The Shaping of Design Methodology in Russia: Alexander Bogdanov and Alexander Rosenberg

Abstract

The article analyzes the initial stages of the shaping of design. Like the situation when the shaping of science was preceded by the emergence of methodology, a similar process had been taking place in this domain: First, methodological studies aimed at the forming of design thought made their appearance and then—on their basis—design as an independent sphere of activity and practice began to take shape. The article analyzes the methodological principles of design (the principles of correspondence, of economy, of optimum, etc.) formulated by Alexander Vladimirovich Rosenberg, demonstrating that, in his suggestions, he was drawing not only on his vision of the design experience available at the time but also on the ideas of Alexander Bogdanov’s Tectology—primarily the organizational and systemic ones. The author reveals certain particulars of the shaping of design: the role of prerequisites of its emergence, the significance of methodological research, the impact of Bogdanov’s Tectology. Furthermore, the author formulates the hypothesis of the two languages (systemic and systemic-objective) describing design and intellectual practices of similar complexity.