The Disobedience of Design
Gui Bonsiepe
Published on 30. December 2021
Book
Hardback
480 pages
978-1-350-16245-7 (ISBN)
Description
This volume presents for the first time in English a curated selection of writings by the design thinker Gui Bonsiepe from the 1960s to the present day. Addressing as it does questions of non-Western design and a design practice that is both radical and democratic, Bonsiepe's work has assumed new importance for current debates inspired by global political and environmental crises.
Structured into three sections, the anthology first addresses Bonsiepe's work on design theory and practice, particularly in relation to the history and contemporary relevance of the Ulm design school, where Bonsiepe was a professor in the 1960s. A second section then represents Bonsiepe's writings after his move to South America in the 1960s and '70s, where he worked as a design consultant for the Allende government in Chile before the military takeover. In writings from the period, Bonsiepe explores the concept of design 'at the periphery' and the relationship of national design traditions and practices in Latin American countries to those of 'the core' - Western European and American design. The final section comprises selections of Bonsiepe's writings on design in relation to literacy and language, visuality and cognition. This indispensable volume includes new interviews with Bonsiepe as well as his original, previously unpublished texts.
Structured into three sections, the anthology first addresses Bonsiepe's work on design theory and practice, particularly in relation to the history and contemporary relevance of the Ulm design school, where Bonsiepe was a professor in the 1960s. A second section then represents Bonsiepe's writings after his move to South America in the 1960s and '70s, where he worked as a design consultant for the Allende government in Chile before the military takeover. In writings from the period, Bonsiepe explores the concept of design 'at the periphery' and the relationship of national design traditions and practices in Latin American countries to those of 'the core' - Western European and American design. The final section comprises selections of Bonsiepe's writings on design in relation to literacy and language, visuality and cognition. This indispensable volume includes new interviews with Bonsiepe as well as his original, previously unpublished texts.
Reviews / Votes
Wielding a powerful dissenting design imagination, Gui Bonsiepe is one of the most complex and accomplished design thinkers of our time. As this judiciously organized collection of his writings and projects demonstrates, beginning with his work in Ulm in the 1960s and then in Latin America after 1970, and continuing through to his pioneering development of ontological interface design in the 1990s through to his more recent critiques of "design thinking", The Disobedience of Design offers perspectives that challenge, radically, the limitations of contemporary European and American design practice and theory. -- Arturo Escobar, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, USA The Disobedience of Design fulfills its aim as a provocation and aid to thinking, offering opportunities for interesting discussions about social, ethical, and political considerations about design. * Design and Culture * The most comprehensive and up-to-date single volume containing Bonsiepe's work currently available in any language. * Design Issues *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
24 bw illus, 15 colour illus
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
934 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-16245-7 (9781350162457)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Gui Bonsiepe studied information design at the hfg ulm (Hochschule fuer Gestaltung Ulm), Germany from 1955-1959, where he taught as Assistant Professor from 1960-1968. Since 1968 he has been a designer and consultant for industrialization policy in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. From 1993-2003 he was Professor of Interface Design at the University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Germany. He lives and works in Brazil and Argentina.
Lara Penin is Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons School of Design, USA. Author of An Introduction to Service Design: Designing the Invisible (Bloomsbury, 2018), her work is at the intersection of service and strategic design, participatory design and social justice. She is a graduate in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has a PhD in Design from Milan Polytechnic University, Italy.
Lara Penin is Associate Professor of Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons School of Design, USA. Author of An Introduction to Service Design: Designing the Invisible (Bloomsbury, 2018), her work is at the intersection of service and strategic design, participatory design and social justice. She is a graduate in Architecture and Urbanism from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and has a PhD in Design from Milan Polytechnic University, Italy.
Content
Introduction by Lara Penin
Notes on the Making of the Book
Recognition and Acknowledgements by Gui Bonsiepe
Editorial Acknowledgements
Part 1: Thinking Designing
Introduction to Part 1 by Frederico Duarte
(a) Essays on ulm
1.1 The Cartography of Modernity
1.2 Science and Design
1.3 The Relevance of the Ulm School of Design today
1.4 The Invisible Aspects of the HfG Ulm
(b) Theory and Practice
1.5 The Discomfort of Design Theory
1.6 Arabesques of Rationality: Or the Splendor and Boredom of Design Methodology
1.7 The Uneasy Relationship of Design and Design Research
(c) Design, Politics, Ethics
1.8 Design, Nomadism and Politics: Interview with Alejandro Lazo Margain
1.9 Design and Democracy
1.10 Some Virtues of Design
Part II: Design in the "Periphery"
Introduction to Part II by Ethel Leon
(a) From Europe to South America
2.1 Peripheral Vision & Design Empowerment: Interview with James Fathers
2.2 Industrial Design in Chile 1971-1973: Interview with Hugo Palmarola
2.3 The Ulm Model in the Periphery
2.4 Industrialization Without Design
(b) Design in the "Periphery"
2.5 History of Design in Latin America
2.6 Aspects of Design in the Periphery
2.7 Between Favela Chic and Autonomy: Design in Latin America
(c) The Question of Difference
2.8 Between Marasmus and Hope
2.9 The Environment in the North-South Conflict
2.10 Identity and Counter-Identity of Design
Part III: Design, Visuality, Cognition
Introduction to Part III by Hugh Dubberly
(a) Design and Language
3.1 Through Language to Design
3.2 Design: from Material to Digital and Back
3.3 Design as Tool for Cognitive Metabolism: From Knowledge Production to Knowledge Presentation
(b) Design/ Visuality/ Theory
3.4 Visual/Verbal Rhetoric
3.5 The Interface Design of Computer Programs
3.6 Designing Information
3.7 Visuality | Discursivity, or Design: The Blind spot of Theory, Theory: the Blind spot of Design
(c) Design and Crisis
3.8 Design and Crisis
3.9 Convergences / Divergences - Hannes Meyer and the HfG Ulm
3.10 The Disobedience of Design
Part IV: Design and Development / Projects
Introduction to Part IV by Constantin Boym
(a) Design Policy/Design and Development
4.1 Development Through Design, a Report for UNIDO, 1973
4.2 Design and Development: The Debate with Victor Papanek
a. Gui Bonsiepe: Review of Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek
b. Victor Papanek: Reply to Bonsiepe's Review
4.3 Design and Development 40 Years Later: Interview with Gabriel Patrocinio and Jose Mauro Nunes
(b) Gui Bonsiepe: Selected Projects in Latin America
4.4 Inexpensive Record Player, Chile, 1972
4.5 Nutrition project: Spoon for Powdered Milk, Chile 1973
4.6 Agriculture project, Chopper, Chile, 1973
4.7 Consumer product: Air-conditioning, Argentina, 1980
4.8 Two projects for Local Industry in Brazil, 1984-86
4.9 Health Care Project: Needle for Blood Sampling, Brazil, 1986
(c) Case Study of Project Cybersyn, Chile
4.10 (a) Opsroom: Interface of a Cybernetic Management Room
4.10 (b) 'Socialism by Design' by Eden Medina
Afterword by Zoy Anastassakis & Marcos Martins
Appendices: Three Notes on the Closure of ulm (1968)
1. The Situation of the HfG
2. Communication & Power: A Marginal Note
3. Resolution of the Hochschule fuer Gestaltung, Ulm
Gui Bonsiepe: A Brief Biography
Contributors
Index
Notes on the Making of the Book
Recognition and Acknowledgements by Gui Bonsiepe
Editorial Acknowledgements
Part 1: Thinking Designing
Introduction to Part 1 by Frederico Duarte
(a) Essays on ulm
1.1 The Cartography of Modernity
1.2 Science and Design
1.3 The Relevance of the Ulm School of Design today
1.4 The Invisible Aspects of the HfG Ulm
(b) Theory and Practice
1.5 The Discomfort of Design Theory
1.6 Arabesques of Rationality: Or the Splendor and Boredom of Design Methodology
1.7 The Uneasy Relationship of Design and Design Research
(c) Design, Politics, Ethics
1.8 Design, Nomadism and Politics: Interview with Alejandro Lazo Margain
1.9 Design and Democracy
1.10 Some Virtues of Design
Part II: Design in the "Periphery"
Introduction to Part II by Ethel Leon
(a) From Europe to South America
2.1 Peripheral Vision & Design Empowerment: Interview with James Fathers
2.2 Industrial Design in Chile 1971-1973: Interview with Hugo Palmarola
2.3 The Ulm Model in the Periphery
2.4 Industrialization Without Design
(b) Design in the "Periphery"
2.5 History of Design in Latin America
2.6 Aspects of Design in the Periphery
2.7 Between Favela Chic and Autonomy: Design in Latin America
(c) The Question of Difference
2.8 Between Marasmus and Hope
2.9 The Environment in the North-South Conflict
2.10 Identity and Counter-Identity of Design
Part III: Design, Visuality, Cognition
Introduction to Part III by Hugh Dubberly
(a) Design and Language
3.1 Through Language to Design
3.2 Design: from Material to Digital and Back
3.3 Design as Tool for Cognitive Metabolism: From Knowledge Production to Knowledge Presentation
(b) Design/ Visuality/ Theory
3.4 Visual/Verbal Rhetoric
3.5 The Interface Design of Computer Programs
3.6 Designing Information
3.7 Visuality | Discursivity, or Design: The Blind spot of Theory, Theory: the Blind spot of Design
(c) Design and Crisis
3.8 Design and Crisis
3.9 Convergences / Divergences - Hannes Meyer and the HfG Ulm
3.10 The Disobedience of Design
Part IV: Design and Development / Projects
Introduction to Part IV by Constantin Boym
(a) Design Policy/Design and Development
4.1 Development Through Design, a Report for UNIDO, 1973
4.2 Design and Development: The Debate with Victor Papanek
a. Gui Bonsiepe: Review of Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek
b. Victor Papanek: Reply to Bonsiepe's Review
4.3 Design and Development 40 Years Later: Interview with Gabriel Patrocinio and Jose Mauro Nunes
(b) Gui Bonsiepe: Selected Projects in Latin America
4.4 Inexpensive Record Player, Chile, 1972
4.5 Nutrition project: Spoon for Powdered Milk, Chile 1973
4.6 Agriculture project, Chopper, Chile, 1973
4.7 Consumer product: Air-conditioning, Argentina, 1980
4.8 Two projects for Local Industry in Brazil, 1984-86
4.9 Health Care Project: Needle for Blood Sampling, Brazil, 1986
(c) Case Study of Project Cybersyn, Chile
4.10 (a) Opsroom: Interface of a Cybernetic Management Room
4.10 (b) 'Socialism by Design' by Eden Medina
Afterword by Zoy Anastassakis & Marcos Martins
Appendices: Three Notes on the Closure of ulm (1968)
1. The Situation of the HfG
2. Communication & Power: A Marginal Note
3. Resolution of the Hochschule fuer Gestaltung, Ulm
Gui Bonsiepe: A Brief Biography
Contributors
Index