January 2013 Archives

Margolin, V. (July 01, 1996). Global Expansion or Global Equilibrium? Design and the World Situation. Design Issues, 12, 2, 22-32.

Project: Values in Design workshop 2012

Keywords: problematique; expansion; equilibrium; ecology; fourth order design

Format: Journal article

Abstract: None.

Key points: one facet of constant consumption is the desire to constantly improve products. This manifests itself in specialty markets like high-end home audio and cycling products, which are constantly striving for technological improvement. "Design is the activity that generates plans, projects, and products" (31)

Key concepts: wicked problem (problems and consequences which are confusing, convoluted and excessively hard to deal with); constructing world models which are able to enlighten problem areas; the birth of the problem statement (in Forrester's //The Limits to Growth//); fourth domain design (what I would think of as ecological or systems-oriented design); the equilibrium model v. the expansion model; aspirational models of consumption; conspicuous consumption; social innovation;

Entities: Club of Rome; United Nations; manufacturers; designers

Date this entry was written: 25/July/2012

Henare, A. J. M., Holbraad, M., & Wastell, S. (2007). Thinking through things: Theorising artefacts ethnographically. London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Project: Comps - materiality

Keywords: anthropology, things, materiality, culture, meaning making

Format: Book

Abstract: "Drawing upon the work of some of the most influential theorists in the field, Thinking Through Things demonstrates the quiet revolution growing in anthropology and its related disciplines, shifting its philosophical foundations. The first text to offer a direct and provocative challenge to disciplinary fragmentation - arguing for the futility of segregating the study of artefacts and society - this collection expands on the concerns about the place of objects and materiality in analytical strategies, and the obligation of ethnographers to question their assumptions and approaches."

Key points: Presents a new method/framework for understanding the relationships between people and things. Suggests that anthropologists could benefit from looking at objects as collections of traits in the eyes of their users, while attempting to whole-heartedly engage with the realities experienced by the users of the objects.

Key concepts: the mental/physical divide, different realities for different individuals, sameness of things and concepts, the ontological turn

Entities: anthropologists; prisoners; nomads; scientists; artists; scholars; objects

Date this entry was written: 21/January/2013