Material Trajectories. Designing with Care
Annual Conference of the German Society for Design Theory and Research in Berlin on 6–8 May 2021
»Material Trajectories. Designing with Care« Annual Conference of the Annual Conference of the German Society for Design Theory and Research (DGTF). Copyright: DGTF
Design is deeply engaged with materials. Yet the attempt to make sense of the properties, composition and behavior of matter, artifacts and built infrastructures is accompanied by a pressing question: »Who is in fact designing?« As highly elaborated and engineered materials in fields like medicine, biotechnology or aerospace develop further, the possibilities, as well as challenges in designing (with) materials and their activity, become apparent. Simultaneously, matters of existential urgency such as anthropogenic climate change, extractive capitalism, environmental injustice and the quest for resilience call for a response. They demand a grounding in the material itself as a practice of care in order to identify means, develop modes and foster motives for a sustainable future.
Caring, understood as a material engagement and non-normative form of ethical obligation, puts design amidst a variety of situated practices of co-creation in a more-than-human world. This entails asking once again if the designated task of design is just problem solving, innovating, or optimizing. Designing with care requires a critical (self-)examination of predominant systems of reference, styles, working methods, forms of knowledge and object cultures in their circulation. Nurturing these commitments is of particular importance for design research and the differentiation of design as a scientific discipline.
The conference has featured keynotes by Wolfgang Schäffner and by Anupama Kundoo (Potsdam School of Architecture, FH Potsdam / Anupama Kundoo architects).
For more information about topic, program and speakers please visit the Conference Website.
DGTF Conference Committee
Prof. Matthias Held (Schwäbisch-Gmünd),
Prof. Kora Kimpel (Berlin),
Prof. Dr. Claudia Mareis (Berlin/Basel),
Prof. Christiane Sauer (Berlin).
Conference organisation: Léa Perraudin, Clemens Winkler
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Designtheorie und -forschung (DGTF)
Universität der Künste Berlin
Designforschung
Einsteinufer 43
10587 Berlin
Tel: +49 30 8353 58220
E-Mail: mail [at] dgtf.de
Web: https://materialtrajectories.dgtf.de/