01.1 IMAGINING AN OTHERWISE
“[...] in Westernised universities, much of what students know requires unlearning if ‘we’ are to critique or redirect the imperial epistemology
of modernity ‘we’ were inducted into. Because of the nature of multiple present and future challenges including increased political turmoil, material production of
social stratification and eminent environmental crises at hand that threaten human existence and natural habitats, the endeavour of decolonising design and its
education must embody an imperative to act with the urgency of the lack of time. Simultaneously, we must relearn to design across long spans of time, in order to
avoid repeating the short term thinking that lies at the origin of current environmental struggles. In the meantime, we must delve into, understand and unfold every
problematic aspect of today’s design practice, research and pedagogy in order to finally counteract them. [...]”
Decolonising Design (2018); “Decolonising Design Education: Ontologies, Strategies, Urgencies”. In: Extracurricular;
Lindgren, Jacob (ed.); 76-91.
01.2 THE PROBLEMS OF DESIGN EDUCATION TODAY
THE WESTERNISED UNIVERSITY
“[...] The Westernised University can be found anywhere globally, and it features the same curriculum, the same authors and disciplinary
divisions as any university in the West [...]. These institutions promote or diffuse Eurocentric knowledge to produce Westernised elites in the so-called non-West
that act as intermediaries between the West and the so-called non-West. [...]”
Decolonising Design (2018); “Decolonising Design Education: Ontologies, Strategies, Urgencies”. In: Extracurricular;
Lindgren, Jacob (ed.); 76-91.
THE 'DOING GOOD MOVEMENT'
“[...] A [...] recent example that ignores realities is the rise of the ‘doing good’ movement in design (social design,
design activism, humanitarian design, design for social innovation). [...] And so, designers come in to find problems in neighbourhood vastly
different from their own and fix them—using hasty methods from human-centred design toolkits—rather than a deeper, more immersive process of
observations, research, fieldwork and building trust with the community they find themselves in. [...]”
Idem
01.3 UNDERSTANDING WHAT A DECOLONISED EDUCATION OF DESIGN MEANS
REDESIGNING THE BEING-IN-OUR-WORLDS
“[...] Can the modern university still be a place of designing the re-designing of humans; of other ontological
conditions? [...] What we mean by ‘ontological’ is that what we design, designs back on us, designing the very being of our world [...].
And it seems, for the Global North at least, what is required to get to viable futures, is to redesign the being-in-our-worlds. [...]”
Decolonising Design (2018); “Decolonising Design Education: Ontologies, Strategies, Urgencies”. In: Extracurricular;
Lindgren, Jacob (ed.); 76-91.
WHAT IS NEEDED IN DECOLONISING DESIGN EDUCATION
“[...] Decolonising ‘just’ design is an insufficient, possibly futile exercise if the focus is not on the fact that
our sheer existence as a species is under threat, yet it is precisely decolonising design that is required to break free of the shackles of
the matrix of coloniality threatening humans and other lifeworlds existence. [...]”
Idem
01.4 MOVING TOWARDS PLURIVERSALITY
PLURIVERSITY
“[...] A university that provides the space for this breaking and re-making to occur is one that has managed to move beyond the epistemology of
reason and toward pluriversal ontological shifts in being; which would be named, in other words, as pluriversity [...]”
Decolonising Design (2018); “Decolonising Design Education: Ontologies, Strategies, Urgencies”. In: Extracurricular;
Lindgren, Jacob (ed.); 76-91.
UNIVERSALITY VERSUS PLURIVERSALITY
“[...] A rejection of universalist models, then, implies a rejection of universal, or universalising, languages, too-the languages of the twin
projects of coloniality and neoliberalism. [...] Moving away from a universal notion of design requires that we, as designers, understand that there are many ways of
addressing problems and issues that are, in their nature, plural, and more than that, that also reflect plural worldviews. We must design not universally, but rather
pluriversally. [...]”
Idem
'BORDER-CONSCIOUSNESS'
“[...] mode of thinking [...] one that navigates through worlds in their difference, and fosters the emergence of a pluriversal mode of learning.
The educator has to perform this border consciousness, negotiating with the students how these pluriverses come in and out of focus. [...]”
Ibidem
02.1 VISIONS OF TRANSITION AND DESIGN
“[...] visions of transitions (civilizational, paradigmatic, epochal) and design [...] create an emergent field, variously called
transition design, design for transitions, and design for social innovation. Given its subject and scope, this field necessarily has ontological implications,
for behind any vision of transition there lies, to a greater or lesser extent, a substantial challenge to the onto-epistemic formation embedded in the current
dominant form of capitalist modernity. It is this conceptual and ethical positioning that separates transition visions from more commonly established social
change frameworks. [...]”
Arturo Escobar (2018); Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy and the Making is Worlds;
Durha. NC: Duke University Press.
02.2 DESIGNS FOR TRANSITIONS
DISCOURSES OF TRANSITION
“[...] Transition discourses (TDs) take as their point of departure the notion that the contemporary ecological and social crises are inseparable
from the model of social life that has become dominant over the past few centuries, whether categorized as industrialism, capitalism, modernity, (neo)liberalism,
anthropocentrism, rationalism, patriarchy, secularism, or Judeo-Christian civilization. Shared by most TDs is the contention that we need to step outside existing
institutional and epistemic boundaries if we truly want to strive for worlds and practices capable of bringing about the significant transformations seen as needed. [...]”
Arturo Escobar (2018); Designs for the Pluriverse: Radical Interdependence, Autonomy and the Making is Worlds;
Durha. NC: Duke University Press.
TRANSITION DESIGN
“[...] Transition design (1) Uses living sy[s]tem theory as an approach to understanding/addressing wicked problems; (2) Designs solutions that
protect and restore both social and natural ecosystems; (3) Sees everyday life/styles as the most fundamental context for design; (4) A[d]vocates place-based, globally
networked solutions; (5) Designs solutions for varying horizons of time and multiple levels of scale; (6) Links existing solutions so that they become steps in a larger
transition vision; (7) amplifies emergent, grassroots solutions; (8) Bases solutions on maximizing satisfiers for the widest range of needs; (9) Sees the designer’s own
mindset/posture as an essential component of the design process; (10) Calls for the reintegration and recontextualization of diverse transdisciplinary knowledge. [...]”
Idem
THE TRANSITION DESIGN FRAMEWORK AT CMU
“Transition Design acknowledges that we are living in ‘transition times’ and takes as its central premise the need for societal transitions to
more sustainable futures and the belief that design has a role to play in these transitions.”
Irwin Terry,
Cameron Tonkinwise, and
Gideon Kossoff.
2015. “Transition Design Symposium Provocation.” Carnegie Mellon School of Design.
https://www.academia.edu/.
03.1 CRITICALITY
“[...] One role of critical theory is to examine everyday life, to ask how particular norms, hegemonies, and in/exclusions are constructed and
(re)produced. Practices of critical historiography ask such questions of the past, and critical futures studies interrogate the future. Further, feminist critical
modalities explicitly explore how things could be otherwise. Taken into practice, theory is not neutral — in questioning, naming, and framing, it may destabilize how
things were before and open new possibilities for thought and action. [...]”
Ramia Mazé (2021); “Design Education Futures: Reflections on Feminist Modes and Politics”. In: Design Struggles: Intersecting Histories, Pedagogies, and Perspectives;
Claudia Mareis & Nina Paim (eds.), 259–278. Amsterdam: Valiz.
03.2 THE DESIGN CANON AND THE EDUCATIONAL CURRICULA
“MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE”
“[...] historian Katerina Rüedi has revealed how structural inequality at the Bauhaus was enacted through higher fees for women and a restricted
number of places. According to founder Walter Gropius, “no women were to be admitted as students of architecture.” [...] Now, this may seem outrageous to us. We may
too easily dismiss this as archaic, a policy quickly relegated to history that is simply unacceptable in our academic institutions today. However, this should not — must
not — stop us from interrogating specific instances as part of wider phenomena, including legacies and consequences that may continue into the present and, potentially,
into the future. Such instances cannot be merely relegated to the past nor are they compensated by pointing out exceptions to the rule — though, certainly, “lost histories”
of women such as Gunta Stölzl at the Bauhaus should be told. [...] Indeed, researching and revealing oppressed or omitted stories, thereby “making the invisible visible,”
are important tasks for critical historiography. [...]“
Ramia Mazé (2021); “Design Education Futures: Reflections on Feminist Modes and Politics”. In: Design Struggles: Intersecting Histories, Pedagogies, and Perspectives;
Claudia Mareis & Nina Paim (eds.), 259–278. Amsterdam: Valiz.
THE “PIPELINE PROBLEM”
“[...] Admissions and recruitment policies in academia continue to be the subject of profound cultural, moral, and legal struggles. [...] Despite
measurable improvements, inequalities continue to persist there and elsewhere, prompting soul-searching and further perspectives on the so-called “pipeline problem.” [...]
However, despite increasing numbers of historically underrepresented groups at lower levels in academia and early career stages, the pipeline continues to “leak”
dramatically. [...]”
Idem
MODALITIES OF INSTITUTIONAL CRITIQUE
“[...] modalities of institutional critique, [...] can open for contesting the terms in which design is constituted and practiced. [...] An important
task of critical historiography is troubling (rather than merely celebrating and reproducing) design history and those designers canonized in our past and present history
books, museum archives, and educational syllabi. [...]”
Ibidem
DECOLONIZATION AT THE OCAD
“[...] the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD), Canada’s biggest art and design university, under the leadership of Dori Tunstall [...]
and other Canadian institutions aim not only at equality but equity in order to redress the historical colonization and oppression of indigenous peoples and territories.
[...]”
Ibidem
03.3 THE DISCOMFORT OF FEMINIST DESIGN PEDAGOGY
PEDAGOGY OF DISCOMFORT
“[...] the effort of critically examining our values and cherished beliefs may lead to “discomforting” experiences
for both educators and students. This process of moving out of one’s location defined by oppressive boundaries of race, gender, or class is
difficult, often painful, but opens up a space of potential for change − as expressed by feminist activist and writer bell hooks − “a space
where there is unlimited access to the pleasure and power of knowing, where transformation is possible.” [...]”
Griselda Flesler, Anja Neidhardt and Maya Ober/depatriarchise design
(2021); “Not a Toolkit: Conversation on the Discomfort of Feminist Design Pedagogy”. In: Design Struggles: Intersecting Histories, Pedagogies, and Perspectives;
Claudia Mareis & Nina Paim (eds.), 259–278. Amsterdam: Valiz.
THE POSITIVIST MODEL
“[...] Positivism is based on the belief that only those who are “objective” and “value-neutral” can gain “universal truths.” Postmodern and feminist
critique of positivism has pointed out that women have been excluded from most mainstream research, and emphasizes that their perspectives and lived experiences bring
crucial aspects to the process of knowledge building. [...]”
Idem
INTERSECTIONAL FEMINIST PEDAGOGY
“[...] Since educational institutions are not gender-neutral, gender studies, from an intersectional perspective, [...] offers us useful tools
to approach our experiences as women within universities, to reflect on equity and the extension of rights. Universities are spaces for the construction, reproduction,
and articulation of gender norms and regulations, and of sociosexual relations. [...] An intersectional feminist approach goes beyond mere leveling with patriarchal
structures, since it proposes a way of thinking about the conditions in which projects are being formulated and the manner in which design works. This implies that we understand design as a significant cultural practice, capable of producing meanings and spaces. [...]”
Ibidem
DESIGN AND GENDER STUDIES AT FADU
“[...] Integrating a gender lens into the skills-oriented field of design education allows us to establish adequate theoretical tools for, on
the one hand, understanding the sociocultural formation of gender stereotypes, and on the other, developing situated and nonstandardized designs. This leads to a
design process that considers social differences and structural inequalities. [...]”
Ibidem
03.4 NORM CREATIVE PEDAGOGY
NORM CREATIVE INNOVATION
“[...] For norm creative innovation, it is defined as a two-step process: the first is norm-critical design and the second is to become
norm-creative […]. The concept of norm-critical design is proposed by Swedish researchers Sofia Lundmark, Maria Normark and Minna Räsänen “to investigate the norms
and normative assumptions that a certain object generates” […]. They introduce the focus of a “norm-critical perspective” to “make norms that affects and dominates
our beliefs and values, more visible” […]. The term “norm-critical” comes from the Swedish term “normkritisk” that used in “normkritisk pedagogik” (norm-critical
pedagogy) […], which is a development of “queer pedagogy” […]. The term norm-creative or norm-creativity is a more recent concept coming from Swedish term
“normkreativ” [...], “which explores different ways of responding to non-conscious human interactions”[…].”
Peng Lu,
Daniela Sangiorgi (2021); “Exploring Implications for Designing for Sociotechnical Transitions: Taking Reflexivity as a Matter of Scale”.
In:
Nordes 2021: Matters of Scale, No 9 (2021).
https://archive.nordes.org/
NORM CRITICALITY
“[...] Norm criticality involves the highlighting of power. For instance it implies to make visible and question norms that construct and support
discriminatory attitudes and practices. Norm creativity embodies the aim to transform norm critical analysis into practice. [...]”
NORM CREATIVE MASTER PROGRAM AT THE KONSFACK
“[...] For the Norm-Creative Master’s degree, we make past and present apparatus of discourse visible; and give space for students to navigate
and expand their own practices more consciously. Our program is a process of co-learning where we—teachers and students together—elaborate upon existing knowledge
while recognizing our individual (and thus different) experiences and approaches to practice. [...]”
