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PRECEDENTS

Precedents are earlier occurrences or examples of work that bear resemblance or similarity to one’s intentions or ideas. A precedent or case study helps the student “analyse the past in order to prepare for the future”.18 The student is encouraged to trace the antecedents of an idea to its origin and compare and contrast it with other similar examples in time.
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How does one deconstruct a precedent? Here, the 6W & 2H framework,19 partly summarised in mnemonic form, is of much use:
         I keep six honest serving-men
         (They taught me all I knew);
         Their names are What and Why and When
         And How and Where and Who20

Missing in the quatrain above is Which and How much.
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These prompts assist the student in mapping out precedents. In employing them, the student may ask pertinent questions,21 for questioning is an attitude that develops the curious and critical mind. The student must learn how to frame questions22 - of all kinds - from the obvious to the preposterous. Design is about asking the right questions.

  1. read Jane Webster and Richard T. Watson in Analyzing the Past to Prepare for the Future: Writing a Literature Review (2002).
  2. read D.W. Robertson, Jr. in A Note on the Classic Origin of Circumstances in the Medieval Confessional (1946).
  3. Rudyard Kipling in The Elephant’s Child (1902).
  4. For example, why is the precedent relevant? What is new or novel or different about it? How much is its impact? How has the precedent accomplished its function or purpose? When and where did the precedent originate from? Which contextual factors played a role in its emergence? Who is the creator, inventor or designer in question? What is their background and how has it contributed to the design?
  5. read Felix S. Cohen in What is a Question? (1929).