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Design Issues: Volume 22, Number 4 Autumn 2006

Horst Willhelm Jakob Rittel taught design and architecture or

over 30 years, yet he never designed a building or otherwise

practiced as an architect. (We might now recognize him as a design

planner.) Even so, Rittel changed the eld o designlinking

design and politicsand started a line o inquiry which continues

today in the eld o computer programming and inormation

sciencedesign rationale.

What Rittel didRittel served as a sort o unnel transerring knowledge

(developed during and just ater World War II) rom the sciences

and engineering to the design proessions. At the Hochschule r

Gestaltung (HG) Ulm, Rittel taught courses in operations research

(OR) and cybernetics. At the University o Caliornia Berkeley,

he also introduced ideas rom cybernetics into his teaching. For

example, his course notes show explicit reerences to eedback

models and to Ashbys models o requisite variety. In his writing,

Rittel also explicitly linked cybernetics, eedback, and the design

process. I anything, the systems models o OR and cybernetics are

more relevant to the practice o design today than they were when

Rittel rst introduced them.

Rittel was recruited to Berkeley in 1963 by William Wurster,

Dean o the College o Environmental Design. The same year,

Wurster also recruited Christopher Alexander. Together with

Christopher Alexander, Bruce Archer, and John Chris Jones, Horst

Rittel helped ound the Design Methods Movement. He taughtdesign methods courses at both Ulm and Berkeley, helped ound

the Design Methods Group (DMG) at Berkeley, and the DMG

Journal.

The movement fourished rom approximately 1962 to

1972. Its members advocated a systems view o design projects

and introduced a range o methods emphasizing a rigorous,

rational or scientic approach to designing. (Most models o the

design processor example: dene, prototype, evaluatetrace

their roots back to the Design Methods Movement.) Within

just a ew years, the movement ound its assumptions underattackparticularly its claims o rationality and objectivityand

two ounders, Alexander and Jones, both publicly repudiated the

Why Horst W.J. Rittel MattersChanpory Rith and Hugh Dubberly

Many people contributed to this project. We

are grateful for their help.

The project grew out of research for a book

written by Peter Esmonde and published by

Paul Pangaro for Sun Microsystems, Notes

on the Role of Leadership and Language in

Regenerating Organizations. While writing

Notes, Peter was also working with Hugh

Dubberly to research the origins of the Design

Methods Movement. Peter first located a

number of works by Rittel and introduced

some of Rittels ideas into Notes.

Later, Paul and Hugh included Notesas well

as some of Rittels articles in a Stanford

design course. After participating in thecourse, Chanpory Rith suggested reprinting

Rittels complete works. We began by

compiling a bibliography.

Many people participated. Juan Quiles

searched the stacks at Berkeley and made

copies. Justus Brown and Martin Thormann

helped translate the German titles into

English. Philip Foeckler helped obtain works

from Germany.

We have been especially fortunate to

have help from two of Rittels colleagues

in the College of Environmental Design at

UC Berkeley. Elizabeth Byrne, head of the

colleges library, provided many excellent

references and much practical advice.

Professor of Architecture Jean-Pierre Protzen

provided much background information as

well as his own database of Rittels work and

Rittels final CV. Their spouses, Chuck Byrne

and Elsbeth Protzen, have been very patient

with our frequent intrusions.

Acknowledgments


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movement. Rittel also oered serious criticism o rst generation

design methods and proposed a set o principles or second

generation design methods.

What Rittel teaches usRittel introduced several undamental ideas:

Simple problems (problems which are already dened) are easy to

solve, because dening a problem inherently denes a solution.

The denition o a problem is subjective; it comes rom a point o

view. Thus, when dening problems, all stake-holders, experts,

and designers are equally knowledgeable (or unknowledgeable).

Some problems cannot be solved, because stake-holders cannot

agree on the denition. These problems are called wicked, but

sometimes they can be tamed.

Solving simple problems may lead to improvementbut not

innovation. For innovation, we need to re-rame wicked problems.

Because one person cannot possibly remember or keep track o

all the variables (o both existing and desired states) in a wicked

problem, taming wicked problems requires many people.

These people have to talk to each other; they have to deliberate;

they have to argue.

To tame a wicked problem, they have to agree on goals and actions

or reaching them. This requires knowledge about actions, not

just acts.

Science is concerned with actual knowledge (what-is); design is

concerned with instrumental knowledge (how what-is relates to

what-ought-to-be), how actions can meet goals.

The process o argumentation is the key and perhaps the only

method o taming wicked problems.

This process is political.

Design is political.

Having become convinced design is argument, Rittel set out

to develop ways to support and enhance the development and

tracking o arguments during the design process. (He hopedthese systems might also make both the design process and the

political process more transparent.) He introduced Issues Based


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Inormation Systems (IBIS) rst in analog (paper) orm and later

in digital (computer) orm. His eorts, while cumbersome, orm

the basis o an on-going line o inquiry within computer science

known as design rationale. To date, over 1000 papers have been

written on this subject. Many reerence Rittel, and he is widely

regarded as a seminal gure in the eld.

In sum, Rittel remains signicant to designers or tworeasons. First, he articulated the relationship between science

and design, specically the limitations o design processes based

on the 19th century rational view o science. (Never-the-less, the

rationalist problem-solving view o design remains a widely

held popular belie.) Second, he proposed principles or dealing

with these limitations. (Unortunately, these principles are not

widely taught.)

One goal o this bibliography is to help preserve Rittels

ideas and to introduce (or re-introduce) Rittel, second-generation

design methods, and design rationale to a wide audience o design

practitioners, researchers, and educators. We hope others will see

value in Rittels ideas and carry them orward.

As Rittel might have said: It is optimistic, perhaps utile, but

worth trying.


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Horst W.J. Rittels Writingson Design: Select AnnotationsChanpory Rith and Hugh Dubberly

The Universe of Design: Faculty Seminar,

College of Environmental Design, Spring

1964.

Berkeley: Institute of Urban and Regional

Development, University of California, 1964.

The Universe o Design: Faculty Seminar, College oEnvironmental Design, Spring 1964.Surveys existing methodologies or creating innovation and

related notions such as image, model, and problem/solution

in relationship to institutionalized science. Finds these

methodologiesand the 19th century view o science in which

they are rootedinsucient or innovation and design which

are inherently political and subjective, rather than neutral

and objective. Rather than a single denition, proposes some

properties o design. Concludes that any theory o innovation

including a theory o design must be based on a theory o action,

not a theory o knowledge (epistemology) alone. Lays the ground

or later concepts such as wicked problems, design rationale,

and instrumental knowledge.

Instrumentelles Wissen in der Politik.

Beitrge zum Verhltnis von Wissenschaften

und Politk. Ed. Krauch, Helmut. Heidelberg:

Studiengruppe Fr Systemforschung, 1966.

183209.

Instrumental Knowledge in Politics.Presents the ineectiveness o political decision-making systems

as a symptom o a limited model o knowledge. Suggests thatimproving these systems requires an expanded model which, in

addition to actual knowledge, includes instrumental knowledge

or knowledge about actions that meet goals. Also emphasizes

that improvements entail political involvement in contrast to the

cherished neutrality o traditional science. Thus, implies a new

type o science which is rigorous but sheds objectivity in its goal to

generate useul instrumental knowledge. Concludes by countering

attitudes o deeatism to this idea, advocating a search or better

political decision systems despite ormidable obstacles, seeming

utility, and potential abuse.

Rittels bibliography contains over 100 unique entries on many

subjects. The ollowing annotations are or works which we

will eel are most relevant to designers. This is a very subjective

and arbitrary list. In choosing works to annotate, we considered

how oten a work was cited, its date o publication, and its

uniqueness in relation to other works. These works are presented

in chronological order.


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Some Principles for the Design of an

Educational System for Design.

Education for Architectural Technology.

Ed. Passonneau, J. St. Louis: Washington

University and the AIA Educational Research

Projects, 1966. 103151.

Some Principles or the Design o an Educational Systemor Design.Criticizes existing design curricula as poor preparation or tackling

planning problems and proposes a goal-oriented approach to

design education that ocuses on the diculties o designing. Also

argues that the master-apprentice tradition is infexible and that

the common debate o breadth versus depth is simplistic.Advocates teaching general theoretical principles to reduce, but

not eliminate, the reliance on more specic, shorter-lasting rules

o thumb. Also urges designers to be aware that design is political

and to continue learning how to design better despite diculties,

paradoxes, and dilemmas.

Dilemmas in a General Theory of

Planning.

Panel on Policy Sciences, American

Association for the Advancement of Science.4 (1969): 155169.

Dilemmas in a General Theory o Planning.Introduces the notion o wicked problems, emphasizing its

social and political context. In addition, criticizes the inadequacy

o existing Newtonian-based scientic and proessional processes,

because wicked problems cannot be solved by traditional and

ormulaic processes. Suggests that the ideal planning model is a

cyberneticgoal-oriented and involving eedbackprocess.

Issues as Elements of Information

Systems.

Working Paper No. 131. Berkeley: Institute of

Urban and Regional Development, University

of California, 1970.

Issues as Elements o Inormation Systems.Outlines Issue-Based Inormation Systems (IBIS), providing an

early model o design rationale systems that aim to explicitly

capture, structure, and represent the deliberations and reasonings

that occur during planning processes. Species that these systems

center around issues, questions o act, positions, arguments, and

model problems. Considers these systems benecial because they

make the design process transparent, provide a history o previous

and existing states o discourse, and are adaptable to rapidly

changing language.

Information Science: On the Structure

of its Problems.

Information Storage and Retrieval. 8.2 (1972):

9598.

Inormation Science: On the Structure o its Problems.Compares rst and second generation design methods in relation

to the evolving discipline o inormation science. Specically

nds the disciplines heritage in traditional science and actualknowledge as an obstacle or growth. Identies organizing the

discourse during the planning process as its central issue.


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On the Planning Crisis: Systems Analysis

of the First and Second Generations.

Bedrifts konomen. 8 (1972): 390396.

On the Planning Crisis: Systems Analysis o the Firstand Second Generations.Summarizes characteristics o the rst and second generation

o system approaches to design, underscoring the limits o a

sequential, scientic, and rational approach (rst generation) to

tackling wicked problems. Notes the symmetry o ignorance

in dening wicked problems. Posits expertise and ignorance asdistributed over all participants. And thus presents the second

generation approach as an argumentative process that is inherently

collaborative and political.

Son of Rittelthink: The State of the Art in

Design Methods.

The DMG 5th Anniversary Report. DMG

Occasional Paper No. 1. 7.2 (1972): 143147.

Son o Rittelthink: The State o the Art in Design Methods.In interview orm, summarizes the origins o rst generation

design methods and presents second generation methods as better

suited or addressing the shortcomings o the rst generation.

Identies the theoretical and practical applications o the

argumentative model o the design process as areas or urther

development.

How to Know What is Known: Designing

Crutches for Communication.

Representation and exchange of knowledge

as a basis of information processes.

Proceedings of the Fifth International

Research Forum in Information Science

(IRFIPS), Heidelberg Sept. 1983. Ed.

Dietschmann, Hans J. Amsterdam: Elsevier

Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland), 1984.

How to Know What is Known: Designing Crutches orCommunication.Presents a theory o inormation science that views inormation as

a knowledge changing event rather than as stored data. Criticizes

attempts by articial intelligence researchers to mimic the brain,

and instead proposes research to nd tools or mental crutches

that enhance natural intelligence. Finds, however, that most

existing tools and inormation systems are limited because they

merely conrm knowledge. Provides guidelines or more natural

intelligence-reinorcement systems that cast doubt, point out

ignorance, and thus are more useul because they open up

new possibilities.

The Reasoning of Designers.

Arbeitspapier A-88-4. Stuttgart: Institut fr

Grundlagen der Planung, Universitt Stuttgart,

1988.

The Reasoning o Designers.Encapsulates Rittels own design philosophy. Argues that design

is a planning activity that involves models, that the reasoning o

designers is a process o argumentation unlike problem solving,and that design is political and associated with power. Also asserts

that design is subjective and that designers are responsible or

their judgments. Maintains that advancement o the design eld

requires a new science o design, and proposes three tasks: to

develop theories o design, to inquire empirically into how

plans come about, and to look or tools to support designers.


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Bibliography of Horst W.J. RittelChanpory Rith, Sean Durham,Jean-Pierre Protzen, and Hugh Dubberly

98

Communication Theory in Sociology

(Cybernetics).

Kommunikationstheorie in der Soziologie (Kybernetik).Akten des XVIII. Internationalen Soziologenkongresses, Nrnberg.

Volume 1. Meisenheim am Glan: Verlag Anton Hain KG, 1958.

434443.

90

Scientific Work in Groups.with Hans Paul Bahrdt and Helmut Krauch

Die wissenschatliche Arbeit in Gruppen.

Klner Zeitschrit r Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie. 12.1 (1960):

140.

The Philosophy of History and

Cybernetics. Of the Inevitability

of Planning History. I. Historical

Philosophical Development Models

in Politics, Policy and Economics.

with Hanno Kesting

Geschichtsphilosophie und Kybernetik. Von derZwangslugkeit zur Verplanung der Geschichte. I.Geschichtsphilosophische Ablaumodelle in Politik undWirtschat.Hessischer Rundunk. September 9, 1960.


Cybernetics. Of the Inevitability of

Planning History. II. The Crisis of Belief in

Progress and the Origin of Cybernetics.

with Hanno Kesting

Geschichtsphilosophie und Kybernetik. Von derZwangslugkeit zur Verplanung der Geschichte. II. Die Krisedes Fortschrittsglauben und die Entstehung der Kybernetik.Hessischer Rundunk. April 10, 1960.


Cybernetics. Of the Inevitability of

Planning History. III. Plan, Regulation

and Control: The Story of History?

with Hanno Kesting

Geschichtsphilosophie und Kybernetik. Von derZwangslugkeit zur Verplanung der Geschichte. III. Plan,Regelung und Kontrolle: Das Ende der Geschichte?

Hessischer Rundunk. November 10, 1960.

9

The Working Hypothesis of Hochschule

fr Gestaltung in Ulm.

Zu den Arbeitshypothesen der Hochschule r Gestaltung inUlm.Werk. 48.8 (1961): 281283.

9

Reflections on the Scientific and Political

Significance of Decision Theory.

berlegungen zur wissenschatlichen und politischen Bedeutungder Entscheidungstheorie.Karlsruhe: Gesellschat r Kernorschung, 1963.


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9 The Universe o Design. Faculty Seminar, College oEnvironmental Design, Spring 1964.Berkeley: Institute o Urban and Regional Development,

University o Caliornia, 1964.

9

with Vince Casalaina

Generating Floor Plans rom Adjacency Matrices.

(Date o publication is approximate. Probably in the periodbetween 19631967.)

Hierarchy or Team? Considerations on the Organization o R&DCo-operatives.Economics o Research and Development. Ed. Tybout, Richard A.

Columbus: The Ohio State University Press, 1965. 174218.

9

Description of American Research

Institutes. with Peter V. Brentano, KarlAchim Czemper, Bruno Fritsch, Werner Kunz,

and Walter Mller

Beschreibung Amerikanischer Forschungsinstitute.Forschungsplanung. Eine Studie ber Ziele und Strukturen

amerikanischer Forschungsinstitute Research planning. Eds. Krauch,

Helmut, Horst W. J. Rittel, and Werner Kunz. Munich: Oldenburg,

1966. 177183.

with Henry Sanoff and Robert Fessenden Evaluative methods to measure the perormance o buildings.Berkeley: Department o Architecture, College o Environmental

Design, University o Caliornia, 1966.

Research Planning. A Study of the Goals

and Structures of Planning in American

Research Institutes.

with Helmut Krauch and Werner Kunz

Forschungsplanung. Eine Studie ber Ziele und Strukturenamerikanischer Forschungsinstitute Research Plannen.Munich: Oldenbourg, 1966.

Instrumental Knowledge in Politics. Instrumentelles Wissen in der Politik.Beitrge zum Verhltnis von Wissenschaten und Politk. Ed. Krauch,

Helmut. Heidelberg: Studiengruppe Fr Systemorschung, 1966.

183209.

Some Principles or the Design o an Educational System

or Design.Education or Architectural Technology. Ed. Passonneau, J. St. Louis:

Washington University and the AIA Educational Research Projects,

1966. 103151.

Reflections on the Scientific and Political

Significance of Decision Theory.

Zur Wissenschatlichen und Politischen Bedeutung derEntscheidungstheorie.Forschungsplanung. Eine Studie ber Ziele und Strukturen

Amerikanischer Forschungsinstitute . Munich: Oldenburg, 1966.

110129.


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Design Issues: Volume 22, Number 4 Autumn 2006 9

9

with Arne Musso

Measuring the Perormance o Buildings: Report about a PilotStudy.St. Louis: Washington University, 1967.

with V[ince] Casalaina Morphologies o Floor Plans.(1967)

Systematics of Planning. Systematik der Planung.Ed. Hannover: Deutsche Messe- und Austellungs-AG, Abteilung

Technische Presse, 1967. 505508.

with Werner Kunz Systems Analysis o the Logic o Research Processes in OrganicChemistry, Parts I and IIa.Menlo Park, Caliornia: Stanord Research Institute, 1967.

98

Systems Analysis of ResearchProcesses. with Werner Kunz

Systemanalyse eines Forschungsprozesses.

Heidelberg: 1968.

The Logic of Research and

Documentation. Some Strategies for

the Development of User-friendly

Information Systems for Scientific

Research. with W[erner] Kunz

Zur Logik von Forschung und Dokumentation. EinigeStrategien r den Entwur reundlicher Inormationssystemer die wissenschatliche Forschung.Die Naturwissenschaten. 55.8 (1968): 358361.

99

with Melvin M. Webber

Dilemmas in a General Theory o Planning.Panel on Policy Sciences, American Association or the Advancement

o Science. 4 (1969): 155169.

Research and Information.

with Werner Kunz

Forschung und Inormation.Ziele und Wege rationaler Forschungsplanung. 1969. 3341.

Research Planning of the Systems

Research Group. with Werner Kunz

Forschungsplanung der Studiengruppe r Systemorschung.Arbeitsbereich II. Heidelberg: Manuskript, 1969.

with Werner Kunz Patent Documentation and the Transer o Knowledge.Inormation Retrieval among Patent Ofces. Geneva: BIRPI, 1969.

153159.

with Werner Kunz The Changing Inormation Environment: Implications orGovernments, Part 1: Purpose, Methods and Results o the Study.Working Report about a study or the Organization or EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD), Paris.Heidelberg, Berkeley: 1969.


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90

The Planning Process as an Iterative

Process of Generating Variety and

Reducing Variety.

Der Planungsproze als Iterativer Vorgang vonVariettserzeugung und Variettseinschrnkung.

Arbeitsberichte zur Planungsmethodik 4 Entwursmethodik in der

Bauplanung. Ed. Joedicke, Jrgen. Stuttgart: Karl Krmer Verlag,

1970. 1731.

The Development of an InformationSystem for the German Parliament.

with Werner Kunz and K[arl] H[einrich]

Meyer-Uhlenried

Die Entwicklung eines Inormationssystems r denDeutschen Bundestage.Fachtagung: Inormation Retrieval Systeme (IRS), Management

Inormation Systeme (MIS). Vorabdrucke der Vortrge.

Stuttgart: GI, Gesellschat r Inormatik, 1970. 404417.

Outline of an Information System for

Reasearch Planning. with Werner Kunz

Entwursskizze r ein Forschungsplanungs-Inormationssystem.Nachrichten r Dokumentation. 21.1 (1970): 37.

with Werner Kunz Issues as Elements o Inormation Systems.Working Paper No. 131. Berkeley: Institute o Urban and Regional

Development, University o Caliornia, 1970.

Systems Analysis and Data Processing in

Research. with Werner Kunz

Systemanalyse und Inormationsverarbeitung in der Forschung.Munich, Vienna: Oldenbourg, 1970.

with Steward Blake and Werner Kunz Systems Analysis o the Logic o Research Processes in OrganicChemistry, Part III: Reasoning Patterns in Organic Chemistry andChemical Concepts o Similarity.Menlo Park, Caliornia: Stanord Research Institute, 1970.

Theories o Cell Congurations: Comments on the paperby Grason.Emerging Methods in Environmental Design and Planning. Ed. Moore,

Gary T. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1970.

Considerations for the Development of

an Information System for the Technical

Inspection Authority. with Werner Kunz

berlegungen zur Entwicklung eines Inormationssystems r dieTechnischen berwachungsvereine (TV).

Berkeley, Heidelberg: early drat, 1970.

Future-Oriented Land Use [Planning]. Zukuntsorientierte Raumordnung.Systems 69, Internationales Symposium ber Zukuntsragen. Ed.

Steinbuch, Karl. Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt (DVA), 1970.

174192.

Towards a Methodology of Planning in

the Construction Industry.

Zur Methodologie des Planens im Bauwesen.Zukunt des BauensZiele und Mglichkeiten. Dokumentation der

Reerate und Diskussionen des 43. Bundestages. Frankurt, Essen:

Bund Deutscher Architekten (DBA), 1970. 3743.


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9

with Werner Kunz

An Educational System or the Inormation Sciences.Conerence Edition o the Papers, International Conerence on Training

or Inormation Work, Rome, November 1519. Ed. Lubbock,

Georgette. Rome: Italian National Inormation Institute, 1971.

177187.

Training in the Information Sciences:The Need for Information Scientists in

Information Systems Planning

and Operation.

with Werner Kunz

Ausbildung in den Inormationswissenschaten: Der Bedar anInormationswissenschatlern r Planung und Betriebvon Inormationssystemen.Das Inormationsbankensystem: Vorschlge r die Planung und den

Ausbau eine allgemeinen arbeitsteiligen Inormationsbankensystems r

die Bundesministerium des Innern an die Bundesregierung. Bonn: Carl

Haymanns Verlag KG, 1971. 367-377.

Remarks on First and Second Generation

Systems Research.

Bemerkungen zur Systemorschung der ersten undzweiten Generation.

SS Mitteilungen. (1971)

Documentation and the Transfer of

Knowledge.

Dokumentation und der Transer von Wissen.Technische Neuerungen richtig nutzen, Inormation r die Innovation.

Eds. Blohm, H and K[arl] Steinbuch. Dsseldor: VDI-Verlag

GmbH, 1971. 1016.

Full Text Retrieval in Large Document

ArchivesA Concept for Chemical

Documentation. with Werner Kunz

Volltext-Retrieval in groen DokumentenbestndeneinKonzept r die Chemische Dokumentation.Chemiker-Zeitung. 95.17 (1971): 747750.

Suggestion for a Planning System in

Academia.

Vorschlag r ein Planungssystem an Hochschulen.Berkeley: 1971.

The Information System of the Office

for Foreign Affairs, Expert Opinions and

Suggestions. with Werner Kunz

Zum Inormationssystem des Auswrtigen Amtes, Gutachtenund Vorschlge.Heidelberg: Stuiengruppe r Systemorschung, e.V, 1971.

9

with Werner Kunz

A Low Cost Ofine Fulltext Service or Integrating Small

Countries into International Inormation Systems.36th International Congress o FID, Invited Papers. Budapest:

International Federaion or Documentation, 1972.

Chemists Body of Knowledge and Their

InformationRecommendations for

Training in Information Science.

with W[erner] Kunz

Das Wissen des Chemikers und seine InormationVorschlgezur inormationswissenschatlichen Ausbildung.Chemiker-Zeitung. 96.6 (1972): 348351.

Democratic Decision Making.

Architectural Design. 43.4 (1972): 233234.


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The Development of Technology

Consequences for Education and

Science.

Die Entwicklung der TechnikKonsequenzen r Bildungund Wissenschat.Studiengruppe r Systemorschung e.V. Bericht 113. Heidelberg:

Verlag Dokumentation, 1972.

The Information Sciences: Their

Approaches, Problems, and Methods, andTheir Development in Germany.

with Werner Kunz

Die Inormationswissenschaten: Ihre Anstze, Probleme,

Methoden und ihr Ausbau in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland.Munich, Vienna: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1972.

with Werner Kunz Inormation Science: On the Structure o its Problems.Inormation Storage and Retrieval. 8.2 (1972): 9598.

[About a] More Intensive Use of Spatial

Capacity in Universities, for the Federal

Minister of Education, Training and

Science, Bonn, Project Area. Part I:Executive Summary. Part II: Working

Papers on Individual Project Topics. Part

III: IBISDocumentation.

with Projektgruppe HKP

Itensivere Nutzung der rmlichen Kapazitt im Hochschulbereich,im Autrag des Bundesministeriums r Bildung und Wissenschat,Bonn, Projektbericht. Teil I: Zusammenassender Bericht. Teil II:

Arbeitspapiere zu einzelnen Projektschwerpunkten.Teil III: IBISDokumentation.Heidelberg: Studiengruppe r Systemorschung e.V, 1972.

On the Planning Crisis: Systems Analysis o the Firstand Second Generations.Bedrits konomen. 8 (1972): 390396.

Principles for the Advancement of

Sciences: Alternative Strategies, SPIK

Papers 2. with Jean-Pierre Protzen

Prinzipien der Wissenschatsrderung: Alternative Strategien,SPIK-Papier 2.Heidelberg: Science Policy Inormation Group, 1972.

Procedures, Computer Software and

Microfilm = a System.

Prozeduren, Computersotware und Mini-Mikrolme =ein System.Sddeutsche Zeitung. November 14, 1972: Der Mensch und

die Technik. Technisch-Wissenschatliche Bltter.

Son o Rittelthink: The State o the Art in Design Methods.

The DMG 5th Anniversary Report. DMG Occasional Paper No. 1. 7.2(1972): 143147.

Structure and Useulness o Planning Inormation Systems.Bedrits konomen. 8 (1972): 390396.

UMPLIS: Experts Report and Suggestions

for the Design and Installation of a

Planning Information System for

Environmental Policy, Presented for the

Federal Ministry of the Interior.

with Werner Kunz

UMPLIS: Gutachten und Vorschlge r die Auslegung undEinrichtung eines Planungsinormationssystems r disUmweltpolitik erstellt r das Bundesministerium des Innern.Heidelberg: W[erner] Kunz, 1972.


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9

The Information System for

Environmental Planning (UMPLIS).

with Werner Kunz

Das Umwelt-Planungs-Inormationssystem UMPLIS.Stdtebauliche Beitrge. 2 (1973): 5572.

Social Alternatives for Local

Transportaion.

Gesellschatliche Alternativen im Nahverkehr.

Augabe Zukunt: Verbesserung der Lebensqualitt, 4. Internationaletagung der Industriegewerkschat Metall r die Bundesrepublik

Deutschland. Band 3: Verkehr. Frankurt: Europische Verlagsanstalt,

1973. 76108.

Information Sciences: Their Contribution

to Planning.

Inormationswissenschaten: Ihr Beitrag zur Planung.Stdtebauliche Beitrge. 2/1973 (1973): 120135.

The Logics of Planning. Logiken der Planung.Unpublished manuscript, 1973.

LORBASPossible Applications in

Library Science.

with Anita Treiber

LORBASAnswendungsmglichkeiten im Bibliothekswesen.Neue Verahren r fe Dateneingabe und Datenausgabe in Bibliotheken.

Munich: Verlag Dokumentation, 1973. 148158.

LORBASA System in Support of Patent

Documentation.

with Anita Treiber

LORBASEin System zur Untersttzung derPatentdokumentation.Heidelberg: Inormationssysteme, Gesellschat r Planung und

Entwicklung GmbH, 1973.

9 The Design o the International Reerral System o UNDP, Serieso Reports submitted to the Second Meeting o the GoverningCouncil o the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).Nairobi; 1974.

The networking concept o the UN Environment ProgrammesInternational Reerral System (IRS) o the United NationsEnvironment Programme (UNEP), Summary o a Seminar inHeidelberg, December 1973.

International Associations. (1974)

On Evaluation of Information Systems.

with Werner Kunz and Werner Schwuchow

Zur Bewertung von Inormationssystemen.EURIM: A European Conerence on Research into the Management

o Inormation Services and Libraries [held] 2022 November 1973.

London: Aslib, 1974.514.

Towards Future Development of

Technologies for Storage and Retrieval of

Large Volumes of Text.

Zur zukntigen Entwicklung der Techniken r Speicherungund Retrieval groer Textmengen.Vortrge vom Europischen Mikroflm Kongress, Mainz 1972, Teil 3.

Frankurt: Ausschuss r wirtschatliche Verwaltung (AWV), 1974.7996.


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9

BAUTIS 2: Information Systems for

Construction Technology. Project Notes.

with Hans E. Dehlinger, W. Kahlhammer, R.

Mertes, and W. Weiss

BAUTIS 2: Bau-Technologie-Inormationssystem.Mitteilungen der Projektgruppe.Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der Planung,

Universitt Stuttgart, 1975.

BAUTIS 3: Information Systems forConstruction Technology. Project Notes.

with Hans E. Dehlinger, W. Kahlhammer, R.

Mertes, and W. Weiss

BAUTIS 3: Bau-Technologie-Inormationssystem.Mitteilungen der Projektgruppe.Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der Planung,


Introduction to Planning. Einhrung in die Planung.Unpublished manuscript, 1975.

Building a Research Program: Concepts

for Research in Urban Transportation.

Mglichkeiten zur Erstellung eines Forschunsprogrammes: ZurForschungkonzeption r den Stadtverkehr.

Stuttgart, Berkeley: unpublished manuscript, 1975.

9

BAUTIS: Information Systems for

Construction Technology, Project Final

Report, Stuttgart University. with Hans E.

Dehlinger, R. Mertes, and W. Weiss

BAUTIS: Bau-Technologie-Inormationssystem, Endbericht derProjectgruppe an der Universitt Stuttgart.Arbeitspapier A-76-1. Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der

Planung, Universitt Stuttgart, 1976.

with Werner Kunz and Werner Schwuchow Methods o Analysis and Evaluation o Inormation Needs.Munich: Verlag Dokumentation, 1976.

Project STI-EC: Systems Analysis o the Generation andDissemination o Scientifc and Technological Inormation in theEuropean Community, Internal Project Report No. 3.Hiedelberg: Studiengruppe r Systemorschung e. V, 1976.

Coercive FactsExcuses for the

Decision Weary?

SachzwngeAusreden r Entscheidungsmde?Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der Palnung I.A, 1976.

STIEC: Approach and Specifcations, Internal Project Report No. 1.Heidelberg: Studiengruppe r Systemorschung, 1976.

STIEC: Comments, Interim Report and Illustrations o Approach,Internal Project Report No. 2.Heidelberg: Studiengruppe r Systemorschung, 1976.

Networking Systems of Computing and

Micrography.

Verbundsysteme von EDV und Mikrographie.Mnchner Medizinesche Wochenschrit. 118.48 (1976): 15671570.


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9

with Werner Kunz

A Systems Analysis o the Logic o Research and InormationProcesses: Reasoning Patterns in Organic Chemistry.Munich: Verlag Dokumentation, 1977.

The Coercive Fact: a Buzzword to Fool the

Citizens. Radio Program of the Northern

German Radio. Hanover.

Der Sachzwang: Ein Schlagwort soll die Brger tuschen.Sendung am Norddeutschen Rundunk, Hannover.

Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt. 30.14,16 (1977)

Evaluating Evaluators: Internal and External Assessment o aProession and its Education.National Architectural Accrediting Board, Accreditation and Assessment

Conerence, New Orleans, LA., March 18, 1976. Washington, DC:

1977. 7791.

Societys Alternatives for Commercial

Traffic and Transport.

Gesellschatliche Alternativen im Berusverkehr.Reprint No. S-77-4. Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der Planung,


Decision Formation and Decision

Justification.

Urteilsbildung und Urteilsrechtertigung.Arbeitspapier No. A-77-1. Institut r Grundlagen der Planung,


98

Challenges and Focuses for Research in

Information Science.

Augaben und Schwerpunkte inormationswissenschatlicherForschung.Inormationswissenschat. Ed. Kunz, Werner. Munich, Vienna:

R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1978. 5686.

Suggestions for Reorganization of the

Architecture Curriculum.

with Hans E. Dehlinger

Vorschlge zur Neuordnung eines Studienplans r Architekten.Arbeitspapier No. A-78-8. Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der


99

UMPLIS: Case Study for the Development

of an Environmental Policy Information

System. with Werner Kunz and W. Reuter

UMPLIS: Entwicklung eines Umweltplanungs-Inormationssystems Fallstudie.K.G. Saur Verlag, 1979.

980 APIS: A Concept or an Argumentative PlanningInormation System.Working Paper No. 324. Berkeley: Institute o Urban and Regional


The Architecture Curriculum 1979 at

Stuttgart University. Address for the

Opening of the Exhibit by the Same Name,

October 1979.

Architekturstudium 1979 an der Universitt Stuttgart.Rede anlsslich der Ernung (24 Okt. 1979) der Austellung gleichen

Namens. Stuttgart: Universitt Stuttgart, 1980.


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98

EnergyCoercive Fact or What?

Energieein Sachzwang, oder was sonst?Energieein Problem r den planung und Stdtebauliches Institut.

Stuttgart: Institut r Landschatsplanung und Stdtebauliches

Institut, Universitt Stuttgart, 1981.

Perspectives on Rural Development

Policy.with Gislind Budnick and Ulrike Phl

Perspektiven lndlicher Entwicklungspolitik.

Arbeitspapier A-81-1. Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen derPlanung, Universitt Stuttgart, 1981.

98

Architects and Computers.

Architekten und Computer.ARCH+. 78 (1984): 73-77

Rendering Perspective Drawings with

Programmable Pocket Calculators.

with Hans Florian. Hoyer

Berechnung von perspektivischen Darstellungen mitprogrammierbaren Taschenrechnern.1984.

How to Know What is Known: Designing Crutches orCommunication.Representation and exchange o knowledge as a basis o inormation

processes. Proceedings o the Fith International Research Forum in

Inormation Science (IRFIPS), Heidelberg Sept. 1983. Ed. Dietschmann,

Hans J. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

(North-Holland), 1984.

interviewed by Donald P. Grant and

Jean-Pierre Protzen

Second-generation Design Methods.Developments in Design Methodology. Ed. Cross, Nigel. New York:

J. Wiley & Son, 1984. 317327.

98 Similarity as an Organizing Principal o a Knowledge Base orOrganic Chemistry.Arbeitspapier A-86-2. Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der


On the Influence of Computers on the

Future Role and Image of Architects.

ber den Einfu des Computers au die zukntige Rolle unddas Berusbild von Architekten.

CAD: Architektur automatisch? Texte zur Diskussion. Eds. Ehlers,Walter, Gernot Feldhusen, and Carl Steckeweh. Brunswick,

Wiesbaden: Vieveg & Sohn, 1986.

98

CHEMIS: A Knowledge-Based

Information System for Organic Chemisty.

with W[erner] Kunz, E. Nonnenmacher,

B. Rami, R. Teubner, and K. Ketterer

CHEMIS: Ein wissenbasiertes Inormationssystem r dieorganische Chemie.Frankurt, Main: IDD-Verlag r Internationale

Dokumentation, 1987.

The HfG Legacy? Das Erbe der HG?Hochschule r Gestaltung UlmDie Moral der Gegenstnde.

Ed. Lindinger, Herbert. Berlin: Verlag Ernst & Sohn, 1987. 118119.


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Energy Becoming Rare?: Coercive Fact or

a War of the Minds.

Energie wird rar? Sachzwnge oder der Krieg um die Kpe.Reprint No. S-87-3. Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der Planung,


Natural vs. Artificial Intelligence. Natrliche vs knstliche Intelligenz.Hard and Sot, Industrielle Mikroelektronik. 9 (1987)

988

with Douglas Noble

Issue-Based Inormation Systems and Environmental PlanningSystems: A Bibliography.Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der Planung, Universitt

Stuttgart, 1988.

The Reasoning o Designers.Arbeitspapier A-88-4. Stuttgart: Institut r Grundlagen der


989

with Douglas NobleIssue-Based Inormation Systems or Design.Working Paper No. 492. Berkeley: Institute o Urban and Regional


Technological Change and Urban

Structure.

Technischer Wandel und Stadtstruktur.Stadt, Kultur, Natur. Chancen zukntiger Lebensgestaltung.

Ed. Wildenmann, Rudol. Baden-Baden: 1989.

99

Planning, Design: Selected Works on

Theory and Methodology.

Planen, Entweren, Design: Ausgewhlte Schriten Zu Theorieund Methodik.Ed. Reuter, Werner. Stuttgart, Berlin, Cologne: W. Kohlhammer

Verlag, 1992.

99

Notes by Eric Dluhosche, Donald P. Grant and

Diana Lee-Smith

Impressions o Architecture 130: Notes and Observations onProessor Horst W. J. Rittels Classic Design Methods Course atBerkeley as taught circa-196971 [The Spring 1969 Course].Design Methods: Theories, Research, Education and Practice. 29.130.4

(1995): 21112437.

998Notes by Eric Dluhosche, Donald P. Grant and

Diana Lee-Smith

Impressions o Architecture 130: Notes and Observations onProessor Horst W. J. Rittels Classic Design Methods Course atBerkeley as taught circa-19691971: The Course or Spring 1971. Design Methods: Theories, Research, Education and Practice. 32.14

(1998): 25992724.


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Horst W.J. Rittel, a pioneering theorist o design and planning

died o lymphatic cancer on July 8, 1990 in Heidelberg, Germany.

He was born in 1930 and grew up in Berlin, where he attended

the Gymnasium Adolnum. Upon graduation he enrolled at the

University o Gttingen to study mathematics and theoretical

physics. In 1953, resh out o school, he ound employment in

the Maschinenabrik Deutschland in Dortmund as an operations

researcher. There Horst rst became ascinated with the concepts

that later became the ocus o his career: the activities o design

and planning. Beore pursuing these topics, however, he joined the

Sozialorschungsstelle o the University o Mnster in Dortmund

in 1958. His role was that o mathematician and statistician,

developing socioeconomic prediction models and evaluating

sociological eld research. Simultaneously, he pursued the study

o sociology and mathematical logic at the university.

Rittels writings are as varied as his educational

background. They are dicult to classiy, because they are

scattered in the proessional journals o disciplines as disparate

as chemistry and law, computer science and policy science, or

architecture and inormation science. The writings, however do

have a common core. Horst saw the theme o his work to be the

reasoning o designers: the nature o their problems, the kinds and

structures o the knowledge they use, the ormation o judgment,

their logics o procedure. He called it the science o design.

As he said, he had the good ortune to participate in the

development o the science o design rom its beginning. He laidthe cornerstones o his work at the Hochschule r Gestaltung at

Ulm where he was both teacher and director rom 1958 to 1963.

At Ulm he argued that dichotomies purporting to distinguish

systematic versus intuitive, and rational versus nonrational design

are untenable.

Rather, he asked, to what degree can and should design

processes be made explicit, and to what extent can and should

they be made communicable to others. For only communicable

processes can be taught, and only explicitly ormulated processes

can be critically scrutinized and improved upon.In 1963 Rittel was called to Berkeley. O this event he said

my special luck was the invitation to join the aculty at Berkeley: I

In Memoriam: Horst W.J. RittelC. West. Churchman, Jean-PierreProtzen, and Melvin M. Webber

90

Born in Berlin, July 14

990

4.Volksschule, Berlin (elementary school)

909

Scharnhorstschule, BerlinSchoeneberg

(gymnasium)

999Gymnasium Adolfinum, Bckeburg

99

Private tutor in English, French, Latin,

mathematics, and physics

Worker (aluminum factory, precision

scales factory)

Insurance agent

Interviewer for survey institute

999

University of GttigenStudied mathematics and theoretical physics

Auxiliary Assistant in astronomical

observatory

(analysis of stellar spectra)

Auxiliary Assistant in geophysical observatory

(analysis of geomagnetic fields)

Manager of student dormitory

998

Maschinenfabrik Deutschland, Dortmund

Cost predictions, development of design aids,

operations research*

Timeline of Rittels Life

We compiled this timeline from information

in Rittels Curiculum Vitae as printed in

December 1988. The CV was provided by

Jean-Pierre Protzen.


19/20

Design Issues: Volume 22, Number 4 Autumn 2006 9

could not have ound a livelier, more stimulating and resourceul

place in the world. And indeed, Rittel oten talked about how

he was challenged by his new colleagues and students here. He

always acknowledged how their thinking had infuenced his

own; he considered them to have been the pioneers o the idea

that design and planning are most important subjects o scientic

inquiry.His Dilemmas in a General Theory o Planning proved to be a

seminal treatise. There he expounds on the inherently intractable

nature o design and planning problems which he termed

wicked to contrast with the tame problems o mathematics, chess,

or puzzle solving.

The notion o wicked problems led Rittel to a radically

new conception o design and planning processes and o methods

appropriate to their resolution. He described the design process

as inherently argumentative, in which the designer continually

raises questions and argues with himsel and others over the

advantages and disadvantages o alternative responses. Methods

that support argumentation and acilitate the identication o

questions, responses, and arguments, he called methods o the

second generation to distinguish them rom their earlier methods

o operations research.

In 1973 Rittel received a call to join the architecture aculty

at the University o Stuttgart. There, he ounded the Institut r

Grundlagen der Planung, which he directed until his last days. Yet,

he had not abandoned Berkeley or Stuttgart; he simply became

an international commuter splitting his time between the two

institutions.

In more recent times Horst was involved with what

he termed natural intelligence-enhancement. He had been

a stubborn skeptic o the ambitions o articial intelligence

researchers, who seek to create computer programs that simulate

intelligent behavior, or better yet, that surpass human intellectual

capabilities. To him this was the story o the Golem, or o Faust

and his homunculus, all over again. He was specically critical o

todays widespread attempts at constructing expert systems. Hecontended that the expert knowledge embodied in such systems

would become nothing more than reeze-dried prejudices.

Instead o pursuing the aims o articial intelligence, he proposed

what he saw to be a less ambitious but more promising strategy.

In his words, as my eyeglasses dont see on my behal but help

me to see better, one might use the computer not to think on ones

behal but to reinorce and enhance ones own ability to think.

Beore his premature death, Rittel was working on a

general theory o technology, that is the description, analysis, and

theory o instrumental knowledge. He was asking how we mightmore eectively trace the consequences o applying a technology,

and how we might construct a combination o technologies in

98

University of Mnster, Dortmund

Studied mathematical logic and sociology

Sozialforschungsstelle an der Universitt

Mnster, Dortmund

Mathematician and Statistician:

theory of predicting socio-economic

processes, planning, and evaluating

sociological research

989

Hochschule fr Gestaltung Ulm

Festdozent (tenured docent) for design

methodology, mathematical operations

analysis, communications theory,

and epistemology

999

Elected for 4 terms to the three-memberCollege of Rectors, HfG Ulm

(the administrative body of the school)

90?

Married Karin in Ulm

9

Daughter Caroline born

99

University of California, Berkeley

Department of Architecture

Lecturer

9

Son David born

9-9


Space Science Lab and Center for Planning

and Development Research

Associate Research Mathematician:

Project TAUM

(Technology and Urban Management)

999



Associate Professor

9

Washington University, School of

Architecture, St. Louis

Visiting Associate Professor of Architecture

and Operations Research


20/20

0

pursuit o desired results without also generating unoreseen and

undesirable side- and ater-eects, the nightmares o designers.

Horst considered his work in chemistry, or which he received

international recognition, to be a special case o this general

theory. Over the years he had developed an algebra o chemistry

which allowed him to trace the outcomes o chemical reactions

over as many steps as desired. Chemical engineers are typicallyinterested in the yield o a reaction, that is, the percentage o

a desired compound produced by a reaction, not the residues o

that reaction. But, typically or Horst, he was interested in what

others discarded. He wanted to nd what happens when residues

get thrown together as in the efuents o sewage plants. These

residues or nondescript aggregates he called mishmashes. He

oten apologized or the term but said that even distinguished

chemists could not nd a less vulgar word or this important

concept. He had outlined a theory o mishmashes, but it will all to

others to elaborate it.

Incomplete as it is, the rich and innovative work o Horst

Rittel, even i it is not yet ully recognized, has opened new

directions and has already stamped many generations o students.

Because, as he once said, innovative ideas need lengthy incubation

beore they become integrated into the course o normal

research and into proessional practice, the ull impact o his work

will not be appreciated or many years.

He is survived by his wie, Anita; a son, David,

and a daughter, Caroline.

Originally published in 1992 in University o Caliornia: In

Memoriam a publication o the Academic Senate, University o

Caliornia, under heading: Horst W.J. Rittel, Architecture: Berkeley

1930-1990, Proessor o the Science o Design, edited by David Krogh.

989

Studiengruppe fr Systemforschung,

Heidelberg

Co-director

90990



Professor of the Science of Design

9990

Universitt Stuttgart Fakultaet fr

Architektur und Stadtplanung

Universitaetsprofessor fr Grundlagen der

Planung und

Direktor des Institutes fr Grundlagen der

Planung

999

Universitt Stuttgart FachbereichBauplanung

(Department of Building Planning)

Elected Dean

998

Universitt Stuttgart Fakultaet fr

Architektur und Stadtplanung

Elected Dean for three terms

9?

Divorced

9?

Married Anita

98988

Katolieke Universitt Leuven

Fakulteit Toegepaste Wetenschapen

Guest Professor in School of Engineering

Department of Architecture, Planning, and

Urban Design

990

Died in Heidelberg, July 8

* While the CV does not list operations

research, Jean-Pierre Protzen suggests

that was a part of Rittels work at

Maschinenfabrik Deutschland.

Provided by Jean-Pierre Protzen

not in original C.V.

Documents

Kunz Know * * Known Designing