The two pillars of design theory: Method of analysis and rhetoric

Since the 1960’s, there have been many initiatives for promoting theoretical understanding on design. However, in spite of definite progress, there are several puzzles and anomalies in the current theoretical landscape of design. We present an interpretation of the evolution of design theorizing that throws new light on these puzzles and anomalies. We contend that in the modern time, there have been two hidden inspirational sources for design theorizing, namely the method of analysis and rhetoric. As they concern different situations, their prescriptions in many ways differ. However, without explicit recourse to the sources, these mutually incompatible prescriptions, along with associated concepts and terms, have been mixed up in a confusing way. It is proposed that these two influences to design theory and practice have to be disentangled, to be able to act like two pillars supporting the phenomenon of designing. We hypothesize that actual design assignments require the mobilization of ideas and support from both pillar

Rhetoric and design

The relationship between rhetoric and design has been the subject of numerous scholarly publications in the last fifty years, but has not been addressed by scholars of engineering design. This paper argues that the relationship is important for theory and practice of design in all its varieties, principally by providing evidence from the literature that rhetoric and design share key characteristics. Both - are broadly applicable across subject matters - concern the particular and the probable - require invention and judgment, and - involve arrangement in space and time From ancient times through the Renaissance, rhetoric was a key element in education, and its methods were widely adapted to other arts, including design. Rhetoric's loss of status in modern times is explained, and its resurgence in the latter part of the 20th century is described through the works of three scholars that focus on the relationship between rhetoric and design. The conceptualization of these scholars is best represented in the view that rhetoric is design limited to words and design is rhetoric with an unlimited palette

Monitoring the environmental impact of mining in remote locations through remotely sensed data

Mining is an integral part of the development of many countries in the Asia-Pacific region and is associated with adverse environmental and social impacts. The monitoring of mining in remote locations is problematic due to difficulties of access. Satellite remote sensing is able to provide information on landscape transformation in a cost-effective way around large-scale mines. The PT Freeport Indonesia mine in Papua (Indonesia) is the world's largest copper-gold mine and previous studies have documented a range of impacts. A multi-temporal analysis of Landsat 5 imagery of the Freeport area was undertaken for the years between 1988 and 2004. Anthropogenic land cover changes were quantified by screen digitising polygons from three false colour composite images over this period to determine the area of forested land that had been cleared and the area that had been affected by mine-derived sediment transported by the Ajkwa River system. The results show that both settlement and sediment had radically altered land cover and together had led to a sixfold increase in the area of ultra-diverse lowland tropical rainforest cleared in the study area. The study highlights the utility of this method to monitor elements of the impact of large-scale mining and other extensive forms of resource exploitation such as deforestation in developing countries

Overcoming the Hurdle of First Cost: Action Research in Target Costing

Advocates of sustainable and evidence-based design initiatives argue that building owners can secure favorable internal rates of return when full life cycle building costs are considered. While the argument has merit, these decision-makers express concern about overcoming the hurdle of first cost. To reduce first cost, a number of lean construction practitioners are exploring a planning and design process called target costing. Target costing in construction is a collaborative cost management process that relies on business plan validation to determine what is to be delivered and what the client is willing and able to pay for a project--before establishing the allowable cost in order to spur innovation. Once a target cost has been established, the project is collaboratively designed to that target cost. This case study examines the target costing techniques used during the design of an 850,000 square foot (approximately 79,000 square meters) medical center. Qualitative and quantitative outcomes are explored, as well as implications for future projects

Collaboration in Design – Justification, Characteristics and Related Concepts

The purpose of this article is to understand the academic landscape on collaboration in design, its characteristics and related concepts for promoting collaboration within in the project based production systems. We aim to answer to the following three questions: How to define collaboration in design and why individuals need to collaborate during design? What characterizes effective collaboration in design? Which concepts support the development of collaboration in design? For shedding light on this subject, a literature review is conducted and applicability to Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry and project delivery are discussed. In this study, it was found that collaboration is a complex phenomenon, which explains the diversity of views and many complimentary concepts in organizational and design literature. Collaboration requires the management of material and knowledge boundaries, in order to develop common goals, processes and product. Lean construction concepts, methods and tools have helped the teams to develop collaborative design and construction practices

Bathymetric Artifacts in Sea Beam Data: How to Recognize Them and What Causes Them

Sea Beam multibeam bathymetric data have greatly advanced understanding of the deep seafloor. However, several types of bathymetric artifacts have been identified in Sea Beam\u27s contoured output. Surveys with many overlapping swaths and digital recording on magnetic tape of Sea Beam\u27s 16 acoustic returns made it possible to evaluate actual system performance. The artifacts are not due to the contouring algorithm used. Rather, they result from errors in echo detection and processing. These errors are due to internal factors such as side lobe interference, bottom-tracking gate malfunctions, or external interference from other sound sources (e.g., 3.5 kHz echo sounders or seismic sound sources). Although many artifacts are obviously spurious and would be disregarded, some (particularly the omega effects described in this paper) are more subtle and could mislead the unwary observer. Artifacts observed could be mistaken for volcanic constructs, abyssal hill trends, hydrothermal mounds, slump blocks, or channels and could seriously affect volcanic, tectonic, or sedimentological interpretations. Misinterpretation of these artifacts may result in positioning errors when seafloor bathymetry is used to navigate the ship. Considering these possible geological misinterpretations, a clear understanding of the Sea Beam system\u27s capabilities and limitations is deemed essential

Target value design: using collaboration and a lean approach to reduce construction cost

Target Costing is an effective management technique that has been used in manufacturing for decades to achieve cost predictability during new products development. Adoption of this technique promises benefits for the construction industry as it struggles to raise the number of successful outcomes and certainty of project delivery in terms of cost, quality and time. Target Value Design is a management approach that takes the best features of Target Costing and adapts them to the peculiarities of construction. In this paper the concept of Target Value Design is introduced based on the results of action research carried out on 12 construction projects in the USA. It has been shown that systemic application of Target Value Design leads to significant improvement of project performance – the final cost of projects was on average 15% less than market cost. The construction industry already has approaches that have similarities with elements of the Target Value Design process or uses the same terminology, e.g. Partnering and Target Cost Contracts, Cost planning, etc. Following an exploration of the similarities and differences Target Value Design is positioned as a form of Target Costing for construction that offers a more reliable route to successful projects outcomes

The relationship between the last planner® system and collaborative planning practice in UK construction

© 2017 Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify how the newly emerging UK practice of "collaborative planning" (CP) for construction project delivery aligns with the advocated principles of the global last planner system (LPS) of production planning and control. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed, qualitative, exploratory approach was adopted for the study. This entailed qualitative data through three techniques, namely: semi-structured interviews, documents analysis, and structured observation. In total, 30 in-depth interviews were conducted over a 12 month period with lean construction consultants, clients, main contractors, and subcontractors drawn from the building, highways and infrastructure and rail sector. In all, 15 projects were visited where practices were observed. Findings: The study reveals that the current practice of CP in the UK partially aligns with the LPS principles. Where practitioners have heard of the LPS they believe it to be the same practice as CP. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to 30 interviews, observation of 15 projects and document analysis. The aim of the study is not to generalise the findings, however, since the study examined top construction companies and practitioners in the UK and the findings were consistent across the sample, some conclusions could be made. The study is also limited to examining the construction phase only, future studies should incorporate the design phase. Practical implications: A clear identification of the elements of current practice compared to the components of the LPS provides a contribution to the future practice of project production planning and management in the construction industry. Social implications: The study highlights a continuing resistance to collaboration within the industry. This resistance is subtly embedded within implemented practices even though they are based on collaborative working for their success. Originality/value: This is among the first studies in the UK that comprehensively examines and reports the application of LPS/CP practice in construction across the major construction sectors. Future studies could build on the findings from this work to develop an approach/methodology to improve the current practice.Published versio

IS THE LAST PLANNER SYSTEM APPLICABLE TO DESIGN? A CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT The Last Planner TM system has been successfully implemented in construction to increase the reliability of planning, improve production performance, and create a predictable workflow. However, some practitioners question the function of the Last Planner TM system during design especially that design processes involve iterations and circular chains of interaction between different parties. The purpose of this paper is to report on research comprising the application of Last Planner TM system in design. The paper describes the developments and adjustments introduced to the Last Planner TM system to better suit design processes on a health care project in North America. Novel standardized planning practices used on the project are reported and analyzed. The study findings suggest that the Last Planner TM system principles account for both deliberative and situated action models. On one hand, deliberative planning 4 takes place at the master and phase scheduling level where a premeditated rigid course of action is undertaken in setting milestones and identifying handoffs. On the other hand, situated planning is performed at the lookahead planning and weekly work planning stages where planning takes into account changes in the environment and the uncertainty affecting inputs, processes, and outputs of design activities. KEY WORDS Lean design, last planner tm system, lookahead planning, production control, lean construction

Building an Interdisciplinary Research Program in Water Conservation: Approach, Preliminary Findings, and Next Steps

Effective urban water conservation programs must harness a synergy of new technologies, public policies, social cost pricing, information dissemination, citizen engagement, and coordinated actions across decision making scales. Together, these factors affect the volume of water an individual user ultimately saves and the overall success of a conservation program or programs. Over the past 18 months, we have started building an interdisciplinary research program in urban water conservation to quantify and assess the effects of these interconnected factors to motivate citizen engagement. We have interviewed water utility managers and conservation coordinators across the state of Utah, held focus groups with different water user groups, and tested our ability to recruit households into a future, multi-year water conservation study. Preliminary results suggest: Nearly all households we recruited agreed to enroll in the future study; Differences in enrollment were statistically insignificant across the different methods we used to interact with participants; and, Participants expressed interest in a broad range of information, technology, financial, and community conservation programs. In developing our research program, we have also identified the importance of: Broadly conceiving motivators, contexts, and scales (e.g. household or community) that may influence water use and conservation behavior; Developing integrated cyber-infrastructure and computing capabilities to collect and organize data, process it into site-specific, contextualized information, share it as feedback with participants, and subsequently measure its effects; Differentiating household capacity to conserve (comparing water use to need) from stated willingness-to-conserve and conservation actions; Involving household participants as collaborators through participatory action research; Training and delegating responsibilities to graduate student researchers; and, Collaborating with local water utilities. We are pursuing funding to run a large, multi-year study that will allow us to investigate the separate and cumulative effects of various water conservation programs on household water use. As part of the study, we also seek to test whether presenting households with estimates of their capacity to conserve can effectively motivate willingness-toconserve and conservation actions. The study will elucidate the contextualized factors that shape residential water use and people’s conservation actions