Design-ing and Creative Philosophies
Probing the future by anticipative design acts
Annelies De Smet, Nel Janssens
University of Leuven, Belgium (2)
annelies.desmet@kuleuven.be
Keywords: anticipation; presencing; sense-making; becoming
Abstract
We discuss anticipation as a particular type of future focused thinking. Based on our own design and research practices we position the anticipative mode of thinking and acting in relation to design approaches that are oriented towards qualities of becoming and sense-making. We argue that the act of anticipation in a design context holds the aspect of making artefacts that create openings in the fuzzy reality and act as imaginative probing instruments in the complexity of continuously evolving transformation processes as they occur in our research field: the field of urbanity. In this context, we feel that developing tactics of attentiveness and the competence to anticipate can enhance both the capacity of 'seeing' (as a creative, imaginative act) so-called Kairotic moments and grasping the opportunities to construct and actualise possible futures.
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Cite this paper: De Smet, A, Janssens, N. (2016). Probing the future by anticipative design acts. Proceedings of DRS 2016, Design Research Society 50th Anniversary Conference. Brighton, UK, 27–30 June 2016.
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