Abstract

This paper looks at design as cultural activity and cultural production. Specifically, it looks at design of the built-environment within the context of culturally diverse communities, especially those communities within which both recent migrants and more established residents are in the process of negotiating new, cross-cultural, local identities. What is the role of the designer within such contexts? As bearer of an authoritative western professional tradition, the designer is a powerful figure within any cross-cultural negotiation. Where do the responsibilities of such professionals lie? Traditionally the answers to such questions have been guided by conceptions of the designer as either a facilitator (of the expressed desires of others; i.e. realisation of a brief) or as an inspired creator (whose inspiration fulfils desires that the users could not have anticipated or formulated for themselves). Many designers would designate themselves as combining these two characters in proportionate measure. This characterisation, however, is contested by design researchers who advocate an hermeneutical approach to design within cross-cultural contexts, and it is this latter approach which is argued for within this paper.

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Nov 17th, 12:00 AM

Hermeneutics and Cross-Cultural Design: Reflections on Community Consultation and Collaboration by Designers in Fairfield, Sydney.

This paper looks at design as cultural activity and cultural production. Specifically, it looks at design of the built-environment within the context of culturally diverse communities, especially those communities within which both recent migrants and more established residents are in the process of negotiating new, cross-cultural, local identities. What is the role of the designer within such contexts? As bearer of an authoritative western professional tradition, the designer is a powerful figure within any cross-cultural negotiation. Where do the responsibilities of such professionals lie? Traditionally the answers to such questions have been guided by conceptions of the designer as either a facilitator (of the expressed desires of others; i.e. realisation of a brief) or as an inspired creator (whose inspiration fulfils desires that the users could not have anticipated or formulated for themselves). Many designers would designate themselves as combining these two characters in proportionate measure. This characterisation, however, is contested by design researchers who advocate an hermeneutical approach to design within cross-cultural contexts, and it is this latter approach which is argued for within this paper.

 

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