Glenn,
Thanks for your note. You raise a good question for chat spaces and
bboards like this.
I do, indeed, believe that our personal views are important in design,
as in all matters in life. But I also think that the diversity of our
views is, itself, a challenge for understanding as well as action.
It is important to understand why we have different views on what,
perhaps to someone unfamiliar with design, may seem a simple subject.
And, given our differences of perspective and understanding, it is also
important, in my own view, to encourage the entire community to develop
their own ideas. This is particularly true with students. I am always
curious to learn what new may come up in a student's exploration of
design. There is plenty of time later to share our personal views, but
the beginning is important for students, I think.
Believe me, I have some strong views about the nature of design, the
ultimate purpose of design, the role of definitions in design, and the
qualities of individual design works. And I share those in my writings
as well as in conversations like this. I am not shy. But I have seen
no evidence that anyone has cornered the market on truth, so one of our
biggest responsibilities is to find ways of sustaining discussion.
As someone once wrote, "Discussion is neither a chain of understandings
nor a chaos of misunderstandings; it is a complex of crossed monologues
which occasionally spark, for a period of time or a period of discourse,
into dialogue."
Rather than try to proclaim my own views, I like to seek the sparks of
discussion that occasionally lead to dialogue. I learn that way, and I
hope I help others to learn in that way.
Regards,
Dick
Richard Buchanan
Carnegie Mellon University
|