서구 학문 체계에서 디자인의 어원사 연구 = A Study on the Etymology of Design in the Western Disciplinary Tradition

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: ‘Design’ terminology refers to planning or conception, the process of concretizing form, composition, production, or ideas, as well as the planning or project undertaken to achieve specific objectives. Rather than possessing a single, fixed definition, the term “design” is fluid and context-dependent, evolving in response to changing social conditions. The meaning of design has been shaped through its relationships with adjacent disciplines. This study aims to trace the etymological transformations of the concept of design within the Western academic framework and to examine the social conditions of its formation and its essential origins.
Methods: This study examines shifts in the status and scope of the term ‘design’ within the Western academic system, while also tracing the morphological and semantic changes of related synonymous terms through etymological dictionaries. Changes in the disciplinary position of design were analyzed using The Interactive Historical Atlas of the Disciplinesas a primary reference. In addition, the study investigates and reflects upon the evolving meanings of various terms associated with the etymology of design in order to explore the socio-historical transformations in the concept of design.
Results: This study, grounded in the etymological history of the term design, examines diachronically the conceptual transformations of design within the Western academic system. In the Greece-Roma period, the term denoted a latent state that derived potential from the past. In the Renaissance, it expanded to encompass a forward-looking, anticipatory concept, in the modern period, design differentiated into the realm of the ‘mechanical arts’, ‘useful arts’, with the development of industry and science, defined its professional identity as the “practical application of artistic principles.” Conclusion: Design has evolved in relation to shifting conceptions of time, the increasing specialization and fragmentation of academic disciplines, and the growing interconnections between disciplinary fields and industry.