Many designers feel uncomfortable with linear, explicit, scholarly modes of writing and this can be accounted for by an epistemological split between the university research tradition and the design studio tradition. The IDEAbase authoring system is designed to ameliorate in this historical division by promoting a hybrid design research culture. The system registers implicit knowledge unobtrusively, and generates a non-linear, hypertext representation that encourages collaborative design activities.
Traditionalist, fundamentalist metaphors for reading and learning are inclined to emphasise linear, predictive elements, but these are increasingly challenged by a dramatic increase in 'market-led' public access communication and information systems. Unless fresh perspectives are found to inform the new patterns of study, problems of management may develop in the classroom. Chaos theories offer a helpful paradigm that allows us to explore psychoanalytical and other aspects of reading that may assist creative designers in the early stages of the design process.
History
School
Design
Research Unit
IDATER Archive
Pages
40076 bytes
Citation
WOOD, J., 1994. Chaos in the virtual library- and strange attractors in the design studio. IDATER 1994 Conference, Loughborough: Loughborough University