Towards the possibility of "bodily-oriented" design: an environmental perspective

The relevance of the research is determined by the role that design has to play in the modern world, being a tool for alienating a person from his own body. According to the authors of the article, only thinking that inherits a different civilizational and cultural code from the Western one can resist the process of dehumanization of design, conditioned by the very logic of the development of Western civilization. Following the American design philosopher T. Fry, the authors consider the type of thinking rooted in the Eastern tradition to be promising today, since it is based on the idea of the world as a "single body". According to the philosopher, being, in essence, relational-correlative, this thinking can allow a Westerner to "stand" in an ever-changing world. In order for a Western person to start thinking truly "sustainably", he needs to start living the experience of his body in a different way, relying on a different understanding of corporality. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to answer the question of what it means for a designer today to "think bodily" based on the Eastern understanding of corporality. The authors of the article identify the main aspects of the "consciousness" of the body, which, in turn, is the support for the "bodily-oriented" thinking of the designer. Interaction with the world at the body level presupposes spontaneity (when the designer creates a sketch "instantly", but as if in passing) and relevance (when the design decision exactly corresponds to the time and place). The response occurs under the condition that the designer is internally calm, "empty", that is, likened to the world. The authors of the study conclude that for an Oriental designer, "thinking bodily" still means feeling the living connection of everything with everything in this world.

embodied design thinking, bodily-oriented design, bodily-oriented epistemology of design, sustainability, corporeality, bodily experience, resonance in body, the Eastern design approach, Japanese design, Tony Fry