Horst Rittel

Horst WJ Rittel (* July 14, 1930 in Berlin, † 9 July 1990 in Heidelberg ) was a German design theorist and university professor.

Biography

After leaving school in Berlin and Biickeburg Rittel studied from 1949 to 1954 Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Göttingen. From 1953 to 1957 he was employed as a mathematician and physicist at the Maschinenfabrik AG in Dortmund Germany. In 1958 Rittel staff at the Social Research Centre at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster and studied mathematics and sociology there. From 1958 to 1963 Rittel was at the Ulm School of Design ( HfG ) taught design methodology, theory of knowledge and theories of communication. During this time he was also a member of the Rectorate of the University College. Since 1961, Rittel was a member of the Study Group for Systems Research in Heidelberg, initiator and leading scientist in numerous projects, including for the German Bundestag and the Bundesrat and the OECD. In the course of this, Rittel employed, among others, with the flow of scientific and technical information in the EC and with information systems for environmental planning in the Federal Republic of Germany.

From 1963 to 1990 he was Professor of the Science of Design at the University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, Department of Architecture and Department of City and Regional Planning. In 1967 was also a Visiting Associate Professor for Architecture and Operations Research at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri. From 1973 to 1990, Rittel Director and Professor at the Institute of Fundamentals of Planning at the University of Stuttgart, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Source

• Horst WJ Rittel: plan, design, design. Hrsgg. by Wolf D. Reuter, Stuttgart 1992.
• Horst W. J. Rittel: Thinking style. Hrsgg. by Wolf D. Reuter and Wolfgang Jonas, Basel, 2013.