

KOTLER, P., ARMSTRONG G., 1999. Principles of Marketing. 

USA: Prentice-Hall International, Inc. 

NAISBITT, J., NAISBITT N., PHILIPS, D., 2001. High Tech High 

Touch -Technology and Our Accelerated Search For Meaning. 

London: Nicholas Brealy Publishing. 

ODABAŞI, Y., 1999. Tüketim Kültürü -Yetinen Toplumdan 

Tüketen Topluma-. İstanbul: Sistem Yayıncılık. 

PACKARD, v., 1971. The Status Seekers. New York: Pocket 

Book. 

RITZER, G., 2001. Explorations in the Sociology of Consumption: 

Fast Food, Credit Cards and Casinos, London, GBR: Sage 

Publications, Incorporated. 

SAĞOCAK, M., 2003. The Relationship of People with Objects 

and the Consumption Phenomenon. Yapı, 261 (8), pp.101-4. 

SCHIFFMAN, L.G., KANUK, L.L., 1991. Consumer Behavior. USA: 

Prentice-Hall International Editions. 

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Source: United Press International, 24 May 2006. 

Available from: http://www.physorg.com/printnews.php7new 

sid=67692071 

TUNA, B., 2006. Bir Arzu Nesnesi IPod. PazarHürriyet, 5 Nov., 

pp.10-1. 

VEBLEN, T., 1899/1934. The Theory of Leisure Class. New York: 

Penguin. 

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Prometheus'tan Narkissos'a-, İstanbul: Bağlam Yayıncılık.

DESIGN AGAINST DISASTER: 

SHIFTING LIFESTYLES TD PREVENT ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER 

L.N. Ece ARIBURUN 

IstanbulTechnical University, Istanbul,Turkey 

ariburun@itu.edu.tr 

Abstract: 

It has been over 30 years since the prime discussion of'basic 

ideas concerning the attitudes of individuals and nations 

towards the environment and development', at the United 

Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972). 

Much has been argued upon environmental subjects, and 

nevertheless, it remains as a major topic due to its foremost 

importance. Issues concerning usage of natural resources, 

man-madeenvironmentsand sustainability, living greener and 

so on are being scrutinized by leading scientific committees 

internationally. Among other interesting comments, some can 

be correlated to the routine everyday lifecycle of individuals: 

the fact that ensuring the durability of nalura) resources 

depends not only on national decisions but also on the 

populations'taking this vital issue into account (Brundtland, 

1987 and Solow, 1992). Disaster, in a man made environment 

is foreseen; therefore to shift existing lifestyles by individuals 

can be proclaimed as a social responsibility to prevent the 

upcoming environmental disaster. 

The profession of Interior Design is closely linked to generate 

lifestyles. According to NCIDQ (National Council for Interior 

Design Qualification) In USA, definition of Interior Design is: 

"A multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical 

solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built 

interior environment.These solutions are functional, enhance 

the quality of life and culture of the occupants, and are 

aesthetically attractive." Designs must adhere to code and 

regulatory requirements, and encourage the principles of 

environmental sustainability (NCIDQ, 2004) 

The main scope of this paper is to draw attention to 

interconnectedness of interior design and sustainability, 

particularly withinTurklsh Interior Architects/Designers. By this 

way it is expected to create a level of social consciousness via 

this close connection and to improve notice on environmental 

sustainability. In further advance: by altering material, product 

and systems around our living environments (homes, offices, 

etc.) the ongoing consumption trends of the society will be 

affected and eventually be triggered to develop in a system 

to be environmentally friendly. "The object is not so much 

to sustain the environment itself, but the lives we can lead 

in that environment." Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate 1998, 

Harvard University. 

Keywords: Sustainable development, interior design, lifestyle 

consumption. 

Introduction: 

Lifestyle Consumption as an Increasing Threat 

Recently several academic studies have pointed out to the 

overgrowing patterns of consumerism particularly throughout 

the beginning ofthe new millennium. Scholars have agreed 

that an increasing part of the world is entering or already 

belonging to what could be described as the consumer 

society. According to the research statistics, the world's urban 

population has increased nearly fourfold in the last half- 

century, from 732 million in 1950 to more than 3.2 billion in 

2006 (UN Population Division, 2006).

Within worid population, there are 1.7 billion peopleconstituting 

the members depicted as the 'global consumer class,'of which 

are having incomes more than 7000$ worth of purchasing 

power parity (an income calculation for the purchasing 

possibility in local currency). Although ranging widely in levels 

of wealth, the consumer class is archetypal users of television, 

telecommunication and the internet, along with contemporary 

media culture and commercial ideologies that these widely 

distributed products transmit (Dobers and Strannegard, 2005). 

One would assume that most ofthe consumer class is found 

in Western industrialized nations. Interestingly, almost half 

of them come from the'developing'world, with China alone 

claiming 240 million people -nearly as many as the 242.5 

million In the US. The third largest'consumer class population' 

Is India with 122 million people, followed by Japan at 121 

million,Germanyat 76 million, Russian Federation at 61 million, 

Brazil at 58 million, France and Italy at 53 million each, and the 

UK at 50 million (Worldwatch Institute Reports, 2004). Even if 

there is an increasing gap between the few very rich and the 

many very poor, it Is possible to declare that a materialistic 

lifestyle and consumer culture has become widely accessible 

to a progressively growing middle class throughout the world. 

For a brief example, in 2003 there were more private cars than 

there were licensed car drivers in the United States of America, 

and SUV's (sport utility vehicles) were among the best-selling 

vehicles. New houses in the U.S.A. were 38 % bigger in 2002 

than in 1975, despite having fewer people per household on 

average (Gardner et al., 2004). 

13:3 WEO nXI iOOO !010 20!0 »30 JWO 

Figure 1: World Population, 1950-2050. 

(Source: UN Population Division) 

A number of books published since the early 1990s document 

an increased frustration of societies organized around 

consumption (Cross, 2000; Kasser, 2003; Gardner et al., 2004). 

On a general level of cognition, consumption is seen as an 

attempt to escape the boredom of everyday life (Sanne, 

2002), as means to create one's own lifestyle and identity 

through consuming goods and services with specific social 

attributions. Scholars have argued that Western societies are 

becoming increasingly aesthetic-oriented In consumption 

matters by pointing to the fact that consumers are constantly 

searching for new fashions, new styles, new sensations and 

new experiences due to the companies' marketing efforts 

(Featherstone, 1991).This implies that consumption in the 21st 

century seems to be more trend-conscious and lifestyle based; 

products and services are potentially signaling a particular 

lifestyle, where individuality is displayed in an assembly of 

artifacts, practices, experiences and appearance. Companies 

and other elements of the corporate business systems are 

moving beyond from fulfilling customers' needs and gaining 

credits for exploiting their desires.The more products, systems 

and services take place on the markets, no matter whether 

needed or not, effective marketing policies become a side as 

a so-called'value-creator', and the consumers seek for more to 

distinguish themselves from other groups or fields of society, 

constantly striving for additional elements to celebrate 

statuses and exhibit newly adapted lifestyles. 

USA 

China 

İndis 

Japan 

Germany 

Russian Fed. 

Brazil 

France 

Italy 

UK 

243 

240 

122_ 

121. 

m: 

51, 

50 100 150 200 250 300 

Figure 2: Consumer Class Populations by Nation (in millions) 

(Source: State of the World 2004: A Worldwatch Institute 

Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable Society. NY: W.W. 

Norton.)

Undeniably, the rapidly increasing 'consumption-mania' is 

affecting even our current lifestyles through the pioneering 

consumption patterns and behaviors: the ever-changing 

trends based on a 'buy and dispose' process and the reduced 

lifecycles of products & services are ultimately manipulating 

the environments that we live in. Consumption is necessary 

for survival, but obviously it threatens the well-being of people 

and the environment when it becomes an end in itself. The 

abundant quest of consumption has fined a serious charge to 

world resources that is now mounting at least as fast as global 

consumption levels. Besides the fact that mass consumption 

leading to severe impact on water supply, air quality, climate, 

biodiversity and human health; the up-to-date effects of 

over-consuming can be described as poor diets, a sedentary 

lifestyle, obesity and a decline In social health and happiness, 

and more on the way. 

Due to the previously mentioned arguments, this paper's point 

of view Is to draw attention to lifestyle consumption as a social 

process; and to Investigate a particular approach to alter It to a 

'sustainable'direction. In this manner the need to rethink and 

create new physical, social and cultural Infrastructures of well- 

being that focus on high quality of life Is becoming inevitable. 

This paper will specifically deal with the Interconnectedness 

of design and sustainabillty, and because of purposely related 

bonds to create lifestyles;'sustainable interior design'will be 

scrutinized in order to achieve a solution. Among other fields 

of the design world, such as product, graphic, etc., intenor 

design has an outstanding role towards containing sustainable 

lifestyles In the society. This paper wlil end with applicable 

suggestions towards the local intenor design community and 

to the curnculum of graduate-level educational institutes. 

Shifting Lifestyles with Sustainable Design 

it has been over 30 years since the prime discussion of'basic 

ideas concerning the attitudes of individuals and nations 

towards the environment and development', Initialized at 

the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, 

Stockholm (1972). For the first time nations met to consider 

global environment and development on the same agenda. 

Much has been argued upon environmental subjects, and 

nevertheless, it remains as a major topic due to its foremost 

Importance. Issues concerning usage of natural resources. 

man-made environments and sustainabillty, living greener and 

so on are being scrutinized by leading scientific committees 

internationally. Among other interesting comments, some can 

be correlated to the routine everyday lifecycle of individuals: 

the fact that ensuring the durability of natural resources 

depends not only on national decisions but also on the 

populations'taking this vital issue into account (Brundtiand, 

1987 and Solow, 1992). 

The milestone manifesto Brundtiand Report (1987), 'Our 

Common Future' under the leadership of Gro Brundtiand', 

'sustainabillty' is defined as not In terms of preserving the 

environment itself but the'qual Ity ofour lives, or the fulfillment 

of our needs'. It contains two key concepts: The concept of 

'needs'. In pa rticularthe essential needs ofthe wodd's poor; and 

the concept of limitations forced by the state of technology 

and social organizations on the environments' ability to meet 

present and future needs. Furthermore, the 1987 Brundtiand 

Report defined 'sustainable development' as 'meeting the 

needs of the present generation without compromising the 

ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. The 

idea has been advanced by Nobel Laureate Robert Solow, 

In 'An Almost Practical Step towards Sustainability' (1992). 

Sustainabillty Is accepted as an obligatory feature: the next 

generation must be left with 'whatever it takes to achieve a 

standard of living at least as good as our own and to look after 

their next generation slmilady'. Both Brundtiand and Solow 

approaches reinforce each other, by giving the essence of the 

idea that any ingredient ofa good life, which can influence and 

raise living standards, is taken to be potentially Important, 

In the 1995 World Summit on Social Development further 

defined this term as 'the framework for our efforts to achieve 

a higher quality of life for all people'. In which 'economic 

development, social development and environmental 

protection are Interdependent and mutually reinforcing 

components'. By the year 2000 with the adoption of the 

Millennium Declaration, and afterwards the 2002 World 

Summit on Sustainable Development, this definition was 

expanded to Identifying the 'three overarching objectives 

of sustainable development' to be (1) eradicating poverty, 

' Gro Brundtiand, former Prime Minister of Norway.

(2) protecting natura! resources, and (3) changing current 

unsustainable production and consumption patterns in the 

interest of our future welfare and that of our descendants. 

Recently by Headsof State and Government In the UN outcome 

document ofthe 2005 World Summit, consumption patterns 

and sustainability was still the uttermost topic. Nevertheless 

it is obvious that disaster, in a man made environment is 

foreseen; therefore to shift existing lifestyles by individuals 

can be proclaimed as a social responsibility to prevent the 

upcoming environmental disaster. 

Designers, in this context, wear two hats: both as a consumer 

and a supplier. By having one foot in the 'real world' and one 

in the business of 'changing it for the better' the designer 

is in a position to develop an informed perspective on 

the adoption and implementation of sustainable design 

practices (Abeyasekera & Matthews, 2006). Shaping society 

by Influencing on the usage of resources, selecting products 

or materials which are environmentally safe, and ultimately 

creating a certain level of'consciousness'and implying it to 

our surroundings as a new 'lifestyle' or so called 'trend', are 

all within the capabilities of a socially responsible designer. 

As previously mentioned, interior design has an outstanding 

role to constitute sustainable lifestyles In the society. The 

profession of Interior Design is closely linked to generate 

lifestyles. According to NCIDQ (National Council for Interior 

Design Qualification) in USA, definition of Interior Design is: 

"A multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical 

solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built 

Interior environment. These solutions are functional, enhance 

the quality of life and culture of the occupants, and are 

aesthetically attractive." Designs must adhere to code and 

regulatory requirements, and encourage the principles of 

environmental sustainability. The interior design process 

follows a systematic and coordinated methodology, including 

research, analysis and Integration of knowledge into the 

creative process, whereby the needs and resources of the 

client are satisfied to produce an interior space that fulfills the 

project goals (NCIDQ, 2004). 

Sustainable Design uses methods and products that cause 

the lowest possible impact upon the ability of the natural 

environment to maintain its natural balance. Its goal is to 

prevent the environmental damage Inherent in traditional 

processes of building or remodeling. By integrating 

considerations for sustainability with principles of aesthetics, 

function and comfort, sustainable design strategies enable 

professional designers to make sustainability possible and 

attractive by creating spaces that are as comfortable as they 

are healthy, energy and resource efficient, functional and 

aesthetically pleasing, and by promoting the well-being of 

their occupants as well as the earth (Stewart-Pollack & Plllote, 

2006). 

The need of sustainable design in built environments (homes, 

offices, any other types of buildings etc.) adhere three 

dimensions of sustainability: Ecological, economic, social 

and cultural. Interior designer's accountability for the interior 

environments' impact on individuals and the long-term 

viability ofthe planet should consider every design decision; 

weighed within the parameters of social context, ecologically 

friendliness,andthebottom-lineimpactof business economics. 

In this case, some professional or non-profit governmental 

design organizations have established guidelines and ethical 

codes of practice, such as IIDA^ ASID^ IDEC, and IFP and so 

on. Designers must be prepared to demonstrate value using 

performance-based outcome measures. An example for one 

of these standards for measurement Is the LEED system. LEED 

(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green 

Building Rating System provides a complete framework for 

assessing building performance and meeting sustainability 

goals. Based on scientific standards, LEED emphasizes state 

of the art strategies for sustainable site development, water 

savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor 

environmental quality (USG8C, 2006).^ 

^ IIDA (International Interior Design Association), www.iida.org 

^ ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), www.asid.org 

İDEC (Interior Design Educators Council), www.idec.org 

^ IFI (International Federation of Interior Architects / Designers), 

www.ifiworld.org 

^ USGBC (US Green Building Council), www.usgbc.org

Suütaiıuıblc Building 

Ecological 

Econaiiiic 

susliiiımlHİily 

Socml mid 

Cullurul 

su.lainabiîil)' 

licsoiirccs prtMccliuii 

Rcosyslcm prolecliii 

Luiig-lcmi resuiirtc priKİııtlivily 

Low use costs 

I 1 Piolcclioii iif I'jaiLli anil ciiiufmi 

l'ıoüTvulioıı ofsucialaiKİ cultural 

VII lues 

Figure S.TheThree Dimensions of Sustainable Building 

(Source: Kua, H.W. & Lee S.E. (2002) Demonstration 

Intelligent Building - A Methodology for the Promotion of 

total Sustainability in the Built Environment Building and 

Environment 37, 231-240 [adapted from Kohler, 1999].' 

The result attempted to obtain by using these measurement 

standards is increasing the Incitement of growing body of 

affordable, environmentally responsible building and intenor 

materials and products available to the designer and the 

consumer. Through a procedure called life-cycle assessment 

products and even entire buildings are evaluated according 

to the amount of material and energy used in the extraction 

of raw materials as well as in the production, transportation, 

maintenance, and disposal of the products. Life-cycle 

assessment also measures the pollution and waste produced 

bythese processes. Life-cycle costs, or the'real'cost of products 

based upon this assessment can then be determined. 

Of course, whilst practicing sustainable interior design 

there are certain simple guidelines that any socially and 

environmentally responsible designer could take under 

consideration. To be mentioning these guidelines as a very 

brief summary; 

• Using recycled or easily renewable, non-toxic materials for 

all surfaces: Matenais and finishes for walls, floor coverings, 

ceilings and cabinetry, such as formaldehyde-free MDF 

^ Kohler N. (1999)The Relevance ofthe Green Building Challenge: an 

Observer's Perspective. Building Research & Information 1999;27(4/ 

5):309-20 

(medium density fiberboard), reclaimed orFSC certified wood 

products, bamboo, cork, or linoleum floonng, carpets made 

of natural matenais (wool) or recycled materials, ceramic tiles 

made from recycled glass and other products. 

• Using non-toxic, water based finishes and low or no-VOC 

paints (volatile organic compounds). 

• Using natural day lighting (instead of artificial lighting) as 

much as possible. 

• Using energy efficient HVAC systems, appliances, and 

equipment 

• Using locally available materials for transportation benefits. 

• Avoiding common materials and products such as: 

- Petroleum-based Products: Pesticides and fertilizers, 

plastics and synthetic fibers, solvents and fuels. 

- Plastics 

- Polyvinyl chionde (PVC) 

- Products Containing Formaldehyde 

There are also several mottos on promoting sustainability 

to obtain public interest as well as professional bodies. 

Quite mind capturing and easy to remember, these mottos 

themselves develop into principles of sustainable design. 

One example was published and distributed by IDEC (Interior 

Design Educators CounciO as a 'Preliminary Teaching Manual 

for Sustainable Design Education', March 2006. Under the title 

of'The Seven R's of Sustainable Design'; Rethink, Redesign, 

Reduce, Reuse, Renew, Refurbish and Recycle concepts are 

used to label sustainable interior design guidelines with the 

following explanations (IDEC, 2006): 

• Rethink: Although design problems are contextual, complex, 

and multi-layered, the design process remains essentially 

compartmentalized, lineal, and fragmented. 

• Redesign: Design for flexibility, durability, longevity, 

disassembly, and ease of maintenance. Eliminate the concept 

of waste. 

" Reduce: Do more with less. Reduce or eliminate toxicity and 

pollution. 

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), www.fsc.org

• Reuse: Specify products that can be used over and over 

again. Question the ultimate consequences and impact of 

new products. ' 

• Renew; Specify products from rapidly renewable resources. 

• Refurbish: Give new life to existing products and buildings. 

- Recycle: Establish a policy to recycle all applicable waste 

materials. 

Besides various guidelines, ethical codes, mottos, to~do lists, 

green product qualificarions and so, sustainability and the 

Items or concepts related to it are gaining a vast popularity 

amongst a wide range of business and academic activities. 

Sustainability seems to be spreading into a wide segment of 

business and academic enterprises over the globe, a quantity 

of other specific subject areas above and beyond Interior 

design are setting up or integrating their foundations in 

accordance with sustainability principles. Derived from the 

same report mentioned above, some specific areas of which 

sustainable design can be integrated are: 

• Design Studio Courses (passive/active solar, daylighting, 

natural venrilation, non-toxic materials, renewable/recycled/ 

local materials, design for disassembly, water and resource 

conservation, project-specific sustainable design checklists/ 

analysis} 

• Building Structures and Systems (alternative building 

materials and processes and HVAC systems, passive and active 

solar design) 

• Lighting (daylighring, energy efficient lighring solutions) 

• Construction Documents (detailing of sustainable features 

and elements) 

• Furniture Design (design for disassembly, renewable and 

recycled materials) 

• Textiles (non-carcinogenic chemicals in fibers and dyes, 

biodegradable and compostable fabrics) 

• Surfacing Materials (renewable and recycled materials, non 

toxic materials) 

• Business of Interior Design (ethical responsibility for 

healthy buildings and environments; social justice; strategic 

planning) 

• History of Architecture, Furniture and Design (evolution of 

green design philosophies, products and processes) 

• Historic Preservation (making historic buildings healthier) 

The knowledge and the existing conditions established 

upon sustainability issues thus far clearly provide adequate 

confirmation that the worid has reached a turning point. 

Obviûusly,a shift from our current'consume-oriented'lifestyles 

has initiated; the common social consciousness has begun to 

arise, businesses are now demanded to be 'environmentally 

responsible' by numerous consents. The question is how 

long will this adaptation phrase extend? Shifting lifestyles 

may take a longer duration in the 'developing countries', 

since they consist of almost half of the total consumer class 

population, as mentioned in the beginning ofthis paper. Does 

the local sanction (if they exist), have an impact on Individual 

endorsement? Perhaps the real environmental challenge 

is hidden in converting the 'lifestyle consumption' In to an 

'environmentally conscious lifestyle' itself. 

Local Situation: Conditions of Sanction in Turkey 

The Chamber of Interior Architects ofTurkey is one ofthe 23 

chambers under The Union of Chambers ofTurklsh Engineers 

and Architects.^ It is a public professional organization, ruled 

by Article 135 ofThe Constitution of The Republic ofTurkey."' 

The article In question clearly demonstrates the alms and the 

objectives ofthe diverse Chambers; 

^TMMOB,"Türk Mühendis ve Mimar Odaları Birliği" 

'"The Constitution ofThe Republic ofTurkey, Article 135: 

H. Public Professional Organizations 

ARTICLE 135. (As amended on July 23,1995) 

Public professional organizations and their higher organizations are 

public corporate bodies established by law, with the objectives of 

meeting the common needs ofthe members of a given profession, 

to facilitate their professional activities, to ensure the development 

of the profession in keeping with common interests, to safeguard 

professional discipline and ethics in order to ensure integrity and 

trust in relations among its members and with the public; their organs 

shall be elected by secret ballot by their members in accordance with 

the procedure set forth in the law, and under Judicial supervision. 

Persons regularly employed in public institutions, or in state 

economic enterprises shall not be required to become members of 

public professional organizations.

...meeting tine common needs of the membersof a given 

profession, to facilitate their professional activities, to 

ensure the development of the profession in keeping 

with common interests, to safeguard professional 

discipline and ethics in order to ensure integrity and 

trust in relarions among its members and with the 

public;... 

The Chamber of Interior Architects of Turkey has started its 

activities In 1954 as an association and became regulated as a 

Chamber In 1976. The Main Regularions ofthe Chamber have 

been revised many times ever since, but the current one In 

use has been accepted in 25'" April 2006 and published in the 

Official Gazette no. 26149. In the Second Chapter ofthe Main 

Regulations, the headquarters and the alms of the Chamber 

are established. Under the Second Chapter of the Main 

Regulations of The Chamber of Interior Architects of Turkey, 

Item no. 6 demonstrates the aims ofthe Chamber within 15 

sub-Items. Issues related to sustainabillty are held only In 

Article 6 under the Second Chapter, and unfortunately there 

Is no more than only one single Item which is directly linked 

to sustainability issues. To be more accurate, the following 

item, which Is the last one of 15 sub-items, is the only one 

"mentloning"a slight importance towards sustainable design: 

[L] Realizing studies and other necessary enterprises 

and acrivitles within the benefits of the country and 

the public on: protecring, managing, and markering 

natural resources and the growth of productivity." 

Giving regards to the fact that every Interior Architect, who 

graduated from a 4-year undergraduate curriculum of an 

allied university must become a member of The Chamber 

of Interior Architects of Turkey In order to maintain a 

professional practice within the borders of The Republic of 

Turkey, and Interior Architects which are not members of The 

Chamber of Interior Architects of Turkey are prohibited from 

any professional occupation related to the interior design 

field, the above menrioned item towards sustainable design 

is obviously not sufficient enough to be a guideline or even 

as a accurate assessment for the members. Due to the urgent 

environmental Importance of the subject, this paper argues 

that as a prime organizarion among the Interior Architects In 

Turkey, The Chamber has a privileged obligarion to educate. 

to demonstrate and eventually to regulate sustainable design 

issues among its community. By this close encounter the 

consciousness level ofthe members and gradually the clients, 

companies, and so on will be affected and, hopefully, be useful 

to build up a system which is environmentally friendly. As a 

clear suggestion, this paper offers that matters of ecological, 

economical and social/cultural sustainabillty in the built 

environment should be adjoined In the Regulations of the 

Chamber of Interior Architects of Turkey. 

One other aspect of the current situarion upon sustainable 

design In Turkey can be analyzed through the graduate 

education. Interior Architecture education in Turkey has 

started in 1925 in Istanbul State Fine Arts Academy (Istanbul 

Devlet Güzel Sanatlar Akademisi) known as Mimar Sinan 

University of today. 

Over the past 80 years, many universities in Turkey have 

opened a variety of levels of undergraduate, graduate and 

doctorate level Interior Architecture curriculums. State and/ 

These professional organizations shal! not engage in activities 

outside the aims for which they are established. 

Political parties shall not nominate candidates in elections for the 

organs of these professional organizations or their higher bodies. 

The rules concerning the administrative and financial supervision of 

these professional organizations by the state shall be prescribed by 

\avj. 

The responsible organs of professional organizations, which engage 

in activities beyond their objectives, shall be dissolved by court 

decision at the request of the authority designated by law or the 

public prosecutor, and new organs shall be elected in their place. 

However, In cases where delay endangers national security, public 

order and in cases where it is necessary to prevent the perpetration 

or the continuation of a crime or to effect an arrest, an authority 

designated bylaw may be vested with power to suspend professional 

organizations from activity. The decision ofthe said authority shall be 

submitted for approval to the responsible judge within twenty-four 

hours. Unless the judge declares a decision within forty-eight hours, 

this administrative decision is annulled automatically. 

" [Main Regulations of The Chamber of interior Architects of Turkey, 

Second Chapter, Item 6, Sub-item (L)] Accepted and published in the 

Official Gazette (no. 26149) in 25th Apnl 2006.

or private universities such as Bilkent, Hacettepe, Eskişehir 

Anadolu, IstanbulTechnical, KaradenizTechnİcal, Marmara and 

so are currently continuing their educations and contributing 

around 500 Interior Architecture graduates every year. Each 

university offers a wide diversity of elective and must courses 

in their curriculum, but nevertheless, none of these courses 

are titled to ecology, green design, sustainable design or so. 

Regarding this information, conceivably a re-evaluation ofthe 

current curriculum is essential In due to academic units. This 

paper also suggests that in view of the fact that sustainability 

courses in undergraduate or graduate education are inevitably 

compulsory; universities should consider and revise their 

curriculumsinordertomeettheagenda of sustainability; which 

encompasses economic, social, and environmental Impacts. 

As a brief example ofthe related educational premises around 

the world, Carnegie Mellon University offers a "Sustainable 

Design (M.Sc.)" degree under the School of Architecture. 

This program is aimed for students interested in sustainable 

design in the built environment. The program includes 

coursework in the following areas; Environmental Basics and 

Issues, Environmental Law and Policy; Environmental History, 

Sustainable Design and Development, Advanced Building 

Systems, Building Performance Simulation and Tools, Site 

and Ecology, Sustainable Engineering and Construction, 

Environmental Economics, Thesis/ Project Courses.'^ 

As a closure, in order to succeed the real environmental 

challenge, converting 'lifestyle consumption' to an 

'environmentally conscious lifestyle' is obligatory for our 

continued survival. Much, inline with this paper, 1998 

Nobel Economics Laureate Prof Amartya Sen, from Harvard 

University has a judgment: 

The object is not so much to sustain the environment 

itself, but the lives we can lead in that environment. 

Among other fields ofdesign, interior designers must deduce 

a leadership role for sustainable design and development. 

It is in the definition of the profession, that 'enhancing the 

http://www.arc.cmu.edu/cmu/programs/ugrad_progs/iive_one.jsp 

Carnegie Mellon University, School of Architecture, Sustainable 

Design Graduate Program (M.Sc.) 

quality of life and culture of the occupants' is an obligation 

for an interior designer. Environmental responsibility has to 

become and is becoming a norm In our lives, refraining from 

our current lifestyles based on ever-changing trends and 

consumerism is a vital requisite, as the global ecological crisis 

is a widely accepted reality. Sustainable design not only has 

immediate and far reaching impacts upon resource depletion, 

global warming, and other vital environmental conditions, It 

Impacts significantly human health, safety and welfare as well 

as conditions of social premises.

References 

ABEYASEKERA K. and MATTHEWS G. (ed.) (2006), Sustainable 

Exhibit Design. Guidelines for designers of small scale 

interactive and traveling exhibits. UK: University of Lincoln. 

BRUNDTLAND G., (1987), Our Common Future. UK: Oxford 


CROSSG.(200ü},AnAII-ConsumingCentury.WhyCommercialism 

Won in Modern America. Columbia University Press: New York. 

DEAN, A. (2003), Green by Design: Creating a Home for 

Sustainable Living. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith Publishers. 

DOBERS, R and STRANNEGARD L. (2005), Design, Lifestyles and 

Sustainability. Aesthetic Consumption in a World of Abundance, 

Business Strategy and the Environment 14,324-336 

FEATHERSTONE M. (1991), Consumer Culture and 

Postmodernism. Sage: London. 

FUAD-LUKE A. (2002), Ecodesign Handbook: a complete source 

book for the home and office, London:Thames and Hudson. 

GARDNER G., ASSADOURIAN E., SARIN R. (2004), The State of 

Consumption Today. In State of the World 2004: Special Focus: 

The Consumer Society, Worldwatch Institute (ed.) Norton: 

NewYork; 3-21 

KASSER T (2003), The High Price of Materialism. MIT Press: 

Cambridge. 

KUA, H.W. & LEE S.E. (2002), Demonstration Intelligent Building 

- A Methodology for the Promotion of total Sustainability in 

the Built Environment. Building and Environment 37,231-240 

SANNE C, (2002), Willing consumers - or locked-ln? Policies for 

a sustainable consumption. Ecological Economics 42:273-287. 

S0L0WR.,(1992), Analmostpracticalsteptoward sustainability. 

Resources for the Future: RFF Press. 

STEWART-POLLACK J. AND PILLOTE L.E. (2006), Preliminary 

Teaching Manual for Sustainable Design Education, IDEC 

(Interior Design Educators Council). 

WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE (2004), State ofthe World 2004: A 

Worldwatch Institute Report on Progress Toward a Sustainable 

Society. NY: W.W. Norton. 

Web References: 

(multiple entrees in October, November, December 2006) 

http://www,un.org/documents/ga/re5/42/ares42-187.htm 

Report of the World Commission on Environment and 

Development 1987, posted by United Nations Department of 

Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). 

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd/ 

Worid Summit for Social Development Copenhageni 995. 

http://www.un.org/millennium/declararion/ares552e.htm 

United Narions Millennium Declaration. 

http://www.un.org/events/wssd/pressreleases/ 

World Summit on Sustainable Development Johannesburg 2002. 

http://www.un.org/summit2005/ 

Worid Summit 2005: High-level Plenary Meeting of the 60th 

Session ofthe General Assembly. 

h ttp://w w w. u n. o rg/es a/ 

United Nations, Economic and Social Development website. 

http://www.asid.org/resource/Sustainable+Design+lnformati 

on+Center.htm ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) 

Sustainable Design Information Center. 

http://www.ncidq.org/who/definition.htm 

NCIDQ (National Council for Interior Design Qualification). 

http://www.usgbc.org/LEED/ 

USGBC (United States Green Building Council) Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental Design. 

http://www.un.org/esa/population/unpop.htm 

United Nations Population Division.

T H E L İ F E C Y C L E A S S E S S M E N T OF T E M P O R A R Y H Q U S I N G 

Hakan ARSLAN 

Istanbul Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, 

Department of Architecture, 34437, Taksim, Istanbul, Turkey 

arslanhaka@itu.edu.tr 

Abstract 

The avi/areness about the gap between temporary housing 

reconstruction and planning Is Increasing. This study 

examines the relation between planning and organisational 

structure of the temporary housing reconstruction in Turkey, 

a developing country which is affected by the 12 September 

1999 earthquake. Temporary housing is analyzed based on 

the planning, organization and design of the earthquake 

houses and housing sites. Production, occupancy, evacuation, 

dismantling, recycle and re-use phases of the temporary 

houses and housing sites are evaluated in the experience 

of Duzce Case Study. A public questionnaire is conducted 

from the temporary housing dwellers in order to analyse 

their expectation levels from the temporary houses and 

housing sites. The user's problems tried to be found out as 

well. The results of the evaluation of the temporary housing 

reconstruction give design suggestions for the decision 

makers, city planners and architects for the future disasters. 

The results show that design had a crucial role in temporary 

housing reconstruction and had to be placed in the context of 

planning and organization models of each country and must 

be based onto the local, cultural, social and physical conditions 

ofthe affected region. 

Introduction 

Disasters are events which occur within some specified periods 

of time and spaces, and threat a society or a relatively self- 

sufficient part ofa society with major unwanted consequences. 

They are mostly unavoidable events coming in unexpected 

times. However, settings of pre and post disaster activities 

have important roles in reducing the future hazard nsks in 

disaster prone areas {Tercan 2001). The number, type and 

losses from disasters are Increasing woddwide. Not only is the 

number of natural and manmade disasters increasing but the 

cost in property human life. For natural disasters woddwide, 

the annual economic losses averaged $4,9 billion in the 1960's, 

$15,1 billion In the 1980's and $75,9 billion annualy in the 

1990's {Siembieda et al 2002). However, disasters cause also 

technological, societal and environmental problems. 

Every disaster that leaves many people homeless triggers 

renewed and often intense debates about what technologies 

are appropriate to rebuild homes so that they are 'safe' 

or 'disaster-resistant'. Shelter relief and reconstruction 

programmes absorb large amounts of international aid, 

yet we know very little about these programmes long term 

results. Do reconstruction programmes suceed? What factors 

lie behind success and failure? What should be done to make 

reconstruction more effective? (Twigg 2002). To articulate all 

these different factors, a careful organisational structure, long 

term planning and sustainable design is required. 

Life Cycle Assessment is enabling a cradle-to-grave approach 

of understanding the material flows into the built environment 

and the savings that can be instituted. Indeed a more detailed 

and comprehensive approach is necessary, starting from the 

design and construction stages to the use and demolition 

stages: a conception-to-resurrection approach that takes all 

stages, and effects and impacts into consideration including 

what happens when a building has to be demolished - that 

stages too has environmental effect (UNEP, 2003). This type 

of assessment could be used as a design and management

tool for the decision makers, city planners, architects and 

disaster managers to boost the reconstruction facilities after 

the disasters. 

The aim ofthe research is to evaluate the Life Cycle Assessment 

of temporary housing reconstruction from the site selection, 

production, occupancy, evacuation, dismantling to reuse 

and recycle processes In a case study in Turkey-Düzce by 

considering the dwellers' expectations. Study is conducted in 

four big temporary housing site constructed in Turkey-Duzce 

after 12 November 1999 earthquake. Pre-information about 

sites is received from thetemporary housing siteadministrators 

who were assigned by the central government. Interviews are 

made and a questionnaire is conducted from the dwellers in 

orderto determine their problems and expectation levels from 

the houses and sites. The other studies and researches about 

the temporary housing in Turkey were generally focused on 

the production and occupancy phases. This study aims to 

cover all phases of the temporary housing so that to evaluate 

the problems in a wide point of view which could gather all 

the stakeholders. 

Post Disaster Temporary Shelter and Housing 

Reconstruction 

Shelter problem after the disasters are generally followed by 

three overlapping phases; 

1. Spontaneous Shelter (first 72 hours) - to provide an interim, 

safe haven white the situation stabilizes 

2. Emergency Shelter (first 60 days) - to provide emergency 

shelter and feeding to displaced population requiring shelter. 

3. Temporary (Interim) Housing (first year and beyond) - to 

provide temporary housing - safe and secure shelter, water, 

power, and heating - to displaced disaster victims while efforts 

are underway to make permanent repairs to dwellings, or to 

find other suitable permanent housing (HRWG, 1998). 

The distinction between housing and sheltering is made on 

the basis that housing involves the resumption of household 

responsibilities and activities in the new living quarters, 

whereas during sheltering, normal daily activities are put on 

hold (Johnson 2002). 

12 September Duzce Earthquake 

The 1999 earthquakes occurred in Düzce and Marmara 

region implies major impacts on the Turkish government 

budget, from cost of interim subsidies, debt rescheduling and 

subsidized credit programmes, and from the direct budgetary 

costs arising from re-housing needs, family support and social 

infrastructure damage, namely; 

- New investment spend for the construction interim 

prefabricated homes and the progressive reconstruction 

and repair of permanent housing and infrastructure; 

- Extra consumption/transfer spending for the relief and 

extra social security spending due to extraordinary death 

and disability benefits (Price et al. 2000). 

Düzce province is located on the North Anatolian fault line in 

Düzce plain (Figure 1). As a result of the rapid industrialization 

between1980-1998, the migration to the city from the rural 

areas increased and the housing demand rapidly increased 

too. The total area of the city is 2593 km2. The population Is 

307.056 according to 1997 census, the density of 108 people/ 

km2 which is more than Turkey's 83 people per km2 average. 

Rapid migration caused unplanned constructions in the city. 

Nevertheless, users add more floors to the old buildings 

which were constructed on weak soil. New buildings were 

constructed rapidly with inconvenient labor and material. 

On the other hand, there were no reliable control systems 

for the building construction processes (Düzce Municipality 

Chairmanship 2000). 

Dair.99;il/12 16:57:10:31 

Epicinler: 40.76S.\31.N3E 

MW:7.1 MB:6.5 .\1S:7J 

Figure 1. North Anatolian Fault Line and Location of Duzce 

Province (DMC, 2000).

Post Disaster Temporary Shelter and Housing Processes in 

Düzce 

In 12 November 1999 the devastating earthquake with 7, 

2 magnitudes occurred in Düzce province. Approximately 

43000 buildings were damaged. Generally 84 % of the 

damages occurred to the houses and % 16 of them to the work 

places. Also 980 people died and 38939 were injured {Düzce 

Governorship 2002). After the 12 September 1999 Duzce 

Earthquake, 16.666 housing units destroyed or damaged by 

the earthquake and people were forced to find emergency 

shelter (Duzce Governorship 2002).They had three options; 

i) shelter with friends or relatives; 

li) move to an undamaged second home or rent 

accomodation, and 

ill) tent shelter in organised camps (more likely for people 

whose homes were demolished), or In the neighborhood 

of the damaged but usually still standing house. 

The latteroption also involve the use of vacant public buildings 

and 996 family with 4369 people selected this option (Price 

et al. 2000). 26665 tents which were donated from national 

and international aid organizations were distributed to 

112000 earthquake vicrims by the help of Red Crescent and 

Civil Defending Directors, and tent dries were established. 

However, some vicrims built the tents on their own. The 

first precaution that governorship took was to settle some 

vicrims to the state buildings in other provinces. Most ofthe 

victims refused to leave the city since, they wanted to be in 

contact with their relatives and friends, they also wanted to 

be in charge of funerals and they desired to stay in the areas 

of damaged and collapsed buildings. In the following phase, 

the decision for building a temporary earthquake house was 

taken by the public works ministry because of Insufficient 

infrastructure of tent cities, the lack of protection from the 

climaric condirions and long construcrion rime of permanent 

houses (Düzce Municipality Chairmanship 2000). 

Temporary Housing Settlements in Duzce 

6669 Temporary houses were constructed in Duzce province. 

3.411 were donated by various national and internarional 

aid organizarions. There are 11 temporary housing sites in 

Düzce city center with 10637 population. The studied sites are 

selected due to their population and location (Figure 2). 

Number Temporary Housing Area Housing Units Population 

! Gmiiuspmar 1194 4428 

2 S)ml4: 1024 1850 

3 Klmh 405 670 

4 Kiruniii OoaRi 330 1415 

3 Cumhuriyd 152 300 

6 Fidiuil>k 352 720 

7 Turfc-Japon Koyu 714 2902 

8 Feyzi Cakmnk 252 875 

9 Hamidh'e 36 123 

10 K.Ahmcilcr 360 230 

11 C3V Mahallesi 105 26 

TOTAL 4944 10637 

Figure 2.Temporary Earthquake Housing Areas, Housing 

Units and Populations (Düzce Center) 

The temporary houses and sites were constructed generally 

on the state land and on rural areas outskirts ofthe city {see 

Figure 3) according to the act of 17. 7. 1968 date and 1051 

number"General Disaster Law"; 

Figure 3. View of GumuspmarTemporary Housing Site. 

Topic 6-d) Houses and huts can be constructed, rented or 

purchased according to the sheltering needs of vicrims or 

people in the risk of disaster. The aid in cash for the vicrims 

and temporary sheltering works subsidies determined by the 

Ministry of Public Works and Setriements (T.C. Resmi Gazete 

1968). 

In this topic there is no informarion about how will be the role 

distribution between the actors? {NGO's, Local Government, 

Professional Associations, etc.) How and from whom would 

the works be done? And how long would the work take to

e finished? What methods will be used during construction? 

What will be the strategies and planning criterias for post 

disaster sheltering? How will they be organized? 

All the authority were left to the central government (see Figure 

4) forthe issues which require technical data and build up such 

as; the construction, management, evacuation, dismantling 

of temporary housing sites and their infrastructures (Düzce 

Governorship 2002). 

MILITARY 

AGENT 

DISTRICT 

GOVERNOR 

pktming 

DÜZCE CRISIS CENTER CHAIRMANSHIP STRUCTURE SCHEMA 

CRISIS CENTER PRESIDENT 

(ASSISTANT OF GOVERNOR) 

DISTRICT 

GOVERNOR 

Diiins 

IILÛIIIIUII 

planning. 

coordinalion 

and sup«a^'iiinn 

DISTRICT 

GOVERNOR 

1aU ciEics and 

livcfabncdled housing 

infraslruclute, wort: 

msciiinc Kİıedulıııg 

and planning 

DISTRICT 

GOVERNOR 

Ihirclmsuig. 

railing, 

DISTRICT 

GOVERNOR 

Aid acccplancs 

end ÜEÎnUjtıon 

ASSISTANT OF 

GOVERNOR 

Coordıııaûoıı and 

followLnEuf Iral 

CI lies and 

prefabncale hnuîes 

DISTRICT 

GOVERNOR 

Supcrvismn of icni cihts 

ond prcfflbric lıuusîs. 

planning for Icmpotaij' 

Figure 4. Düzce Crisis Management Center (Duzce 

Governorship 2002). 

In this approach central government is not perfect about the 

technical aspects. So that, sometimes can not give reliable 

decisions or waste time in the process of getting information 

about the issue. Therefore the rehabilitation time extended. 

Technical and implemetation side is weak in this administration 

scheme whereas there should be plans e.g. demolition and 

debris plans for the heavily damaged buildings, temporary 

housing site selection and production process analysis, and 

decisions for each practice. The admistratives also had lack 

of information from technical aspects which they could not 

confront with technical support in a short time. 

Temporary Housing Housing Sites Selection Process 

Pre study before selection ofthe sites was made by The General 

Directorate of Disaster Affairs (GDDA) according to; 

• Geologic and Geophysic Reports. 

• Ground research forthe determination of ground water level 

and the situation of flood risk. 

The number of prefabricated housing sites were determined 

according to the researchs of TSI (Turkish Statistical Institute). 

Priority was given to the government owned vacant land 

during the selection process of temporary housing sites. 

The infrastructure facilities were constructed by the General 

Directorate of Construction Affairs (GDCA). In Duzce case 

90 % of the constructed temporary housing sites were on 

government owned vacant land. But most ofthe public lands 

were also agricultural lands thus the lands recycle problems 

occurred after the evacuation. But they cost too much to 

recycle. The other 10 % was private ownership and were 

generally rented or occupied by the central government. But 

ownerships were not pleased from the situation.They opened 

a court case against the government because of the impacts 

oftemporary houses and their infrastructure to the land, which 

have not been finalized yet (Duzce Governorship 2002). 

The Temporary Housing Production Process 

After the selection of sites, the bid with contractors for the 

construction of temporary houses was made by the Ministry 

of Public Works and Settlement and 3258 temporary houses 

were constructed. Some of the temporary houses were 

donated by the NGO's whereas some of them produced in 

the prefabricated house production facility center close to 

Ankara. 

The administration of the temporary housing project was 

highly centralized. Major decisions regarding procurement 

and construction were made in offices in Ankara by the MWPS 

and the GDDA. Construction of the units was undertaken 

by private construction companies and managed by the 

provincial authorities ofthe MPWS. 

The state companies were responsible for road works and 

electricity managed the infrastructure (Johnson et al. 2006). 

The process did not cover the community participation. Thus 

the lack of participation caused low maintenance to the 

buildings and many damages occured during and after the 

evacuation process (Arslan and Unlu 2006).

The general problems during the production phase were 

determined and they can be summarised as; 

• Organizational problems dunng the coordination of the 

construction of superstructure and Infrastructure (no criteria 

for the selection of contractors). 

• Insufficient number ofthe control personeli (decreases the 

quality of production) (Arslan 2004). 

Temporary Housing Occupancy Process 

The administration of the temporary housing sites during 

evacuation was managed bythe assistant of governor (Figure 

4). The legal arrangements and the control was made by the 

assistant of the governor as well. The coordination between 

the temporary housing sites was made by the temporary 

housing coordinator who was responsible to the assistant of 

governor. Each temporary housing site also had a manager. 

The social places In the sites were changed from site to site 

but most of them generally had cafe, laundry, sewing house, 

tailoring house, etc.The local government provides the water, 

cleaning and garbage activities. There were also fire teams 

against fire risks formed by the disaster victims (Arslan 2004). 

(.M n cipjiliii I 

'.Vaior.cîı-. :. i-ji; 

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT 

(Crisis Center) 

ASSISTANT OF 

C'OVKKNOK 

rrempoMry llou^lnt; Site 

Cetilral .Viltninidniliir) 

• L'ljnrfol I'-n-i .'••'.ipcr.i-io.i) 

Temporary Kousiii^ 

Site coordinator 

Temporary Iloiising Site 

* Miriir!iii-7i 50 li ij.îii:; i.nit 

SECUKITY 

UNIT 

Cfîiıhinnı; 

T 

Social f:;[|:l;i;s 

Si:Hir^; Hiiusi; 

'l.i:l»nn[; liciisc 

Figure 5. Temporary Housing Occupancy Process 

Organization in Duzce Adapted from (Arslan 2004). 

The general problems dunng the production phase were 


• The lack of sound and heat Insulation (social problems 

occured in the neighborhood). 

•The lack of roofing matenais against snow and wind (damages 

occured on 6 housing unit in GumuspmarTemporary Housing 

Site). 

•The lack of infrastructure (Most ofthe sites had cesspools). 

• The house plan types did not give permission privacy for the 

family (Arslan 2004). 

Temporary Housing Evacuation Process 

Studies in Düzce showed that there was a gradual evacuation 

plan for temporary housing areas which was planned by the 

central government. After the finishing of permanent house 

the house owners were moved to their permanent houses 

at the outskirt of the city. But tenants go on living in the 

temporary sites. 

Cental government tried to collect all tenants and temporary 

site users in two big temporary housing site (Gümüşpınar- 

Siraiik). However the real situation was not as planned. 

Temporary houses were occupied by new settlers from 

different low income social groups. Because they pay too little 

as renters of the temporary houses. 

The existing dwellers denied evacuating the houses and sites. 

As a result the central government forced them to leave by 

turning of electricity and water of the sites for evacuation and 

demobilization (Arslan and Unlu 2006). Dunng the evacuation 

users made great damages to the temporary houses. 

Temporary Housing Dismantling Process 

The dismantling processes of temporary houses did not have 

a planned organization and the decision for dismantling 

determined due to the situations and quickly by the central 

government. In Düzce case two options were observed; 

Dismantling by the public sector: the provincial authorities 

of the MPWS dismantled the houses through the agency of 

subcontractors. The provincial authorities' role was limited 

with control. The dismanded materials were stored. The 

matenais were used according to the available purposes (e.g. 

donation to the other disaster affected areas) approved by the 

central government.

Dismantling bythe private sector: The housing units were sold 

to the private firms or person. The private firms dismantled 

the housing units according to the method selected by the 

subcontractor (Arslan 2004). 

The general problems during the dismanriing phase were 


• Unplanned interventions and implimentarions by the local 

authority of MPWS (no short or long term planning) 

• Lack of legal infrastucture for deconstruction and 

dismantling 

• Unqualified and unexperienced subcontractors 

• The complicated details ofthe housing units (Arslan 2004). 

Temporary Housing Recycle and Re-use Process 

In Düzce case study three options of recycle and reuse 

potenrial were determined for the temporary houses; 

1. Donarion: the housing units were donated to the disaster 

affected areas, self governing office for mukhat's and to the 

low income families in the villages of Düzce. 

2. Selling: the central government sold the housing units for 

cash money. 

3. Old/New Function: the housing sites and houses were used 

with their old funcrion (eg.temporary house) or with a new 

funcrion (eg. permanent house, worker dining hall and dorm, 

construction site office, etc.) (Arslan 2007). 

The general problems during the recycle and re-use phase 

were determined and they can be summarised as; 

• No planning and organizarion structure were not 

determined. 

• Decision for short and long term were not determined. 

• The lackof storing lands and/or buildings forthe houses 

materials (Arslan 2004). 

Case Study of Düzce Temporary Housing Sites 

Research areasweredetermined as; Fevzi Cakmak.Gumuspinar, 

Sıralık and Fidanlık temporary earthquake housing site which 

were located in the centre of Düzce (Figure 5). The sites had 

large capacity of population and were not evacuated at the 

research time (Figure 6). A public survey applied to totally 

200 disaster victims. 50 earthquake victims for each site were 

selected randomly for face to face questionnaire. By survey 

questions; the socio-economic structure of the dwellers, their 

sarisfacrion levels from the sites and the houses, their opinion 

about occupancy of temporary houses and their long term 

expectations from the sites and the houses were tried to be 

determined. 

Figure 6 Location ofthe studied temporary housing sites 

(Düzce Governorship GIS, 2002). 

Most of the dwellers of temporary earthquake housing sites 

parricipated into the survey did not have good economic 

conditions.They had no other alternative living site.Therefore, 

they conrinued to live in these temporary sites. Dwellers 

thought that temporary housing beginning and ending of 

construction processes were late. The majority ofthe dwellers 

stated that social areas and roads in the site were insufficient. 

The intensive expectations were about children playing area. 

The survey participators explained their opinions as "good" 

"average" and "bad" about the houses and the common used 

areas (Cosgun and Arslan 2003), 

According to the evaiuarion of dwellers data about temporary 

earthquake houses; dwellers stated the condirion of the 

houses average, general environment order bad, streets bad, 

cleanliness of the site average, street wideness average and 

distance between houses bad. According to evaiuarion of 

dwellers data about infrastructure and services; generally

Street lighting average, sewer systenn good, electrical services 

good, water pressure adequacy average, quality of dnnklng 

water average, public services average, neighbourhood 

committee for providing local organisations average. 

According to evaluation of dwellers data about transportation 

and shopping; user stated the transportation chance average 

and shopping adequacy bad (Arslan 2004). 

Temporary houses are insufficient as place for dwellers. 

Therefore half of the dwellers made adding to the houses. 

But they were all random and spontaneous adding. In case 

of making appropnate adding big majority think to use the 

houses until the end of their life cycle. The dwellers expected 

to make appropnate adding by the assistance of state or/and 

related organisations (NGO's) or want to receive long term low 

interest loans for the finance. Especially in Gumuspinar and 

Sıralık temporary housing sites the high tendency for using 

the housing sites until the end of their life cycle site were 

determined (Arslan 2004). 

Results 

Generally in Turkey the central government organized 

and responsible for the whole activities pre, during and 

after the disaster. The military service had an independent 

role whereas the local government had no authority. The 

local and international NGO's was not considered and 

the community participation Is very limited. So that the 

community participation can be formulated in the context 

of pre-disaster participatory design solutions. 

The community participation could be encouraged and the 

community. They could select representatives who would 

had a a role in the design phase. This representatives could 

be encouraged to boost and use their communities physical 

or mental abilities especially in design phase to increase their 

satisfaction level.Becausethereconstruction is eithera physical 

reconstruction process eg. construction ofthe superstructure 

and infrastructure, or is a new social reconstruction of the 

community. So the processes might cover all the stakeholders 

in all disaster penods especially the reconstruction phase. 

The cooperation with local government would minimize the 

physical and social effects of integration tothe city. The design 

also could cover the psycho social data ofthe disaster effected 

region and should also be strengthened by the planning and 

organization structure of thecountnes. 

According to Life Cycle Assesment of the case study, the 

following suggestions might be determined for each phase; 

PHASES LIFE CYCLE ASSESMENT 

PRODUCTION 

PHASE 

RESULTS OF DUZCE CASE STUDY 

Theuse of local constructors could boost the 

reconstruction of the disaster affected area 

by remaining the sources in the area and 

accelerating other reconstruction facilities 

in indirect ways. This will also blocks the 

probable problems occured by the foreign 

constructors, and increases the motivation 

ofthe community. 

DISMANTLING The use and selection of demountable 

PHASE 

EVACUATION 

PHASE 

RECYCLE 

& 

RE~USE 

PHASE 

building materials which had minimum and 

easy conjuctions with short assembling, 

transportation and rejoin time. 

In the evacuation process decision makers 

must be careful and consider these 

questions: Who are the existing dwellers? 

Where will they relocate? What are the 

future immigration risks of the site? When 

and How will the site be dismanded? 

Recycle; the use of local materials would 

decrease the transportation costs and save 

time and money for other reconstruction 

facilities. 

The use of recycled materials would 

decrease the environmetal impacts and 

energy use which need a governmental 

recycle infrastructure (eg. Recycled concrete 

systems). 

The design for the infrastructure and 

foundation systems must have the 

minimum damage to the ground (e.g. stake 

foundations would enable the recycle and 

reuse ofthe land).

RECYCLE The infrastucture had to be easily removed 

& {especially agricultural lands) after the 

RE-USE evacuation of the site with minimum energy 

PHASE use and cost, its integration with the local city 

References 

or regions infrastructure must be considered. 

Because the infrastructure materials had also 

environmental effects whether they are not 

used and they also did not vanish In short 

time periods. 

Re-use; the selection of modular building 

typologies enables newfunctions (e.g. school, 

hospitals, etc.) which is a way of reusing the 

materials and sources. 

5IEMB1EDA, W., BRUCE, B. and KEN,T., 2002. Disaster Recovery, 

A Global Planning Perspectives in Interplan. Chicago, Illinois: 

International Division ofthe American Planning Association, 

Issue No. 69. 

TERCAN, B. , 2001. Post Earthquake Relocation Process in 

Yalova. Unpublished. 

Master's thesis, METU, Ankara. 

UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMME, 2003, Cities 

are not Cities need for a radical change In our attitudes and 

approaches to manage the environment In cities. 

TWIGG, J., 2002. Technology, Post-Disaster Housing 

Reconstruction and Livelihood Security. January 2002/May 

2006 Benfield Hazard Research Centre Working Paper No 15. 

Draft Report ofthe Housing Recovery Working Group, 1998."A 

Housing Recovery Strategy, For a New Madnd Earthquake", A 

FEMA / Federal - CUSEC Initiative. 

JOHNSON, C, 2002. "What's the Big Deal About Temporary 

Housing? Types ofTemporary Accommodation After Disasters: 

Example of the 1999 Turkish earthquake"TIEMS conference". 

University of Waterloo, Canada. 

PRICE, R., BIBEE, A., GONENC, R., JACOBS, S. and KONVITS J., 

2000. "Turkey Post-Earthquake Report", Report by the OECD 

Secretariat, 

DUZCE MUNICIPALITY CHAIRMANSHIP, 2000. ,"12 September 

1999" Duzce, 

T.C. RESMİ GAZETE,1968, 17.7.1968 Gün ve 1051 sayılı "Genel 

Afet Kanunu". 

DUZCE GOVERNORSHIP 2002, Geographical Information 

Systems Service. 

PUBLIC WORKS MINISTRY 2000 Research-Planning: 

Coordination Committee Chairmanship, Ankara. 

JOHNSON, C. , LIZARRALDE G, and DAVIDSON C. , 2006, "A 

Systems View Of Temporary Housing Projects in Post-Disaster 

Reconstruction", Construction Management & Economics, vol. 

24, issue 4, pages 367-378. 

DUZCE GOVERNORSHIP PUBLIC RELATION DIRECTOR, 2002. 

New City New Life, Duzce, 

DUZCE GOVERNORSHIP, 2002. Prefabricated Housing Sites 

Coordinators Briefing File Folder, 

ARSLAN, H., 2004. "Study of Temporary Housing Planning, 

Organisation, Production Phases and Research of Re- 

Use Potentials after Usage; Example of Duzce Province", 

Unpublished MasterThesis, Gebze,Turkey. 

COSGUN, N. and ARSLAN, H., 2003. "Research of Post Disaster 

Temporary Sheltering Problem: Planning and Organisation", 

Kocaeli Earthquake Symposium, Kocaeli, Turkey. 

ARSLAN, H. and UNLU A., 2006."The Evaluation Of Community 

Participation in Housing Reconstruction Projects After Duzce 

Earthquake", Third 1-REC Conference, 17-19 May, Florence, 

ITALY 

ARSLAN, H., 2007."Re-use, Recycieand Re-design ofTemporary 

Houses", Building and Environment, Volume 42, Issue 1, 

January 2007, Pages 400-407.

D E S I G N D I S A S T E R S İN T H E H I S T O R Y U F C n M P U T I N G 

Paul Atkinson 

University of Huddersfield 

Huddersfield, UK 

p.atkinson@liud.ac.uk 


The timelines of computing history are stories of successful 

products or important technological developments, which 

are stated to have changed the course of computing 

history. These timelines present prima facie evidence of 

technological developments in isolation, suggesting a 

smooth, unproblematic developmental progress of an 

Industry and rarely giving any indication of the possible 

reasons why the items discussed were so successful. In 

addition these same timelines say little of the numerous 

products that disappeared from view, although these can 

tell us just as much about the consumption of technology 

as the successes. 

Design disasters in the computing industry were legion, as 

numerous companies competed for sales. Why did products 

hailed as significant breakthroughs fall to maintain a place in 

the market? The archives of manufacturers brochures present 

us with computers from large and small manufacturers no 

longer In existence, and show products which in many cases 

were years ahead of the competition but for one reason or 

another failed to make a mark. 

This paper explores how these developments have been 

analysed from the perspectives of different theories, including 

technological determinism, social constructionism and actor 

network theory. Using the tablet computer as a case study, 

this paper explores the connections and interactions between 

these differing viewpoints. 

This paper is essentially about the design, production and 

consumption of artefacts and the numerous factors which 

can affect their success or failure. For any company bringing 

a product to market the amount of time and money invested 

in the research, design and development of the product itself 

and in the market research, marketing promotion, packaging 

and distribution and retailing of a product means that an 

unsuccessful take up of that product by the target audience is 

by any definition a disaster. Although, as will be discussed, the 

reasons for that failure may be placed at different points in the 

production-consumption process, the integral role of design 

in that process means that such disasters can legitimately 

be seen as design disasters irrespective of the quality or 

otherwise of the design work itself Such occurrences are 

perhaps disasters for design if not disasters of design. 

This situation is perhaps understandably more common where 

the products concerned are complex technological products 

In a fiercely competitive field, where the technology Itself Is 

still relatively young, not yet stable, and in a constant state of 

flux. Consequently, the historical development ofthe personal 

computer is (quite literally) littered with examples of products 

that have failed in the marketplace. Occasionally the result of 

poor manufacture; the subject of misdirected marketing or 

promotion; often the result of software not quite living up to 

consumer expectations, some of these products could be said 

to have'deserved'to fail. However, having said that, advances 

in production technology and quality control in recent

years has acted to at least reduce manufactunng failures 

(notwithstanding some very well publicised events such as the 

poor battery life of earlier iPods, the cracked screens ofthe first 

iPod Nano and exploding batteries in Sony laptops (Johnson 

2005, Yeoman 2006)). We are still faced, then, with a number 

of examples of products which have clearly been very well 

designed (often winning design awards), produced to a very 

high standard, been heavily promoted, and have performed 

their advertised functions, yet have still not managed to 

succeed as products in the marketplace. The variables at play 

here which cannot be controlled are social ones. 

Theories of Technological Change 

A great deal has been written about why technological 

products fail in the market place, from a number of different 

perspectives including economic and business analyses, 

marketing critiques and design critiques, and sociological 

enquiries. The body of work would be far too large to describe 

in any depth here, but a small selection provide some useful 

starting points for discussion. 

The Invisible Computer' by Donald A, Norman is a fairly 

pragmatic text which attempts to describe the situation 

without over-theorising. Norman refers to the notion of 

'disruptive technologies' - technologies which have the 

ability to change people's lives and the entire course of the 

industry (Norman 1998:232). This ability to disrupt inherently 

produces products to which there is initially a large amount of 

resistance. Bringing together a number of previous pieces of 

research, Norman concludes that part of the problem is that 

companies do not take new technologies seriously due to a 

numberof factors: 

• New technologies are usually initially inferior to exisring 

ones. 

• Large companies require large business markets. 

• Investing in improving existing products will bring a 

greater return In the short term than developing new 

products. 

• The need to show profits on a yearly basis deters long- 

term investment. 

• New products often require collaborarion between 

compering departments ofa company. 

• New products get compared unfavourably with exisring 

successful products. 

(Norman 1998:235-237) 

Norman's argument is that In order to be accepted in the 

marketplace, three aspects have to be completely right - the 

technology, the marketing and the user experience. As an 

example, he quotes the well-known story of the Xerox Star 

computer designed at Xerox PARC in the eariy 1980s. 

Figure I.Xerox Star, 1981. 

(Courtesy of Palo Alto Research Center, Inc.) 

Figure 2. Apple Lisa, 1983. 

(Courtesy of Apple Inc.)

The Star was a product well ahead of Its time, having the first 

commercially available graphical user Interface, and a design 

philosophy of user interaction which set the standard for an 

entire generation of PCs (Fig. 1). Unfortunately, the product 

was a consumer product before the consumer existed. The 

product had not gone through the process of exposure to the 

marketplace which occurs when a new technology appears. Is 

accepted by'early adopters'of technology, and then refined for 

the mass market. The same happened a few years later when 

Apple introduced the Lisa - a larger, more expensive precursor 

to the Macintosh (Fig. 2). In both cases, the technology wasn't 

quite ready - they were both painfully slow, had limited 

functionality as no one had written applications for them, and 

were extremely expensive. Therefore, there was no benefit 

for'early adopters'of technology in using these products, as 

despite the novelty ofthe graphical user interface, the lackof 

applications meant itdidn'tdo anything othercomputers could 

do. The fate of the Star and the Usa would have happened to 

the Macintosh itself, had it not been saved by the advent of a 

'killer application', making it indispensable to a groups of users. 

In the case ofthe Macintosh, this was through the invention of 

the laser printer and desktop publishing software. 

Norman's point is that the Star and the Lisa both had superb 

user experiences, but insufficient technology and marketing. 

(Norman 1998:41-43) Not having all three was the reason for 

failure. 

This is an acknowledgement that the reasons for failure in the 

marketplace of any product are more complex than at first 

might be imagined. At the very least there is usually more than 

a single reason for design disasters. This notion is explored In 

other theories which address the same issue, to a greater or 

lesser extent. 

The theory of the social construction of technology takes 

the view that a complex range of factors are involved in the 

success of products, and that social factors have precedence 

in the process. As a counterpoint to a physical reality affecting 

outcomes (i.e. the technology itself), social constructionists see 

a web of relationships between people, between Institutions, 

that share beliefs and meanings as a collective product of a 

society, and that these relationships are the basis of subjective 

interpretations rather than physical or objective facts. The 

notion of the 'truth' of a socially constructed interpretation 

or piece of knowledge is irrelevant ~ it remains merely an 

Interpretation (Pool 1997). It Is an interpretation, though, 

which has significant agency. 

This is in direct contrast to the view of technological 

determinism - the view that technology and technological 

change are independent factors, impacting on society from 

the outside of that society -that technology changes as a 

matter of course, following its own path, and In doing so, 

changes the society on which it impacts. (A good example 

is the notion of'Moore's Law', which states that the power 

of a microchip doubles every year as if it was a 'natural' 

phenomenon). There is an element of truth contained within 

this, that technological products do of course affect and can 

change our lives, but it is simplistic to imagine other factors 

are not at play. Put more simply as 'interpretive flexibility', the 

argument of social constructionism Is that different groups of 

people (i.e. different relevant social groups of users) can have 

differing views and understandings of a technology and Its 

characteristics, and so will have different views on whether 

or not a particular technology 'works' for them. So, it is not 

enough fora manufacturer to speak ofa product that'works'; 

It may or may not work, depending on the perspective of the 

user (MacKenzie and Wajcman 1999). 

The above arguments on social constructionism have most 

famously been promoted by the sociologists Trevor Pinch 

and Wiebe Bijker (1987), where they use examples such as the 

developmental history of the bicycle to show how a linear, 

technological history falls to show the reasons for the success 

or failure of different models, and that a more complex, 

relational social model is required. 

An alternative view is held by some others, such as the 

historian of technology Thomas Hughes, where technological, 

social, economic and political factors are seen as parts of 

an Interconnected 'system'. In this instance, different but 

interconnected elements of products, the Institutions by or 

in which they are created, and the environments in which 

they operate or are consumed are seen as a complete, 

interdependent network. However, a technological system 

remains a socially constructed one:'Because they are invented 

and developed by system builders and their associates, the

components of technological systems are socially constructed 

artifacts' {Hughes 1987:52). There is still a distinction here, 

though, between human and non-human components of a 

system: 'Inventors, industrial scientists, engineers, managers, 

financiers and workers are components of but not artefacts in 

the system' (Hughes 1987:54). 

Taking this 'system' based approach a stage further leads us to 

Actor Network Theory, associated with the sociologists Bruno 

Latour, John Law and Michael Callon. Actor Network Theory 

(or ANT, as it has come to be referred to) breaks down 'the 

distinction between human actors and natural phenomena. 

Both are treated as elements in 'actor networks' (Bijker et al. 

1987:4). 

In ANT, all parts of a system or network are equally empowered 

as actors having an influence on technology - there is no 

distinction between small or large elements, animate or 

inanimate, real or virtual. Technology is conceived of as a 

growing system or network. The actors (and the relationships 

between the actors) 'shape and support the technical object'. 

(Bijker etal. 1987:12) 

An important aspect ofthe theory is that: 

The actor network is reducible neither to an actor or 

a network alone nor to a network. Like networks it is 

composed of a senes of heterogeneous elements, 

animate and inanimate, that have been linked to one 

another for a certain penod of time. The actor network 

can thus be distinguished from the traditional actors 

of sociology, a category generally excluding any 

nonhuman component and whose internal structure 

should not, on the other hand, be confused with a 

network linking in some predictable fashion elements 

that are perfectly well defined and stable, for the 

entities it is composed of, whether natural or social, 

could at any moment redefine their identity and mutual 

relationships in some new way and bring new elements 

into the network. An actor network is simultaneously 

an actor whose activity is networking heterogeneous 

elements and a network that is able to redefine and 

transform what it is made of. 

(Callon 1987:93) 

In other words, the role of any particular actor in a network is 

not fixed, but indeterminate and changeable, being at times 

dominant, oratothertimes, insignificant in its agency. 

I have previously used the theories of Pinch and Bijker to 

examine the historical development of the laptop computer, 

and presented a case that despite a number of attempts to 

introduce a portable computer for the executive market In a 

variety ofdifferent forms, the proposed 'solutions'continually 

failed to be accepted by the relevant social group of users. 

Figure 3.Texas Instruments 'Silent 700,1972. 

(Courtesy ofTexas Instruments Incorporated) 

Figure4. Osborne 1 Transportable Computer, 1981. 

(Courtesy of Computer History Museum)

Figure 5. Husky Rugged Handheld computer, 1981. 

(Courtesy of Intronix Corporation} 

Figure 6.The GRID Compass Laptop Computer, 1981. 

(Courtesy of IDEO) 

Some of these attempts failed because the product had 

limited functionality, others because of limited portability 

(Figs 3-5). It was not until available technology reached a point 

where all these issues could be resolved, and the product 

was presented In a physical form that also addressed the 

users' expectations that the laptop computer became widely 

accepted as a product form (Fig. 6) (Atkinson 2005). 

In this pa per, I wish to pursuea case study of a rangeof products, 

which have been put forward by different manufacturers 

for a number of years, yet which (despite the predictions 

of people such as Bill Gates) have failed to make an impact 

In the marketplace - namely, the tablet computer Tablet 

computers, or tablet PCs, are essentially notebook or slate- 

shaped computers which utilise touch-screen technology to 

enable operation by a stylus or fingertip rather than a mouse 

or keyboard (a process known as Pen Computing). 

Tablet computers have taken a number of different forms 

over previous years, but can be grouped into four general 

categories: 

• Slates-these are computers with no keyboards, although 

keyboards can be attached.They have been more successful 

in specialised fields such as health care, education and for 

field work.'Rugged'tablet PCs are usually'slates'. 

• Thin - client Slates - these are basically wireless versions 

of'slates'which have no onboard processor or storage and 

link remotely to a server. Used where portability is the key 

concern. 

• Convertibles - these are laptop/notebook computers 

with screens that rotate, swivel or slide to form a writing 

surface, converting the laptop to a tablet PC. They are the 

most commercially successful form oftablet,as they provide 

the benefits of both laptops and tablet computers. 

• Hybrids - these are convertible tablets where the 

keyboard can be completely detached. These have not 

been commercially successful at all. (Wikipedia 2007a) 

The History of Tablet Computers and Pen Computing 

Historically, the conceptual roots of the tablet computer are 

the same as those for the laptop computer, both arising from 

the original'Dynabook'concept proposed by Alan Kay and the 

Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) In the late 1960s (Fig. 7). 

Figure 7. Alan Kay's'Dynabook'concept, circa late 1960s.

The Dynabook concept was for a book or"slate type computer 

with nearly eternal battery life and software aimed mostly at 

giving children unlimited expression opportunities with all 

digital media imaginable. Adults could also use a Dynabook 

from the start, but the target audience would be children, and 

the software would grow up with them" (Wikipedia 2007b). 

Quite clearly, such a computer was not technically possible at 

the time (and Kay still thinks we haven't got there yet'), and yet 

this vision drove the development of computing technology 

inexorably towards truly portable computing. Interestingly, a 

company called Dynabook Technologies was set up in 1987 

to develop such a computer and it had $37 million in financial 

backing, yet never managed to overcome technical problems 

and went bankrupt in 1990 (Kaplan 1999:197). 

Figure 8. Convergent Technologies Workslate, 1983. 


An early attempt to produce a 'tablet'type computer which 

was clearly inspired by the 'Dynabook' concept came as early 

as 1983, when the'Workslate'was introduced by Convergent 

Technologies (Flg.8). This, however, had a small display, had 

limited capabilities, and used a keyboard input rather than 

a stylus. As such it was not stncdy speaking a 'tablet PC. The 

product had few applications, and despite Its obvious design 

qualities, failed In the marketplace. 

' Foran Interesting interview with Alan Kay and the thought processes 

behind the Dynabook concept, see: http://www.squeakland.org/ 

school/HTML/essays/dynabook_revlsited.htm (accessed IS January 

2007). 

Figure 9.The GRiDpad, 1989. 

(Courtesy of Jeff Hawkins) 

The first successful attempt at a commercial tablet PC 

appeared In the form of the GRIDpad from GRID Systems, 

conceived by Jeff Hawkins (Fig. 9). GRID Systems was the 

company that produced the first true laptop computer, the 

GRID Compass, launched In 1982. Hawkins came up with 

the idea of a tablet computer with a stylus interface while 

studying neuroscience at UC Berkeley dunng a two year leave 

of absence from GRID. He returned to GRID in 1988 to develop 

the first tablet computer for them, and managed the GRIDpad 

project (Moggridge 2006:184-185).The GRiDpad was targeted 

at specialist, vertical, markets such as the medical profession, 

as this Is where Hawkins saw market opportunities. In Its best 

year the product turned over In excess of $30 million (Hawkins 

2007). 

Figure 10. The GO computer, 1992.

The GO computer took a long time to get to market. It was 

already being planned when Jeff Hawkins went to visit GO in 

1988, yet despite having over $35 million in financial backing 

and the enthusiastic support of IBM and AT&T, it suffered 

all kinds of engineering setbacks, and was not launched 

until 1992 (Fig. 10}. Rather than use a proprietary operating 

system, GO insisted on developing their own, putting them in 

direct competition with Microsoft. When Microsoft launched 

Windows for Pen Computing a huge PR battle ensued 

(Hawkins 2007). Not surprisingly, GO lost. GO was founded by 

Jerry Kaplan and Mitch Kapor, and Kaplan went on to write an 

autobiography in which he said "The real question is not why 

the project died, but why It survived as long as it did" (Kaplan 

J. cited in Kaplan 1999:199). GO was taken over by AT&T in 

1994 and eventually shut down. 

Figure 11.The GRID Convertible, 1993. 


After the GRIDpad, Jeff Hawkins tried to develop a product 

'that offered the best of both the laptop and tablet'(Moggridge 

2006:189).The result, with industrial design work by IDEO, was 

the GRID Convertible launched in 1993 (Fig. 11). This used a 

clever mechanism which allowed the screen to slide and pivot 

to cover the keyboard and convert the laptop into a tablet.'Bill 

Gates loved it. It failed In the market piace. I learned at that 

time that people didn't really want to write on their display' 

(Hawkins 2007). 

Apple ran a whole series of projects during the late 1980s and 

early 1990s to develop tablet computers, most of which were 

cancelled (Kunkle 1997:passim). These Included a notebook- 

sized, slate-type computer concept codenamed 'Figaro' 

between 1987 and 1991 (which evolved Into the Newton), the 

PenMac, the Macintosh Folio, and Sketchpad, all In 1992, and 

theWorkCaseand Newton MessageSlatein 1993. It was felt by 

Apple that a tablet computer might compete with and detract 

from sales of the Macintosh, so the project was rethought as a 

Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). 

Figure 12. The Apple Newton MessagePad 2000, launched in 

1997 (Courtesy Apple Inc.). 

The Apple Newton MessagePad was eventually unveiled In 

May 1992 at the Consumer Electronics Show with a large- 

scale publicity drive claiming to have produced the future of 

computing. It was released the following'year, unfortunately 

to weak reviews. After a number of redesigns culminating in 

the MessagePad 2000 (Fig. 12), the technology was placed 

into the Apple eMate laptop computer in 1997 and then 

discontinued altogether in 1998. Although it was produced 

for six years and won numerous design awards, the Newton 

was never the success Apple hoped for, and the Intention 

to reinvent personal computing was never met (Wikipedia 

2007c). Although It was marketed as a PDA rather than a 

tablet computer, the unit Itself was too large to fit into any 

pocket, was expensive (the final models costing $1000) and 

initially suffered from poor handwriting recognition software, 

which many regard as being the main reason for its failure 

(Moggridge 2006:198).

The End of the Line? 

The Apple Newton would seem to mark the transition from 

tablet computer to the Personal Digital Assistant. Other 

manufacturers did start producing tablet computers during 

the 1990s, with similarly low amounts of success - IBM 

produced tablet versions of the ThinkPad' in 1993, and Sony 

produced a Pen Tablet PC in 2001, but discontinued it due 

to low sales only a year later (Kanellos 2007). Despite this, a 

number of manufacturers including IBM and HP conrinue to 

produce a variety of models (Microsoft 2007) and Bill Gates 

openly defends them, predicting they will shortly come into 

their own as products and ensuring that the latest version of 

Windows,'Vista', supports pen computing. 

The story so far of the tablet computer covers some 40 years 

from its conception, with real products being produced for 

18 years. As a product group, they have swallowed billions of 

dollars in investment capital and thousand upon thousands of 

man hours In R&D, design and promotion. Sales remain pitifully 

low, and yet manufacturers and a small number of users srill 

cling to the concept, convinced of its potential. Coming from 

Microsoft, the tablet PC is most prominently promoted by 

one man - Bert Keely, who has the job title'Architect, Mobile 

PCs & Tablet Technology'. Keely constantly attends research 

seminars and computer shows and appears in the media 

demonstrating the advantages of pen compuring. He admits 

that tablet technology has a number of flaws and a long way 

to go (Keely 2005), but remains convinced that the future of 

pen compuring will be'astounding'(Moggridge 2006:198). 

Conclusions 

So, why has the tablet computer not been a successful product? 

As proposed by all ofthe theories explored in the first section 

of this paper, there will always be more than one reason for 

any product failure. Yet many ofthe factors mentioned In the 

case study as to why certain individual tablet computers had 

failed are issues which have consequently been resolved. 

Cleariy the technical problems which plagued eariy products 

such as slow processor power and software reliability have 

been overcome. The comparibllity of software means that 

applicarions for such computers are far greater in number and 

that while still not perfect, issues of funcrionality such as the 

reliability and accuracy of handwriting recognirion software 

have apparently been solved. The manufacturers involved are 

not start-up enterprises lacking in financial support or backing, 

and the products are now parts of large ranges of compuring 

equipment from well-known and respected companies, and 

have received marketing support of a suitably high level. 

Yet despite the sales predictions and assurances of Bill Gates 

and the enthusiastic promotion of people such as Bill Keely, 

tablet computers srill account for less than 5% of the personal 

computer market. 

Social construcrionism suggests that a complex range of social 

factors are the most significant elements to take into account 

in the success or failure of technological products, and indeed 

it would appear from the technical factors that have been 

resolved that the only possible barriers left to the acceptance 

of tablet computers are social ones. The notion of'interprerive 

flexibility' proposes that different groups of people will have 

different views on the extent to which a particular technology 

'works' for them. However 'natural' a form of communicarion 

wriring may appear to be, perhaps as Jeff Hawkins states, 

people don't want to write on computer screens, and a pen 

on a large display is not a good user interface for a computer 

(Hawkins 2007).The complexity ofa personal computer, which 

is clearly accepted if not desired in a desktop PC, may not be 

acceptable in such a portable format of the tablet PC. Slow 

start-up rimes, large size and weight, and the compromises 

inevitable in mulri-funcrional products such as a full computer, 

do not cross over well to situarions where the computer is 

held and carried around by the user and constantly turned on 

and off. Factors such as these, which may appear to be small 

problems, or even insignificant by some, are held by Actor 

NetworkTheory to have the potenrial to be highly significant in 

the successful take up of new products. The interesting aspect 

of ANT, though. Is the understanding that the significance of 

these factors is not seen as fixed, but fluid. At any moment, a 

factor can move from being significant to insignificant, even as 

the result of forces outside ofthe network itself With this level 

of uncertainty in mind, it must be recognised that the current 

public attitude to tablet computers and to pen compuring 

itself could change at any moment. 

Where the tablet computer has failed to capture the public 

imagination, the Palm Pilot PDA has succeeded - but

that's another story. The reasons for the failure of tablet 

computers, as for any complex technological product, are 

not straightforward. Each or any of the reasons above, or a 

combination of small details which together constitute the 

nature ofthe experience of using a tablet computer, could be 

equally responsible. As social construction theory would have 

it, the acid test of computing equipment is not the technology, 

but user acceptance; and as Actor Network Theory shows, 

however smalt or inconsequential an agent may appear to be 

in the overall scheme of things. It can still have the ability to 

make or break any product. 

My thanks goto Bill Moggridge and Jeff Hawkins for their help 

In this research.

References 

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of 4m batteries. The Times, 16 August, 2006, p. 9.

H D W T D D E S I G N F D R T H E B A S E D F T H E P Y R A M I D ? 

Jan Carel Diehl 

Delft University ofTechnology (DUT), Delft, The Netherlands 

j.c.diehl@tudelft.nl 

Henn Christiaans 

Delft University ofTechnology (DUT), Delft, The Netherlands 

h.h.c.m.chnstiaans@tudelft.nl 

Abstract 

Recent v7ork Is re-conceptualizing global poverty as an 

attractive growth opportunityforfirms that can simultaneously 

alleviate the problem of poverty. The so called 'Base of the 

economic Pyramid (BoP), exists of 4 billion people which 

live on an income of less than $3 a day. Tapping into these 

overlooked markets will require companies and designers to 

reconfigure their business and product innovation models. 

The challenge is the creation of accessible and affordable 

solutions to fit the local economical and socio-cultural 

preferences, vyithout expanding the current of environmental 

resources. This paper will discuss the experiences of DUT 

and international companies in this new field of product and 

service design. A preliminary framework for Designing for the 

BoP will be proposed as well as the challenges on the short 

term will be discussed. 

1. Introduction to the concept of the Base of the Pyramid 

(BoP) 

1.1 BoP 

Most companies, professional designers and design schools 

used to (or srill) target only end-users in developed markets. 

This Is a group of approximately 500 million people living at 

the top of the economic pyramid with an average purchasing 

power of more than USD 10.000 per year (Rocchi 2006). This 

way, according to Prahalad and Hart (2002; 2005), companies 

and design professionals underesrimate the business potential 

and product innovarion opportuniries at the base of the 

economic pyramid, where many unsatisfied needs make up a 

new market covering a vast majority ofthe remaining wodd's 

popularion. 

According to the Worid Bank, 4 billion people live on an 

income of $3 or less per day and more than 1 billion people 

live on less than $1 a day. This part ofthe worid popularion 

is nowadays often referred to as the "Base of the Pyramid" or 

abbreviated 'BoP '{Prahalad and Hammon 2002; Prahalad and 

Hart 2002). In addirion we can recognize'emerging markets' 

which are situated in between the top and de base of the 

economic pyramid.This is illustrated in Figure 1. 

>$ 10,000 

# Advanced\ 

# Markets \ 

•W % 500 

i Emerging \ 

$ 1,500- / Markets \ 

$ 10,000 1500 

< $1,500 / 

Purchasing pow^ 

parity per year 

' Developing \. 

Markets ^ \ 4000 

Population in millions 

Figure l.The three layers ofthe Economic Pyramid (London 

and Hart 2004; Rocchi 2006). 

Recent work Is re-conceptualizing global poverty as an 

attractivegrowth opportunityforfirms that cansimultaneously

alleviate the problem of poverty. The BoP represents a vast, 

unexploited marketplace. For companies struggling with 

maturing markets, floundering business models, and serious 

questions about who their customers of the future wiil be, 

these are important markets to explore. Their aim is to develop 

sustainable business that helps provide for example better 

health-care, living and education solutions for the world's 

poorest people while also providing access to this potential 

market of 4 billion customers worldwide and thus creating 

profitable business for the company (Kirchgeorg and Winn 

2006). 

But tapping into these overlooked markets will require 

companies to reconfigure their business assumptions, models, 

as well as their product innovation and design approaches. 

Multi National Corporations (MNCs) like HP, Intel, Philips, 

Microsoft, Shell and Cemex are already investing human and 

financial resources to explore this novel field of new business 

and product development. Delft University of Technology 

(DUT) and several other international universities like the 

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Berkeley and Stanford 

are currently partnering with these MNCs (but also SMEs 

and NGO's) in order to build up a new knowledge base for 

"Designing for the BOP". 

1.2. Rural and Urban BoP's 

As discussed in § 1.1 a vast majority ofthe world population has 

been ignored for a long time in relation to product innovation 

and business opportunities. The few activities that took place 

where mainly coordinated by NGO's, (local) Governments and 

were focussed on the rural areas. This despite the fact thatthe 

main challenges forthe coming decennia will be more evident 

in the Urban BoPs and relatively less in the Rural BoPs. 

The global countryside has reached its maximum population 

and will begin to shrink after 2020. As a result, cities will 

account virtually for all future world population growth. Cities 

have absorbed nearly two-thirds of the global population 

explosion since 1950. The proportion of the world's urban 

population living in slums is projected to increase from 33% 

in 2003 to 45% in 2025. According to the United Nations, more 

than one billion people (1/6 of the world population) are 

currently living in the slums of cities (Davis 2006). 

In many large cities unplanned growth, often informal 

settlements, has led to a crisis in living conditions and in 

social and health services. The urban poor face very different 

issues and livelihood choices in comparison to rural poor. The 

rapid growth of cities caused by migration as well as natural 

population increases driven by high fertility has outpaced 

governments' abilities to provide basic services (like water 

supply, sanitation, drainage, solid waste disposal), and 

(communication) infrastructure and economic opportunities. 

Consequently the main part of our current 30 Product 

Development BoP projects at DUT are connected to healthcare, 

safe water access, ICT infrastructure and reliable renewable 

energy sources. 

1.3 An example: Water challenges In the BoP 

As observed in the previous paragraphs, the challenges to 

improve the quality of World's poor people are huge and 

diverse and depend on the context. Often these problems are 

connected to each other. For example a lack of access to water 

results in people spending many hours a day collecting water. 

This spending of time alternatively could be used for working 

(income generation) orfor going to school (education). In many 

cases the collected water is polluted or gets contaminated 

during storage in the simple houses or during the handling, 

which results in diseases. Diseases again reduce the time that 

people can work or use for activities. Some facts according to 

the Human Development Report 2006 (UNDP 2006). 

• 1.700.000.000 people in the world lack access to clean 

water; 

• 3.300.000,000 are without proper sanitation facilities; 

• 2.200.000 people die from preventable water - and 

sanitation related diseases each year; 

• Every day 600 children die. 

The challenge for firms, professional designers as well as 

design schools is to make a breakthrough in this vicious 

circle. The question Is 'How can companies and designers 

contribute to reduce these numbers?'. As an example we 

would like highlight one of the BoP water projects, which 

DUT executed in collaboration with the firm Vestergaard 

Frandsen.

1.4 Case: The LifeStraw in Africa for children 2. Designing products and services for the BOP 

The company Vestergaard Frandsen (VF) has developed the 

so-called 'LifeStraw; a product that purifies surface water for 

personal use with filters (See figure 2). The LifeStraw can clean 

up to 700 litters of water (the yearly consumption of an adult) 

and is relatively affordable (2,5€). 

If 'S' 

Figure 2. The original LifeStraw, the field-testing in Africa and 

the new concept LifeStraw Child. 

DUT in collaboration with VF Investigated several aspects 

of the usability and implementation of LifeStraw concept 

in practice In Africa, focused on children under the age of 

five. Dunng the field research it was observed that children 

younger than three years old could not handle the Initial 

LifeStraw by themselves. They do not understand how to suck 

the water. The child does not understand why it does not get 

water in its mouth immediately when sucking. Since small 

children are most vulnerable for waterborne diseases it was 

decided that the design ofthe LifeStraw should be adjusted 

to the capabilities of children. The final proposal consists of 

a adjusted LifeStraw, named LifeStraw Child, a flexible bottle 

and a special mouthpiece (see Figure 2, pictures on the right 

side). The bottle has a one-way valve that lets air in but not 

out. Using a smaller LifeStraw makes the product smaller and 

easier to handle for children (Bottema 2006). The context 

research and usability tests with real potential users in the 

Afncan context were essential to come these findings. 

For a company or designer to be successful in emerging and 

developing markets, It takes a lot more than just making minor 

modifications to existing products. They will have to face 

the need to develop new business and product innovation 

practices capable of establishing a mutual value creation 

process between themselves and local stakeholders as well 

as to have a deep understanding of these new contexts, and 

the Issues and the opportunities related to the targeted areas 

(Simanis and Hart 2006). The challenge is the creation of 

accessible and affordable solutions to fit the local economical 

and socio-cultural preferences, without expanding the current 

of environmental resources (Rocchi 2006). The target here is 

not only the poverty of the people in the BoP, but also the 

environment in which they live, which tends to lacktraditional 

utilities, such as electricity, water, and gas. Communications 

and transportation structures are also very weak. Most BoP 

communities are fragile ecologically, so new products and 

services need to be very eco-efficient (Sethia 2005). 

2.1 Framework for designing for the BoP 

In other words, how can new business opportunities and 

product innovation in the BoP be combined with a long-term 

sustainable deveiopmentfor all stakeholders? Forthat purpose 

we propose based upon experiences from the last 5 years a new 

frameworkfor'Designing forthe BoP'.Thisframework isa merge 

of the '4 Ps' of Design for Sustainability (D4S) and the '4 As' of 

developing successful business forthe BoP (see Figure 3).The 4 

Ps of Design for Sustainability stand for People (social aspects), 

Planet (environmental aspects). Profit (business aspects) and 

Product (Crul and Diehl 2006). All 4 Ps should be taken seriously 

in consideration during the product development process in 

order to develop a sustainable product or service. 

In order to develop successful products and services for the 

BoP, '4 As', namely Availability, Affordabillty, Acceptability 

and Awareness have proven to be essential to be successful 

(Anderson 2006; Prahalad 2006): 

• Availability - Addressing challenges in distribution. Unlike 

In the developed wodd, distnbution channels In BoP markets 

can be fragmented or non-existent.

•• Affordability - Addressing low incomes. BoP consumers 

have low disposable incomes, and product may also need to 

match the cash flows of customers who frequently receive 

their income on a daily rather than weekly or monthly basis. 

The new products and services need to have a significant price 

reduction - at least SO percent of the cost of a comparable 

product or service in the West. 

• Awareness - Many BoP customers are largely inaccessible 

to conventional media. Building awareness and educating 

with the respect to the product is another challenge for all the 

stakeholders. 

» Acceptability - Responding to Socio-Cultural Dimensions. 

The innovation must result in a product or service of high 

quality. They will be not satisfied with 'simplified' or 'stripped' 

western products. 

This merge of the '4 Ps' and the '4 As' results into the following 

framework for Designing for the Base of the Pyramid: 

Figure 3. Framework for Designing for the Base ofthe 

Pyramid. 

2.2 How do MNCs design products and services for the 

BoP? 

In order to get more insight in how MNCs develop products 

for the BoP, we carried out an explorative research under 7 

Western and Asian MNCs which include Philips, VIA, Haier, 

Motorola, Intel, Microsoft, and BenQ. The learning purpose 

has been achieved by case interviews with MNC managers 

who are influential to their emerging market strategies and 

product innovation processes. 

It was concluded that the major challenges for the MNCs 

in these innovation processes include the opportunity 

identification, fuzzy front-end research, product introduction 

and delivery (Chang 2006). Most of the challenges derive 

from the unfamiliarity with the local context and the distinct 

infrastructure in emerging markets. Although MNCs have 

strong global resources and networks, a sustainable local 

enterprise network is necessary for them to interact with the 

local community. Non-governmental organizations (NGO) play 

a vital role in the innovation process of several MNCs, especially 

when they intend to approach consumers at the Base of 

Pyramid. 

The local context has less impact to the actual product 

development process as most MNCs centralize their 

management on development and manufacturing resources, 

so the design and development can still take place either 

locally or in other MNC product development base. 

Most important is the willingness to listen deeply to the local 

people and local stakeholders, and understand what they 

need, not what product innovators think they need. Besides 

the sustainability benefits such as the improvement to human 

health and environment, there must be added value created 

in the products from which the benefits can be recognized by 

consumers at the BoP (Chang 2006). 

2.3 Challenges for designing for the BoP 

There are many challenges and new interesting design tools, 

skills and methodologies to be developed in order to make 

Designing forthe BoP more fully developed. However, creating 

products for such specific markets requires on the first place 

an in-depth understanding ofthe needs and context of the 

people within it as could be concluded from literature as well 

as our explorative study under 7 MNCs consumers (Chang 

2006). In this situation it is clear that researchers and designers 

should engage with the cultures directly in order to better 

understand local people. A unique set of design and business 

tools and practices adapted from social anthropology, 

ethnography and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to build 

what we call an MNC's "native capability" are being developed, 

used and evaluated. This native capability consists of the 

ability to (Hart 2004): 

• Engage in deep listening and mutual dialogue with income- 

poor communities. 

- Co-discover and co-create new product design opportunities

and business models embedded in the local cultural 

infrastructure. 

• Co-design and launch BoP products that generate mutual 

value for all partners. 

3. How can designers get insight in and understanding of 

the context of the BoP? 

As concluded, creating products for emerging and developing 

marketsrequireadeepunderstandingoftheneedsandcontext 

of the people within it. New ways of'contextual design' {Beyer 

and Holzblat 1998; lacucci and Kuutti 2002), are becoming 

more and more popular also among product designers. In 

this situation it is clear that researchers and designers should 

engage with the cultures directly in orderto better understand 

local people. Understanding people's needs and interaction 

with the matenal world is a basic starting point for successful 

product innovation, especially in the BoP. 

Atthe moment, various design tools (such as personas, cultural 

probes, scenarios and user profiles in context-of-use) are 

available to capture insights related users' needs, aspirations 

and behaviour in their original contexts. Ethnographic 

research has shown increasing interest in business innovation 

processes by identifying how people interact with products, 

environments and services (Leonard and Rayport 1997). 

Design research techniques have evolved from uncovering 

what people do and say to what people make (Sanders, 2000). 

New techniques such as cultural probes (Gaver, Boucher et 

al. 2005) can introduce the end-user into the design process 

by co-design and get deeper information than the common 

focus groups or observational research methods. Many tools 

are design context tools are available, however most of them 

only have been applied in the "Developed Markets". 

Currenriy we are testing and evaluaring these kind of context 

tools in emerging and developing markets in pracrice 

(Rodriguez, Diehl et al. 2006; Rodriguez, Thompson et aL 

2007). For example in the project IntoContext, we tested a 

wide range of context research tools like Shadowing, Role 

Play, Probes, Brainstorm, Generarive Sessions as well as Focus 

Group in the context of East Africa. For more informarion see 

http://wvyw.inLOContext.org. 

4. Conclusion and recommendations 

The Base ofthe Pyramid, 4 billion people with a daily income 

of less than $3 per day, has been ignored sofar. The recent 

upcoming interest of large as well as medium sized enterprises 

to explore these markets to alleviate poverty and other 

sustainability problems as well as to exploit new consumer 

markets, isa big challenge for the design worid. The challenge 

is the crearion of accessible and affordable solurions to fit 

the local economical and socio-cultural preferences, without 

expanding the current of environmental resources. In order 

to do so, new design tools and methodologies for"Designing 

for the BoP" have to be developed and tested. Most of the 

challenges derive from the unfamiliarity with the local context 

and the distinct infrastructure in emerging markets. Researcher 

and designers should engage with the cultures directly in 

order to better understand local people and context. 

Because of globalization and the upcoming importance of 

the BoP design professional as well as design schools should 

invest more in research and capacity building for "Designing 

for the BoP".

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A L O C A L A N A L Y S I S D F A G L O B A L C H A L L E N G E : A S T E P T O W A R D S 

U N D E R S T A N D I N G M O B I L E P H O N E C H O I C E O F T U R K I S H U N I V E R S I T Y S T U D E N T S 

Mehmet Dönmez 

TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center 

Information Technologies Institute, 41470 Gebze, Kocaeli / 

TURKEY 

e-mail: mehmet.donmez@bte.mam.gov.tr 

Nigan Bayazit 

Istanbul Technical University 

Faculty of Architecture, Department of Industnai Product 

Design, Room No: 219,34437, Taskisla-Taksim, Istanbul/ 

TURKEY 

e-mail: bayaziî@İtu.edu.tr 

Abstract introduction 

Mobile phone is becoming the main communication tool for 

many societies and cultures, and the decision of howto localize 

products still remains as a phenomenon for many -especially 

for developing and underdeveloped- countries. Adaptation 

or standardization of products has been the concern of firms, 

where there is a tradeoff between answering the needs of 

the local market versus achieving economies of scale. Thus, 

firms may try to decide upon which mobile phone models to 

export overseas according to the needs ofthe local market. 

This necessitates analyzing the user profile in the local market 

so as to avoid experiencing any disasters In the market due to 

Inappropriate products being inherent in that market. 

Due to importance of analyzing the decision making 

mechanism of users in a developing country, a study is 

conducted in Turkey to evaluate relative importance of listed 

mobile phone selection critena and then analyze how users 

approach towards making mobile phone selection. The 

research is conducted In two phases in order to obtain more 

realistic results. Analysis ofthese results is reported in order 

to give an idea about what could be done to improve market 

success and reduce design disasters in overseas markets. 

A number of critical Issues relating to the international 

marketing activities of these organizations still remain 

unresolved. Perhaps the most controversial concerns the 

fundamental question of whether to offer a marketing mix 

program abroad identical to that supplied domestically, or 

to adapt it to the specific requirements of foreign markets. 

Obviously, the answer to this question is not an easy one, 

since it can have senous implications on the firm's financial 

performance, competitive advantage and even survival in 

global business {Leonidou 1996:53). 

Multinational corporations may prefer to differentiate their 

products. The need for product differentiation is more visible 

for technological products because of the dynamism of 

these markets which necessitates catching up current trends 

and technologies while staying culturally acceptable and 

appreciable. This need is even more spectacular in mobile 

phone sector due to widespread usage of mobile phones by a 

broad rangeof consumers with differing tastes who are in need 

of different funcrional and emorional elements. Therefore, the 

specificarions of mobile phone manufacturers' products for 

each market segment should be defined according to the 

categories they set such as differing lifestyles, age groups and 

social status by thinking on a global scale. However, when

İî comes to designing and/or marketing of these products, 

national characteristics should be taken into account so that 

the firm stays customer oriented and thus market success is 

more probably achieved. 

Turkish mobile phone market is an exemplary case where 

multinational corporations dominate the market. The 

problem is that these manufacturers'phone models launched 

to the Turkish market are not designed, nor are they localized 

by considering the special needs ofTurklsh users. Assuming 

that not even an incremental change in the functional 

characteristics or aesthetic appearance of mobile phones 

is foreseen to be needed and tried to be made, research on 

the decision making mechanisms of users when choosing a 

mobile phone is necessary in order to understand users and 

thus serve them at best. Research concentrates on only the 

design disasters within a relatively metaphoric framework 

where only issues regarding localization of standardized 

products are questioned. Disasters that may occur at the 

environmental level are left out of scope. 

Importance of Localization in Mobile Phone Market 

There is an international acceleration in the world economy 

while competition is increasing on a global scale. Some 

reason for this acceleration can be cited as technological 

advancements, improved living standards, trade liberalization 

and economic integration (Leonidou 1996: 53). In order to be 

competitive, firms have to try serving their customers at best. 

For global firms operating at several countries, the question is 

whether to offer standardized products by universal marketing 

mix strategies, or tolocallyadapttheir products. If products are 

going to be tailored to the individual needs of each overseas 

market, which products will be adapted to what extend is the 

primary concern. 

Product standardization is more applicable to industries with 

a high rate of technological change, since there may not be 

much time to adapt products due to the dynamism of high 

tech markets (Leonidou 1996; 58). But this does not mean that 

firms should deny the needs of local users and/or customers. 

Time may bea constraint for a radical change in product but as 

Ramarapu et al. (1999:99) states, standardization ofa product 

also allows some room for local flexibility, Thus, changes in 

product because of localization efforts has to be made fast.This 

may be possible by knowing and understanding the cultural 

values and idiosyncratic characteristics of the customers in 

that market beforehand, which necessitates making user 

researches. 

The adaptation philosophy necessitates being more customer- 

orientated because the buyer and user behavior and market 

characteristics have to be evaluated systematically so as to 

understand local needs. The outcome of such an approach 

results in profit maximization, because revenues accrued from 

marketing mix modifications may raise by more than adaptation 

costs.There are also side benefits of localization strategies such 

as energizing creative thinking and innovativeness within the 

firm. Such benefits are a consequence of trying to find new 

ways to satisfy the needs and requirements of local customers, 

and adjusting product design activities as well as marketing 

activities (Leonidou 1996:54). 

Supporters ofthe adaptation (or localization) philosophy state 

that the primary reason of localization is due to the inherent 

complexities and dissimilarities involved in operating in the 

international marketplace, particularly as regards macro 

environmental forces, consumer behavior, usage patterns and 

competitive situations (Leonidou 1996: 53). 

Need for localization is also important in terms of 

understanding users' attributes. Blackler et al. (2003: 492- 

493) state that products should be designed in such a way to 

minimize misuse. However, designers may over impute their 

special knowledge onto the user. Difference between users' 

knowledge and designers' knowledge may constitute a larger 

gap when users and designers do not have much common in 

their cultures. This is due to the effect of false consensus. One 

way to minimize misuse is to analyze potential users'activiîies 

and understand them in orderto build up preventive strategies 

towards user satisfaction (Stanton and Baber: 364; Blackler 

et al. (2003: 492-493). These facts make the importance of 

cultural studies more important. Bouwman and Duin (2003: 

9) point out that such studies should be conducted as early 

as possible, since when the case is designing technological 

products, substantial time should be devoted for the product 

design and development process.

The need for localization of products is even clearer when 

different cultural and competitive environments, different 

perceptions, and different levels of product acceptance 

problems In standardized strategies are considered. Evidence 

suggests that culture plays an important role in understanding 

and shaping the wants and needs of consumers so that the 

value they obtain from that product is maximized {Raymond et 

al. 2003:13-14). Value ofa productcan be defined as whatever 

it is that the customer seeks in making decisions as to which 

product to buy (ZeithamI 1988:13). This definition reveals out 

the importance of analyzing decision making mechanism of 

users, and gives a clue to firms almost all of which aims to 

maximize their profit by maximizing the value customers so 

that they do not hesitate to include the role of culture when 

developing strategies. 

Powell (2005) has conducted an interview with Dan Steinbock, 

an affiliate researcheratColumbialnstituteforTele-lnformation 

at Columbia Graduate School of Business, in which he reveals 

out the need of localization in mobile phone sector as such: 

Most industnes face globalization and localization 

pressures. The mobile industry is no exception. 

Globalization means standardized, universal, 

homogeneous products but people want personalized 

products and services. Historically, technology 

innovation and market innovation used to occur 

primarily in one country - the USA. Today mass 

marketers such as Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble test 

the advertising potential of mobile phone markets in 

China or Japan before using what they have learned 

in US and European markets. Over time, this does 

not mean more convergence, but greater divergence 

(Powell 2005:45). 

Dan Steinbock's words not only emphasis the importance of 

user researchers in mobile phone sector on Its own, but also Its 

consequences on different sectors due to the fact that mobile 

phones have become an irresistible part of many people's life 

that can be used as a marketing medium. Firms are becoming 

aware of conducting researches about local analysis of mobile 

phones, and such researches have better been supported with 

academic researches that nurture firms' knowledge about this 

phenomenon. 

For significant advances to be made in this field, an 

integrated approach is needed forthe conceptualization and 

measurement ofthe determinants of new product strategy, 

product localization strategy and marketing strategy. A 

fundamental part of such an approach is the refinement and 

validation of measurement scales (Julian and O'Cass 2002:1), 

for which this study plays an initiator role in terms of defining 

these measures and making a pilot study about how these 

measures can be transformed Into beneficial knowledge for 

firms and researchers. 

Methodology 

The aim of the study is to analyze mobile phone selection 

of users and underlying reasoning of the selection made. 

Decision making mechanisms of university students as young 

users is analyzed. Because there has to be a selection is made, 

the methodology is based upon setting up a lab experiment, 

where users are asked to make a decision by selecring between 

different mobile phones. In order to be able to observe the 

decision making mechanism of mobile phone users, the 

mobile phone selection criteria have been categorized in the 

decision tree shown in the Figure 1. 

Figure 1. Decision tree used for AHP

The goal Is defined as selecting the most appropriate mobile 

phone. The most important two decision criteria in mobile 

phone selection have been determined as the appropriateness 

ofthe phone to personal values ofthe user and appropriateness 

of mobile phone related features to the user. Personal values 

have been measured by appropriateness to the social 

environment ofthe user and personal aesthetic values ofthe 

user. Users are asked to evaluate the appropriateness of the 

mobile phones in terms of sub-criteria such as: dimensions, 

display properties, physical stamina, battery power, ease of 

use, and diversity of functions. 

Due to inability to assess all the mobile phones on the market 

at the time of research, the number of mobile phones that are 

going to be evaluated by users have been limited with four. 

The aim of this research Is not to drive generalizations, but to 

have an insight about how the decision making mechanism 

of university student young users work, and to see whether 

their decision making mechanism are consistent or not. For 

this purpose, upcoming mobile phone models of a well- 

known brand that have not been released to the market have 

been selected so that effects emerging due to former beliefs 

about phone models does not Intervene into achieving the 

aim of the research. These four models have been encrypted 

as model A, mode! B, model C, and mode! D. One photo for 

each mobile phone is given below in Figure 2. 

(C) (D) 

Figure 2. Phone models A, B, C and D 

The technical specifications of these phones models are not 

primarily related with the research aim of this study. But it 

would be helpful to give an idea about general characteristics 

ofthese mobile phones. Model A is a phone especially designed 

for use in sportive activities with 2 MP cameras, including sport 

functions and exercise data, which withstands bumps, dust 

and water splashes. Model B is a phone with BMP camera with 

20x zoom function, which Is over than expected for similar 

mobile phones. Wireless LAN and office document readers are 

also included in this mobile phone. Model C has an embedded 

2MP camera, and has a high quality screen designed for 

mobile fun since this is the first phone of this brand that has 

mobile tv function. Model D has a keypad similar to of palms, 

with each button assigned only one letter. The reason for this 

is that this phone is especially designed for business purposes, 

and searching the web, sending e-mails and preparing office 

documents is the main concept ofthis phone. 

The study is conducted in two phases with two different 

samples so that testing effects and maturity effects are 

minimized. Both samples consisted of young mobile phone 

users who are university students, The reason why young 

users have been chose is due to the fact that they are more 

eager to follow new technologies and they have a greater 

tendency to use new technological devices. And, in order to 

increase the consciousness level of young users, samples are 

selected among university students. 

Users in the first sample composed of 100 university students 

are asked to evaluate the degree of relative importance of 

decision criteria and sub-criteria. This part ofthe study is very 

important because the users'mobile phone selection decisions 

based on each sub-criterion that will be made by the second 

sample will be weighed by the relative importance values 

determined by the first group. For this reason, the first part of 

the research is of vital importance, and the size ofthe sample 

had to be relatively larger. For this reason, the importance 

values of these criteria are adapted and calculated from the 

master thesis of Donmez (2005: 92-104). 

The second sample consisted of 35 university students, who 

are asked to make pairwise comparisons between four mobile 

phones according to each sub-criterion by a questionnaire, 

which means six pairwise comparisons (A-B, A-C, A-D, B-C, B-

D, C-D) for each sub-criterion and 48 pairwise comparisons 

(6 comparisons per sub-critenon* 8 sub-criteria) in total. 

Potential users ofthese upcoming mobile phones are given 

specifications ofthese four mobile phone models compared 

in a matrix which also included pictures from different angles. 

Specifications given included detailed information about 

innovative features of the phone, its dimensions, display 

properties, battery information {such as stand-by time), and 

the functions it can perform. 

Users are asked to make pairwise comparisons on which 

mobile phone they will prefer, and then asked to state the 

amplitude of selecting that phone over the other phone over a 

scale of nine developed by Saaty (1980:54).The answers ofthe 

respondents are evaluated bythe software tool Expert Choice, 

and results of this analysis are given in the next section. 

Findings ofthe Study 

The analysis of the first questionnaire indicates that 

appropriateness ofthe phone to personal values ofthe user is 

considered as less important than appropriateness of mobile 

phone features to its user. It is seen that appropriates of mobile 

phone features to its user is about three rimes more important 

as tabulated in Table 1. 

A similar analysis has been made for the determination ofthe 

importance of sub-criteria under the main criteria. Results 

indicate that university students consider battery power and 

physical stamina as the most important factors followed by 

ease of use and dimensions ofthe phone respecrively. Display 

properries and diversity of functions are seen as the least 

important factors in terms of mobile phone features as seen 

in Table 2. 

Table 1: Importance of primary criteria 

Criterion 

Appropriateness of the phone 

to personal values of the user 

Appropriateness of mobile 

phone features to the user 

Total — — 

inconsistency: 0.00 

Importance of the Criterion 

77.4% 

22.6% 

100% 

Table 2: Importance of sub-criteria regarding appropriateness 

of phone features to its users 

Criterion Importance of Importance of 

the Criterion 

(Global) 

Ease of use 17.1% 

Dimensions 

16.5% 

Display properties 14.7% 

Diversity of functions 14.5% 

Total 100% 

inconsistency: 0.00 

the Criterion 

(Local) 

13.2% 

12.8% 

11.4% 

11.2% 

77.4% 

Results ofthe analysis in Expert Choice indicate that aestheric 

considerarions about a phone is more important than 

appropriateness of the phone to the social environment the 

user Interacts with. Table 3 below gives the percentage of 

importance about these sub-criteria. 

Table 3: Importance of sub-criteria regarding appropriateness 

ofthe phone to personal values ofthe user 

Criterion 

Aestheric values 

Appropriateness to 

Importance of Importance of 

the Criterion 

(Global) 

54.0% 

user's social environment 46.0% 

Total 100% 

the Criterion 

(local) 

12.2% 

10.4% 

22.6% 

Second part of the research is concerned with the pairwise 

comparisons made for each criterion. Tables below show the 

overall results ofthese comparisons. The cells indicated with 

"*" show that the phone model on the column is preferred 

by the magnitude written in that cell; otherwise, the phone 

model on the row Is preferred. The diagonal elements in gray 

are indicating the comparisons ofthe phone with itself, thus

they have the value 1 by default and not written on these 

cells because of this reason. The remaining six cells that are 

highlighted with gray have the inverse value of the cells that 

are in symmetry with. The value "İ" indicates the inconsistency 

value calculated by Expert Choice. Inconsistency values below 

0.10 are acceptable, thus it can be stated that the results 

obtained in our survey is within acceptable limits. 

Table 4: Pairwise comparisons of mobile phone models with 

respect to (a) dimensions; (b) display properties; (c) physical 

stamina; (d) battery power; (e) ease of use; (f) diversity of 

functions; (g) appropriateness to user's social environment; 

(h) aesthetic values. 

A 8 C D A B C D 

A 1.0 2.0* 4.0* A 7.0* 8.0* 6.0» 

B 2.0* 6.0* B 2.0* 1.0 

C 3,0' c 4.0 

D i:0.01 D i:0.05 

(a) (b) 

A B C D A B C D 

A 3.0 2.0 4,0 A 1.0 3.0* 7,0* 

B 1.0* 3.0 B 5.0* 6.0* 

C 2.0 C 4.0* 

D i:0.02 D i:0M6 

(c) 

(d) 


A 1.0 1.0 2.0 A 5.0* 6,0* i.O 

B 1.0 3.0 B 1,0 2.0 

C 3.0 C 3.0 

D rO.Ol D i:0.04 

(e) 


A 4,0* 5,0* 1,0 A 5,0» 6,0* 1,0 

B 2.0* 5.0 B 2,0* 6.0 

C 5,0 C 7,0 

D U0.Q2 D i:0.01 

(g) 

Expert Choice analysis with respect to achieving the goal of 

selecting the most appropriate mobile phone is made by 

weighing the results of the second questionnaire by the first 

one. Figure 3 summarizes the results ofthe analysis. 

(h) 

0.4 

0,35 

0,3 

0.25 

0,2 

0,15 

0.1 

0,05 

0 

Model A 

mcomistcncy: 0,03 

Model B Mode! C Model D 

Figure 3. The overall analysis of mobile phone models 

Model C with a percentage of 35.5 is the mobile phone that 

is rational to select under these stated circumstances, it is 

followed by model B with 25.2%, model D with 21.7% and 

model A with 17.6%. Figure 4 shows the detailed analysis 

about which primary criteria dominate the selection at which 

rate. As seen from the figure above, model C is considered as 

the most successful one both in terms ofthe phone features 

to its users and in terms of appropriateness ofthe phone to 

personal values of its users. Model B follows a similar pattern 

with a lower amplitude. Model A and D are not seen as weak 

in terms oftheir functions'appropriateness when compared 

with model B and C. Model A and D shows a different pattern 

than the other two models, where A and D are more powerful 

in terms of their functions than their appropriateness of 

personal values associated with these phones. 

It may be useful to analyze from which sub-criteria dominates 

model C, and where the other models fail. Detailed analysis 

with performance graphs shown below in Figure 5 and 6 gives 

an idea about users'underlying reasoning about why model C 

has been selected. Figure 5 shows that model D İs considered 

more powerful in terms of dimensions and battery power. 

Model B is also dominating model C for the physical stamina 

criterion. However, because model C is very powerful in other 

remaining criteria, the weighed results still state that model 

C is the most logical decision. It can again be observed that 

model B follows a similar pattern with model C in terms of 

appropriateness of phone features to its users.

ObjS DbİZ 

Model C 

Model B 

Model D 

Model A 

m' 

Plionc features Personal values Overall Social Env. Aesthetics Overall 

Figure 4. Performance of mobile phones in achieving the goal 

Display Dîv. functions Stamina 

Dimension BatUrry Base of use Overall 

Model C 

Mode 

Mode 

Mode 

Figure 5. Performance of mobile phones in terms of 

appropriateness ofthe phone features to Its users 

Choices made between mobile phones according to 

appropriateness to the respondents' personal values reveal 

out that there is a strong correlarion between appropriateness 

to social environment and aestheric values as seen in all of 

the four phone models. Model B follows Model C that has a 

significant difference than the other models. Model A and 

D show a similar pattern in terms ofthese sub-criteria, since 

their performance lines coincide. 

.80 

.70 

.EO 

.50 1- 

,40İ 

,30 

.20 

.10 

.60 

.50 Model C 

AO 

Model B 

.30 

.20 

,10 

.00 

Model A 

Model D 

Figure 6. Performance of mobile phones in terms of 

appropriateness ofthe phone to personal values ofthe user 

Conclusion 

Foreign firms markering their products to overseas markets 

should be aware of the cultural resistance they will face. 

What is more, aligning products with the cultural facts in that 

country poses many advantages such as reducing the risk of 

failure, increasing market share and getting new inspiring 

ideas from that culture that can trigger innovatlveness. 

However, adaptation of products to every country and every 

culture is not possible and feasible. Since firms have to make 

mass production in order to make use of economies of scale 

so that unit production costs reduce considerably. Thus, 

firms may choose between two strategies: they may export 

and market their products by taking cultural acceptance into 

account, or they may try to make minor modificarions in the 

product about the features that will otherwise not be much 

welcomed. 

As a result, analyzing local markets gives the opportunity 

of producrion planning and decision upon which models 

to export will be made on a more rational basis. When the 

tendency of mulrinatlonal mobile phone brands dominaring 

the Turkish market is thought, conducting such researches 

has the potenrial to reveal out design disasters and product 

failures beforehand more easily. As a consequence, firms will 

be aware of the excess unnecessary costs associated with 

exporring those models and control over the product range 

and market may be more effectively accomplished. 

The analysis shows that there Is much to do to improve the

usability of mobile phones in order to prevent design related 

disasters since users are giving priority to battery power butthe 

selected phone is not the model taking the lead with respect 

to this criterion. One reason for this may be dissatisfaction 

about ease-of-use in almost every phone forcing the decision 

to be made according to other criteria, even though ease-of- 

use is very important for most Turkish university students. 

Limitations of the Study and Future Research Directions 

The analysis have been restricted by only four phone models 

because the aim of this study is not to drive generalizations but 

to emphasize the importance of cultural factors and to show 

what kind of a methodology can be applied for forecasting 

the needs ofthe market. The model developed provides an 

insight but more phone models can be included in the analysis 

In order to make a more complete model. 

Price ofthese mobile phones, an Important criterion in users' 

decision making mechanisms, has not been included in the 

analysis. The reason is that there is incomplete information 

about prices ofthese phones because these phones have not 

been launched to the Turkish market. This research may be 

made after these phone models have been launched on the 

market with a bigger sample size especially for the second part 

of the research. It may be expected to find innovative ideas 

emerging from this research by analyzing different culture 

than where these mobile phone manufacturers are located, 

and Turkey may be an interesting case for such a study. Thus, 

cultural effects may need to be analyzed deeper, and further 

researches may be directed not towards young users with 

high level of technological knowledge, but also to other layers 

ofthe society. 

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P O S T W A R V I S I O N S O F A P O C A L Y P S E A N D A R C H I T E C T U R A L C U L T U R E : 

T H E A R C H I T E C T U R A L R E V I E W ' S T U R N TO E C O L O G Y 

Erdem ERTEN 

Department of Architecture, İzmir Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü, 

İzmir, Turkey 

erdemerten@iyte.edu.tr 

Abstract 

I n the postwar era H. de C. Hastings, the owner and editor ofthe 

English periodical (until 1971} The Architectural Review (AR), 

saw mankind facing demise via its own scientific creation, the 

atom bomb. Hastings's editorial policiesforthe AR were highly 

influenced by impending nuclear disaster during the Cold War 

and the decline ofthe British Empire in this world divided into 

the mandates of two superpowers. While the postwar period 

brought disbelief In the promise of emancipation through 

technology and science for those like Hastings, for others 

there was all the more reason to believe in these ideals with 

the dawning of a consumerist society and the development 

of pop culture. 

Within this cultural context AR aimed to develop and sustain 

an environmental culture as a holistic strategy in order to 

respond to planning problems. Targeting not only architects 

but local and national authorities as well as the man on the 

street, AR launched a series of campaigns that aimed to 

increase environmental awareness against postwar industrial 

transformation and the rise of consumerism. 

After the decline of affluent consumer society ofthe 1960s and 

the devaluation ofthe pound In 1967, AR revamped it structure 

and contents and launched its "Manplan" campaign reacting 

against economic crisis and environmental decline. Taking 

issue with "Non-Plan: An Experiment in Freedom" written 

by Reyner Banham, Peter Hall, Paul Barker and Cedric Price 

in New Society in 1969, "Manplan" demanded centralization 

and comprehensive planning against decentralization and 

dispersal as a means of planning democracy. According to 

the editors scientific progress enjoined to consumer culture 

and ever-expanding economic growth brought a ruthless 

exploitation of resources as well as destruction of the natural 

landscape. Before the journal itself went into economic crisis 

and Hastings left the editorial board, the first issue of the 

pioneering journal "The Ecologist" themed "A Blueprint for 

Survival" was brought on the board's agenda by Hastings. 

This paper focuses on the neo-romantic Ideology that 

underlay the editorial policies of AR motivated by approaching 

environmental disaster and, in due course, that affected 

architectural discourse in Britain. 

[An] insaneover-confidence in the specialised powers of 

metropolitan industrialism has brought us to the point 

where...the risk to human survival is becoming evident, 

[and] ...there is the clear impossibility of continuing as 

we are (Raymond Williams "The Country and The City" 

1973, p. 301). 

Introduction: Faces of Disaster 

On 16"' May, 1968 only a few weeks after the tenants had 

moved in, one side of Ronan Point collapsed due to a gas 

leak explosion, killing four people and injuring many. Ronan 

Point of Newham, London, was one ofthe many'system-built' 

tower- blocks, easily assembled from pre-fabricated concrete 

elements bolted together like a kit of parts in a short time. Since 

World War Two, many high-rise blocks were built as an easy 

solution to the housing problem in Britain. High-nse blocks

were interpreted as synonymous with the Modern Movement, 

and the disaster had a significantly negative impact on the 

public's perception of Modern architecture and Modernism. 

Paralleling May 1968 riots in France, the disaster followed a 

decline in the British economy and a loss of confidence in the 

consumer society after the pound was devalued in 1967. 

The 1960s can be characterized as a decade of conflicting 

trajectories. In these turbulent years, optimist belief in the 

emancipatory potentials of technology and consumer culture 

coexisted with prophecies of doom attached to the impending 

threat of nuclear warfare. 

For some younger architects the sixties was a decade of 

plastics, of pneumatic structures, geodesic domes, hovercrafts, 

"scientific" housing patterns, expendability, and Inspirational 

techno-gadgetry like moon probes, They wore blue jeans 

and t-shirts instead of double-breasted jackets and bow-ties, 

lived in the euphonc world of drugs and pop icons, imagined 

future cities that walked and talked, flew and plugged-in.They 

believed in the power of indeterminacy and experiments 

in democratic planning, in freedom via consumer choice 

and sometimes revolt For others it was a rime of resistance 

against much ofthe above: a decade of Italian townscapes, the 

reappraisal of vernacular architectures and folk art, the rise of 

environmentalism and the green movement, the campaign for 

nuclear disarmament, heightened sensirivity towards planned 

use of wodd's economic resources and a split In socialist polirics. 

But for all in Britain, it was a decade of unexpected economic 

prosperity followed by a shocking decline. 

British architectural history regarding the decade from the 

1970s until today still focuses on the "avant-garde" discourse 

ofthe rime, which was closely connected to the rise of popular 

culture, consumerism, and the technological development 

brought about by the post-war military-industrial complex. 

Against this limited emphasis, cultural histories illuminate 

a much broader field forcing the architectural historian to 

reevaluate this historiography and to unearth the period's 

conflicting dynamics. It is undeniable that in this period 

pop culture and mass media dominated the cultural scene 

more than ever before in Britain, while such development 

was closely followed and criticized by different ends of the 

ideological spectrum. 

Starting from 1946 The Architectural Review (AR) was run by an 

editorial board that pursued a conrinuous editorial policy rill 

its owner and chief editor Hubert de Cronin Hastings rerired 

in 1974, To summarize briefly, this editorial policy consisted of 

(1) creating an urban design idiom by reinterprering the late 

18th century picturesque theory titled "Townscape," (2) the 

appraisal of local vernaculars as a cultural resource for modern 

architecture to develop anonymous but diversified regional 

vocabularies, and (3) the construction of an architectural 

historiography that supported and justified these intentions. 

This editorial policy was formulated by Hasrings, (owner 

and editorial director ofthe Architectural Press In the period 

between 1927-1973, chief editor of AR between 1927-1973), 

J.M. Richards (joined as assistant editor in 1935, editor between 

1939-1970), and Nikolaus Pevsner (editor between 1941- 

1970). It resulted in several series ritled "Townscape" (1949) 

"Outrage," (1955) "Counter-Attack," (1956) "The Functional 

Tradition"(1957)"Manplan"{1969) and finally"Civilia"(1972). 

By the second half of the 1950s the urban design emphasis 

in AR's townscape policy was expanded to cover the broader 

consequences of planning, or lack thereof, in the larger 

environmental scale. This was not only due to a need to 

expand the limited focus of townscape in order to address 

planning in a larger scale, but also to increase awareness of 

Impending environmental disaster. During the Cold War era 

H. de C. Hastings, saw mankind facing demise via Its own 

scientific creation, the atom bomb. Hastings's editorial policies 

for the AR were highly influenced by the threat of nuclear 

warfare and the decline ofthe British Empire in a wodd divided 

into the mandates of two superpowers. Having witnessed 

the destruction of World War II and convinced ofthe urgency 

of putting an end to the arms race during the Cuban missile 

crisis, the period brought disbelief in technology and science's 

promise of emancipation for Hasrings. 

Within this cultural context AR aimed to develop and sustain 

an environmental culture as a holistic strategy in order to 

respond to planning problems.Targeting architects, local and 

national authorities and the man on the street, AR launched 

a series of campaigns that aimed to increase environmental 

awareness against postwar industrial transformarion and the 

rise of consumerism.

This paper focuses on the neo-romantic ideology that 

underlay the editorial policies of AR motivated by approaching 

environmental disaster and, in due course, that affected 

architectural discourse in Britain. A/Î's approach attempted to 

re-articulatethe relationship of man to natureasformulated by 

18th century British Romanticism, in opposition to seeing the 

environment as an object of natural sciences and a resource 

that can be taken under control and exploited by advanced 

technology. Based on my archival research, I v^lll emphasize 

the role of Hastings' manuscript "The Unnatural History of 

Man" as a programmatic palimpsest for ,4/?. I also aim to show 

how the Review attempted to overcome the stereotypical 

cliches of resistance to progress and revivalism attached to its 

policies by pointing to the necessity to incorporate the means 

of science and technology into an environmentalist struggle. 

I will Illustrate my points by making specific references to 

the last two campaigns of AR under Hastings' editorial rein 

between 1969 and 1972, named "Manplan" and "CIvilia." I will 

then discuss his late ideas that never came to materialize as 

editorial policy, that Is, his turn to Ecology as a new guiding 

framework for environmental planning and architecture. 

1. A Neo-Romantic Society: Hastings' Britain 

The Architectural Review's concern with the environment 

aligned with the building ofa modern city under"Townscape" 

was the reflecrion ofa larger social and cultural project, the 

precepts of which were alluded to but not explicitly stated.The 

major figure that laid out this project was Hubert de Cronin 

Hastings. Hastings is referred to as a "self-concealing genius," 

by Nikolaus Pevsner and credited by J. M. Richards as the 

originator ofthe interest in the larger environment (Pevsner, 

p. 318; Richards, pp. 190-191). It Is not clear whether everyone 

Involved in AR's editorial board of was aware of Hastings's 

project completely, or of the ideological ramifications of his 

intentions. Albeit partially, the editorial board was convinced 

that this project's environmental ideals ought to be followed, 

and its holistic cultural program be translated into the 

editorial policies of t/ieReWew.This social and cultural project 

was explained in a manuscript written by Hastings, entitled 

"The Unnatural History of Man" under the pseudonym Ivor 

de Wolfe., including some of his writings from the eariy 1940s, 

Hastings continuously revised, reedlted and shortened this 

text to another version which was published under the name 

"The Alternative Society" in 1980'. 

a. The Unr)atural History of Man 

There is no evidence as to when exactly Hastings wrote "The 

Unnatural History of Man" other than "October 1958" typed 

on one ofthe chapters by his secretary. The manuscript Itself 

is more than 880 typed pages and the conclusion is missing; 

or maybe Hastings never finished the initial manuscript. The 

text, however, incorporates some of the similar themes and 

even paragraphs of Hasrings's article "Townscape: A Plea for 

an English Visual Philosophy Founded on the True Rock of 

Sir Uvedale Price," which srirred a lot of controversy when It 

was published in AR in 1949. In my opinion, "The Unnatural 

History of Man" was a palimpsest, written over and over, that 

incorporated Hastings's thoughts from the late 1940s to the 

second half of the 1950s. This manuscript also became the 

backbone of "The Alternative Society" of 1980. 

At the time Hastings's manuscript evolved, Britain's role as a 

worid power as well as its social structure changed dramatically. 

Assuming a lesser role in comparison to the two rising global 

powers of the Cold War, the Empire shrank gradually and 

became a "Commonwealth" of semi-independent nations. The 

economy did not get a major relief before the 19605 -the age 

of pop and the rise of mass culture- and sinking even worse in 

the late 1960s. The increasing influence ofthe United States on 

British culture started to become a disturbance for some ofthe 

British intellectuals, although others were willing to embrace it 

in the name of liberalism against the paternal welfare state. 

The second half of the 1950s also witnessed the New Left's 

rise in Britain.^ Britain's imperial aspirations concluded as a 

' The original manuscript is in the possession of Miss Priscilla Hastings, 

the daughter of Hubert de Cronin Hastings, who kindly allowed me 

to see it. 

^The emergence of the New Left is generally regarded as a result 

of British intellectuals' disenchantment with Stalinist politics and a 

move away from the dominance of the USSR for redefining socialist 

theory and practice. On the New Left, see Dworkin (1997) and Kenny 

(1995).

esult of the Suez Canal crisis. The invasion of Hungary and 

Khruschev's denigration of Stalinist policies created a sense 

of betrayal in the British left and evoked the need for change 

to come from outside the home of the October Revolution. 

According to Dennis Dworkin, the New Left "came together 

in response to the Suez and Hungary crises in 1956 and then 

consolidated in a shared commitment to the Campaign for 

Nuclear Disarmament (CND) ofthe late fifties and sixties. New 

Left activists attempted to create a new political space on 

the Left, and their project was critical to the development of 

radical historiography and cultural studies in Britain"(Dworkin, 

1997, p.45). Hastings's manuscript, coming from the pen of 

a high-middle class, public-school-educated, late Victorian 

gentleman, echoed the then-contemporary developments in 

the world. His commentary on the contemporary scene was 

combined with a historical evaluation which stretched from 

England before the industrial revolution to his day. 

tt.APorfra/fo/'Doom 

The evidence shows that Hastings worked on his manuscript 

through the fifries to the seventies until he published a much 

narrowed down version in 1980, entitled "The Alternative 

Society." Written in the form of a reformist manifesto, it is 

impossible to summarize the contents of the manuscript 

within the confines of this paper. Throughout the years 

that it was being revised, however, the central message of 

the manuscript was kept intact: A social crisis and a state of 

paranoia had enveloped Western civliizarion. The British had 

to assume a pioneering role to overcome this crisis and stop 

the approaching disaster which could bring the end of human 

civilization. 

In the introductory chapter entitled "New Elizabethan" 

Hastings set out by drawing a portrait of doom. He argued that 

there was a prevailing angst in the people of his day, although 

advocates of technological progress came out with the 

promise ofa better future everyday. His pessimism stemmed 

from the fact that a holistic vision of life was irrecoverably 

lost under the influence of the cult of experrise and the 

pursuit of progress merely via science and technology. A new 

comprehensive ideological srimulus was needed in order to 

iniriate a "collecrive come-back." It was the duty of the British 

for Hasrings to propose a new Utopian ideal to overcome the 

Cold War division, like they had offered before and during the 

birth ofthe Industrial Revolution via Romanticism. 

c. The Neo-Romantic Society 

Hasrings believed that Britain could reinvigorate Brirish 

cultural tradirions and animate them with a reformist spirit 

to give a Utopian message against the two prevailing political 

models: the savage capitalism represented by the US and the 

managerial and authoritarian socialism as represented by the 

USSR.The new Brirish society could instead be modeled on the 

political and cultural ideals of the "Cromwellian revolurion" of 

the 17th century by emularing the reformist polirical spirit of 

Oliver Cromwell. Idealizing the protectorate, Hastings argued 

that Cromwell's vision could be creatively reinterpreted 

in order to formulate a pluralisric democracy that would 

safeguard the welfare of every individual as well as that ofthe 

natural environment. 

In the society he imagined, scientific rarionality and 

technological determinism would only play a secondary 

role on the human condition. The picturesque, "a radical, 

anarchist and disorderly ideal... [and] a tremendous event 

in the long apprenriceship of democracy," was to be the 

aesthetic metaphor of libertarian democracy. Hastings even 

proposed an economic model to reorganize the relationships 

between the individual, the State and the private sector. In 

this model the roles of the individual and ofthe State were 

configured by an analogy to the 18th century gentry. The 

model conceived what he called a "New Elizabethan" state, as 

the balancing mechanism that would serve the guardian for 

the individual against the greed of capitalism. Like the gentry 

guarding those who cultivated and lived on his land, the 

State would guard the collective Estate. This collective estate 

was the total environmental resources ofthe Nation, owned 

jointly by the citizenry and the State. The individual by having 

a stake in the collective Estate would rise to the level of the 

gentleman as well. There were rare instances in the pages of 

AR that such analogies would be openly stated. In the August 

1956 issue, Gordon Cullen's study of Bingham's Melcombe—a 

case of wire rouring through the rural landscape—argued for 

"improvement" as a vital strategy for the environment:

The curse of the English landscape is the absentee 

landlord. The old landlord, the man who created it, 

has been taxed out of existence and the new landlord, 

local and national authority, lives in town or suburb. 

Consequently that sense of personal responsibility 

arising from a knowledge and love of a particular 

piece of countryside is missing and Is replaced by a 

beneficent but remote control; the difference between 

a parent and a foster parent. (Cullen,1956, p.104) 

One ofthe aims of AR's environmental policy, therefore, was 

the transference of these traditional values of the gentry to 

the citizen and to the planning authorities, and to create a 

cultural continuity absolved from Its class basis. The Ideas in 

"The Unnatural History of Man" would be more explicit in the 

later campaigns. Manplan became the first direct initiative 

for Hastings to disseminate these views within a demand for 

reform, and Civilia, a fictional new town and the swansong 

of Townscape, became the dream in which his Ideals were 

given shape in the early 1970s. Before we move on to these 

campaigns I should briefly explain how AR attempted to 

mobilize environmental consciousness by its earlier effort. 

2. Mobilizing Environmental Consciousness 

AftertheConservativevictoryinthe1951 elections, the priority 

given to planning bythe previous Labor government gradually 

faded. At this time, AR was fighting a battle on two fronts, 

one against the Town and Country Planning Association's 

insistence on low density policies and their implementations 

for the new towns, and second, the government's move away 

from national planning. 

In "Outrage," the June 1955 special Issue under the editorship 

of Ian Nairn, AR warned its readers against the blight of British 

landscape.^ Ian Nairn (1930-1983) was not an architect or a 

historian like his fellow AR editors or contributors. He was 

educated in mathematics and was a National Service Royal Air 

Force pilot. Nairn's knowledge of Britain and environmental 

problems mostly stemmed from his awareness ofthe country 

surveyed from the air (King, 1996). His being an outsider and his 

sensitivity to the environment must have especially appealed 

to Hastings, since he believed that AR had a duty to develop 

such sensitivities in its readers even if they were not architects. 

In this issue, the journal predicted a bleak future forthe British 

landscape under misguided forces of planning machinery 

and development. The environmental mess encroaching 

upon the new towns and their surroundings was called 

"Subtopia'"': Abandoned air fields as remnants of war, miles 

of concrete, wire and asphalt with repetitive homes of ribbon 

development, precious agricultural land greedily subsumed 

by pollutant industrial sprawl. The whole issue was devoted to 

a visual survey of "outrages," that scarred the face of the land 

from Southampton to Carlisle, from the very south of Britain 

to the north, inculcating Hastings's prophecy of doom. 

In the conclusion, titled "Summing Up" AR called citizens to 

action. The salvation ofthe environment meant the salvation 

of mankind: 

What must we do to be saved? These pages offer a 

Manifesto and a call to action, a programme and a 

checklist of malpractices for which the opponents of 

Subtopia must be ever on the alert. The programme 

calls for the development and enhancement of 

the differences between places, it is oriented 

towards topographical responsibilities, rather than 

administrative ones, what can be seen rather than 

what it says on a piece of paper... The action is needed 

now... from all of us.The defence of the individuality of 

places is the defence of the individuality of ourselves. 

(Outrage, 1955) 

^ Nairn later wrote for the Observer and the Sunday Times and 

collaborated with Pevsner on the Buildings of England series for 

Surrey (1962) and Sussex (1965). Nairn's contribution to architectural 

discourse has not been thoroughly researched. In his memoirs 

Richards, understandably, refers to him as "Hastings's man more 

than mine." (Richards, 1980, pp. 190-191) His "Nairn's London" by 

Penguin (1966) and "Guide to Modern Buildings"(l 964) for London 

Transport, has proven to be very popular (King, 1996). 

Subtopia: Making an Ideal of Suburbia. Visually speaking, the 

universalization and idealization of our town fringes. Philosophically, 

the idealization ofthe little man who lives there (from suburb+utopla)." 

See "Outrage" 1955, p. 365. The term subtopia later became very 

popular and started to be used for monotonous urban sprawl.

In AR's message, the citizen had become one with his 

environment, the environment had become the home of the 

nation. Hence, AR urged the citizens and the local authorities 

to condemn "Subtopia" and aimed to mobilize them to 

rehabilitate the damages. The campaign's ultimate intention 

was to make a "sufficient [number of] people sufficiently 

angry" and to bring down the fall of "Subtopia" (Ibid, p. 393) In 

the concluding manifesto for the"layman"/l/î stated: 

Don't be afraid that you will be just one individual 

registering dissent. It is your country that is being 

defaced; it belongs to you, and as an individual amongst 

fifty million individuals, not a 'set of income groups' or 

an electorate (ibid, p. 451, italics in the original). 

By this patriotic call, Outrage aimed to mobilize the whole 

population to claim their democratic nght to the environment 

independent of ownership, class or status. It did not matter 

whether one owned the land or simply enjoyed it as a visitor; 

as a patriot the responsibility fell on everyone's shoulders. 

The issue ended with a "checklist of malpractices" addressing 

the "layman."The checklist was a set of questions to be asked 

about the towns, the country, the suburbs and the wild. It 

would provide the necessary public surveillance to keep 

development and "wrong" planning practices from "defacing" 

the land. Every readerthat heeded the message would become 

the agent of the anti-Subtopian campaign, /l/î also demanded 

that local authorities commission architects to oversee visual 

control in the environment and to police Subtopia. 

One year later, another special issue called "Counter-Attack," 

again under Nairn's editorship, was published to cure "public 

helplessness" against subtopia (Counter-Attack, 1956). While 

Outrage claimed to diagnose environmental illness, Counter- 

Attack hoped to provide the antidote for the cure. Counter- 

Attack construed the public as a body of people uneducated 

in environmental visual qualities, speechless victims of the 

planning machinery detached from the decision-making 

institutions. Following Townscape pedagogy, Counter-Attack 

collected precedents into a case-book. These precedents, 

however, hoped to illustrate how certain solutions succeeded 

in "bringing modern life to terms with the landscape" and "to 

arm the public against the wrong way and [provide] examples 

of the right way of doing things."{lbid.) 

Counter-Attack suggested that "a team of expert planners and 

architects Inside the Ministry of Housing free of administrative 

ties" teach how "to think visually and to reword the planning 

legislation" (Ibid. p. 433). As a result, AR hoped "Townscape" 

pedagogy would infiltrate into the very center of the planning 

machinery in order to curb sprawl and to check the undesired 

impact of"subtopia."4/î also urged the establishment ofa body 

of financial aid for countryside preservation, based on the 

example of the "Historic Buildmgs Councii"forthe townscapes 

and landscapes that could act as "live pattern-books" for the 

future. 

in the conclusion,"A Vote of Thanks" addressed the authorities 

which responded to the call to rehabilitate "Subtopia," 

listing and honoring certain county planning authonties, 

preservation societies and individuals (Ibid, p.407). This note 

in Counter-Attack testified to the fact that within the year that 

passed, Outrage had managed to reach local authorities and 

organizations. The success of the campaign encouraged the 

continuity of AR's propagandistic discourse. 

Six months after the publication of Counter-Attack in June 

1957, AR announced the opening of a "Counter-Attack Bureau" 

on the cover of the Review. Intended to serve as "a watch 

and ward service for the good character of visual England," 

the bureau would help the so-called "victims of Outrage" 

by offering them consultation for their planning needs and 

complaints. It meant that via the consultancy of Gordon Cullen 

and Ian Nairn, AR would be directly involved in the planning 

problems brought into attention by its readers. Two years 

later, Nairn published a progress report ofthe Bureau (Nairn, 

1959, p.71). The Bureau was frequently consulted. According 

to Nairn, two hundred cases were sent to AR only in 1958. 

Outrage remained a permanent feature of AR as a section 

and was emulated by other architecture periodicals during 

Hastings's ownership. 

3. Manplan vs. Non-Plan 

Only fifteen months after the collapse of Ronan Point, AR 

drastically revamped it structure and contents and launched 

its "Manplan" campaign against economic crisis and 

environmental decline. Reacting against the frustrating results 

of modern planning, iike the New Towns and mass housing.

Manplan demanded a change in objectives one more time 

counting the numerous disasters that tainted the twentieth 

century: 

What is wanted now is a new image for the twentieth 

century in its third phase, which will unearth from 

beneath the lumber of war, napalm, famine, genocide, 

concentration camps, conveyor belts, population 

explosions, sonic booms and silent springs, a mission- 

~and a determination~fo swing the new potential of 

technology as revealed In the moon probes, behind the 

real objectives of human society. The British are bad 

technocrats, good humanlsers. Or were once. It could be a 

role. (Manplan 2,1969, p. 244, italics mine)= 

Manplan was published in the form of visual essays followed 

by short captions to address the changes in mass media and 

aimed to strike visual society by the force that brought It into 

being.Written inthe rhetoricof"revolutionaryhumanism,"asAR 

called it, the first Issue aimed to voice "the sense of frustration" 

that British society suffered. Photographs portrayed British 

people in a frenzy of production In Industrial plants, waiting 

In boredom in overcrowded public transportation, students 

revolting, cars overcrowding eighteenth century parks and 

invading the countryside, high-rise office and housing towers 

invading London. The editorial introductions, presumably 

written by Hastings, sounded the critique in "The Unnatural 

^Manplan was published as four consecutive issues starting from 

September 1969, after which it became bi-monthly until the last 

issue appeared in September 1970 totaling eight. Peter Davey, In 

his contribution to the special AR centennial number in 1996, notes 

that Hastings insisted on the change from the earlier layout of the 

Review into the form of visual essays. Richards opposed the Idea and 

opted for the publication of special issues as before and to keep the 

contents of the Review tailored to the existing readership. As Richards 

had anticipated the Review went into an economical crisis In 1970 

as a result ofthe Manplan series. This opposition seems to have led 

to the whole renewal of the editorial board between 1971 and 1974 

starting with the sack of Richards from the position of executive 

editor and the departure of Pevsner. Also see Richards's opposition 

to the campaign in his "Memoirs..." where he declared that he refused 

to take part {Richards, 1980, pp. 261-3). 

History of Man" that he was revising at this time for "The 

Alternative Society". 

According to Richards, Manplan was coined by Hastings as 

another catchy neologism to attract AR readership, but what 

Richards overlooked was that it directly opposed another 

phrase, Non-plan. Opposing the ideas putforwardln"Non-Plan; 

An Experiment in Freedom," essay written by Reyner Banham, 

Peter Hall, Paul Barker and Cedric Price in "New Society" in 

1969,"Manplan"demanded centralization and comprehensive 

planning against decentralization and dispersal as a means 

of planning democracy. According to the editors scientific 

progress enjoined to consumer culture and ever-expanding 

economic growth brought a ruthless exploitation of resources 

as well as destruction ofthe natural landscape. 

"Non-Plan; An Experiment in Freedom" was published six 

months earlier in the New Society" by Reyner Banham, Peter 

Hall, Paul Barker and Cedric Price. In the form of a counter- 

cultural critique Banham and Hall demanded an experiment 

in planning democracy by lifting planning restrictions 

and allowing people more freedom of choice, arguing for 

decentralization and dispersal (Banham, et al.,1969). Manplan 

was directly opposed to the idea in order to prevent its 

popularity as a nationwide policy. Instead of "letting planning 

loose," the editors once more stipulated a comprehensive 

planning mechanism. Instead of"Non-Plan"they wanted "man 

to plan." 

Although they occupied antithetical poles, both Manplan 

and "Non-Plan" were reactions against the planning practices 

that had been employed until the late 1960s. What separated 

them was their respective ideological support for the uses of 

technology and for "pop culture." While Non-Plan applauded 

the freedom of choice that consumer culture brought forward, 

Manplan was highly skeptical of it. When "Non-Plan" was 

enthusiastic about decentralization and dispersal, Manplan 

argued that the whole twentieth century planning experience 

was a proof of Its failure. If Non-plan's favorite cities were Los 

Angeles and Las Vegas, Manplan's were London, traditional 

British market towns and Italian hill towns. 

The issues starting from the second were thematically 

organized around communication (referring to transportation

networks), industry, education, religion, healthcare and 

welfare, local government and finally housing. With each 

issue, Manplan deployed an attack on the bureaucratic 

mechanisms that organized the above-mentioned fields and 

the inefficiencies of the democratic consumer society. The 

editors maintained that the logic of the industrial revolution 

was no longer applicable and the communications revolution 

had started. Manplan demanded that politicians exert control 

on the disruptive effects of transportation and industry on the 

environment by drawing out a holistic, integrative structure. 

Transportation, it argued, had to rely extensively on fast rail 

and canals to dominate over the car and air with airports 

pushed to coastal areas and linked by fast trains. Arguing that 

Industry had become less pollutant, Manplan reverted to the 

earlier arguments of Townscape to reintegrate the separated 

functions ofthe city. The editors opposed the continuity ofthe 

NewTownsexpenenceby arguing that industrial concentration 

proved to be wrong and expensive. In the fourth issue on 

education Manplan attacked the British public schools system 

as elitist and creating "a self-perpetuating oligarchy" instead 

of creating a unified society. In order to produce a society 

divested of class segregation, schools had to be integrated 

into the community and designed by user participation. 

Questioning the elevation of science to the status of religion, 

AR's romantic bias within this reformist rhetonc took a new 

turn with Manplan's fifth Issue on religion. AR advocated that 

religion was Inseparable from human consciousness even if 

was not one ofthe historical religions. In the early seventies' 

wodd, which was becoming more and more suspicious 

of the objective truth of science, religion would assume a 

new unifying role and increase "man's chance of unfolding 

the ill effects of industrialization." (Manplan 5, 1970) Civilia 

would follow Manplan as a commentary on urbanism and 

industnalization in the light of the ideals stated in Manplan. 

4. Civilia: A Picturesque Mew Town on Brownfields 

The transference of Hastings's ideals expressed in "The 

Unnatural History of Man" into architecture and city planning 

continued until the last campaign of his editorial rein. After 

withdrawing Manplan due to the decline in sales, Hastings 

thought that he could affect planning authorities and the 

people of Britain by promoring an alternative new town that 

would incorporate the environmental ideals that AR had been 

preoccupied with in the last twenty five years. If a convincing 

precedent could be created, it could be followed by others.This 

alternative town would be called "Civilia" (de Wolfe, 1971), 

Although Townscape, Outrage and Counter-Attack—which 

were the ancestral campaigns of Civilia in the 1950s~-had 

expressed an explicit anti-expertise attitude and attempted to 

remedy the fallacies of planning by visual and psychological 

responses, Civilia included a planner's report.^ The two 

planners approved Hasrings's agendas by stating that the 

twentieth century planning policies had been threatening 

city centers. They recommended a "reversal of present, largely 

unplanned decentralisarion trends by injecting new centres 

strategically placed" to attract sprawl and to rehabilitate 

existing centers. The "Utopian" schemes of eariy twentieth 

century had to be abandoned, since it was Impossible to create 

"a definable and controllable "balanced community" that can 

be accommodated within an architectural unity expressed in 

the form ofa new town" (Ibid, p.27). 

The choice of location for Civilia followed environmental 

concerns and the city was proposed for a site near North 

Nuneaton on old quarries. The site was found remarkable for 

the"picturesquevisualdrama,"due to abrupt level changes and 

the exposed rock surfaces of the quarry, as well as its central 

location in terms of sprawl, It offered a fantastic opportunity 

for Hastings to realize his dream: The city would direct 

technology for the benefit of the environment by healing a 

scar of brownfields and try to create center of attraction by 

solving the problems of earlier urban developments. The 

romanric dream to be at peace with nature entailed its healing 

as well. Civilia was represented via photomontage images that 

broughttogether photographs from Hastings's 1963 book"The 

Italian Townscape" and of well-known projects from the pages 

of Aft such as Moshe Safdle's Habitat, the viewing platforms 

of the South Bank exhibition and Paul Rudolph's Yale School 

of Architecture. By employing collage and photomontage 

Hastings also aimed to point to the fact that the modern 

citizen could easily come up with his or her dream ofa city. 

^The planners are listed as Rodney Carran (DipTP, AMTPI) and Michael 

Rowley (AADip, ARIBA).

While Civilia, like AR's other campaigns, ovi/ed its power to 

the visual content that accompanied its provocative texts, 

this visual language also proved to be its ultimate weakness. 

Although the texts hypothesized that It was well beyond 

possible, it still did not have a plan, an analysis of material 

necessities, the types of Industries It could support or the 

specific urban problems it would create a solution for, other 

than the existing sprawl. Its final image implied a total control 

of form contradicting its first principle, user participation. It 

was a romantic Utopia with an antl-utopian aim, but It ended 

up being not less "authoritarian" than the Ville Radieuse of 

Le Corbusier, which Hastings attacked since the inception of 

Townscape in 1949. 

Conclusion: The Neo-Romantic Compromise: Ecology 

The resistance of AR's editorial policies to decentralization and 

its aim to keep the city compact and dense obeyed the ethical 

imperative to preserve the resources that fed the city from 

the very moment of Townscape's inception in the late 19405. 

Preserving these resources meant preserving the livelihood of 

those who cultivated these resources, as well as the landscape 

as a means of rehabilitation for the citizens. While Hastings 

aimed to translate the values of the 18th century gentry 

into the 20th century, he also transformed this figure into a 

warrior of ecology. "Culture in resistance" was directed to 

environmentalist action. The economic downturn in Britain in 

the late 1960s as well as the student riots convinced Hastings 

that he should question British society via Manplan. Civilia, 

aimed to portray the possibility of an urban Utopia that started 

with the need to cure the environmental defects created by 

the post-war planning experience, and to present AR's final 

answer to the New Towns. 

After Hastings disbanded the editorial board and became 

editorial administrator over a larger body of younger editors In 

1971, he wanted to reformulate Afl's environmental emphasis. 

Among Hastings's documents are memoranda to the board 

which show that he aimed to start a series of articles to take 

the January 1972 issue of The Ecologist—subtitled "A Blueprint 

for Survival"—as a springboard. A pioneering document ofthe 

environmental movement, the campaign that the Ecologist 

started with "A Blueprint for Survival" created the foundation 

of the Green Party in Brltain.(Pearce, 2000) Pointing to the 

"gravity of the global situation" The Ecologist demanded "a 

new philosophy of life and a precise and comprehensive 

programme" for creating the society that could implement 

this philosophy. (A Blueprint for Survival, p.1) Hastings's 

prophecy of doom in "The Unnatural History of Man" (1958) 

was vindicated in 1971 by the support of a large group of 

scientists that signed The Ecologist's manifesto.' Under the 

protective umbrella of environmentalism, neo-romanticism 

made Its peace with science. 

Hastings also aimed to get in contact with the leaders of 

the environmentalist movement such as Max Nicholson 

(1904-2003) and Bob Boote, founders and administrators of 

institutions such as the World Wildlife Foundation and British 

Nature Conservancy. Nicholson had already written articles 

for AR during the 1960s that aimed to ally scientific research, 

the use of technology, natural conservation and planning.The 

existence of this document and the Ecologist v\i\tW\r\ Hastings's 

papers indicate that Hastings's project to align AR's editorial 

policies with the concerns of global ecology and green 

politics remained incomplete after he retired. To overcome 

the apocalyptic vision of industrialization and economic 

growth, Hastings had recognized that AR's cultural program 

had to articulate a new role for science and technology within 

a global framework. However it was time for him to turn this 

project over to the younger generation of editors that he put 

in charge. 

' The manifesto's opening lines stated: "The principal defect of the 

industrial way of life with its ethos of expansion is not sustainable, 

its termination within the lifetime of someone born today is 

inevitable—unless it continues to be sustained for a while longer by 

an entrenched minority atthe cost of imposing great suffering onthe 

rest of mankind. We can be certain however that sooner or later it will 

end... either against our will, in a succession of famines, epidemics, 

social crises and wars; or because we want it to—because we wish 

to create a society which will not impose hardship and cruelty upon 

our children—in a succession of thoughtful, humane and measured 

changes." (A Blueprint..., 1972, p. 2).

A Blueprint for Survival. {1972) The Ecoioglst, January, vol. 2, 

no. 1, pp.1-2. 

Banham R, et. al. (1969) Non-Plan: An Experiment In Freedom. 

New Society, no. 338, March 20. 

Counter-Attack. (1956) The Architectural Review, vol. 120 

December special Issue. 

Cullen, G. (1956) Bingham's Melcombe. The Architectural 

Review, v. 120, August, pp. 100-104. 

de Cronin Hastings, H. (1980)TheAlternatlve Society: Software 

for the Nlneteen-Elghties. London; David 8i Charles Limited. 

de Wolfe, Ivor. (1958) The Unnatural History of Man. 

Unpublished manuscript. 

de Wolfe, Ivor. (1971) Clvllla: The End of Suburban Man: A 

Challenge to Semidetsla, (foreword by Ian Nairn) London: The 

Architectural Press. 

Dworkin, D. (1997) Cultural Marxism In Postwar Britain; History, 

The New Left, And The Onglns Of Cultural Studies. Durham: 

Duke University Press. 

Kenny M. (1995) The First New Left: British intellectuals After 

Stalin, London: Lawrence & Wlshart. 

King,G. (1996) Ian Nairn:The Missing Art ofTownscape. Urban 

Design Quartedy, v. 59, July. 

Manplan 2. (1969) The Architectural Review, vol. 146, October. 

Manplan 5. (1970) The Architectural Review, vol. 147, March. 

Nairn, I. (1959) Progress Report ofthe Counter-Attack Bureau. 

The Architectural Review, v. 125, January, p. 71. 

Outrage. (1955)The Architectural Review, vol. 117, June special 

issue. 

Pearce, F. (2000) "Age of Rage" The Guardian, July 12, 

http://soclety.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/ 

0,7843,382241,OO.html (retrieved on Nov. 20, 2003). 

Pevsner, N, (1957) Nikolaus Pevsner; 1967 Gold Medallist. RIBA 

Journal, v. 74 no. 8, August, pp. 318-319. 

Richards, J. M. (1980) Memoirs of an Unjust Fella. London: 

Weldenfeld and Nicholson.

LIBERTY VERSUS SAFETY: A DESIGN REVIEW 

Adam Thorpe 

University ofthe Arts, London, UK 

adam@vexed.co.uk 

Prof. Lorraine Gamman 


Lgamman@csm.arts.ac.uk 

Abstract 

ît is our contention that when designing against terrorism, 

it is important to fully understand both terrorist perpetrator 

techniques and terrorism prevention principles and to 

establish the myths and realities about 'fear of terrorism', 

before catalyzing new design innovations.This paper assesses 

the requirement for designers to mediate Issues of user 

liberty versus security. We assess the troublesome design 

tradeoffs betv/een accommodation of users and exclusion of 

terrorist misuse and abuse linked to bicycle parking, using the 

Conjunction of Terrorism Opportunity framework. We include 

the case study ofthe Biceberg automated bike parking system 

in relation to the fitness for purpose versus resistance to 

terrorism debate. 

Introduction: 

When working on the design of secure street parking, our 

research revealed that'fly parked'bikes are regularly removed 

by the police from locations thought to be high-risk terrorist 

targets. 'Fly parking' needs further definition and is coined by 

Adam Thorpe of Bikeoff to describe the securing of bicycles 

to street furniture not intended for that purpose. I.e. railings, 

lamp-posts, parking meters, benches, street signs and so on 

{Gamman et al. 2004). It demarcates the user desires of cyclists 

as regards parking provision In a similar fashion to the way 

desire lines (footpaths worn in grass by people avoiding the 

prescribed routes and taking shortcuts) demarcate the way 

people wish to move through their environment. Fly parking 

is a consequence of user demand for proximity to destination 

and often should be viewed not as 'nuisance' behaviour by 

cyclists, but connected to lack of adequate provision by the 

authorities. 

Our research has revealed that since the Bognor and Brighton 

bike bombs, fly parked and other bikes are regularly removed 

by police in Westminster, London from locations thought to 

be attractive to terrorist acts. For example, bikes were banned 

from Parliament Square (London, June 2006), removed and 

regularly impounded when parked in the proximity of the 

Labour Party conference In Brighton September 2005: 

Bicycles are being removed to avoid a repeat of the 

IRA bike bomb blast in Bognor on August 13,1994. A 

bombhiddeninabagonablcyclechained to railings in 

the town centre detonated, causing damage to shops 

but no injuries. Police found another bike chained up 

near the Palace Pier in Brighton with 5lbs of Semtex 

hidden in a saddlebag but carried out a controlled 

explosion before It could go off. If it had detonated it 

would have killed anybody within a 46 metre radius. 

Over the next few weeks bicycles left chained up near 

the Brighton Centre could be removed and taken to a 

police pound. During the conference, police will aim 

to stop cyclists before they have time to chain their 

machines to the fences. Sergeant Pete Hutln said: 

'We have removed quite a lot of bikes over the last 

year and it has been a challenge reuniting them with 

their owners.'There is no defined zone where bikes are 

not allowed but those with saddle bags or panniers 

parked near the conference centre are certain to be

investigated by the police and could be removed (The 

Argus 2005). 

This policing strategy is notan over reaction. Bike parking sites 

are attractive to terrorists. This is not a fictional assessment or 

our personal assertion. "It was a remote controlled bike bomb 

on the roadside which targeted a Ministry of Intenor police 

bus" (Kabul, October 11, 2006). There are many similar press 

reports about bike bombs that can be easily accessed via 

the web, which also offers access to a 3 min video clip ofthe 

streetscape outside of Yishun MRT train station, Singapore, 

seen through the eyes of a terronst. It features the voice of 

Hashim bin Abas. Bin Abas reviews bike parking from the 

point of view of someone looking for a place to plant a bomb. 

The videotape was recovered from Afghanistan and led to his 

arrest for hostile reconnaissance/terrorist activities. On this 

tape (transcript is available on Channel News Asia website 

(Channel News Asia 2007) Bin Abas says: 

'You will notice that some of the boxes placed on the 

motorcycles, these are the same type of boxes that we intend 

to use.' 

The camera pans across the bicycle stands to motorcycle 

racks and other parking facilities and the voice continues: 

'This is a taxi stand, our bicycle can be parked there also; 

either bicycle or motorcycle. This is a view of the pickup 

point from the rear, there is a tree next to the bicycle bay, 

this is the place where the military personnel will alight from 

the bus or queue up for the bus.'The use of bike bombs is a 

known urban terronst MO. In recent years, linked to conflict 

and insurgency In the Middle East, there are many examples 

where bike bombs have been used to kill soldiers as well 

as civilians and create terror in Afghanistan (Command 

Post 2007, Scotsman 2007, Deutsche Welle 2007), Pakistan 

(Dawn 2006, China Daily 2007) and more recently Baghdad 

(Peoples Dally Online 2007). We include press reports in the 

endnotes for further analysis. Clearly, the policing strategy 

in relation to cycle parking on London's streets is intended 

to address, via social policy, what Roach et ai. (2005) in their 

account of the conjunction of terrorist opportunity (CTO), 

locate as crucial principles to avoid terrorism i.e.'restricting 

the resources available to the terrorist; excluding terrorists 

from the situation; and promoting'deterrence'via situational 

interventions deployed to 'raise the perceived risk of getting 

caught or failure for terrorists.' 

In relation to cycle usage in cities 'troublesome tradeoffs' 

(Ekblom 2005) between designing to promote the benefits of 

cycle usage and designing to reduce the threat of terronsm 

are glanngly apparent. 

We note that 'It is estimated that up to 1,600 people can die 

prematurely each year due to health problems caused by 

breathing London's polluted air.' (Mayor of London 2002). So 

it may be argued that the nsk associated with bike bombs 

is superseded by that of traffic pollution. Additionally, the 

pollution threat is discnminate in that it directly affects the 

most vulnerable, 'children, older people and those with heart 

and lung problems.' 

It is already established that'most [air] pollution in London 

comes from road traffic', the major contributor being the '11 

million car journeys made [in London] every day'. The Mayor 

of London's Air Quality Strategy (2002) identifies increased 

cycle usage as part of the solution to this lethal problem. He 

advocates measures aimed 'to help staff to walk, cycle or use 

public transport to get to work; for example by putting in 

cycle racks and showers'. 

Desirable as it is to eradicate the threat of bike bombs from 

our cities, deterring cycling by banning cycle parking in busy 

locations (considered high risk) cannot be the answer given 

the benefits of cycling in relation to health and quality of 

life issue. The issue of'risk', discussed at length by Durodie 

(2005) needs to be carefully understood and reviewed. 

Indeed, ifthe benefits of bike use are more significant for daily 

commuters than the threat of terronsm how far should anti 

terronst thinking influence or impede the design, context and 

availability of bicycle parking? 

We believe the above question is the crux regarding the 

design of anti terrorist objects/environments for public space. 

To address the tradeoffs that inevitably anse, we advocate a 

rigorous assessment of the design conflicts and confluences 

between security and user requirements.

Liberty versus Security - Assessment of Conflicts and 

Confluences of Cycle Parking User Requirements and 

Terrorist i\îsuse. 

1. In the Security Corner.., 

When considering Roach et al's Conjunction of Terrorist 

Opportunity Framevyorl^ (2005) in relation to public cycle 

parking, seven of the principles are particularly useful for 

identifying areas of conflict between user requirements and 

measures necessary to deter or prevent terrorism. 

A definition of terms, abbreviated from Roach et al.'s (2005) 

original text is necessary to appreciate how these principles 

relate to situational terrorism prevention through design: 

1.1. Excluding terrorists from the situation 

'Excluding suspects from places within a country ... (e.g. 

injunctionsto stop suspected animal rights activists from going 

near the homes of pharmaceutical company employees)' may 

be an appropriate consideration in relation to cycle parking. 

Those individuals considered to be high risk being denied 

access to sites considered high risk.' 

1.2. Deterrence 

'Raises the perceived risk of getting caught or failure for 

terrorists; discouragement makes the terrorist think that the 

effort to commit the act is too great for the reward. 

On the situational side are a range of familiar techniques to: 

increase the effort for the terrorist, increase the risk, reduce the 

reward, reduce provocations, remove excuses and enhance 

empathy. 

1.3. Target vectors 

Target vectors are the immediate targets of terrorist action. 

Terrorist engagement with the target vector is a means to an 

end.The action on the target vector is not the end in itself but 

the mechanism by which to deliver a message to a broader 

audience. 

'Interventions that prevent people and things becoming target 

vectors will be largely situational.'For example,'The use ofthe 

twin towers in NewYork by Al Quaeda as a target vehicle (and 

the concern about nuclear power-plants becoming targets) 

has led to the introduction of many situational prevention 

measures'such as'Construction of buildings that are not head 

and shoulders above the rest' Ekblom notes;' But there is 

again a trade-off between being prudent versus giving some 

kind of surrender message to target audience and the enemy'. 

Consideration of the bicycle In an urban context as a target 

vector is appropriate as the banning of bicycles from public 

spaces, due to the threat of terrorist misuse, may deliver the 

message that the benefits of bicycle usage are denied those 

who are in conflict with terrorists. It Is important to consider 

the range of situational prevention measures that may prevent 

bicycles becoming target vectors. It is also important to be 

wary of the possibility that a ban on parked bicycles in high 

risk areas may send a surrender message. 

1.4. Target enclosure 

'Well-established techniques such as target hardening and 

access control used to modify situations to prevent crime 

are applicable to preventing acts of terrorism. Multi-layered 

target enclosures and associated access control (the onion 

skin approach) can confer defence in depth.' 

1.5. The wider environment 

'Changes which make the environment less attractive, less 

likely to generate offending or less loglstically/tactically 

favourable for offenders.' Interventions may be local in focus 

and may involve changes in the design and management 

of facilities and locations. 'Areas containing specific national 

icons may attract terrorist attention; so may require broad 

protection via surveillance, redesign of road layouts, access 

points etc' 

1.6. Boosting preventers (Including capable guardians) 

Preventers are people who may make terrorism less likely to 

occur or make it harder for a terrorist to succeed. 

'This can be through formal control (e.g. Increased 

security patrolling, surveillance, intelligence-gathering and 

investigation, and the acquisition/placement of informants 

[site managers, guardians of targets]) or informal social control 

(e.g. increased employee and public vigilance).' 

1.7. Discouraging or deterring terrorist promoters 

Promoters are people who may make terrorism more likely to

occur or make it easier for a terrorist to succeed. Promoters 

can be considered to be deliberate or careless. 

In relation to bicycle parking an address to careless promoters 

is appropriate. 'Measures against careless promoters can 

include anything from reminding people to lock doors or take 

their bags when leaving trains...[or parked bikes]' 

2. In the 

When considering the design of cycle parking provision, there 

are a number of key design drivers that prescribe 'fitness for 

purpose'. Design of an appropriate facility, likely to meet user 

requirements, and therefore encourage oprimum usage, must 

consider the following issues that we have extrapolated from 

exisring cycle parking design guidelines and Blkeoff research. 

2.1. Length of stay 

Short stay (

3. Summary of Conflicts and Confluences 

A summary ofthese conflicts and confluences, within design 

of cycle parking, can be stated as follows: 

3.1. Length of stay is a high conflict consideration as cyclists 

require the option to leave their bikes parked, and unattended, 

for whatever length of time they desire. This pattern of usage 

provides cover for terrorists as it legitimises the presence of 

unattended bikes. One confluence Is that users of'long stay' 

parking require greater security, including controlled access, 

surveillance and guardianship.Thus long stay facilities provide 

good opportunities to design "against terrorism" without user 

conflict. 

3.2. Location is a high conflict consideration. Research shows 

that for short stay cycle parking to be used it should be located 

within 25m of the destination served and 50m for long stay 

parking (Sustrans 2004). The lethal blast radius of 5lb of 

Semtex (as hidden within a saddle bag in Brighton In 1994) Is 

46 meters. Thus, the user requirement for parking to be close 

to the destination it serves is problematic, especially at Iconic 

sites that may attract terrorist attention. 

By reviev/ing the above standards, we clearly identify that it 

is undesirable to users and sustainable transport objectives 

forthe authorities toadopt a strategy that involves removal of 

bikes from the location (as In Westminster, London), and creates 

'exclusion zones'for cyclists.^ A thorough analysis of terrorist 

fvlOs, in pursuit of mediation of this conflict, is necessary, 

and in our opinion, reveals that in the vast majority of cases, 

explosives are NOT concealed In the bike itself but in bags 

placed on the bikes, and we include numerous press accounts 

in our endnotes in support ofthis assertion (Davenport 2006, 

Dawn 2006, Scotsman 2007).Therefore, it may be appropriate. 

In cases v^here'short stay'parking is desirable, to address risks 

of terrorism by removing bags on bikes (rather than bikes) 

from the high risk locations. 

Proximity to destination the bicycle parking serves does offer 

some anti-terrorism benefits in that it may boost preventers by 

'See: http://wwvv.westminster.gov.uk. 

appropriating guardianship from personnel at the destination 

served. It is necessary for these guardians to be alerted, 

motivated, and empowered to be effective. Again 'long stay' 

facilities are most compatible with anti-terrorist considerations 

as these facilities acknowledge a user requirement for 

guardianship. 

3.3. Layout can easily be modified to benefit users and deter 

terrorist misuse and abuse by offering improved sight lines 

that deter concealment (of terrorist surveying opportunity, 

planting bomb, and bomb itself) and facilitate surveillance. 

Also by ensuring access for security equipment (bomb 

disposal) should the need arise. 

3.4. Spacing 

Similar concerns to layout are apparent; spacing can readily 

accommodate anti-terrorist considerations. 

3.5. Access 

'Short stay'andsmallerfacilities generally allowandrequlrefree 

and easy access that is problematic from security perspectives. 

Long stay facilities may warrant greater investment in access 

security and may readily accommodate controlled, surveyed 

and recorded access of benefit to both the security of users 

and their bikes and terrorism prevention. 

3.6. Guardianship/ surveillance/ lighting is a factor of high 

confluence with terrorism prevention. Appropriate training 

and education of guardians will provide formal preventers. 

Deployment of appropriate technology (sniffers/ digital 

recognition/ Video Content Analysis) will aid formal 

preventers. 

3.7. Maintenance ofa facility and its security systems signals 

quality of management and surveillance. A well-managed 

facility will deter terrorists and attract users. Clean facilities, 

clear of obstruction, whilst of benefit to users, may also remove 

possible concealment for bags or bombs left unattended. 

3.8. Signage offers a great opportunity for terrorism 

prevention by recruiting Informal preventers amongst 

users and the public via messaging such as: 'Please report 

any bags left on bikes.' Also by instructing legitimate users 

to avoid usage that may provide 'cover' for terrorist MOs

i.e. messaging sucli as 'Do not leave any bags, panniers or 

containers on your bike'. 

3.9. Charges benefit prevention of terrorism as payment 

facilities often require some form of registration and access 

control. Charges usually denote greater security. Payment for 

usage may also finance security intervenrions. 

3.10. Scale 

Whilst there Is a minimal risk that large-scale faciliries may 

become targets for terrorism, it is also true that larger faciliries 

allow/for centralisation of resources and justify implementation 

ofthe measures listed above. 

In brief, after analysing the above user requirements and CTO 

principles it is our view that an appropriate anti-terrorist bike 

parking facility may be described as; 

i) Large scale with convenient and controlled access (possibly 

with a fee charged), 

ii) Well managed, lit and maintained; and 

iii) Regulariy surveyed by appropriate informed and 

empowered guardians, 

iv) The design of the site should facilitate good surveillance 

(sight lines) and deny opportuniries for concealment, 

v) Ideally, the parking should be situated within a robust 

enclosure (to contain an explosion should the worst happen), 

vi) Layout and spacing should facilitate easy observarion and 

access for security equipment as well as users, 

vii) Signage should communicate with users as to appropriate 

usage i.e. 'no bags to be left on bikes', 'please report any bags 

(eft on bikes; 

viii) Long-term facilities can readily accommodate these 

requirements. Short-term faciliries will find it harder to 

implement these measures but in high risk areas should 

consider the principles above and apply them where 

possible, 

ix) Al! facilities should prohibit bags or other containers 

being left unattended on bikes in parking facilities. 

Having identified where the conflicts lay, an understanding of 

terrorist MOs (perpetrator techniques) may enable designers 

to mediate these conflicts within their proposals. And thus we 

would argue one of the best means of equipping designers 

to design against terrorism would be to make sure these 

perpetrator techniques are documented and understood, Paul 

Ekblom has argued (in conversation with us) for much more in 

depth analysis of criminal perpetrator techniques and scripts, 

and we would make the same case regarding terrorist MOs.^ 

Also other questions need to be addressed. Why would the 

terrorist, of all the objects in the urban environment to choose 

from, select a bike as their bomb carrier? Is the bike park close 

to a high risk target? Is a bike the only thing that can get close to 

the target and be left unattended? Are other potenrial carriers 

subjected to searches or authorisation? It is appropriate to ask 

these quesrions first as it may be that the need for an address 

to terrorism at all is unnecessary, given risk analysis of context, 

or that the context warrants even greater considerarion of 

terrorism deterrence. 

In relarion to the Westminster parked bike parking ban 

described earlier, a review of terrorist MOs related to bike 

bombs, reveals that the majority of bicycle bombs are located 

within bags on bikes rather than in the bike frames themselves. 

In fact we have been unable to identify bike bombs integrated 

into the bike frame, with the exceprion of N. Ireland in the 1970s 

(Bowden T 976). There Is not sufficient informarion on record 

to detail the impact of this MO. We do know however that all 

other terrorist interventions using 'bike bombs' have located 

the explosive device within a bag or other container on the 

bike. This is significant. It indicates the bike frame does not offer 

easy accommodarion of terrorist intentions. This is significant In 

terms of policy about bike parking. It prescribes an intermediate 

action between removing bikes from the scenario, at a cost to 

quality of life Issues (Including convenience, environment and 

health) and that of no-response to the potenrial terrorist risk 

presented by parked bicycles and their accessories. 

Clearly we should not be complacent about the risks of 

terrorists using bombs integrated into bikes in public places. 

We are well aware that terrorists are what Ekblom (1997) 

describes as 'adaptive criminals' so that 'displacement' of the 

^ AHRC Blkeoff 2 project meering between Design Against Crime 

Research Centre and Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, 24th 

January 2007.

terrorist bomb from bag to bike frame may occur in a short 

space of time. 

We would advocate that knowledge of terrorist MOs be 

continually re-appraised to empower designers to keep up with 

the 'adaptive'terrorist. Indeed, where possible designers and 

their expert advisors should seek to outmanoeuvre the terrorist 

threat by designing against risk prior to Its occurrence (in this 

instance perhaps via the design or urban bicycles or cycle 

lockers that would contain a blast}. However, we must be wary to 

avoid 'scientific and technical [or design] developments where 

we increasingly elevate risk over opportunity'(Durodie 2002) at 

a cost to quality of life and user freedoms. Designers and cycle 

parking providers should avoid what Durodie (2002) describes 

as 'vulnerability-led' responses. These tend to focus more on 

speculative 'What If type questions - particularly emphasizing 

low incidence/high consequence scenarios... atthe expense of 

realistlc'Whatwill?'and'What has?'type evidence. 

We also tend to agree with Hille Koskela's (2002) who in her 

account of'tolerance versus prejudice'states'it Is sometimes 

worth taking a risk in relation to security when considered 

against quality of life issues given that 'hard solutions' faint 

[fade?] overtime.' 

Preventing cyclists from parking easily by applying bicycle 

exclusion zones, or bike parking restrictions, is also notthe only 

troublesome tradeoff we need to think through regarding anti 

terrorist design strategies. Cycling has recently become a 'hot' 

political topic, not least because ofthe success of sustainable 

transport discourses. There are more cyclists on the road İn 

London resulting from measures such as congestion charging, 

and some argue because of the bombing of the London 

Underground on 7 July 2006, which catalysed a 400% increase 

in cycle sales In the capital in the weeks that followed." 

The relationship of the bike to such discourse has been 

'heightened'orto use Innes (2004) account has been'signalled' 

and therefore could easily become a symbolic terrorist target. 

When considering why a bicycle would become a terrorist 

vector situational considerarions may not be the only 

motivating factors. The potential to embarrass the authorities 

and scupper their attempts at developing more sustainable 

transport options needs to be considered too. Perhaps the 

ultimate troublesome tradeoff is between the negative Impact 

upon 'on street' cycle parking provision that would inevitably 

ensue should a terrorist using a bike bomb'succeed'occur and 

the measures necessary to prevent this occurrence. A terrorist 

success in using a bike bomb may lead to over-reaction by the 

authorities and circumvention of the requirement for cycle 

parking to be freely and readily available to users to promote 

urban cycling whilst over determination of measures to 

prevent this scenario may themselves deter cycle usage. 

2. Biceberg - A Cycle Parking Case Study 

To consider these troublesome tradeoffs in practice we offer a 

review of'Biceberg'an Innovative urban cycle parking solurion, 

designed and used In Spain. 

The Biceberg^ underground parking system is automated. 

It collects bikes from, and returns them to street level (Figure 1}. 

In conversation with Andrea Casalottl, proprietor of Velorution, 

2005. 

^The account herein of Biceberg is based on information supplied 

and drawn up by Gamman and Willcocks for Reinventing the Bike 

Shed exhibition, London 2006. Full details about Biceberg feature 

exhibition included: 

Name of company: MA-Sİstemas, 5.L. Crtra.Nacional 330 km 647,500 

Poli'gono Charle-Calle 222700 Jaca -Huesca-SpainTel. + 34 974 357 07 

Fax. + 34 974 357 074; Name of Architect/designer: Jaime Palacios; 

Supplier of parking equipment/ furniture: MA-sistemas, s.lL; 

Type of parking equipment/furniture (e.g. Sheffield stand or Double 

parker): eAutomatic underground bike park; 

Location of installation(s} and facility/amenity it serves:Town centres. 

Transport interchanges, stations. University campuses, sports/ leisure 

centres etc; 

Cost (of installation/build - not use): 46 bikes - €120,000 euros, 69 

bikes - €135,000 euros, 92 bikes - €150,000 euros (based on costs 

installed in Spain); 

Number of bikes stored: 23, 46, 69 or 92 per unit (i.e.- each level of 

underground storage takes 23 bikes - like a carrousel); 

Length of stay the facility seeks to serve: short - medium - long term 

(most common use is medium - 1-8 hours) but overnight stay is 

possible; 

Service period (how long the facility is meant to last): approx. 25 years 

(with preventative and software update maintenance).

It comes In different model sizes able to store 46 bikes, 69 bikes 

or 92 bikes. In addition to bike storage, the space provided for 

the bike by the Biceberg can also be used to store accessories 

such as a helmet, backpack or even a laptop (Figure 2). 

i 

Figure 1. © Biceberg 


When we asked a numberof police officers to review the system 

for London (we featured a model of It at the Reinventing 

the Bikeshed exhibirion'^ during the London Architectural 

Biennale, we were surprised that all those officers who spoke 

with us menrioned their concerns about possible terrorist 

abuse.^ 

''See: www.reinventingthebikeshed.com 

^ With thanks to many officers including Brian Howat, of British 

Transport Police Terry Cocks and Ike Gray of the Metropolitan Police, 

Camden. 

The Biceberg system was first conceived in 1994 by Jaime 

Palacios and his company MA-Slstemas, S.L. It was further 

developed in 2003 to an operational standard, and has now 

been installed in six locations in Spain (Figure 3). In 2006, we 

understand from the designer, there were several expressions 

of interest in using the system from other European countries, 

including France and Denmark. 

The exterior housing for the automated system, shown below, 

is located at ground level. 

/ 


The see-through'casing' has been designed using laminated 

toughened glass to maintain transparency. Much thought has 

gone into the design of the machine in regard to technological 

ease of use, aesthetics and information design In relation to 

providing a user-friendly experience.The first point where the 

cyclist interacts with the machine, is consequently easy on to 

the eye as well as to the user (Figure 4). 

Figure 4. ® Marcus Willcocks

It provides easy-to-understand messaging when users interact 

with the computer screen to access the bike storage. User- 

centred detailing such as the groove in which to stand the 

cycle, next to the machine before loading is clearly thought 

through and again easy to use (Figure 5). 

\\ 

Figure 5. © Marcus Willcocks 

The system works by stonng bikes in individual underground 

container segments, (like slices of a circular cake) forming 

carousels. The different model sizes (46, 69 and 92 bikes), are 

attained via deployment of a modular system which comes in 

carousel stacks of 23 bikes per level, as can be seen from the 

images below taken inside the store area (Figures 6a and 6b). 

" I — 1 

• f 

I 

W 

II 

VinfviHBnS 

IB Ml ti&iniW 

^- -T .1 

1 

Î 

Figure 6. a © Marcus Willcocks 

Figure 6. b © Marcus Willcocks 

The user carries out these operations using a chipped 

smartcard and enters a secret personal code, in a process 

comparable to using an ATM (Figure 7). 

Figure 7. ©Biceberg 

Waiting time and interface are also similar to that of an ATM. 

It is estimated that loading or accessing a bike for storage or 

retrieval takes 25 to 30 seconds. First rime users will need a 

little longer to get used to the system. The 'smart cards' are 

the key to accessing the facility and retain details about 

the user on a central database that monitors patterns of 

use. Six cameras, built-in to the installation, monitor what is 

introduced to and retrieved from the storage units. The video

cameras are activated specifically when someone inserts or 

removes objects via the system. Upon loading the bike into 

the machine the contents are also weighed, to further confirm 

what has been entered or removed (to check it conforms 

to usual bike weights) and to prevent, for example, a child 

or a person (drunk 'stag night' attendee for instance) being 

inappropriately loaded into the bike park. The system also 

currently integrates equipment for the detection of any living 

beings or species introduced - this works via a combination of 

infrared and microwave technologies. 

The key strengths of the system, from a user perspective, 

include the fact that Biceberg offers space sensitive 

underground parking that can contain extra mobile objects 

(helmets, bags) as well as bikes. Also, on street, the housing 

offers exhibition or advertising potential for the promotion of 

cycling. Its SmartCard and Pass-Code controlled access system 

means that users have exclusive access to their own property 

and that it is relatively safe from theft at any the of day or 

night. 

Concerns in relation to fitness for purpose are limited to the 

fee paying aspect and multi-user access at times and locations 

of peak usage. Installation of several smaller (46 bikes) as 

opposed to one larger (96 bikes) facility would go some way 

to resolving this issue. 

Despite this positive user review security experts to whom 

we showed the Biceberg system, prioritised concerns about 

bombs being planted by terrorists in bags or on bikes, who 

were imagined to be able to gain access by stealing smart 

cards or obtaining them in false names. We identified from 

the start that the design of the underground concrete bunker, 

which forms part of the pre-fabricated structure. In which 

bike are stored could protect the public from the worst of any 

potential bomb blast at street level linked to terrorist activity, 

but this fact did not alleviate their concerns. 

When we raised these issues with the owner/ designer James 

Palacious, his first response (when interviewed by Marcus 

Willcocks in Barcelona 2006) was to say that adding explosive 

detecting sensors wasn't impossible In design terms, just 

entirely 'unnecessary.' He argued that the system already 

had enough 'defensiveness 'designed into it via password 

protected, smart card access control systems, and CCTV, to 

be safe. 'Yes' the system could be adapted further to include 

explosive detection, but the owner thought it pointless unless 

ordered by direct customer specification. Also the extra costs 

of this added security could, in his opinion, be prohibitive for 

the majority of customers. 

When viewed in relation to the design recommendations 

identified in the above cross comparison of user requirements 

and CTO principles, the Biceberg appears to us to be a highly 

appropriate solution for cycle parking in certain areas, 

currently considered to be at high risk of terrorism. We can 

see that it would work well in certain contexts, (If not all) even 

in cities like London that are regularly on high security alert, 

with one provision. When considering Biceberg in relation to 

its robustness to terrorist misuse or abuse, the feature which 

the manufacturer considers to be one of its key user benefits, 

is in our opinion, one of its greatest weakness. I.e. the ability 

and encouragement to store bags as weil as bikes. The above 

analysis prescribes that storage of the bags or other items 

capable of concealing explosives must be denied. This is a 

serious claim, and means that in using a strong theoretical 

framework, the CTO framework, to create an informed 

opinion about a design, we can balance the opinions derived 

from expert review, and identify that the real issue linked to 

terrorist misuse or abuse, and use is counter intuitive. Rather 

than Biceberg being a likely terrorist facilitator it could in fact 

be a good cycle parking solution in high risk areas. 

Conclusion 

Cycling is good, bombs are bad. And bombs in bags on bikes 

are more common than bombs integrated into bike frames 

(so far...). In the context of fears about bike bombs, we should 

not negate the opportunities for increased cycle usage via 

restriction of provision of on street cycle parking, for fear of 

crearing opportuniriesforterrorist misuse and abuse. However, 

as the threat of bike bombs is not entirely delusional we must, 

where possible, design against them in an appropriate and 

proporrionate manner. To do this requires the designer to 

i) identify areas of design conflict and confluence between 

liberty and security (i.e. sites of conflict/confluence between 

use and misuse/abuse), ii) where conflict or confluence exists 

an address to both user freedom and exclusion of terrorism

is appropriate, iii) At such conjunctions it is essential that the 

designer mediates between security and liberty, accessing 

sufficient knowledge and metrology by which to consider 

levels of risk and thus action appropriate and proporrionate 

response. At all rimes, designs for exclusion of terrorism should 

be covert and clandestine so as to avoid promoting fear of 

terror through their design language; to avoid the design 

itself becoming what Innes (2004) would refer to as a 'crime 

[or terrorist] signal'or Roach et al. (2005) describe as a 'vector'. 

Ultimately, we agree with Frank Furedi (2002) who argues 

against a 'culture of fear', and also Bill Durodie (2002) who 

warns against over-reacrion from the authorities, and states 

the need to develop responses based on clear values rather 

than focussing on vulnerabilities. 

To paraphrase Durodie; 'To restore some balance [within the 

user liberty versus security debate] demands acring calmly [or 

designing calmly] confidently, and above all rationally.' 

If we are to benefit from design opportunities, spanning 

troublesometradeoffs between security and user requirements 

with ingenuity, rather than suffering the consequences of 

'vulnerability-led' responses, designers must embrace what 

JohnThackara (2005) has described as'design mindfulness'. We 

must also heed Benjamin Franklin's warning that'Those who 

would give up Essenrial Liberty to purchase a llttleTemporary 

Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.'^ 

^ Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little 

Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety', is an often 

misquoted phrase commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin. The 

quote is taken from, 'An Historical Review of the Constitution and 

Government of Pennsylvania,'first published anonymously in London 

in 1759.The quote is an excerpt from a letter written in 1755 from the 

Assembly to the Governor of Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin did 

publish the edition printed In Philadelphia in 1812, and most likely 

the original, but denies writing any part of it. The quote, however, 

may have originated from Franklin and been excerpted for the book 

by the author. (Wikipedia 2007) 


Adam Thorpe and Lorraine Gamman would very much like 

to thank the Arts and Humaniries Research Council/ EPSRC 

Designing for the 21st Century Initiative for funding of the 

'Bike Off 2 - Catalysing anri theft bike, bike parking and 

information design for the 21st century'that enabled research 

for this paper to happen (and travel costs to give presentations 

at EAD conference). 

Also to our colleagues. Prof Paul Ekblom and Marcus Willcocks 

at the DAC Research Centre, and Dr. Shane Johnson, Aiden 

Sidebottom and Prof. Ken Pease ofthe Jill Dando Institute of 

Crime Science for their critical comments. Also Paul Donlevy of 

Metropolitan Police, Westminster and Ike Gray of Metropolitan 

Police, Olympics for sharing their knowledge ofthis field.

Key: - = conflict 

Length of stay 

Figure 8. Cross comparison of CTO principles and cycle parking design requirements 

+ = confluence 0 = no relation 

Exclusion Deterrence ygg-tQi^s Enclosure 

Cannot limit 

presence 

Legitimises 

presence of 

unattended 

object 

A bike is 

generally 

innocuous a 

symbol of free 

to stay where 

it likes as long 

as it likes. 

-7+ 

Short stay/ easy 

use doesn't 

allow for 

enclosure. Long 

stay can require 

enclosure and 

access control 

_ J n vi ron m ent Preventers Promoters 

Legitimises 

presence of 

unattended 

object for 

period of time 

Location - - + + 0 

Guardianship/ 

Surveillance/ 

Lighting 

Exclusion Deterrence Vectors Enclosure Environment Preventers Promoters 

+ + - -1- + + -1- 

Informed Staffed Targeting Staffed and Staffed and Capable Denies 

personnel facilities with ofa secure surveyed surveyed guardians, clandestine 

could watch restricted facility would facilities assist facilities will motivated. misuse of 

out for terror and recorded demonstrate in target deter terrorists informed and facility by 

MOs and access could that no bike is hardening empowered are careless 

record access increase risk safe. effective formal promoters. 

and effort for preventers. 

terrorist Appropriate 

lighting and 

surveillance 

assists formal 

preventers. 

Maintenance + + + 0 + -1- + 

Informed Informed Successful Well maintained Well Well 

personnel personnel targeting ofa facility and maintained maintained 

could watch could increase well maintained security facility will facility will 

out for terror risk and effort facility would features could assist formal deter misuse 

MOs for terrorist demonstrate benefit users preventers of facility 

that no bike is and deter by careless 

safe terrorists promoters 

Signage + + 0 0 + + 

Legitimate Signage Signage Fadlitates formal Excellent 

users could denying denying actions preventers in deterrent 

be requested actions associated identifying to careless 

to take action associated with terrorist deviance. promoters 

not associated with terrorist MOs will deter Facilitates by warning 

with terrorist MOs could terrorists informal against misuse 

MOs increase risk preventers by that may 

and effort for requesting provide cover 

terrorist vigilance and for terrorist 

reporting MOs 

Charges + + 0 + + + 0 

For long-term For long-term Charge Charge facilities Charge facilities 

parking. Could parking. Could facilities for for long term. for long 

be designed to control access long term. Could control term. Could 

control access and increase Could control access and control and 

risk and effort access and deter terrorists record access 

for terrorist increase risk also could pay aiding formal 

and effort for for additional preventers 

terrorist security 

measures 

Scale +/- -/-^ - + -/+ -/+ - 

Could enable Could increase Large scale Large scale Could increase Smallscale is likely Large scale 

centralise provocation facility could allows provocation toreiyoninfi^nnal parking 

resources/ may due to location increase centralisation due to location prawnters, increases 

become target and size or provocation of resources and size or large scale likelihood 

due to volume could serve due to extent which could serve could centralise of careless 

of usage to centralise of potential would afford to centralise resources and promoters. 

resources impact enclosure resources fadiitate formal 

techniques preventers

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Monitor, 1 (4) 16. 

EKBLOM, P., 1997. Gearing up against Crime: a Dynamic 

Framework to Help Designers Keep up with the Adaptive 

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Security and Crime Prevenrion, 2 (4) 249-265. 

EKBLOM, P, 2005. Designing Products against Crime, ln:TİLLEY 

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Cullompton: Willan. 

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Proceedings of the European Union Crime Prevention Network. 

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Tracking the DesignTerralns of Cycle Parking ~ Reviewing Use, 

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F E A R A N D K N O W I N G : D E S I G N D I S A S T E R S 

Neai Haslem 

Tasmanlan School of Art, University of Tasmania, 

Tasmania, AUSTRALIA 

neal@nealhaslem.net 

This paper discusses the use of fear and the unknow/n In the 

practice of communication design, and their merits as a part 

of design research projects. It reflects upon a participatory 

poster series to reveal some ofthe underlying Issues for design 

practice and research, it looks at this"dlsastrous"design project 

to investigate the possibility of new knowledge, new learning 

and greater incluslvity in design practice being facilitated 

through design failure. 

The project was a very small, short timeframe, collaborative 

project, designed to include audience response directly. The 

work of the project itself is not necessarily the subject of 

this paper; it is the impact of that work, on audience, on the 

authors/designers, on research, and as a means to develop 

critical design pracrice. 

The paper examines that which we might lose, as designers, 

if we aim to use established design knowledge to control a 

projects'outcomes and remove all fear of failure. It posits that 

by guaranteeing success in this way we can, simultaneously, 

remove the ability of our work to produce the new and 

unexpected, and reduce its ability to establish an inclusive 

community with audience. 


Knowledge Is the antidote to fear said Ralph Waldo Emerson.' 

This paper examines his frequently used maxim In relation 

to the practice of communication design, and a particular 

communication design project Using his statement as a 

starting point this paper asks the question;'what is It designers 

fear?' and further to this; 'In finding an anridote to fear, what 

may designers lose?'The paper makes the proposition that, for 

some design projects, In certain design situations, we might be 

better served if we turn Emerson's original statement around 

to become Feor Is the antidote to l

the designers' intentions. It led from disaster to disorder and 

thence to discourse. It was through discourse that disorder 

and disaster came to be revealed as creative forces; forces 

capable of producing new knowledge and revealing new lines 

of inquiry. 

2. On Emerson and Knowledge 

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an often-quoted key writer and 

thinker in early American literature. One ofthe most famous 

remarks attributed to him was the statement knowledge is the 

antidote to fear; like all good aphorisms It seems Immediately 

clear that he speaks with commonsense, wisdom and clarity. 

The statement gives the common, slightly fearful person, 

hope that he or she has the ability to banish their fears 

and move forward with the clear-eyed fearlessness of the 

knowledgeable. 

Emerson was born in 1803 and lived to 1882, a time during 

which vast advances in knowledge were made. It is not an 

exaggeration to say that every area of human endeavour was 

undergoing a revolution by industrialisation. It was felt that 

everything was possible, one just needed to focus enough 

energy and enthusiasm and the truth would be revealed. 

When we reed the writings of the time It Is as though the 

worid was a giant clock, able to be taken apart and understood 

in microscopic detail. It appeared that this mechanistic 

knowledge would provide the irresisrible leverage to bridge 

the widest gap, control plague and banish the irrarional fears 

that had held humanity back. 

It is implicit within Emerson's statement that fear itself is 

a negative; that it Is better to be without fear, that we all 

desire the removal of fear. The technique for that removal, 

an antidote In this case, is knowledge. We are assured that 

through the gaining of knowledge we can remove fear. 

Antidotes generally remove poison, thus fear is cast in the role 

ofa poison, reducing our capacity to have agency In the world 

and manifest our will. Knowledge is providing an anridote to 

that fear, removing it from our bodies and minds and freeing 

us to take action. 

3. Knowledge and Fear 

Designing also produces some new knowing on the 

part of a designer; there is a moment in the process 

where something is new to the designer-a new insight, 

an understanding of how to achieve a desired end, a 

satisfying arrangement of elements. If remembered or 

recorded, this moment of knowing starts on the path to 

becoming collective knowledge. Downton (2003, p.95} 

Where does the knowledge come from to which Emerson 

refers? It Is not clear from his statement. Knowledge might 

come from a numberofdifferent avenues; from an established 

canon; from personal experience in our pracrice or in our lives; 

from a mentor or a colleague. 

Where does fear come from? We are born with fear; when we 

are children we often fear the dark, we want the light on, the 

light allows us to look around our bedroom and be reassured 

that there is nothing lurking in the corner. The light dispels 

those shadowy uncertainties and brings clarity and certainty 

to the situation. The fear Is forgotten and we feel safe - safe; 

comfortable; without danger or risk. It feels good to remove 

this fear; it allows us to relax and to sleep. 

However, it is clear that fear is not always a bad thing. It is a 

fundamental emorion and acts as a governor, protecting us 

from being too foolhardy, impulsive or overconfident. Fear of 

the consequences mediates the actions we take, we become 

aware of the conditions around us and mindful of'what might 

happen if". Fear ofthe social consequences often leads us to 

think ofthe otherand the events that might unfold if we were 

to take action without forethought. 

Fear can be dispelled through knowledge, there is no doubt 

about that; fear ofthe other dissipates when we gain knowledge 

of that other and come to understand that the other is not so 

very"other";fearoffallingcanbe removed by the demonstration 

of the strength of the support that has been put in place; fear 

of rejection can be removed by communication, we can come 

to understand the motivarions that cause parricular events 

to unfold rather than allow our imaginations (combined with 

precarious self-confidence) to run away with us and create 

paranoid fantasies of oppression and lack of equity.

This paper is proposing, however, that sometimes, by 

welcoming a certain lack of knowledge, and allowing a level 

of uncertainty, we might allow for the unexpected to happen; 

we might allow room for the unknown within a project to 

take place; we might allow a project to "run away with us" 

a littie and, in so doing, perhaps learn more than if we were 

to close all avenues off. It is a consequence of allowing this 

"unknowing" and "uncertainty" to remain part of a project 

that a certain level of fear Is also present. As Rosenberg (2006) 

states in a recent paper. It is part and parcel with the nature of 

design practice that it embraces a difficult relationship with 

the known: 

Creative practice moves from what is known into 

what Isn't known; not-yet-known or not-knowable. If 

academia is to accommodate practice it must accept 

the uncertain and the unknowable in practice - the 

non-eplstemological dimension of practice. It needs to 

engage with the movement that is necessary in order 

to bring Into being. 

4. Design and Fear 

As designers we fear failure. It seems self-explanatory that if a 

project has not achieved the objective for which it was brought 

into being, then the project has failed and consequently we 

have failed as designers. To overcome this fear of failure, we 

attempt to design our projects to reduce the chances of failure 

and increase the likelihood of a successful result. 

It is, of course, not possible to remove all risks of failure. 

However, it is as we become more and more systematized in 

our design pracdce and put In place nsk management systems 

that we can start to reduce the chance of failure to such a 

degree that it is negligible. 

In doing this is it possible that we, as designers, lose the 

readiness to accept the unexpected in practice? This paper 

posits that by removing our fear through the antidote of 

known knowledge we might be taking away the opportunity 

for a project to generate the new and reveal the unknown. So 

it is put, rather glibly in the introduction to this paper, that we 

might turn Emerson's original statement around and say that 

fear is the antidote to knowledge. 

5. Stairwell Series - The Project 

This paper and the propositions put forward in it are inspired 

by a project named stairwell series. I completed this project 

with a colleague from my postgraduate design research 

group, Keith Deverell. 

The project was produced while attending a conference 

in Brisbane^ a city neither of us knew very well. Both Keith 

Deverell and I were acting as design researchers; our aim was 

to experiment and discover. We were both using a pracrice- 

led-research methodology. 

6. Research Methodology 

To undertake to search, and search again, prompts us 

to challenge our assumptions with a commitment to 

intensify and better employ the assets at our disposal. 

The values, interests and effects that unfold through 

this process are many (Douglas 2004, pi). 

Pracrice-led-research uses the applicarion of pracrice itself as 

a research method, it applies the thinking as doing and doing 

as thinking nature ofdesign to externalise and make material 

the knowledge which, as designers, we don't necessarily know 

that we have. The design work becomes a means of thinking 

'^SOOB(StraightOutof Brisbane) conference. Afesrival of independent 

and emerging arts, culture and ideas, Brisbane, 02 December 2004. 

http://www.straightoutofbrisbane.com

out loud, the work Is, In time, critically reflected upon and 

analysed by both the practitioner/author and the members 

of the community of practice. The work is later reiterated, 

re-articulated and re-understood through the further 

materialising of artefact. 

The artefact or system that is produced is an articulation of 

knowledge, it is the product ofthe method (the making, the 

thinking as doing and the doing as thinking) which designers 

use to articulate and externalise. The work is the bridge 

between subjectivity and objectivity, the self and the other. 

The practice involves process, the process is the work, the 

work allows a designerly research to take place - during the 

working. It is, necessarily, pre-literate - it unbinds us from 

language and allows our designer-!y sensibilities to open up 

and do the work thatthey do best. We can then go back to the 

work with the benefit ofthe device of language and reflect 

upon what we have just done/learnt/artlculated. 

7. Project Description 

We went to Brisbane to be on a panel. The conference 

organizers indicated that they needed an exhibition for the 

stairwell. We realised that here was an opportunity for us to 

put into concrete form some ideas we had been discussing 

in relation to our research. We created a series of graphic 

provocations which embodied our shared view ofthis city we 

were both strangers to. 

The project started with walking and talking and the taking of 

digital photographs. De Certeau (1984, p.100) talks of walking 

itself as a compositional act: 

There is a rhetoric of walking.The art of'turning'phrases 

finds an equivalent in an art of composing a path. Like 

ordinary language, this art implies and combines styles 

and uses. 

Before we knew, we were going to make anything suitable for 

the stairwell space, we started taking photos and discussing 

them. We had recently purchased new digital cameras. We 

discussed the amazing ability of these cheap compact cameras 

to capture images in very low levels of light. 

At one point, we found our path along the river unexpectedly 

blocked as a new development claimed the waterfront, 

requiring us to retreat and go around this newly privatised 

and privileged space. 

We came upon a strip of property development offices that 

promoted their developments with scale models, complete 

with citizens leaning on balconies and wandering through 

plazas. These models became real when captured by our 

cameras. 

Scale was removed. The modelled building design was 

made material simply through processing in the CCD's of our 

cameras.The blur produced by the low light acted to enhance 

the reality ofthe image. Before our eyes, the miniature plastic

people took on their own stories, became real, had histories 

and desires. There were more people in the photos we took of 

the models than in the real streets around us. 

Seeing the city through the eye of the camera led us to an 

abandoned building project, full of signs of activity and the 

will to create and enact change but devoid ofthe people It 

purported to serve. 

These photos were an aesthetic response to the activity of 

walking and looking. The images were produced from the 

mix of conversation, half formed intent, and the stimulus of 

being in new surroundings. Our active looking fed off the 

digital reproduction of that looking, and produced further 

iterations. 

Later that night, the photos were reviewed and sorted. We 

discussed the themes that were revealed and in what form 

they might be reproduced to start a "conversation" with 

our audience. We decided on a senes of seven AO black and 

white laser outputs. These posters had selections of the 

photographed Images, cropped and adjusted, along with 

clear areas and graphic prompts to encourage viewers to take 

part in the conversation and add comments. 

We encouraged direct response back into the work, adding 

clear space and providing pencils for viewers to add to the 

work. We hoped people would view the work and respond, 

continue the discussion we had started. We created a graphic 

space within which a community (of conference goers, mostly 

Brisbane based) might articulate itself; whether it be to that 

particular space and time; the conference; who they were; the 

place; or a response to our own response. 

8. Fears 

I had fears. I feared that I wasn't understanding the city 

correctly; what right had I to start the commentary, and did 

I know what I was talking about? I didn't know our audience; 

how would they read the work? I didn't really know what we 

were trying to do. I didn't know what sort of response we 

might get, we might get none at all. 

We were not in control the situation. As designers, we had 

handed over authorial control by inviting others to participate 

In the making of the work. I had never done this before. We 

hoped the project would be a success, but the environment 

(the stairwell, the conference club, the city of Brisbane) was 

unknown to us. We did not have the knowledge to control or 

predict it. It was one ofthe first times I had collaborated so 

completely on a project with another designer. There were a 

lot of new aspects to this work, I felt fearful, but being in a 

different town, with different people, at a conference, gave me 

the ability to live with the fear of failure and the risk ofdesign 

disaster. 

9. Project Intentions 

The stairwell series project, unbeknownst to us at the time, 

was caught in the nexus of current debate on what constitutes 

design knowledge and how it might be valued academically. 

Rosenberg (2006, p. 2) informs this debate in his recent analysis 

of the pressure for design research to conform to an existing 

academic model: 

The heart of the Western Knowledge Project is research. 

The purpose of research is to study the wodd (the Other), 

adequate the Other so that it may be understandable/ 

assayable in the court of the Same... and evolve theory 

through which one gains knowledge and control 

over the Other. Literally, put the Other In his, her or its 

place. 

Rosenberg criticizes the "Western Knowledge Project" for co- 

opting research into the task of gaining knowledge for the 

control ofthe Other. There is no doubt that in designing the 

stairwell series we had designeriy intention. We captured our 

response to the city through photography and the posters

were the articulation of that response. The formal element of 

encouraging audience participation was an untried device we 

felt might illuminate aspects of our research. We hoped that 

people would read the posters'themes and respond in kind, 

continuing the discussion we had started, adding their own 

points. 

It was only in retrospect, upon viewing the response we 

received, that it became clear to me how strong my designer's 

intention had been; that I had attempted to prescribe the 

response; that I had very clear Ideas of what I wished to receive 

back from the audience. 

We Invited people to view what we had to say and participate 

in that discussion. We acted as though we were chairing a 

meeting, or making a documentary; "could we get someone 

to say something interesting about a subject that we find 

interesting?"; "could we convince people to enter into the 

discursive space we have produced and perform for us?" 

Asking for performance was not our conscious intention, it 

Is only upon reflection that it became obvious how integral 

it was to the designerly intention; we wanted people to play 

our game, respond to our rhetoric, find our view interesting, 

perhaps even learn from the work. 

Our rhetoric v/as one of'add your voice to ours'. It appeared to 

be open, but in reality it was closed, we had already set the tone 

for the responses. We required people to surrender their own 

volition and tick our boxes, we would then, as designers, feel 

exonerated, feel that we had taught people to open their eyes, 

took at the world around them, and question their assumptions. 

We were not generous, we were not with our audience, we 

spoke down to them with our graphic rhetoric. 

The posters had narrative; they used graphic rhetoric to 

convey that narrative. The visual language of Communication 

Designers generally aims to speak with the rhetoric of 

knowing. It is this convincing rhetoric of knowing which acts 

to give a designed communication strength and clarity. The 

visual narrative appears clear and speaks with authority: 

'Be quiet; says the TV anchorman or the political 

representative, 'These are the facts. Here are the data, 

the circumstances, etc. Therefore you must...' Narrated 

reality constantly tells us what must be believed and 

what must be done. What can you oppose to the facts? 

You can only give in, and obey what they'signify'. Like 

an oracle, like the oracle of Delphi (De Certeau, 1984, 

p.186). 

That this authoritative narrative is a fiction, an argument 

through montage, is obvious upon analysis, but easily 

forgotten. It is in reflecting on this project that I start to 

understand that this designerly rhetoric of knowing can often 

serve to disallow both connection with audience and with the 

complexityof the world, both areas which the Keith and I were 

actually attempting to engage with. 

10. Response to the Project

When we saw the work after it had been added to, it was a 

shock.! was appalled. Our audience had not played our little 

game; they had scrawled tags, drawn doodles, wntten smutty 

comments, and most annoying to me of all, drawn back In 

some ofthe parts ofthe photos which we had removed. 

The audience to our work had "jammed" it; they had rejected 

our invitation for some self-satisfied pontificadon about urban 

renewal and had instead made the work their own. They 

owned it now, or at least the ownership had become truly 

shared. They intervened on our neat ideology and co-opted 

it. Their response was rude and raw, ugly and trashed, vain 

and provocative, a strong expression of individual egos fully a 

match for our own egotistical promptings. We had produced 

an attempt at control, by inviting participation we asked 

people to come under our control. They had rebelled against 

this attempted control and made their own statements. 

It is often the effect of participatory systems that they 

invite only a certain type of participation. The authors and 

producers of the work require a certain response. In creating 

the work, an imagined audience/participant is present in 

discussion and is required to produce the required response on 

request. As designers we are pulling the strings; the audience 

is dancing. This is a closed system, the designers know the 

response they require, all they wish to do is to receive it. It is 

not about the audience; it is about us, the authors of the work, 

and the producers of the communication. It is a single ticket 

ballot designed to give us a renewed mandate to create and 

express. 

11. Project as Disaster 

This project was a disaster in terms of our designeriy intentions; 

it did not work. We did not get the response that we were 

looking for. We failed to achieve the conversation we wanted 

to facilitate. We were insulted and the work was misconstrued 

and co-opted. It was a design disaster. 

This "disaster", however, led me to reflect on what had 

happened. Initially, I was shocked and then embarrassed; we 

had failed, we had been misunderstood and jeered at. Months 

later it started to reveal itself to me; through discourse with 

my peers, through un-packing of the process and results. In 

this period, the value of the project as practice-led-research 

started to become apparent and make itself heard. 

These aspects of the project and learning it yielded were not 

explicit when we put the posters on the wall. We truly felt we 

were experimenting with communication design work which 

invited and encouraged the articulation of the community 

within which it existed, we thought that we were providing an 

opportunity for people to speak and be heard. The reaction I 

had when I saw what had been added into our conversation 

was one of shock, embarrassment, the feeling of being 

misunderstood and of having failed. It was this reaction that 

revealed to me the underlying aspects of what we had been 

trying to achieve. 

We were "jammed"; our audience did not react as we asked, 

deliver what we requested and toe the line. It was, however.

to the benefit of our research that our project was a disaster. 

Once our audience intervened on our neatly designed system 

the conversation truly started, it was the audience who 

recognised that we had put forward a facade of consultation 

and conversation. While we had attempted to dispense our 

ideology through image, while pretending not to. 

As a design researcher, this project has been immensely 

valuable. It has proved a crucial element in my research. It 

has given me Insight that might not have come otherwise. De 

Certeau (1984, pxli) posits the meaning of cultural production 

not being in the object itself but in the use of that object by 

its audience: 

The presence and circulation of a representation... 

tells us nothing about what it is for its users. We must 

first analyze its manipulation by users who are not 

its mtakers. Only then can we gauge the difference or 

similarity between the production of the image and 

the secondary production hidden in the process of its 

utilisation. 

12. Conclusion 

I have discussed two things in this paper. First, the knowledge 

which this project produced, secondly the reasons the project 

produced that knowledge. 

This project allowed insights into the process of designing for 

audience. It brought Into question the underlying rhetoric and 

power-play which Is embodied In al! designed work. It brought 

the question of audience, and the rights of that audience Into 

prominence. The project did not provide answers to these 

questions, rather it made it obvious that these were important 

considerations to remain mindful of when considering design. 

As such, it provided an excellent early research tool and led 

onto further fruitful research. 

The reason this project was a valuable research project and a 

knowledge producing process, was that it was not controlled. 

We attempted control, but we were on uncertain ground, un 

knowing of our audience and uncertain of the techniques 

we used- This uncertainty led to much fear, however, due to 

the lack of time, and the exuberant nature of a conference. 

we did not remove the fear by proceeding along safer, more 

well-known routes. The fear and the uncertainty freed the 

project and allowed It to teach us something. The fear and 

uncertainty, and the disaster of the project, allowed it to be 

highly generative as a design research project. 

To revisit the initial quote and provocation, it Is only because 

we, as designers, did not have the knowledge to control the 

outcome, did not know enough to banish our fear of failure, 

did not know enough to gather the responses we thought 

we wanted, that the project worked as well as it did. It was 

through allowing ourselves to go into the unknown, to work 

without being in total control, that the project functioned fully 

as a research project: Creating new learning and knowledge. 

Revealing unexpected and unknown prejudices on our part. 

Revealing the dangers of thinking that you know what you 

are doing but actually doing something else. Revealing the 

insult of appearing to ask for participation but actually asking 

for mute agreement. Demonstrating the responsibility ofthe 

designer to truly respect the agency of their audience, and not 

speakforthem,or use them. Revealing that design is aboutthe 

people within which the design process takes place. Revealing 

that design is about the community within which the design 

takes effect. Revealing that design is not about the exercising 

ofthe designers ego, it Is about a conversation. Revealing that 

the idea ofa universal solution or that design is about so/uf/ons 

at all might be outdated and autocratic. Revealing to design Is 

to be situated in the difficult zone of contradiction, uncertainty 

and the unknown, and actively remain there.

In design research we may fear disaster,! would argue that it 

is sometimes in disaster, as it was with this project, that design 

research starts to be fruitful and to lead to new knowledge, 

knowledge that we don't already know. 

One last point about Emerson; he owned some forested land 

near a small lake called Walden Pond. He lent it to his fnend 

Henry Thoreau, who built a house and lived by the lake for 

over two years. Henry Thoreau gained the inspiration to write 

his classic treatise on human existence, Walden; Or, Life in the 

Woods. From his work comes the quote'The mass of men lead 

lives of quiet desperation' (Thoreau, T 854, p5). He deliberated 

on the true necessities of life, and wrote of the danger of 

taking another's knowledge to be true for oneself (Thoreau, 

1854, p7): 

Hippocrates has even left directions how we should 

cut our nails... Undoubtedly the very tedium and ennui 

which presume to have exhausted the vanety and the 

joys of life areas old as Adam. But man's capacities have 

never been measured; nor are we to judge of what he 

can do by any precedents, so little has been tried. 

Thoreau distrusted prescribed knowledge, he felt It as a 

limiting factor, it allowed his fellow humans the excuse to 

lazily remain in their own anguish. He was a provocateur, 

attempting to cajole the general population out of accepting 

their lot. He wrote his philosophy as narrative. He developed 

his own knowledge, based on his own experience, living in a 

hut of his own making, in the forest 

CERTEAU, MICHEL DE., 1984. The Practice of Everyday Life. 

Berkeley; California, USA. 

BARTHES, R., 1977. Image Music Text London; Fontana Press, 

DOUGLAS, M., (Ed.), 2004. Invention Intervention. Melbourne; 

RMIT University Press. 

DOWNTON, P., 2003. Design Research. Melbourne; RMIT 


ROSENBERG, T., 2006. Designs On Critical Practice? Reflections 

on Creativity Conference; Dundee, Scotland In April 2006. 

(Publication pending). 

THOREAU, H.D., 1854, Walden; Or, Life in the Woods. Ticknor 

and Fields: Boston. (Cited Edition: DoverThrift Editions, 1995).

D A R W I N I A N C H A N G E : D E S I G N F R D M D I S A S T E R 

John Z. Langrish 

Professor of Design Research, Salford University, 

UK 

jiangrish@aol.com 

1. 

The vyorld around us is full of surprises. Both the natural 

and the artificial environments are full of unanticipated 

consequences. Really bad surprises are called disasters but 

they can somerimes end up with some good consequences 

- the Rainbow effect. 

This paper goes beyond the simple idea that disasters (both in 

nature and in human affairs) can somerimes have posirive side 

effects. It claims that disasters are an important requirement 

for the emergence of design In complex systems. 

We are not as clever as we like to think we are. Good design, 

rarionality, science, intenrionality, understanding etc. do NOT 

produce a better worid for us to live in. The worids of nature 

and of human affairs consist of complex systems with so many 

different variables and interactions that they are impossible 

to model and predict. The conrinued arrival of disasters Is 

evidence that we are not in control of events. 

The only known way thatthe appearance ofdesign can emerge 

in a complex system is via what Charies Darwin called 'descent 

with modification under the influence of natural selection'. 

(This is not the same as'survival ofthe fittest'- a term first used 

by Herbert Spencer whose ideas are srill causing confusion 

about'evolution'). 

Natural selection is not the'ca use'of anything - it is a filter that 

allows things that fit to have a chance of leading to something 

'better'after further descent with modificarion. 

This process of Darwinian change can, however, 'get stuck'. 

There are periods of what Gould called 'stasis' and what Elster 

calls 'local maxima' in which things have changed as much 

as they can and further changes are eliminated by the filter 

of natural selection. One way of escaping from such a trap is 

through a disaster that either alters the 'rules' of seiecrion or 

clears the way for something that Is there already to occupy 

the vacant space. This means that disaster can lead to events 

that otherwise would not have happened - the rainbow 

effect. 

2. Two examples of the Rainbow Effect 

Two examples illustrate this effect-one from biology and one 

from human society. 

Disasters In the form of exrincrions are crucial in biology. The 

first known dinosaurs appeared about 230-225 million years 

ago, in the late Triassic Period, following a major extinction 

of species. They lasted for nearly two hundred million years 

before another major extinction got rid of about a third of all 

animal species including most dinosaurs. This was a disaster 

for them but It was a blessing for those mammals that were 

around then because it allowed them to stop hiding under 

the ground and start the process that eventually turned up 

with us (Whether our arrival on the planet was a blessing or 

another disaster remains to be seen). During their long time 

on earth, the dinosaurs managed to produce a great variety of 

different species but they were srill stuck with being dinosaurs 

(though itis possible that an eariy species led to a side channel

that became the birds). From the perspective of an extra 

galactic observer looking for the emergence of intelligence, 

the dinosaurs were stuck in a local maximum; you could not 

get from them to an animal with intelligence. Mammals were 

also stuck ~ they had to stay small, hiding under the ground 

to avoid being eaten and only emerging at nighttime. It was 

not until the dinosaurs had met their disaster that the way was 

free for mammals to emerge - in both meanings ofthe word. 

An example from human affairs in Greece is provided by 

the events of 1922. Following the war between Greece and 

Turkey, the two governments agreed on what they called 

a population exchange, which in modern terms might be 

described as ethnic cleansing. Greek Muslims were shipped 

across the Aegean to Turkey and some one and a half million 

refugees whose way of life had been destroyed were shipped 

in the opposite direction. At first, this was seen as a disaster 

both by those forced to leave their homes and by the country 

that had to receive them. Major social problems and political 

instability accompanied this disruption. And yet, there was a 

rainbow effect. According to Yagou (2007), "the local economy 

was invigorated by the often skilled and relatively cheap 

labour provided by the refugees." As Clark (2007) puts it, 

modern Greece (and Turkey) were'forged'in the expulsions. 

Prior to this event, Greece had been trapped in a local 

maximum. Anyone attempting to design and manufacture 

a new product would have found that natural selection was 

preserving the status quo. It took a disaster to change the ruies 

of selection. According to Gallant (2001}, between 1924 and 

1930 Greece witnessed its highest level of industrialisation 

up until that time. There were other spin-offs. The growth of 

a prosperous construction industry made it easier for Greeks 

to move from the country to the city. This was accompanied 

by innovation in architecture and in the design of fittings for 

living spaces as discussed in Yagou (2007). 

3, Creative Destruction. 

The economist, Joseph Schumpeter who coined the phrase, 

'gale of creative destruction', recognized the importance of 

disasters in human affairs. In particular, he saw technological 

change wiping out old ways of life and creating new ones as 

shown in the following extract: 

The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, 

and the organizational development from the craft 

shop and factory to such concerns as U.S. Steel illustrate 

the same process of industrial mutation - if I may use 

that biological term - that incessantly revolutionizes 

the economic structure from within, incessantly 

destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one. 

This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact 

about capitalism. It is what capitalism consists in and 

what every capitalist concern has got to live in... 

Every piece of business strategy acquires its true 

significance oniy against the background of that 

process and within the situation created by it. It must 

be seen in its role in the perennial gale of creative 

destruction (Schumpeter, 1942, p. 83). 

The extract above is noteworthy not just for its use of'creative 

destruction' but also for its use of a biological analogy 

- 'industrial mutation'. Despite this borrowing from biology, 

Schumpeter's evolutionism was not the same as that proposed 

by Charles Darwin (1859), Schumpeter belongs to a different 

tradition. The 'creative' part of his phrase is borrowed from 

Bergson's'Creative Evolution'and Bergson was influenced by 

Herbert Spencer. The Schumpeter, Bergson, Spencer tradition 

sees evolution being propelled by an inner drive' (In Bergson's 

case, an 'elan vital'). It also sees it as being 'incessantly creatlng. 

This is quite different from Darwin's natural selection. 

Darwin did NOT discover 'evolution' Many people before 

him, including his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had ideas 

about the 'transformation' or 'transmutation', of one species 

into another. Charles Darwin's contribution was to propose a 

mechanism to describe how this transformation took piace. 

His mechanism combines modified descent with natural 

selection. Variations are produced by chance during modified 

descent and then subjected to natural seiecrion, described in 

Darwin's own words: 

It may metaphorically be said that natural selection is 

daily and hourly scrutinising, throughout the worid, 

the slightest variations; rejecting those that are bad,

preserving and adding up all that are good" (Origin 6th 

Ed, p. 60). 

(The word 'metaphorically' was added to later editions of 

'Origin' to counter the idea that you cannot have selection 

without a selector) 

The process of'adding up all that are good'is what gives rise to 

the appearance of design in nature. Darwin's natural selection 

is not internalist; it is a filter not a force and Darwinian change 

is not incessant; it can seem to stop at local maxima. As Darwin 

put it, 

A number of species, however, keeping in a body might 

remain foi a long penod unchanged, whilst within the 

same period, several of these species by migrating 

Into new countries and coming into competition with 

foreign associates might become modified (1859 1st 

ed p. 367). 

in modern terms, this short quote means that a group of 

species may reach an equilibrium that prevents any further 

large changes but one way out of this local maximum Is to 

move somewhere else where the equilibrium does not exist. 

Another way out is for a disaster to get nd of some of the 

species and so destroy the equilibrium. 

5. Natural Selection andTeclinologicai Change. 

Sundt was one of the first writers to spot that Darwin's ideas 

worked for technological change as well as for biology. 

Eilert Sundt, a Norwegian sociologist, visited Darwin in 1862, 

three years after the publication of'Origin' (Darwin 1859). 

Sundt then wrote an interesting paper but unfortunately for 

us, he wrote In Norwegian. Jon Elster (1983), a historian at the 

University of Oslo has translated Sundt and gives an account 

of what he describes as Sundt's 'quasi-Darwinian model of 

technical change'. Sundt's account of change in methods of 

building is; 

Even when people who set up new buildings did not 

Intend to deviate from custom in anyway, it could easily 

happen that some small variation arose. This would 

then be accidental. What was not accidental, however, 

is that inhabitants of the house and the neighbours 

should perceive the variations and form an opinion as 

to their advantages and inconveniences. And It is then 

not at all surprising that when someone later wanted 

to set up a new house, he would carefully choose that 

house to/m/föfe which seemed to him most useful. And 

when the idea of improvement in a definite direction 

had first emerged, someone more clever could then 

take a further step and actually envisage and carry out 

another improvement. 

From Elster (1983) p. 136-7, Elster's italics. 

Sundt has a similar account of shipbuilding, involving 

accidental changes, perceived improvements, choice etc. 

leading to the idea that there could be a stopping point. 

When the idea of new and improved forms had first been 

aroused, then a long series of prudent experiments, 

each involving extremely small changes, could lead to 

the happy result that from the boat constructor's shed 

there emerged a boat whose like all would desire. 

This gradual series of changes comes to a stop when, "Each 

kind of improvement has progressed to the point where 

further developments would entail defects that would more 

than offset the advantage". 

Elster describes this approach as leading to local maxima 

which have the problem that they can not be further improved 

without going through some kind of radical change or by 

becoming worse in orderto become better in a different way. 

One answer to the problem of local maxima is the concept that 

evolurion happens somewhere else, as suggested by Darwin 

in the quote given above. 

Anotheranswertothis problem is the requirementfor a change 

in the 'rules' of competition. People choose what to imitate 

and the reasons for their choice can often change. When this 

happens, a local maximum ceases to be the optimum and Is 

replaced by something else. Ifthe changes are large enough, 

the consequences can be seen as a disaster - at least to those 

who benefited from the previous rules.

6. Wars and Change 

Change following the war between Greece and Turkey is but 

one example of the effects ofa war. Various writers have noted 

the analogy between war and biological extinction. 

For example, Michae! Boulter, a palaeobiologist who specialises 

in extinction, claims that the events after the extinction ofthe 

dinosaurs are 

not unlike the upturn of the Western economies after 

the Second World War ~ hesitation to reaccllmatise at 

the beginning, then a surge in diversification to reach 

new highs (Boulter, 2002, p. 12). 

Historian Mark Mazower (1998) claims 

Modern democracy, like the nation-state it is so 

closely associated with, is basically the product ofthe 

protracted domestic and international experimentation 

which followed the collapse of the old European order 

in 1914(1998, Preface, p. ix). 

Mazower quotes the Czech politician Thomas Masaryk as 

saying that the First World War turned Europe into'a laboratory 

atop a vast grave yard'. It was a 'laboratory'in which three rival 

ideologies - Communism, Fascism and liberal democracy - 

were tried as replacements for the extinct 'dinosaurs' ie four 

empires that had been swept away. These were the Ottoman, 

Habsburg Austro Hungarian, Tsarist and the Hohenzollern 

German empires. The graveyard included over eight million 

people killed in action. 

7, Analogy or Real Similarity? 

The time period when the dinosaurs were flourishing is 

bracketed by two major extinction events. Both involved 

the removal of many species and their replacement by what 

seemed to be an explosion of new forms. (The basic building 

blocks for these new forms already existed. New things don't 

just spring into being). As quoted above. Boulter compares 

this with events after the Second World War. Is this comparison 

just a poetic analogy or is there some significant similarity 

between biological and societal events? 

There are three important similarities: 

1. The biological world and the worlds of politics, economics 

and technical change are all worlds of incredible complexity. 

A wide variety of forms exists, competes and is copied if 

successful. 

2.The only way in which a complex system can change without 

being destroyed is by a Darwinian process, which is capable of 

coming to rest at a local maximum or equilibrium. 

3. Disasters are one way of escaping from such a resting place. 

The major apparent difference between the two is human 

intentionality. Biological change has no foresight. Living 

things have the appearance ofdesign but there is no designer. 

The appearance of design is generated by random changes 

followed by non-random selection and further iterations 

covering long time periods. 

Animals have to strive in order to survive. Human striving 

has conscious intentionality but it is still a Darwinian process 

because there is no way of knowing the best thing to strive for 

and outcomes are uncertain. 

8. Synthetic Rubber and World War 11 

The story of rubber and what happened when the Japanese 

took over the rubber plantations provides examples of the 

points made above. 

By 1940, it was obvious that the American way of life rested 

on rubber, in the form of automobile tyres. The rubber came 

from trees grown in what is now Malaysia and the major US 

tyre manufacturers owned plantations there. In the UK, tyre 

manufacturers relied on the British ownership ofthe majority of 

the plantations which had been founded by British enterprise, 

involving the expertise of Kew Gardens in finding how to grow 

rubber plants obtained from Brazil (where they grew naturally) 

and then sending them round the British empire to find where 

they would grow without the use of greenhouses. 

By the time of the First World War, the British had a steady, low 

priced, supply of plantation rubber to replace the wild rubber 

from Brazil and other parts of the world.

So by 1940, in those parts ofthe worid with access to plantation 

rubber there was a local maximum type of equilibnum. The 

price of rubber fluctuated but there was no incentive to look 

for new sources. 

All this was destroyed by the Japanese take over of the 

plantations. In 1941, the US strategic materials committee 

raised the alarm.The Japanese take over of rubber was a worse 

disaster than Pearl Harbour. It threatened the entire American 

way of life. 

The way was clear for some new source of supply of rubber 

for tyres (and many other things). With American enthusiasm 

and government money from the Federal Reserve Bank, five 

possible ways of obtaining rubber were explored. These were: 

1. Send a team with a lot of money to Brazil to see If the supply 

of wild rubber could be re-established. The team and the 

money were never seen again. 

2. Could rubber be grown in the USA? The answer was 'NO!' 

3. Recycle old tyres. The American public was cajoled into 

extracting all those old tyres lying around in fields and the 

backs of houses. But reclaim rubber could only be used when 

mixed with new rubber. 

4. Ask the scientists. The best they could come up with was 

silicone rubber which had a few specialist applications but 

was useless for tyres. 

5. Ask industry. Dupont was able to point out that they 

manufactured a synthetic rubber, Duprene, which had been 

developed because of Its oil-resistant properties. It was used 

in seals, gaskets etc but was expensive and not much use for 

tyres. 

The disaster was finally averted by some German know- 

how. This is an example of Darwinian change taking place 

'somewhere else' (as In the above quote from Darwin). In the 

1930s, under a Nazi government, thinking of war, German 

industry had been encouraged to develop a synthetic rubber 

made from butadiene with a sodium (Na) catalyst - hence 

the name Buna rubber. This process had been discovered by 

Manchester chemists who set up a factory in 1912 but had 

to give up because the new plantation rubber was selling in 

London for about one tenth of the price of their syntheric 

rubber. 

In Germany, an import tax on plantation rubber changed the 

rules of competition in favour of Buna rubber synthesised by 

the German chemical industry. The German know how had 

arrived in the USA via an exchange of patent information and 

Buna rubber became the way to save the American way of 

life. 

However, Industry protested that it would taketine and money 

to get Buna into production. So the government decided to 

do things themselves under wartime powers. Government 

funded factories produced GR-B ie Government Rubber from 

Butadiene (They also produced GR-S from Styrene). This 

was done very successfully and within two years, the tyre 

manufacturers were supplying the needs of both the civil 

population and the war effort. This was achieved in the land of 

the free and belief in hands-off government. 

After the war, the US government was embarrassed to find 

Itself owning manufacturing Industry(socialism-shockhorror) 

and the rubber producers were quickly privatised. In Canada, 

with a more relaxed attitude, the government supported its 

own rubber producer, Uniroyal, which continued to produce 

synthetic chemicals successfully - including a herbicide used 

bythe Americans in Vietnam. 

Syntheric rubber had now been released from the trap of 

being far more expensive than natural rubber. With the new 

oil-based chemical industry supplying materials, a host of 

diverse new products became available; but in this case 

the old material, natural rubber, did not disappear and still 

occupies its own niche alongside the synthetics. 

9. Design 

Some readers may have wondered what the synthetic rubber 

story has to do with design. If so, they have a too narrow 

concept of design and designers. Bruce Archer, discussing 

designers, claimed 

Ifthe subject matter is a machine, the designer will be 

an engineer. If it is say furniture, the designer may be 

an industrial designer. But if the subject İsa detergent, 

the designer may be an industrial chemist (Archer, 

1974, p. 9).

Thousands of individual chemists, engineers, rubber 

technologists, politicians, managers etc were involved in 

developing and manufacturing a new raw material for tyres. 

This shows a similarity with biological change. The geneticist, 

Theodosius Dobzhansky helped lay the foundations of 

evolutionary biology through his work on fruit flies in the 

1930s. He claimed (1937) 

Experience seems to show that there Is no way toward 

an understanding of the mechanisms of macro- 

evolutionary changes, which require time on a geological 

scale other than through a full comprehension of the 

micro-evolutionary processes observable within the 

span ofa human lifetime and often controlled by man's 

will (Dobzhansky, 1937, p. 12). 

Dobzhansky used the metaphor of 'fitness peaks' but he 

thought that changes in gene populations were capable 

of explaining how to get from one peak to another. As Ruse 

(1999) points out, the idea that the macro could be explained 

by the micro has been resisted by palaeontologists who use 

fossils as evidence for thinking about macro change. Their 

sense of importance and need for funding was not going to 

let geneticists tell the entire story. In particular, the rise of 

new species was not just a matter of slow accumulation of 

improvements; it needed something else. 

Changes in gene populations or in human design specifications 

cangettrapped in circumstancesthatpreventthemfrom being 

utilised. For genotypes stuck in a local maximum there are two 

ways out - disaster and 'evolution happens somewhere else'. 

For human design, there Is a third possibility, that is changing 

the rules of competition as happened when the German 

government imposed an import tax to make natural rubber 

more expensive. This alternative of intentionally changing 

things does not guarantee any sort of progress; it could be 

argued that the German success in developing a synthetic 

rubber industry helped to make war more possible. 

10. Some Lessons. 

Some lessons for people who make decisions about the 

nature of artefacts and their manufacture can be discerned. 

These are: 

1. Some humility is needed. There is no way of predicting the 

future of a complex system and there Is no way of knowing 

what will be 'better'. The people who made decisions about 

Concorde believed that a faster aircraft must be 'better'. But 

the rules of competition changed and Concorde is no more. 

This, of course, does not stop people from striving. 

2. Go for variety. Those countries with a Ministry of education 

deciding what all its schools will teach are ignoring the facts 

that there is no way of knowing what is best and that a variety 

of knowledge like a variety of genes is the best form of defence 

against an uncertain future. Old wisdom like not putting all 

your eggs In one basket is applicable. 

3. You cannot change the world through designing. You 

have to wait until the rules change. The aims of sustainability 

and preventing climate change require us to escape from 

our present global trap of dependence on oil, Government 

tax incentives could help but unfortunately it might take a 

disaster to really change things. When London is flooded, 

things will change. If this happens, there will be no time to 

develop new things. They are there already like the mammals 

hiding underground or the know how for Buna Rubber filed 

away in America, 

In the 1930s, before the Arab oilfields were discovered, it 

looked as though oil would run out. Many ways of using solar 

energy were investigated and are still around. Let us hope that 

it will not take a disaster to make us use them. 

A fuller discussion of Darwinian design, involving the use 

of memes (replicating ideas) is provided in Langrish 2004. A 

good summary of many of the issues involved in evolution 

and design practice has recently been provided by Jennifer 

Whyte (2007).

Archer L B. 1974."Design Awareness and Planned Creativity in 

Industry - Translated from the French, Design Council, p. 9. 

Boulter, M. 2002. Extinction: Evolution and the End of Man. 

London: Fourth Estate. 

Dobzhansky, T. 1937. Genetics and the Origin of Species. N Y: 

Columbia UP 

Clark, Bruce. 2007. Twice a Strangen How Mass Expulsion 

Forged Modern Greece and Turkey. Granta. 

Darwin, C. 1859. On the Ongin of Species by Means of Natural 

Selection. London: J Murray. 6th ed reprint 1910. 

Elster, J. 1983. Explaining Technical Change. Cambridge: UP. 

Gallant T. W. 2001. Modern Greece. London: Arnold, pp. 135 

-159. 

Langrish J. Z. 2004. "Darwinian Desİgn;The Memetic Evolution 

of Design Ideas," Design Issues 20:4, p. 4-19. 

Mazower, M. 1998. Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth 

Century. London: Penguin. 

Ruse, M. 1999. Mystery of Mystenes: Is Evolution a Social 

Construction? Harvard U P. 

Schumpeter, J . A. 1942. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. 

NewYork: Harper. 

Whyte, J. 2007. "Evolutionary Theories and Design Practices". 

Design Issues: Volume 23, Number 2, p. 46-54. 

Yagou, A. 2007. "City Lights: A detail of Greek Interwar 

Modernism." Design Issues Vol 23, p. 18 - 28.

T H E I N V I S I B L E S H A D E S D F D I S O R D E R 

Raja Mohanty 

Industrial Design Centre 

IIT Bombay, Mumbal 

INDIA 

rajam@iltb.ac.ln 

Abstract 

Design, in contemporary times, arose In the West as a 

humanizing response to the rapid industnalization. in its 

initial movements, it appeared as the Art Noveau' movement 

and at Bauhaus^ and later at the Ulm school in Germany;a 

few/ decades later it appeared as the spirit of Innovation 

and entrepreneurship that characterized mid-nineteenth 

century America.These approaches were key influences in the 

formative years of design education and practice in India.- 

Unlike modernism that was characterized by a search for 

universal truths,'' the post-modern critique^ suggested that 

globalization led to a pluralistic global society that was 

without a dominant center of political power, or intellectual 

capital; the postmodern view was inclined to subjective 

knowledge as the dominant form of discourse. Thus notions 

of design that had characterized the modernist era with Its 

emphasis on objectivity and universally applicable ideas of 

' Art Nouveau was not just a mere style; it was a way of thinking 

about modem society and new production methods. It attempted to 

redefine the meaning and nature ofthe work of art. 

Ône ofthe main objectives of the Bauhaus was to unify art, craft, 

and technology. 

^ The American Designer Charles Eames was invited by the 

Government of India to formulate an approach to design studies in 

India. The 'India Report' drafted by Eames led to the establishment 

of the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad. The Industrial 

Design Centre at IIT Bombay, was modeled on the lines of the Ulm 

School in Germany. The IIT's were envisaged as premier institutions 

for scientific research and technology, by the Government of India, 

keen to usher in a spirit of modern-scientific inquiry. 

aesthetics underwent changes that sought to reflect the 'local 

in the global.' 

Globalization is a relatively new phenomenon the Implications 

of which are yet to be understood. Just as the critique of 

colonialism and modernity problematized the power-relations 

inherent in its mapping of the'other', a critique of globalization 

Is likely to throw up Its own set of questions.^ 

'Both "modernity" and "post-modernity" are used in a bewildering 

number of ways. But "modernity usually means the set of events 

that were set in motion with the Enlightenment, from Descartes to 

Locke to Kant, and the concomitant technological developments, 

which moved from feudal agrarian with a mythic woridview to 

industrialization and a rational woridview. And"postmodernity"usually 

means, in the broadest sense the wliole sweep of post-Enlightenment 

developments, which also inckides post-industrial developments.' 

Wiiber Ken, A Brief History of Everything, Dublin, Gateway, 2001, p. 48. 

^'The demand of postmoderntty.Tlie demand of an integral view. This 

does not mean that everything called "postmodern" is an attempt at 

this integration. Much of postmodern thought is extremist, nihilistic, 

narcissistic. But the more authentic currents of postmodernity, as I 

use the term-from Hegel to Heidegger to Habermans to Foucault to 

Taylor-are trying to get some balance back into the picture, largely 

trying to honor science and morals and aesthetics equally, and not 

simply reduce one to the other in an orgy of theoretical violence.' 

Wiiber Ken, A Brief History of Everything, Dublin, Gateway 2001, p.l 20. 

^Though the post-modern critique did question notionsof intellectual 

property'and 'authorship' it is not yet clear whether cultural plurality 

is truly synergistic and not a new form of colonization that takes 

place in the virtual domain.

Has design become a self-serving discipline that is deeply 

subservient to the belief that technology is the only key 

to some of the crisis^ that face us today? This paper outlines 

some ofthe invisible shades of disorder that face us today and 

introduces integral approaches^ that seek to understand the 

human condition atthe beginning ofthe twenty-first century. 

A bronze sculpture of Nataraja, symbolizing the god Shiva 

dancing with disorder. 

Introduction: interpreting 'Design' 

'Design' is used to suggest very diverse pursuits, and before 

getting into the main body of the paper, it would be useful to 

' Jiddu Krishnamurti suggests that contemporary civilizations 

have made enormous strides in ensuring material prosperity, but 

psychologically remain at a primitive stage of development. 

^ In particular we look at views in this regard by Sri Aurobindo and 

KenWilber. 

Aurobindo Ghose was born on 15th August 1872, in Calcutta, India, and 

went to Cambridge for his education when he was just seven. Soon after 

returning he joined the movement for Indian independence. Tough 

arrested in 1908, for the possession of weapons, he was acquitted and 

spent the last 40 years of his life working in Pondicherry for the goal of 

bringing about a new spiritual consciousness. He came to be known as 

Sri Aurobindo and tenned his approach as "Integral Yoga"; unlike earlier 

Yogi's he held that yoga and spirituality need not involve retreating from 

the world, 

Kenneth Wilber was born on 31st January, 1949, at Oklahoma City, USA. 

He Works outside the academic mainstream and is an American integral 

thinker who draws upon the disciplines of diverse disciplines: from science 

andsystemsiheoiytopsychologysociology, philosophy, postmodernism, 

and spirituality - to develop an 'integral theory of consciousness. 

outline what it implies in this case. Broadly, the word 'design' 

suggests intent and awareness. Thus a gardener shaping a bush 

in a garden to makea'bush-sculpture'i5designing;anartlstwhoİ5 

contemplating the delineation of space on a canvas Is designing; 

a scientific researcher planning a new integrated circuit-board is 

designing; a cook, carving a pineapple for a salad is designing; 

an automobile designer working with industrial clay for a new 

model is designing. Of all these examples, it is the last one that is 

closest to the senseof the word'design'as used in this paper. 

To spell out the interpretation, the word 'design' refers not just 

to a professional activity - for that would apply equally well 

to the gardener, the artist, the scientist or the cook - it is also 

suggested exclusivity. That is to say, the usage of the words 

'design' and 'designers; often (implicitly) suggests an exclusive 

activity that is uniqueand differentfrom other professions. Thus 

one may observe that while there are many who may claim to 

be designers, it is actually'deslgners'who designP 

The strength ofthe design approach, lay in its avowed intenfion to 

be a holistic discipline - a characteristic that was evident at Bauhaus 

that soughtto bring togethercraft persons and artists in an attempt 

to develop broad-based responses to societal needs; and it was 

true for design as a reformative movement in its early years when 

other specialized disciplines (in particular science and technology) 

were being pursued as water-tight compartments - very often 

distanced from the social milieu in which they worked. In such a 

scenario, the spirit of integration came as a breath of fresh air. 

With the passage of time, when the initial euphoria of 

suggesting a 'design-synthesls'had diminished, the spirit within 

design seemed to ossify, and the discipline of design began 

to transform into a profession and a specialized field of study, 

called design with capital letters and manifested as designer 

labels and designer brands. 

^Though design began as an inter-disciplinary field, and still lays claim 

to this, one encounters the need amongst them to also claim to be 

an approach that is unique. While such posturing can be understood 

of a new discipline that seeking to connection other disciplines 

- and hence regard itself as interdisciplinary, to claim exclusivity 

undermines its strength. One cannot lay claims of ownership to the 

bridge one builds by connecting others.

And like any other field of study, design too started developing 

its inner logic and subdividing into 'specialized design 

studies' - and thus one got to hear of product designers, and 

then fashion designers, graphic designers, typographers, 

communication designers, graphic user-interface designers, 

web designers, user-experience designers, human-computer 

interface designers, animation designers, automobile 

designers, and even emotional designers! The vitality that 

was very much apparent in the reaction to the facelessness of 

industrialization began to lose some of Its youthful vigour, as 

it became a mainstream occupation in its own right.'" 

The Global Faces of Design 

If one seeks to understand the nature of design activity in the 

world today, one would visualize it a little differently depending on 

where one came from - geographically, economically, politically 

and indeed philosophically. 

Varying Interpretations on accountofgeography, would perhaps 

be notions of 'design as cutting-edge ideas, materials and 

technologies' In America; ofdesign as a tool for empowerment' 

in Bangladesh; of design as 'craft-interventions In India and 

China' and of design as a economic tool In Korea'. Clearly, the 

situarions we encounter today are Indeed complex and one 

needs to proceed with utmost sensirivity; for any obvious 

stereotyping," might take away from the understanding that 

is being attempted. 

Viewed with the cold logic ofthe marketplace, India (and Asia) 

does appear as a place for cheap skilled labour {and some of 

the skill is in the intellectual domain of software). This Is what 

has largely led to the inflow of Investment from mulri-natlonals 

and shaped the new design curriculums in design schools in 

Perhaps such a transformation is an inescapable outcome of a fresh 

innovation slowly becoming a tradition that can now afford to reflect on 

itself This self-reflectivity that characterizes other fields that have slowly 

developed a history is also apparent in the new opportunities for'design- 

research; In its younger days, research was implicit to the act ofdesign, 

" The Indian diaspora has actively sought to re-position India as a 

hub for design and cliange the perception that India is to be viewed 

as a source of'cheap skilled labour'. 

India.To a certain degree, the growth ofthe Indian middle class 

and its increasing power to purchase has also resulted in a spurt 

of design activity and design schools. However, the emerging 

situarion Is not without its Inner tensions and conflicts. 

For instance, the open work culture In multi-nationals Is often 

far more attracrive to the labour-force than the feudal-mindset 

that srill characterizes some of the national organizarions. 

The entry of primarily capitalistic forces has reshaped the 

Indian mentality to labour and addressed inequities In the 

highly regimented societal structure. It has altered the eariier 

conservarive attitude prevalent amongst the middle classes 

to risk-taking, entrepreneurship and wealth creation. It Is 

to an extent that weathered the criticism on profit-making 

institutions such as multi-narionals cannot be philanthropic. 

Indeed, many of the multi-narionals have human resource 

development very high on their agendas with policies that 

spell out various aspects of work ethics with a transparency 

that was seldom encountered before. Yet, it cannot be denied 

that without making huge profits, they cannot possibly afford 

to pay the kind of remunerations they offer to the 'cheaply- 

available' labour force; and one of the principles latent in 

mulri-narionalism the flow of capital to places where labour 

is 'relatively-cheap'. Not everything that one witnesses in the 

age of globalizarion is praiseworthy. 

In a sense, these paradoxes are not peculiar to our age and rime. 

What was eariier the cold war between the communists and the 

capitalists, is now the mutual disregard between nationalistic 

and multi-narionallsric sentiments; though at times one does 

get the impression that some invisible juggernaut is in the 

process of bulldozing all dissent and flattening alternate voices 

that quesrion the march of globalism.'^ 

'^ One may observe that it took a few centuries for the modernist 

spirit {that can be traced back to the Enlightenment in Europe) to 

find its full expression and another coupie of centuries for a critique 

of modernism to appear. Indeed the logical conclusion to the 

application of rationality had its darker manifestation in the holocaust; 

and the birth of existentialism expressed eloquently by Sartre, Kafka, 

Camus symbolized the critique of modernity. A thorough critique of 

globalism might well take its own time to develop.

A global picture of the world at this point presents, as always, a 

multi-layered view of people and cultures that have aspects that 

are indicative of new transformations in languages, habits and 

lifestyles. One may observe that never before has the world been 

one community as it is today, and yet such an observation does 

gloss over the increasing divergences and rigidities that have also 

crept into world-views. It might seem that the ease of travel and 

thespread of tourism would help people understand one another 

better; yet it is also true that the highly polarized stances with 

constructs such as "axis of evil" are reminiscent ofthe excesses of 

an eadier era that victimized certain groups of people on the basis 

of their ethnicity. The polarization is not just between America and 

the Islamic world - one observes Incidents of'ethnic cleansing'all 

over - in Europe, as well as in India - thereby suggesting that the 

'transformations' brought about by the global age may at best 

be superficial movements, bereft of true understanding and 

genuine compassion. The words ofthe eminent historian of our 

times, Arnold Toynbee are noteworthy.'^ 

The critique of globalization is likely to include questions about the 

natureofprogressanddevelopment;aboutthenatureoftechnology 

and design; and at its root, the nature ofthe mindset that drives and 

shapes these. The disorder''* and the dualities that one witnesses, 

leads one to regard the nature of power itself, as the subject of a 

'^'But why study history at all? ...Within the last five hundred years, 

the whole face ofthe globe, together with its air envelope, has been 

knit together physically by the amazing advance of technology, but 

mankind has not yet been united politically, and we are still strangers 

to each other in our local ways of life, which we have inherited from 

the times before the recent'annihilation of distance'. This is a terribly 

dangerous situation. The two World Wars and the present worldwide 

anxiety, frustration, tension and violence tell the tale. Mankind is 

surely going to destroy itself unless it succeeds in growing together 

into something like a single family. For this, we must become familiar 

with each other's history, since Man does not live just In the immediate 

present. We live in a mental time-stream, remembering the past and 

looking forward - with hope or with fear - to an oncoming future.' 

Toynbee Arnold, A Study Of History, Singapore, OUP, Thames and 

Hudson, 1972, (see Foreword to the abridged edition). 

''^ 'On one hand we face a political and economic crisis and on the 

other, a demographic and ecological crisis.' 

Huxley Aldous, Essays of Aldous Huxley, India, Macmillan, 1973, p.77. 

critique,'^ One must necessarily lean to a more philosophical attempt 

at understanding the relationship between disorder and design. 

Order and Disorder 

Order emerges from disorder and in turn is swallowed by a new 

order. Cyclical and evolutionary theorists shall continue to debate, 

much in the manner of Candlde and Pangloss in Voltaire's satirical 

take on the Enlightenment'^ In seventeenth century Europe. The 

metaphor of the universe as a set of eggs continually turning 

inside-out without breaking," suggests a sense of some Invisible 

order underlying the visible chaos ofthe cosmos in Its minute and 

magnificent manifestations. Perhaps each age creates Its own 

order that includes the order that was perceived by an earlier age 

- though it is likely that an earlier age also contains within it the 

potential of all its future fulfillment. In the contemporary age, that 

we tend to associate orderwith reason and ratİonalİty;and disorder 

with all that was irrational. However, it has been acknowledged 

that some of what appears as'irrational'to the logical eye, when 

viewed from an alternate frame of reference, may contain truths 

belonging to realms that surpass reason.'^ 

'^ 'A small rapacious class feeds unsatiated on the misery of millions' 

S. Shankar, The Enemy Within, 1996. 

'Enlightenment in general served many useful and extraordinary 

purposes. We might mention, the rise of democracy; the banishing of 

slavery; the emergence of liberal feminism; the widespread emergence 

of empirical sciences, including the systems sdences and the ecological 

sciences; an increase in average life-span of almost three decades; the 

introduction of relativity and perspectivism in art and moral and science; 

the move from ethnocentric to world centric morality; and in general the 

undoing of dominator sodal hierarchies in numerous ways. Wilber Ken, A 

Brief History of Everything, Dublin, Gateway, 2001, p. 63. 

'^ A metaphor suggested by poet and storyteller, W.B.Yeats. 

' ^ It (evolution) is always struggling to establish new limits, and then struggling 

just as hard to breakthem, to transcend them, to move beyond them into more 

encompassing and integrative and holistic modes. And where the traditional 

sex roles of male and female were once perfealy necessary and appropriate, 

they are today becoming increasingly narrow, outmoded and cramped. And 

so both men and women are struggling for ways to transcend their old roles, 

without - and this is the tricky part - without simply erasing them. Evolution 

always transcends and includes, incorporates and goes beyond. Wilber Ken, A 

Brief History of Everything, Dublin, Gateway, 2001, p. 5.

The Buddhist notion of compassion (which is also a tenet ofthe 

other religions as well) may be regarded as one such realm. For 

instance, the difficulty ofthe rational age to come to terms with 

the issue of capital punishment,'^ is negotiated in an entirely 

different manner when one is willing to include compassion as 

the basis for the organization of life. The technique of encoding 

subtle wodd-views into stories, suggests thatthe seeds of higher 

realizations are already present in the efforts of saints who lived 

several centuries before. An attempt at understanding some 

ofthese ideas by contemporary mystics and philosophers will 

open up doors of perception invisible to the linear order of the 

rational age. Thus what appears disordered deserves scrutiny, 

lest one miss the invisible order embodied in it. 

Order: The Age of Reason 

The birth of science shook the foundations of religion. The 

'godlessness'^° that characterizes many contemporary societies, 

was prophesized by Nietzsche's proclamation that'God is Dead!' 

While one may see a negation of this in Einstein's remark that 

'God does not playdice with the universe'one may also interpret 

it as a new improved version of'God'as'design'that governed 

the intricate clockwork and intimately interwoven strands of 

time and space; and of matter and spirit. One may also conclude 

that though science undermined the stranglehold of organized 

Arthur Koestler records the self-contradictory dilemma of the 

rationality in the following paradox: 

'The murderer has killed. It is wrong to kill. Therefore, let us kill the 

murder.' 

'...most of the wodd's great wisdom traditions are, in various ways, 

against modernity. Modernity is viewed as the great antireligious 

movement, the great movement of rational secularization, which 

"killed" God..,.Killed the mythic God, yes. But Spirit is in the overall 

process, not in any favored epoch or period or time or place. Reason 

has more depth than mythology, and thus actually represents a 

further unfolding of Spirit's own potentials. The rational denial of 

God contains more spirit than the mythic affirmation of God, simply 

because it contains more depth. The very movement of modernity 

is a collective increase in the Spirit's freedom, evidenced amongst 

other things in the great liberation movements that define the very 

core of modernity.' 

Wiiber Ken, A Brief History of Everything, Dublin, Gateway, 2001, p. 293. 

religion (which was more about power than about religion) It 

perhaps did not exclude the religious expenence. 

However, In Its popular manlfestadon it substituted the pursuit 

of art and religion by becoming the new miraculous'" discipline. 

Being increasingly skeptical ofthe mystenous in the obfuscating 

sense, the rational mind was keen to demystify. The Intellectual 

creativity that flourished effectively challenged many ofthe old 

dogmas and false beliefs.The unfolding of'Design'is inextricably 

linked to the march of science. It Is this that explains Its position 

of power in the hierarchy of the new world that was shaped by 

the systematic application of sound scientific prlnciples.^^ 

Reason, became the principle that came to be deployed to organize 

human life. In the political arena it shaped the birth of democracies. 

Difference and doubt were integral to rationality. Unlike the eadier 

era that suppressed dissent with an iron hand, the age of reason 

sought to resolve it through civilized debate. In the social sphere, 

the power of reason was used to reform oppressive hierarchies. In 

an individual's life. It led to a responsibility for one's own life and 

this in turn led to a new found respect for the self-made person. 

This brought with it new notions of intellectual property and laws 

were made to protect the rights of the individual. The realization 

that equality was a condition that should include women and 

children brought about newer legislations.^^ 

^' It seems truly miraculous that a whisper into a cell-phone travels 

almost instantaneously half-way round the globe - from a conference 

room In Turkey, walled and air-conditioned, to a tiny hamlet in India! 

"Art, after a short-lived alliance with positivism, had soon protested, 

revolted, taken refuge in the dream, unsuspecting that soon science was 

to claim the dream itself as one of its legitimate domains of investigation. 

Science seemed to be the destroyer ofthe marvelous and the mysterious. 

The resentment was not untouched by a certain amount of jealousy on 

part ofthe artist in regards to the strides made by the scientific inventor.' 

Balakian Anna, Surrealism:The Road to the Absolute, London, George 

Allen and Ulwin Ltd, 1970, p.Sl. 

" "Because of sodal relations that began to organize themselves around 

the basic forces of production - in this case the plow - men began to 

dominate the public sphere of government, education, religion, politics. 

And women dominated the private sphere of family, hearth, home. This 

division is often referred to as male production and female reproduction.' 

Wiiber Ken, A Brief History of Everything, Dublin, Gateway 2001, p. 47.

Reason can bring about understanding and empathy, but it 

is Reason that causes us to rise in revolt and righteous anger. 

Whenever there is a conflict, the opponents firmly believe 

that each of them is right and have an elaborate set of rational 

arguments to justify their stances. One may regard the Age 

of Reason as advancement over an earlier age of superstition 

and blind beliefs; it is by no means the culmination of the 

evolutionary process. 

If it W3S the age of reason that unlocked the energies 

within the atomic nuclei to fuel and power cities it was the 

limitations of reasoned arguments that justified the necessity 

of unleashing the same energies,^"* with devastating effects 

to teach unforgettable lessons to those who were like us and 

yet unlike us. The human self, despite the magnificent strides 

that allowed it to soar in rockets and planes that flew despite 

being heavier than air, was weighed down by a dark side that 

prevented it from seeing the'Other'as an intimately connected 

part of the same selfi Thought and reasoned arguments had 

become the barrier that prevented us from feeling the pain of 

another. Clearly, reason had Its limits. 

^''The representation paradigm was dualistic in this sense: the subject 

doing the mapping was not really a part ofthe world that was being 

mapped. The alien mapmaker simply stood back from the pregiven 

world and mapped it, as if the two entities had virtually nothing in 

common. 

Most"new paradigm"approaches fall into this dualistic trap, because 

it is a very very subtle trap. Most new paradigm aproaches simply 

think that getting a more accurate map will solve the problem.If we 

had a nice holistic and systems map, instead of a nasty atomistic and 

mechanistic map, that would heal the dualism. 

...The nondualistic approach doesn't deny the representational 

paradign altogether; but it does say that at a much deeper level, 

thought itself cannot deviate from the currents of the Kosmos, 

because though itself is the product and performance of those very 

currents. And the task of philosophy, as it were, is not to correct their 

deviations from reality, but to elucidate these deeper currents from 

which thought could not deviate, even if it wanted to! 

Wilber Ken, A Brief History of Everything, Dublin, Gateway, 2001, p. 59. 

Disorder: Tlie Limits of Reason 

David Bohm, who was a Professor of Theoretical Physics 

at Birkbeck College, University of London in a series of 

conversations with Jiddu Krishnamurti discusses thought 

and the limits of thinking. It is relevant to examine some of 

his notes from his work 'A Brief Introduction to the Work of 

Krishnamurti.' 

...we went on to consider the general disorder 

and confusion that pervades the consciousness of 

mankind. It Is here that I encountered what I feel to be 

Krishnamurti's major discovery. What he was seriously 

proposing is that all this disorder, which is the root 

cause of such widespread sorrow and misery, and 

which prevents human beings from properly working 

together, has its root In the fact that we are ignorant 

ofthe general nature of our own processes of thought. 

Or to put it differently It may be said that we do not see 

what is actually happening, when we are engaged in 

the activity of thinklng'.^^ 

Thus, one may conceive of chaos and disorder as opposed to 

order; chance and serendipity as opposed to design; pleasure 

as opposed to pain; life as opposed to death but all ofthese 

constructs remain restricted as binary oppositions. 

The surrealist movement in Europe, sought to delve into the 

realms of the layers of human consciousness, not available to 

Its conscious workings. Guillaume Apollonalre^^ in the early 

nineteenth century, called himself and those like him 'pilgrims 

of perdition'because they were risking what intellectual security 

they had as artists to explore the uncertain and the unproven. 

^^This is referenced from: http://www.ratical.0rg/many_worlds/K/ 

'Why not a parallel between the creativeness of applied science 

and the arts? In his preface to Le Mamells deTiresias he created the 

word "surreal" to designate the human ability to create the unnatural, 

and he pointed out that man's first surrealistic act was the creation of 

the wheel, which imitates the physical function of motion but creates 

a form entirely independent ofthe forms known to exist in nature.' 

Balakian Anna, Surrealism:The Road to the Absolute, London, George 

Allen and Ulwin Ltd, 1970, p. 81.

Anna Baiakian, İn her work, 'Surrealism: The Road to the 

Absolute', observes: 

While literature had been neglecting imagination, 

science had learnt to make maximum use of it. it had 

cast aside the known patterns of matter and through 

ingenuity had created new ones. Science's contribution 

in Apoilinaire's opinion, was its dbiiity to give reality a 

relative meaning and thus liberate it from an assumed 

synonymity with the natural. The unnatural could 

become a reality, as twentieth century objects, which 

had no connection with nature, were proving more 

conclusively every day. The factory worker was all the 

time creating reality (Balakian, 1970). 

Their views are echoed a century later in the following view: 

If worldviews have evolved from archaic to magic to 

mythic to rational and existential... who is to say that there 

aren't higher worldviews down the road? (Wiiber, 2000). 

Integral Approaches 

Wiiber goes on to revisit various themes suggested by 

Schelling, Hegel, and Aurobindo. 

...we can look at the higher stages ofthe evolutionary 

unfolding, according to the world's greatest wisdom 

traditions-the higher or deeper stages wherethe Spirit 

becomes conscious of itself, awakens to itself, begins to 

recognize its own true nature.These higher stages are 

often pictured as mystical or "far-out", but for the most 

part are very concrete, very palpable, very real stages of 

higher development - stages available to you and me, 

stages that are our own deep potentials (Wiiber, 2000). 

The duality that stems from objectifying expenence leads us 

to view essences as oppositions." The relationship between 

Individuals and societies has often been characterized by 

stress. We derive much from a sense of community and we 

are also driven to seek fulMmenx as individuals and these two 

movements often pull at us from opposite ends. 

In a lighter vein, LewisThomas^înafascinatingessay observesthat 

'ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment 

They farm fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into 

wars, use chemical sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture 

slaves. The families of weaver ants engage in child labor, holding 

their larvae like shuttles to spin out the thread that sews the leaves 

together for their fungus gardens. They exchange information 

ceaselessly.They do everything but watch television.' 

Sn Aurobindo, a poet mystic and seer of the twentieth 

century, presents a detailed analysis of human life^^ in his 

work, 'The Human Cycle' and suggests that we shall witness a 

decline of reason as the basis of life. Human life, he suggests 

will begin to be governed by forces that are 'supra-rational'.^" 

^' But at present the human intellect has been so much mechanized by 

physical Science that it is likely to attempt the revolution it is beginning to 

envisage principally or soleiy through mechanical means, through social 

and political adjustments. Now it is not by social or political devices, or 

at any rate not by these, chiefly or only, that the unity of the human race 

can be enduringly or fruitfully accomplished. Sri Aurobindo, The Human 

Cycle, Pondicherry, SABDA, The Turn Towards Unity, p. 263. 

Thomas Lewis.The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher, 1974, 

Viking Press, 

^^'The essential features are the same in Russia and the Fascist countries- 

there is a seizure of life of the community by the dominant individual 

leader; there is a rapid crystallization of the sodal, economic, political 

life of the people into a new rigid organization effectively controlled 

at every point; there is the compulsory casting of thought, education, 

expression and action into a set iron mould, a fixed system of ideas and 

life motives, with a fierce and ruthless, often a sanguinary repression of 

all that denies and differs; there is a total unprecedented compression of 

the whole communal existence so as to compel a maximum efficiency 

and a complete unanimity of mind, speech, feeling, life! Sri Aurobindo, The 

Human Cycle, Pondicherry, SABDA, The Curve of the Rational Age, p,193. 

^"Modern Science, obsessed with the greatness of Its physical discoveries 

and the idea of the sole existence of Matter, has long attempted to 

base upon physical data even its study of Soul and Mind. ...The French 

Revolution, it is thought, would have happened just as it did and when 

it did, by economic necessity even if Rosseau and Voltaire had never 

written, and the eighteenth century philosophic movement in the worid 

of thought had never worked out its bold and radical speculations. 

Recently however, the all-sufficiency of Matter to explain Mind and Soul 

has begun to be doubted and a movement of emancipation from the 

obsession of physical science has set in, although as yet it has not gone 

beyond a few awkward and rudimentary stumblings. Sri Aurobindo, 

The Human Cycle, Pondicherry, SABDA, The Cycle of Society, p.t

He outlines the conditions for the coming ofthe spiritual age, 

and observes that it is only when the ego Is abandoned do we 

get a chance of achieving spirituality in his inner and outer life. 

The freedom from the egoistic standpoint Is the first and the 

most prominent characteristic of such a society. 

'A spiritualized society would treat In its sociology the 

Individual, from the saint to the criminal, not as units 

of social problem to be passed through some skillfully 

devised machinery but as souls suffering and entangled 

in a net and to be rescued, souls growing and to be 

encouraged to grow, souls grown and from whom 

help and power can be drawn by the lesser spirits who 

are not yet adult. The aim of its economics would be 

not to create a huge engine of production, whether of 

the competitive or the co-operative kind, but to give 

to men - not only to some but to all men each in his 

highest possible measure - the joy of work according to 

their own nature and free leisure to grow inwardly, as 

well as a simply rich and beautiful life for all.' 

Interestingly, one may observe in the chapter 'The United 

States of Europe'^' of Sri Aurobindo's 'The Human Cycle', a 

parallel with events that led to the formation ofthe European 

Union. 

Conclusion 

The transition to post-industrial societies that had ascended 

the hierarchy of needs from better designed products to 

personalized goods and services, was accompanied by a 

similar transition in design activity. Design evolved from Its 

earlier engagement with the tangible world, to engaging with 

^' A co-operative form of human society existed formerly in the shape 

ofa commune; but the restoration ofthe commune as a unit would 

imply practically the return to the old city-state, and as this is not 

now possible with the larger groupings and the greater complexities 

of modern life, the socialist idea could only be realized through the 

rigourousiy organized national State. 

Sri Aurobindo, The Human Cycle, Pondicherry, SABDA, The United 

States of Europe, p. 325. 

the world of intangibles and experiences. The eadier concerns 

did not disappear altogether - for the need for well designed 

products never really ceased; but these concerns now sought a 

deeper understanding of human needs. If the earlier approach 

was determined largely by material aspects - of manufacturing 

and production, design in the post-modern age had to engage 

with the cultural dimension. Thus, while the earlier designer 

needed to create a shoe that was comfortable, ergonomically 

designed and catered to some 'universal aesthetics'for shoes, 

the post-modern designer working for a multi-national shoe 

manufacturer, had to include an understanding of theculturai 

aspects in product semantics. If the modernist had great 

faith in the universality of "good design", the post-modernist 

understood that the global age had to temper itself with an 

understanding of cultural diverslty.Thus, a designer no longer 

regarded design as a set of objective parameters that had to 

be optimized, but an effort that had to take into account the 

experience of various users and ensure that it had meaning. 

This paper suggests that even a paradigmatic shift from the 

material to the cultural would fall short when It comes to 

understand the deeper basis of some ofthe crucial problems 

that shall confront future societies. The designed response 

would necessarily have to go beyond the cultural dimension 

and engage with the self in a far more introspective manner. In 

this regard, designers may learn from approaches that engage 

more directly with the human spirit and the human psyche. 

Programmed as we are, to validate and to justify our own 

positions, we often regard the negation of the other as a 

corollary of our own beliefs. To transcend such dualism 

and examine what appear to us as chaotic and disordered, 

would bring us closer to what Is. However, given our morality 

and ethics; our sense of right and wrong, good and evil 

- to transform ourselves to regarding the universe and all it 

contains as one essential continuum, is not only immensely 

difficult, but might even appear undesirable. 

The Buddha began his inquiry into the nature of human 

suffering, over two thousand and six hundred years ago. He 

concluded was that the world came into existence because of 

desire. While existence, did yield its pleasures, it also yielded 

pain and suffering. The Buddha concluded that the cessation 

of desire, led to the cessation of existence; and to the salvation

from the endless cycles of ignorant meanderings. Such an 

emergence out of ignorance, led to awareness, that was 

beyond dualities. 

Finally, the paper attempts to introduce ways of seeing that 

suggest the limitations of rational thought. The invisible 

shades of disorder have a beauty that is beyond the beautiful; 

perhaps, these are shades that one can at best allude to, much 

in the manner of Wittgenstein's silences, or in the utterances 

of sages who dwell in the invisible shades of disorder". 

"The notion of dancing with disorder, is symbolized in the Hindu 

view of the cosmos by the dancing Nataraja. Nataraja, who is also the 

Lord Shiva - the God of Destruction (of ignorance) has matted locks 

swaying as he dances the tandava - the cosmic dance of chaos; his 

face poised and calm. Encircled by a ring of fire that symbolizes the 

trials and tribulations of life, he dances with an equanimity suffused 

with a smile suggesting his victory overthe powers of ignorance. One 

also encounters the image of Goddess Tara in a similar dance. 

A detailed study ofthis may be found in the work'The Dance of Shiva' 

by the eminent art critic. Ananda Coomaraswamy. 

Additional References 

CAMPBELL JOSEPH, MOYERS BILL, 199T The Power of Myth, 

Anchor 

COOMARASWAMY ANANDA, 1948, The Dance of Shiva, Asia 

Publishing House 

GHOSH SRI AUROBINDO, 1978.The Human Cycle, Pondicherry, 

SABDA 

ECO UMBERTO, MCEWAN ALASTAIR, 2004. History of Beauty, 

Rizzoli 

SUBRAMANYAM K.G., 1987. The Living Tradition, Calcutta, 

Seagull Books 

TRUNGPA CHOGYAM, 1996. Dharma Art, Shambala 

Publications 

BALAKIAN ANNA, 1972. Surrealism: The Road to the Absolute, 

London, George Allen and Unwin 

WITTGENSTEIN LUDWIG, 2001 .Tractatus Logico Philosophicus, 

Routledge

R E P R E S E N T I N G D I S A S T E R : S I G N I F I C A N C E D F D E S I G N IN C D M M U N 1C ATI N G 

S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y 

Şebnem Timur Öğüt 


Department of Industrial Product Design, Istanbul, Turkey 

timurseb@İtü.edu.tr 

Hümanur Bağlı 


Department of Industrial Product Design, Istanbul, Turkey 

bagli@itu.edu.tr 

This paper is about a textbook that aims to teach children 

of n -13 years of age how to deal with or prevent disasters 

in general. The title of the book is / am Learning How to Live 

Safely^ and it is sponsored bythe Red Cross and Crescent. The 

group of experts who wrote and prepared this book consisted 

of a professor of meteorological engineering, a professor of 

social psychology, an education specialist, and two designers. 

As a general decision ofthe group, the term "disaster" is avoided 

in the title deliberately, because the term disaster implies a fate/ 

destiny oriented world view. For that reason, disaster is defined 

as an outcome of a natural phenomenon whose effects can be 

altered positively by precautions or simply by being prepared 

and informed. Therefore, rather than a passive point of view 

and/or general attitude, a more "positive" and "active" stand is 

tried to be conveyed and encouraged. Instead of pronouncing 

"disaster", the idea of "safe living" Is prioritized. 

We will bediscussing particularlyaboutthe writing and designing 

process of this book in the paper, because the designers worked 

with the other members ofthe group from the beginning ofthe 

' Kadıoğlu, Mİkdat, İpek Gürkaynak ve Alp Boydak. Kızılay ile Güvenli 

Yaşamı Öğreniyorum: 5. ve 6. Sınıflar için. Ankara: Yorum Bas. Yay. San. 

Ltd. Şti., 2004. The book can be downloaded online at http;//www. 

kizİlay.org.tr/İndex.php?menul=79. Along with this book a teacher's 

book is written aiming to tell the teachers how they may use this 

book as an effective educational material in class. 

process and the analytic and systematic thinking of designers 

affected the text itself and the whole layout. 

Apartfrom this structural intervention, the second effect of the 

designedy contribution to such a critical theme is the problem 

of representation ofthese abstract notions related with this 

"safe living" attitude about disaster. There are two kinds of 

representation or abstraction is conducted in the book. First 

one is the representation ofthe physical and natural incidents. 

Second one is the representation ofthe desired behaviours/ 

attitudes of children/people who will read the book. 

While the concepts are represented, by the help of visuallty, 

children are encouraged to behave in an active, realistic and 

positive manner towards the natural facts. As a method to help 

develop such a behaviour change in children, role models are 

provided who are the main characters of the book that it Is 

hoped, the children will identify with. 

Introduction 

Unlike many other textbooks, / am Learning How to Live Safety is 

a collectively written book. The book is the outcome of a project 

proposed to and accepted as an educational material by the 

Ministry of Education In Turkey. Apart form the fact that there are 

three writers, there was a working group whose members are of 

different expertises along with the designers.There were meetings 

in which the written text Is being discussed by the group where 

experts on disaster management, education and social psychology

handled the text at certain key points with the members of the 

Red Crescent {Kızılay}. These discussions were informative for the 

designers to being able to have full grasp of the concepts and 

the information that the book covered.The phenomena of'living 

safely" is first discussed and absorbed by the group members. 

Usually, designers are not part ofthe writing process ofa book.They 

are often handed with a final or semi-final text to be designed in a 

format of a book, leaflet, etc.They try to visualize the information 

or put it in an order of hierarchy after the text is being produced. 

This time the designers played a key role in the formation ofthe text. 

The contribution of the designers (apart from the book size, 

paper, general style & layout, font size, spacing and colors} can 

be summed under the headings of: 

1. the introduction of the elements of "fire, water, air and 

earth" in the abstraction of different disasters. 

2. the introduction of 3 phases ofthe disasters: before; during and 

after. Each disaster is explained according to these 3 time phases, 

so that the things that could be done is classified in line with the 

course of events. (This also gavea three dimensional understanding 

ofthe disasters, as it were, each student can relate him/herself.) 

3. the introduction of two characters: kykiz and Aycan as role 

models to represent the kind of behaviours that the students 

should be in during these time phases. 

4. the introduction of the book is written by the designers 

along with the writers to explain the abstractions of the 

disasters and the two characters. 

Representing disasters by the elements of "fire, water, air 

and earth" 

A concept is the backbone of every design. It is the core that 

holds and binds the different elements together in a certain 

order and harmony. Starting the design of this book, the 

designers first had to understand what "disaster" meant and 

then they came up ways of representing them. 

Disaster, In our book is defined as the specific situations where 

the local sources are not sufficient enough to handle the bad 

effects of any kind of threats on life, property, environment, 

economy and cultural entities. When natural phenomena like 

earthquakes or floods cause significant life and property losses 

to demand country wide or international help, then they are 

named as natural disasters (Kadioglu et al 2004, ^ 0). 

When we are talking about disasters, they can either be natural or 

artificial, but what is common to most of them is that they denote 

a certain outrage of which is considered as normal. So, a disaster, 

in these terms could be defined as the negative side effects of 

changing of a normal situation to an abnormal state, caused by 

natural or artificial reasons and that can not be dealt with what is 

at hand. For example, flood can be seen as an outrage ofthe natural 

movement of water. Similarly, fire can be seen as an uncontrolled 

spread of flames. Storm is the extreme movements of air flows 

caused by mostly differences of pressures. Earthquake is the result of 

the resolving ofthe tension that pieces of land exert on each other. 

Each ofthe threats that we have mentioned above can lead to 

natural disasters. All these natural disasters have something in 

common that they are all triggered by the gradual or sudden 

changes in the "primary elements". These primary elements 

are fire, water, air and earth^. Although having traces in many 

^ The complexity ofthe world view in which the primary elements have their 

places deserve fjll quotations. Below you can find hints of the wider circle of 

thought that these elements belong to (emphasis added to all quotations): 

"Since antiquity prime matter has enjoyed a hallowed place in the 

Aristotelian system. That system displays an awesome completeness, with 

God (pure form and actuality) at the top and prime matter (pure matter 

and potentiality) at the bottom. And betxwen these two pole matter and 

form combine to yield physical objects of lesser or greater perfection. At the 

bottom of the scale are the four elements, which are mainly material; then 

come simple uniform stuffs, like the metals; further up the scale are plants, 

the simplest living things; then appear the various animals, crowned by man; 

higher still are the heavenly bodies, whose potentiality is so weakened as to 

humble them only to local circular movement without risk of destruction. 

At the very top is the Prime Movei, God, who is wholly immune to the 

commotion ofthe physical bodies below (Gill 1989,42)." 

"Aristotle suggests that each element can be transformed into the one 

adjacent to it by Ihis first easy mechanism: air results from fire, water from 

air, earth form water, and fire from earth. The transformation is cyclical. 

Although he describes the cycle as occurring in a single direction, he later 

indicates that the cycle can occur in the other direction, for he mentions the 

emergence of air from water and of fire from air... since adjacent elements 

have one feature in common and one opposed {Gill J 989,73)." 

"in On Generation and Corruption 11,3 Aristotle says that fire is hot and dry, air 

hot and wet, water cold and wet, and earth cold and dry (Gili 1989,44)."

different cultures all around the world, iike the Chinese, Indian 

or even Australian cosmologies; the conception of pnmary 

or classical elements can be linked to ancient Greece to the 

accounts ofthe terms by Aristotle. 

....there is one physical element which makes up the 

system ofthe bodies that move in a circle and besides this 

four bodies owing their existence to the four principles, 

the motion ofthese latter bodies being of two kinds: either 

from the centre or to the centre. These four bodies are fire, 

air, water, earth. Fire occupies the highest place among 

them all, earth the lowest, and two elements correspond 

to these in their relation to one another, air being nearest 

to fire, water to earth. The whole world surrounding the 

earth, then, the affections of which are our subject, is 

made up ofthese bodies (Aristotle 2004,3). 

This basic premise was the starting point ofthe concept ofthe design 

ofthe book. If threats and consequently disasters are caused by the 

changes in the primary elements, then safe living would be the state 

where each element works together in a harmonious unity. 

Following this line of thought, designers first classified the natural 

phenomena that are listed In the book which are: Earthquake; fire; 

winds and wind storms; snow storms and avalanches; precipitation 

with lightnings; landslide and mud flows; sun and hot air flows; 

according to their relation to a certain primary element. 

Every primary element is represented by a designed Icon and 

a certain color assigned to it. For example, earth is assigned 

to orange (because of its adjacency to brown), whereas air to 

blue; water to green and fire to, obviously red. 

The icons are chosen to be circular containing the basic 

elements. They are designed in such a way that the Idea of 

being out of control or breaking the boundanes is given as if 

the contained pnmary elements are breaking their circles and 

coming out dangerously (Figure 1). 

hava su toprak 

Unlike the icons of the pnmary elements, the icon for 

representing "safe living" is a self-content circle, consisting of 

these four elements that reside In It harmoniously, forming a 

whole (Figure 2). 

Figure 2. Icon of "safe living" combining the four pnmary 

elements. 

During the process of designing and learning aboutthe disasters, 

whatwas really interesting is to discoverthedifferent cosmologies 

and beliefs, each culture assigned to these natural phenomena. 

As these events change and affect quite a number of people's 

lives In a considerably negative ways, and the causes are mostly 

unexplainable, they are associated with a higher "force" beyond 

or sometimes underneath. For example, in Japanese mythology 

it is believed that big tides are caused by a giant fish living under 

the sea or an Indian mythology says that earthquakes are caused 

by the movements ofa great elephant's head on which the earth 

resides. In Turkish mythology or folk culture, it is believed that the 

world resides on the horns of an ox of which the movements of 

it cause the earthquakes. Implying this belief, on the cover ofthe 

book, the icon for safe living showing the four basic elements in a 

harmonious circle, representing the earth is held bya child whose 

arms resemble that ofthe horns ofthe ox (Figure 3). 

.^);o|ffü-rn' 

Figure 1. Icons of pnmary elements of air, water, earth and fire. Figure 3. Cover ofthe book.

The general layout ofthe book is designed in an order that 

each chapter starts with a page of introduction having the 

color of a primary element and the contents of that special 

section (Figure 4). Then definitions and explanations are the 

first to take place after the colored introduction page. To 

enable ease of identification and to mark their difference form 

the main text, activities and games are bracketed having the 

same color coding ofthe primary element they belong to and 

differentiated by different icons. The same design language is 

applied to these icons as well to maintain the coherence. The 

circle divided into four sections enabled to give the sense of 

action, play and collectivity (Figure 5). 

Figure 4. Chapter introduction page. 

Figure 5. Icons for activities and games. 

Representing the reader through role models 

UnlessyourwoHd is reallyonlyachatroom, it's going togive 

players something to do.The things that you give them to 

do, and the rewards they ean for doing it, constitute the 

world model. We don't mean this in the genre sense of 

"killing monsters" versus "battling enemy spacecraft," but 

rather in the sense of how the world wants the player to 

live and grow in it (Rollings and Adams, 2003). 

In theories concerning computer and video game design there 

is this concept of "worid model". The world model suggests the 

player to do certain tasks in certain ways and help the players 

to "grow and live in it". According to the famous game designer 

Raph Koster, there are five different world models: scavenger 

model; social model; dungeons and dragons model; player- 

versus-player model; builder model (Rollings and Adams, 

2003). 

Obviously, it is not the aim of this paper to go deep Into 

these specific categories of world models, but during the 

process of writing/designing, it was quite clear that one of 

the primary objectives ofthe book was to give the 5* and 6"' 

grade students that they can "do something" against these 

"monstrous threats", as It were. So, it is decided that visual 

role models were necessary in conveying the essential visual 

information on how to act in every stage of being exposed to 

dangerous situations, like staying down/crawling when there 

is smoke etc... 

Two role models were created by the designers (Figure 6), One 

boy named Aycan and one girl named Aykiz.Jhe names were 

chosen in accordance with their implications to Red Crescent 

(Kızılay), both starting with the word/syilabus"ay". Both ofthe 

characters' hair is in the shape of a crescent. They are depicted 

as wearing everyday clothes, not special uniforms, because 

if they did wear special uniforms, then it could be thought 

that the acts that the two characters are describing are to be 

conducted by a specifically educated group of people, like 

A/CL/r (Search and Rescue Team ofTurkey). 

Aykiz 

Aycan 

Figure 6. Role models: Ay/

On the contrary, the message of the book is to enable the 

student/reader's identification with the characters and 

develop similar behavior patterns as ordinary students 

without any special skills or education. Just like the wodd 

models in computer or video games, both by the textual and 

visual discourse within the book, the world is represented as 

a place where It is normal to confront the natural phenomena 

causing disasters, but itis possible to act against them and 

be prepared beforehand. The message is to create a social 

awareness and consequendy activate the students to inform 

themselves about various phases of the threats and also 

let others be informed. The student/reader is rewarded by 

playing the different games and taking part in the activities, 

sometimes involving other parties, such as their parents and 

other people where they live. 

Three phases of the disasters: Before; during and after 

According to our book, there are threats, nsks and disasters. 

Threats are the natural or man-made events that could 

cause life and property losses or prevent to sustain our 

everyday lives, if not taken precautions. Among the threats 

earthquakes, floods, storms, fires and explosions could be 

counted. It is not always possible to prevent the threats that 

trigger natural disasters. For example, geologically, Turkey is 

on a major fault line and we can not do anything to change 

this and we can not prevent earthquakes to happen, but we 

can reduce the harm that an earthquake can cause (Kadıoğlu 

etal 2004,10). 

Risks are the bad consequences ofa threat can produce. These 

consequences can affect the lives, houses of the inhabitants 

of our surrounding and the things that they do directly or 

indirectly. The nsks can be reduced (Kadıoğlu et al., 2004,10). 

As there are known threats whose risks can be reduced, 

there are quite a number of things that could be done 

before they can turn into disasters, or even after. That is why 

the designers suggested classifying the information and 

related activities into time phases like "before", "dunng" and 

"after". This enabled to put the related topics and necessary 

information in an order. Visually, it enabled an ease in reading 

as there is quite a number of topics suggested to be done in 

each ofthese phases. 

Conclusion and last words on design and social 

responsibility 

"Safe living" which is put in contrast to the term of "disaster" 

in the aforementioned book means "to try to live avoiding 

the harms that could be brought by all kinds of danger." 

This is a delicate subject especially if children are being 

addressed as a target audience of a book related to disasters, 

so designers had the responsibility of not creating a "dooms 

day" image. Therefore, illustrations were chosen as the mode 

of representation of both the disastrous situations and the 

related actions advised to be done before, during and after 

them. The real life situations are depicted as close to reality as 

possible, because it was demanded to be informative, while 

it was avoided the scenes to be frightening. Illustrarions also 

gave the freedom to underline or highlight the real message 

enabling the designer to eliminate all the unnecessary details. 

The power of abstraction is useful in both communlcaring 

with children visually and conveying what Is really important 

visually (Figure 7). 

Figure 7. Detail of a page of the book with an illustration 

related to first aid. 

The whole book is written by addressing the things that 

anybody could do according to his/her current capabilities. 

Conveying informarion is somerimes enabled by addressing 

the students' parents, neighbors or local authoriries: The 

student is asked to get information or to seek help from 

them when needed. This kind of an interacrion would enable 

people to talk about certain safety issues around them and 

to take precautions. For example, there are actlviries such as

"Preparing a Family Disaster Plan" (Figure 8) or tliere are many 

warnings in the book such as "Tell your parents not to... (go 

through the flood water with their cars)" kind of statements 

trying to educate families, especially who are living in rural 

areas. 

Figure 8. Illustration showing the family disaster plan. 

It was one of the major goals of the book to give the sense of 

"being active".This kind of conception covers to being "active, 

sensible and be informed" in order to maintain a safe living 

standard. 

Design ofthe book was really important to convey the intended 

messages and trigger the type of response form the part of its 

readers, because graphic design mostly aims communicating 

the right message. Designers aimed to be part of this social 

responsibility project by making the book: 

• more readable in terms of putting the information in a 

both visual and textual hierarchy, 

» more reader-friendly by introducing active role models 

that children can identify themselves with, 

• more manageable in terms of the significant amount of 

textual information. 

The last topic is probably is one ofthe most important ones, 

because if the information is made manageable by the tools 

of basic design, like hierarchy, color coding, icons, etc, then it 

means that there is the possibility for the student/reader to 

think that disasters, threats or risks are also manageable to 

a certain degree. Design in this case, and similarly in most 

others. Is not only a cosmetic make-up on an important piece 

of text. Especially for children and especially as part of an 

education that aims to beyond educating children. Through 

those children, this vital information can be disseminated to 

many people who might not have the access. 

References 

ARISTOTLE. 2004. Meteorology. Montana: Kessinger 

Publishing, 

GILL, M. L, 1989. Aristotle on Substance: The Paradox of Unity. 

Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. 

KADIOĞLU, M., 1. GÜRKAYNAK ve A. BOYDAK. 2004. Kızılay ile 

Güvenli Yaşamı Öğreniyorum: 5. ve 6. Sınıflar İçin. Ankara: 

Yorum Bas. Yay. San. Ltd. Şti. 

ROLLINGS, A. and E. ADAMS, 2003, Andrew Rollings and Ernest 

Adams on Game Design. Indianapolis, Ind.: New Riders.

D D E S C D L D R D R I F T D E S I G N TD D I S A S T E R ? 

Tülay Özdemİr Canbolat 

University of Çukurova, 

Faculty of Fine Arts, Adana,Turkey 

ozdemir.tulay@gmail.com 

Abstract QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF COLORS 

Color, which is In our perception, is an outstanding design 

element playing an important role In our happy and healthy 

lives, as well as in the decisions of design process. Intention 

of design is the determining cause for usage of color in which 

cases and how. So putting forward the intention ofdesign and 

appreciating the supportive qualities of colors become vital in 

color decision. Within this frame, in this paper, it is intended 

to express the qualities of colors required to be considered, as 

well as to draw attention to the intenor designs that could be 

drifted to a disaster by the effects caused by them. "Disaster" 

is used to point out the application in which the qualitative 

characteristics of color and purpose of design are not 

considered and consequently successful design is evaluated 

to be unsuccessful. 

In this paper the color applications will be discussed by 

illustrating some interior design samples. 

Introduction 

Colors seem to us with some meanings as a way of expression. 

Even they do not sound anything obviously, those affect us 

spiritually. For that reason, designs considering psychological 

Interactions created by colors used in an Intenor give positive 

impressions. On the contrary, colors which were not chosen 

truly may cause not only a negative impression but also a 

good design work can be drifted to a disaster. Not to create a 

disaster dunng the design procedure, the color harmonization 

methods should be used considering the qualitative 

characterisrics of colors and the issues about how they interact 

and affect each other. 

While defining a color, it is required to know some basic 

concepts about colors. Through these concepts, we can totally 

delineate each color that we perceive. So to pronounce the 

name of color is not enough for its definirion. For instance, by 

enouncing the word"red"we can not literally explain that color. 

We have to describe and explain what kind of red it is. For an 

exact description of that color we should identify whether It is 

dark-light, bright-pale, its warmth and cool, its middle values 

between dark and light shades, and the different values of 

bright or mat shades of it. 

Three main color attributes-hue, value, and saturarion- 

together can be used to determine any individual color visible 

to the human eye. 

The attribute of color experienced first in the course 

of human development is hue. Hue is somerimes 

described as the primary character, orthe pure essence, 

of color. It refers to the wavelength of the color and its 

relative posirion in a two-dimensional color - in other 

words, the redness, yellowness, or blueness ofthe color 

(Kopcz 2004:4). 

Value is the term used to describe how light or dark a 

color is. When two colors differ in terms oftheir relative 

lightness or darkness, they are of different values. 

Traditionally speaking, the lighter the color, the higher 

its value. However, differences in value are also visible 

between dissimilar hues. For example, it's easy to 

recognize that a cream-colored wall (of yellow hue) has 

a higher value than the color of an adjacent mahogany 

door (which has a red hue) (Kopcz 2004:5)

Saturation refers to the amount of hue, or the degree of 

fullness of the hue, that exists in a color. To reduce the 

saturation level of any color, it can be mixed either with 

a gray equal in value to the original hue or with the 

complement ofthe original color. The word intensity is 

another term used to describe the relative proportion 

of hue saturation versus neutrality as it exists in color. A 

very intense color is one closer to a full hue. When we 

decrease the intensity of a color, only its saturation is 

reduced (Kopcz 2004:6). 

Colors are classified into two groups according to their 

psychological impacts on human. 

cool /OllOH' 

1cool 

Uuc 

= gip.en 

warn b'uo + cool rod = viotst 

Figurel. Warm and Coo! Colors. 

(http://www.johnlovett.com/colour.htm) 

Most colorist accept the idea that humans associate 

temperature with certain hues. Hues in the yellow, 

orange, and red range are considered warm, while 

colors ranging from blue to green are considered cool. 

Yellow-green and violet can seem either warm or cool 

depending on the relative temperature of the adjacent 

colors in view. In spatial application, we tend to favor 

warm colors in colder climates and cool ones In hot 

climates (Kopcz 2004:9). 

Due to the standing out characteristics of some colors, having 

a dashing appearance and making feel excitement, they are 

called as warm colors. Because the wavelengths of warm 

colors are short and high resonant, they are the first colors 

reaching to retina. While red and all colors merging to red 

are the warm ones, green, blue-purple and colors merging to 

blue are composed of cool colors. But each hue has warm and 

cool shades. For example, if there is more red in green, it is 

called as warm green; on the other hand it is called as cool 

green, if it consists of much more blue. Besides, the warmness 

and coolness ratios of color changes also increase or decrease 

according to values of colors. Colors merging to white or black 

are perceived as much cooler than their saturated tones. For 

instance, pink is a warm color, but saturated red is perceived 

much warmer. In summary, each color has both warm and 

cool quality. The tones merging to cool colors are called as 

cool shade of that color, the ones merging to warm colors 

called as warm shade of that. 

IMPACT OF COLOR ON INTERIOR DESIGN 

The impactof the color on perception of the interior hasa very 

strong relationship with the psychological impacts on human. 

Red is a good and explanatory example, as the most dynamic 

color having a most acute resonance. Red, as a descriptive 

tool, appears with some meanings as a reflection of emotions. 

Even if these meanings do not always sound anything 

obviously, they affect us emotionally. So red used in interior 

design creates an emotional state, exposes the psychological 

interactions. Red is sometime a rose, a traditional expression 

of pure love. But noticing red may also mean loosing control. 

Although it is a positive color, It Is the color of life, that red, the 

same one, is sometimes used as identification of murderous 

and violent institutions in subconscious, as well as the battles 

arise as a result of greed, ambition and anger. Red is known 

as the color of chaos, and unless it is composed of convenient 

tones and proportions of red color, it may cause chaos in 

the interior. The implementations which do not consider the 

qualitative characteristics of colors may drift a good design to 

a design disaster and cause negative emotions (Figure 2). 

The red color used in a space expects to be conspicuous. Usage 

of red as an idea in design layouts a red blooded and dashing 

attitude. However, in the spaces expected to be in tranquility, 

it entertains a risk to use so much kind of colorful tones of red 

due to its potential.The most important thing here is to create 

an atmosphere corresponding to the intention and the way 

of expression. This could be formed by dominating the red

which undertool< the task, and also by deriving benefit from 

the quantity of red and using it only one touch (on an object, 

a furniture, etc.) (Figure 3-4). 

îMırfııBilır.ftg5îîn I • 

Figure 2. The use of same value of one color in an ample space 

cause chaos because of the quality of red, as well as interfere 

the perceiving ofthe measures and the depth of space (Clifton 

200T57). 

Figure 3.The harmony composed of opposite colors red-green and 

orange-blue.The red which has dynamic quality has taken a part In 

a small (restricted) area; the passage toward orange merging to red 

has provided the harmony (Rinaldi andTashen, 1998:283). 

Figure 4. Dominancy acquired by only one touch, due to the 

quality of red color (Clifton 2001:50). 

THE CONFLICT IN SYNERGY OF COLORS WITH DIFFERENT 

QUALITIES 

By the use of warm and cool colors together, which may create 

a color clash in the space, even a successful design procedure 

may result as a disaster. Avoiding from this can be possible by 

using the warm tones of cool colors in the harmony in which 

the warm colors are dominant or vice versa (Figure 5). 

Figure 5. Due to that a cool color got hold the other warm 

colors, the warm and cool colors harmony has been created. 

In the wide space the warm tone of blue has been used, and it 

has been provided that by decreasing the saturation of warm 

and cool ones the colors were made come closerto each other. 

Here the patched extent of colors and their locarion within 

the space contributes to balance and harmony among them 

(Lovatt-Smith and Muthesius 1996:268).

For instance, we can convert the green into a warm green by 

adding some red, a green merging to brown. On the contrary 

in the harmony in which the cool colors are dominant, for 

example by adding blue in the purple, we can get the cool 

shade of that color. The coolness or warmth of colors increase 

or decrease also, according to the changes in the values of 

colors. Therefore, by adding black or white, the tones of colors 

become much cooler rather than their saturated tones. For 

example, the pink in which white is added is a warm color, but 

the red in the sun spectrum {color chart) is warm and much 

more attractive color rather than it. The way of our perception 

of color also depends on which colors are used together and 

next to each other within the space. The warm or cool shade 

of one color which is put next to another warm or cool color 

change increasingly or decreasingly according to its hue, value 

and saturation. In order not to create disaster in the design of 

use together of warm and cool colors, the color harmony can 

be achieved by using the warm tones of cool colors or the cool 

tones of warm colors. Also by using passage colors composed 

of the other intermediate colors, it is provided that the colors 

visually come closer and are harmonic to each other {Figure 6). 

Figure 6. Color passage samples. Colors, like the adjacent 

colors may undergo a change little by little. Such as red, red- 

purple, purple, blue-purple, blue, or red, red-orange, orange, 

yellow-orange, yellow. 

The color passage can be used in the case that an object is 

not desired to be seem obviously. If it has a characteristic of 

contrast hue and saturation, it can also be used for easing this 

contrast and establishing transition links. By color passage a 

relaxing atmosphere can be created, which is much less risky 

and much moreacceptable.lt is not always possible to achieve 

a harmony in color contrast, whereas it can be ensured by 

using color passage. 

The complementary hues, because of that they do not like each 

other not at all and form opposite poles, cause shock effect 

on eyes. So, in the harmonies composed of complementary 

hues, a contribution between colors to each other is provided, 

and by using the intermediate colors a passage is done. 

When the complementary colors are used together at the 

same proportions, they invigorate each other. Therefore 

the affection of hues is got to be under control by using the 

colors with different proportions, saturation and darkness. 

Particularly when the part wanted to be attractive within the 

space - whether it is furniture or an object - is saturated and 

small, you come much closer to your intention (Figure 7). 

4^1] M 

Figure 7. "The colorful harmony made by the complementary 

green and red". The dynamic characteristic of the warm 

color red was balanced by using it patched in a small area, 

and the harmony was formed by using the cool color green 

unsaturated in a widen extent.The harmony among the colors 

was formed by using the white - a mid-passage color - on the 

frame, the curtain, the armchair and the ceiling (Rinaldl and 

Tashen 1998:36). 

While using one ofthe hues together with its complementary 

hue, sometimes some other ways could be preferred in order 

to provide harmonic success in design, due to the deep 

mutual interaction of them. The most preferred method is

educing the saturation of chosen colors;for example using full 

saturated positions of leaf green and scarlet orange together 

side by side may be abrasive. Their mutual interaction can be 

more harmonically by adding into them some grey color or 

another hue (for example blue). Another method is adding 

the colors into each other; for example because of that the red 

and the green with the same value have also the same level 

of saturation, they can disturb the eyes. This problem can be 

overcomed by adding the colors into each other. Thereby, the 

interaction can be less drastic (Figure 8). 

Figure S. "The harmony made by the complementary hues 

green-red and orange-blue". The red as a color with dynamic 

quality was used in a restricted part, and a harmony was 

provided by making a transition (passage) with orange 

merging to red (Lovatt-Smith and Muthesius 1996:155). 

One of the factors determining the decision of color is the 

atmosphere intended to be created by the designer. For 

example, the atmosphere created by revealing the visual 

expression of exposed concrete within the interior can not be 

attained by coloring the concrete within the same place (Figure 

9). Moreover, coloring the exposed concrete within an interior 

space where prestige and power are overemphasized could 

cause a disaster in design. However, in such a design case that 

furniture made by color and smoothing applicarion over light 

concrete the result may not be a disaster (Figure 10). 

Figure 9. The marvelous expression of exposed concrete in the 

Interior. Designed byTadao Ando, 1990 (Ando 1991:108). 

I 

Figure 10. The furniture made by light concrete modules. The 

bearing part is natural wood. On the concrete convenient for 

coloring surface (Sandback Fabrication Katalog 1999). 

In each application the concrete have been used, but the 

application made in the interior the natural character of 

material has been emphasized; on the other hand in the 

furniture design while the natural character of material was 

being masked. Its chrominance character has been highlighted. 

The use of concrete has been differing in each of two designs 

according to intentions of them. Therefore, the color has an

importance as a factor affecting the conciusion intended to be 

arrived bythe designer. 

CONCLUSION 

In order not to cause a disaster in a weli-designed space, 

considering the mood intended to be created, the colors are 

limited according to their hues and quantity. Also, beside 

this limitation, the allocation of colors is determined within 

the space. For formation of a harmonic scheme in the space, 

a balance among colors is provided. The allocations of hues 

selected, of lightness-darkness, and of saturated-unsaturated 

colors and their local impressions are important factors in 

contribution of color to the space. 

The designer, together with his/her emotions, applies color 

harmony methods considering the physical characteristics of 

colors as well as how they interact with each other due to their 

own qualities.The designers do not only act according to their 

subconscious background, but they are also required to have 

scientific background for description of colors. The aesthetic 

and scientific background of a designer about colors do play 

an important role in positive contribution of color to interior 

design. 

References 

ANDO,T., 1999, "JA-Japan Architect", Milano 

CLIFTON, C, 2001, The Colour Design Source Book, Ryland 

Peters & Small,London 

FEISNER, A.E., 2000, Colour, How to Use Colour in Art and 

Design, Laurance King Publishing, London 

KOPACZ, J., 2004, Color InThree-Dimensional Design, McGraw- 

Hill, NewYork 

LOVATT-SMITH, L. and MUTHESIUS, A„ 1996, Provence Interiors, 

Tashen, Germany 

RINALDl, P., and TASHEN, A.,1998, Tuscany Interiors, Tashen, 

Italy 

TEMİZSOYLU, N., 1987, Renk ve Resimde Kullanımı, MSU, 

İstanbul 

OZDEMİR, T., 2005, Renk Kavramı ve Konut İç Mekanında 

Tasarıma Etkileri, Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi, Fen 

Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Sanatta Yeterlik Tezi, İstanbul 

YENER, N., 2000, Özellikten Biçime, Profesörlük Çalışması, 

İstanbul 

http://www.johnlovett.com/colour.htm 

"Sandback Fabrication" Katalog, 1999

F I G H T S A N D F I R E S A R E T H E F L O W E R S O F E D O 

JennieTate 

University of N.S.W, Sydney, Australia 

jennietate@unwired,com.au 

Abstract 

It has been common in post -enlightenment Western society 

to view binary pairs as oppositional in nature. I wish to 

interrogate how the narratives of our society determine our 

evaluation and response to disaster and events that create 

disorder in our lives. What is the role of design when cities, 

which are re-built and re-constructed after "disaster" natural 

and man-made, alters the material and physical "face" of the 

urban environment? By changing our relationship to binary 

pairs from oppositional can we transform the design and 

inhabitation ofthe urban landscape? This is an environment 

that is increasingly perceived, particularly by Western thought, 

as alienating, hostile and sterile? 

The locus of my research is the city of Tokyo, and how it has 

transitioned from the Edo of theTokugawa Regime 1600-1863. 

This was a city with a built materiality of wood and paper, which 

through repeated destruction, has re-emerged as contemporary 

Tokyo, a city of concrete and glass. This will be illustrated by 

the way firstly, in which the various "mappings" of the urban 

environment are a visual expression of its metaphysics and 

secondly, by how they underpin urban planning and design. 

"Fights and Fires are the Flowers of Edo"is an expression that was 

popular dunng theTokugawa Regime.This period was a time of 

constant conflagration and upheaval as the result of repeated 

earthquakes. More recently events have included flooding 

and firebombing. However this upheaval always preceded a 

resurgence of life. The term "Fights and Fires are the Flowers 

of Edo" is Indicative of the process of renewal and creation as 

an integral part of destruction. This paper specifically examines 

the way in which narratives, written, oral and visual determine 

our relationship to binaries and the way in which they provide 

the conceptual framework for design and urban planning. The 

paper will also interrogate whetherthese narratives of resilience 

have permeated the new materiality of concrete and glass. The 

conclusion will demonstrate the consequences this has for 

design and urban planning. 

The theoretical perspectives that this paper calls on are the 

Interface of science and metaphysics through the Poetics 

of Space as significant for meaningful inhabitation within 

the Built Environment. The organizing principle of this 

mulri disciplinary approach will employ Narrative Inquiry to 

examine the role myths; cosmologies, maps and metaphysics 

of Japanese Culture play in the design and re-construcrion of 

the Urban Environment. 

It has been common in post-enlightenment Western 

society to view binary pairs as oppositional in nature 

rather than as complementary. 

Thus our definition of what constitutes order and disorder 

is polarized. Tradirionally, the Western view has been to 

privilege control and safety, careless of the implications to 

the psyche. Visual narratives and metaphors of boundary and 

protecrion are evident from eariiest rimes in stonewalls that 

surround our cities. Post-enlightenment, our obsession with 

order and control, shielding us from the natural worid is even 

more evident In the grid of rarionality imposed on the urban 

environment. However, despite the welcoming advantages 

of increased safety and protecrion the price appears to be a 

built environment that is increasingly perceived, as alienaring, 

hosrile and sterile. 

But there are many who hold an alternate position redolent 

with possibility. In "The Poetics of Space" Gaston Bachelard 

reveals that the need to dream and imagine is crirical to being 

and habitarion {Bachelard and Jolas, 1994). He takes us on a 

poetic journey of spatial and metaphysical discovery. From

ounded protection in burrows and slielters, he introduces us 

to the nest, simultaneously our symbol of shelter and utterly 

fragile thing, affirming a space that integrates rather than 

resists a larger cosmos. 

James Donald, in "Imagining the Modern City "(1999) also 

challenges the Western view of dialectics as oppositional, re 

iterates the need to dissolve fixed boundaries of "either/or"as 

a necessary condition for enlivening the cities that we inhabit. 

The realm of physical and metaphorical light and dark, the 'so- 

called' problematic areas of urban existence inherent in the 

city can be, he suggests the means by which the city comes 

alive. By enlisting as his guides, filmmakers, novelists and poets 

to penetrate and observe the urban experience Donald offers 

a complement to the reality purported by our sociologists, 

architects and urban planners and demonstrates that the love 

of'universal transparency' is in fact the 'Enlightenment terror 

of darkened spaces' The result of this tightening and fixing of 

the lines between reality and imagination is a loss of a space 

where our dreams and imagination can access possibility and 

potential (Donald, 1999). 

The locus of my research is Tokyo. 

It is a labyrinthine city often perceived by Westerners as 

confusing and paradoxical. However, does this facilitate a 

space where an alternate response to the problematic areas of 

urban existence can exist? This is a city that traditionally has 

demonstrated an alternate orderor"mapping"that is conducive 

to resilience, flexibility and renewal. Behind Tokyo's apparent 

ugliness and chaotic disorder, behind the contemporary facade 

with and its business and administrative faces lie very different 

and parallel realities. In the spirit of Calvino's "Invisible Cities'! 

Tokyo too, with its faces and masks is simultaneously many 

differentcitiesandvillageseachwiththeirown rhythm and pace 

(Calvino, 1978). Peeping through gaps in the contemporary 

fabric old rhythms, memories and traditions of eariier eras 

co-exist creating a vital, living integrated whole. Architectural 

theoristYoshinobu Ashlhara (Ashihara and Riggs, 1989) refers to 

this as'a hidden order'. Likewise Hiddenobu Jinnai (1995) sees a 

city where a contemporary international surface co-exists with 

the vernacular, an order where surface (Omote) and underside 

(Ura) are in a complementary relationship to each other. This 

order would remain invisible to outsiders if the underlying 

'organic ties to nature and the universe, is not understood' 

Jinnai argues (Jinnai, 1995). He adds that the development of 

the city is a continuum in which the memory of a cosmology 

based on a complementary relationship with nature is still in 

existence and is structured into the very pattern of the city. 

Tokyo bespeaks a geştalt At night material surfaces, whole 

buildings and the rigidity of the street plan of the rational 

world dissolve, giving way to an alternate unrecognisable 

worid of play where darkness, the irrational and the mysterious 

are privileged and warmth, liberation and conviviality are the 

norms. Honne, corresponding to the private self or the real 

situation, is in evidence, In the morning, the city returns to 

rational, efficient management and Tat&mae or public face 

become the accepted norm. Despite a seemingly Western and 

International 'Face'the city of Tokyo in Its diurnal and annual 

rhythms is'Dancing'to its own internal order, exuding a vibrant 

energy and life force. 

William Demastes in his book "Theatre of Chaos" offers the 

solution "To be and not to be. That is the question?" to the 

problem posed by Hamlet, when troubled by the dichotomy 

of rationalism implied in the expression, "To be or not to be." 

This metaphysical speculation is within the tradition of the 

Japanese Buddhist Scholar Daisuke Suzuki. How would the 

evolution of Western thought been altered, Demastes posits 

if we had embraced dichotomy as a way of experiencing 

and apprehending reality rather than setting possibilities in 

opposition to each other. Shakespeare, Demastes explains, 

was writing within the transition from a medieval sensibility 

and worldvlew in which, 

The mystery of life that prevailed in the medieval 

world placed humanity in awe of nature, in fear of 

its unpredictability. The rise of reductive, predictive 

rationalism initiated a conflict between humanity and 

naxure, with humanity trusting this new tool ultimately 

to assist In the human triumph over nature. 

(Demastes, 1998) 

Faced with impending ecological crisis this conflict 

between humans and nature need reconciling. The topic 

proposed for this conference "Dancing with Disorder" is a 

valuable and essential step to addressing this perceived 

opposition.

To do this i am adopting Tokyo as a case study, a city with 

a history of constant conflagration and upheaval as the 

result of repeated earthquakes, flooding and firebombing. 

However this upheaval always preceded a resurgence of life. 

Can we redefine what we interpret as disorder by looking at 

underlying hidden patterns of order and rhythm, which are 

not always apparent to a society bent on rationalism and Its 

controlling ethos? Rather than imposing our own conditions 

for order can listening to eadier rhythms, often discredited 

as irrational and belonging to the realm ofthe superstitious 

provide the impetus for re-newel and re-building. William 

Demastes argues that a vision of chaos is not new. 

What is new is that our new twentieth prophets - 

those men and women whom we trust rationally and 

empincaHy to describe truth and reality and whom 

we call scientists- are validating for us... the visions of 

lunatics, lovers, and poets. They are recovering Ideas 

from the marginalized realms of culture and placing 

them once again on centre stage. This time the ideas 

are supported not by magic and mystery but by the 

very sciences that once relegated them to the margins 

(Demastes, 1998). 

F. David Peat (1991) also espouses a simultaneous vision of 

science and metaphysics using maps as an heuristic to expose 

some of our most formative visual narratives. Descartes'grid of 

control and order, while useful in locating our position in space 

has separated us, from each other, the natural environment 

and also the cosmos itself He advocates a re-animation ofthe 

Cartesian maps that while useful for their predictive power, 

do not fully describe the quantum system. Here matter Is not 

inert but animate and vital, full of mystery, astonishment and 

ambiguity. As a result, he argues our bodies and our spirits, 

have lost all affinity with the diurnal and cyclic rhythms of 

the natural environment. He advocates new maps to more 

accurately describe our position in and relationship to a living 

animate universe of complementarity and synchronicity, which 

the exploration of quantum physics demonstrates exists. He 

draws our attention to indigenous mapping with Its ability to 

simultaneously map space and rime, the sacred and the profane 

as well as the extraordinary and the everyday as models more 

completely describing the human experience, whereby 'Our 

minds and bodies all have access to the same creative source 

that animates every atom and star (Peat, 1991). However, 

rather than invesrigaring our relationship to an animate 

universe through indigenous mapping 1 wish to focus on a 

highly urbanized environment, that ofthe Edo culture under 

theTokugawa Regime 1600-1863. Nishlyama Matsunoske, an 

eminent authority on this era, states 'Something close to an 

ideal relation of production to consumprion-that is, an ideal 

relation of people to nature was, in fact, attained by thirty 

million Japanese ofthe Edo period'(Matsunoke, 1997). 

r^*.***^ - K ... - •, 

Figure 1. A bird's - eye view of Edo in the 1850's,"EthnicTokyo" 

Hidenobu Jinna', Published by Process Architecture Publishing 

Co.Ltd.1991:15, Photo: courtesy of Tokyo Central Library 

When F David Peat describes nature seen as vibrant and alive 

in which we took our place amongst other creatures and 

plants', picturing a universe In which each atom, rock, and star 

drinks ofthe same boundless waters of crearivity,'(Peat, 1991) 

he could well be describing the ethos that underpinned the 

Culture of urban Edo. This was not a'primitive'culture basedon 

medieval superstition but a sophisticated urban environment 

in which Nishlyama (1997:9) says,'Human activity imparted 

only minimal damage to nature.' The maps of the period 

demonstrate a cosmology in which the city is nurtured by the 

Sumida River at Its base and protected by a towering Mt. Fuji. 

Jlnnal Hiddenobu (1995) describes it as a city of water, similar 

to Venice, with the underlying principle of city being a balance 

between the planning necessary for the defence of castle- 

towns, and the adaptation to the original topography and "the 

spirits ofthe land"(Jinnai, 1995). Based on Chinese principles

of geomancy and built on seven hills the city and its central 

casde, protected by a labyrinth of moats was organized with 

an intimate relationship to nature and the topography. In the 

woodcuts of the time, the ethos of the maps is emphasised 

and in exaggerated views of Mt. Fuji, everyday life was brought 

into an intimate relationship with its symbolic protector. 'In 

this way, Edo - a beautiful city integrated into the great natural 

world-is vividly described from the view point of the low-city 

commoners as constituting a single, coherent universe' (Jinnai, 

1995). A unique environment was created and designed 

in which the city and its activities were interconnected, 

inseparable from nature and the cosmos it emanated from. 

11 

•m n 

Figure 2. Suruga cho Suruga Street Utagawa Hiroshlge 1797- 

1858. Image: courtesy of Tokyo Traditional Woodblock Print 

Association 

The organizing principle of this paper is ISJarrative Inquiry 

Despite the post-enlightenment love of rationality and 

mathematical order, there is difficulty accepting abstraction 

when lives are disrupted. Human experience demands 

personalization. Since humanities earliest days narratives from 

personnel, visual and oral accounts to the "Grand Narratives" 

of our traditions we have sought to explain our place within a 

meaningful cosmos. Donald Polkinghorne posits that. 

Narrative Inquiry provides a meaningful structure to 

our experiences. Our thoughts and feelings affect the 

way we design and interact with our environment. If 

we are looking at binaries as complimentary we need 

a system that accounts not only for facts and rational 

explanations but for what is in our unconscious 

and appears in the guise of irrationality. Our dreams 

memories fears hopes and imaginings are a valuable 

sourceofinsight into ourthoughts and feelings.Through 

including what is under the surface and within our 

unconscious as well as within the collective unconscious 

we can more properly comprehend our experiences and 

reactions to change (Polkinghorne, 1988). 

Today when all of the "Grand Narratives" of traditional and 

organized religion have come under scrutiny, the human 

animal clings to personalization of experience and the need 

for comprehension and meaning within a seemingly hostile 

and indifferent universe. 

Adding his cry to the malaise of separation, loss and 

meaningless that our sterile urban environments are 

forcing upon their populace Alberto Perez-Gomez 

says the following. Yet 1 yearn for more. For places that 

might be thoroughly inhabited and populated with 

imagery and desire, unlike the obsolete constructions 

that occupy the inhospitable grid of our city at the 

moment of awakening. An anguished realization of 

universal homelessness! (Perez-Gomez, 1992). 

Perez-Gomez argues that. 

Phenomenology has shown the importance of 

retrieving the body as the locus of meaning, 

deconstructing Descartes's objectified, mechanistic 

body and biology's organic body to posit instead a 

network of internationality, the intertwining of self and 

world (Perez-Gomez, 1992). 

Phenomenology is of great value, in dealing with the 

subjective and personnel. The emphasis on individuality 

and our ability to control, and alter the circumstances that 

we find ourselves in has been one of the great contributions 

of the post-enlightenment scientific revolution. But it is the 

weight of the collective unconscious which I believe plays a

defining role in fiow we experience disorder and isa key factor 

in the role resilience plays İn re-shaping environments after 

destruction or disaster takes place. This is where I believe the 

usefulness of Narrative Inquiry lies. 

Tokyo is a city, raised to the ground through fire and 

firebombing. Twice completely destroyed in the last century 

and more recently undergoing a rate of material change that 

Is unprecedented. Little Is left of any material artefacts or 

architecture, particularly in the areas ofthe low city around 

the Sumida River. Therefore, the legacy Is primarily through 

memory and narrative rather than architecture and material 

objects. Kentaro Arikawa interviewed by Jeremy Narby (2005) 

talks of the Japanese ability to innovate, to transform and to 

metamorphosis. This is not through choice but because they 

are forced to by periodic destruction oftheir old buildings and 

their Inhabitation, Narby notes of; 

...a volcanic archipelago, [that] is one of he most 

seismicaliy active regions of the world. Huge tidal 

waves, known as tsunami, and hundreds of earthquakes 

occur every year in Japan. Nature here is strong and 

uncontrollable. It smashes cities, floods them, blows 

them down. Godzilla, the monster that arises from 

the deep sea and comes to destroy Tokyo, simply 

incarnates the forces of nature. The Japanese are used 

to rebuilding their world (Narby, 2005). 

Figure B.Tokyo and fvtt. Fuji. Photo: courtesy of Tokyo 

Convention & Visitors Bureau 2004 Copyright 

Haruki Murakami a writer and literary hero for a generation 

of young Japanese, has a different perspective on the current 

state of Japanese resilience and flexibility in the face ofthe 

rampant technological and environmental change. But he 

shares a strong insistence of the Importance of narrative and 

metaphor in strengthening the psyche. 

Humans - can't live very long without some sense of 

a continuing story. Such stories go beyond the limited 

rational system - with which you surround yourself; 

they are crucial keys to sharing time-experience with 

others. Now a narrative is a story, not logic, nor ethics, 

nor philosophy. It Is a dream you keep having whether 

you realize it or not. Just as surely as you breath, you 

go on ceaselessly dreaming your story". And in these 

stories you wear two faces. You are simultaneously 

subject and object. You are the whole and you are a 

part. You are real and you are shadow." Storyteller and 

at the same time "character". It is as though through 

such multi layering of roles in our stories that we heal 

the loneliness of being an isolated individual the world 

(Rubin, 2005). 

The most pertinent and defining narratives of our society 

are those that contextualize our relationship within a 

meaningful cosmos. 

It is important to understand that, 

Traditional urban thought in Japan may be understood 

as two layers: on the bottom a largely implicit set of 

indigenous attitudes from the ancient and medieval 

periods; and on the top an explicit and highly 

intellectual structure of thought evolves under the 

Tokugawa political system and moulded by Confucian 

ideology. ...These two layers have never neatly joined 

nor have they been in open conflict (Smith, 1978). 

Our understanding ofthe earlier indigenous layer comes from 

the stories and myths in the Kq;7k/ (the Ancient Chronicles 

of Japan) of 712 and the Nihonshoki (Chronicles of Japan) Of 

720. Although not sacred texts based on instances of divine 

revelation but a collection of historical, theological mythical 

and political narratives, they do contain many themes that 

form the basis of Shinto or"the way ofthe gods".

Everything that is manifest in the universe is interconnected, 

part of the web of life from the most complex organisms to 

the seemingly simplest says IVlotohisa Yamakage (Yamakage, 

2006) emanating from a single source or Dangenrei with 

life regarded as an affirmative positive experience. It is not 

the only reality but co-exists with the "unseen wodd". In 

narratives, realms parallel to the material Inhabited by gods 

who not only share our human weaknesses but also accept 

them are described. Work rituals and worship are earned on in 

parallel as archetypal representations of the work of humanity 

(Yamakage, 2006). 

The Kami or the gods, are defined, by Fujisawa Chikao as' the 

deification ofthe life- force which pervades all beings, animate 

and inanimate, Kami is the invisible power which unites spirit 

and matter into a dynamic whole, while it gives birth to all 

things without exception' (Herbert, 1967). 

Another aspect ofthe mythology celebrated in the /Cq/7/(/and 

Niliongi is the affirmation ofthe life force and the generative 

creative power of the universe, equated with fertility and 

increase. Japanese myth, (Buruma, 1984) really began with a 

brother and sister Izanagl-no-mikoto and Izanamİ-no-mikoîo 

who, alongside seven generations of gods emanated out of 

chaos. Giving birth to the islands of Japan and vanous deities, 

she burned her genitals and subsequently penshed. Gnef 

stncken her brother and husband followed, and against her 

entreaties demanded to look her In the face. Horrified by the 

pollution of death, he divorced her and in revenge she vowed 

to strangle to death a thousand people a day. He retaliated 

affirming the establishment of fifteen hundred houses forthe 

bearing of children each day. And the battle for the supremacy 

of life over death began. 

Despite its rampant industrialization, Japanese culture is still 

wedded to a consciousness of agriculture and the symbolic 

and actual cultivarion of rice. Not only do annual events and 

celebrarions testify to this but the affirmarion of life and 

survival at all costs are embedded into the very fabric of 

society, traditional and contemporary. 

But it is the story of Amaterasu, the sun goddess that has the 

most relevance metaphorically and literally for topic "Dancing 

with Disorder". Angered by her brother Susannoo's deplorable 

behaviour consisring of offences destructive to agriculture, she 

retreated into a cave and darkness enveloped the earth. This 

situarion conrinued for many days with the gods in despair, 

their livelihood and existence threatened. This was a disastrous 

situarion and one of the gods Ame-no-Uzume took acrion. As 

related In the Kojiki she threw herself into a dance "overturning 

a bucket before the heavenly rock cave-door," stamping 

"resoundiy upon it," baring her breasts and pushing "her skirt- 

band down to her genitals" (Sadler, 1970). It was an outrageous 

bawdy dance, a celebration of life, fertility and fecundity. It 

threw the eight hundred assembled kami into paroxysms 

of laughter and Amaterasu, unable to control her curiosity, 

rushed out of her cave. The desperate life-denying situarion 

was solved and her re-entry to the cave was barred with a straw 

rope or silimenawo. The incident form the Kq/VW illustrates, R.H. 

BIyth suggest5,'The way in which dancing, sex (it was after all a 

strip-dance) religion, nature (sunshine) and humour'with such 

a chain are bound' in primirive rimes' (Sadler, 1970). 

It is a formative narrative, its metaphors resounding In many 

Japanese belief systems underpinning responses to the series 

of 'life destroying' situarions they have been confronted with 

over the centuries.The dance is accepted as being the origin of 

Kagura the forerunner of Noh and Kabuki. It is still performed 

at Shinto Shrines, often at celebrarions of thanksgiving and 

propitiation called "Matsuri' in which the sacred and the 

profane, in prayer and play restore and maintain seasonal, 

diurnal and interpersonal rhythms. These are rimes of joy and 

vitality as well as providing a space for transgression. Integral 

to the acts of thanksgiving and propitiation is the notion that 

the gods need to be entertained and is demonstrative ofthe 

importance of dance and laughter as essential ingredients 

for restoring balance when the natural seasonal and diurnal 

rhythms have been disrupted. Alan Sadler (1970) citing James 

Kirkup says, 'the Kagura play is truly a dream sequence. It is 

full of clowns and god-men, incredible heroes and stumbling 

idiots, in situations of utter terror and complete banality, all 

mixed together'. 

Kagura teaches us Sadler observes, how to collectively face 

our fears and demons and learn to laugh at them.

Figure 4.Tsuburösashl Matsuri Fertility Festival. 

Photo:Courtesy of JennieTate, 2004 Copyright 

In Edo religious space was on the outskirts sited in relation 

to water and forest. Temples and shrines became landmarks 

and then developed into amusement areas, giving Edo its 

distinctively sacred/profane prayer/play quality. These areas 

Jinnai Hiddenobu (1995) notes were not subject to the rules 

of secular relations and they became sanctuaries of freedom 

and protection and "wandering entertainers" gathered in 

these marginalized areas. Markets, riverbanks and under 

bridges were the home of the marginalized, these "ludic" 

spaces of liberation creating a "fantastic other worid". Edo 

was, Henry D Smith outlines; 

A culture that combined an affirmarion of consumption 

with a spirit of Impermanence within the Ukiyo of the 

theatre and pleasure worids. Where the older narive 

sensibility would tend to view such activity in a temporal 

framework of purificatory play (hore) apart from the 

everyday world (ke) the static Confucian worldvlew 

condemned It morally and deemed it "akubasho" 

literally bad place. This moral contradiction led to an 

idea of the city apart from the city, two cities less In 

opposirion than in different worids (Smith, 1978). 

It was into this milieu of Eddoko or child of Edo, typifying 

pride and resistance that the expression "Fights and Fires are 

the Flovêrs of Edo" was born. Here fireman held the dual role 

of carpenter, ensuring prosperity, whatever the outcome of 

the disastrous fires that wracl

an account of the Japanese response to the destruction of 

Tokyo and the re-building ofthe city after the devastating fire- 

bombings.'The Amencans arrived, anticipating, many of them, 

a traumadc confronted with fanatical emperor worshippers. 

They were accosted instead by women who called "yoo boo" 

to the first troops, and men who bowed and asked what it was 

the conquerors wished' (Downer, 1999). 

In a myriad of ways Inexplicable even to the Japanese 

themselves their post-war wartime behaviour presented 

an entirely different face to 'the mystique of racial and social 

solidarity that had saturated wartime propaganda' says 

Downer (1999). Looting, robbery and self-seeking behaviour 

by ail became the order of the day. Ordinary people, the 

authorities, police and even the kami kaze pilots became 

enmeshed in a ruthless impersonal battle for survival in which 

everyday rules ofmorality were turned topsyturvey. Despite an 

environment that was materially devastated and a population 

facing starvation, personnel dianes and popular culture 

displayed endless resistance to pessimism, with Downer 

observing 'sardonic humour flourished alongside despair, 

and for every personalized story of emotional exhausrion 

and shattered lives, it was possible to find an uplifting 

counterexample of resilience, hope and accomplishment' 

(Downer, 1999). 

The Black Market optimistically entitled "Brightness from 

Shlnjuku." emerged within days of surrender. As well as being 

a powerful metaphor the value of this was a re-affirmation of 

their most basic narrarives; that the life force, the generative 

impulse must continue as an anridote to death. While 

recognized as a tragedy by the Japanese, Worid War 11 needs 

to be seen as part of a conrinuum of disaster that has beset 

the island over the last thousand years. After the Sept 1,1923 

earthquake, according to Seidensricker 

The city burned for some forty hours, and before the last 

embers were out reconstrucrion had already began. It 

was used to and indeed rather proud of fires, known as 

"Flowers of Edo," and proud as well of the speed with 

which it recovered. The proper merchant insisted upon 

speed in these matters. If a shop had not resumed 

business within three days, common mercantile 

wisdom held, It had no future (Seldenstlcker, 1983). 

Emergency markets, street stall and barracks rose from the 

cinders almost Immediately, and the popular" Reconstruction 

Song" sang out 

Completely burned out. But see 

The son of Edo has not lost his spirit. 

So soon, these rows and rows of barracks. 

And we can see the moon from our beds. 

(Seldenstlcker, 1983) 

The first Impulse after fire and earthquake has always been 

to colonize vacant space with Imagination and creativity the 

essence of survival. But In the way the Japanese were able to 

transcend despair and create an environment that sarisfied 

their survival needs, albeit of an alternate order, there is another 

factor to consider. That is the deep and powerful connection 

and inseparability with nature as an all encompassing and 

nurturing force. It Is a similar sentiment that Downer observes 

after World War II in the poem written Horiguchl Daigaku. 

The country has become small and powerless, 

food scarce, shame plenriful, life fragile. 

Stop grieving! Raise your eyes 

To the tree tops, to the sky. 

(Downer, 1999) 

This has Its visual equivalent in the storyboards of Akira 

Kurosawa, His later work, weak in its cinematic reallsarion 

compared to his eadier achievements nevertheless 

demonstrated remarkable visual power. In his visualization 

of a scene from "Mada Da Yo" entlried 'Moon over the Ruins' 

he expresses a similar sentiment affirming Integration with 

a benevolent cosmos despite the devastarion of material 

protecrion. 

Contemporary Narratives of Tokyo. 

World War 11, Downer (1999) feels, did not end for the Japanese 

unril 1952, But it Is important not to underestimate the 

ramificarions of defeat and its ensuing'culture of shame'. There 

Is a deep distrust and suspicion of the metaphysics inherent in 

Shinto, appropriated by the Militarists ofthe Second Worid War 

to justify their colonial ambitions (Miyoshi and Harootunian, 

1988). But the reality of Japan says, director Shohel I mamura.

is tiiose little shrines, the superstition and the 

irrationality that pervade the Japanese consciousness 

under the veneer of the business suits and advanced 

technology (Buruma, 1984). 

In questioning whether narratives ofresilience have permeated 

the new materiality of concrete and glass I wish to draw again 

on Haruki Murakami (Rubin, 2005). He takes us to the heart of 

what I believe Is part of the Japanese contemporary malaise, 

which Is the wall of forgetting that has been built around the 

collective memories ofthe second World War and its resultant 

spiritual amnesia. He writes for an age In which isolation, 

alienation and loneliness are key concerns, manifested in an 

ever-rising suicide rate, homelessness, teenage boys in retreat 

from society and a spiritual and physical and exhaustion. 

Bewailing the loss of ambiguity, mystery and shadow he 

laments the demise of simultaneous worlds. Liberation and 

dreaming need to exist parallel to the everyday rational world 

that people find themselves trapped In. 'What I write are 

stories in which the hero Is looking for the right way in this 

world of chaos... That is my theme. At the same time I think 

there is another world that İs underground. You can access this 

world in your mind. Most protagonists live In both worlds-this 

realistic world and the underground world. '(Rubin, 2005). 

But the ability to move freely between the worlds of 

imagination and reality can be maintained. In "Dance Dance 

Dance" the mysterious Sheep Man says connectedness can 

be maintained, "if you keep dancing as long as the music 

plays" (Rubin, 2005). In his exhortation to Dance Dance Dance, 

Murakamki Is entreating his audience to reconnect with the 

life force by digging deeply into their collective psyche to 

memories of the co-existence of parallel worlds where dance 

and laughter were necessary conditions for the maintenance 

and balance ofthe generative and creative impulse. 

Tokyo has danced with disorder time and time again, rising 

phoenix in a continual dance of resilience and re-newel. 

But states internationally acclaimed architect Toyo Ito, 

Tokyo's old resilience is being covered up by a rigid 

frame. The city itself is gradually rigidifying. [Yet], while 

modernizing and becoming more and more controlled, 

Tokyo preserves, if only latently, a resilience and flexibility 

thataccounted for itswonders and charm,that isnottobe 

found In Western cities. How much longer it will be able 

to preserve these qualities Is a moot point. The rigidifying 

process is proceeding every day (Bognar, 1982). 

The map we now locate ourselves with is that ofthe subway, a 

symbolic grid that pays no heed to the underlying topography. 

It no longer depicts Mt. Fuji, cut off by the high rise, which 

now dominate the landscape. The Sumida River too is absent. 

And canals and waterways are hidden under highways and 

expressways. However the pleasure places, the Sakariha are 

in abundance, in their accustomed places, under the bridges 

and in front of the transport nodes. At night, they become 

alternate, liberated worlds alive with pleasure and enjoyment. 

However, Hiddenobu Jinnai (1995) believes they have lost 

their connection to water and the religious centres losing 

their original vulgar energies In which the ludic was intimately 

connected to sacrality and fertility and the celebration of the life 

force. It is worth heeding the words of Alberto Perez-Gomez. 

Figure 6.The Öedo Line. Image: Courtesy ofTokyo 

metropolitan Govt.Transport Bureau 2007 Copyright 

1 fear that authentic wisdom, the enlightenment that results 

from the generarive union in procreation may no longer 

be attainable. In the democratic, genderless universe of 

generic slmularion and electronic space, sexual love appears 

as a hedonistic, inconsequenrial, and absolutely finite 

consumption of energy (Perez-Gomez.1992:4).

Water and green space are behind much of new urban 

planning Jinnal adds but he too fears says that these are 

simply techniques of urban design and landscaping, '...the 

truth is that water and green space are intimately connected 

with human life at a far deeper level' {Jinnal 1995:68). 

Edo died because of its fires and floods says Nagai Kafu 

but Edward Seldensdcker feels It was the loss of Its boats 

and waterways that destroyed its ambience (Seldenstlcker 

1983:54). The "Civilization and Enlightenment" of the Melji 

Era had to come but It did not require giving up the 'old 

sense of the earth' Seldenstlcker contends and despite 

appearances the rhythm ofthe fields and the seasons' is still 

present {Seldenstlcker 1983;5129&139). Even after World War 

II re-bullding retained the old street plan, and maintained a 

'warmer and cozier'face than Nagoya which taking advantage 

ofthe bombings redesigned according to the European model 

(Seldenstlcker, 1991). 

Figure 7. Moonnse. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Bates 2007 

Copyright 

However Haruki Murakami suggests that this relationship 

is now, rather one of oppression and insensitivity. "Super 

frog Saves Tokyo', part of a collection of short stories written 

in response to the Kobe speaks of a ngid uniform world. 

Here places for ritualised transgression are lost and anger, 

resentment and negativity go underground, into the belly of 

a giant worm residing under Tokyo. Deeply discomforted the 

worm is about to awaken, and Super frog enlists Katagiri, a 

salary man and they dance affecting the destruction of the 

worm saving Tokyo (Rubin 2005:259). 

Superfrog's dance is echoed and it's meaning amplified in another 

of Haruki Murakami's stones."All god's children can Dance". 

Reconciled to the mystery of his birth and his inner 

self, Yoshiya dances In a kind of religious ecstasy... He 

loves dancing however. He feels as if he is moving in 

time with the rhythms ofthe Universe... And it struck 

him what lay buned far down under the earth on which 

his feet were so firmly planted; the ominous rumbling 

of the deepest darkness, secret rivers that transport 

desire, slimy creatures writhing, the lair of earthquakes 

ready to transform whole cities into mounds of rubble. 

Conclusion 

(Rubin 2005:260) 

Tokyo and The Sumida River have been a case study for me 

in which I have examined how binaries as complementary, 

transmitted through narratives, written, oral and visual have 

facilitated resilience in the face of constant upheaval. The 

philosophical underpinnings of the culture have created a 

built environment that has traditionally been in harmony with 

nature, a relationship predicated by awe and respect, which 

has been able to adapt to constant upheaval natural and man- 

made. However, at a time in history when the world is facing 

unprecedented global technological and ecological change 

it is essential to seriously reconsider our connection to the 

planet and the natural environment that we are inseparably a 

part of Japan is a society that has. In the urban environment 

of Edo and its cosmological mappings already demonstrated 

that a complementary relationship with nature and urbanity 

can be found. What is necessary is that the rhythms of that 

relationship are remembered and heeded and 1 will end with 

the words of Nagai Kafu. 

Under the old lunar calendar the festival of the dead came 

at the beginning of autumn. ...But now we have imitated the 

West and adopted the solar calendar, and the festival comes 

just after the June rains or toward the middle of summer. The 

sadness with which the dead ought to be remembered is 

wholly lacking. The morals of a country are in danger when 

they are cut loose from the beauty of its soil and Its seasons. 

The makers of our new age have been careless in many ways 

(Kafu, 1965).

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Great Earthquake Massachusetts, Harvard University Press 

Cambridge. 147 

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Urban Thought until 1945. Journal of Japanese Studies, 4,45- 

80.47&52 

YAMAKAGE, M. (2006) The Essence of Shinto Japan's Spiritual 

Heart,Tokyo, Kodansha International Ltd. 154

P R D F I T F R n M P A R A N O I A - D E S I G N A G A I N S T ' P A R A N O I D ' P R O D U C T S 

Prof. Lorraine Gamman 

University of the Arts, London, UK 

l.gamman@csm.arts.ac.uk 

Adam Thorpe 


adam@vexed.co.uk 

Abstract 

Innovation is a nsky business. Trying to innovate products 

to empowfer the individual against street crime, or to create 

designs for public space that can anticipate terrorist intentions, 

raise many design issues as well as what Prof. Ekblom (2005) 

defines as 'troublesome tradeoffs.'' These involve safety 

concerns versus address to maintaining personal freedoms. 

This paper will review specific troublesome tradeoffs between 

sustainable design goals when trying to effectively design 

against disaster, it will consider how and whether the design 

against cnme model ofthe research and design process can and 

should embrace issues posed by terrorism, and whether it can 

be adapted to effectively do so. Discussion on this subject will 

occur by reviewing the'Conjunction of Terrorist Opportunity' 

framework (Roach et al. 2005) and considering how the 

impact of acknowledging a potential 'terrorist' threat by the 

designer may have different consequences to other forms of 

crime risk problem analysis. In particular the paper will discuss 

why design against terrorism, delivered without appropriate 

forethought, could be in danger of becoming equivalent of 

what Martin Innes (2004) calls a 'signal crime', over-fortified in 

terms of a security aestheric or problem response, and in our 

view meriring the descriprion 'paranoid' product. 

' This term, developed by Prof. Ekblom is used to conceptualise the 

inevitable dilemma designers facewhenconsidering what a product's 

primary function is, compared with what other requirements it must 

also meet. For example, ease-of-use vs, security (user-friendly vs. 

abuser-unfriendly). 

Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent 

acrion, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or 

state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, 

whereby -in contrast to assassination- the direct targets of 

violence are not the main targets. The immediate human 

victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets 

of opportunity) or selecrively (representative or symbolic 

targets) from a target popularion, and serve as message 

generators. Threat and violence-based communicarion 

processes between terrorist (organization), (imperilled) 

victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the main 

target (audience(s)), turning it Into a target of terror, a target 

of demands, or a target of attenrion, depending on whether 

intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is primarily sought 

(Schmid 1988 cited by United Nations Office On Drugs And 

Crime 2007). 

There are mulriple ways of defining terrorism, and ail are 

subjecrive. Most define terrorism as 'the use or threat of 

serious violence'to advance some kind of'cause'. Some state 

clearly the kinds of group ('sub-narional', 'non-state') or cause 

(political, ideological, religious) to which they refer. Others 

merely rely on the instinct of most people when confronted 

with an act that involves innocent civilians being killed or 

maimed by men armed with explosives, firearms or other 

weapons. None Is sarisfactory, and grave problems with the 

use of the term persist. Terrorism is after all, a tacric. The term 

'war on terrorism'Is thus effectively nonsensical. As there is no 

space here to explore this involved and difficult debate, my 

preference is, on the whole, for the less loaded term 'militancy'.

This is not an attempt to condone such actions, merely to 

analyse them in a clearer way (Burke 2004, p.22). 

One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter. 

Popular cliche - summarised by Roach etol. (2005). 

This paper does NOT explore definitions of terrorism! As James 

Burke (2004) above, points out, there are many competing 

definitions, a number of them summarised within the UK 

Terrorism Act (HMSO 2000), which, when applied, are often 

linked to subjective interpretations of various political tactics 

or militancy. Put more simply, one person's terrorist is another 

person's freedom fighter. Instead, we focus on design issues. 

We consider if, when addressing 'anti terrorism' within design 

practice, designs delivered compromise ratherthan enhance our 

freedom? Indeed, this paper will attempt to engage with what 

Benjamin Franklin constructs for us, as the Liberty versus Safety 

debate, when he observes:'Those who would give up Essential 

Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither 

Liberty nor Safety'^ in relation to the design of products for 

public environments. In order to achieve this aim our paper will: 

(1) define what we mean by'paranoid products' 

(2) review existing designs of rubbish bins for public space 

that have attempted to address terror tactics in the design 

process. Specifically, to assess whether or not these problem 

solving anti bomb blast solutions have been successful in 

terms of user experience, and their relationship to theoretical 

principles outlined In the 'Conjunction ofTerrorist Opportunity' 

framework (Roach et ol. 2005). 

^ 'Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little 

Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety! is an often 

misquoted phrase commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin. The 

quote is taken from, 'An Historical Review of the Constitution and 

Government of Pennsylvania,'first published anonymously in London 

in 1759.The quote is an excerpt from a letter written in 1755 from the 

Assembly to the Governor of Pennsylvania. Benjamin Franklin did 

publish the edition printed in Philadelphia in 1812, and most likely 

the original, but denies writing any part of it. The quote, however, 

may have originated from Franklin and been excerpted for the book 

by the author (Wikipedia, 2007). 

(3) review the applied research approach of the Design 

Against Crime Research Centre,^ and Paul Ekblom's (2001) CCO 

framework which has led to the generation of anti theft bike 

parking for use In public space. Here, we point out that the 

model for generating design against crime (DAC) innovations, 

as utilized by DAC at UAL, can't simply be'mapped onto'design 

against terrorism design scenarios. Adjustments In thinking 

need to be made, not least because terror tactics, unlike most 

other criminal acts, are precisely designed to promote fear in 

the wider context and are not an end In themselves. However, 

we do think the DAC model does have relevance and the 

paper discusses how it can be adapted for the purpose of anti 

terrorist design. 

1. What are paranoid products? 

'Fear of crime' refers to the fear of being a victim of crime... 

Usually the fear is disproportionate to the likelihood of 

being a victim of crime. Studies of the fear of crime occur in 

criminology. Moral panics are often the cause of rising fear of 

crime (Hale 1996). 

Many criminologists argue that 'fear of crime' exploits 

social naivety. Media coverage of crime feeds the public's 

anxieties. Crime reports account for up to 25 percent of all 

news coverage. In such coverage, quantity is not the only 

problem, but also quality. News coverage often distorts the 

overall picture of crime and criminal offending (Ferraro 1995), 

reinforcing stereotypes and Inflated Ideas about so-called 

examples of 'deviance', as well as social decay. No wonder 

people are fearful. It Is almost as if news reports have led 

to what has been called a 'vulnerability-led' focus and/or 

'paranoid' security response (Durodie 2002). Risk is the issue. 

Signal crimes focussed upon In such media cove rag e'function 

as a warning signal to people about the distribution of risk 

through social space... [or] as a warning signal about the 

levels and attribution of criminogenic risk and therefore can 

generate paranoia and paranoid products'(Innes 2004). 

Dictionary definitions summarize paranoia as a psychotic 

disorder, whose characteristics include delusions of 

"See www.designagainstcrime.com

persecution, grandeur, suspicion and/or excessive distrust 

(Soanes and Hav\/i

windows to keep out burglars merits the label 'fortress design.' 

The argument we are making against fortress aesthetics relates 

to the old cliche that'private affluence breeds public squalor; 

and that we need to look beyond individual environmental 

solutions to resolve our collective problems. Such arguments 

finds support not just from architects and designers, but 

also surprisingly from economists. Richard Layard's (2005) 

account ofthe economics of happiness, suggests that despite 

unprecedented prosperity in the West, people do not 'feel' 

'happier', in part due to fear of crime and feelings of insecurity. 

This seems to us to be significant evidence ofthe need for a 

collective approach to environmental and economic matters, 

even though we accept that some readings of "fear of crime"are 

problematic because 'evidence about how best to assess fear of 

crime is contradictory' (Gabriel and Greve 2003). We interpret 

Layard's account, to reinforce the fact that fortress living 

militates against personal happiness. Worse, the media, in over 

determining the significance of crime, has some responsibility 

to the public for destabilising their experience of "well being". 

Strong designs against crime/terrorism, can deliver objects 

that are easy to use, and easy on the eye, that protect us 

without promoting feelings of insecurity. Good design can 

address the potential, though unlikely, threat of terrorist or 

other violent cnmes, without signalling this functionality in 

an over determined way, and In so doing escalating fear. Ill- 

considered anti-terrorist design can produce (ii) 'moral panic' 

products (Cohen 2002) such as the Commuter Pak below. 

Figure 3. Bombproof hand size survival kit 

Equipment list for this product includes: 

1 Ultra bright aluminium flashlight 

1 High Intensity Whistle 

1 Disposable FFP3 Bio protection mask 

1 Nylon carry bag with belt loop and strap 

2 pairs of latex gloves 

2 chemical light sticks 

2 Anti septic wipes 

We are pleased to report that the Commuter Pak despite Its 

'high durability fabric containing essential items to assist 

during an emergency event' Is currently on 48% sale. The 

market has spoken to manufacturers about the short shelf 

life of innovation inspired from the desire to profit from 

paranoia and moral panic, and in so doing get the nature of 

the perceived threat so wrong. 

'Delusional design' (III) is a category devised to explain 

problematic designs such as that illustrated by the new breed 

of NYC subway card vending machine which can sniff trace 

amounts of explosives on customers'hands. 

Figure 4. NYC subway card vending machine with anti-terrorist 

functionality 

Although the above machine doesn't look any more 

frightening than other machines out there (it is about to be 

tested in Baltimore) it automatically scans all subway users 

who buy tickets. Its problems include the assumption that 

bomb-making terrorists are not creative enough to buy their 

subway tickets from other outlets orviasomeoneelse, and that 

at the present time there appears to be no clear data about 

the false alarm rate and the Impact this may have on innocent

commuters. In our opinion, this new design is delusional in 

terms of what it can really achieve and will mal

2, So lomb Proof rubbish bins for public space? 

Following a bomb In Victoria Station, London In 1991 that killed 

one person and injured 40, public dustbins were assessed 

as a potential target of terrorism. They were banned from 

underground and mainline stations in and around London 

and other British cities (ATOC 2005). This strategy has also 

been adopted by other regulated 'crowded places', Including 

some shopping centres^ who like the London underground, 

in key geographic areas have replaced dustbins - with either 

no provision at all or a ring that holds a see-thru plastic bag. 

These temporary bins have to be attended by regular cleaning 

staff to empty, or if there is no plastic refuse bag in place, to go 

round and sweep up discarded rubbish. 

Anti rubbish bin strategies have also been adopted by many 

other European cities, in addition to London. One critic observes 

that'in some tourist areas of Paris, such as the Champs-Elysees, 

rubbish bins are simply non-existent... The problem is not 

the inefficiency of the local authorities, but a fear of terrorist 

attack. There is nothing simpler, for a terrorist, than to hide an 

explosive device in a rubbish bin'(Marianl 2006). 

In order to address the perceived problem of terrorism, 

and thereby limit or exclude such terrorist behaviour from 

some public contexts, several design companies have tried 

to create a bombproof dustbin. We will review two of these 

designs herein. The first is called 'Blastshield' designed and 

manufactured by Aigis, Derby, Britain (2001). The second Is 

called Trashshark' designed and manufactured by Bruco, 

Zurich, Switzerland (2002), which won the 2006 Reddot Design 

Award, a prestigious Swiss product design award. 

Blastshield was marketed in 2001 as offering features that 

help it absorb a blast 'big enough to blow up a car' (Graham- 

Rowe 2001). It is made of thick glass-reinforced plastic with an 

inner layer ofTabre. Tabre is a smart material that appears as 

a stone-like substance, but whose porosity and permeability 

allow shock waves to be broken down by the material, thus 

^ Public dustbins were assessed as a potential target of terrorism. 

They were banned from underground and mainline stations in and 

around London and other British cities. 

absorbing blast energy and slowing It down. Its casing has 

been likened to a 'gun-barrel' that forces the blast upwards 

where it encounters a dome lid containing water and air... 

When the shock wave penetrates the lid, the water is converted 

into steam, absorbing all the energy' (Graham-Rowe 2001). 

Figure 7. Blastshield by Aigis, Derby, Britain, 2001 

The flaps on the Blastshield have been strongly engineered 

so that there is no exit route for the blast. However, the size 

of these openings limits user experience in order to control 

the size of any bomb that could be planted. In addition to 

aperture restrictions, the cost ofthese bombproof bins may 

be prohibitive, compared to standard public rubbish bins sold 

by British companies such as Broxap.^ But as New Scientist 

(Graham-Rowe 2001) has already pointed out, costs may not 

be so troubling if we take Into account'the costs of not having 

adequate refuse collection at stations, or of employing more 

station cleaners and the Inconvenience to the publlc'(Graham- 

Rowe 2001). 

The Zurich company Bruco are also currently marketing a 

bomb unfriendly rubbish bin, called the Trashshark, whose 

design (shown above) Is allegedly suggestive of a shark's 

head. According to 2006 press reports, Bruco are currently 

selling up to 5,000 a year to European cities (Mariani 2006). 

An explosives expert at Armasuisse - the Swiss army agency 

which purchases and assesses military equipment ~ set off 

a hand-grenade Inside one ofthe rubbish bins. The bin split 

in two, but it was effective in absorbing almost all 1,700 

fragments ofthe hand-grenade (Mariani 2006). 

^For example, a standard 120ml capacity bin would cost £252 per 

unit. A Broxap Blast Resistant Bin, 120ml capacity, would cost £328 

per unit (Broxap 2007).

Figure 8. Traslisharl

these types of interventions particuiariy hard to develop and 

successfully implement. Contentious, but the IRA agreed to 

give up their use of terror to concentrate more on mainstream 

politics, and would not have done so had they thought that 

the democratic process In Northern Ireland still held no 

prospect of progress for them. An alternative example of 

supplying resources would be finding rewarding and dignified 

employment for ex-Soviet scientists and military personnel. 

3. Reducing the readiness to use terror 

This covers such interventions as reducing conflicts {both 

domestically and internationally) and reducing 'stressors' 

such as perceived religious intolerance and injustice (political, 

economic and social). 

4. Restricting the resources available to the terrorist 

This covers such interventions as controlling the weaponry, 

tools and Information (e.g. targets and tactics) available; 

detecting/penetrating offenders' enclosures; and controlling 

the promoters who may supply them. An international 

clampdown on arms smuggling, with increased international 

intelligence exchange. Is an example of a situational measure 

which addresses global issues. Control of recruitment is 

of obvious importance, as is the group size, growth and 

efficiency to carry out their acts. Interventions that disrupt the 

organised cnme which funds terrorist groups (or those states 

that sponsor terrorist organisations) are further examples. 

5. Excluding terrorists from the situation 

For example, detaining suspected terrorists using legislative 

powers, extraditing suspected terrorists and co-operating 

with other states to prevent suspects entering the country. 

Excluding suspects from places within a country is also 

possible (e.g. injunctions to stop suspected animal rights 

activists from going near the homes of pharmaceutical 

company employees). 

6. Deterrence 

Raises the perceived risk of getting caught or failure for 

terrorists; discouragement makes the terrorist think that the 

effort to commit the act is too great for the reward to be gained. 

As previously mentioned, rewards are personal to the terrorist 

and range from having a product withdrawn from sale to 

achieving glory in heaven. Discouragement interventions need 

to be specifically targeted to the individual motivations, as do 

interventions involving awakening conscience and increasing 

empathy, implemented to counter the terrorists' strategies for 

neutralising the pain, shame and guilt caused by their acts 

(for example, through condemnation by their community 

leaders/members). These interventions have to be designed 

in full awareness of the 'ideological predisposition' they are 

intended to counter. As such, they require deep knowledge of 

cultural anthropology to minimise the risk of backfiring, (e.g. 

by misinterpretation of quotations from religious texts). On the 

situational side are a range of familiar techniques to: increase 

the effort for the terrorist, increase the risk, reduce the reward, 

reduce provocations, remove excuses and enhance empathy. 

7. Target vectors 

Interventions that prevent people and things becoming target 

vectors will be largely situarional. The targering of builders in 

Northern Ireland during the troubles led to them receiving 

protecrion from the British Army and police. The use ofthe twin 

towers in New York by Al Quaeda as a target vehicle (and the 

concern about nuclear power-plants becoming targets) has led 

to the introducrion of many situational prevention measures 

(e.g. increased airport screening and the increased monitoring 

of pilot training, anti-aircraft installations etc) to reduce the 

likelihood of such a tragedy happening again. Construcrion of 

buildings which are not obviously'head and shoulders above 

the rest' or with names that are not symbolically provocative 

to anti-capitalist or anti-Western movements may be prudent. 

But there is again a trade-off between being prudent versus 

giving some kind of'surrender' message to target audience 

and the enemy. Dispersal of targets is a method used (e.g. with 

the components of expensive car radios, which are distributed 

around a vehicle, and the same approach can be applied to 

buildings and faciliries). However, too much dispersal In some 

cases can pose difficulties too. Enrire networks, physical, such 

as electricity grids or water supplies need to be protected - 

new attack- monitoring systems developed (e.g. CBRN) and 

proceduresforlimitingthedamageoncean attack is happening 

(secondary safety) or has happened (tertiary safety). Some

principles can be developed to aid the selection of which 

targets to protect. Clarke (1999) introduced the concept of'hot 

products'to identify and predict features of things like mobile 

phones, cash etc which are likely to make them at risk of being 

stolen - characterised by the acronym CRAVED (Concealable, 

Removable, Accessible, Valuable, Enjoyable, Disposable). It 

should be possible to identify some similarfeatures of products, 

places, systems, people or organisations that make them prone 

to use as target vehicles of terror. 

8. Target audience 

Interventions to protect target audiences are hard to define. 

The target audience for the Warrington bombing (IRA) was the 

British Government, probably because a previous attack in the 

North East of England had been foiled the previous week. The 

Government did not need protecting in the literal sense of the 

word their vulnerability was a political one, with the public's 

dismay at why the bombers had got through. More recently 

the bombing of Madrid can be seen as a contributory factor in 

the incumbent Spanish Governmentfailing to win an election, 

when they had been forecast to do so. 

9. Target enclosure 

Well-established techniques such as 'target hardening' and 

'access control' used to modify situations to prevent crime, 

are applicable to preventing acts of terrorism. Multi-layered 

target enclosures and associated access control (the 'onion 

skin'approach) can confer defence in depth. 

W.The wider environment 

Changes which make the environment less attractive, less likely 

to generate offending or less loglstically/tactically favourable 

for offenders. Preventing ordinary crime by environmental 

interventions normally has a local focus. Anti-terrorism 

interventions however range from changes for example, in the 

design and management of shopping centres, stations and 

airports to ones ofa much grander scale, extending to national 

and international levels. Areas containing specific national icons 

may attract terrorist attention; so may require broad protection 

via surveillance, redesign of road layouts, access points etc. 

Reducing conflict is a major intervention principle on the social 

side which bridges environment and 'readiness to offend'. 

Methods include various kinds of mediation and arbitration. 

11. Boosting preventers (including 'capable guardians') 

This can be through 'formal control' (e.g. increased 

security patrolling, surveillance, intelligence-gathering and 

investigation, and the acquisition/placement of informants) 

or 'informal social control' (e.g. increased employee and 

public vigilance). 

12. Discouraging and deterring terrorism promoters 

Where promotion is deliberate and knowing, these 

interventions can include measures that awaken the 

conscience of any supporting community (e.g. supplying 

images of innocent people mourning their lost ones) or tough 

legislation to deal with active sympathisers. Positive 'hearts 

and minds'actions can be implemented alongside sanctions. 

Measures against careless promoters can include anything 

from reminding people to lock doors or take their bags when 

leaving trains, to campaigns warning that purchasing pirate 

DVDs may be funding terrorists. 

Figure 9. Immediate causes of terrorism from CTO Framework. 

We believe the above categories can be useful in focussing 

discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the Blastshield 

and Trashshark design interventions. Indeed, we feel that

the functional design attributes of these anti bomb rubbish 

bins address 2,4 and 6, above, i.e. intervening to stop at least 

three of Vi'hat Roach etal. (2005) define as the eleven principal 

causes of terronsm. 

Significantly too, the UK and Swiss 'bomb-proof dustbins, 

whilst clearly more expensive, than those public rubbish bins 

that do not help contain bomb blasts, do not look'paranoid' 

or defensive, even though they offer anti terrorist protection 

by design. In our opinion they are unlikely to be noticed as 

'defensive'crime signal and thus promote even more public 

fears about crimes of terrorism, but instead discreetly fit into 

the contexts they have been designed for. Paola Antonelli 

(2005), however, sees the situation very differently to us. She 

comments, that she feels bombproof plastic bins, are less 

user fnendly than see-thru plastic bags. She says 'a perfecdy 

transparent plastic bag hanging from a steel ring allows 

everybody to see everything, creating the sort of defensible 

collective space hailed by Jane Jacobs (1961) in her'eyes on 

the street' theory which advocates involvement of citizens in 

their own protection program' (Antonelli 2005). 

Our concern would be that in actively relying on an 'eyes 

on the street' to watch out for bombs in bins, we may be 

promoting a paranoid placebo one that incites the public to 

think about terrorism without providing a solution that is sure 

to detect or avoid it. After all how would you be able to tell 

the difference between a discarded super size shake container 

which conceals a bomb and one that doesn't, when viewed 

through a clear plastic bag? Though the design solutions may 

be equally low tech, we propose that the interrogation of the 

design proposals and their context should be rigorous and 

structured so as to ensure effective address to user desires and 

avoid opportunities for mis-use and abuse. 

We feel therefore that the Blastshield andTrashshark bins offer 

a 'stealth utility'aspect, defined elsewhere by designers from 

Vexed Generation, as a way of offering protection against 

adverse or challenging conditions, without promoting their 

presence. 

Stealth Utility: ...secret procedure; surreptitiously 

utility; usefulness; profitableness; useful thing; severely 

practical. These pieces [of the collection] are semi - 

tailored with subtle detailing providing maximum 

utility to the wearer e.g. folded collars become full 

hoods, concealed pockets are capable of carrying A4 

documents. All pocketing is fitted with concealed zip 

entry for maximum security. A contemporary classic 

appearance is equipped with fully functioning stealth 

utility... (Thorpe and Hunter 2001). 

In the context of Design Against Terronsm, this design strategy 

might require hidden or silent features to act as 'preventers' 

of cnmes/terror, designed to thwart criminal/terrorist MO's. 

Such solutions offer prevention capacity, explicitly NOT by 

alerting, motivated and empowered public members to act as 

cnme preventers, but rather through the'invisible hand'of the 

designer to aid anti terronst objectives. 

It is also our contention that when designing against the 

cnmes of terrorism, it is important to fully understand both 

terrorist perpetrator techniques and terrorism prevention 

pnnciples and to establish the myths and realities relating 

to 'fear of terrorism', before catalyzing new design against 

terrorism innovarions. 

One ofthe central arguments of this paper is that designers 

need to be aware of issues about fear of crime. In particular 

to understand the relarionship between crime and terror 

tactics, and to take care to inform their own perceprions with 

robust research and significant evidence. Our contention 

is that without complex appropriate design forethought, 

linked to a clear framework of questions about crime and 

terror tactics, inappropriate design and paranoid products 

are likely to be the result. 

3. How design against crime thinking has relevance for 

design against terrorism. 

Whilst the model for catalyzing Design Against Crime (DAC) 

Innovarion can't simply be mapped onto the design of anti- 

terror design response, with some adjustment we believe 

they could be of great use. So we should define what is meant 

by DAC, as referred to above. DAC at University of the Arts, 

London (UAL) is a socially responsive, practice-based research 

iniriative that uses the processes and products of design to 

reduce all kinds of crime and promote community safety

whilst improving quality-of-life.^ It is linked to the theory of 

situational crime prevention (summarized in Clarke 1992) 

and in a nutshell suggests that crime is primarily about 

opportunity, and that IF we can design out opportunity for 

crimes to occur in the first place, we can reduce crime, and 

perhaps also the number of people who become victimized 

and criminalized. DAC is a relatively new, interdisciplinary 

area of enquiry developed through innovarive national and 

internarional research collaborations that commenced in the 

UK in 2000.^ It has three overarching aims: 

1. To reduce the incidence, impact and fear of crime through 

the design of products, services and environments that are'fit 

for the purpose' in all other respects; 

2. To equip design pracritioners with the cognitive and 

practical tools and resources necessary to achieve 1 (above); 

3. To promote the social and commercial benefits of designing 

out crime to manufacturing and service industries, local and 

national government, and society at large. 

To realize these aims requires linking two worlds; helping 

designers to 'think thief and aiding crime prevention and 

security experts to'draw on design'. Recently completed design 

research projects that embody both the theory and practice 

of DAC emanating from UAL include: Karrysafe anri theft bags 

and accessories (Figures 10-12), Stop Thief anti theft chairs and 

Bike Off - anti theft communication solutions (Figure 13) and 

more recently Holborn Gateway bike parking solutions. 

^'See: www.designagainstcrime.com, www.karrysafe.com and www. 

bikeoff, org 

^Design Against Crime is an initiative that has been supported by 

the British Government and UK Design Council (www.designcouncil, 

org.uk), who funded DAC at CSfvl alongside colleagues from the 

Universities of Salford, Sheffield Hallam {www.des(gnagainstcrime,org) 

and Huddersfield {www.hud.ac.uk/hhs/dbs/acg/index.htm), together 

with the Royal Society of Arts whose Student Design Awards/Design 

Directions programmes (www.thersa.org.uk/rsa_design/directions/ 

archive.htm) have included briefs on crime-resistant laptops, cash 

machines, bicycles and rucksacks, hospitals and schools. 

Figures 10 - 12. Karrysafe range of anti theft bags and 

accessories (For further information see: www.karrysafe.com} 

Figure 10. Karrysafe Screamer bag 

Figure 11. Phonesafe accessory 

Figure 12. Bodysafe accessory 

Figure 13. Bike Off Sricker 

(For further information see: www.bikeoff.org) 

The philosophy behind DAC as a practice led design research 

agenda is linked to the understanding that design should 

address security issues without compromising funcrionality,

aesthetics or other forms of performance, i.e. the simple idea 

that'secure design doesn't have to look cnmlna! or ugly'. Our 

research projects attempt to think 'abuser' and 'mis-user', as 

well as'user'and to'... help designers keep up with the adaptive 

cnmlnal in a changing world' (Ekblom, 2000). This generative 

design approach has led to much product design innovation 

and many DAC design exhibitions. Over the last five years a 

number of DAC objects, including an anti theft bike, have been 

presented to the international design arena, most recently at 

Safe; Design Takes on Risk - Museum of Modern Art, New York, 

16 October 2005 - 2 January 2006 (Antonelli 2005). 

Figure 14. Design Against Cnme at Safe; Design Takes on Risk, 

MoMA 

DAC at UAL has adopted a research methodology based on 

the user focus of interaction design, associated with design 

consultancies such as IDEO (Myerson 2001) who fully research 

user needs, butaddltionallyaddresses'mis-use'aswellas'abuse' 

in terms of the 'ethnographic' review of factors to be drawn 

upon in the design process. This process has been described 

by Barab ef al. (2004) as 'critical design ethnography...' which 

differs from straightforward ethnography,'because it Involves 

acrion as well as crirical reflection, aimed at transform things...' 

In orderto move beyond experiential data and Interviews with 

users at the research stages, DAC coalesces the conceptual 

frameworks, methodologies and practices of situarional crime 

prevention, social anthropology, and cognirive psychology 

in terms of user-centred design, to offer an interdisciplinary 

account, it introduces: theory, many forms of empirical 

research, as well as user data, and an understanding of criminal 

perpetrator techniques, into the design process (see Figures 

15-18 linked to bag theft). 

Figures 15-18. Perpetrator techniques 

Figure 15. Dipping 

Figure 16. Lifting 

Figure 17. Slashing 

Figure 18. Grabbing 

The DAC process is an iterative design process, one that has 

been evolved at UAL, to enable designers to test out design 

concepts (or hypothesis) In context of a design advisory panel, 

made up of experts including crime prevenrion advisors and 

other user as experts, who have strategic knowledge ofthe 

use, mis-use and abuse of objects in every day life. 

Like all approaches to design that contain some aspect 

of 'forecasting' DAC advisors and designers engage, as 

Ekblom has pointed out with 'practical consideration in 

handling the uncertainty which by definition surrounds 

the esrimated risk. It is pretty likely that on average, some 

types of product will be riskier than others' (Ekblom 2005, 

p.222). The strategic 'consultation' process that occurs at 

*

stages during the development of design iterations can 

help manage such risks. 

The diagram below created in 2004-5"^ visualizes the iterative 

DAC process, and shows the stages of prototype creation 

where the designer designs the product, system or service, 

in order to anticipate the interaction of many types of users 

(including victims) as well as abusers and mis-users (criminal 

perpetrator data), before showing it to the advisory panel for 

feedback. 

Figure 19. DAC Iterative Process 

Several prototypes are amended before the final iteration is 

agreed upon. Focus is maintained on ensuring the design is 

friendly to users, in terms ofthe product's primary function, 

in addition to other mis-use or abuse the product might 

respond to. 

In order to ensure the object, service or system has achieved 

its aim, some testing is necessitated by the process, and it 

is here that research funding is crucial, because it is often 

too expensive for the market to really do anti crime testing 

properly. Indeed, the testing of objects for public spaces, in 

particular, needs to be undertaken to exacting standards to 

ensure that anti crime functionality is perfected. 

The first diagram of process was published on www. 

designagainstcrime.com website and in Gamman and Pascoe (2004). 

The version in this article was created by Keith Gray for a paper given 

by Dr. Lorraine Gamman at Magdalena: 7th International Festival of 

Creative Communication, Maribor, Slovenia, May 2005. 

4. How Design Against Terrorism can learn from DAC? 

As explained earlier Ekblom's CCO framework (2001) has been 

adapted to address the conjunction of terrorist opportunity. 

We believe the DAC methodology of the design process can 

evolve for similar use. DAC uses CCO at the research stage, 

and goes on to review perpetrator techniques, and apply 

an iterative design methodology, one that has been proven 

across various design projects. It has already proven effective 

in the realization of user-friendly products that do not sacrifice 

user freedoms In their pursuit and delivery of increased 

security. The DAC design process therefore may assist the anti 

terrorist in avoiding the creation of paranoid products though 

the consideration and comparison of user requirements with 

mis-user and abuser modus operandi, and through the expert 

review process. Paranoid products should only be created if 

the designers consciously choose to use excess as an aesthetic 

device to deliver social comment. Even then, designers need 

to think very carefully about the context the design is aimed 

at before design work commences. 

5. Parody and Paranoia 

Figure 20. Vexed Generation Parka 

The Vexed Parka, shown earlier, ostensibly provides riot 

clothing for party goers and was originated with the aim of 

aesthetically parodying the unnecessary use of riot gear by 

British police to break up parties (rather than actual riots) in 

the 1990s.The designers say it mimics riot gear in a deliberately 

over-determined way to critique/provoke a discussion about 

paranoid policing.This is what is meant by a fashion statement.

Industrial design is traditionally less dramatic and transitory 

than fashion; its production costs (e.g. of tooling-up as well 

as materials used) are often far more expensive than a fashion 

run. Its outputs are also expected to function in a user-fnendly 

way, as well as solve problems, and to have great longevity, 

as well as low maintenance costs. For all these reasons, the 

integrity ofa product's use and funcrion In public space should 

always come first in the designer's mind, including the way it 

communicates. 

Increasingly more products delivered by small product 

design companies, such as Suck UK have adopted an almost 

sltuatlonist approach within society. Primarily, here the 

comment/attitude ofthe product is usually more significant 

than the funcrion of the object, which may end up as 

ornament. Some products go even further, for example they 

parody funcrionality itself; see Hulger handset; where a large 

19405 Brirish Telecom black handset has been adapted to fit 

a small mobile phone. We enjoy such playful and humorous 

design, which is often aimed at social expression and/or used 

in domesric or semi private space. We would not dream of 

prescribing against enjoying'wicked'or what Bates and James 

(2002) have described 'evil' design or prescribing against its 

existence. But the anti terrorist design objects, discussed here, 

offer no polemical social comment, and are clearly not objects 

with atritude aimed at crearing a polirical debate, or even fun. 

Often, such design language exists because designers haven't 

completely thought through the contextual implication of 

their designs, and have, perhaps unwitringly, made a design 

contriburion to a paranoid socİety.Thedesİgn tragedy of many 

paranoid products, in our opinion, could have been avoided if 

the designeis had access to the rigorous questioning ofthe 

DAC research framework and design process, which we argue 

can be adapted to deliver appropriate design against terrorism 

for public spaces. 

Conclusion 

We have shown how designers need to understand what 

Frank Furedi (2002) describes as the'culture of fear'and what 

Bill Durodie (2002) defines as 'vulnerability-led' responses 

that may lead to paranoid products before beginning to 

design against terrorism. Indeed, government warnings 

may produce anxiety-led demands from the public, but we 

vehemenriy believe that a good industrial designer should be 

socially responsive and responsible, and not simply respond 

with products like the emergency kit shown eadier but more 

carefully think through what it is actually needed. We note 

that in Britain the individual is staristically more likely to win 

the lottery than to be blown up by a terrorist bomb, and we 

believe our design and architecture should reflect this fact. 

Acknowiedgements 

Lorraine Gamman and Adam Thorpe would very much like 

to thank the Arts and Humaniries Research Council/EPSRC 

Designing for the 21st Century Initiative for funding of the 

'Bike Off 2 - Catalysing Anti Theft Bike, Bike Parking and 

Information Design for the 21 st Century'that enabled research 

forthis paperto happen (and travel costs to give presentations 

at EAD conference). 

Also to our colleagues. Prof Paul Ekblom and Marcus Willcocks 

at the DAC Research Centre, and Dr. Shane Johnson, Alden 

Sidebottom and Prof Ken Pease ofthe Jill Dando Institute of 

Crime Science for their crirical comments.

References 

ANTONELLİ, P., 2005. Grace under Pressure, in: Safe: Design 

Tal

LAYARD, R., 2005. Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. 

NewYori

I N F O R M A T I O N F D R P E O P L E A B O U T M E D I C I N E S : W H Y IS IT S O D I F F I C U L T TO 

S W A L L O W ? 

Karel van der Waarde 

Reader 

Avans University, Breda, The Netherlands 

waarde@glo.be 

Abstract 

Situation: Patients, doctors, pharmacists and nurses 

must receive visual information about medicines. Without 

instructions, warnings and risk-benefit information, it is 

not possible to prescribe, dispense, or take medicines 

appropriately. 

Problem: Patient involvement in the development of package 

leaflets is obligatory in the European Union. This involvement 

should guarantee that the text and the design of package 

leaflets is 'comprehensible and easy to use'. Unfortunately, 

the legislation makes some incorrect assumptions of 

user-involvement in the design process. Patients, doctors, 

pharmacists and nurses therefore receive sub-optimal 

information. 

Approach: User observations, contextual inquiries and 

diagnostic tests in hospitals, in pharmacies and in domestic 

situations are undertaken with the aim to build a collection 

of 'user experience models'. These models provide a basis 

for design developments and structure the involvement of 

stakeholders. 

Conclusion:The results indicate that the design ofinformation 

about medicines for doctors, pharmacists, nurses and patients 

is highly problematic in some specific situations.The design of 

information benefits when it is based on sturdy user experience 

models, when all information resources are considered and 

when all stakeholders are involved. A change in the legislation 

seems to be essential. 

1. What is the problem and is that a disaster? 

In order to answer this question, it is necessary to find out if 

there is a problem in the first place, Four groups of figures 

can be used as indicators for medicine use at the moment: 

economics, effectiveness, accidents, and practical use. 

Group 1: Benefits and costs. 

In 2004, at least 10% ofthe total costs of healthcare in Europe 

was directly related to pharmaceutical care (Tinke and Griens, 

2006). In 2005, each citizen in the Netherlands spends about 

€ 275,- on medicines. The costs in other European countries 

varies between € 230 In Denmark to € 505 in France. It is 

expected that these costs will rise by about 11 percent every 

year. The main reasons for this increase are an increase in 

population, an increase of the number of elderly - who use 

more medicines, the movements from hospital care to home 

care, the use of more expensive medicines, and changes in the 

prescription behaviour of doctors. The costs of medicines in 

hospitals, elderly care homes and medicines that are bought 

on the internet have not yet been include into these figures. 

There are many initiatives to reduce the increasing costs of 

medicines. Governments, doctors and pharmacies try to 

make people more aware of the costs of medicines through 

for example television campaigns and by replacing 'branded 

medicines'by their'generic copies'. 

Apart from the costs. It is essential to consider the financial 

benefits of medicines as well. Many working days are saved by 

simple painkillers, and patients can leave hospitals earlier due

to the use of medicines. The mystenous calculations of the 

pnce of medicines and their financial benefits are in general 

seen as acceptable. 

Group 2. Used and uriused. 

Each European receives on average about 8 prescriptions 

for medicines per year. In order to establish how well these 

medicines are used, it is necessary to conduct research. The 

medical literature calls this 'compliance', or more recently 

'concordance' or'persistence'. This research investigates how 

effective medicines are taken. The Cochrane Collaboration 

and the World Health Organization (WHO) published figures 

about compliance, and these indicate that about half of the 

medicines for chronic diseases are not taken according to the 

instructions (Haynes, McDonald and Garg, 2002). 

Of course, it Is essential to look carefully which medicines are 

Investigated. It is likely that oral contraceptives and insulin are 

used more effectively than medicines that lower cholesterol or 

reduce bloodpressure. It is likely that medicines of which the 

consequences of not-taking are directly clear for the patient are 

taken according to the instructions. A quick look at the bulging 

medicine cupboards containing unused medicines provides a 

solid indication of the waste of expensive goods. This is not to 

say that medicine cupboards must be empty: there are several 

medicines that are essential In every household. People rarely 

throw medicines away and some are kept for years even though 

their function is forgotten and the expiry date has long passed. 

Group 3: Mistakes and accidents. 

It is not absolutely dear how many accidents are related to the 

use of medicines and what the exact effects ofthese accidents 

are. The American report To err is human (Institute of Medicine, 

2000) had a fewyears ago a substantial influenceon the medical 

and pharmaceutical sectors. According this report, every year 

between 44.000 and 98.000 people in the United States die 

due to mistakes related to the use of medicines. Extrapolated 

figures for Europe would mean that every day between 8 and 

16 people per million inhabitants die. Furthermore, every 

year, about 90.000 people In the Netherlands are admitted to 

hospitals for a treatment that was made necessary because 

medicines had been used incorrectly (Bouma, 2006). These 

'mistakes and accidents' can not be seen as 'real accidents'. 

They are embedded in the systems and accepted as normal. 

Group 4: increased use. 

The fourth group of figures is probably causes the largest 

increase, but is also the most speculative. We will all be using 

more medicines in the future. It is not only that older people 

are getting older, and older people will form a larger part 

of our societies, but the healthy will take more 'preventive 

medicines'to stay healthy. 

The figures in these four groups are not absolute. They are all 

based on aggregates, extrapolations and estimates because 

it is difficult to investigate the actual numbers. However, a 

cost increase of at least 10% per year, an ineffective use of 

50%, many fatal accidents per day and a substantial increase 

in the use in the near future do not provide very comforting 

information. Even if these figures are wildly incorrect, they are 

worrying.The combination ofthese four developments - high 

costs, poor compliance, high accident risks, and increased use 

~ is a recipe for disaster. This is the macro-scale ofthe issue. 

2. Should designers be involved? A micro-scale example. 

An example can be used to hightlight some issues on the 

smalles possible scale. Figure 1 shows a detail of a package 

leaflet. Package leaflets is the legal term for the pnnted 

information that is inserted in every medicine package in the 

form of a folded leaflet or a minute booklet. 

This example is taken from the website of the British 

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency 

(MHRA). It is described as an 'Improved parient information 

leaflet; because it has been tested in a'readabilitytest'. In such 

a readability test, two groups of 10 volunteers are asked 15 

specific quesrions about this parricular leaflet. The quesrions 

are related to the main safety issues and ask things like: 'If you 

have a very low blood pressure, could you take these tablets?'. 

If ninety percent ofthe quesrions are answered correctly, the 

leaflet is deemed 'readable' and passes the test (MHRA, 2007). 

This parricular leaflet is shown on the website of the MHRA 

because it shows 'best pracrice'.

II you have angina, yoti msy get chest pains whan yaur heart cannni get enough blootl. "fills usually hapisans 

liiiiiiiy Bxe^rcise or ÎIKSS, Amlnd!|):nc hsips ID prsvenl this by increasing the blood supply In Ihe hi'arl. 

Aiiilodiplne Tablüts do not work immedâiely [• slop ihe chesi pain from anijina, 

^ BEFORE m TAKEAMLODime TABl£TS 

Du nui uiki; Ariilodipinc TuhIeK il: 

' if vou are allergic (hypersensitive) lo amiodipine. other calcium channel blockers or to any ottlie other 

ingredients in the tablets llhesc ate listed in section 6, Further Information) 

• il you have shock ıncluding cafdiogenit sliocf: iusuallj' caused by a Iteari atxack) 

• if you have had a heart attack within the last 28 days 

• if you are sufterinçı from a disorder ihat affects blood flow through the heart 

• if you are suffering from tmslahla angina (angina at rest or at nightl 

• il you are suffering from very lov; blood pressure (severe hypoiensiorl. 

Figure 1. a patient pacloge insert. Tine typography is poor 

{headings in bold italic condensed type, small linespace), the 

paper quality unsuitable (shine through), and the text hard to 

understand {long sentences, use of jargon). This makes package 

leaflets difficult for patients to read, to understand, to recognize 

symptoms and to draw correct conclusions what to do. 

Despite ofthe readability test, patients are likely to have some 

problems with this leaflet. It is still very easy to point to some 

major flaws in the information in the package leaflet in figure 

1. Three examples of user actions that might turn out to be 

problematic are: 

1. Patients must understand this text: The first paragraph 

describes the 'Indication' and tells the patient why these 

tablets are necessary: 'if you have chest pains, you can take 

Amiodipine Tablets, but they do not work Immediately'. The 

text further suggests that Amiodipine 'prevents' chest pains. 

So, patients must take these tablets before they could get 

chest pains. But the final sentence states that the tablets do not 

work immediately. How good is the prevention in this case? As 

a patient, I would like to know when these tablets would start 

to work. Is it necessary to take these tablets for a very long 

time before any improvement occurs? This is confusing, 

2. Patients must draw conclusions. The leaflet states that 

you must not take Amiodipine tablets if you are allergic 

(hypersensitive) to Amiodipine. That does look like sensible 

advice, until a patient asks: 'how do I know if I am allergic to 

this medicine? What would happen?' Unfortunately, that is not 

mentioned. There is no description of the signs that a patient 

could get and recognize ifan allergic reaction occurs. This text 

does not make it possible to draw conclusions. 

3. Patients must recognize symptoms. Several of the 

descriptions in the bulleted list cannot be interpreted 

by patients themselves. For example: 'if you have shock 

including cardiogenic shock'. A patient might realize that 

there is something seriously wrong and may be even realize 

that it is a shock. It is however unlikely that a patient is able 

to distinguish between a 'shock' and a 'cardiogenic shock'. A 

similar confusion occurs in the last sentence. The leaflet states 

'very low blood pressure'. A patient might know - although 

even that is unlikely - that he/she suffers from low blood 

pressure. It is however unlikely that a patient knows if this is 

classified as a 'very low blood pressure', or just a normal 'low 

blood pressure'. 

The three abovementioned comments are based on responses 

of people during readability tests with similar leaflets. These 

reactions are common: the package leaflet does make it 

difficult to understand, makes it difficult to draw conclusions, 

and makes it difficult - if not impossible - to recognize 

symptoms. 

The time and effort that patients must use to try to understand 

this package leaflet is substantial. It is not a single patient, but 

many millions of individual patients who would struggle to 

decipher this text about Amiodipine tablets. An information 

source that is potentially valuable for patients is now in serious 

danger of being ignored because ofthe poor user experiences 

it has provoked in the last decades. People simply search for 

an alternative first, before they attempt to read the package 

leaflet. The leaflet is turning into legally required waste. This is 

the micro-scale ofthe issue. 

3. What is stopping us? 

If we want patients to act appropriately, and be able to 

take their medicines correctly we must supply correct and 

suitable information. Good information will not immediately 

reduce the increased use of medicines, but it is very likely 

that information is an essential ingredient to use medicines 

effectively and correctly. If patients and other users such as 

nurses, pharmacists and doctors receive optimal information, 

than it is likely that the compliance increases and the number 

of accidents decreases. 

A second reason why it is necessary to supply information with 

medicines Is that patients simply have a right to know. It is

ethically incorrectto give people a medicine without explaining 

why it is given and what the involved benefits and nsks are. 

For both these reasons, it is necessary to provide good 

information to people who handle medicines. However, it is 

difficultto describe what'good informarion'exactly is. 

There are several reasons why this unsarisfactory situarion 

on both the macro-scale as well as on the micro-scale is not 

tackled. One ofthe fundamental reasons is the development 

of the current legal system. The legal requirements are 

described in European Directives (2004/27/EC and 2001/83/ 

EC). All memberstates have the obligarion to introduce these 

directives Into their narional legislarion. The Direcrives seem 

to have five major problems: 

a. The Direcrives put medicines first, and not people who 

handle medicines. All medicines are seen as equal and 

that causes that all information about medicines has to be 

identically structured. From a 'users point of view'that starring 

point is incorrect. Not all medicines are the same: some are 

used at home, some are used in operaring theatres, some in 

emergency situarions. A simple painkiller for single use in a 

domestic situarion receives the same treatment as a anestheric 

for an operation or medicines for very long term use such as 

insulin. Furthermore, there are many different ways to buy, 

administer, and store medicines. 

b. The Direcrives show a poor understanding of a design 

process. The Dlrecrive seems to suggest that It is possible to 

separate wriring, designing and tesring. In practice, this Is 

likely to be very difficult and detrimental for the end result. 

c. The Direcrives are based on a conflict, between 'user 

involvement'and 'structured contents'. It states exactly which 

informarion must be mentioned in which sequence, and it 

also makes user testing obligatory. However, ifthe results of 

the user tests indicate that the informarion content or the 

information sequence Is incorrect in a parricular situarion, the 

results of the test must be ignored because the 'contents and 

structure must follow the Directive'. 

d. The Direcrives only focus on artefacts, not on acrions. The 

Directives describe exactly what needs to be stated on the 

package and In the package leaflet, but it does not make it 

possible to focus on what patients, nurses, pharmacists and 

doctors have to to. 

e. The Direcrives only tackle parts of the problem. It does 

allow to involve all stakeholders. User tests only need to 

involve'people who can imagine that they are parients', but 

It is not necessary to test information for pharmacists, nurses 

or doctors. 

The main problem is that the Direcrives do not differentiate 

between medicines, users, acrions, languages, and contexts. 

The current legal approach is known as 'a prescriptive 

approach'. It tells exactly what to do and it provides guidelines 

on how to do it. Unfortunately, it becomes more and more 

clear that'one size does not fit all'. Itis necessary to distinguish 

between medicines, users, acrions, languages, and contexts 

and provide information that differenriates according to 

these factors. 

Although the intenrion of the EU-legislation is clear and 

certainly worthwhile, it seems to have taken the wrong turn in 

the early 1990s. It is rime to consider an alternarive route before 

disasters on both macro-level and micro-level really occur. 

4. An alternative approach 

It seems essential to shift from a 'prescriprive approach' 

to a 'performance based approach'. The basis must be to 

provide informarion that'enables users to act appropriately'. 

Fortunately, this phrase is already included in Direcrive 2004/ 

27/EC (article 63, paragraph2). Three quesrions need to be 

dealt with to 'enable users to act approprately': 

1. Who are the people that need to act? In which context are 

the acrions take place at the moment? 

2. What are the acrions exactly? What do people need to do? 

3. What do we consider to be 'appropriate'? When is an acrion 

successful? 

The observation of current practice provides data about the 

ways in which people undertake activities related to medicines 

at the moment. User observations and contextual inquiries 

in hospitals, in pharmacies and in domesric situarions are

undertakenwiththeaimto build a collection of user experience 

models' (Waarde, 2006).These models provide a basis for design 

developments and structure the involvement of stakeholders. 

They focus on the actions that people have to do and the 

information that would be helpful to undertake these actions. 

The contextual inquiries, user observations and diagnostic 

tests also indicate that the design of information about 

medicines for doctors, pharmacists, nurses and patients is 

highly problematic in some specific situations (Waarde, 2005). 

Confusable medical packaging, poor instructions, hard to 

read package leaflets, conflicting warnings are fairly common 

when the design ofinformation about medicines is analysed. 

The inquiries also indicate that a lot of designed information 

does not seem to cause severe problems, but that some 

information is fundamentally flawed and needs urgent 

attention. It seems necessary to start with these highly 

problematic ones by providing information that supports 

people in their activities. After the observations, the 

actions and the people are defined. The third question of 

'appropriateness' or 'success' needs to be answered too. In 

order to answer this question, it is necessary to involve all 

stakeholders to provide their views: what is an acceptable 

level of success? In some situations, the level of success 

must be 100%. For example when Vincristine - a medicine 

for the treatment of a bonemarrow cancer - needs to be 

administered. Vincristine must be injected into a vein, and not 

into the spine of a patient. If it is done incorrectly, it is lethal. 

Unfortunately, this 'accident' Is fairly common. A 100% score 

of correctly administered Vincristine is therefore required. In 

other situations, it might not be necessary to aim for 100% 

scores. For some medicines, it might be acceptable to state 

that 'Ninety percent of the literate adults must be able to 

calculate the exact dosage' or even 'Seventy percent of the 

consumers of over-the-counter products must be able to 

dispose ofthe medicine correctly'. These actions and scores 

can be established for each medicine. 

Of course. It is necessary to choose and investigate the most 

crucial actions first That is where the user-experience models 

and contextual studies come in. After the observations, a 

hierarchy of actions according to their potential risks can be 

drawn up.The method of measuring is left open, as well as the 

way in which the message is designed. This leaves the space 

for people who test or observe the performance to choose the 

most appropriate methods, and it leaves space for designers 

and textwhters to develop information in the best possible way. 

Designed information is deemed appropriate if the required 

score is reached over a longer period of time. This makes It 

essential to monitor the actual performance in practice. 

One of the consequences of the application of this approach 

in practice is that the legal system needs to be modified. 

The European legislation needs to move from a 'prescriptive 

approach' towards a 'performance based' approach. However, 

before the current legislation can be reconsidered, It is essential 

to Investigate and validate alternative approaches. 

5. Conclusion 

The quality of the design of information benefits if it Is based 

on sturdy user experience models. These methods to develop 

these models are available, and some ofthe necessary research 

has been done. One ofthe main things that stops us to provide 

good information about medicines to people is the current 

legal framwork. Within the current framework, the micro- 

issues issues will not improve, and only mediocre results can 

be achieved on short term goals. The macro issues - beneficial 

use,cost-effective use, reduced numberof accidents-will not 

be achieved within the current framework. 

About the author: 

Dr Karel van der Waarde (The Netherlands, 1963) studied 

graphic design In the Netherlands (Eindhoven [BA]) and in 

the UK (Leicester [MA] and Reading [PhD]). He received his 

doctorate In 1994 for: 'An investigation into the suitability 

of the graphic presentation of patient package inserts'. In 

1995, he started a design-research consultancy in Belgium 

specializing in the testing ofinformation design.The company 

develops package leaflets, instructions, forms, protocols, and 

the information architecture for websites.The main focus is on 

information about medicines for patients, prescribing doctors 

and pharmacists. Karel van der Waarde frequently publishes 

and lectures about visual information. He is moderator ofthe 

InfoDesign and InfoDesign-Cafe discussion lists. The Avans 

Hogeschool (Breda, The Netherlands) has recently appointed

him as a scholar in visual rhetoric. It is a research post to 

investigate the development and use of visual communication 

with a longer term aim to support the relations betv^/een 

practice, research and education. 

References 

Bouma J. (2006) Slikken. Hoe ziek is de farmaceutische 

Industrie? Amsterdam: L J Veen. 

European Directive 2001/83/EC 'On the community code 

relating to medicinal products for human use'. 

European Directive 2004/27/EC'Amending Directive 2001/83/ 

EC on the community code relating to medicinal products for 

human use'. 

Haynes RB, McDonald H, Garg AX, Montague R (2002) 

Interventions for helping patients to follow prescriptions 

for medicarions. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000. (2): 

CDOOOOn. 

Institute of Medicine. (2000) To err is human. Building a safer 

health system. Report available from: http://books.nap.edu/ 

books/0309Q68371/html/index.html 

MHRA (2007). Website: http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/ 

idcplg?ldcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeld=164 

Tinke JL, Griens AMGF. (2006) 'Data en Feiten 2006. Den Haag: 

Stichting Farmaceutische Kengetatlen (http://www.sfk.nl) 

Waarde, K. van der (2005). 'Designing informarion for 

patients.' Proceedings of the 'Informarion Design International 

Conference'. September 8-11, 2003 Recife (Brazil), pp 81-89. 

SBDkThe Brazilian Society of Informarion Design. 

Waarde, K. van der (2006).'Visual informarion about medicines 

for patients.' Chapter 4 (pp 38-50) in: 'Designing effective 

communications: crearing contexts for clarity and meaning' 

(Editor:Jorge Frascara). NewYork: Allworth Press.

lack and white images sought to provide an immediacy and 

drama to the otherwise largely static scenes. Here, the so- 

called "devouring flames" (göka) noted on the caption below 

left are added to the postcard photograph of the Kyobashi 

distnct. Adding the dynamic flames attempts to give the 

image a cinematic effect, yet Its stillness speaks of an inability 

to re-enact the event in any temporal or visceral way—rather, 

it reinforces the irretrievability and silence of history. 

Similarly, images of fleeing refugees, hand-tinted to 

communicate imminent danger and terror, while certainly 

evoking sympathetic fear and sadness in the viewer, are 

perhaps more striking because of their lack of ability to speak 

ofthe true nature ofthe experience. 

New York Times 

The world news reported the horrific body count and graphic 

photographs documented the gruesome scenes of mass 

incineration, while also singling out individual vicrims in the 

most gory and voyeuristic detail. 

Postcard of Charred Bodies Honjo Depot 

The former army Clothing Depot at Honjo (Hifukusho), one of 

the few open areas in the ward, was one ofthe single deadliest 

sites in the city. More than 30,000 people perished in this one 

site alone, a supposed sanctuary that became an Inescapable 

tunnel of fire. The official earthquake memorial, which 1 will 

discuss in the conclusion of my talk, was located on the site of 

the depot because forthe survivors of the quake it represented 

the acme of human suffering and loss, and hence the most 

appropriate site of memo ration. Photographic images of 

the depot show charred, dead bodies, heaped Into mounds 

as if melted together into a single mass. The figures are 

undifferentiated, male orfemale, adult orchild, they are merely 

an intertwined mass of human flesh. Such representations of 

mass carnage were repeated throughout the locales of the 

city, and render us into disaster tourists. 

Postcard of Charred Bodies with the Living 

The voyeuristic relarionship between the viewer and the 

image, the living and the dead, is thrown into greater relief in 

this widely circulated postcard image ofthe pond in the (Shin) 

Yoshiwara licensed prostitution quarter, where thousands 

of women who worked In the brothels were known to have 

perished. Unlike the previous image, where the living are 

largely bracketed out of the scene, here the dead are cleariy 

put in relation to the living, who seem to be gawking at the 

scene as they assist in pulling the corpses onto dry land—an 

Impression exacerbated bythe presence ofthe photographer. 

The eerie image of feet dangling over the edge of the 

waterway reads almost like spectators seated along the edge 

ofthe water. 

Postcard of Yoshiwara 

There is a latent irony in this image displaying death, as these 

women also lived their lives regularly on display for customers 

in the latriced showrooms (hahmlse) that lined the main street 

ofthe prostiturion district. Here a sexual economy has been 

replaced by a scopic one. 

Lithograph Shin Yoshiwara 

Together with photographers, print designers were among 

the most prolific producers of earthquake images, although 

unlike their photographer colleagues, they were not tethered 

to the reprographic or the real in any way. This gave unbridled 

freedom to the imagination; often producing images that 

simultaneously represented the event as tragedy and thrill 

(notto menrion miracle), one ofthe many ambivalences ofthe 

moment.Thesetwolithographsfrom the album of 14 produced 

just one month after the quake by Ishikawa Shoten under the 

title Pictorial Account ofthe Great Tokyo Earthquake depicting 

the Shin Yoshiwara district and the miraculous salvarion of 

Sensoji by Kannon In Asakusa both elicits emorions of terror 

mixed with excitement. 

Kawasaki Shoko Print Clothing Depot 

In these images, sites were notable for their spectacular- 

even sublime-state of ruin. Once again, we are reminded 

of the impasse of communication and silence engendered 

by the image of the ruin articulated by Cadava, but these 

images, and the ones to follow, bring up another problematic 

issue, one that Mark Dery asks in the subtirie for his arricle

"Terrible Beauty" which addresses the status of visual culture 

in the post-traumatic landscape after 9/11. He asks, "Does our 

humanity falter if we acknowledge an esthetic sublime in the 

visual facade of tragedy?" recognizing "the moral vertigo we 

feel when we gaze, rapt, at images of spectacular tragedies and 

simulated horrors, viewing the real and the recreational alike 

through esthetic eyes."Yet can such visual experience ever be 

entirely divorced from the aesthetic, as uncomfortable as it is? 

Kawasaki Shöko's woodblock print of the ruins of the Honjo 

Clothing Depot set against the backdrop of a radiant sunset, 

evokes the long western tradition of Romantic ruins, such as 

those associated with German Romantic painter Casper David 

Friedrich. It Is also a peaceful, sublime representation ofthe 

site of the most horrific loss of human life ofthe earthquake. 

Beauty and horror, shock and awe, go hand in hand. 

Postcard Asakusa 12 Stories 

Drawing on the Edo artistic genre ofmeisho-e, many images of 

the earthquake commemorated the disaster by immortalizing 

devastated locales throughout the city, focusing particularly 

on revered and Iconic sites and structures. Commercially 

published pictorials offered pages of before and after 

photographs of ruined sites around the city, many closely 

linked with the establishment ofthe modern nation-state in the 

Meiji period and the state's overriding ideology of "civilization 

and enlightenment." Yet these domestic and International 

mass-market photographs of the quake explicitly called into 

question this ideology of progress. Locations particularly 

associated with the modern city, such as the Asakusa district 

skyscraper Rounkaku, commonly known as the "Twelve 

Stories" (here seen In a postcard before and after the quake), 

which cracked at mid elevation, became emblematic ofthe 

fragility of man's technological achievements In the face ofthe 

indomitable forces of nature. 

Asakusa "12 Stories" 3 Images 

The aestheticization of the devastated form of the twelve- 

stories took many forms: the building captured in the midst 

of incineration by Okada Saburösuke (1869-1939) in Asakusa 

Twelve Stories Building on Fire {Moetsutsu aru Asakusa 

Jûnîkaı), which was then itself emblazoned on the cover ofthe 

October 1923 issue of the popular magazine Shufu no tomo 

(Housewife's Companion); in photodocumentary images 

as a forlorn ruin, decapitated with its steel rebar drooping 

pitifully to its sides; or in Isoda Chöshu's woodblock print as 

an abstract, colorful ruin as still life. There was often a close 

visual connection between photographic, print, and painting 

representations, an inter-media dialogue, if you wilL 

New York Times Headline 

The New York Times headline that ran on September 4'" 

"Princes and Statesmen lie dead with the Poor," underlines a 

frequent observation from all sectors, nature pays no heed to 

class. An assertion that according to Alex Bates, displaces the 

disproportionate suffering ofthe poor in the disaster due to 

pre-existing socio-economic inequity onto the uncontrollable 

whim of nature. 

Empress of Japan 

The seeming eradication (at least temporarily) of class divisions 

was alluded to in a caption on a much reproduced photograph 

that in read:"Calamity obliterates class~The Empress of Japan 

among her earthquake stricken people," which featured the 

Empress visiting injured, and possibly orphaned, children— 

an image of benevolent imperial rule harking back to the 

Russo-Japanese war.The message was clear.The nation would 

unite in tragedy and together face the task of reconstruction. 

A marked surge in samaritanism could be correlated with 

what scholar Allen H. Barton has termed the post-traumatic 

"altruistic community." 

New York Times Headline"Food Riots" 

There was, however, a savage underside to the event In the 

wake ofthe devastation and In the reestabllshment of order, 

which, while commonly known atthe time did not often make 

Its way into standard "beautiful stories" (bidan) of Japanese 

heroism. Not only were there food riots and looting, but there 

was a widespread vigilante rampage against Korean nationals, 

Japan's colonial subjects, (and other foreigners believed to be 

Korean, like Chinese) residing in Japan who were wrongly 

accused of acts of sabotage during and after the disaster. 

Massacred by the authorities and civilian mobs, their bodies

laid strewn on the streets for al! to see. The shock over these 

brutal actions was frequently expressed in artistic and literary 

accounts of the quake—although not surprisingly they were 

not often pictured in news coverage. 

As Timothy Brown has noted, there can often be a paradox in 

the confronting of a traumatic past "The desire to bring forth 

"positive"forms of identification (heroic memory) can occur at 

the expense of working through a painful and difficult past." 

Rather than the "altruistic community," the Kanto earthquake 

trauma, then, might be seen as more representative of what 

sociologist Kai Erikson witnessed in his case studies, where 

"disastersforcedopenfault lines in thecommunities,"producing 

what he alternatively terms "corrosive communities". 

CONCLUSION 

Earthquake Memorial Complex Aerial 

In the late 1920s, after many years of slow and painful 

reconstruction, the Tokyo Municipal Government began 

plans to erect a memorial complex to the earthquake victims 

on the site of the Honjo Clothing Depot. The well-known 

historicist architect lîö Chûta, professor at Tokyo Imperial 

University, was commissioned to design a Buddhist memorial 

hall and a Reconstruction Commemorative Museum, the 

latter of which was to house photographs and artifacts from 

the disaster. Museum and memorial spaces serve not only 

as spiritual sanctuaries, but provide a kind of "pedagogy 

of trauma," which Timothy Brown has rightly described as 

including more than just "descriprion and narration" of the 

event "but also artifacts and exhibit spaces that bear witness 

to the unrepresentable." 

Jtö designed the steel-reinforced concrete Memorial Hall 

in a distinctly hybrid architectural rhetoric that draws from 

both East and West as was common in his work ofthe rime. 

The basilica-like cruciform layout is reminiscent of Chrisrian 

cathedrals, but the conrinental-style stupa shaped finial 

sitting atop a pagoda-like tower, set behind a tile-roofed, 

hip-and-gable building, most strongly evokes images of the 

ancient Japanese Buddhist temples that ltd closely studied 

and helped reconstruct in Kyoto and Nara. 

Ireido Buddhist Memorial exterior 

In front a prominent porrico with a Tokugawa shogunal- 

style cusped gable projects outward to cover the dramatic 

entryway. The building enshrines the bones of thousands of 

vicrims In the stone base of the pagoda tower—functioning 

as a reliquarium—even perhaps a martyrium—and it is said 

that incense has burned continuously in front ofthe altar since 

four days after the disaster. Memorial services for the dead are 

srill held here annually on the anniversary ofthe quake. 

Ireido interior 

And the interior is equally eclectic, combining a Buddhist 

altar and a western-style devotional space with pews on a 

tile floor. Illuminated by electric chandeliers and sconces, 

the central space is ringed by a lower rier of documentary 

photographs and an upper tier of large-scale oil paintings by 

academic painterTokunaga Ryûshû memorializing individual 

scenes, which, by that rime, had already become iconic ofthe 

disaster, such as the crumbling image of the Asakusa Twelve 

Stories Tower. 

Reconstruction Hail 

In the Secessionist-style Reconstrucrion Commemorarive 

Museum, rows of scorched and deformed material remnants 

of the earthquake are exhibited amidst photodocumentary 

and artistic representations of the event This mode of 

memorial representation and display has formed the basis 

for memorializing subsequent catastrophes in Japan such as 

the Great Fire Bombing of Tokyo at the end of World War II in 

1945, which is now displayed in the same complex side-by- 

side with the earthquake, and perhaps more well known, the 

memorializarion of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in the 

Peace Memorial Museum. This process has gradually elided 

the dlsrincrion between natural and man-made disasters. 

Reconstruction Hall—2"'' floor gallery 

I would like to conclude with a close look at one large-scale oil 

painting on the second floor of the Museum that sits amidst a 

series of small-scale paintings of devastated locales throughout 

the city, kitty-corner from images of the crown prince and

empress surveying their traumatized imperial subjects, and 

across from aerial renderings of the Kanto region In flames. 

Arishima Ikuma Painting 

Narrativlzing the total earthquake experience, well-known 

modernist painter, Arishima Ikuma's (1882-1974) monumental 

oil oncanvas, titled lmpressionsoftheGreatDisa5ter(Da/sh/nso; 

no Inshö, 1931), situates itself in retrospective temporal 

relation to the event providing a cumulative summary ofthe 

totality ofthe iconic moments ofthe experience (all of which 

evolved out of and were crystallized by the visual production I 

have been discussing). It condenses the disaster into a unified 

visual collage-a simultaneous moment of misery, memorial 

and mission. 

The elaborate composition, evocative of Christian images of 

resurrection, reads from left to right, sweeping from nightfall 

to daybreak. Although the first tremor occurred near noon, 

in Arlshima's imagined conception the night becomes a 

metaphor for the darkness of the experience and morning 

symbolizes the onset of reconstruction. On the distant left, 

the decapitated Twelve Stories stands aflame next to savage 

firestorms v/hipping overhead that carry off people and souls 

to heaven. In the Immediate foreground naked women stand 

or crouch in front of barracks desperately trying to wash 

themselves in buckets of water, an image familiar to all from 

contemporary photographs like the one you saw earlier. A 

myriad of men, women and children mill in the mlddleground 

salvaging their possessions or tending to the injured or dead; 

others just sit In disbelief. Two figures In the center, a barefoot 

man carrying a shovel with his back to the viewer and a 

woman in kimono dragging her belongings along the ground, 

lead the eye to the new day where a host of officials stand 

surveying the damage. 

Arishima painting and detail 

On the far right, the newly installed Prime Minister Yamamoto 

Gonnohyoe and former mayor ofTokyo Goto Shinpei appear 

on the scene ready to begin the task of reconstruction. 

Appointed as Home Minister after the quake. Goto played a 

central role in orchestrating the rebuilding of the city, some of 

his actions, particularly attempts to repossess private lands for 

public works, were considered quite controversial. Arlshima's 

scene is fraught with ambivalence, however, as it includes the 

figure of murdered anarchist Osugi Sakae, shown in a panama 

hat to the far right. Osugi was a popular leftist activist brutally 

murdered along with members of his family after the quake 

by military police, and his tragic death became a symbol to 

the intelligentsia of unrestrained authority gone awry. He 

stands in Arlshima's painting as a reminder ofthe human and 

moral cost ofthe disaster. 

To borrow the words of Benjamin, Arlshima's image is "loaded 

to the bursting point with time", as "the traces carried by 

the image include reference to the past, the present, and 

the future, and in such a way that none of these can be 

isolated from the other..." Thus, through the prism of this 

cumulative visual production ofthe Great Kanto Earthquake, 

temporally collapsed in Arlshima's painting, we are left with 

an image of this calamitous event as both devastating and 

renewing for Tokyo and its inhabitants. Out of the ashes 

emerged a powerful visual response to the experience that 

expressed the spectacle of disaster, the sublime nature of 

ruin, a commemoration of unspeakable tragedy and loss, an 

ennobling of everyday life, and a fervor for the possibilities of 

reconstruction. People mourned loss and celebrated solidarity, 

all the while repressing the Inequitable and corrosive aspects 

of community manifested bythe catastrophe.

V I S U A L I S I N G D I S A S T E R : E N V I R O N M E N T A L A N X I E T Y A N D T H E U R B A N 

I M A G I N A R Y 

Wiliiam M.Taylor 

School of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts 

The University of Western Australia, Perth 

btaylor@cyllene.uvâ.edu.au 

Michael R Levine 

School of Humanities 

The University of Western Australia, Perth 

mlevlne@cy!lene.uvya.edu.au 

Abstract 

The form of cities, their design and construction have long 

made it possible to think about human society. Likewise, 

the destruction of cities through various means, accidental 

circumstance or human error, and the representation of 

urban ruin have given histoncal, visual and narrative form to 

diverse values governing ethical conduct, individual desires 

and collective responsibilities. Recently, a spate of films In 

which cities are destroyed by natural disasters have been 

counterpoised by images of such events as earthquakes in 

Qom and Pakistan, the tsunami-dnven wreck of regions of 

Southeast Asia and the inundation of New Orleans. Both 

fictional and documentary representations of disaster are 

mutually reinforcing. They not only invoke, though fail to 

encompass, the immensity of suffering accompanying the 

fall of one orthe other city. They are also highly evocative and 

symbolic, representing {equivocally, no doubt), the end result 

of a senes of causes and effects for which no one person is 

likely responsible, on the one hand, and a call for fortitude and 

renewal in the face of great adversity, on the other. 

Taking its cue from representations of fallen cities and the 

possibiliries they engender for thinking about the meaning 

of disaster this paper will consider how their portrayal 

serves as a vehicle for questioning our seemingly precarious 

relationship with nature and the future ofthe city. It concludes 

with menrion of one recent attempt to represent urban ruin. 

Robert Polldori's photographs of New Orieans entitled After 

the Flood. 

Introduction 

This paper grew from a first, passing interest in the literary and 

cinemaric portrayal of urban disaster and subsequent writing 

(Taylor, 2006) on the meaning of such representarions for an 

understanding of ethics and human values. The appearance in 

recent years ofa spate of natural disaster films like The Day After 

Tomorrow (2004) and Volcano (1997), each casringthecityas a 

prime target for cataclysm, is notable in this regard.The appeal 

of these films might be understood in view of present day 

environmental uncertainties or the apparent state of anxiety 

in the wodd more generally. However, their coincidence with 

documentary coverage of very real cataclysmic events leads 

us to quesrion how representarional media engage with the 

complex reality of a fallen city, the circumstances which bring 

such events about and their human and social costs. 

This paper affords an opportunity to reflect further on urban 

disaster and its representarion. In addition, our paper is also 

part of a more extended and detailed study of transience and 

the built environment (Taylor and Levine, 2006), an initiative 

undertaken this year with the support of the Australian 

Research Council. The study considers the ways that an

awareness of urban change of lesser or greater magnitude 

(phenomenal transience) encourages reflection of a more 

abstract l

sometime between the years 1050 to 1080 at the cathedral 

in Salerno (Italy) where the representation of building detail 

is secondary to the oversized figure of an omnipotent God 

who appears descending from heaven to disperse the tower 

builders across the earth. Contrast this image with Pieter 

Bruegei the Elder's well-known painting of TheTower of Babel 

executed five centuries afterwards (1563) and one finds a 

more secular scene and significance attributed to the story. In 

similar illustrations of this latter period, an emphasis on the 

details of construction (less on destruction perse) transforms 

the Tower into an immense hive of human industry and 

common purposes emblematic ofthe city itself. 

More recently, and reinforcing the durability of the tower as 

an architectural trope, one commentator, writing on media 

coverage of 9/11 and its aftermath, has described the particular 

symbolic potency of the collapsed Twin Towers of the Worid 

Trade Center as representing the heights of human capabiliries 

and civilisation, a take reminiscent of Bruegel's painring. For 

Samuel Weber (2002) the form of what was once the worid's 

tallest buildings are conveniently counterpoised to the Caves 

of Tora Bora which were likened during the Afghanistan War 

to the refuge of the depraved. Coupled with the simplistic and 

self-serving views of George Bush and his neo-conservative 

supporters, these opposing symbols accentuate an imaginary 

world animated by forces of good and evil and stripped of any 

social, cultural or polirical nuance - a worid, consequendy, de- 

historicised as well. Judging by details of Bruegel's masterpiece, 

however, the painter would most likely not have understood 

this limited view of human society for The Tower ofSabe/is full of 

stylistic references to historic architecture and communicates a 

sense ofthe necessity of culture as well as its vitality. 

Turning to the account of Sodom and Gomorrah one finds 

prefigured there longstanding and complex associations 

between urban living and the threat ofa moral corruption for 

which city life is both the cause and the cure. The opposirion 

of a potentially, socially-cohesive culture and indisrinct 

wilderness features prominently in the biblical story of the 

fall of these cities. Tirian's depicrion of the story titled 'Pastoral 

Scene'or'Landscape with a Sleeping Nudeand Animals'(1565) 

illustrates for one art historian (Meilinkoff, 1998) a less than 

idyllic scene with the biblical episode with burning city, rural 

villageand wilderness occupying back, middle and foreground 

of the drawing. The innocence of lambs accompanying the 

sleeping figures contrasts with the goat and boar amongst the 

flock which signify lust and lechery. Significantly, according to 

the biblical account, following the destruction ofthe places of 

wickedness, Lot's incestuous liaison with his daughters occurs 

as he leaves the small town and social intercourse behind 

entirely and takes up residence in a cave in the woods where 

he lives like a beast, figuratively and morally. 

In contrast to the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Babel was 

not so much destroyed as were the ambitions of its builders 

thwarted; however, it was equally a site of divine intervention 

in the lives of humankind, particularly where human life 

was understood in terms of a divinely-endowed capacity 

to transform nature for human purposes. This particular 

understanding informs a pre-ecological view of the natural 

world known as 'resourcism'. Resourcism and ecology 

incorporate different views of the domain of animate and 

Inanimate matter -making of nature a register (though not 

entirely a blank slate) of a kind- upon which human acrions 

are recorded and human agency, capabiliries and limitations 

Inscribed. 

Turning to other sources for thinking about the meaning of 

urban disasters, for the ancient Greeks, the city represented 

both the manifestarion of civic virtues and the means for 

propagaring them. The 'urban' was as much a process as it 

was a state of existence. Understandably, the fall ofthe polis, 

a common enough occurrence in a world of city-states and 

rival trading powers, would come to represent an event 

of historical and moral significance as profound as the 

destruction of a Sodom or Gomorrah. Given the legacy of 

ancient Greek and Roman civilisarions and the spread of their 

monuments and remains of public works across Europe, it 

is no wonder that the rise and fall of dries like Sybaris (510 

B.C.) or Selinunte (409 B.C.), then Pompeii and Herculaneum 

(79 A.D.) -like the decline of Rome Itself- have long fascinated 

historians, writers and arrists. Equally, the discovery of ancient 

sites, the incorporation of their spoils or their reproducrion 

and adaptation have inspired at various times In the past new 

thoughts on architecture and urbanism. 

Though images of Babel and Sodom or ruins, as found at 

Selinunte and Pompei, figure prominently In the Imagination

of disaster, İt would be misleading to think of the values 

attending a state of urbanity as manifest only in urban forms, 

however these may appear. Likewise it would be a narrow 

view that considers the opposition of tower and plain (Babel) 

or civilisation and chaos (Sodom) to be best represented by 

scenes of devastated cities. Writers and artists have called 

upon other kinds of images of disaster to depict either the 

vulnerability or resilience of human society. Two exemplary 

cases are Theodore Gerlcault's portrayal of shipwrecked 

survivors on The Raft ofthe ' Medusa'i^8^ 9) and William Strutt's 

painting of a cataclysmic bushfire in the Australian outback 

entitled Black Thursday (1851). In Gericault's documentary, 

though still, largely allegorical painting, suffering, madness 

and death are part ofthe natural world for nature, like the sea, 

is imagined to be a formless and potentially malevolent entity 

upon which human dramas unfold. William Strutt's painting Is 

not only composed in an equally spectacular manner, but tells 

a similar story. The bush Is not only indistinct and threatening 

like an immense ocean where fire rolls across the plain in an all 

consuming wave, it also represents a space that is opposed to 

civilization and must ultimately be confronted and conquered. 

Characterising humankind's engagement with nature as one of 

a contest, there are intimations of resourcism in both paintings, 

though any positive advantage to be had by travelling the 

seas or settling remote wilderness is undermined by the threat 

posed by exposure to raw nature and ultimately, the limitations 

of human technology and society to subdue it Given their 

moralising and apparently, mixed messages, in other words, the 

paintings appear both old and new when viewed together. 

Separating in time the images of Titian and Brueghel, on the 

one hand, and those of Gerricault and Strutt on the other, the 

P/7//osop/7esoftheeighteenth century, then thesocial reformers 

ofthe nineteenth, gave a more reasoned form to allegorical 

representations urban disaster. Jean Jacques Rousseau and 

his contemporaries sought a rationale for understanding both 

the necessity of the metropolis and the unhealthy prospect 

of life there in which chaos was a constant though indistinct 

threat and where the 'wilderness' of moral deprivation could 

be found anywhere, both within city walls and without 

Commentators established an association between living In 

closely-knit communities and human degeneracy with some 

claiming that the 'town-bred' possessed a 'narrow chest 

pale face, weak eyes, and bad teeth' while others pointed 

to the superiority of those living in rural environments. The 

determinants of moral behaviour were also discovered in the 

urban environments ofthe period and, along with ill health, 

decrepitude could depend upon the state of one's climate, 

diet drink, idleness, cleanliness, silence and even access to 

music. Religious apathy and rioting became symptoms of 

social ills along with other aspects of personal behaviour. 

Social critics were essentially urban theorists as Augustus 

Pugin, William Morris and Jeremy Bentham imagined Ideal 

cities as alternatives to the deplorable state ofthe metropolis. 

Thinking about the ideal city entailed a process of abstraction, 

a stripping away of all that was deplorable about present living 

conditions in preference for alternatives derived from reason 

and the imagination. In this, more secular age, Sodom could 

denote any extremely wicked or corrupt place where physical 

and moral depravities occurred. It became a particular kind 

of environment that defined its inhabitants just as, for both 

natural theologians and fledgling evolutionists ofthe period, 

a place - Its geography and climate - defined the creatures that 

lived in it For one eighteenth century Londoner,'A Tavern Is a 

little Sodom, where as many Vices are daily practic'd [sic], as 

ever were known in the great one' (OED, 1989). 

In the end, theform of cities, no less so representations oftheir 

destruction, have provided a means forthinking about human 

identity, society and values - the potential for and limitations 

of human capabilities for manipulating nature and ultimately, 

the relationship of our species to the world of animate and 

inanimate matter. To a certain extent one is grappling with 

the old nature and culture divide here. However, we are not 

so interested here in hackneyed dichotomies or abstract 

philosophical issues as with a style of reasoning that comes 

with thinking about the built and natural environments In a 

manner distantly related to the thoughts ofthe Rousseau or 

Bentham, though more developed and obvlouslycharacteristic 

of our own times. One can argue (Taylor, 2004:95-119) that a 

uniquely modern and ecologically-nuanced way of thinking 

about our surroundings is related to particular patterns of 

sentiment perceptions and anxiety organised around the 

city. What is interesting when considering past sources for 

contemplating disaster, something akin to our understanding 

ofthe environment does not existat all. Recent representations 

of urban disaster, particularly in science fiction and on the 

screen, though distantly related by earlier ancient biblical

or allegorical catastrophes, are not entirely encompassed by 

them. Rather they owe more to this environmental way of 

thinking. 

Consider the spectacular visual effects of films like 

Armageddon or The Day After Tomorrow or their precursors in 

1970's blockbuster movies like The Poseidon Adventure or The 

Towering Inferno. Whatever one thinks of the quality of such 

films with their overblown special effects and nearly, always 

predictable storylines, it is interesting to question how they 

engage with the other kinds of narratives accompanying the 

nse of empincai science and its fictionalisation, particularly 

since the time of Darwin. These narratives entail language of 

causes and effects, actions and reactions whereby everyday 

physical phenomena and potentially cataclysmic events are 

understood in terms of underlying natural forces - allowing for 

the possibility that these may be interfered with, for better or 

worse, by humankind. These narratives raise questions ofthe 

predictability, likelihood or inevitability of one or the other 

natural event-the degree to which one can predict the weather, 

for instance, or ofthe likelihood of an earthquake, a typhoon or 

tsunami. These narratives delimit an ethical domain whereby 

human actions enter into equations determining a range of 

phenomenon impinging upon its designs - acdons modelled 

along, as Immanuel Kant would write, the 'oscillations of the 

weather and biological and other natural phenomena.' 

These words are taken from an essay Kant wrote in 1784 

entitled, 'The Idea of History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View' 

(cited in Hacking, 1990:16) In which the author described the 

unfolding of human acrions In the worid to be as predictable, if 

not as obvious, as the facts of life and death - even the weather. 

Whereas in the natural world, the passage of rime was registered 

on the bodies and forms of animate and inanimate matter, in the 

human worid, it was, for Kant and many who followed a similar 

line of thought, the city upon which was written the movement 

of history. Kant's essay prefigures a significant shift in the 

visualisarion of urban disaster, where fallen cities become seen 

not so much as a consequence of divine wrath or conception 

of an unforgiving natural worid that followed the fall of Adam. 

The former remained the view of many, for instance, when 

contemplating a momentous and highly publicised event like 

the earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1755, just 30 years 

before Kant wrote his essay. It remains the view, but only for 

some fundamentalist Chrisrians in America in view of Katrina's 

makeoverof New Orleans, 221 years later-a consequence It was 

claimed ofthe city's'embrace of sin'(reported by Dewan, 2006). 

Rather, this shift in the imaginarion involves a move towards a 

more scientific and causal understanding of such phenomena, 

whereby human responses to disaster move away from forms 

of penance as In a less secular age and towards a calculation 

of probabilities and likelihoods whereby natural, cataclysmic 

events become understood in new and complex ways. 

In view ofthe long history of destroyed cities and the changing 

patterns of sensibility that have determined their significance 

for human society, an important development coincided with 

the rise of empirical sciences. Varied sciences, from those 

more immediately concerned with an abstract understanding 

of nature like chemistry and physics to others more obviously 

aimed at predicting and controlling natural forces - like 

geophysical sciences (including seismology, meteorology and 

hydrology), building statics and engineering - have played a 

role. Though concerned with different objects of study, these 

fields commonly bring into play a form of causal reasoning 

and an encourage awareness of the myriad of forces and 

counter-forces acting upon the city. In application they can 

privilege a language of urban forms and their funcrions cast in 

quasi-biological terms. Consequently, the city is understood 

in relation to observations of organic and inorganic nature, 

nature's constituent elements like earth, air and water. 

Understanding, predicting and reacting to the forces that 

act upon a city and which make it a part of the geophysical 

and organic wodds - invoking a broad kind of environmental 

awareness, basically - inculcated a parricular understanding 

of buildings, the sites upon which they stood and the cities of 

which they were a part. 

Bringing the preceding claims for environmental awareness 

to bear on debates over the cause of the destruction of New 

Orieans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, much rested on 

the characterisation of the event as being either a 'natural' 

or 'human' disaster - crucially the availability and amount 

of reconstruction funds from insurance and governmental 

sources essential for building any vision of a renewed city. 

Disagreement arose from an emphasis on either a storm of 

unprecedented ferocity, on the one hand, or storm protection 

and civil defence systems that had proven inadequate, on

the other.^ While Kant would have understood some terms of 

this debate (the cause of one phenomenon, either naturally 

or humanly-generated, resulting In another) and Darwin, 

appreciated the generative force unleashed by destruction, 

neither figure would have likely countenanced a government 

that could abandon a city in such a way. By the time Katrina 

struck New Orleans and the levees collapsed, decades of neo- 

liberal ideology and economic-rationalist policy in America (as 

elsewhere) had transformed 'the city' into a tabula rasa of an 

unprecedented kind. It became a blank slate upon which not 

only natural forces, but a hypothetical and all-encompassing 

free-market (which largely amounts to the same thing as 

nature in extreme versions of this theory) did their work, 

independentofmostformsof human'interference'.lnthewake 

of Katrina these would seem to include such Interventions as 

public investment in urban infrastructure, the limitation of 

oil exploration and industry which damaged wetlands and 

protective coastal islands and the regulation of a largely, 

uncontrolled insurance industry. 

Existing alongside and partly accounting for the rise of 

economic rationalism, environmental awareness also accounts 

for the evocative charge of more recent representations of 

urban disaster ~ like those of photographer, Robert Polidori 

- than those previously described in this paper. Their human 

dimension, played off against the background of a natural 

one, is particularly obvious in director Spike Lee's recent 

documentary film When the Levees Broke (2006). Environmental 

awareness has a profound influence on the way we approach 

buildingssltescreated by cataclysm-or itshould-even though 

some designers may not take full stock of Its philosophical 

origins and ethical dimensions. Accounting for developments 

occurring over the past two centuries, our interpretation of 

scenes of disaster and our response to the cities left in their 

wake today have been formed from our simultaneous, self- 

conscious occupation ofthe built and natural environments 

- a feature of modern life in the metropolis. 

^The latter assessment, incidentally, was recently confirmed as true 

following a review by the United States Corps of Engineers. 

Robert Polidori and After the Flood 

Robert Polidori's photo essay After the Flood (2006) provides 

a fitting set of Images to conclude this paper. Having 

previously made subjects of such phenomena as the slow 

decay of Havana, the bombed out remains of Beirut and the 

abandoned, contaminated cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat, he 

turned his camera on New Orleans in the weeks following Its 

inundation in late August, 2005. His photographs, mainly of 

the ruined facades and the interiors of houses, capture not 

so much a moment of disaster, but the multiple and complex 

Interactions of so many organic and inorganic'events'initiated 

when the city's levees broke. They portray the interruption of 

innumerable manifestations of human activity. The scenes are 

chaotic in one sense - compositlonally - though Invite one to 

Imagine what happened, logically and predictably, after the 

waters rose, then subsided. The scenes are 'alive' in this sense 

as there appears considerable evidence of warping, rotting 

and mildewing, all presumably still going on at the time 

the photographs were taken. They are also static given the 

staged character of the photographs which, though random 

in their content of overturned and decaying furnishings, 

are conventionally executed from fixed vantage points, the 

framing of shots and considered lighting. An architectural 

photographer's desire for images free of people was already 

satisfied bythe depopulated state ofthe city, ratherthan any 

obvious action on the part of Polidori. 

The photographs comprising After the Flood are noteworthy 

in that they are not concerned with communicating obvious 

or dramatic action which, conversely, characterises many of 

the images in the Kozak collection and other, allegorical and 

historic representations of urban disaster. They are composed, 

but not heroic in the sense that old woodcut prints, lithographs 

or paintings of collapsing buildings, turbulent seas or raging 

bushfire scenes or the statuesque victims and survivors who 

people them are. They are perhaps (if any photograph could 

be) more Darwinian than a Gericault or Strutt painting could 

have ever been. 

Nurturing an unsettling fascination for the abundance of 

furnishings and goods, materials and surfaces that comprise the 

everyday interior of the home, the photographs reveal invisible 

forces of decay working upon them. Polidori's scenes deal with

a reality of overcrowding, waste and disorder'that concerned 

Darwin and his followers and which provided the woddview 

behind theories of cataclysmic upheaval and natural selection. 

Equally, the viewer's absorption in the minute detail of the 

images -the innumerable instances of ruin- is counterpoised by 

fascination with the wholeness and the plenitude of nature that 

inspired theologians and artists in eady- or pre-modern times 

as well as its seemingly irresistible force (Levine, 1988: 34-39). 

Providing the logical counter-image to the Victonan home, in 

that chaos supplants an idyll of domestic order and bliss, the 

photographs portend a reality of 'randomness and chance' 

(Taylor,2004:205)charactensing modern life, all the while calling 

on our expectations of order to heighten their dramatic impact. 

Above all the photographs engage with an environmental 

sensibility portending modern life -entailing In its most basic 

terms, an awareness of particular spaces, streetscapes and 

rooms as unique, portentous and formative of human identity, 

character and well-being- the latter, now obviously lost. 

Informed viewers (and hopefully, all Americans especially) 

approache these photographs with knowledge of one aspect 

of their context and New Orleans itself, namely that the city 

largely rests below sea-level. This alerts one to the possibility 

- now the certainty according to government officials in the 

US Army Corps of Engineers - that the cause of the disaster 

was not entirely 'natural'. The storm left the city relatively 

unscathed after passing over it, though Katnna's waters, 

working on a poody maintained Hurricane protection system 

caused the levees to collapse. The city's pumps, once the 

largest In the world and the pride ofa robust civil engineering 

and public service sector, failed to deliver as they were but 

barely operational. And, of course, the broader issue, global 

warming, which may have spawned so large a storm in the first 

place furthers a sense of uncertainty about the photographs. 

Conclusion 

Polldori's photographs seem to confirm at least one conclusion 

drawn from the study of vrban disaster (Taylor, 2006:611). 

Like the narratives of recent disaster films, the images invite 

a particular kind of discernment. They invite us to distinguish 

between what we see and most likely know and what we do not 

see, but suspect. Accompanied by extensive press coverage and 

conflicting evidence regarding the cause of the Inundation of 

New Orleans, the images draw upon our knowledge, however, 

incomplete, of'causes and effects, actions and reactions whereby 

everyday physical phenomena and potentially cataclysmic 

events are understood in terms of underlying natural forces' 

in which humankind has had a hand. Part of their dramatic 

effect (and providing for their moral content) is based on the 

exploitation of uncertainty that has always accompanied the 

expansion of science and our reliance on standards of objectivity 

as a means of explaining things. These standards account for a 

certain ambiguity in assessing either the'artistlc'or'documentary' 

qualities ofthe Images. Uncertainties, those threatening the city 

and others holding out promise of its salvation, serve to position 

us ail, the urban dwelling and cinema-goer, as potential victims 

or heroes. In the end, it is the city that provides a backdrop for a 

complex view of our relationship to nature and to each other. 

The various historical sources and images cited in our paper 

have helped cast urban disasters as morally significant 

while opportunities for rebuilding cities like Lisbon and 

San Francisco, London and Bedin from the remains left 

by earthquakes, bombs and firestorms have encouraged 

reflection on what an ideal city and society might be. While in 

some instances, particular circumstances may have rendered 

a city uninhabitable, necessitating its complete demolition or 

abandonment, it is more common to find in history (unlike 

scripture) instances where disaster has been followed by the 

promise of opportunity just as, again commonly, the building 

sites created through devastation, are rarely rendered entirely 

blank. The multivalent structures of human society and so too, 

human agency, do not necessarily or entirely coincide with 

the physical structures of buildings and urban forms so that 

in destroying the latter, physical ones, the former inevitably 

disappear as well. For every destroyed city in history that may 

be reborn in some novel form there are many others that 

have resisted wholesale transformation for some social or 

cultural, economic or political reason.^ Tellingly, the Inability 

^ While Noto (Nuovo) in Sicily was rebuilt on an entirely new site 

and given a 'modern' (le. Baroque) form following its (Noto Antica] 

complete destruction in 1693, the rejection of Christopher Wren's 

radical new plan for the City of London following the great fire there 

in 1666 and its reconstruction along existing Medieval street lines 

exemplify the later, contrasting case.

of authorities to raze the largely, wholly destroyed, lower 9'^ 

Ward (district) of New Orleans In the wake of Hurricane Katrina 

-despite common sense and the best advice of engineers and 

planners- was due to such reasons. 

Popular, disaster films are rarely concerned with such a view of 

the social and political complexity of cities. Films, parricularly 

American ones, view urban disasters as a means of separating 

out a few heroes from the many, largely complacent victims 

of cataclysm. Generally, disaster films work as though the 

immensity of human suffering following a given, cataclysmic 

event can be captured by a single narrative or frame and 

understood - perhaps even 'experienced' by the viewer. The 

possibility that such representarions can In fact convey an 

experience or promote empathy with those who suffer brings 

to mind our own aspirations for a new city in that both, both 

empathy and aspiration, require an act ofthe imaginarion. 

It is the idea of a tabula rasa or blank slate, but also the 

imagination that brings both phenomenal and existential 

forms of transience together. In other words, when viewing 

the remains of vanquished cities, whether the crumbled 

and charred remains of San Francisco depicted in period 

lithographs or the collapsed and rotting remains of New 

Orieans interpreted by a contemporary photographer like 

Robert Polidori, the mind is drawn to imagine what was once 

there and what might yet arise. Our thoughts are drawn to 

contemplate the complexities of life in the modern metropolis, 

and perhaps, even the inevitable passing and possible 

transformarion of all things. 

Given certain historically, socially and culturally-prescribed 

limits, namely those governing recent disasters like the near 

complete destruction of New Orleans, dries and buildings 

sites can never really be, tabulae rasae - at least not entirely or 

in the way designers might like to see them. More than likely, 

the Idea is linked to self-serving purposes - one being to divert 

attention from the circumstances leading to the cataclysmic 

event itself and any liability for what follows. Consequently, 

the aspirations of urban planners, architects and designers 

called upon to inscribe them a new -and our desires, as 

citizens who want closure and to get on with life- must be 

take this important dimension of urban disaster on board. 

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