Topic outline

  • Timetable & Outline

    DATE

    TEACHING

    TO DO:

    CONTENT

    22.04. MON

     

    Listen: Paul Cocksedge Lights - Alchemy - Concepts

     

    23.04. TUES

    Väre 
    Room F005 

    09:15-12.00 Briefing and introduction to the course content, Critical Design Showreel

    13.00-14.00 Intro Reading Circles

    14.00-16.00 Watching videos
    of previous years’ course outcomes

     Please read 2 of the 3 texts:

    First Things First Manifesto 
    DDIY, L.A.Auerbach  
    Reconstrained Design 

    All texts are in the resource folder.
    Discussion in Reading Circle 2.5.24

    Intro by Julia to field of Speculative / Investigative / Research Based / Critical / Transformation /Discursive Design Practices

    24.04. WED

    Listen: Carl Clarkin - Fabulations and Narratives

    Listen: Carl Clarkin - Fabulations and Narratives

     

    25.04.THU

    Väre Q203


    Kultuurisauna
    Hakaniemenranta 17  Helsinki

    9.15-12.00 Morning: Values Exercise, three word niches, conversation about CoDe Graduate Futures

    Afternoon: 13-15.00h Visit to Kultuurisauna , Talk by Tuomas Toivonen

    READ: Bianca Elzenbaumer, Design(ers) against precarity

    Please read the text before the reading circle on 2nd of May

    WRITE: After class, write a 300-500 word reflection about your insights and the topic you would like to investigate further. (Please add this text to your learning diary and continue noting down reflections for yourself as the course progresses)

    WRITE 'Designerly Position' text, a 250-word position statement about you as a designer. Who are you and what do you want to change in the world through your design? Please share this as an announcement on mycourses and leave comments on the statement of at least one other student. 

    Deadline 30.04. (for your announcement and the comment, submission on mycourses in the topic 'Designerly Position Statement')

    FIND: The topic you want to engage with and ideate, sketch and plan how to research it. 

     

    26.04. FR

     

    Listen: Ineke Hans on furniture design and circular economy

     

    29.04. MON

     

    Listen: Juli Bolaños-Durman on recycled glass

     

    30.04. TUE

    Väre Q203 

     09.00-10.30 Reflective Practices Lecture with Gillian Russell

    Group work until lunch

    Note: Designerly Position is due today on MyCourses at 12 PM (noon). 

    (The task is completed once you have written a statement and commented on one other statement, in mycourses)

    Afternoon: Vappu starts

    01.05. WED

    VAPPU

     

     

    02.05. THU

    Väre Q203

    FIND YOUR OWN VOICE MASTER CLASS with voice coach Maija Kaunismaa 

    9.15-11.00 Lecture at Väre Q203 

    12-15h Voice Exercise In groups of five (25 mins per group) Otakaari 7 

    Reading Circle with Zoe Q203: Topic: Manifestos & Elzenbaumer

    12-13.15 Group A
    13.30-14.45h Group B 

    15-16h ALL TOGETHER: Final exercise in Väre Q203
    Please note the 8 min walk from Väre to Otakaari 7!

    BRING: A short text that you enjoy reading or singing, it can be your designerly position statement or anything else. This doesn’t need to be your own writing, you can also bring a short text that inspires you (e.g. a poem, article).

    READ Either Otto von Busch Introduction (Group A1 & B1) or Otto von Busch Conclusion (Group A2 and B2) (see assigned reading groups underneath this timetable). 

    DL Reading Circle on the 14.05.

     

     

     

     

     

    03.05. FRI

     

    Listen to: Material Matters: Bas van Abel

     

    07.05. TUE

    Väre Q101

    CoDe COMMUNITY DAY

    9.15-10.15 Intro

    09.45-10.30 Intro Bianca Elzenbaumer

    10.30-12.00 WORKSHOP Precarity Pilot

    Afternoon: Alumni stories

    18.00-20h Sauna and Snacks at Design Factory

    BRING snacks and non-alcoholic drinks,

    If you want to go to sauna also  bathing costume & towel, if not, there is a nice common room in which everyone can just hang out) during the CoDe community event & sauna evening

     

    09.05. THU

    Bank Holiday Ascention day

     

     

    14.05. TUE

    Väre Q101 

    09.15-12.00

    Narrative Workshop with Johannes Kaira and Håkan Mitts

    Afternoon:

    13-14h Irina Viippola visit

    14-16h Tutorials / Reading Circle (Topic: Otto von Busch & Podcasts)

    Group A1 & A2
    14-15.00 Tutorials with Julia
    14-15.00 Reading Circle with Zoe

    Group B1 & B2
    15-16h Tutorials with Julia
    15-16h Reading Circle with Zoe

    READ: 

    Either Chapter 3 Speculative Everything or Matt Malpass 

    DL:21.05. Reading Circle

    THINK ABOUT: One or more objects that relate to the topic you have chosen and that you can bring to the writing workshop on Thursday (or pictures thereof)

     

     

    Listen: Juliette Bigley on Metal

     

     

    16.05. THU

    Morning: Puistokatu 4 Helsinki

    Afternoon: Väre Q101 

    EXCURSION

    09.00 meet Zeynep Falay von Flittner and Minttu Salminen at Puistokatu 4, Helsinki, Travel to Töölö

    11.00 Visit Com-Pa-Ny studio  https://www.com-pa-ny.com/

    13.45-16h Writing workshop with Zoe Robertson.

    WRITE 'Object Stories,’ a short fictional text (max 1 page) about an object you are intrigued by that relates to your project. Try writing in a different voice, experimental combinations of words and images or combinations of written words and objects. Please share this on MyCourses as an announcement (in the Object Stories section) and comment on at least one other text Deadline 21.05.

     

     

    17.05. FRI

    Voluntary (for those interested in AI, please register before the symposium)

     

    ONLINE SYMPOSIUM: AFTER AI https://afteraisymposium.com/

    Listen: Material Matters: Summer Islam - Embodied Carbon, Materials, Systems

     

    WEEK 3

     

     

     

     

     

    Listen: Robert Penn on Bread and the Politics of Baking

     

    21.05. TUE

    Väre Q101

    Reading Circles Q203 (morning)

    Q103 Afternoon

    09.15-10.00 All group meeting

    Reading Circle (Speculative Everything / Malpass and tutorials

    10.00-12.00
    Group A1 & B1
    Reading Circle  
    Group A2 & B2 Tutorials

    13-15 Group A1 & B1 Tutorials 
    Group A2 & B2 Reading Circle Zoe

    15-16h Troubleshooting if needed

     

    Note: Object Stories are due today on MyCourses at 12 PM (noon).

     

     

     

    23.05. THU

    Weather permitting: 

    JULIA’S PLACE
    Address: Päätie 14a, 00590 Helsinki


    EXCURSION
    10-16h/open end

    BRING a contribution to the buffet, clothes that are appropriate for the weather, and sketching and recording tools.Directions: Metro to Herttoniemi then Bus 88 to Kaitalahti

     

    28.05. TUE

    Q202

    Reading Circle  Q203

    09.15-10.00 Erik Schmitz visitor introduction

    10-12 Reading Circle (Zoe) / Tutorials;  Reading Circle (in two groups?): Discuss Podcasts and Object Stories- how to connect the input with the practice and writing?

    13-15h Reading Circle / Tutorials

    15.00-16.00 troubleshooting clinic

     

     

     

    30.05. THU

    Q201

    Reading circle in Q203

    09.15-10.00 Check in with all

    10-12 Reading Circle Group A / Tutorials Group B Preparing for the presentation / polishing the narrative

    13-15h Reading Circle Group B / Tutorials Group A 

     

     

    04.06. TUE
    Väre
    F005 F005 Screen Room

     

    PRESENTATION OF FINAL OUTCOMES ALL DAY

     

    06.06. THU

     

    UPLOAD LEARNING DIARY

    Feedback session

     

     

    BRIEF:

    Background 

    The 21st century is marked by uncertainty. Suddenly many of the questions we used to ask through design  – and answered – seem superfluous and we question our basic assumptions of how we produce, consume and engage with the world. Rapid changes challenge us to reflect on where we stand, what we believe in, and what kind of future our work helps to create. 

    Through our way of designing we can question the role of the expert, hierarchies and processes of our profession (see for example “Design where everyone designs” (Manzini 2015) and “The corruption of Co-Design" by Otto von Busch and Karl Palmås). We also question unsustainable global production and consumption models and the untenable prioritization of comfort over resilience (for example “Design for the next economy” by John Thackera). We question how we relate to the non-human world around us (for example “Becoming Animal” by David Abram) and our relation and impact to future generations (for example “On time and water” by Andri Snaer Magnasson or “The good ancestor” by Roman Krznaric).  

    How do we practice design in this shifting landscape? 

    The first step is to become aware of our agency -our capability to affect change- through design and to link this agency with our values and beliefs. What do we really care about? Then we look at the hidden processes underpinning our world, to understand, reflect and challenge the norms we follow – not only to navigate the constantly changing field of design, but also develop design practices that minimise our negative impact on the planet. The aim of this course is to critically reflect on actual design case studies, become aware of what we take for granted in our own design practices – and actively evolve our ways of working through this reflection.      

    BRIEF

    In this year’s iteration of the course we focus on the question: HOW WILL WE MAKE A LIVING?
    We will employ investigative, research based methods to find answers to this question and use your design skills to bring the findings to life with the help of a time based narrative (max 6 mins) that includes visuals and sound and might be multi-modal including objects and performance as well as digital elements. The work can be fictive, performative, poetic, funny, informative, data driven, factual, investigative, transformative, critical, speculative, personal or objective and it is important that you consider which choice is right for the topic you convey. What impression do you want to leave with the audience?

    Furthermore, we will compile the content about the design futures we identified through our research to share them on our website. This will include the key insights from your findings, be it extracts from interviews, fictional narratives, mappings, drawings, ideas…

    Intended Learning Outcomes 

    The course introduces you to reflective and critical practices in design by addressing it as an expanded and evolving field with a political dimension. The key methods of reflective practice, critical design, speculative design and transition design and their theoretical and historical foundations are examined.  

    The course enables you to apply research-oriented reflective and critical approaches to analyse and reflect upon your own actions, mindsets, methods and outputs on their own field of design practice. The course guides you to understand the importance of curiosity on social, political, cultural and ecological issues and it provides skills to apply critical approaches as a springboard for engaging through design with relevant societal challenges.   

    During the course you will reflect on current challenges as well as your own values and use design as a vehicle for critical deliberation. The outcome of the course is a design artefact or critical intervention (in the form of a video) accompanied by reflective sketching and writing. You will learn to explicate the foundations of your critical stand.           

    Transition design: Futures with a pull: Giving direction and building collectives to actively collaborate towards the future. Striving for a constructive change. Using methods of speculation to come to a consensus (long term horizon) that can overcome short term conflicts.

    Speculative Design: Considering future scenarios along the trajectory of a technology / scientific discovery that is being developed. By imagining the futures considered and designing for this fictive world, the future becomes easier to grasp and reflect through the mundane everyday objects that might inhabit it. The objects in a way create a living environment in said future so that the viewer can imagine themselves in the future scenario.

    Critical Design: Highlighting the underbelly / dark side of innovation, Whereas ‘innovation’ is often euphoric and claims to be the key to change a situation into a preferred one, critical design shines a light to the hidden aspects: Preferred for whom? Who was not considered? What drives the innovation? Who benefits, who loses? Can we represent this holistically?

    Investigative Design: A creative process is the reason to ask questions, connect dots, reach out to people and create a discourse around a topic in a situation where the topic was not discussed before. Especially interesting are topics inherent to the field of design, such as material streams, labor practices, the growth paradigm. In investigative design, design is both the method of investigation and of representation. Design can be the trojan horse with which to get into the contexts that are being investigated. By going is as a ‘designer’, the investigative design has an active and constructive role within the situation and an insight perspective and channel to investigate the chose problem.

    All of these design forms are narrative, process-led, highly experimental and contextual forms of design. The outcomes are shaped by the findings (we might not know in the beginning whether the outcome is a pot or a podcast), by the audience / public whom we want to communicate with by the skillset of the designer and the ‘ingredients’ the situation presents itself with.

    Sometimes the investigative process is also the outcome, for example if the presence of the designer in a given situation with the questions they ask and methods they use is already shifting the discourse and enabling another layer of connection (for example a creative embedded within an interdisciplinary team can help connect across the consortium).