“To design is also to take a stand.” A wise saying—but how can we take that stand? How can we design (more) consciously? Is it possible to methodically develop aesthetic and ethical positions?
In the course ExPo. Experiment + Position, selected design methods from the 1960s (the beginning of the systematization of design) through the post-modern period of the 1970s (which questioned systematization) and up to the present day were selected and tested for their functionality in student projects.
The “morphological box” (Fritz Zwicky), the “flexible grid” (Karl Gerstner), mathematically based design strategies (Frieder Nake, Richard Paul Lohse, Olipou, Moniker), and deconstructive works such as those by April Greiman and Anja Kaiser inspired both the method and content of the design processes. Through the combination of practical laboratory work, design and theory, the students were able to develop independent conceptual and design approaches in three series of experiments (sessions) based on their preliminary investigations. Each session began with a workshop and ended after just four weeks with a project—a synthesis of research, brainstorming, and creative realization.
Philosophical and design theory texts by Buckminster Fuller, Cage, Derrida, Poynor, Mareis, and others accompanied the participants as they considered whether, as Claudia Mareis claims, an independent body of knowledge can also emerge in a design process. The diverse results of the various design collectives, which wereformed anew for each session, were presented in a comprehensive report.