Your point about "envisioning" rings very true to me. The problem with
"in vitro" meaning "in house/lab" is that one's vision of possible
environments is poverty stricken. Reality runneth over.
Are all design experiments examples of what I am talking about as positive
critical theory? I don't think so. By and large, such research efforts do
not concern themselves with "higher" levels of context, and conduct design
resarch that include analysis of macro-sociological and political-economic
factors shaping the ability of the innovation to survive "in vitro." Its
a rich topic, you are right.
mike