Inuit vernacular design as a community of practice for learning

Abstract

The concept of vernacular design allows for the understanding and the appreciation of designs created without recourse to institutional qualifications in the field of design. A study was undertaken of how North Alaska Inuit (Eskimo) women learn design—based on observations, interviews with seamstresses, and authorial participation in designing and sewing in conformity with North Alaska Inuit tradition, everything filmed on digital video. This has been the empirical basis for an interpretation inspired by the social learning theory of Wenger in his ‘Communities of Practice’, an approach that promises to be of particular relevance to future research into the learning of design because it stresses the social aspect of learning, important in investigations of the social process of designing. A main conclusion of this research is the importance of learning-by-watching, which will be of great importance in further research of the learning process of professional or academic design.