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Abstract
The concepts of aesthetic and aesthetic knowledge have recently been appropriated and discussed in the organization theory literature. In this broader recognition of human skills and capacities complementing the conventional rational and logical modes of thinking prioritized in scientific thinking, a few studies reports how aesthetic knowledge is employed in areas not regularly associated with aesthetics, for instance computer programming or financial analysis. This paper reports how the concepts of aesthetic and aesthetic knowledge can be used to examine the work of qualified rock construction workers. Rather than being a skill that can be accommodated through training, the best rock construction workers have tacit know‐how that are not easily learned or transferred between co‐workers. Such skills are here referred to as aesthetic knowledge. The paper concludes that more studies of everyday work and aesthetic knowledge may be helpful when rethinking the nature of human and individual knowledge.
Notes
1. Shotcreting is the use of sprayed concrete to cover the rock walls in tunnels or (less commonly) the façades of buildings. Concrete is then sprayed by using large‐scale advanced equipment, referred to as ‘robots’, a piece of high pressure pneumatic equipment mounted on a truck that the operator controls through a joystick. Rock reinforcement is a technique were leakage in, for instance, the metro system tunnels is prevented by the injection of concrete in the rock walls. Roof bolting is a technique where a fragile rock wall is reinforced by metal bolts supporting the structure. All these techniques aim at strengthening or making rock walls more aesthetically appealing. The techniques are commonly used in a wide range of civil engineering projects and are thus a central part of the urban and rural built environment.