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Workshops, Seminars and Lectures Björn Franke teaches practical and theoretical aspects of design in studio courses, seminars, workshops and lectures for both academic and professional audiences. All seminars have both theoretical and practical components. The range of topics and briefings below are outcomes of his research activities and reflect his personal interest in and approach to design.
This seminar investigates the theoretical foundations of design and design practice as well as current issues and future directions of design. The theoretical analysis includes design as social action, design and responsibility, sociology of objects and cognitive design processes. Current issues in design such as participatory design, customisation, and design activism will be approached through an analysis of literature and design projects. The seminar provides a forum to develop skills in design research and thinking and to understand the various factors that shape design activity, research, teaching, and outcomes.
Design thinking is a creative process based around the building up of ideas which offers strategies that can be applied to everyday situations. It is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result. Design thinking does not seek to evaluate ideas as these have the potential to provide creative solutions. This contrasts with critical thinking, which is concerned with the analysis and the breaking down of existing ideas and the critical evaluation of information and contexts. This seminar will provide an introduction to both design thinking and critical thinking through a study of the concepts and processes in both approaches. This understanding allows to make sensible contributions to a world that is becoming increasingly complex.
All design is orientated towards the future as design is an activity of creating new possibilities through products, structures and systems. This seminar investigates design as an activity of speculation about possible worlds through narratives, scenarios, fictional objects and film. It draws on the analysis of conceptual design projects and interdisciplinary approaches and methods in future studies, technology assessment, forecasting and science fiction.
This seminar aims to develop an understanding of the relationship between technology and society. Drawing on perspectives from history, anthropology, sociology and philosophy, the seminar explores the co-evolutionary aspects between technology and society. It aims to evaluate possibilities in design that embrace the concept of transdisciplinarity, moving beyond traditional subject boundaries and combining art and technology to expose the cultural divisions between art/humanities and science/technology.
The world that we live in is to a large extent the product of deliberate planning and construction. The built objects and environment that surround us strongly condition our actions, experiences, and sense of personal and collective possibilities. This seminar explores the relationship between the design of artefacts and the quality of social and political life. It investigates the social, cultural and political origins of designs and ways in which political ideas are represented in design. The inquiry is interdisciplinary, drawing on approaches from social science, philosophy, engineering, industrial design, architecture, urban planning, and information systems.
It is through an understanding of the operation of a host that a parasite can co-exist and adapt to its environment. The parasite does not attempt to change its host through destruction since its own survival depends on the existence of its host. It instead must learn to adapt to changes in the host’s structure. Your task is to take an existing artefact or spatial situation and modify it, so that the existing function of the object or space is significantly improved, or that it enables access to resources which were previously inaccessible, or that it provides a completely new function or viewpoint. The aim of the project is to present an intellectually challenging design proposal which engages the audience in a narrative by using prototypes, models, photos and film.
The restaurant »Dialogue in the Dark« creates an extraordinary atmosphere for the customer by being completely dark. Virtually blindfolded, the customers see neither the food nor any of the dinner guests and therefore have to experience the dinner through other senses. Design a concept for a dining event that, similar to the aforementioned example, provides an original experience through a singular factor for the customer. Specify the factor and the resulting experience and develop the design around that. For example, you could think about adding or subtracting something from the usual dining experience. The aim of the project is to present an intellectually challenging design proposal which engages the audience in a narrative by using prototypes, models, photos and film.
The mass market consumer culture often neglects the complex needs as humans are often treated as impersonal users or consumers. Real humans, however, may require more specific and unique objects and spaces beyond customisation, which acknowledges their complexities, contradictions and irrationality. Your task is to design a space for a person with a mental affliction (hypochondria, panic disorders, paranoia, or similar). Consider the space as a retreat within the person’s home where the affliction can be exhibited or relief can be found. The aim of the project is to present an intellectually challenging design proposal which engages the audience in a narrative by using prototypes, models, photos and film.
In near future, keeping live animals as pets may become obsolete, as they will be replaced by robotic pets: no more hamsters accidentally flushed down the toilet or dogs given as Christmas gifts abandoned on roadsides. Robotic pets may learn tricks; they do not require to be fed and they can be simply shut off during family vacations. Your task is to design an environment in which humans and artificial pets can interact. What kind of pets will there be? Will they be based on existing animals or will there be new forms? How will the artificiality of the pets influence the space? How will it be different from existing spaces? The aim of the project is to present an intellectually challenging design proposal which engages the audience in a narrative by using prototypes, models, photos and film. Design Brief | The Subversive Tourist As an outsider, one only gets glimpses of what a city is truly about; we can but speculate how the city really works, what secrets it holds, what strange technologies are embedded in its infrastructure, who and what goes where and why. Consider a very particular kind of tourist – an explorer – who actively seeks out to investigate the hidden networks (e.g. electronic, transportation, social, political) of the city. This tourist would find stimulation and nourishment in infrastructures which are off-limits to the casual visitor. Your task is to design a transformer for a subversive tourist, that changes 'negative' aspects of the city into 'positive' experiences. Consider the transformer in abstract terms, as a device, machine or kit, which changes something and has an input and an output. The aim of the project is to present an intellectually challenging design proposal which engages the audience in a narrative by using prototypes, film, photos, setches, animation, etc.
© 2004 - 2008 Björn Franke |
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