Download PDF THE DESIGN WAY Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World Second Edition by Harold G. Nelson

Sinopsis

Humans did not discover fire — they designed it. The wheel was not something our ancestors merely stumbled over in a stroke of good luck; it, too, was designed. The habit of labeling significant human achievements as “ discoveries, ” rather than “ designs, ” discloses a critical bias in our Western tradition whereby observation dominates imagination. Absent from the conflicting descriptions of Leonardo da Vinci, as either scientist or artist, is the missing insight into his essential nature as a designer. His practical, purpose-driven and integrative approach to the world — an archetypal designer ’ s approach — is primarily what made him so distinct in his own time, as well as our own. Through his imaginative genius, augmentations to the real world were made manifest. This has been the contribution of all designers throughout human history. Outside of nature, they are the prime creators of our experienced reality.

Carefully designed artifacts accompany the remains of our earliest ancestors. Designed implements have been found that predate the earliest human fossil remains discovered so far. In fact, it is evidence of design ability, and activity, which allows an archeologist to distinguish between a species that is not quite human and one that is. So, it appears that it is our very ability to design that determines our humanness.

Design is a tertium quid — a third way — distinct from the arts and sciences. In support of this argument we make a case for the reconstitution of sophia — the integration of thought and action through design. We make a case for design as its own tradition, one that reintegrates sophia rather than following the historical Western split between science and craft or, more recently, between science and the humanities. A similar split can be found in everyday language between thinking and doing, theory and practice, white collar and blue collar, and so on. A great deal of argument and discussion about this split has come about in the aftermath of the famous formulation by C. P. Snow (1959 ) of the humanities and sciences as two cultures that would not or could not be reconciled. In the same way that confusion often arises whether architecture is a midpoint between science and art, the nature of design, too, is misrepresented.

However, design is not a midpoint between the applied arts and sciences. Design is a third culture with its own founding postulates and axioms, with its own approach to learning and inquiry. Design is inclusive of things found in science such as reason and in the arts such as creativity. But just as science is inclusive of creativity it does not follow that science is the same as art or that art is subsumed under science. They are different ways of approaching and being in the world. This is also the case for design. Design is the ability to imagine that-which-does-not-yet-exist, to make it appear in concrete form as a new, purposeful addition to the real world. Design is the first tradition among the many traditions of inquiry and action developed over time, including art, religion, science, and technology. We design our cosmologies, our homes, our businesses, and our lives, as well as our material artifacts. As such, design touches nearly every aspect of our experienced world. It is an important capacity, not only for those who wish to be designers, but also for those who are served in the design relationship as well. Things that really count, and are highly valued, come

from design, when not directly from nature.

Content

1. THE FIRST TRADITION
2. FOUNDATIONS
3. FUNDAMENTALS
4. METAPHYSICS
5. A DRAWING TOGETHER

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