The Perception about Metals’ Potential Aging Factors: Results from the Survey of Postsecondary Design Students in Portugal

Abstract

Designers decide which materials they will use in a project after considering numerous aspects, from materials quantifiable aspects (e.g. physical and mechanical properties, manipulation possibilities, availability, etc.) to the nonquantifiable ones (e.g. environmental impact, social value, perceptions of aging, etc.). Upon these last aspects, very few studies were conducted so far on what we refer to as materials’ cultural dimensions. Departing from these considerations, we conducted a survey upon design students in Portugal regarding their forecast on metallic materials’ aging. The findings produced evidence of the prejudices students held towards materials. This evidence must be taken serious if one considers aging to be one of the key aspects of materials that designers take into account in their project decision. The absence of studies that support designers in this qualification task forces these professionals to rely solely on their personal sensibility. This research study was carried out in order to understand the aging factors that are expected to occur for specific materials. The following study was conducted on a representative number of students that attended design courses in Portugal during year 2010/2011. This article presents the results of this study.