Industrial Design, Ethnography and Anthropological Thought

The definition of 'applied anthropology' varies from period to period and from culture to culture. However, anthropology's centrality is, in my eyes, unquestionable. With that in mind, a significant part of the discipline's basic principles remained unchanged, despite recent socio-cultural, economic and technological changes sweeping the world in recent years. In this article I wish to present two case studies in which the inherent connection between anthropology, as a discipline, and other professions, is challenged. Through teaching anthropological theories and methodologies to industrial designers and architects I will present a somewhat different approach from those practiced by anthropologists. As a result I will redefine the role of the applied anthropologist as an essential member of the design team

Aesthetics · Applied anthropology · Centrality · Epistemology · Ethnography · Social science · Sociocultural anthropology · Sociology · Anthropology · Crafts, Textile, and Design · Philosophy