Theoria, Towards a Beautiful Vocabulary of Design

Focus on Words

As a philosopher of design, Voorthuis holds himself to exacting aesthetic standards. He does this not by changing words’ meanings, but by making their implicit meanings explicit, and by visualizing in diagrams what those meanings might look like. He is interested in the behavior a word helps to characterize, and in the way words and images behave in discourse, particularly in the all-important game of giving and asking for reasons that must underpin every design decision. To do this well, he ensures that the activity one word or image represents is both different from and complementary to another, so they can work together like a team without getting in each other's way. Focused on words important to the architectural design process, Voorthuis has recrafted them to fit together 'beautifully,' so that each can play a clear and satisfying role in any design conversation. Theoria invites you, as a fellow muddler, to decide for yourself whether he has done a good job.