Ambiguity and Utopia in the Discourse of Design

Abstract

Design research is at an impasse. Everyday design practice requires accounting for the methods and principles of design. Design theory fails to provide such an account. Despite this, the apparent failure of design theory to explain design does not diminish the practice of design. How can this be so? This article investigates this contradictory state of affairs by analyzing the discursive strategies that the contradiction generates. It begins by defining ambiguity and utopia as contrasting dispositions towards social contradictions. Next, it elaborates their relation in a non-design context, the HBO television drama The Wire. Finally, it considers these dispositions in the context of design theory, highlighting the discursive formations that arise from the inability of design theory to fully explain the everyday practice of design. The article concludes by reflecting on the inevitability of this failure and the productive potential of assimilating this ambiguity as a theoretical principle.