Cultural Study in Design: In Search of a Meaningful Approach
Year: 2014
Editor: Erik Bohemia, Arthur Eger, Wouter Eggink, Ahmed Kovacevic, Brian Parkinson, Wessel Wits
Author: van Boeijen, Annemiek
Series: E&PDE
Institution: Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Section: Design Education and Design Cultures
Page(s): 232-237
ISBN: 978-1-904670-56-8
Abstract
Does the Circuit of Culture help design students to do a cultural study that is meaningful for their design project? Indeed, it provides a good view on the phenomenon culture, its complexity and how contemporary cultures can be studied, providing an overview and structure of the processes that influence cultural change. However, there are difficulties that need extra attention; (1) clear definitions of the process elements and their interrelationships; (2) a method or possible procedure to carry out a cultural study; (3) guidelines to determine and demarcate the cultural study in such a way that it contributes to the project assignment; (4) examples of how insights from a cultural study can contribute to the development of a design vision; (5) an extra lens to look at culture to distinguish it from the individual and the universal; (6) discouraging the use of the model as a checklist and (7) discussion about the designers’ influence on culture and society.
Keywords: Circuit of culture, design education, design research methods, cultural study