We do cover some materials on complexity theory at Carnegie Mellon, though
I am cautious about the trendy aspect of this. There are some interesting
ideas, but perhaps there is less than meets the eye. Some interesting
metaphors and analogies. A bit of thinking about the approach yields a
pretty clear idea of the philosophic assumptions operating behind the work.
I heard a group of scientists discussing this approach a while back and the
outcome has made me even more skeptical. I wonder what specific use has
been made of the ideas? What would people have said in 1904 about the
dominant research approach for the 20th century? Pretty thin speculation.
Dick
--On Tuesday, December 28, 2004 11:59 AM +0100 Rosan Chow
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I am curious how many and which PHD programs in Design introduce
> complexity theory to their students. Come to my mind are Montreal,
> Milan, Bremen, Braunschweig, any more? I am asking this not because I
> believe in uni-direction, but I feel that in any PHD program, students
> should be introduced to multiple research paradigms and methods. And
> complexity theory is, as I have been told, preceived as the dominant
> scientific (wissenschaftlich) research paradigm for the 21st century,
> and as such it should be included in PHD research training. - Rosan
>
> John Broadbent wrote:
>>
>> Dear colleagues,
>>
>> Francois-Xavier broadened his response to Dick Buchanan's inquiry:
>>
>> > I wonder if others have advice on how to position doctoral research
>> in design?>
>>
>> by commenting on some of his own writing; I shall do likewise.
>>
>> In reviewing some 60 definitions of design recently, I found they fell
>> into two broad groupings:
>>
>> * reductionist definitions, for example what is meant by 'engineering
>> design'. Such definitions are in the majority, and can differ widely
>> according to the particular design discipline they seek to define
>>
>> * systemic definitions, of the type J. Christopher Jones adopted in
>> his 'Design methods: seeds of human futures' classic.
>>
>> The former set of definitions, along with the scientific movement
>> which spawned them, have- put simply - created the global
>> problematique which now confronts us.
>>
>> The emergence of the systemic sciences, the sciences of complexity,
>> from the mid-20th century, has stimulated definitions of design akin
>> to that of J. Christopher Jones but, it seems, remarkably little
>> else. The old reductionist design bandwagon just keeps trundling
>> along!
>>
>> Contemporary design seems(to me) a dreadful reductionist parody of
>> what should be a truly systemic activity. Far from addressing the
>> global problematique, contemporary design effectively accentuates it.
>>
>> For me, positioning doctoral research in design is a very clear
>> task. The urgent task is to develop a systemic discipline of design
>> which can effectively contribute to solving the global problematique.
>> Incremental furtherance of the reductionist design paradigm pales into
>> insignificance against this task.
>>
>> Hopefully, the 6th European Academy of Design conference in Bremen
>> next March, being organised by Wolfgang Jonas and colleagues, will
>> provide an opportunity to carefully consider alternatives to the
>> current paradigm. Be there!!
>>
>> With season's greetings from a sunny Australia,
>>
>> John Broadbent
>>
>>
>>
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