The "Embodied approach" in design: the way to the East

Abstract

The article subject is dialogue about the development prospects of the so-called “embodied approach” in design, conducted by Western researchers for the past ten years. Some of the Western researchers indicate the fundamental impossibility of creating the theory of somatic-oriented design in view of the fact that such a theory will have to rely on the “silent” knowledge of the body. The author of the article sees the exit in, firstly, to turn to the experience of Chinese and Japanese designers, for whom “embodied cognition” is deeply rooted in the regional tradition; and secondly, to form a categorical apparatus necessary for the development of the theory of somatic-oriented design, based on the category of traditional eastern philosophy, allowing to fix the experience of the body (we are talking about the image “хiang” and the intentions “yi”). In the course of the study, the author focuses on the specifics of the body's perception in the East, since oriental experience does not lead to the expansion of involved perception channels (use in addition to vision, for example, smell and hearing), but to understand the project as a spontaneous process, form as an “open” for the embodied meanings. For oriental designers it is important not to “gestalt” of previous experience, but an embodied intuition of the future, aimed at creating a product later in demand by society. In conclusion, based on the categories of eastern philosophy, the author of the study introduces the concepts of “embodied image” (spontaneously arising figurative-scheme of human interaction with the environment) and “embodied design intention” (the direction of the thought to the transformation of reality, based on the somatic relations of the designer with the world).