Anthony Dunne

The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts

London, England

-

Contents

All righrr reserved. No pnrr of chis bmk may be reproduced in any form by any elcc-

rronic or mechanical mcans(includingphorocopying, recording, or informarion rronge

and rerrievnl) wirhour permission in wriring from rhe publisher.

- hIlT Press boaks mny be purcharcd ar special quanriry dircounrr for burinerr or sales

promotional use. For informnrion,pleae email special-raler@mirprerr.mir.eduor write

ro Special Sales Department, The MIT Prerr, 5 5 Hnyward Srreer, Gmbridge. MA

02142.

This book w a rer in Bell Gorhic and Ganmond 3 by Gnphic Cornporirion, Inc.

Prinred and bound in rhe Unired Scares of America.

Library of Congress Caraloging-in-Publication Data

Dunne, Anthony.

Hertzian raler : electronic products, aerrheric experience, and criricd design / Anrhony

Dunne.-[Rev. ed.1

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-262-04232-0 (hc : alk. paper)

I. Elecrronic appnrnrur and npplinncer-Design and conrtruction. I. 'lirle.

FOREWORD TO THE 1799 EDITION

PNEFACE TO THE 2001 EDITION

ACKNOWLEDG~LENT~

INTRODUCTION

1 THE ELECTRONlC ASPOST-OITIMAL OBJECT

2 (IN)HUL~AN FACTORS

3 PARA-FUNCTIONALln: THE AESTHETICS OP US6

4 PSYCHOSOClAL NARRATIVES

5 REALPlCTION

6 HERTLIAN SPACE

7 HERlZlnN TALES AND SUBLlhlE GADGETS

CONCLUSION

NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS

INDEX

In Philips's I996 Virion of the F~dun projecr (Philips G r p o n r e Design 1996).

amoresubtleawarenessofthevalueofmarerial culrure hasentered rhemainstredm

ofdesign chinking and may wellsoonenter the marketplaceand everyday life. The

projecr consists of over one hundred design ptoposals for products for five to ten

yean in the future. But this awareness is primarily expressed in this project by

references toexisting object typologies-forexample, hi-tech medical kits in the

form of medicine cabinets-rather than by radically new hybrids. The design-

ers focus more on pactical needs, the electronic qualities are not Fully exploited,

and rhe types ofobjecrs proposed are already familiar from student degreeshows.

But rhe designs d o achieve a new visual language, sensual, warm, and friendly.

They are well-mannered and socially competent. In these projects the electronic

object has reached an optimal level ofsemiotic and Functional performance.

The Electronic as Post-optimal Object The most difficult challenges for designers of electronic objects now lie not in

technical and semiotic Functionality, where optimal levels of performance are

already attainable, but in the realms of metaphysics, poetry, and aesthetics,

where little research has been carried out:

This is what differentiates thc 1980s ftom 1890, 1909, and even 1949-the ability of

industrial design and manulaccuterr to delivcr gaodr rhat carinor be bettered, however

much money you pasess. The rich find theirexclusivity continuously under threat. . . . Beyond a certain, telatively low price(low compared with other timer in history) the

rich cannot buy a bettercamera, home computer, tea kettle, television or video recorder

than youor I. What they can do, and what sophirticated tetailcrr do, is add unnecessary

"stuff' to the object. You can have your camera gold plated. (Dormer 1990, 124)

The position of this book is that design research should explore a new tole for

the electronic object, one that hcilirares more poetic modes ofhabitation: a form

of social research t o integrate aesthetic experience with everyday life through

"conceptual products."

In a world where practicality and funcrionaliry can be taken for g a n t e d , rhe

aesthetics of the post-optimal object could provide new experiences ofeveryday

life, new pwtic dimensions.

Chapler I

(1n)human Factors

Am I a man or a machine? There is no ambiguity in thc tradirional relationship betwccn

man and machine: thc worker ir nlwayr, i n a way, a stranger to the machine he operates,

and alienated by ir. But at least he retains the precious rtatur ofalienated man. The new

technologies, with their ncw machines, new imager and interacrivercreens, do not alien-

arc me. Rather, they form an integrated circuit with me.

-J. BAUDRILLARD, "XEROX AND INFINITY"

In design, the main aim ofinteractivity has become user-friendliness. Alrhough

this ideal is accepted in the workplace as improving productivity and efficiency,

its main assumption, that the way to humanize technology is ro close the gap

between people and machines by designing "transparenr" ---- interfaces, is prob- '

lematic, particularly as this view of intenctivity has spread to less utilitarian

areas ofour lives. According toVitilio (1995): "'Intenctive user-friendliness' . . . ,

is just a metaphor for the subrle enslavement of the human being ro 'inrelligent'

machines; a programmed symbiosis of man and computer in which assistance

and the much trumpeted 'dialogue between man and the machine'scarcely con-

ceal thepremises: . . . the total, unavowed disqualification ofrhe human in favor

of the definitive instcumental conditioning of the individual" (135). Thls enslavement IS not, strictly speakrng, to mach~nes, nor to the people -

who burld and own them. bur to t%&c&e~rual models, values, and systems of . . .. .- - .

thought the ma;hines &body. user-friendliness helps naturalize electconic

objects and the values they embody. For example, while electronic objects are

being used, their use is constrained by the simple generalized model of a user

rhese objeccs are designed around: the more time we spend using them, rhe more inceractivity went much further rhan ic inrended, giving people coral control rime we spend as a caricature. We unwittingly adopt roles created by the human over their machines. Although scientists such as Doug Engelberr, Alan Kay, facrocs specialiscs of large corporations. For instance, camcorders have many J , C . R Licklider, and biurray Turoff managed to gain control of the evolution builr-in features char encourage generic usage; a warning lighr flashes whenever of computers from the milirary, developing a vision of inreractiviry as a part- there is a risk of "spoiling" a picrure, as if to remind rhe user chat he or she is netship berween people and machines acred out on the compurer screen, rhey abouc ro become creacive and should immediately rerurn to the norm. were unable co incroduce chem into everyday life. I t was hackers like Steve Woz-

By poericizing the distance berween people and elecrronic objects, sensitive "iak and Steve Jobs who eventually managed to translace these ideas into a ma- skepticism might beencouraged, rather than unrhinking assimilation of rhe val- chine rhat could compere in the markerplace against large corporarions like ues and conceptual models embedded in electronic objects. I am nor arguing for IBM and establish a new model ofinteractiviry. a way of designing char is free from ideological content bur, rarher, for one char

draws arcention co the fact chnc design is always ideological. User-friendliness life through che marketplace, once the compucer became a successful mass- helps conceal r h ~ s fact. The values and ideas about life embodied in designed ob- produced object, innovation in inreracriviry shifted from hardware ro software, jects are nor narural, objeccive or fixed, but man-made, artificial, and muteable. and evolved around screens, keyboards, and mouse-like input devices.

Thischapcer looksar "poeticizing" chedistance berweenpeopleand elecrronic

objecrs chcough "esmngemenr"and "alienation," locating inreractivity berwe~n T h e H u m a n Factors Approach rransparency and opaqueness, che pet and the alien, prose and poetry. The finr These days most work on the developmenr of interfaces is by engineers and sci- section l w k s at the origins ofuser-friendliness in human factors and how i t man- enciscs working for l v g e corporations and universicies, and comprising rhe ifests itself in design approaches; the second, on transparency, discusses rhe im- human factors communiry. Alrhough mainly concerned with computers, other plicarions of closing rhe discance beween people and machines; and rhe third, electronic objects are becoming subject to rhis approach, particularly as de- on (in)human factors, looks ar alternarives based on estrangement. s i g r ~ e n have, so hr, been unable to develop convincing alrernatives.

Ina review of T h i n x ~ T h d M a b e U ~ S m a r i by cognitive psychologisr Don Nor- User-friendliness man, Rick Robinson (1994) offers remarks about Norman's view of design rhar

Manuel DeLanda(l991)sicuates theorigins ofthe man-machine interfacewithin are applicable to rhe human factors community in general. Robinson argues thar a military concext: Norman's approach resulrs in produccs char will nor confuseor disappoint (which

is clearly not enough). His main criricism is thar i t "misses rhe essential connec-/ Iris at the level of the interface that many of rhe polirical quesrions reguding Arcifirial tion berween rhepowerofobjects roaffect rhe way in which the world is seen and/ lnrelligence are posed. For instance, one and rhe samc program may be used to rake

human beings our of the decision-making Iwp, or on rhecanrnry, [be] interfaced wich

[hem s o u ro create a synergistic whole. I r is che design of the inrerface which will de- char rhe artefacts people interact wirh have enormous impact on how we think. : cide whecher the machinir phylum will croa beween man and machines, whether Affordances, to use Norman's rerm, are individually, socially, and culturally dy- humans and computers will enter into asymbiacic relarionrhip, or wherher humans will namic. But the artefacts d o nor merely occupy a slot in char process, they funda- be replaced by machines. Alchough the cencrnlizing rendencies of chc military seem ro mentally shape the dynamic itself" (Robinson 1994.78). point co a future when computers will replace humans, the querrion is by no means

rerrled. (176) Design/Aesrhetic Manifestarions

DeLanda wrices chat research into interacrivicy between people m d compur-

err began wich che milicaryi desire covisualiredata held in computers, and thar

Chapter 2

for conveying meaning is nor far removed from the Victorian use ofCorinthian columns ro support beam engines; design holds back rhe potential of electron-

ics to provide new aesrheric meanings: "Official culrure still strives to force the new media ro do whar rhe old media did. Bur the horseless carriage did nor do the work of the horse; it abolished rhe horse and did whar rhe horse could never

do" (McLuhan 1970,133).

Transparency Because the mimetic approach has grearly affected mainstream chinking abour electronic objecrs, most designs for interfaces wirh electronic producrs draw on familiar images and cliches rarher than srrerching design language. Nothing is whar ir appears, bur simply an allusion to something we are already familiar

wirh. Designers using existing codes and conventions to make new products

more familiar often unconsciously reproduce aspects of rhe ideology encoded in

their borrowed morifs. The easy communication and transparency striven for by champions of user-friendliness simply make our seduction by machines mote Figure 2.6 Marco Susan1 and Mario Trimarchi's New Tools Ifor the kilchenl for the 1992 comforrable. Milan Triennale demonstrates that the need for symbiosis does not have to be expressed through

the cliched language ~f bl~-form; afterall, ihesymbiosisyeamedfor is often mental not physical.

Biomorphism

The trend for forms of biomor~hic expression, particularly in cameras and orher portable devices, can be seen as expressing either an uncritical desire ro absorb

that represented letters; a computer program allowed sequences ro be made up

technologies inro rhe body, a wish to be a cyborg, or, more oprimisrically, a need forcing the artist, through elecrrical srimularion of his muscles, to enact a

to mold technology to rhe body. Bur chis need for symbiosis does not have ro be bizarre semaphore. In an earlier piece. ThirdHand, he wrore single words with

expressed through rhe cliched language of bio-form; after all, the symbiosis a third artificial hand strapped ro one of his own (figure 2.7), activated by the

earned for is ofren mental nor ~hysical. An engaging, if conservarive, image of EMG signals of the abdominal and leg muscles, while his real arm was remore-

this desire for symbiosis between people and the environmenr of electronic arti- controlled and jerked into action by rwo muscle stimulators. Srelarc's work

facts is provided by the series of kitchen rools des~gned by Marco Susani and illusrrares one vision of cyborgs. His work explores the interplay between self-

Mario Trimarchi for the 1992 Milan Triennale. A mixture of abstracr form and control of the body and irs control by the rechnological logic embodied in pros-

familiar materials, they neither pterend to have always been there nor are they rheric devices.

completely alien (figure 2.6). For extreme expressions of chis wish for rtansparency or symbiosis, we need

Pets

to look outside the design field, at rhe work of rhe artist Srelarc. He describes a If the desire for familiariry 1s applied ro more complex machines with aporenrial

syntheric skin char, absorbing oxygen through its pores and efficiently convert- for auronomou behavior, we could find ourselves living in a besriary of techno-

ing light into chemical nurtients, would make our internal organs redundant logical "pers," or zoomorphic electronic objecrs. Although there is plenry of po-

and allow them to be removed co creare room for mote useful technological tential for new aesrheric experiences through the expression ofelecrronic objects'

components. In a performance at the Doors of Perception 3 conference in Am- behavior, this area isalready dominated by an oversimple mimicry ofhuman and

sterdam in 1995, remote viewers were able ro manipulare his body into posirions animal behavior. The aesthetic experience rhey give rise to is based on recogni- tion rarher than perception.' The uers experience something familiar rarher

Chapler 2 l lnlhuman Faclorr

quire poeric mumblings. Adelbrechr is an example, as boundaries blur berween

ourselves and our digital environment, of where a new sense of "alienarion" or

distance may be discovered. The electronic object does not have to fulfill our ex-

pectarions; ir can surprise and provoke. But, ro fulfill this porential, designers

need ro leave behind a desire ro model the new world of electronic products in

their own, human, image.

(1n)human Factors If user-friendliness chmcrerizes the relacionship berween the user and the op-

timal object, user-unfriendliness then, a form ofgenrle provocarion, could char-

acterize rhe post-optimal object. The emphasis shifts from optimizing rhe fit

providing aesthetic experiences through rhe electronic objecrs themselves.

But if aliens and user-unfriendliness are ro be the alternatives to pets and

user-friendliness, rhis user-unfriendliness does not have ro mean user-hostiliry.

Consrrucrive user-unfriendliness already exists in poerry:

ing way. Hts facer are juxtaposed and recombined with other body and machine parts to create slrange and rlnirter hybrids of people and machines.

The pwtic function of language har ar its effecr h a t when we read lirerarure we become

more aware of language than we are when we are confronted by language in irr orher

functions. To iinrroduce anorher term dear ro rhe formalirrr, ~n literature language is

iexplores chis space, believing: "In order ro ger used to talking ro a machine, one "foregrounded:'Thir, arJakobsanrtrerrer, is rhe rendency oflirenrure, much more fully

:should have one as a pet. A machine which has no parricular function, and can- recognircd in poerry than ir is in prose. In the everyday use of language it will seldom

I not acrually be operared, bur which responds ro rhe events in irs environmenr be practical and may even be found impolite ro "foreground" language. Everyday lan-

, by producing spoken language. Like a cat, which rubs its head against you and guage is usually informarivc and inrrrumenral; there is no call for eirher rhe rpeaked

writer or hearedreader ro dwell on rhe form ofwhar is raidlwritren since ifa piece of in-

formation har been ruccersfully pasrcd or some acrion rucccsfully inrrigared, rhe words

Spanjaard's robot A e h r evolved over ren years, starting in 1982, from by which chis har been managed can counr ar "mnrparent.' W t h the poetic funcrion

his desire ro build a ball char would roll of its own accord and, when it collided comesacerrain opaciry, for rhe wrirer is no longer pming information nor rceking ro in-

with ocher objects, reverse, change direction, or rake ocher appropriare action. rtigareacrion.There may also comean intenrional nnlbiguiry."(Srurrock 1986, 109-110)

As rechnology developed so did Adelbrechr; he can now sense wherher he is being picked u p or stroked, and whether and by how much light and sound are Defamiliarizarion

present, influencing his mood or "lust" as i r i s termed by the artist. Adelbrechr The poetic can offer mote than simply enriched involvement. I t can provide a

expresses rhe level of his "lust" by rolling about and by a voice provided by rhe complex experience, crirical and subversive. The Russian formalist poets of rhe

Insticure for Research on Perceprion in Eindhoven. For example, if he has not 1920s based their ideology on estrangement. According to Viktor Shklovsky,

been couched since becoming active, on becoming sruck he will call for help; bur rhe movemenr's best-known exponent, the function of poetic art is to counrer-

if he has been couched, he will call his owner. H e says "Nice" on being stroked, act rhe familiarization encouraged by routine modes of perceprion. We readily

and "Is ir you?" on being picked up. The arrisr does not program Adelbrecht to cease to "see" rhe world we live in, and become anaestherized ro its distincrive

rotally replicare human or a n ~ m a l psychology, which results in unexpected and

Chapter 2 Ilnlhuman Faclorr

.la~ndruo> aq~ jo sma~sds Zu!leiado se 's.rauS!sap ialndruo~ loj. . .,ain12!d paqs!uyun, aql jo uo!~da~uo~ s,dureq>na

aql u!ql!m pa!pqma XSoloap! lueu!wop aql 'rraumo!>suo> >y!lua!>s ah!l2allo2 dq pa>uannu! dl!heaq s! q~eoidde s!q . . . alaldruo> 01 seq 1! Zu!umo uovad aql

aql pue lauZ!sap lenp!.upu! aql jo rraorno!>suo> p!ms aql uaamlaq a>epal q>!qm hols ~enlda>uo> E seq 13a!qo aql ma!h s,l!afi ul,. :s~u~lsuo> p>!uqx~

-u! aql dew daq~ ,aq qZ!m leqfi pue r! ieqfi jo suo!snj apqns pue pale>!ls!qd Xq pau!wialap s! auauodmo> jo ~uamaSuwie aql alaqm snnpoid Ie>!ueq>aru

-0s ale n>ej!11e Zu!llnsa~ aqL .aZem! umo ino u! di!yeai ppur 01 al!sap ino ay gun 'pa8uwi~ dlaalj aq ue> siuauodmo~ i!aqi asnexq 'snnpold J!uoll>ala 01

sseddq 1eql sassa3old olu! XSolouqx~ Zu!~wodio~u! jo sdem aioldxa daq~ .si>a! Xpsea jlasl! spual q~eoldde s!q~ .saIoi pnba deld iama!h pue 'iauZ!sap '~xa~ se

-qo le>!Zo[ouq>a~-uou 01 ssauaSuwls ~A!Z 01 d3olouqx1 asn eleq!!n.J !yemy ~~a!qo uS!sap e jo ase2 aql u! 'dl~el!~!~ .uo!ieu!Zem! jo ~ioga ~enba ue naxa 01

1s!1ie ialndmo2 aql pue a!lI !q>!,!ay l>al!q>ie aql '~xa se ~>a!qo aq~ jo suo!lou pai!nbai an lapeal pue I~I!IN q~oq pus 'anph pnba joaie '[en~xa~-lsod put -ad

pue s>!~s!nZu!l 01 salela1 n>a!qo rl!aA jo ssauaZuw~s luaiedde aqi s.eaJaqA aql 'Zu!peai pue Zu!l!idi\ .Zu!pea~ pue Zu!l!im uaamlaq d!qsuo!~elai aql Su!l~aj

jla~ aqi Bu!sredda -je 'lapio >!ls!n8u!l aql saz!ueZloa11eq1 urs!ueq2am 2!1s!nSu!1-e1am e se ,,1xa1,,

pauyapu saqilea .slxa~ iaq~o oluo Ino suxlo ~xal aql 'paqs!loruap ale ylom aql

.uS!s lens!h e se IZolouq>al aSeq>ed II!IS Xaq~ Ins .Su! jo sa!npunoq aq~ uaqm .ainsoI> lo u!811o pax9 ou ql!m Zu!puedxa Xlmonu!~

-maw 01 q2eoldde papua-uado s!q pue LaZem! Iahou i!aql u! sa!~ n2a!qo s,l!a~ -uo> 'lamay aql pue ~>a!qo aql uaamlaq Zu!ueam jo siade~ pue su!eq~ jo ,,a>eds,,

jo ssaule>!pw aql 'dlalem!lln .luaurlsahu! aZiel Inoql!m pa~np~d-q>li?q aq E :uo!l!uyap ,saqilea pue[ox u! ,,lxal,, e se pauyap aq plno3 suz!sap s,l!afi

ue> sl~a!qo >!uo1l>ala leluaur!ladxa q>!qm le laha[ dluo aq] uaqo r! r!ql%~>a!qo .Zu!ueam sl! jo IIE~ 8u!mo2* srus!>!l!i> pue'suo!lela~d

[e>!8olouq>a1 se le!hpl maaslqZ!ur so!pw pue sqmp q8noq1ly .%sap! fiau ale> -mu! 'suo!lsanb 1!aq3 ql!m 'Zu!uearu I!aql Zu!l>nllsu02 u! aledp!lled 01 iahlas

-!unmmo2 01 apqah e se nauZ!sap pue snal!q>le dq pasn 12a!qo q~!i X1pnljn> -qo aql aZua~pq2 su8!sap s!~ ,ainlwal![ u! ,,loqlne aqi jo qleap,, aqi Bu!oq>a

pue ie![!q e :l!eq> aql jo lualeh!nba >!uoil>ala aql s! o!pw aql sdeqiad .so!p 'uo!snpuo2 le2!801 (p>!Soll! dl~ualzddz) SI! 01 uaym s! lxal se ~>a!qo jo uo!~

-w d[!ieur!ld 'sl>a!qo Su!ls!xa jo suo!1e1a1&aiu!ai ale suS!sap s,l!afi 'qZnoql -ou aql j! paha!q>eaq ueJ leqm sfioqs 'puzq iaq~o aql uo 'ylom s,~!a~ Ia!uea

'so861 aql Zupnp n>a!qo >!uoil>aTa ioj suZ!sap leluam!iadxa lsow a?!? .~s!lwnl~nl~s-~sod ueql iaq~w ~s!Iwnl2ruls srula~ hwa

.~s!~wn~>ni~s-~sod ale daql smia~ hma -I![ U! aiam ~eq~ suZ!sap w!lemlyp '[y!lneaq pa~npid I! 'suo!le>ohoid ~e2!pel

UI 'ruaql ql!m aSeSua 01 lamap lo lam aql aSualleq> daql pue 'papua-uado ueq~ iaqlex .panslnd I! Su!ueam jo lapow aql jo le!lua~od lly aql 8u!z!~eai jo

pue len~da>uo> an suZ!sap s,l!a~ '(1 1.z a1nZy) o!pw e ioj uZ!sap 1aq1oue 'loo0 lioqs paddols y~om ywlquw-~ aq~ 'sixa~ pue s>!ls!nZu!l u! Isaialu! ue a~!dsaa

IIDIUS U! se 'dlain~sqo a1ow or op Xaq~ raru!i iaqlo IV .1auZ!sap aql jo d!qsioq~ ixa~ re uS!saa

-ne aql qSno1ql anleh a~!nb>z Inq anph >!su!i~u! a111!l aheq sle!ia1eur aq~ :xoq e

u! saZeyxd ale so!pw 11e '"41 12ej aq~ jo uo!ssaidxa pal!I e '(01'~ anSy) o!pq .Ie!l!LUejun

au~pfi~nxog~nod u! se Yl1eal> s!ql op sam!laruos daq~ ,sa!Zo[ouq2a1 2!uoli>ala pus a3uw1s sem I! j! UO!IEZ!IEIOI Is!sai oi uo!lx~y dluo ppo~ ue 2!1uaq1ne leql

dq inoqe ~qZnolq s~>a!qo oi d!qsuo!~elai Bu!Zueq> mo ssaidxa daq~ pue 's2!uoii alolfi ouiipy alopoaqL puy .uo!lel!ru!sse Su!qu!qlun ueq~ iaqlw uo!le!>aid

-2ala jo a8e aql u! sl>a!qo lnoqe sna!qo ale daqL .ool slapour len1da2uo> 1no -de pamioju! ioj suo!i!puo2 aql Zu!dolahap ,:12ajjg-y,, aql I! pamial aH .uo!l

jo alnleu aleqap aql jo m spu!mai hi9 se 'ain~eu i!aql jo lied p!luas -2e utlunq q3nolq1 a3ueq~ jo alqede2 os pue 'apem-usru 'leJ!~olr!q lnq pnl~u

-sa ue s! s!ql s~saZZns wey>eqL .deaq~ pue lua!suwl uraas qiom s!q jo aseqd s!ql pue leu1ala IOU ale I!laqu! daq~ aelnruloj le!ms pue suo!lnl!lsu! aqi 1eq1 aiefie

urolj sl>npold ]soy .sl>a!qo >!uoinala jo ainleu >!laqisae aql Zu!ioldxa ~>a!oid ruaqi aqeru pue a>ua!pne aq~ aleua!Ie 01 IqJaia lloliaa Xq pam %sm 'umouyun aql pue n!l!qun aql q~!m ialuno2ua ue Zu!snju! 'ssauaZuw~s jo 12ajja aqL

.maql uodn pu!ru aq~ josuo!iwado aq~ jo ~uapuxlapu!'saqasmaq~ se sna!qoaqi

uy3eq~) ,,punsse IOU an I! laho uo!isu!mop pue ~0~11~02 Inq 'd8o[ouq2ai jo jo uo!i=!2a1dde aqi d[dm!s Inq pu!ru jo alws le2!1dpue us IOU Su!ueaw ,;h!r!a

Su!puels1apun jo aal3ap e aago aH .ah!l>a!qo aql IOU r! h!inxs . . . swalsds ->a!qo,, se ssauaZuw~s s!ql 01 slajai 'Zu!pl!nq u! d~!genb s!qi Su!1o~dxa(su!Z!~0

~ajnduros jo am jo ssaso~d aql s! MOU YIOM r!aql jo msoj a91 'dueqsna ~oj '.%a) sauaq>s heu!S~ur! pa~npold seq oqm I>al!qxe ue 'spo~ maqqq

Thestructure of a practical chair is a main mutine; the program generates variants, Splitting legs in two, twisting and stretching elements.

Figure 2.U In Forbidden FruiLr (1991), Masaki Fullhala regards these computer graphic Imager as "virtual fruit he Ir forbidden to hold."

splitting legs inro two, misting and stretching elements. The designer simply

edits, making selecrions and adjusting them to ensure they function as free- standing chairs. To Itie's delight, the addition of a number or rwo to the pro- An ultraviolet beam traces forms in a photosensitive resin that solidifies on con-

g- can radically change the structure. He uses the compurer as an extension tact with the light, creating translucent representations of computer data. His

of his consciousness: "My thought processes externalised in the form of a chair, introduction claims that photography has generated aspecial "mental software"

which are in turn output as a terminal device 'chair."' that is exploited by compurer graphics. Interested in going beyond rhis to dis-

Irie applied this thinking co his work as an industrial designer with a large cover new potenrials for computer graphics, Fujihara transports forms from the

housing manufacturer. In his view each company has a "guiding will' program screen into the here and now, usinga process very differenr from classical modes

lor main routine. When one understands this progam, it is possible to write of making pictures and sculptures. He articulates data to edit form, using a tree

"bugs" into LC, generating objecrs that are neither the familiar output of large structure to represent the process. On a whim, he returns to points, suddenly

/corporations nor the singular expression of the designer as author, bur a new, turning, constantly producing the tree map of his explorations from which 1 technologically mediated collaboration between designer as virus and industry grows "the virtual fruit he is forbidden to hold."'

! as program.

Fujihata (1991) responds to Tokyo's unique mixture of immaterial and ma- Functional Estrangement

rerial culture through an unconventional and conceptual form of industrial de- The objects Itie and Fujihata produce focus attention on the design process.

sign. Forbr&en Frui ts realizes computer visions (figure 2.13), using a CAD They do not challenge the way we experience reality. To provide conditions

system designed for industrial designers and linked to a model-making system. where users can be provoked to reflect on rheir everyday experience ofelectronic

Chaptor 2 llnlhumdn Fact~rs

objects, it is necessary to go beyond forms ofestnngement grounded in the vi-

sual and instead explore the aesthetics of use grounded in funcdonaliry, turn- ing to a form ofstnngeness that lends the object a purposefulness. This engages

the viewer or user very differently than the relatively arbitnry results of Itie or Fujihara, the crude inretptetations and explanarions offered through the well- mannered and facile metaphors of mainstream design, or the soft cybernetics of Para-functi~nality: The Aesthetics of Use the human factors community. This strangeness is found in rhe category of "gadget" that includes antique scientific instruments and philosophical toys,

1 affirming them, take on a critical function. Such electronic objects would be

This chapter reviews projects from art, architecture, and design that exemplify

1 Although transparency might improve efficiency and performance, it limits the functional estrangement I call "pan-functionality:' The term means here a

ak ' the potential richness of our engagement with the emerging electronic envl- form of design where function is used to encourage reflection on how electronic

products condition our behavior. The prefix "para-" suggests that such design is

within the realms of utility but attempo togo beyond conventional definitions

of functionalism to include ?he poetic.

tivity to the values and ideas this environment embodies. This could be done

, in a number of ways, of which the most p r o m ~ s i n ~ is a form of functional es- Eccentric Objects: Para-functionality and Non-design

rrangement: "pan-functionaliq." This quality, common to certain types of Some naive, curious, or eccentric objects, outside the world of conventional de- ---.. . -

gadget, is the subject of the nexr chapter, which reviews projects and objeco sign, unintentionally embody provocative or poetic qualities char most product

that work in this way and explores how para-functionality could be applied to designs, even those intended to provoke, seldom achieve. Although industrial

electronic objects. designers play a part in designing instruments of death (weapons) and pleasure (sex aids) these extreme a r m of material culrure rarely enter design discourse. Yet Jack Kevotkian'sSuic~de Mllrhine, a powerful "unofficial" design that mate- rializes complex issues of law, ethics, and self-determination, shows how an in- dustrial invention can be aform ofcriticism (figure 3.1). Critical ofalegal system

that outlaws euthanasia, Kevorkian has his machine to overcome this. Its am- biguous status between prorotype and product makes it more disturbing than

pure artworks by blurring boundaries between the everydayness of industrial production and the fictional world of ideas. It suggests a role for design objeco

as discourse where functionality can be used to criticize the limio that products impose on our actions.

their atrenrion coward cities and urban environments chat were far from optimal, sug- the grasping of an architectural composition and irs sophisticated allegories of form."

gerted ro me rhar rhere musr be romerhing beyond rhe optimal. The idea of a posr- A. Branzi. The Hor Ho,rrc, 97-98.

oprimal objecr could rescue design objecrs concerned with ideas, from the clurches of the arc world, while maintaining a relacionship ro design. 2 (1n)human Factors

2. For moreon the onslysisofobjecrr as commodities, see A. Appadurai. "Inrroducrion: 1. For an excellent cririqueofproducr semanrics,seeA. Richardson,"TheDearh of rhc

Commodiries and the Poliricr ofvalue."

3. "Scientific rheorier haveas rheir aim or g o d succerrful manipularion of rhc external 2. For asummary ofJohn Dewey? views on aestheric experience in rermsof rccognirion

world: they have inrrrumenral use. If correcr, they enable the agenrs who have mastered and perception, see chaprer 4.

them ro cope effecrively wirh rhe environment and thus pursue rheir chosen ends rut- cersfully. Critical theories aim ar emanciparion and enlighrenmenr, ar making agents 3. Irieand Fujiharai approachessuperficially resemble char ofJohn Frazerwho har been

aware of hidden coercion, rheteby freeing them from that coercion and purring them in involved incomputer-generated form and srructuresince rheearly 1760s. Likemany ex-

a poririon ro derermine where rheir rrue inrerests lie." R. Geurr. Tht ldu d o Crirrrfll ploarions of autogenerarive models, especially in the field of arrificial life. Fmer ' s in-

T h r q 55-56. ventions rarely move beyond the screen into physical space, alrhough rheir formation

often responds rodara, such ar environmentalconditions, from sources ourside the com-

4. '"Electronsore rhermallesr of rhere parricles and each one carries the smallest amount purer. See J . F m e r , T h m u VII. An E~olurionor~ Archire7,irr.

of negative elecrriciry. In mosr marerials and especially in g d insulaton like glass or plasrics electtonr are held firmly in place by heavier, posirively charged protons. Some 3 Para-functionality: The Aesthetics of Use

marerials, mainly metals, conrain elecrtons rhar have enough energy to move about al- lowing rhe electrons ro rrnnrporr elecrriciry from one plnce to another, making metals 1. Thisalsosuggcsrrownyofesrablishinganarchitecruralroleforrheobjecrinrhesenre

good conductors. When merals are heared, their elecrrons are given even mote energy. of Bernard Tschumi's "rhcrc is no space w~rhout evenr, no architecrure wirhout pro-

romcrimcs m u i n g rhem ro complerely break frce fmm rhe metal. If they nre freed in a gramme; the meaning ofarchirecrurc, its social relevance and irs formal invenrion, can-

vacuum whcrc rhcre is norhing for them tocollide with. they can beguided by elecrtic- not be dissociared from rhc cvcnrr char 'happen' in ir." 6. Trchumi, "The Discourse of

iry or magncrirm ro form conrrolled elecrric currenr. This is the basic principle of the Evenrs," 17.

valve and rhc rarhode ray rube:' R. Bridgman. Elrrrmnrrr. 26. 2. "The Japanese word 'Chindogu' literally means an odd or discorred cool-a fairhful

5. Thin films of polymer marerial in which parricles ofdoped zinc sulphide have been representation ofa plan char doern'r quire cur rhe murtard . . .they are pcoducrs char we

absorbed, and which, inrerred into a sandwich of ocher materials and sub- believe we wanr-if nor need-rhe minure we see rhem. They are gadgerr char prom-

jccred ro alrcrnaring currenr, emir uniform luminoriry across their entire surface. ise rogive us somerhing,and i t is only ar recondor rhirdglance rhar we rcalire char rheir

gift is undone by rhar which rhcy rake away." K. Kawskami, ID1 Unruclrrr Japanerr In-

6. Thcrc rransform mechanical impulses into elecrric tmpulres or vice vena and are ~*nriom. 6-7.

widcly used to produce sensors, acruarorr, microphones, and loudspeaken. 3. Thackara, Duignojrrr Modrmirm, 22.

7. A group of rheorctical and design cxpetimenrr carried out by Andrea Branzi and Clino Trini Casrelli during rhe mid-1770s. Emphasis was placed on "experiences of 4. 1 refer to rhoseculrural mechanisms char marginalize alrernarives ro rhe presenr, even

space chat are nor direcrly assimilable ro rhe consrituenr qualirier ofan environment or when economicnlly and technically fearible, as utopian and "unrealisric:'

an objecr, but are linked instead wirh rhe perceprion ofspace, i.e. with its 'bod-

ily' consumprion. In chis way new atrenrion war paid ro rhe u e r ' s real rensiriviry ofper- 5. This project is of personal inreresr ro me because a similar project, rhe Noirnorr

ccprion, bound upmoreclosely wirh the direcr conrumprion ofsoft structures rhanwirh (1989) marked my first experience of designing in a critical way while working for a

Notes to Pager 3-16 N o l e l to Paper 2 9 4 0