A Pragmatist Theory of Design A Pragmatist Theory of Design The Impact of the Pragmatist Philosophy of John Dewey on Architecture and Design Leif E. Östman PhD Dissertation School of Architecture Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm 2005 PhD Dissertation 2005 TRITA-ARK-Akademisk avhandling 2005 ISBN 952-5074-42-0 Copyright © Leif E Östman School of Architecture Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm SYH Library PB 6 FI-65 201 Vasa Tryck: Multiprint Oy Vasa 2005 Abstract This study is an inquiry into design-theoretical aspects of architectural design in Finland based mainly on the pragmatist philosophy of John Dewey. The study comprises two case studies. The fi rst case deals with a young family designing their future home – a detached house built from prefabricated components – in cooperation with an architect. The second case deals with the design process of a leading Finnish architect, Professor Ilmari Lahdelma, as he prepares his proposal for an architectural competition for a new city library in Lohja, a competition he eventually wins. The case describes and interprets Lahdelma’s design process, the processes of other competition entries made by the offi ce staff, as well as the process of the jury’s evaluation of the competition entries. The two cases are analysed and interwoven with aspects from three different theoretical perspectives: existing design theories, Pierre Bourdieu’s fi eld theory and John Dewey’s thinking regarding art and research. In the study I argue that Dewey’s philosophy can provide a framework for a design-theoretical epistemology. I also arrive at conclusions regarding the interpretation of some key design-theoretical concepts and the position of design theory and its structures. I further argue that the Finnish architectural competition system is a strong tool for generating developments in the production of the architectural avant-garde, which acts as the leading light for the rest of the fi eld of architecture. The present study also highlights the gap between ‘high-’ and ‘low culture’ in the fi eld of architecture, yet points out that the design of a simple family house – assumedly a case of ‘low culture’ – is by no means trivial to the family itself, and is indeed fi lled with moments of aesthetic experiences, which is a central issue in Dewey’s description of creative processes. Key words: design, design theory, design knowledge, avant-garde, pragmatist philosophy Abstrakt Detta är en undersökning gällande designteoretiska aspekter gällande formgivning av arkitektur, i Finland. Undersökningen bygger på metoder föreslagna av fi losofen John Dewey. Undersökningen innehåller två fallstudier. Den ena omfattar designprocessen när en ung familj planerar sitt framtida egnahemshus, i samarbete med en arkitekt. Huset ska byggas av prefabricerade element. Det andra fallet gäller en arkitekturtävling för ett nytt stadsbibliotek i Lojo, varvid professor Ilmari Lahdelma vinner tävlingen. Fallstudien beskriver och tolkar Lahdelmas designprocess, tillika med ett par andra motsvarande processer på samma kontor, samt juryns bedömningsprocess. Fallstudien granskar också kontexten för dessa processer. Processerna analyseras och vävs samman med tre olika teoretiska infallsvinklar; existerande teorier om design, Pierre Bourdieus fältteori samt John Deweys fi losofi ska teorier rörande konst och forskning. En slutsats av denna undersökning är att Deweys fi losofi kan bidra med en referensram för en designteoretisk epistemologi. Ur undersökningen konstruerar jag också slutsatser om centrala designteoretiska begrepp och strukturer. En annan slutsats är att det fi nska systemet för arkitekturtävlingar är ett fungerande verktyg som genererar utveckling inom arkitekturfältets avantgarde, vilket också fungerar som en ledstjärna för resten av fältet. Samtidigt belyser undersökningen också gapet mellan hög och låg i arkitekturfältet och pekar på att en estetisk erfarenhet i den enkla designprocessen på intet vis är trivial utan innehåller betydelsefulla moment av estetisk erfarenhet för familjen, vilket är en central funktion i Deweys beskrivning av kreativa processer. Sökord: design, designteori, design kunskap, avantgarde, pragmatisk fi losofi . For Carina, Lina and Filip Preface This inquiry into pragmatism and design theory has been a most interesting experience and am thankful to all those that have helped me in the enterprise. I am especially grateful for the advice from Professor Jerker Lundequist at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. I would also like to thank architect Gareth Griffi ths for the critical comments he made when proof- reading the text. I am also grateful for the fi nancial support I’ve received from the Anja och Karl-Erling Nymans stiftelse and the Svenska Kulturfonden. Maxmo, January 2005 Leif Östman Contents PART 1: Introduction 1. INTRODUCTION 3 THEORIES OF DESIGN 5 Positioning design theory 8 Design Theory and pragmatist philosophy 11 THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TEXT 14 An overview of the content 14 Conclusions 17 About the title, and what it is not about 21 2. POSITIONING THE RESEARCH 25 RESEARCH IN DESIGN PROCESSES AND COMPETITIONS 29 Single-family houses and client participation in Finland 30 Architectural competitions 30 INVESTIGATING DESIGN RESEARCH 34 Infl uences from Wittgenstein 36 Pragmatist research strategies 39 Methods 44 CONCLUSIONS 47 3. ASPECTS OF DESIGN 51 INTRODUCTION 53 Design history 56 DESIGN KNOWLEDGE 58 MODELLING 64 DESIGN REASONING AND RATIONALITY. 68 AESTHETICS AND AESTHETIC QUALITY 71 ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AS A PROFESSION 77 4. DEWEY AND THE PRAGMATIST TRADITION 83 INTRODUCTION 85 Pragmatist philosophy 88 Dewey 90 Later pragmatist thinkers 93 DEWEY’S THEORIES ON CREATIVE ACTION 95 The process of research 95 Dewey’s theories on art 99 A classifi cation of experiences 101 Aesthetic experience in design 105 Rationality 107 Popular art and criticism 109 OUTLINING A THEORY OF DESIGN 114 CONCLUSIONS 117 i 5. BOURDIEU AND THE AVANT-GARDE 121 INTRODUCTION 123 THE FORCE-FIELD AND ITS CONCEPTS 126 The avant-garde 134 Economic capital 136 SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS OF ARTISTIC CULTURES 138 BOURDIEU’S PERSPECTIVE AND DEWEY’S PRAGMATISM 139 DESIGN CULTURES 142 THE MATURATION OF THE FIELD OF ARCHITECTURE 145 CONCLUSIONS 150 PART 2: Case studies 6. CASE 1: The Client as Designer 157 INTRODUCTION 159 Method 160 The parties in the design process 161 PREFABRICATED CONSTRUCTIONS 163 The manufacturer of components and the assembly 165 THE SITE 167 The history of the site 167 The family’s journey to acquiring a plot 170 THE DESIGN PROCESS 172 Professional design support 172 OTHER FACTORS 202 Infl uences of society and authorities 202 Urban planning 203 Building permission 203 ”A BREATHING SPACE” 204 INTERPRETATIONS 209 A comparison with the pragmatist theory of design 209 Modelling and testing 211 Reasoning 212 The client and aesthetics 215 Shortcomings in the design of owner-occupied houses 217 Differences between the architect and client 220 The client as designer — A crisis of the architect’s identity 222 7. CASE 2: THE DESIGN COMPETITION 227 INTRODUCTION 229 THE ARCHITECT’S OFFICE 233 A day at the offi ce 236 The architecture of Lahdelma & Mahlamäki 237 Johdanto – The winning entry 240 THE DESIGN BRIEF AND THE JURORS 246 THE DESIGN PROCESSES 251 The design process of Ilmari Lahdelma 252 ii The design process of Rainer Mahlamäki 261 The story of the student of architecture 265 “Tasku” - The third proposal 270 THE EVALUATION BY THE COMPETITION JURY 273 THE PROJECT MANAGER’S PERSPECTIVE 278 Project management 279 Design management as a hobby 282 Competences and services 283 Conclusions 285 INTERPRETATIONS 286 The pragmatist perspective 286 The architects’ business, according to Mintzberg 291 Organizational learning according to Nonaka and Takeuchi 293 Knowledge conversion in the case study 295 A different avant-garde movement 296 CONCLUSIONS 301 Avant-garde, professionalism and design management 302 Design knowledge 305 Dewey and elite design 306 PART 3: Conclusions 8. THE IMPACT ON ARCHITECTURE 313 INTRODUCTION 315 THE CASE STUDIES 315 THE AVANT-GARDE 319 A PRAGMATIST THEORY OF ARCHITECTURE 323 A comment on the development of current research 326 9. A THEORY OF DESIGN 329 INTRODUCTION 331 STRUCTURING THE DESIGN FIELD 335 Design knowledge 339 Concept interpretations 341 Some proposals and problems 345 RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF DESIGN THEORY 348 10.CONCLUDING REMARKS 353 DEWEY’S PRAGMATISM 355 References 359 List of illustrations 363 Appendix 1. Aesthetic Quality in Project Management. 2. Architectural Competitions in Finland 1-2003 (Kilpailuliite) iii iv Part 1: Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION THEORIES OF DESIGN Sorting out some distinctions Design theory is regarded as a marginal discipline and has always been under pressure from design practice, resulting in the many attempts over the last 40 years to justify its existence. Design theory has had little infl uence on design practice and has received little attention from the other high-profi le research communities. However, I think this latter situation is coming to an end. Design theory is in a state of change – including the potential for a big change in epistemology. In recent years there has been an increase of interest in theory, due mainly to the emergence of new parties interested in design, seen by them as a process creating innovations. Innovation plays an important role in the current theories of macro-economic growth and successful business performance. New research communities, such as management science and marketing research, have taken