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is a platform for parametric design in graphic design. It documents the work of students and teachers at the Department of Design at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW), who are investigating the significance of the system as a conceptual model and design method under the title “Parametric Design in Graphic Design.”

Design is less about intuitive, even ingenious “strokes of genius” and more about a holistic and rule-based (systemic and systematic) process of gaining knowledge and shaping form. It is becoming increasingly important to be able to design dynamic systems that both guide and inspire the design process.

Parametric design refers to this design in and of systems—with rules, their modes of operation, and systematic manipulability. The research project, led by Prof. Heike Grebin, is an integral part of teaching and aims to raise awareness of design as a performative process.

Play the System brings together selected study projects in which the system plays an important role as a design method – whether analog or digital. The works are created in a fruitful symbiosis of theory, design, and technology. Socially relevant issues and positions from philosophy, art, and avant-garde design from around 1900 to the present day are repeatedly discussed.

Play the System is an invitation to become aware of the systemic competence of graphic design and to gain the maturity to use the tools of digital design critically.

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p151 From Spaceship to Shining Heritage

Spaceship Earth is a concept developed by Buckminster Fuller in the 1960s, in which he describes the Earth as a closed system, similar to a spaceship, whose resources must be used carefully. But what has become of this concept? At the time Fuller was writing, nuclear energy was a dominant force. Back then, it was a symbol of technological progress and hope for a clean energy source, but today, fear of radioactivity and the consequences of radiation reign supreme. These consequences often only become apparent years or decades later. A feeling of uncontrollability and potential danger. But what has become of our Spaceship Earth? The final storage of nuclear waste is one of the biggest unsolved problems in nuclear technology. Radioactive waste contains highly toxic, long-lived substances that remain dangerous for thousands of years. This waste must be stored safely to protect humans and the environment from radiation. In her project, Lena Meier takes a critical and ironic look at today's situation with human fear of radioactivity, which is based on the invisibility of radiation and its unpredictable, long-term effects. The project deals with the issue of final storage of nuclear waste. Waste remains dangerous for thousands of years and must be protected in the long term. In many countries, including Germany, the issue of nuclear energy is increasingly being suppressed or postponed, even though the dangers still exist.