Konsepsuelle

Konsepsuelle is a concept used in design studies and philosophy of design to describe a disciplined process of developing and validating the core ideas that will guide a project. It emphasizes the primacy of concept over immediacy of form, function, or detail, and situates the design process within a broader inquiry about meaning, use, and context.

Etymology and usage: The term appears in contemporary European design discourse and is sometimes described as a blend of 'concept' with a suffix that marks relation. It is not universally standardized and can be used differently across schools, but generally denotes a phase or mindset focused on conceptual architecture.

Practice and methods: Konsepsuelle practitioners use tools such as concept maps, narrative scenarios, visual metaphors, and low-fidelity prototyping to articulate and test a project's underlying idea. The aim is to surface assumptions, align stakeholders, and build a coherent framework that can inform later decisions in design, development, or policy.

Applications: It is applied in product design, architecture, communication design, user experience, and urban planning, among other fields. In education, konsepsuelle fosters critical thinking about means and ends, ethics, and societal impact before detailed specifications are created.

Relation to other concepts and critique: Konsepsuelle sits between pure ideation and formal design, overlapping with design thinking and conceptual design. Critics caution that the term can become vague or retrospective without rigorous methods for translating concepts into measurable outcomes.