The 'Culture Medium' in Design Education

Strickfaden, Megan, Heylighen, Ann, Rodgers, Paul and Neuckermans, Herman (2005) The 'Culture Medium' in Design Education. In: Crossing Design Boundaries: Proceedings of the 3rd Engineering & Product Design Education International Conference. Taylor & Francis, London, pp. 59-64. ISBN 978-0415391184

[img] PDF
TheCultureMediuminDesignEducation.pdf - Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (43kB) | Request a copy

Abstract

Design solutions do not occur in a vacuum. They are nourished by a breeding ground that embraces various substances, phenomena and traces, all of which function as raw material for concept generation and ultimately for design. Perhaps an appropriate name for this breeding ground is ‘culture medium’, which combines the notion of cultural baggage that individuals and groups hold as part of their make-up, with the idea of a seedbed for growing micro-organisms. This paper examines the composition of this ‘culture medium’ and how it functions in the context of design education through reporting two unrelated, yet content-wise connected studies. The first results from indepth interviews with experienced design tutors, the second is comprised of an ethnographically oriented study with a group of design students. Combining, comparing and contrasting information gathered in these two studies, reveals some interesting insights about the ‘culture medium’ that is valued by tutors and students.

Item Type: Book Section
Subjects: W200 Design studies
Department: Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Design
Depositing User: Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited: 15 Jan 2014 15:28
Last Modified: 01 Aug 2021 06:46
URI: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/15084

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics