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Dear colleagues, I had resolved to stay out of this discussion, as time is particularly precious to me just now. But Chris Rust's response to Richard caused too many resonances for me to ignore! The more contemporary design disciplines have only known a reductionist, determinist world. Notwithstanding, they have sought to retain as much holism in their being as they could. In the mid 20th century, science entered a transitional period which is now maturing as the 'new sciences' of chaos and complexity. This is a fundamental transformation of the greatest significance. It represents the maturing of science, and of society more widely, from dealing with relatively simple problems to routinely addressing complex 'wicked' problems. So to say that design is crossing a threshold from craft to science or engineering is much too naive and reductionist. It is more correct to say tha science and engineering are crossing a threshold into holism, where design has traditionally resided. The implications of these developments for design and society are most far-reaching. For one thing, we find ourselves ill-prepared methodologically, epistemologically, ontologically etc for this transition, for the rapid complexification of socioculture. Design is well placed to make major contributions to society in this regard. Secondly, we are experiencing a convergence of huge proportions between evolutionary lineages - physical, biological, sociocultural, technological etc - in a way that is bringing evolutionary processes within the timeframes of design. This merging truly transforms the role of design, to that of a sociocultural evolutionary guidance system. Design is no longer solely a part of evolution, it must henceforth guide evolution. Experienced observers of civilizational change like Joseph Tainter believe that socioculture has survived by means of complexification. Whenever problems arise we basically complexify ourselves out of them - a new room on the house, a new piece of legislation, new drugs etc etc. The challenge which design(and I use the term broadly) must address is how socioculture can effectively deal with these processes of complexification. This is the basic task behind sustainability. The stakes are far too high for design to fail socioculture! Best wishes, John Broadbent UTS CRICOS Provider Code: 00099F DISCLAIMER ======================================================================= This email message and any accompanying attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, do not read, use, disseminate, distribute or copy this message or attachments. If you have received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender expressly, and with authority, states them to be the views the University of Technology Sydney. Before opening any attachments, please check them for viruses and defects. =======================================================================