Abstract
This paper presents a pedagogical case study of an undergraduate Speculative and Critical Design (SCD) course, arguing for its efficacy in operationalizing a philosophical critique of design's dominant paradigms. The paper first deconstructs the intertwined legacies of positivism, modernism, and anthropocentrism, establishing a theoretical foundation for a pedagogical shift toward relational and pluriversal ontologies. Situating this work within the emerging literature on SCD pedagogy, the paper identifies a need for structured, replicable methodologies that bridge critical theory with tangible design practice. It then details a three-phase pedagogical methodology—(1) Historical and Theoretical Contextualization, (2) Alternative Futures and World building, and (3) Speculative Artifact Creation— designed to scaffold this process. Through a systematic, longitudinal analysis of student work, the findings demonstrate a clear developmental arc of learning. Students progressed from critically questioning dominant narratives to designing artifacts that function as material provocations, embodying the ethical and political tensions of their speculative worlds rather than offering simple solutions. The paper concludes that this structured pedagogical approach serves as a form of "redirective practice," offering a robust and transparent model for cultivating the critical, ethical, and imaginative competencies essential for designers to contribute to more just and sustainable futures.
Keywords
Speculative Design; Critical Pedagogy; Relational Ethics; Ecological Resilience
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1186
Citation
Aguiar, C.(2025) From Ontological Critique to Redirective Practice: A Framework for Speculative Design Pedagogy, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.1186
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 2 - Design Futuring
From Ontological Critique to Redirective Practice: A Framework for Speculative Design Pedagogy
This paper presents a pedagogical case study of an undergraduate Speculative and Critical Design (SCD) course, arguing for its efficacy in operationalizing a philosophical critique of design's dominant paradigms. The paper first deconstructs the intertwined legacies of positivism, modernism, and anthropocentrism, establishing a theoretical foundation for a pedagogical shift toward relational and pluriversal ontologies. Situating this work within the emerging literature on SCD pedagogy, the paper identifies a need for structured, replicable methodologies that bridge critical theory with tangible design practice. It then details a three-phase pedagogical methodology—(1) Historical and Theoretical Contextualization, (2) Alternative Futures and World building, and (3) Speculative Artifact Creation— designed to scaffold this process. Through a systematic, longitudinal analysis of student work, the findings demonstrate a clear developmental arc of learning. Students progressed from critically questioning dominant narratives to designing artifacts that function as material provocations, embodying the ethical and political tensions of their speculative worlds rather than offering simple solutions. The paper concludes that this structured pedagogical approach serves as a form of "redirective practice," offering a robust and transparent model for cultivating the critical, ethical, and imaginative competencies essential for designers to contribute to more just and sustainable futures.