NERD 6th Sense – New Experimental Research in Design

Experimental research in design is increasingly recognized as crucial, serving as a vital bridge between theory and practice. It plays a central role in fostering new and innovative approaches by allowing designers to explore new ideas and materials, and to push the boundaries of what is possible. Unlike traditional research fields with rigid boundaries, design research is characterized by its openness and flexibility, which allows it to adapt and evolve with emerging developments. This distinctiveness makes design research increasingly appealing to academia, businesses, institutions, and even political spheres.

The NERD conference leverages this openness by providing a platform for showcasing how design can be effectively applied in research. The focus is on empirical and experimental work, highlighting new, maybe provocative or even anarchic methods and diverse themes. By not restricting itself to specific topics or schools of thought, NERD encourages the exploration of new ideas and approaches, reinforcing the belief that the true value of research is revealed through practical application.

This year’s NERD Conference NERD 6th Sense – New Experimental Research in Design will take place in Augsburg from 14th–15th November 2024, hosted by the Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg (THA), Faculty of Design, and organized by BIRD – the Board of International Research in Design. The conference programme reads as follows.

Day 1 / 14 November 2024
10:00
Registration and Coffee

10:30
Welcome and Introduction
Prof. Dr. Helge Oder (THA)
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Jonas (BIRD)

11:00
ALIVE MATTERS
Chair: Michelle Christensen (BIRD)

A Multi-sited Approach in Biodesign: Biomaterial Diversity in the Lab and the Field
Emma Sicher (HfG Offenbach am Main / Matters of Activity, HU Berlin)

Between Alive and Inert: Exploring Potentials of Mycelium-based Composites in Context of Bio-inclusive Architecture
Marta Mastalerska-Scholz (TU Berlin)

12:30
Lunch Break

13:30
SPECULATIVE EXISTENCES
Chair: Ralf Michel (BIRD)

Polyphonic Futures: Collectively Speculating Bio-Digital Imaginaries as a Transversal Engagement Method Across Matter, Design, Science and the Public
Veronica Ranner (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)

Exploring Coexistence Strategies
Louise Permiin (Kolding School of Design, Denmark)

15:00
Coffee Break / Guided Tour of the THA Faculty of Design

15:45
SPATIAL ENCOUNTERS
Chair: Tom Bieling (BIRD)

Walking with the More-than-human in Hong Kong: En/Inaction in Design for Posthumanist Transformation
Clee-Zhuo Wang (Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

Counter Space: Strategies for Challenging Hegemony in Institutional Spaces
Ozan Güngör (Critical Media Lab / HGK Basel, Switzerland)

17:15
NERD 3 BOOK LAUNCH & Drinks
Tom Bieling (BIRD), Michelle Christensen (BIRD) & Florian Conradi (TU Berlin)

Day 2 / 15 November 2024
09:30
Coffee

09:45
Short Introduction to the Day

10:00
TEXTILE NARRATIVES
Chair: Uta Brandes (BIRD)

Digital Stitch
Pamela Nelson (Hogeschool van Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Designers Repairing Fashion
Valerie Lange (Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, Austria)

11:30
Coffee Break

12:00
MACHINIC EXTENSIONS
Chair: Sandra Groll (BIRD)

RoboSonic Play: Performing Auditory Dimensions of Otherness
Elias Naphausen (THA), Jan Willmann (Bauhaus University Weimar) & Andreas Muxel (THA)

My Leib is my Lab: Post-phenomenological Investigation of the Explorative Computer-aided Design of Graphic Images
Natascha Tümpel (Bauhaus University Weimar)

13:30
Lunch Break

14:30
EXPLORATIVE REFLECTIONS
Chair: Marc Pfaff (BIRD)

Experiments in the Art of Systems Thinking: Remediating Systems Thinking for Design Education in Product Design
Ranjit Menon (Amrita University, India)

No Recipes for Design: Reference Resolution, and the Metaphysics of Design Objects
Luz Christopher Seiberth (University Potsdam) & Robert Fehse (ARGUMENT)

16:00
Closing Discussion

Admission to the conference will be free of charge. For pre-registration (required for planning reasons), please check: https://pretix.eu/NERD-conference/2024/

Further information will be announced via https://www.bird-international-research-in-design.org/conferences and https://nerd-conference.tha.de/.

The conference will be held in English.