Abstract:
In this paper we consider the FunctioneBehavioureStructure model of
designing in the version as developed by John Gero and collaborators. We
identify two problems: the absence of a stable definition of function, and the
model’s double aim of describing actual designing and prescribing improved
designing. These problems are not unique to the body of work we are addressing
here; they are general problems that design methodologists have been struggling
with in the last forty years. We argue that philosophy may help addressing them:
it may fix a definition of function and illustrates how descriptive and prescriptive
modelling can be distinguished and connected.
