An Introduction to Design Cybernetics

Thomas Fischer*, Christiane M. Herr

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book or Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)
Plum Print visual indicator of research metrics
  • Citations
    • Citation Indexes: 9
  • Captures
    • Readers: 15
see details

Abstract

Since it ascended in the mid-twentieth century on the basis of technical and scientific advances made during World War II, cybernetics has influenced design theory and research. It was appreciated by its originators primarily as a theoretical framework and as a common language to bridge disciplinary boundaries, but soon found more prominent applications in goal-oriented control engineering. Since around 1970, it developed a reflective, more philosophical, and less control-focused perspective referred to as second-order cybernetics. This perspective recognises circular causality, non-determinism, the subjective observer and other concepts avoided by natural science. In this way, it offers an approach to self-organising systems that negotiate their own goals in open-ended processes – in other words: design. As an introduction to design cybernetics, this chapter outlines the development of cybernetics from a technical engineering discipline to a design-philosophical perspective.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDesign Research Foundations
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages1-23
Number of pages23
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Publication series

NameDesign Research Foundations
ISSN (Print)2366-4622
ISSN (Electronic)2366-4630

Keywords

  • Communication
  • Control
  • Cybernetics
  • Design
  • History

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An Introduction to Design Cybernetics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this

Fischer, T., & Herr, C. M. (2019). An Introduction to Design Cybernetics. In Design Research Foundations (pp. 1-23). (Design Research Foundations). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18557-2_1