Design Research Symposium (Frankfurt 18 July) – Registration still open

Only a few days left until the MATERIALDESIGN Design Research Symposium, which will take place on Friday, 18 July in Frankfurt am Main. Registration is still open. Participation is free of charge.

The symposium explores contemporary approaches to material design at the intersection of science, craft, and speculative thinking. A central focus lies in how materials are no longer passive matter but active agents in knowledge production, capable of teaching, transforming, and co-shaping design processes. From microbial cultures and marine environments to pine bark and hybrid programmable systems, the talks investigate a wide range of material engagements that question conventional hierarchies and open up alternative futures.

Material design is presented as both a scientific and cultural practice—one that integrates traditional craft knowledge, embraces ecological entanglements, and navigates between established traditions and emerging technologies. The act of designing with and through materials becomes a critical tool for transition, allowing for more sustainable, inclusive, and non-anthropocentric ways of thinking and making.

Whether through speculative experimentation, parametric programming, or fermentation techniques, the event highlights the material world as a space of negotiation between the human and more-than-human, between control and emergence, between past knowledge and future possibilities.

Speakers

Prof. Dr. Valentina Rognol, Prof. Dr. Markus Holzbach, Prof. Dr. Tom Bieling, Prof. Dr. Brigitte Franzen, Dr. Ziyu Zhou, Valentin Brück, Carolin Pertsch, Emma Sicher, Steffen Reiter, Meri Zirkelbach, Johanna Hehemeyer-Cürten, Malu Lücking, Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete.

Registration
https://pretix.eu/IMD/Symposium/

Further Information
https://imd-materialdesign.com/symposium/

Venue: IMD Institute for Materialdesign and Advanced Material Studies
Palleskestraße 32, 65929, Frankfurt am Main

Organized by Prof. Dr. Markus Holzbach, Prof. Dr. Tom Bieling, Dr. Ziyu Zhou & Valentin Brück.