The path of donkeys: When the unintentional draws paths

Abstract

In this article, rather than focusing on the limits of nID (non Intentionnel Design), we propose a more epistemological questioning aimed at redefining the perimeter of the concept of intentionality in the creative process of architectural and urban planning projects. Drawing on a phenomenological approach, we aim to demonstrate that intentionality is inherent in every act of architectural design, and that even when the design is the result of a certain serendipity (arising from the use and practices of urban spaces), different levels of intentionality can be detected. This postulate, which we take as the starting point for our thinking, may seem provocative, since it runs counter to the direction advocated by the symposium. However, it is based on Le Corbusier's famous phrase, “The curved street is the donkey's path, the straight street the man's path” .

To underpin our argument, we develop the article in three stages: first, we introduce a few definitional notions around intentionality drawn from the literature, so as to mobilize them conceptually in the exercise of architectural and urban design. Finally, we conclude with a comparative analysis of project activity in contrasting cases, and the different actionist postures and interpretative systems induced.