Agonism and Design

RELATED TERMS: Agon; Khora or Chora

Originally developed in relation to the work of artists and architects by Jane Rendell (2006), critical spatial practice has since expanded to include discourse among designers, geographers, planners, landscape architects, activists and philosophers. 

According to Max Willis (2019), three core principles of agonism, in relation to design practices, can be usefully defined. They are Identities, Dialogues and Agonistic Space.

Willis proposes to explore agonism through design strategies based on game, play and interaction design: Identities are investigated through Role-Playing, Dialogues are initiated through Storytelling, and Agonistic Space is manifested as a Third Place [khora].

References

DiSalvo, C. (2012) Adversarial Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Rendell J. (2006) Art and Architecture: A Place Between. New York: IB Tauris.

Willis, M. (2019) Agonism and design: dialogues between theory and practice. [PhD thesis]. University of Trento, Italy. Available at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228386346.pdf [Accessed 2 September 2021].