Publications

Publication details [#13680]

Coyne, Richard. 1995. Computers, Metaphor and Change. Architectural Research Quarterly 1 (1) : 62–67. 6 pp.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Place, Publisher
Cambridge , UK: Cambridge University Press

Abstract

Technological advancements, far from being mere tools used to accomplish specialised tasks, are instead at once expression and initiators of complex sociocultural systems. First focusing on the development of critical thought on the concept of metaphor, the author then strives to point out how technology relates to this framework, covering different area – from biology to computational sciences. Through a vast array of examples, technological metaphors are shown to be pervasive in contemporary society, and even structuring of current models of thought. The use of metaphor in relation to computers, in particular, is considered as productive in the sometimes problematic dichotomy between user and designers, and in the evolution of the designing process itself.