设计作为研究

文献来源：俞孔坚. 设计作为研究[J]. 景观设计学, 2010(6):18-19.

在现代设计语境下，绝大部分设计师都承认设计这一行为是发现问题，并解决问题的过程。其实在很长一段时间内，设计和实际的解决问题并不是一一对应的，而是存在设计者自发的对于美的感悟，可能并不是为了解决某一个问题 而实际存在。这样的“设计”不可言说、不可教授、不可推广，不可成为一个学科。天才性的从无到有永远只会是设计 中的极少数，我们当今生活享受的绝大部分的设计都是无数多个感性引爆与理性串联下诞生的成果。

我们在为这期组稿的时候感到了前所未有的压力，原因就在于这个主题几乎是设计的终极问题之一。因为作为研究 的设计如果不能让设计更好的话，就几乎是一个伪命题，那么这个问题就直接导向什么是好的设计？设计从哪儿开始？设计最终是为了什么？研究能给设计带来什么？当我们把这些问题抛向这一期的作者和访谈嘉宾们时，他们从对设计、 研究这两个概念开始，就有诸多的不同。清华大学建筑学院的周榕副教授认为“设计作为研究”的命题是基于西方文化 语境之下的讨论，设计活动中的研究既包括一手的场地调查，也包括二手的资料研读；然而在一些年轻景观设计师的眼 中，场地的调查与资料的收集只能是调查与分析，而不是研究。北京大学建筑与景观设计学院的李迪华老师则认为作为 研究的设计中，最关键的问题是设计的逻辑体系的建立。所以，在对本期研究定义的编辑部讨论会上，我们对关于研究 的公认表述进行了归纳，即认为研究是一种可复制的、有创新性的科学活动，其中“结果”可复制—总结性的理论、数据成果等可复制，或“过程”可复制—设计方法、操作工具可复制。

那什么样的文章和项目能清楚的体现设计中的研究？我们苦苦思索多日，得到的结果是设计师、研究者的感性与理 性的心力耗费得越多就越得到编辑部的青睐。所以，奥地利瓦尔德威尔特公路公园的设计师，耗时一年进行前期研究，依靠对死亡的感性体验、对速度与视角规律的理性利用，以打破道路的勇气设计了巨石公路公园。景观设计与其他设计行业相比最大的不同，在我们看来，就是用生命设计生命，所以草长莺飞、四季变换、沧海桑田，生长的意义可以在这里得到最为淋漓尽致的体现。当世事难料的灾难来临，缓慢而永恒不变的自然界会给予人们来自心底最深的慰藉，《抗争花园：浴战火而生》一文以独特的视角娓娓叙述了战争年代中，花园给予人们的强大的精神与物质庇护。这样的研究，设计的是人生。

真正的好设计无疑是包含研究的，设计中的感性是否只能来源于天赋？研究所依赖的逻辑、方法等是否可以通过后天补得？教育无疑是这一主题中的重要一环，学校教育的缺失和社会教育的偏颇，如同重重障碍，成为设计师成长道路上必须逾越的难关。当年曾经在学生时代获得能力的肯定，在社会实践的检验中又有怎样的心得？为此，我们邀请了2002年第39届UNESCO-IFLA国际风景园林学生设计竞赛大奖获得者们，8年后重聚首，畅谈成长体会，颇为可贵。所 有想设计出优秀作品的设计师都必须经历研究过程的考验，所有研究论证结果的实现都必须仰仗设计的升华。年终的寒 冷时节适合总结与沉淀，在这个案例项目图片式报道横行资讯空间的时代，静下心来的思考也许是最好的出发。

2010年12月15日

Design as Research

Virtually most designers view the design activity as a process of detecting and solving problems in contemporary design context. However, designs have not corresponded respectively to feasible solutions for a long time. They are brought out through designers’ spontaneous perception and inspiration of beauty, rather than coming out for the practical purpose of solving a problem. Such kind of design is beyond interpretation, beyond indoctrination, and beyond dissemination. Thus it is impossible to become a discipline. Genius creations are always rare among designs. And most of the designs we are enjoying nowadays have been ignited by numerous inspirations and accomplished with rational connections.

It exerted much more pressure upon us than any of the previous issues when we were soliciting contributions for this issue of our magazine, because this topic is virtually one of the ultimate questions of designing. If design as research could not make designs better, then it is almost a false proposition, therefore this question is leading towards issues such as what is a good design? Where did design originate? What is the ultimate objective of design? What can research do for design? When we threw these questions at the authors and interviewees of this issue, their responses vary distinctively starting from their conceptions of the two terms “design” and “research”. Associate professor Rong Zhou from the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University proposes that the hypothesis of design as research is based on discussions in the Western cultural context. Research involved in design activities includes not only the first-hand on-site investigation but also second-hand informations analysis work. However, in some young landscape architects' minds, on-site investigation and data collection are merely inspection and investigation rather than any research. Dihua Li, lecture of College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Peking University, who supposes that the most significant issue is to establish logics system in designs that as research. Hence during the discussion of our editorial office on the definite of “research”, we summarized one of the commonly acknowledged expressions about “research”, to wit, research is a duplicable and creative scientific activity in which the “results” can be duplicated — conclusive theories and data products are duplicable, or the “process” can be duplicated — design methods and operating tools are duplicable.

So what kind of articles and projects can clearly display the research in design? We had been pondering for quite a few days. The result is nothing else but that the more perceptual and rational mental efforts the designers and researchers have contributed, the more favorable reviews they get from our editors. For instance, the designer of the Highway Park of Waldviertel in Austria spent a whole year conducting pre-research. And with perceptual experience of death in addition to rational use of principles of speed and perspective, he dared to design the Highway Park of giant stone arrangement, which challenged the conventional designs of roads. Compared with other design industries, the most special characteristic of landscape architecture is, in our opinion, to design life with life. Therefore, the meaning of growth can be reflected incisively and vividly here with grass growing and birds flying, with the transformation of the seasons, with the great changes in the course of time. In the face of unexpected disasters, the steady and perpetual nature will bestow greatest comfort on people’s heart. From a unique perspective, the article Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime relates the story of a garden providing firm moral and material security in wartime. Such research is designing people’s life.

A true good design should undoubtedly include research. Is the attribute of sensibility in a design only a natural gift? Could the logics and methods upon which research is built be postnatal acquired? For sure education is one of the most important links for this subject. Lack of school education and the deviation of social education would just like hedges and barriers, impeding designers’ road to maturity. While as students, their academic abilities were recognized, what have they learned by experiencing the reality of social practices? Therefore we invited some of the winners of the International Student Design Competition of the 39th UNESCO-IFLA in 2002 to get together 8 years later and to talk about their experience, which is perfertly precious and worthy. Every designer who wants to design excellent works has to stand the ordeal of research process. The application and realization of every result as proved in research has to be sublimated with designing. The chilly season at the end of a year is a good time for conclusion and sedimentary accretion. In an era photo reports of cases and projects rule the information commons, a placid rumination might serve as the best starting point. (Translated by Jin QIAN)