RELATED TERMS: Iconic Designs and Iconic Designers; Imaginary The Iconic As acknowledged in Iconic Designs and Iconic Designers, the iconic approach to design is not wholly without merit. For example, it recognises that designs have cultural meanings and other-than-utilitarian uses, such as in the construction, maintenance and performance of self-hood and social standing. In otherContinue reading “Iconic Designs, Critical Designs”
Author Archives: aparsons474
Designing, Theorising, Modelling [Snippets 6]
RELATED TERMS: Narrative Environments – Environmental Psychology in Architecture George Saunders (2022) writes that, “Neuroscientists now suggest that the mind is always doing a form of fiction writing: proposing a broad scale model for the moment that is occurring, then improving that model by way of sensory input. Strangely, this revision process apparently occurs fromContinue reading “Designing, Theorising, Modelling [Snippets 6]”
Designing, Psycho-Semiosis, Bio-Semiosis [Snippets 5]
RELATED TERMS: Hephzibah Anderson (2022) reviews Rachel Aviv’s first book, Strangers to Ourselves: Stories of Unsettled Minds. The book, according to Anderson, is a subtle and penetrating investigation into how ‘mental illness’ is diagnosed. It brings to attention the ways in which the diagnostic language used is far from neutral. Rather, Aviv suggests, such language,Continue reading “Designing, Psycho-Semiosis, Bio-Semiosis [Snippets 5]”
Snippet Methodology: Authoring-Curating [Snippets 4]
RELATED TERMS: Collage, Montage, Assemblage and Bricolage Thrownness, Givenness, Foundness In his book Reality Hunger (2010), part of David Shields’ argument is that non-fiction is better adapted than fiction to address the realities of the modern world (Morrison, 2019). In the book, he defended his habit of quoting authors without attribution as a principled standContinue reading “Snippet Methodology: Authoring-Curating [Snippets 4]”
Narratives of Willpower; Narratives of Disease [Snippets 3]
RELATED TERMS: “We’re transitioning from the personal failure, lacking willpower, lacking self-control narrative, to this narrative that says ‘Obesity is a disease, you need a prescribed cure’ … so we can sell weight-loss medication”. (Marquisele Mercedes, quoted in Kuchler, 2022). The context for this quote from Marquisele Mercedes, a doctoral student in public health atContinue reading “Narratives of Willpower; Narratives of Disease [Snippets 3]”
Investing, Narration, Theorisation [Snippets 2]
RELATED TERMS: A narrative of the ‘past’ is taking shape in the ‘present’ in contrast to which other narratives of the ‘future’, in the form of ‘bets’, are developing. The historical or hindsight narrative suggests that the 30 years from the 1990s to the early 2020s constituted a ‘golden’ age, a period of steady growthContinue reading “Investing, Narration, Theorisation [Snippets 2]”
Politics, Reality, Narrativity [Snippets 1]
RELATED TERMS: Unending Discourse The entries in this Snippets series are cut from larger texts. Although not explicitly focused on design practices, they operate as discourse-collage elements that aim to provoke broader discussions about the potential ethico-political value of what might otherwise be taken solely as the aesthetic value of design practices, particularly those thatContinue reading “Politics, Reality, Narrativity [Snippets 1]”
Mono No Aware and Ma
RELATED TERMS: Sabi and Wabi Sabi The human-environmental interactive dimensions of the design of narrative environments may be enhanced by a consideration of Japanese aesthetics expressed through design principles. Beginning in the Heian era (794-1185), the Japanese developed a distinct sense of aesthetic perception, including such experiences as mono no aware, ma and wabi sabi.Continue reading “Mono No Aware and Ma”
Narrative Environments
RELATED TERMS: Design of Narrative Environments; Narrative Environments – Celia Pearce; Narrative Environments – Environmental Psychology in Architecture A narrative environment is a many-dimensional, orientational interface. In one direction, it makes the world comprehensible and navigable. In another direction, it opens up to the challenges that the world presents or harbours. It may explain, butContinue reading “Narrative Environments”
Iconic Designs and Iconic Designers
RELATED TERMS: Design History; Iconic Designs, Critical Designs “Kenya Hara is a design icon.” (Design Intaba, 2004) Design is often spoken of in terms of ‘iconic’ designs[1] and ‘iconic’ designers. ‘Iconic’ designs are discussed frequently in terms of individual entities – ‘things’. ‘Iconic’ designers are individual, named designers – ‘persons’. ‘Iconic’ designs are most often productContinue reading “Iconic Designs and Iconic Designers”
Incomplete ... 