Hello All,
I’m looking for references on the topic of how artifacts (buildings, products) mediate power. It seems that across both buildings and products there are perhaps three strands in the literature. The first strand concerns how those in power use artifacts to mediate power (for example the Winner, “Do artifacts have politics” debate, Dovey, and Leach). A second strand, perhaps emerging from the usability/accessibility/participatory side, concerns how objects or buildings “empower” or enable users. For products, this strand materializes in “usability” discourse (eg Donald Norman’s work) and in recent “behavior steering design” research that aims to increase energy and environmental efficiency in product use (for example Bhamra et. al. and Lockton et. al.).
On the architecture side I’m less familiar with a literature on empowerment through architecture. Empowerment is in the margins of many discussions and projects, but I’d like to get a few references that deal with “power/empowerment” issues head-on with some connection to underlying theory. I imagine this strand of literature is tied to participatory design (eg design/build?), universal design (for disability, age) but may also be tied to operability (eg openable windows) and flexibility in building program and user adaptation (along the lines of Brand’s “How Buildings Learn”).
Across both buildings and products I think there is a third strand in which users adapt (“hack” or “transgress” if you like) artifacts to protest existing power relations. Here Otto von Busch’s “self passages” (http://www.selfpassage.org/) comes to mind and I welcome references that look at this issue more explicitly and perhaps theoretically.
I welcome other thoughts on references in any of the above areas. Here are a few longer cites for mentions above:
Bhamra, T. A., D. Lilley, and T. Tang. 2008. Sustainable Use: Changing consumer behavior through product desgin. In Changing the Change. Turin, Italy: Umberto Allemandi & Co.
Lockton, Dan, David Harrison, and Neville Stanton. 2008. Making the user more efficient: Design for sustainable behavior. International Journal of Sustainable Engineering preprint April 2008.
Dovey, Kim. 1999. Framing Places: Mediating Power in Built Form. Edited by T. A. Markus and A. D. King, The Architext Series. London: Routledge.
Winner, Langdon. 1980. Do Artefacts Have Politics? Daedalus 109:121-136. [also various rebuttals]
Brand, Stewart. 1994. How Buildings Learn. New York: Viking.
Norman, Donald. 2002. The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books.
Leach, Neil. 1999. "Architecture or Revolution" in Architecture and Revolution, edited by Neil Leach. London, Routledge.
Regards,
Ann
Ann Thorpe
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Dept of Design, Development, Environment & Materials
Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London
Wates House, 22 Gordon Street London WC1H 0QB, United Kingdom
[log in to unmask]
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
book: The Designer's Atlas of Sustainability (www.designers-atlas.net)
& blog: http://designactivism.net
discussion list: SUSDESIGNTEACH
---------------------------------
The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).
|