The Horizontality of Knowledge: Steps Toward a Decolonial Design Education

In this presentation proposal, the author positions herself on a design history, theory, and practice
perspective that challenges westernized and Eurocentric design education models (the traditional design
canon) and that is based on horizontal methodologies, the decentralization of the power of the
designer, and the political, social, and cultural responsibility of the design practice. To contextualize, the
author argues that the traditional design education canon perpetuates a “global” definition of design
practice and theory that doesn’t consider local knowledges and voices/identities on the “borders.”
Social design, whose activities focus on audiences usually consisting of disadvantaged populations,
minorities, or indigenous groups, is a common design teaching practice, but, as it follows the traditional
design canon, the geographic, cultural, or social epistemologies of where it takes place tend to be
secondary. This substantiates an elitist and vertical vision where the designer is an agent of imposition
of hegemonic knowledge that carries strong repercussions, even when the designer does not realizes it
(Fry, 2017) and has good intentions. This approach is economically, culturally, and socially detrimental
for those groups as it perpetuates stereotypes and knowledge hierarchies, while limiting the designer’s
potential to genuinely collaborate in the facilitation of creative processes in an equitable and localized
manner. The author expands on the topic with examples where horizontal design methods and a
decolonial approach have been successful. Specifically, she will present a binational case study where
horizontal design education and entrepreneurship worked in tandem to facilitate and customize creative
design methodologies with entrepreneur women in México.