The symposium focused on the role of design in social transformation processes. Can futures be designed for the better in a sustainable manner at all? Or will the effects of design interventions always be more or less random reactions to well-intentioned creative acts into otherwise independently evolving autopoietic systems? What is actually »the better«, which we aspire? Should the concept of design be completely rethought?

It was a multi-faceted mind opener. Thanks to the organisers and speakers for two inspiring days.

Two days of various insights into design research methods and reflections on how design should and could position itself within the context of global challenges as a discipline embracing innovation and solution oriented quest were followed by a colloquium of one of the society’s themes “design promoviert”, where PhD-students and aspirants can present their topics and questions for high quality feedback. I did so and with my still very basic state of research and ideas actually initiated a new format to invite novices with the urge to do research into the arena of the academic research community. It was great to talk about my thoughts and receive very empathic and dedicated feedback. Definitely coming around again!

Among many other international talks and presentations in the past months and weeks, we presented our music streaming service RESONATE at the Retune Festival in Berlin which was the first place where we officially announced the crowdfunding campaign (starting October 25, 2016). YAY!

My crazy day trip to Vienna was totally worth it, not only did I meet very interesting designers and researchers at the UNDESIGN Symposium but also did I find my own ideas and thoughts about the state of design confirmed. Considering our complex contemporary world of crisis and “peak everything”, as Dr. Catharine Rossi put it, Design needs to take on new tasks. The presentations showed current directions that all question our doings in the anthropocene and suggest a reductive, redistributing, craft and repair-focused approach. The speakers agreed that design has always been a collective social project and that a critical view on things have always been inherent to design. The discussions reminded me a lot of Fritjof Capra’s writings where he describes the transition from the human centered anthropocentric perspective to the ecocentric world view, in which we understand ourselves as inseparable from our habitat and the need to protect it. It was an intense and inspiring day in Vienna, too dense to summarize it really.