Critical Design Practice: Theoretical Perspectives and Methods of Engagement

Abstract

As interest in critical and speculative design grows in academic and cultural contexts, this paper outlines theoretical perspectives and methods used in critical design practice. The paper introduces these perspectives through a discussion on Para-functionality, Post-optimal design and the Aesthetics of Use as concepts developed to explain how the practice operates. It discusses how critical design is perceived as a form of design research. It argues that critical design practice is not objective or explanatory, but focuses on inter-subjectivity and proposition. In this context, design aims to generate debate, where the purposive function of the design is discursive. The paper discusses how the methods used in critical design practice contribute to research by exploring how the open-ended and relational characteristic of work produced by critical designers is embraced by disciplines external to product design. The paper concludes by outlining the contribution that critical design practice makes to the design discipline and beyond.