The Social Role of the Designer in the Knowledge Society

Abstract

: "Liquid modernity" has been a conceptual framing used to explain the historical changes connected with the end of the big narratives of the 20th century. The metaphor of "fluidity" -- lightness, mobility, and changeability --offers an alternative to modernity's fixed, rigid shapes. In this context, as a form of material production, the physical project seems to be challenged by the spread of spatial mobility of people and goods and the permeability of every physical limit from informational fluxes. The changes seem to outline the "end" of the progressive role of the "solid" project and thus any positive interpretation of modern myths which seem pressured to be "liquefied." What is the role of designers in a world where everything appears to be already "built"? Where do we locate Design in the contemporary knowledge society? What are the chances for participation and networking connected with the use of new technologies?