Impact of Design, Establishment of Knowledge: The Exchange Between the Design Project and the Conceptual Framework of the City

Abstract

A design is based on knowledge, intuition and skill, which are embedded in the process, but are only partially communicated by the results for further development. This paper investigates in what manner design can perform as an instrument of research. As a case study, design work performed by the author in an academic environment, having Hanoi as the locus of investigation, illustrates how architectural questioning exceeds the process of establishing proof to make the case for a design approach, but moreover, can establish scientifically exchangeable knowledge. Primarily, the studio established a vision for urban development, consolidated within a number of strategic projects. In doing so, it devised an urban paradigm that was tested with design proposals. Secondly, the studio results are involved in a critical review of underlying theoretical concepts. If a design approach is not able to prove the hypothesis defined in an urban vision, the applied framework experiences a crisis as defined by Thomas S. Kuhn. Considering that a framework is established by theory, and design tools are developed and applied within practice, research by design reflects upon both aspects. This leads to an explanation of urban phenomena defined within the discipline. As a research practice, the design addresses lacunas, resulting either in an affirmation or a collapse – a crisis – of the theoretical framework. The specific case of Hanoi asked for the juxtaposition of ‘postmetropolitan’ theory focused on the city territory and theory of ‘everydayness,’ analysing small scale spatial production. Thus, the findings of this study present an approach that considers the interaction between the fragment and the overview.