Human-Thing Relations in Design: A Framework Based on Postphenomenology and Material Engagement Theory

Download

metujfa2022103.pdf

Date

2022-6

Author

Aktaş, Bilge Merve
Tok, Tuğba
Gürtekin, Betül
Kaygan, Harun
Dilek, Özgün
Özçelik, Ayşegül
Akın, Fazıl
Büyükkeçeci, Elif

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

346
views

189
downloads

Starting with the earlier work of Don Ihde, postphenomenological studies in philosophy of technology have been documenting the many ways in which technologies shape human beings’ relationship to the world. More recently, Material Engagement Theory (MET), originating from cognitive archaeology, offers descriptions of how human thinking and capacities have been shaped through creative material engagements with the world. Based on a recent collaboration by Ihde and Malafouris (2018), this study applies the joint framework of postphenomenology and MET to design research in light of the rising interest in design literature into relational ontologies and embodied practices. The study is built on data from seven case studies of practices in creative engagement with materials and tools, three out of which are reviewed in depth, namely: felt making, make-up, studio camera operation. The cases are analyzed through the joint theoretical lens to identify and describe the human-thing relations as observed in design. We describe such relations as creative and exploratory, materially and socially relational, reciprocally mediated, situated, embodied, and skilled. Our emphasis is on the first three of these six characteristics, emphasizing relationality, reciprocal mediation, and creativity in engagement, as significant contributions of the joint framework to understanding design, making and use in design research. Our conclusion includes a discussion of future research opportunities for studies based on the joint framework.

Subject Keywords

Reciprocal mediation, Situated practice, Embodiment, Making, Design theory, Karşılıklı dolayım, Yerleşik pratik, Bedensellik, Yapıp etme, Tasarım teorisi

URI

http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/articles/metujfa2022103.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/98604

Journal

ODTÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi

DOI

https://doi.org/10.4305/METU.JFA.2022.1.3

Collections

Department of Architecture, Article

Suggestions

OpenMETU
Core

İşbirlikli Mimari Tasarım Eğitiminde Sanal Dünya Kullanımı Gül, Leman Figen (Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, 2011) Üç Boyutlu (3B) sanal dünyaların işbirlikli tasarım eğitiminde gelişen bir bilişim aracı olarak kullanılması son yıllarda artan bir kabul görmeye başlamıştır. Bu makalede 3B sanal dünyaların mimari tasarım eğitiminde kullanımına dair bir atölye çalışması konu edilmiştir. Öğrenciler uzak coğrafyadaki takım arkadaşlarıyla birlikte sanal dünyada bir ev tasarlamışlardır. Newcastle Üniversitesi (Avustralya) ile Rangsit Üniversitesi’ndeki (Tayland) mimarlık öğrencilerinin katılımıyla gerçekleştirilen bu sa...
Performance in the Workplace: a Critical Evaluation of Cognitive Enhancement Acartürk, Cengiz; Mücen, Barış (2022-04-01) The popular debates about the future organization of work through artificial intelligence technologies focus on the replacement of human beings by novel technologies. In this essay, we oppose this statement by closely following what has been developed as AI technologies and analyzing how they work, specifically focusing on research that may impact work organizations. We develop this argument by showing that the recent research and developments in AI technologies focus on developing accurate and precise perf...
Re-problematizing the contextualism-autonomy debate in architecture within the formal logic computational operations Okten, Deniz; Mennan, Zeynep; Department of Architecture (2007) Technological innovations in the field of information and communication have transformed the nature of the spatial realm. The spatial realm has been engaged with the virtual realm, where a new approach has been mandatory for a possible and productive interrelation between the two. On the other hand, new technologies have affected architectural drafting, representation, construction and most significantly architectural design to generate remarkable conveniences and unnoticed interfaces for architects. New te...
Experimenting with software testbeds for evaluating new technologies LINDVALL, Mikael; RUS, Ioana; DONZELLI, Paolo; MEMON, Atif; ZELKOWITZ, Marvin; Betin Can, Aysu; BULTAN, Tevfik; ACKERMANN, Chris; ANDERS, Bettina; ASGARI, Sima; BASILI, Victor; HOCHSTEIN, Lorin; FELLMANN, Joerg; SHULL, Forrest; TVEDT, Roseanne; PECH, Daniel; HIRSCHBACH, Daniel (2007-08-01) The evolution of a new technology depends upon a good theoretical basis for developing the technology, as well as upon its experimental validation. In order to provide for this experimentation, we have investigated the creation of a software testbed and the feasibility of using the same testbed for experimenting with a broad set of technologies. The testbed is a set of programs, data, and supporting documentation that allows researchers to test their new technology on a standard software platform. An import...
Prototypes in Architectural Education: As Instruments of Integration in the Digital Era Özsel Akipek, Fulya ; Kozikoğlu, Nilüfer (Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, 2007-6-01) Architectural design and education today has a strong new focus on process, material and data organizations with the conceptual background of emergence and complexity of the digital era. In this paper, we reevaluate the design as research, and distinguish the digital and conceptual modes of prototypes in dialogue with the material prototypes. Through four instances in our current educational experience, we review this dialogue and the field of potentialities that exist in the interrelation of the different ...

Citation Formats

B. M. Aktaş et al., “Human-Thing Relations in Design: A Framework Based on Postphenomenology and Material Engagement Theory,” ODTÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi Dergisi, vol. Volume 39, no. Issue 1, pp. 57–76, 2022, Accessed: 00, 2022. [Online]. Available: http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/articles/metujfa2022103.pdf.