The Designed World: Images, Objects, Environments

We now live in a designed world and we need to develop a better understanding of how to discuss and critique its design components. The essays presented here - selected from the preeminent journal, Design Issues - are intended to enhance our collective understanding of the wide reach of design in the contemporary world. The book is structured to cover the life of a designed object or project from conception and fabrication to evaluation. The essays are divided into themed sections, with each section separately introduced and each concluded with further reading. The Designed World aims to break down the often rigid boundaries between history, theory and criticism. Despite the wide range of subjects discussed, the book highlights the commonalities across all aspects of design. The reader will be invaluable to students, scholars and practitioners across the field of design.

Table of Contents:
General Introduction PART 1: CONCEPTUALIZATION Introduction 1. Richard Buchanan, "Branzi's Dilemma: Design in Contemporary Culture" 14.1 (Spring 1998): 3-20 2. Massimo Negrotti, "Designing the Artificial: An Interdisciplinary Study" 17:2 (Spring 2001): 4-16 3. Wolfgang Jonas, "A Scenario for Design" 17:2 (Spring 2001): 4-16 4. Albert Borgmann, "Information and Reality at the Turn of the Century," 11:2 (Summer 1995): 21-30 5. Ellen Mazur Thomson, "Thorstein Veblen at the University of Chicago and the Socialization of Aesthetics" 15:1 (Spring 1999): 3-15 6. John Maciulka, "Adolf Loos and the Aphoristic Style: Rhetorical Practice in Early Twentieth-Century Design Criticism" 16:2 (Summer 2000): 75-86 7. Peter Paul Verbeek and Petran Kockelkoren, "The Things that Matter" 14:3 (Autumn 1998): 28-42 8. Mika Pantzar, "Domestication of Everyday Life Technology: Dynamic Views on the Social Histories of Artifacts" 13:3 (Autumn 1997): 52-65 9. Medardo Chiapponi, "Environmental Design and Industrial Design: Integrating Knowledge around Urgent Issues" 14:3 (Autumn 1998): 74-84 Annotated Guide to Further Reading PART 2: FABRICATION Introduction Section 1: The Design of Objects Introduction 10. Dennis Doordan, "Simulated Seas: Exhibition Design in Contemporary Aquariums" 11:2 (Summer 1995) 3-10 11. Barry Katz, "The Arts of War: Visual Presentation and National Intelligence" 12:2 (summer 1996): 3-21 12. Sara Schneider, "'This is my Brain Book': Day Timers and Expedient Design" 12:2 Summer 1996: 40-46 13. Tomiko Thiel "The Design of the Connection Machine" 10:1 (Spring 1994): 5-18 14. Michael Punt, "Accidental Machines: The Impact of Popular Participation in Computer Technology" 14:1 (Spring 1998): 54-80 15. Loretta Staples, "Typography and the Screen: A Technical Chronology of Digital Typography, 1984-1997" 16:3 (Autumn 2000): 19-34 Section 2: Material and Immaterial Things Introduction 16. Raimonda Riccini, "History from Things: Notes on the History of Industrial Design" 14:3 (Autumn 1998): 43-64 17. Nigel Whiteley, "Olympus and the Marketplace: Reyner Banham and Design Criticism" 13:2 (Summer 1997): 24-35 18. Giovanni Anceschi, "Visibility in Progress" 12:3 (Autumn 1996): 3-13 19. Peter Lloyd and Jerry Busby, "Softening Up the Facts: Engineers in Design Meetings" 17:3 (Summer 2001): 67-82 20. Tony Golsby-Smith, "Fourth Order Design: A Practical Perspective" 12:1 (Spring 1996): 5-25 Annotated Guide to Further Reading PART 3: EVALUATION Introduction 20. Ann Tyler, "It's a Nice World After All: The Vision of Difference in Colors" 12:3 (Autumn 1996): 60-76 21. Ezio Manzini, "Design, Environment, and Social Quality: From 'Existenzminimum' to 'Quality Maximum'" 10:1 (spring 1994); 37-43 22. John Hirst, "Values in Design: Existenzminimum, Maximum Quality, and Optimal Balance" 12:1 (Spring 1996): 38-47 23. Paul Betts, "Science, Semiotics, and Society: The Ulm Hochschule für Gestaltung in Retrospect" 14:2 (Summer 1998): 67-82 24. Pauline Madge, "Ecological Design: A New Critique" 13: 2 (Summer 1997): 44-54 25. David Stairs, "Biophilia and Technophilia: Examining the Nature/Culture Split in Design Theory" 13:3 (Autumn 1997): 37-44 26. Alain Findeli, "Ethics, Aesthetics, and Design" 10:2 (Summer 1994): 49-68 Annotated Guide to Further Reading Consolidated Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Richard Buchanan is Professor of Design, Management and Information Systems at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. He is editor of Discovering Design, The Idea of Design, and Pluralism in Theory and Practice. Dennis Doordan is Professor of Architectural and Design History at Notre Dame University. He is author of Twentieth Century Architecture and editor of Design History: An Anthology. Victor Margolin is Professor Emeritus of Design History at the University of Illinois, Chicago. His books include Design Discourse, Discovering Design, The Idea of Design, The Struggle for Utopia, and The Politics of the Artificial.

Review :
Aiming to break down the often rigid boundaries between history, theory and criticism, this text brings together key essays from the journal Design Issues that cover the life of a designed object from conception to evaluation.