Sorrentino, Miriam ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1198-4562 and Hirst, Nicola (2016) The Design Studio as a Social Organism and Ecology. In: DRHA Conference 2016, 4th-7th September 2016 WhoLoDancE, University of Brighton. (Unpublished)

Preview

PDF (Workshop and Presentation) 23032 SORRENTINO_The_Design_Studio_as_a_Social_Organism_and_Ecology_2016.pdf - Presentation Download (5MB) | Preview

Abstract

The design studio is at the same moment a place, a process, a concept and an ecology. It is a place of negotiation based on both visible and invisible codes of behavior. It is a delicate system at the mercy of the relationships of the inhabitants and their environment. Design teaching and learning within studio practice has been of pedagogic interests from as far back as Dewey (1958), and Schön (1985). Assistant Professor Colin M. Gray points out (2013) that while there has been some research on the role of identity and socialization in the studio (Crysler 1995; Webster 2008) more is needed in both trans-disciplinary and domain specific contexts. For our research we focused particularly on the design studio practice in a collaborative project over a very short five-week period on the Graphic and Digital Design Degree, in order to investigate the group social dynamics within the design studio experience and how that affects the work produced.

Our premise is that the design studio acts as an organism and ecology. In order to observe each student group as it builds its own unique design studio through a mix of place and digitality we followed Pink’s (2007) multisensory observational strategy in which we were able to detail a fuller context, as well as what the participants found interesting/difficult and their activities (Heisley and Levy, 1991; Schensul, Schensul and LeCompte, 1999.) We have used a number of visual data collection methods, filming, photographs, diagrams and mapping; with an awareness of 1960s Situationists’ psycho-geographies. We also used more traditional qualitative data such as group meeting notes, social media transcripts, wearable tech data, student feedback and audio recordings.

Item Type:	Conference or Conference Paper (Other)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Design, studio practice, social media, visual ethnography, social semiotics, data visualisation,
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > School of Design (DES)
Last Modified:	17 May 2019 16:55
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/23032

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads