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Abstract:
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Emergence is a well established though highly contested concept in science that is found in a
range of disciplines from biology and artificial life to physics and complexity. It is not in doubt
that emergence is of interest to other fields including design, though the manner of its relation to
this discipline is much less clear and its effect remains an open question.
This paper will argue that emergence has set in motion a shift in the way we understand design.
Building on the theoretical and philosophical resources provided by Gilles Deleuze (1994) and
Manuel Delanda (2002) in particular, emergence marks a reorientation in the techniques and
practices of designing, away from the specific designation of an objects qualities, towards the
specific designation of an environment in which the object’s qualities might emerge from a range
of potentialities. |
