Culture and Relationality: Moving towards ‘post-rational’ modes of design

This paper argues that practices of design, both in education and in professional
practice, are becoming increasingly conservative and risk averse. They are perpetuating 'normative' and 'affirmative' practices that prioritise functionality and economic viability over higher values of 'responsibility', 'ethical practice', and the broader concepts of 'prosperity'. The paper proposes ‘post-rational modes of design’ as a purposeful realignment of design research practices towards more complex and contestational expressions of possibility as a counterpoint to normative practices of a given design situation. Design is never neutral (Papanek, 1974). Instead, it is a social, cultural, and material force (Adams, Keshavarz, & Traganou 2019) that embodies entangled assemblages of ideas, customs and social behaviour. Design is fundamental to culture(s), politics and the socio-material practices of everyday life. A two-minute film accompanies this paper as a co-expression of the described concept. The film was a way of developing, illustrating and articulating this argument through design.