Principles of Centaurian Design

This paper describes the form and example results of the “Centaurian Design Exercise”. This is an assignment that requires design students to discover and utilize ergonomic and behavioral considerations to deduce appropriate design solutions for a hypothetical sentient centaurian society. The value of introducing ergonomic concerns through the centaurian mode is that the basic aspects of spatial orientation and arrangement that most students have long taken for granted for themselves become visibly questionable. This consequently reveals the subtle constraints on the design of artifact and environment imposed by biological form and behavior. Included are charts, rationale and annotated examples that should permit any interested instructor to repeat this exercise for their own educational purpose.