The materiality of objects: their historical evolution and effects on the aesthetic dimension

This paper forms part of the final stages of a theoretical study for a doctorate in Philosophy, being undertaken at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. The principle focus of the research is the method in which empirical beauty is able to express itself. Through a study of specific cases in the history of design, it will be analysed how careful experimentation with materials, undertaken by the designer, is an inseparable factor from the development of form. Calling on Flusser, Dagognet and Manzini’s philosophical contemplations, this paper demonstrates that experimentation with materials should be studied in relation to: ideological aspects, plastic expression, creativity, and imagination. It is the claim of this investigation that the creation process in design is the result of a complex cultural framework that is dependant on the association of ideas, experimentation with materials, the means available for production, and interpersonal relationships.