Media design and architecture

Anna-Maija Ylimaula

Abstract

The Cultural usability project aims at developing critical approaches to new media design, which so far has not been derived from architectural theory, design theory nor praxis. Some researhcers have suggested, that media design as a planning dicipline is mainly based on philosophy or art education. In this project it however widens its scope into rhetorics and deconstruction, which already are well established means of doing critical research in architecture and design.

There are many common interests in architecture and new media design: questions of user, planner or designer, structuring and architecture, questions of style and message, order and chaos, form and function, historicity and avantgarde. By defining some of these concepts new media research could get closer to its goal, a critical evaluation of new media design and thus developing it as an important field of academic studies.

Anna-Maija Ylimaula is director of the Future Home institute, University of Art and Design UIAH.

http://www.uiah.fi/futurehome/eng_html/institute.html