Supporting Studio Culture in Design Research

Critical Analysis

In this text, the author describes the unique nature of the Umeå Design Research Group’s studio space, and identifies the various aspects of a traditional studio culture that were emulated in this research lab.

A design studio culture is a way of learning that is focused on verbal interactions: “continuous dialogue, conversation, asking questions, and giving and receiving critique.” Work product is at the center of these interactions, and students are exposed to that work product consistently. A traditional office environment emphasizes a lone worker, working independently, and this and “other distance-spanning technologies would come to do a disservice to studio culture.”

The studio itself has unique physical characteristics. It has designerly books, buildings, and furniture, and the “ways in which people tend to dress, talk and behave socially are part of the often somewhat bohemian design studio culture.” The space is material; the walls have images, sketches, and other content on the walls, and it may “appear slightly chaotic to an outsider.”

Being co-present is critical for studio culture to be effective. Fallman explains that, even when attending to other studio qualities like the space, “we keep returning to the need for people to be co-present to be able to keep up a good design studio culture… we have yet to see a computer application or service that can replace or even become a serious complement to designers working side by side.”

This culture, like any other, is only effectively perpetuated when there is a shared understanding of the culture and how it works (and what is expected of everyone who participates in it.) The studio exists “in how people behave, dress, talk, relate to each other, and socialize.” Studio culture is a social practice.

Research Value

The value of this work in informing my own research is that it:

• Emphasizes the importance of being in physical proximity to one-another in a design studio culture
• Describes studio as a form of ongoing dialogue around an artifact
• Defines studio as a social practice