Design by narratives: Conceptual and methodological contributions to contemporary territories

Abstract

This paper is about design processes in the city and territory. It is the result of urban investigations and has its focus on the interface between analytical and design processes in the territory, understood here as apprehension and design. The problem here is the insertion of the subjective contents present in the narratives about the territory as design operators that express themselves based on possible scenarios. The principal aim of this paper is to present methodological contributions to the contemporary city design, considering that it as an open and complex system, full of conflicts. As methodology we propose to make a theoretic-methodological reflection starting from two thematic fields: the landscape on the basis of narratives, and design by scenarios as a metadesign process of reflection in action. To illustrate the proposed methodology, we have used a case in the city of Porto Alegre – Cais do Porto –, which has been the object of study in an academic experience in a graduate program in urban and regional planning. The landscape is seen as a social construct and a way of looking, and design by scenarios is seen as an open process that introduces conflicts as a possibility of inserting diversity in the design field.

Keywords: narrative, landscape, design by scenarios.