DESIGN CULTURE (System-oriented): The CHIOS DECLARATION
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 870 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences, Methodology or model |
A. COLLEN and W. GASPARSKI (1995, p.453-55) reproduce the following concepts formulated in this declaration by the participants of a Workshop on Developing a Design Culture in Higher Education that took place on the Island of Chios in Greece (1988).
The Declaration appeals for “a system-oriented design culture as an alternative culture to cope with the complexity of contemporary world”
- “The culture is defined by the following four goals :
- “1. To develop articulated design philosophy that can be accepted to guide intellectual leadership to creating the culture.
- “2. To develop a suitable language for communicating design concepts .
- “3. To create a better balance between analysis and synthesis in education and practice.
- “4. To create a less restrictive but still definite view of what constitutes acceptable scientific knowledge ”.
The following suggestions were made to enhance the quality of design in systemic terms:
- “ - Open discussions on design culture with the participation of non-design culture oriented people (from academia, specific design professions, and laymen) should be organized.
- “ - Widely defined multidisciplinary research groups should be introduced.
- “ - A common understanding of the concept of ”design“ and its connection with systems theory , planning , strategic management , and other relevant theories should be developed.
- “ - The presently existing conceptual scheme of systems thinking and a system based design theory with general acceptability to the relevant view of human action should be completed.
- “ - The design theory should be positioned within the wider outlook of systems sciences and curricula that teach it as a core subject at the M.S. and Ph.D. levels, should be developed.
- “ - Social system models of an operating design culture in higher education should be developed.
- “ - A devoted multidisciplinary group of people to play the leading role in the spread of design culture should be developed,
- “ - The maximum possible resources to these areas of science that will offer the means to the society to take full and quick advantage of a new integrated language culture should be allocated”.
By way of conclusion, W. GASPARSKI quotes H. SIMON, who wrote in “The Science of Design”: “The real subject of the new intellectual free trade among the many cultures are our own thought processes . We are importing and exporting from one intellectual discipline to another ideas about how a serially organized information -processing system like a human being - or a computer , or a complex of men and women and computers in organized cooperation - solves problems and achieves goals in outer environments of great complexity
…
- “…we can conclude that, in a large part, the proper study of mankind is the science of design, not only as the professional component of a technical education, but as a core discipline for every liberally educated person” (1981, p. 159)