What this publication covers
Positions design as a sociocultural phenomenon and develops a broad definition for discussing its boundaries in relation to other social institutions. It frames design as the organization of materialities and the creation of material or social configurations that did not previously exist.
How this reference can help
Use as a theoretical foundation for discussing os fundamentos, pressupostos e limites do design.
Curated by Ricardo Martins
View the original abstract 🇺🇸 🇬🇧
The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the na ture of design by pos i- tioning it as a major sociocultural phenomenon. The goals are to produce an understanding of design that is general enough to apply to most kinds of de- sign endeavors; to highlight its essence and nature; and to provide a founda- tion for discussing the issue of boundaries between design and other soc i- ocultural phenomena that are oft en related to it. A major objective is to co n- ceptualize design at a very high level of abstraction tha t can inform general design studies. Methodologically, we start with analyzing the process of art i- fication, progress to the project delivery process, and then focus on modeling the core design act. Design is about organizing materiality or substrate and creating configurations (material or social) that have never existed before. We can conceptualize these configurations as models of artifacts that are submi t- ted to the production facilities for manufacturing. The paper contributes a new vision about the essence of design; about its relationships with related social institutions; and proposes a methodological platform for approaching certain traditional issues of the design specialty disciplines in a new way.