Margolin on Independent Design

Found this lovely passage where Victor Margolin, professor of design history at the University of Illinois, describes the motivations behind "independent design" in his essay The Product Milieu and Social Action.

Margolin (1995, p. 131-132) writes:

" There are numerous reasons why social actors will do things for themselves rather than rely on the market place:

1. Cost: Manufactured products cost money. The customer pays for the labor, the materials, and the producer's profit. Doing things for oneself can save money, whether this entails building one's own furniture or cooking rather than eating out or buying frozen meals.

2. Satisfaction: A social actor may get more satisfaction out of doing something for herself or himself. In the late nineteenth century William Morris wrote about the pleasures of making things and based his whole social philosophy on this premise. He criticized the "cheap and nasty" factor-made goods of his time and urged a return to individual craftmanship as a way of improving products. Today many people design their own homes, customize their cars, or program their own software because they believe that what they produce themselves will be more satisfying than what they can buy.

3. Empowerment: People can feel more in control of their lives and confident of their own capabilities by doing things for themselves. Such confidence enables them to assert their own sense of individual more fully.

4. Self-reliance: A political stance that is based on the will to reduce one's dependence on civil society for the purpose of avoiding participation in an alien value system or living according to a different one. This can take the form of specific activities or an almost complete lifestyle. It was the intention of nineteenth century utopian communities such as the Shakers to design products according to their own values. Today the Amish in the United States try to limit their dependence on the market place as well as their compliance with the federal and state laws and social policies with which they disagree. They still use horses and buggies as means of transportation, for example.

5. Self-actualization: Designing and making things is a form of self-fullfillment that is highly valued by some people. Just as someone may become a professional designer because it is a satisfying activitiy and an avenue of self development, so can social actors design for themselves according to the same premises. One aspect of this is self-representation, the motivation to see oneself in dress and display, social spaces, decorative arts, and other forms. A classic example of self-representation is the Watts Towers in Los Angeles, which were designed by Simon Rodia over a period of many years. Today they stand as a testament to Rodia's imaginative vision and his will and ability to complete such a large project on his own.

6. To satisfy a social need: People design projects to accomplish social goals. In the United States, for example, a vast amount of social wellfare work is done independently of professional agencies. Thousands of social projects are designed and conducted by non-professionals."

Reference: Buchanan & Margolin (1995) Discovering Design. Explorations in Design Studies. The University of Chicago Press Ltd.

Comments

[nicolas]

Very interesting, even further than Michel de Certeau!

[Ulla-Maaria]

Nicolas,
Thank you for reminding me about Michel de Certeau! Have you used his work? The Practice of Everyday Life?