Hi Jerry,
I agree with you. Environmental determinism was rejected in environmental design research (environment and behavior) sometime in the 1970's. I might be wrong it might have started earlier, but the 1970s were really a turning point in that respect. The talk was to go beyond determinism and consider probabilism and possibilism. These concept were borrowed from geography and introduced in the field of environment and behavior studies by John Porteous and Amos Rapoport in the late 1970s.
Best wishes,
Lubomir
-----Original Message-----
From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jerry Diethelm
Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2014 5:57 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Environmental determinism
I thought I'd send this again as the snip was poorly clipped and there were several edits needed. Jerry
Dear Terry and all,
It isn't especially radical in the design professions these days to step back from the belief that designs are predictably causal with respect to human behavior. In fact I would say that the opposite is true. Lubo, Diane and others on the list have tried to explain why.
Material designs offer up frameworks on which others hang their meaning, their own affordances, the constructions they bring to the experience that are built out of a repertoire of who they are.
And material designs often have many lives beyond the original one for which they are designed. For a time it was popular to talk about "loose fit."
And it still is to think and talk about adaptability.
I particularly (and radically) admire Louis Kahn's extended poetic insight:
Room: a place with a particular character
Building: a society of rooms
Street: a room of agreement
City: an assembly of places vested with the care to uphold the sense of a way of life.
With regard to systems dynamics, I ran the early Forrester models with students when The Limits to Growth was first published and then again twenty years later when Donella Meadows' group brought it up to date in Beyond the Limits. The latter software allowed us to examine the model's assumptions and vary their parameters. The upshot was that the outcomes were all highly dependent on qualitative assumptions, such as the one Lewis Mumford called plenitude, what was really needed for a good life.
Best regards,
Jerry
On 12/6/14 7:43 AM, "Terence Love" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> In its essence, environmental determinism is the core concept of
> architecture, planning, landscape architecture even, as well as
> graphic design, typography, advertising, the ideas of communication,
> affordances, signifiers, meaning making, sense- making, usability, CPTED, ergonomics...
> I can't at this moment think of any design field for which the essence
> of environmental determinism isn't the core concept.
>
>
> It would seem that to argue to remove the essence of environmental
> determinism means to argue for removing most aspects of design and
> design research - quite a radical position.
>
> I understand you have radical views but I didn't think that radical!
--
Jerry Diethelm
Architect - Landscape Architect
Planning & Urban Design Consultant
Prof. Emeritus of Landscape Architecture
and Community Service € University of Oregon
2652 Agate St., Eugene, OR 97403
€ e-mail: [log in to unmask]
€ web: http://pages.uoregon.edu/diethelm/
€ https://uoregon.academia.edu/JerryDiethelm
€ 541-686-0585 home/work 541-346-1441 UO
€ 541-206-2947 work/cell
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