Photo Credit: Arch+

Im Umgang mit polyzentrischen Stadtregionen, klein- und großmaßstäblichen Polarisierungsprozessen oder informellen urbanen Entwicklungen werden vorherrschende Denkmodelle und Planungsinstrumente zunehmend in Frage gestellt. Um andere Wege in der Untersuchung und Gestaltung des Gegenstands Stadt zu gehen, bedarf es in Lehre, Forschung und Praxis des Urban Design programmatischer Perspektivwechsel und einer Überwindung disziplinärer Grenzen.

Das nicht-konsekutive Master of Science Programm Urban Design widmet sich der Untersuchung zeitgenössischer urbaner Beziehungsgefüge, um daraus zukunftsfähige Gestaltungsansätze zu entwickeln und in der gebauten Umwelt zu implementieren. Disziplinübergreifend angelegt, vermittelt der viersemestrige Masterstudiengang Methoden und Werkzeuge für eine Forschungs- und Gestaltungspraxis, die ihren Schwerpunkt auf konzeptionelle Arbeitsweisen, intensive Analysen, experimentelle Interventionsformate und prozessorientierte Planungsstrategien setzt.

Das Studienprogramm richtet sich an Theoretikerinnen und Theoretiker sowie Praktikerinnen und Praktiker, die sich für eine Weiterqualifizierung im Bereich der angewandten Stadtforschung und der Gestaltung städtischer Umwelt interessieren.

Weitere Informationen zum Master of Science Programm Urban Design, zu den Personen und den Zugangsvoraussetzungen gibt es auf der Homepage der HafenCity Universität. Bewerbungsschluss: 15. Juli 2009

This summer the V&A will explore the recent trend among European designers for limited edition pieces that push the boundaries between art and design. Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design will bring together around 50 objects that share common themes such as fantasy, parody and a concern with mortality.

Especially interesting could be the final section: “Heaven and Hell” will display work by designers concerned with themes of mortality and the afterlife. The “Lovers rug” by Fredrikson Stallard comprises a pair of conjoined pools of poured red urethane representing the average quantity of blood in two people. This object will appear together with work by Dunne & Raby, Niels van Eijk and Miriam van der Lubbe and Boym Partners.

Gareth Williams, the curator: “This exhibition aims to capture a way of designing that has been emerging in recent years. These objects have stories to tell and we wanted to present some of the most creative and innovative examples and explore common themes.”

Telling Tales: Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design is at the V&A from 14 July to 18 October 2009. Free Admission. Open daily 10.00 – 17.45 and until 22.00 every Friday.

Photo credit: The Lovers Rug by Frederikson Stallard

The European Commission invites private persons as well as organisations to take part in an online survey. The survey bases on the document Design as a driver of user-centred innovation in which the Commission provides an analysis of the rationale for making design an integral part of European innovation policy.

The EU wants to find out wheter more should be done on the field of design. So designers, take your time – fill out the survey and let the EU make your wishes come true.

Photo Credit: TPCOM (Flickr)

Geruchsexpertin Sissel Tolaas

Vom 24. bis 25. Juni 2009 findet in Berlin eine Veranstaltung statt, die sich mit den 5 Sinnen beschäftigt: das 5 GUM Vision Lab. Jeder Sinn wird von einem Experten repräsentiert. LOOK von der Modedesignerin Eley Kishimoto, HEAR vom Produzenten und DJ Ewan Pearson, SMELL von der Geruchstforscherin Sissel Tolaas, TASTE von der Molekularköchin Telse Bus, TOUCH wird repräsentiert von den Objektdesignerinnen von FRONT. Kurator ist Holm Friebe. Jeder Experte hält einen Vortrag und leitet einen Workshop.

Teilnehmen können allerdings nur diejenigen, die sich bis zum 31. Mai mit außergewöhnlichen Projekten rund um die 5 Sinne bewerben und unter den besten 10 Projekten landen. Dem Gewinner winken zusätzlich 10,000 Euro. Initiiert wird der Wettbewerb von Wrigley, die im Juni ein neues Kaugummi launchen, eben das “5 GUM”. Ein aufwendig geplantes und inhaltlich viel versprechendes Projekt – ein Besuch der Website lohnt sich. Alleine um Ideen und Impressionen rund um die fünf Sinne zu gewinnen.

cause/affect is a biennial graphic design competition which celebrates the work of designers and organizations who “set out to positively impact our society.” Entries may be sent in before June 19, 2009. The details of the competition are simple: all work entered must promote or support social good. All AIGA San Francisco, the organizer, asks is that it doesn’t contribute directly to the profit of a commercial organization. And to qualify, work must have been produced between November 1, 2007 and June 19, 2009.

The winning works will be showcased at the cause/affect awards ceremony in July and displayed at the AIGA SF gallery through the summer. Winning entrants will also be featured on the cause/affect site and a portion of any proceeds from the competition will be donated to a local non-profit organization. Visit the website for entry forms and more information.

The organizers expect to receive high response. “We were staggered by the global interest the competition stimulated [in 2007, ed.]” said Brian Singer, AIGA SF President, “…we received entries from as far afield as Norway, the Netherlands and Singapore. And this year, with excitement about the competition mounting, and the blogosphere clicking into high gear, we’re expecting to see do-gooders flooding our offices with another batch of awe-inspiring work.”

The style of Experimenta Design 2009. Designed by Ian Anderson.

It’s about time…

How are we thinking about time these days? As a subjective experience or a socially defined concept? As luxury commodity or basic market currency? In a sense, everything in our lives is about time; it is the one resource that no individual or activity can do without. We value time, we save it, we manage it, we fight it. Ultimately, time is never enough, so we are forced to prioritize. Assess, compare, choose, relegate. As contemporary life accelerates non-stop, communication is real-time, decisions are split-second and problem solving relies on quick fixes rather than sustainable solutions. In a world on the brink of environmental and financial collapse, there is a pressing need to take action – but do we think before we act? It’s about time to concentrate on mature reflection and persistent change.

ExperimentaDesign proposes to translate the double meaning of its 2009 theme into a programme: to think about the way we use time in design. EXD looks at the various ways in which time plays a role in creative disciplines, and how they in turn can address shifting notions of time and urgency. How can creative practitioners reconcile the ever-increasing speed of life with the need for reflection? Can designers develop a new notion of ‘time-based design’?
How do we deal with the social dimensions of time? Social processes are fast becoming a main ingredient in product development, from open-source R&D to community-based production and project implementation. Keywords here are intimately connected to notions of time and urgency: improvisation, networking, sharing and parallel development. It’s all about time.

Experimenta Design, 09 September – 08 November 2009, Lisbon, Portugal.

Sustainable Personal Mobility and Mobility-on-Demand Systems (SPM/MoD), submitted by an interdisciplinary team of students at MIT has been selected as the winner of the prestigious 2009 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. The team will receive a $100,000 prize at a conferring ceremony on June 6th, 2009 at 2pm at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago followed by a reception and celebration featuring a presentation by design innovator Bruce Mau.

Given the nature of the crises we are facing, from climate change to economic collapse, what is important is to demonstrate that the approach to design and problem solving at the core of the Buckminster Fuller Challenge – while always thinking big – has the potential to bring about changes in the near-term. The winning project is a perfect example of the kind of radical, transformative change that is possible when we reconceive the old ways of doing things and take a systems-based approach to design,” said The Buckminster Fuller Challenge jurors in a statement about their decision. “SPM/MoD isn’t just about the design of these lightweight, highly efficient, electric vehicles, it is about inserting that technological innovation into the social and cultural environment and designing an intuitive system within which they function.

To learn more about the winning strategy, visit: http://challenge.bfi.org/winner_2009

The Buckminster Fuller Challenge from Buckminster Fuller Institute on Vimeo.

Futuresonic 2009 and the Social Technologies Summit will take place 13-16
May 2009, featuring world premieres of astonishing artworks, an explosive
city-wide music programme, and visionary thinkers from around the world. The
festival has four strands – Art, Music, Ideas and EVNTS – and occupies the
orbits of art, performance, music, design and digital culture. Now in its 14th
year, Futuresonic is the UK’s leading festival for digital culture, and this
year was nominated for the prestigious Lever Arts Prize. An urban festival
experience, it is anticipated that over 50,000 festival visitors will engage
with 300 artists and 100 events across 30 venues.

ROGER has been invited to join MOOH – The Magazine of Omotesando Hills Library. From March to 5th to 14th a temporary magazine library will be set up in the Omotesando Hills building complex in Tokyo, that was designed by Tadao Ando. The library project is a collaboration between Yasushi Fujimoto (CAP Co. Ltd. / Rocket Gallery), David Guarino (Art Director at A Zillion Ideas Co. Ltd.) and the Omotesando Hills building.

ROGER is flattered of course to be even known in Japan. We wish the producers luck and success for the exhibition and will of course send some issues of ROGER to be exhibited in the exhibition.

Im Rahmen der Ringvorlesung “Öffentlichkeit assoziieren – Zur Sozialfunktion von Kunst und Kommunikationsdesign”, findet an der Merz-Akademie ein Vorlesung von Alex Demirovic statt.

Alex Demirovic befasst sich in seinem Vortrag mit Öffentlichkeit versus Privatheit aus der Perspektive der Soziologie. Was erzeugt Privatheit, was Öffentlichkeit und wie bedingt sich dies gegenseitig im Alltag, in den Medien, in den Institutionen? So einfach der Gegensatz einerseits zu erklären sein scheint, so komplex ist andererseits die Formation von Diskursen, die privat bzw. öffentlich als Dispositiv erzeugen. Wie ist der gesellschaftliche Raum beschaffen, der ein “die Individuen assozierendes Sprechen” ermöglicht? Welchen Beitrag dazu leistet das Design der Institutionen und welchen die Institution des Designs?

Mittwoch, 17. Dezember 2008, 19.30 Uhr, Aula der Merz Akademie, Teckstraße 58, 70190 Stuttgart