Design Things

by Thomas Binder, Pelle Ehn, Giulio Jacucci

Design Things offers an innovative view of design thinking and design practice,
envisioning ways to combine creative design with a participatory approach encompassing aesthetic and
democratic practices and values. The authors of Design Things look at design practice as a mode of
inquiry that involves people, space, artifacts, materials, and aesthetic experience, following the
process of transformation from a design concept to a thing. Design Things, which grew out of the
Atelier (Architecture and Technology for Inspirational Living) research project, goes beyond the
making of a single object to view design projects as sociomaterial assemblies of humans and
artifacts--"design things." The book offers both theoretical and practical perspectives,
providing empirical support for the authors' conceptual framework with field projects, case studies,
and examples from professional practice. The authors examine the dynamics of the design process; the
multiple transformations of the object of design; metamorphing, performing, and taking place as
design strategies; the concept of the design space as "emerging landscapes"; the relation
between design and use; and the design of controversial things.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction

256 pages, ebook

First published September 16, 2011