Category: Faculty of Design

Date:November 7-8, 2018

Venue: Estonian Academy of Arts, Põhja pst 7

Lecturer: Thomas Markussen

Research through design is about understanding how processes of designing and creating artworks can serve as the primary method of inquiry into questions relevant for art and design. Originally, the method was described by Christopher Frayling (1993) and Bruce Archer (1995), and since then many different suggestions for what the characteristics of research through design have been presented. This 2-day seminar offers PhD students visual sketching techniques and methodological tools that can be used to clarify how they practice research through design. Based on readings and the students’ position papers, we will be using visual models and diagrams to map out the role played by designerly and artistic experiments in the students’ own projects? Questions that will be addressed are: How can experiments in art and design serve as means for inquiry? How do we account for knowledge produced by these experiments? Each day will be framed by a talk that will set up a conceptual space for collective work.

Thomas Markussen is associate professor and co-founder of the Social Design Research Unit, at the University of Southern Denmark. In his work, Markussen focuses on how design can be used as a political and critical aesthetic practice, notably in the fields of social design, design activism and design fiction. He is one of the contributors to the recently published book Practice-based Design Research, edited by Laurene Vaughan, and has previously been head of phd education at Kolding School of Design. His other publications include journal articles such as “The disruptive aesthetics of design activism: enacting design between art and politics” (Design Issues); “Disentangling the ‘social’ in social design’s engagement with the public realm” (CoDesign); and “The politics of design activism – from impure politics to parapolitics” appearing in Routledge’s forthcoming book Design and Dissent.

Registration

Theseminar is open to PhD and MA students and researchers with ongoing research projects. Registration is open until 26.10.

Requirements

Particpants must submit a position paper (max 1 page) that describe their PhD project. The paper should provide understanding of the aim of the project, primary research questions, methods and the students training and background. Please send your paper to elika.kiilo@artun.eeby 30.10

As preparation for the seminar, participants will be asked to read:

Bang., A-L; Ludvigsen, M; Krogh P-G & Markussen, T. (2012):The Role of Hypothesis in Constructive Design Research. The Art of Research Conference, Aalto University, Helsinki.

Krogh, P-G; Markussen, T & Bang, A-L (2015): ICord’15 – International Conference on Research into Design, Springer Verlag.

The text will be made available upon registration.

Students can earn 2 credit points (ECTS) for participation.

Preliminary Program

Wednesday, Nov 7

13:00-14:00Introduction to Research through Design – a murky concept or expanding methodology?, talk by Thomas Markussen

Break

14:15-15:30 Group work – understanding the basic elements of research through design PhD projects

Break

15:45-16:30 PhD Poster exhibition

Thursday, Nov 8

9:30-10:30Ways of drifting – 5 methods for experimenting in research through design, talk by Thomas Markussen

Break

10:45-11:45 Group work on the role of designerly and artistic experiments in research through design PhD projects

Lunch

12:30:-13:15 Group work on the role of designerly and artistic experiments in research through design PhD projects

13:15-14:30 Collective sharing and presenting

This event is organised by the Graduate School of Culture Studies and Arts, supported by the ASTRA project of the Estonian Academy of Arts – EKA LOOVKÄRG (European Union, European Regional Development Fund).

The next lecturer of the Open Lecture Series this autumn semester will be Jason Hilgefort, stepping on the stage of the large hall of the new EKA building on 4th of October at 6 pm to talk about the disruptive developments of dispersed infrastructure.

Jason’s lecture is titled “Dispersed Infrastructures for New Collective Urban Constellations”. Cities began as a simple collection of individuals sharing common elements. They have slowly evolved to include megageopolitical networks. These systems have been manifested by large, far reaching governmental and corporate built forms. With the emergence of dispersed infrastructural realities (mobiles, drones, etc), we stand at a disruptive moment – where the assumed reliance of human habitat upon top down forms is in question. A new form of interdependent individuality is possible.

Jason studied urban planning and design at The University of Cincinnati and architecture at The University of British Columbia – Vancouver. His work experience ranges from New York (Ehrenkrantz Eckstut and Kuhn), to Los Angeles (Behnisch Architekten) to Mumbai (Rahul Mehrotra). From 2000 to 2004 he worked with Sustainable Urbanist and innovator Peter Calthorpe. After joining Maxwan A+U in 2007, he was involved in the ongoing projects Moscow A101, Central District Rotterdam, and Barking Riverside in London. Also, Jason lead a series of Maxwan’s competition victories – in Helsinki, Basel, Kiev, Hannover, Ostrava, Magdeburg, and Kaunas. During that time won Europan 11 in Vienna. Since then he formed Land+Civilization Compositions for investigating issues ranging from daily objects, to infrastructures, to cultural research. He is also a contributor to uncube magazine with writing on ‘architecture and beyond’.

Land+Civilization Compositions is a Randstad (Netherlands) and Istanbul (Turkey) based office that works and collaborates on issues related to built form, with a portfolio scope from research to design. According to LCC we are living at a time when the connections between the professions, which are engaged in the shaping of built form, are getting stronger and the differences amongst them are blurring. Glocal economic context, and emerging social and environmental issues are leading the way to a new set of priorities. A new generation of ‘urban thinkers’ is emerging and ‘process’ is becoming more prominent than the ‘product’.

The architecture and urban planning department of the Estonian Academy of Arts has been curating the Open Lectures on Architecture series since 2012 – each year, a dozen architects, urbanists, both practicing as well as academics, introduce their work and field of research to the audience in Tallinn. All lectures are in English, free and open to all interested.

The series is funded by the Estonian Cultural Endowment. Jason Hilgefort’s lecture is part of the Future Architecture program which introduces and celebrates innovation, experimentation and the ideas of a generation that will design the architecture and build Europe’s cities in the years to come. See: http://futurearchitectureplatform.org.

Curators: Sille Pihlak, Johan Tali
https://www.facebook.com/EKAarhitektuur/

More info:
Pille Epner
E-post: arhitektuur@artun.ee
Tel. +372 642 0071

Külli Triin-Laanet’s drawing

The exhibition. My Body. My Face. I Sense, I Look, I Imagine.

Graphic designer, blogger and enterpreneur Helene Vetik:

Self presentation in internet.
10 years on the field – evolution of the field and myself.

www.uustuus.ee

Open lecture series in the Faculty of Design