Dialectic of design,rhetoric of representation

This paper examines the role of representation in mediating contentious developments. To the extent that contentions over form may arise from concerns about future development, design-based communication may minimize conflict. This paper argues the design process itself is mediation. Design arguments entail a rhetorical act since all arguments require rhetorical postures. From discourse analyses of three twenty-plus-year-old and two contemporary Southern Californian developments that include interpretation of compositional contents of graphic representations, this paper posits the rhetorical purpose of design representations and how their styles, modes and technologies were utilized to mediate development disputes presented in these case studies.