In this seminar Matthew Holt presents the extensive intellectual effort that took place primarily in the academic centres, institutes and think-tanks of the United States c.1945-1995 to redefine science as design, and design as form of enterprise philosophy. This redefinition was conducted across the fields of operations research, management studies, systems thinking, but also in computer science and artificial intelligence research. Dr Holt will examine how these two threads combined to produce a form of knowledge compatible with what was concomitantly being defined by the same authors, institutions and publication fora as ‘post-industrial’ society, that is, economies that extol ‘creativity’ in the form of commercial and organisational innovation. Post-industrial economies – knowledge economies – were not inevitable. They had to be created and justified. One result of this justification was what is now known as ‘design thinking’. The seminar also touches on the wider intellectual and social ramifications of this reframing of science as design and makes some final reflections on status of design thinking today.
Presenter Dr Matthew Holt is a Senior Lecturer within the 3Ai Institute in the School of Cybernetics, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Australian National University. He is a historian of design with experience in academic leadership, business development, and transnational education. He has a PhD from the University of Sydney. Matthew’s research is in the history and theory of design as it co-evolved with post-industrial society and the fields of cybernetics and systems thinking. His teaching career has encompassed design history, design thinking, art history and theory, and media and communications studies. Matthew also has an ongoing creative practice which has included publishing, graphic design, fiction, and theatre.
This event is co-hosted between the Design and Creative Practice ECP, the Global Business Innovation ECP and RMIT School of Design.
