Dear interlocutors,
As a social scientist interested in the symbolic capital of design, I
feel compelled to add just one more twist to this thread. If one is
interested in the socio-cultural and political-economic roles of the
idea of design, then the processes of design (internally, but also
externally, as it acculturates its intended audiences), and perhaps
even more importantly, the political outcomes of its functioning (for
instance, how does the concept of design, and those who use it, do
it, speak it, and make it, come to shape the production not only of
things, but of relationships, power, identities, values, reality?),
are as legitimately "results" as are the intended material products
of design, their perceived or acquired value, and the social
consequences of their presence. So (and forgive me if I'm
generalizing too much) if analyses of the outcomes of designing are
to be found largely 'under different labels' (as Ken Friedman
explains), and an understanding of design processes (internal to
design, primarily) is to be found largely within design research,
then what I mean to suggest is the need to recognize the value of
research into the broader functioning of design as a social and
cultural system of classification - functioning within, through, and
separately from its profession(s) - as a contributor to or creator of
enduring structures of social order. In other words, how is the
concept of design (no matter the field in which it is deployed)
shaping political realities (which are inherently cultural and
social), such as relationships of power, public policy, behavior,
identity, taxonomies of value, philosophical questions, the human
condition, and so on? I would think that as the influence and
presence of design grows, these questions would grow in importance.
Does anyone know where this kind of enquiry is taking place?
Respectfully,
Juris
Juris Milestone, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
On Aug 3, 2007, at 1:08 PM, Victor Margolin wrote:
> Dear colleagues:
> I have a question for the list. Why is so much research attention
> given to the process of design and so little to its results - the
> products that are the outcomes of designing, their value and social
> consequences. It seems to me that one result of design research
> should be to serve as a critical lens for evaluating the results of
> designing. Of course, research into sustainable products is a
> promising direction but there are so many more things that are
> designed about which we don't know much. What about the way that
> new digital products like cell phones and ipods are changing
> socialization values. What about the changing ideas about the
> design of public space.We seem to leave all those and other
> questions related to the social consequences of designing to other
> disciplines.
> --
> Victor Margolin
> Professor Emeritus of Design History
> Department of Art History
> University of Illinois at Chicago
> 935 W. Harrison St.
> Chicago, IL 60607-7039
> Tel. 1-312-583-0608
> Fax 1-312-413-2460
> website: www.uic.edu/~victor
|