Case Study on Transition Design: Speculation of Life in 2050 from Kyoto (Part 1)
In my previous article, I announced that I would research “Super Comprehensive” Human-Centered Design as a visiting design researcher at Kyoto Design Lab in Japan during this Summer 2019.
This article summarizes the contents of the final participatory session with Prof. Daijiro Mizuno on 8th Aug.
I speculated life in 2050 from the historical city Kyoto using a new design theory called Transition Design, which was proposed by the Department of Design at Carnegie Mellon University in 2015. I introduce this case as the first practice of Transition Design in Japan.
This session was a three-hour participatory format. In the participatory work, audiences gained an understanding of concepts such as “building a holarchy model” and “visioning from the past slow knowledge” that is the core concept of Transition Design.
At the same time, we discussed the usage of Transition Design in commercial business projects and the redefinition of the word “Designer.”
Background: Current Design Horizon
The word “design” goes beyond traditional product and communication categories and becomes more social such as experiences, services, and social innovations. Furthermore, it will be extended to comprehensive/interdisciplinary layers such as culture, policy, and society.
Also, the purpose of the design is not only solving the problem, which is just in front of us. Speculative Design is the new field of design which aims to propose problems of the future introduced in the book Speculative Everything. Additionally, according to the rise of demand to make planetary visions such as the SDGs, how to deal with wicked problems and bridge to the sustainable future is starting to become a big topic for designers in the 21st century.
Based on these two axes, I organized current horizons in design theory. Especially I originally have been paid attention to Transition Design, which declares to design people’s values on a societal scale and conducted it in the context of Kyoto. This ultra-large-scale design theory suggests a new role of the designer in the 21st Century as the result of the expansion of the scope of design.
Theory: Transition design proposed by CMU
Transition Design was introduced in 2015 by the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Department of Design in the United States to design the transition of societal values for wicked planetary problems. They are publishing papers and distributing course materials online strategically.
On the other hand, this theory mainly mentions about interdisciplinary attitudes and mindsets. And practical design tools and research methods are still under development because it is vast and complex design theory. Even in the US, there are still few specific case studies. Therefore, it was necessary to proceed with the project in Kyoto with developing practical tools by myself.
First of all, I read and understood the theory of Transition Design, and I interpreted and defined it as a practical design process as follows. I share some essential concepts of Transition Design in the following section.
1. Mapping Wicked Problem
Transition Design tackles global and planetary complex problems (Wicked Problems) such as climate change, poverty, and immigration problems. It designs how people’s values and lifestyles should change in response to societal issues which cannot be completely solved with a single solution.
2. Mapping Multi-Level Perspective
We understand that various fields, layers, and elements are interrelated with the wicked problem in activity 1. In this following activity, we take care of the concept of Holarchy where all components are both a part and a whole.
We investigate the root causes of problems and correlations of them in multiple perspectives based on the concept that all elements from the molecular level to the planetary level have holarchical interdependencies.
The word “acupuncturist” appears in the Transition Design theory. The transition designer’s role is to discover and stimulate the stagnant elements while keeping the whole system in mind. It’s like acupuncturists resolve the blood flow and muscle tension of the entire body when stimulating a certain point.
Transition Design theory proposes the 2D paper and post-it work to do the activity. However, in this session in Kyoto, I tried to capture this multi-layered socio-technical system using the 3D model.
I developed a tangible 3D participatory research tool in collaboration with industrial design students at the Kyoto Institute of Technology. I tried this experimental method in the session probably as the world’s first case (details in the next article).
3. Visioning Future Lifestyle
Once the socio-technical system and the values of people behind it are clarified from a macro and micro perspective, we envision ideal lifestyles in 2050 in which wicked problems no longer exist.
If I mention two characteristics of Transition Design, one is to capture changes and transitions in people’s values rather than technology. Why did the problem occur, and why are people looking for the prevalent service now? Transition Design speculates future values from these insights. The objective is designing WHY not designing HOW. Drawing a scenario is an attempt to increase the resolution of the future from the level of “slogans” and “keywords.”
The other is to see the past as well as the present and future. Contrary to the term “Fast Knowledge,” which aims to increase commercial profit, Prof. David Orr, an environmental scientist, proposed the concept “Slow Knowledge,” which is a core concept in Transition Design. It utilizes traditions, the place-based way of life, and the wisdom for community prosperity which has been preserved for hundreds and thousands of years. It is an idea to believe in power, spirit, and wisdom of humanity, and these meaningful humane values will undoubtedly lead to the future.
4. Backcasting
Transition Design does not end with envisioning an ideal future but conducts backcasting to think what to do now and make an action plan.
Transition Design explains it is important that the cycle of executing the projects returned from the future, monitoring the results, and correcting the vision continuously.
The theory also mentions that it sometimes takes 10 or more years until results appear in shape, so we discussed how to design and manage such ultra-long-term projects in the session in Kyoto. There are likely similar discussions in areas such as the circular economy and community design.
Next Article: Practice in Kyoto
The above is what is said in the theory of Transition Design. Based on this theory, I conducted the Transition Design project in Kyoto, and I proposed multiple visions through performance and products as a result of speculation of life in 2050 from Kyoto.
Next time, I would like to tell you what kind of output I produced as a result of practice and share the discussion about the prospects of Transition Design and designers in the 21st Century.
written by Masaki Iwabuchi, 2019 Design Researcher in Residence at KYOTO Design Lab, Kyoto Institute of Technology
