In this paper we bring together two notions: SIRN (synergetic interrepresentation network) that was originally developed as a complexity theory approach to cognition, cognitive mapping, and urban dynamics; and DT (design thinking) which is a field of research that studies the general process of design as it is implemented in domains such as engineering, architecture, urban design, crafts, and art. In the paper we suggest how a SIRN view can contribute to DT, and specifically to urban design—dealing with large-scale collective artifacts. We conclude by presenting a research agenda that illustrates and exemplifies SIRN's potential to participate in the discourse on some central DT issues.
AlexanderC, 1971, “The state of the art in design methods”DMG Newsletters5(3) 3–7
2.
AlexiouKJohnsonJZamenopoulosT, 2009Embracing Complexity in Design (Routledge, Oxford)
3.
ArthurW B, 1994, “Inductive reasoning and bounded rationality”The American Economic Review84406–411
4.
BattyM, 2005Cities and Complexity (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
5.
BattyM, 2010, “Complexity in city systems: Understanding, evolution, and design”, in A Planners Meeting with Complexity Eds de RooGSilvaE A (Ashgate, Aldershot, Hants) pp 99–121
6.
BroadbentJ, 2003, “Generations in design methodology”The Design Journal61–13
7.
BuchananR, 1992, “Wicked problems in design thinking”Design Issues85–21
8.
Cavalli-SforzaL LFeldmanM W, 1981Cultural Transmission and Evolution: A Quantitative Approach (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ)
9.
CrossN, 2007Designerly Ways of Knowing (Springer, Berlin)
10.
DarkeJ, 1979, “The primary generator and the design process”Design Studies136–44
11.
de JongT Mvan der VoordtD J M (Eds), 2002Ways to Study (Delft University Press, Delft)
12.
DongA, 2010, “Biological first principles for design competence”Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing24455–466
13.
DongACollier-BakerESuddendorfT, 2010, “Animal innovation: A window into design thinking”, in DTRS 8 Interpreting Design Thinking Eds DorstKStewartSStaundingerIPatonBDongA (DAB Documents, Sydney) pp 121–130
14.
DorstK, 2003, “The problem of the design problem”, in Expertise in Design—Design Thinking Research Symposium 6 Eds CrossNEdmondsE (Creativity and Cognition Studios Press, Sydney) pp 135–147
15.
DorstKCrossN, 2001, “Creativity in the design process: Co-evolution of problem-solution”Design Studies22425–437
16.
DorstKVermaasP E, 2005, “John Gero's function-behavior-structure model of designing: A critical analysis”Research in Engineering Design1617–26
17.
FreemanW J, 1999How Brains Make Up Their Minds (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London)
18.
GeorgeR V, 1997, “A procedural explanation for contemporary urban design”Journal of Urban Design2143–161
GoldschmidtG, 1991, “The dialectics of sketching”Creativity Research Journal4123–143
21.
HakenH, 1981The Science of Structure: Synergetics (Nostrand Reinhold, New York)
22.
HakenH, 1983Synergetics: An Introduction: Nonequilibrium Phase Transitions and Self-Organization in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology (Springer, Berlin)
23.
HakenH, 1996Principles of Brain Functioning: A Synergetic Approach to Brain Activity, Behavior, and Cognition (Springer, Berlin)
24.
HakenHPortugaliJ, 1996, “Synergetics, inter-representation networks and cognitive maps”, in The Construction of Cognitive Maps Ed. PortugaliJ (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht) pp 45–67
25.
HeathT, 1984Method in Architecture (John Wiley, Chichester, Sussex)
26.
HillierB, 1996Space is the Machine: A Configurational Theory of Architecture (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
27.
HillierBHansonJ, 1984The Social Logic of Space (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
28.
JohnsonM, 1987The Body in the Mind: The Bodily Basis of Meaning, Imagination, and Reason (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL)
29.
JonesJ C, 1970Design Methods (John Wiley, New York)
30.
KelsoJ A S, 1995Dynamic Patterns: The Self-organization of Brain and Behavior (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
31.
LakoffG, 1987Women, Fire and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL)
32.
LawsonB, 1980How Designers Think: The Design Process Demystified (Architectural Press, Amsterdam)
33.
MillerG A, 1956, “The magical number seven, plus or minus two”The Psychological Review6381–97
34.
NormanD A, 1988The Design of Everyday Things (Basic Books, New York)
35.
PortugaliJ, 1996, “Inter-representation networks and cognitive maps”, in The Construction of Cognitive Maps Ed. PortugaliJ (Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht) pp 11–43
36.
PortugaliJ, 2000Self-organization and the City (Springer, Berlin)
37.
PortugaliJ, 2002, “The seven basic propositions of SIRN (synergetic inter-representation networks)”Nonlinear Phenomena in Complex Systems5428–444
38.
PortugaliJ, 2004, “Toward a cognitive approach to urban dynamics”Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design31589–613
39.
PortugaliJ, 2011Complexity, Cognition and the City (Springer, Berlin)
40.
PortugaliJTanEMeyerV JStolkE H, 2012Complexity Theories of Cities Have Come of Age (Springer, Berlin)
41.
RittelH W JWebberM M, 1973, “Dilemmas in a general theory of planning”Policy Sciences4155–169
42.
RobbinsPAydedeM, 2009The Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge)
SchönD A, 1983The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (Basic Books, New York)
45.
SchönD A, 1987Educating the Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA)
46.
SimonH, 1955, “A behavior model of rational choice”The Quarterly Journal of Economics6999–118
47.
SimonH, 1996The Sciences of the Artificial3rd edition (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
48.
StolkE H, 2005, “Onderste Boven”, MSc thesis, Department of Urbanism, Delft University of Technology, Delft
49.
StolkE HPortugaliJ, 2012, “A SIRN view on urban design — the case of Almere Hout”, in Complexity Theories of Cities Have Come of Age Eds PortugaliJTanEMeyerV JStolkE H (Springer, Berlin) pp 391–412
50.
SuwaMTverskyB, 2002, “External representations contribute to the dynamic construction of ideas”, in Diagrams 2002 Eds HegartyMMeyerBNarayananHari N (Springer, Berlin) pp 341–343
51.
TanEPortugaliJ, 2012, “The responsive city design game”, in Complexity Theories of Cities Have Come of Age Eds PortugaliJTanEMeyerV JStolkE H (Springer, Berlin) pp 369–390
52.
ThagardPStewartT C, 2011, “The AHA! experience: Creativity through emergent binding in neural networks”Cognitive Science351–11
53.
ThelenESmithL B, 1994A Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
54.
TverskyBSuwaM, 2009, “Thinking with sketches”, in Tools for Innovation Ed. MarkmanA (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 75–84
55.
TzonisA, 2004Santiago Calatrava: The Complete Works (Rizzoli, New York)
56.
VarelaF JThompsonERoschE, 1991The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
