The Politics of Commoning and Designing
Design Togetherness, Pluralism and Convergence
monica Lindh Karlsson, johan Redström
Umeå University
monica.lindh@umu.se
Keywords: Design Practice, Design Theory, Design Methodology, Design Education
Abstract
We describe an inquiry into how we relate to each other in design, as we design. In particular, we are interested in to what extent, and in what ways, we acknowledge diversity in knowledge, experience, and skill. We have conducted a series of project courses within design education to make students explore different ways of doing design together. Our findings point to two main tendencies: towards cultures of pluralism, of coming together as who we are; and cultures of representation, of coming together as what we are. This points to important issues related to how methodology and process structure the way we perceive and relate to each other. Indeed, in a disciplinary methodological framework ultimately oriented towards convergence and the making of a final design, how do we evolve and engage with that which must not converge to a single point but where difference and diversity must be acknowledged?
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Cite this paper: Lindh Karlsson, M., Redströhm, J. (2016) Design Togetherness, Pluralism and Convergence. Proceedings of DRS 2016, Design Research Society 50th Anniversary Conference. Brighton, UK, 27–30 June 2016.
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