The doctoral thesis Architectural Prototypes II: Reformations, Speculations and Strategies within the Digital Design Field was defended at KTH School of Architecture in Stockholm on June 8th 2012 with opponent Mette Ramsgard Thomsen (PhD, Professor and Head of CITA, Copenhagen). The research studies were conducted at the Division for Project Communication, with thesis subject Architecture.
Opponent: Professor Mette Ramsgard Thomsen (PhD, Head of CITA, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademis Skoler for Arkitektur, Design og Konservering – Arkitektskolen, Copenhagen).
Main advisor: Professor Örjan Wikforss, Project Communication, KTH
Secondary advisor: Professor Katja Tollmar Grillner, KTH School of Architecture.
The thesis is available on-line in pdf-format, and can also be ordered directly from the author at 350 sek. Please contact jonas [at]runberger.net.
Online version: Architectural Prototypes II
Thesis abstract
This doctoral thesis is situated within the digital design field of architecture, and is a continuation of the licentiate thesis Architectural Prototypes: Modes of Design Development and Architectural Practice, presented at the KTH School of Architecture in 2008. The doctoral thesis investigates the current status of the digital design field of architecture, and identifies a number of related discourses. Within this field, it identifies a period of formation, which in recent years has turned into a process of reformation. It contributes to this ongoing reformation by proposing two alternate areas of future practice and research within the field. A speculative approach is considered to be important for a continued mode of exploration within the field, and is suggested as away to bring new scope to the digital design field. A number of key terms from the field of science fiction studies have been investigated to support the construction of a speculative framework for further development. A strategic approach is regarded as crucial to the way new design potentials that have emerged within the digital design field to be implemented into general architectural practice, and to further inform the field itself. Key concepts have been imported from the field of strategic management in the formulation of a framework for digital design strategies. The notion of the prototype, as explored in the previous licentiate thesis, resurfaces as a prototypical approach, which could be equally employed in the speculative approach and the strategic approach.
The doctoral thesis is also situated within the field of research-by-design, in the way architectural design projects have been facilitated as contextualized experiments, selected, documented and aligned in regard to terminology, and analyzed through a series of design project enquiries.
Keywords
Architecture, digital design field, reformations, prototypical approach, performance, affect, cognitive estrangement, extrapolation, design fiction, architecture fiction, speculative approaches, digital design tropes, parametric design, operational digital design strategies, design project enquiries
Graphic Design
The thesis design and format has been developed in collaboration with Ummocrono, where Nina Wollner has designed and produced the publication.
Sample Spreads
