The Routledge Companion to Research in the Arts

foundations

While the interest for mode 1 and mode 2 has been strong in established academia
and in various public spheres, it is a rather recent phenomenon in creative fields like the
arts, design and architecture. The examples addressed in the chapter and the literature
referred to have mainly been drawn from architecture and design related literature, but
their more general relevance could probably also apply to a broader spectrum of the
arts. The chapter relies to a strong degree on the author’s own practice as a teacher at
doctoral level within research education in several european countries, and consists of
three main parts.
The first of them introduces mode 1 and mode 2 with reference to relevant litera-
ture on the issues. The next part includes two cases, of which one could be called a
‘mode 1 project’ and the other one a ‘mode 2 project’. The first case, ‘“diagramming”
mode 1 and mode 2’, presents how these two modes were introduced to four cohorts
of practitioners (2006–2009) who considered undertaking their doctoral studies at the
sint- lucas school of architecture in Brussels. The participants did not have any pre-
vious scholarly background, so the ‘meeting with the diagram’ was one of the first en-
counters between them and architectural academia (dunin- Woyseth 2009).
The second case, ‘on securing housing safety. a Transdisciplinary project’, reports
on a co- operation between a policeman and an architect (Klarqvist and Rydberg
2004). Both of them, while working on this project, were unacquainted with the
concepts of mode 1 and mode 2. Yet they recognized their project as transdisciplinary
a posteriori. an abbreviated version of the ‘project story’ makes up the second case. This
case was introduced to the phd students as an example of mode 2-related research,
supplementing the ‘diagram lecture’.
in the concluding part these projects have been examined through a ‘matrix of
comparison between mode 1 and mode 2, elucidating the differences in their character,
both with regard to the contexts within which the projects were executed and to the
different features these projects had. The closing part of this section reflects on what
opportunities for developing field- specific design research can be offered by each of the
modes.

‘Diagramming’ Mode 1 and Mode 2

Introduction

This section of the chapter will present and discuss a specific case of using diagrams as
a core of a lecture series presented by the author to several groups of architecture and
design practitioners at the sint- lucas school of architecture, Brussels, in the years
2006–2009 (dunin- Woyseth 2009). These lectures have focused on some complex issues
concerning various existing ‘knowledge landscapes’ (within mode 1), with emphasis on
the emerging new mode of knowledge production (mode 2). The aim of these lectures
has been to help the prospective phd students to position better their own research
in these ‘knowledge landscapes’. one specific diagram will be studied in depth. The
students have over the years given a positive response to the pedagogical potential of
this diagram as an adequate tool for sharing complex information, transferring new
knowledge, clarifying complex issues and offering a transparent mode for the lecturer’s
arguments. The use of the diagram also opened discussions with the prospective phd