Situating design as social creation and cultural cognition

Abstract

Video and transcripts of two architectural design meetings are presented in an analysis of a specific design process. The focus of the analysis presented here is the social and cultural aspects of cognition in design. The argument begins with a discussion of the parallels in design studies and cognitive science as each has begun to consider the importance of environmental influences on how we design and how we think. By applying three situated frameworks to understand the situated nature of design meetings, the analysis shows that notions of social creation and cultural cognition are complementary and necessary for a holistic understanding of the collaborative design process.

Keywords:

• social design
• environmental perspectives of cognition
• collaborative design
• empirical studies
• architecture

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Ellen Do for her support of this research and Nancy Nersessian for feedback on an earlier draft of this paper.

Notes

1. The names of the meeting participants have been changed to preserve their privacy.