In this paper I examine the way that one particular technology, multimedia, impacts upon the design experience. I show how it affects design products and processes insofar as it is caught up in the metaphors we use in structuring design tasks. But this influence is far from deterministic. Metaphors entail various oppositions, the resolution of which sets the problems for the designer in the particular design situation. I also present pertinent theories about the workings of metaphor and describe the experience of using multimedia in a teaching situation in a design studio.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aristotle, 1968Poetics Ed. LucasD W, (Oxford University Press, Oxford).
2.
BarkerJTuckerR N, 1990The Interactive Learning Revolution: Multimedia in Education and Training (Kogan Page, London).
3.
BenediktM, 1991, “Introduction”, in Cyberspace: First Steps Ed. BenediktM, (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA) pp 2–25.
4.
BenjaminW, 1969, “The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction”, in Illumination Ed. ArendtH, (Schocken Books, New York) pp 217–251.
5.
BlackM, 1979, “More about metaphor”, in Metaphor and Thought Ed. OrtonyA, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge) pp 19–43.
6.
BorgmanA, 1987, “The question of Heidegger and technology: A critical review of the literature”Philosophy Today3197–194.
7.
BrandS, 1987Media Lab: Inventing the Future at MIT (Viking, New York).
8.
CareyJ W, 1989Communication as Culture: Essays on Media and Society (Routledge, London).
9.
CarterK, 1993, “Computer-aided design: Back to the drawing board”, technical report EPC-1993-107, EuroPARC, Rank Xerox, Cambridge, UK.
10.
CoyneR D, 1992, “The role of metaphor in understanding computers in design”, in Proceedings of ACADIA (Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture) Eds KensakK MNobleD, ACADIA, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, pp 3–11.
11.
CoyneR D, 1994a, “Heidegger and virtual reality: The implications of Heidegger's thinking for computer representations”Leonardo27(1) 65–73.
12.
CoyneR D, 1994b, “Metaphor and the impact of computers on organisations”Hermes: Review Sciences et Techniques de la Conception—Journal of Design Sciences and Technology3119–135.
13.
CoyneR D, 1995Designing Information Technology in the Postmodern Age: From Method to Metaphor (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA).
14.
CoyneR DSnodgrassA B, 1992, “Rescuing CAD from rationalism”Design Studies14100–123.
15.
CoyneR DMcLaughlinSNewtonS, 1996, “Information technology and praxis: A survey of computers in design practice”Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design forthcoming.
16.
CoyneR DSnodgrassA BMartinD, 1994, “Metaphors in the design studio”Journal of Architectural Education48113–125.
17.
CuffD, 1991Architecture: The Story of Practice (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA).
18.
DavidsonD, 1979, “What metaphors mean”, in On Metaphor Ed. SacksS, (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL) pp 29–45.
19.
DerridaJ, 1982, “White mythology: Metaphor in the text of philosophy”, in Margins of Philosophy translated by BassA, (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL) pp 207–271.
20.
DerridaJ, 1988Limited Inc. (North West University Press, Evanston, IL).
21.
FoucaultM, 1984The Foucault Reader: An Introduction to Foucault's Thought Ed. RabinowP, (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx).
22.
GadamerH-G, 1975Truth and Method (Sheed Ward, London).
23.
GarfinkelH, 1967Studies in Ethnomethodology (Polity Press, Cambridge).
24.
GoodmanD, 1988The Complete Hypercard Handbook (Bantam Books, New York).
HeideggerM, 1977The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays translated by LovittW, (Harper and Row, New York).
27.
HiltzS RTuroffM, 1993The Network Nation: Human Communication Via Computer (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA).
28.
JohnsonM, 1987The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination and Reason (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL).
29.
KayA, 1987, “Doing with images makes symbols: Communicating with computers”, in Industry Leaders in Computer Science videotape series, Apple Computers Inc., University Video Communications, Stanford, CA.
30.
LakoffG, 1987Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal about the Mind (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL).
31.
LaurelB, 1991Computers as Theatre (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA).
32.
McLuhanM, 1962The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (University of Toronto Press, Toronto).
33.
MitchellW JMcCulloughM, 1992Digital Design Media: A Handbook for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Urban Designers (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA).
34.
RadfordA D, 1988Computers in Australian Architectural PracticesRAIA Education Division, Red Hill, Australia.
35.
RandA, 1972The Fountainhead (Grafton, London).
36.
RheingoldH, 1993The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA).
37.
RicoeurP, 1977The Rule of Metaphor translated by CzernyR, with McLaughlinKKostelloJ, (Routledge and Kegan Paul, London).
38.
RyleG, 1963Concept of Mind (Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middx).
39.
SchònD, 1963Displacement of Concepts (Tavistock Publications, Andover, Hants).
40.
ShannonCWeaverW, 1971The Mathematical Theory of Communication (University of Illinois Press, Champaign, IL).
41.
SnodgrassA BCoyneR D, 1992, “Models, metaphors and the hermeneutics of designing”Design Issues9(1) 56–74.
42.
StultsR, 1988, “Experimental uses of video to support design activities”, report SSL-89-19 [P89-00019], Xerox Corporation, Palo Alto Research Center, Palo Alto, CA.
43.
TanMTehR, (Eds), 1995Proceedings of CAAD Futures 95: The Global Design Studio (School of Architecture, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, 0511, Singapore).
44.
TurbayneC M, 1970The Myth of Metaphor (University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, SC).
45.
TurkleS, 1984The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit (Simon and Schuster, New York).
