Visual practices and the objects used in design

Whyte, Jennifer; Ewenstein, Boris; Hales, Mike; Tidd, Joe

doi:10.1080/09613210601036697

Cited by 63 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The process of mobilizing allies relies on the summarizing of a body of knowledge, and the implied depth of reasoning in the cascade of representations that has led to it. By drawing on Latour's work, we make a contribution to the recent literature on digital forms of visual representation (Justesen and Mouritsen, 2009;Whyte et al, 2007;Dossick and Neff, 2011;Harty and Tryggestad, 2015). Our theorisation of this shift contrasts with that of Scheer (2014) in that it treats as an empirical question the extent to which any representation becomes used for exploration at depth or becomes a substitute for what it represents.…”

Section: Concluding Remarks: Tracing Connections Using Visual Represementioning

confidence: 91%

“…While Latour's (1986) work on the consolidated cascade emphasizes the value of 2D representations and 'paper-work', recent studies of visual representations in construction highlight the increasingly important role of 3D representations and 'model-work' (Tryggestad et al, 2010;Justesen and Mouritsen, 2009;Whyte et al, 2007;Dossick and Neff, 2011;Harty and Tryggestad, 2015). For example, Yaneva (2005) noted how the scaling up and scaling down of physical models enable architects and other designers to work out decisions across multiple models and at different scales.…”

Section: Argues Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By making information visible in front of others' eyes, the most compelling images can muster 'the largest number of well aligned and faithful allies' (Latour, 1986, p. 4). Recent research has articulated the role of visual representations in organizing (Meyer et al, 2013;Ravasi and Stigliani, 2012;Styhre, 2010) and a rich trajectory of research on drawings and other forms of visual representations has emerged in projectbased design (Enberg et al, 2006;Jönsson, 2004;Tryggestad et al, 2010;Justesen and Mouritsen, 2009;Whyte et al, 2007;Dossick and Neff, 2011;Yakura, 2002;Luck, 2007;Harty and Tryggestad, 2015). Much of this research uses ethnographic methods to examine the situated practices of designing and organizing in a particular place and time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Visualizing practices in project-based design: tracing connections through cascades of visual representations

Whyte

Tryggestad

Comi

2016

Engineering Project Organization Journal

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Project-based design involves a variety of visual representations, which are evolved to make decisions and accomplish project objectives. Yet, such mediated and distributed ways of working are difficult to capture through ethnographies that examine situated design. A novel approach is developed that follows cascades of visual representations, and this is illustrated through two empirical studies. In the first case, Heathrow Terminal 5, analysis starts from paper-and modelwork used to develop design, tracing connections forward to an assembly manual that forms a 'consolidated cascade' of visual representations. In the second, the Turning Torso, Malmö, analysis starts from a planning document, tracing connections backward to the paper-and model-work done to produce this consolidated cascade. This work makes a twofold contribution: first, it offers a methodological approach that supplements ethnographies of situated design. This allows the researcher to be nimble, tracing connections across complex engineering projects; reconstructing practices through their visual representations; and observing their effects. Second, it articulates how, in these empirical cases, interaction with a cascade of visual representations enabled participants in project-based design to develop and share understanding. The complexity of projects and their distributed and mediated nature makes this approach timely and important in addressing new research questions and practical challenges. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Concluding Remarks: Tracing Connections Using Visual Represementioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Argues Thatmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visualizing practices in project-based design: tracing connections through cascades of visual representations

Whyte

Tryggestad

Comi

2016

Engineering Project Organization Journal

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“…While there is a stronger history of the use of such approaches to understand buildings, and the work practices of construction industry professionals such as designers (Yaneva 2009, Whyte et al 2007, the focus on what actually happens on construction sites themselves is more limited. This article expands the debate in three interrelated directions by: 1) exploring the application of innovative ethnography in an interdisciplinary context that interweaves anthropology, sociology and engineering to focus on construction sites; 2) using anthropological theories of knowledge to understand how construction workers, and ethnographers themselves know 'in practice' onsite -thus reflecting on the methodology itself; 3) situating ethnographic practice at an intersection between academic and applied construction industry research.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnographic methodologies for construction research: knowing, practice and interventions

Pink

Tutt

Dainty

et al. 2010

Building Research & Information

107

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Ethnographic methodologies developed in social anthropology and sociology hold considerable promise for addressing practical, problem-based research concerned with the construction site. The extended researcher-engagement characteristic of ethnography reveals rich insights, yet is infrequently used to understand how work-place realities are lived out on construction sites. Moreover studies that do employ these methods are rarely reported within construction management journals. This article argues that recent innovations in ethnographic methodologies offer new routes to: posing questions; understanding work-place socialities (that is, the qualities of the social relationships that develop on construction sites); learning about forms, uses and communication of knowledge on construction sites; and turning these into meaningful recommendations. This argument is supported by examples from an interdisciplinary ethnography concerning migrant workers and communications on UK construction sites. Commissioned by the UK sector skills council ConstructionSkills, the research sought to understand how construction workers communicate with managers and each other and how they stay safe on site, with the objective of informing site health and safety strategies and the production and evaluation of training and other materials.

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“…Studies of, for instance, scientific and laboratory practices (Lynch 1985(Lynch , 1988(Lynch /1990(Lynch , 2006Amann andKnorr Cetina 1988/1990;Trumbo 2006;Burri and Dumit 2008) as well as of other professional fields relying on visual media in dayto-day work, e.g. architectural Nicolini 2007;Whyte et al 2007) or design work (Henderson 1999), point to the key importance of such integrated and coherent professional vision. For instance, when training to be a surgeon, standardized ways of seeing are established by means of simulated operations (Johnson 2007).…”

Section: Practices Of Seeingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Knowledge work and practices of seeing: Epistemologies of the eye, gaze, and professional vision

Styhre

2010

Culture and Organization

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Much practice within organizations is to some extent embodied in and centered on the visual capacities of the agent, the acting subject. Distinguishing between 'epistemologies of the eye', i.e. theories of how knowledge is acquired through visual practices, and 'practices of seeing', i.e. theories and studies of how vision and visuality are actually used in everyday working life, the paper points to the need to understand vision and visuality in organizational practice. Using the case of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), it is suggested that professional vision, i.e. practices of seeing that are shared within epistemic communities, is firstly technologically mediated and, secondly, based on the ability to combine vision, speech, gesture, and other embodied and cognitive resources in order to make sense of the images produced by fMRI technology. The paper concludes that organization theory should examine practices of seeing in greater detail and as part of the project in order to understand how knowledge is constituted and used as a collectively constituted resource within organizations.

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Visual practices and the objects used in design

Cited by 63 publications

References 7 publications

Visualizing practices in project-based design: tracing connections through cascades of visual representations

Visualizing practices in project-based design: tracing connections through cascades of visual representations

Ethnographic methodologies for construction research: knowing, practice and interventions

Knowledge work and practices of seeing: Epistemologies of the eye, gaze, and professional vision

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