Projects as Actors in Design Education

This study examines how design projects function as actors within studio-based pedagogy, drawing on Actor-Network Theory. Data were collected over a nine-month fieldwork at a higher education institution, covering courses in architecture, industrial design, and ceramics design. The study was conducted as a Research-Practice Partnership, uniting education researchers and design practitioners to shift the focus away from practitioners' specialized knowledge and experiences by positioning them alongside critical perspectives from K-12 educational research. Our findings demonstrate how students and instructors view projects as active actors in the design process across three main dimensions: 1) Through language: instructors and students personify projects, assigning needs that create challenges to address; 2) Through space: gestures, sketching, and presentations manifest the project's presence; 3) Through shifting alliances among the student, instructor, and the project. These insights highlight how projects, alongside instructors and students, become integral actors in the generation of design knowledge.