Making of: the cartography of controversies and project research

Abstract

Some buildings evidently can provoke debates, polemics, and disputes. Such divergences are often irreconcilable and lead to public debates. Thus, controversy is a term that adequately describes the design practice, and its capacity to articulate and concentrate debates allows us to explore the potential of design as a research observatory. By subverting the traditional concept of method, the cartography of controversies enables the observation of how the design practice handles the differences in the creation of architectural objects, increasing their complexity as research objects. This paper intends to demonstrate the usefulness of this method for design research. As such, we consider the design practice as a way to articulate debates and disputes and highlight its compatibility and potential to the method. Subsequently, we present the cartography of controversies, demonstrating how it enables more complex research objectives. We also discuss the construction of cartography devices and representations, presenting ways to achieve a balance between the simplicity required for representations and the richness desired for the object. Finally, we present a brief cartographic experiment to illustrate the use of the method during the design analysis.