How can design critique address what spatial design does? Starting from the concept of criticality this paper proposes to look away from objects and their meanings and instead to engage with what design does here and now. Guided by performance theory and actor-network theory we conducted an experimental workshop with PhD students at the internationally acclaimed public park Superkilen in Copenhagen, Denmark. Using water melons and egg timers some of the students explored what happened when unexpected objects were placed there. Others investigated, represented and questioned what a particular bench does through film, photo collage and twisted architectural drawings.

We find that design critique can actualise potential of design work by articulating relationships between people and things. To do so, we propose that the critic actively engages in the particular situation rather than judging or analysing design work from a distance. Designerly and artistic forms of representation can be vital tools of investigation and articulation of such a critique. Working in the mode of criticality can pinpoint what possibilities are at stake in a particular situation, while it also can problematize doings of design in a larger socio-spatial environment and thereby point to critical potential for its future development.