Workshop with intelligent textiles

At the occasion of Kulturnat (culture's night), the Copenhagen IT University is organising an introductory workshop for intelligent textiles. If you want to sew your own soft circuit or play with heat-sensitive colors, that's the place to be on the 12th of october 2012.  No prerequisite is required other than curiosity!

Details  
DesignLab at the IT University of Copenhagen between 18:00 and 23:00 for Kulturenat on the 12th October 2012.

Further info

PhD courses in Denmark

A new website for PhD courses in Denmark was launched first September 2012 to provide a better overview of the many PhD courses the Danish universities offer individually and in cooperation with each other. I thought I would just mention it to you, though it is not dedicated to design research especially. However, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design and Conservation ( KADK) will soon upload information about its own courses. For instance, it can be a good place to source academic writting  if not topic related trainings.

  

www.phdcourses.dk

Assistant Professor of Art in Emerging Practices Design

Stanford University -Department of Art & Art History

A nice teaching opportunity that may be of interest for some of you to spread the textile vibe?

The Department of Art & Art History at Stanford University seeks to make an appointment of a new emerging practices/designer working at the intersection of contemporary art and design at the tenure track level of Assistant Professor. Prospective candidates might create works of art/design in areas such as social structures, community collaborations, interventionist strategies, architecture, interaction design, future technologies, relational aesthetics, environmental remediation, alternative economies, or other emerging areas of contemporary art and design practice.

Candidates should hold an MFA degree, and also should have exceptional credentials as an artist, designer and experience as a teacher at a college level, demonstrating an extensive familiarity with contemporary emerging media in art and design. The successful candidate will have a distinguished body of work and an accomplished public interaction/exhibition record. He or she will have a genuine commitment to teaching design at both the graduate and undergraduate level and will have a global perspective on the role of design and contemporary art. He or she will be prepared to build a curriculum that will reflect that perspective.

The successful candidate will be expected to participate fully in Stanford's art practice program, working with both undergraduate and graduate students, and to provide leadership as the Department of Art & Art History's representative in the Stanford Joint Program in Design, a collaborative graduate program with Stanford's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Application deadline: October 15, 2012. Please send a letter of introduction and curriculum vitae to Chair, Emerging Practices Design Search Committee, Department of Art & Art History, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2018. No electronic submissions will be accepted. For further information, please click Apply Online below.

Stanford University is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing the diversity of its faculty. It welcomes nominations of and applications from women and members of minority groups, as well as others who would bring additional dimensions to the university's research and teaching missions.

Source: www.jobs.ac.uk

Textile Futures PhDs' community is growing

Most of us are currently writting up or about to defend their PhD, which explains why the blog is fairly silent these days. Yet the Textile Futures PhD's community is growing slowly but surely. The last edition of the MA Textile Futures' catalogue is celebrating this expansion by introducing some of its former students currently engaged in doctoral research accross UK and Scandinavia around the federating topic of future sustainable materiality.

Discover  Lærke Hooge Andersen, Berit Greinke, Marin Sawa and Aurélie Mossé's researches in the 2012's catalogue pp.10-11.

Textile Futurs' Materiality

On the 10th of May, I will have the pleasure to present TFRC's research as part of the seminar series 'Matérialité' organised by LACTH, the Conception, Territory & History research lab of Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture et de Paysage of Lille.

The presentation entitled 'Textiles futurs: Imaginer, matérialiser un nouveau paysage architectural' will showcase TFRC's research related to textile architecture & sustainable design including Marin Sawa, Jane Scott, Carole Collet's research as well as my own practice.  The lecture will be in French.

For further details: http://www.lille.archi.fr/

Digital Play - 3rd May - Munich

By the use of more and more complex building automation and communication technologies architecture increasingly turns into adaptive systems, which react to the environment and the user. Architects and designers have to use these technologies also as a design medium and develop a digital sensuality which is more than the simulation of our physical environment.

At the occasion of the launch of the book Digital Utopia, We-are-plan-A is organising an evening talk at the Technical University of Munich entitled Digital Play. Together with´Fabian Hemmert (Design Research Lab, Berlin), Conny Freyer (Troika, London) and Dr. Silke Claus (bayern design), I will address the playful and sensual experiences and possibilites offered by digital technologies.

 This evening is the last of a total of 4-part series of events linked to the publicaiton of "Digital Utopia - On dynamic architectures, digital sensuality and spaces of tomorrow" to be released in May 2012 by the Academy of Arts, Berlin.

Persistent Modelling Seminar

 Wednesday 2 May 2012, 10h-16h30

Marking the publication of the title Persistent Modelling by Routledge, edited by Phil Ayres, this seminar draws together members of CITA and current CITA collaborators who have contributed to the book.

The seminar will examine and discuss the relationship between representation and the represented through the notion of persistent modelling. This notion is not novel to the activity of architectural design if considered as describing an iterative engagement with design concerns – and evident characteristic of architectural practice. But the persistence in persistent modelling can also be understood to apply in other ways, reflecting and anticipating extended roles for representation.

Drawing upon both historical and contemporary perspectives this seminar will discuss ways in which the relation between representation and the represented have, and continue to be, reconsidered. Through the presentations three principle areas will be identified in which extended roles for representation are becoming apparent within contemporary practices contributing to realisation of the built environment:

• the duration of active influence that representation can hold in relation to the represented
• the means, methods and media through which representations are constructed and used
• what it is that is being represented 

 In addition, this seminar will provide critical insight into the use of contemporary modelling tools and methods together with an examination of the implications their use has within the territories of architectural design, realisation and experience.

Venue

The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts – School of Architecture

Auditorium 3

Philip de Langes Alle 10

1435 Copenhagen

 Denmark

Speakers:

Phil Ayres (CITA)

Sarat Babu (Bartlett, UCL)

Prof. Mark Burry (SIAL, RMIT)

Dr. Rachel Cruise (University of Sheffield)

Paul Nicholas (CITA)

Brady Peters (CITA)

Martin Tamke (CITA)

Prof. Mette Ramsgard Thomsen (CITA)

The seminar programme can be found here.

This is a public event, all are welcome.

Please register by email to phil.ayres@kadk.dk

Sustainable Fashion Debate: From Awareness to Action

Next week, I'll be taking part in a panel discussion exploring sustainable fashion.

This event is hosted by MA Fashion & the Environment Students and the panel includes Amisha Ghadiali, Rbecca Attwood, Julia Drew, Katelyn Toth-Fejel and Anna-Maria Hesse charred by Tasmin Omond.

To reserve a place contact globalvslocal@gmail.com

Lego as research assistants

 Methodology is key to research and it can also be a ground for innovation. I can´t prevent myself from sending you this  link about a research project challenging traditional scientific protocols by using Lego as lab assistants.  I wonder if I could appropriate the method for my thesis writting-up :) Maybe it will be equally inspiring to you?

Where Art, Technology and Design meet

Some of the most exciting papers from the Ambience 11 Conference are now available in the last issue of Studies in Material Thinking, a peer-reviewed online journal dedicated to artistic and design research. This special issue explores the intersection between art, design and teechnology, with a strong focus on the design of intelligent textiles. TFRC is well represented with publications from Carole Collet, Jane Scott and Aurélie Mossé. The journal is of free access so feel free to find out more about these exciting textile projects:

An Interactive Textile Hanging: Textile, Context, and Interaction

Delia Dumitrescu, Hanna Landin and Anna Vallgårda

BioLace: An Exploration of the Potential of Synthetic Biology and Living Technology for Future Textiles

Carole Collet

Listener: A Probe Into Information Based Material Specification

Mette Ramsgard Thomsen and Ayelet Karmon

Working Patches

Kristina Lindström and Åsa Ståhl

I Mirabilia, taking care of the emotional life of hospitalised children

Erika Rossi, Gillian Crampton Smith and Philip Tabor

Towards Interconnectivity: Appropriation of Responsive Minimum Energy Structures in an Architectural Context

Aurélie Mossé, David Gauthier and Guggi Kofod

Knitting Moves: Bio-inspired Transformable Textiles for knitted Architecture

Jane Scott

Textiles: Alternative Forms of Malleability

Rhett Russo and Katrin Mueller-Russo

Wearable Technologies: From Performativity to Materiality

Valérie Lamontagne

Aura: Wearable Devices for Non-verbal Communication between Expectant Parents

Marco Righetto, Gillian Crampton Smith and Philip Tabor

Fashion & Textile UK research students networking

This is the fifth year of the association’s annual event to support and provide active networking opportunities for UK M Phil and Ph D students engaged in fashion and/or textiles and fashion and textile related research.

•    The next event will be held on Wednesday 2 May 2012  at BIAD (Birmingham Institute of Art & Design), BCU (Birmingham City University)

•    Each participant will be allocated 10 minutes for a power point presentation to introduce your research and facilitate discussion.

•    It’s a great opportunity to network and develop research synergies.

•    You are eligible to attend from enrolment to one year on following completion. 

•    This is a free event contributing to the Fashion & Textile Courses Association’s support for emerging researchers.   A light lunch and refreshments will be provided courtesy of BIAD.

   To book, you need to submit an abstract by the 25th of april. For further details, please get in touch with  marlene.little@bcu.ac.uk
                          

Sustainability and Innovation in the Fashion Field - call for paper

 May you be interested in contributing in the area of 'Sustainability and Innovation in the Fashion Field' please consider this call forwarded by The Nordic Textile Journal for their 2012 issue.

 The Nordic Textile Journal brings together interesting results of research in design, textile- and design management, technology and craft. The journal is issued once a year by the Centre for Textile Research, CTF, at the Swedish School of Textiles, University of Borås. The Nordic Textile Journal welcomes research based articles which may be of a scientific or artistic character and report novel achievements or directions in research, exhibition techniques, artistic communications etc. We also welcome articles based on research related reports from conferences, interviews, reviews of books, news and upcoming events. An academic committee reviews the articles in a semi-blind reviewing process to ensure a good academic standard.

The 2012 issue will focus on Sustainability and Innovation in the Fashion Field. A theme which is an important part in one of the two strong R&D programs at the Swedish School of Textiles, F:3 (Fashion, Function, Futures). This program aims to develop new knowledge on the constituents of the textile value chain and the special characteristics of the fashion industry with an important focus on sustainability.

 Deadline: 31 May 2012 

Free access publication
The journal will be published electronically, with free access, six months after the publication date of the printed issue. The electronic version will be published in BADA (Borås Academic Digital Archive) http://bada.hb.se/.
 

Guidelines - articles
- Submitted article manuscripts should be original articles, written in English. They must not be published in the same form earlier or submitted for publication elsewhere.
- The text should be submitted in two copies: one editable copy and one non editable copy in appropriate file formats.
- Photos and other images should be supplied as separate files in an appropriate file format.
- It is the author’s responsibility to obtain the required approval from all the parts involved:
authors, photographers, artists and others.
- There is no page limit specified for contributions, but it is recommended that the material is
presented in a form that is succinct and attractive to read.
- An abstract of no more than 250 words should be supplied as well as 5 essential subject keywords.
- A biography of 3-5 sentences for each author should be supplied as a separate file.
- References should be in Harvard style (the “name-year system”):

For further details, please get in touch with 

Katrin Tijburg
katrin.tijburg@hb.se

Interaction Design Programme, Application process opened at CIID

 My colleagues at CIID, Copenhagen,  are looking for students to start their Interaction Design Programme in January 2013. This is a unique inspiring and creative environment where textile designers interested in future textiles, smart materials, new technologies, cross-disciplinary design and obviously interaction design could really bring much to the course.

If you are interested please see further details below and on CIID's website.

There is a rolling deadline but students applying before March 2nd will be given priority.

What CIID Looks For

As an education concerned with the broad potential of design and technology, the Interaction Design Programme is looking for a wide diversity of students. We welcome applicants from all over the world and from any background.

You should be curious and creative; enthusiastic about design and working in a cross-disciplinary environment. Whether you're currently studying or working, you should be interested in the connections between education and interaction design practice. We plan to have a class of up to 25 students.

Requirements

To apply for the Interaction Design Programme, you must have a prior university or college undergraduate degree (or equivalent experience) and submit an application and other supporting documentation. Qualified applications will be invited for a phone interview, after which we will make our final selections.

Perspectives on future sustainable design

Come and join us for this exciting TFRC research event at the occasion of Central Saint Martins' Green week on the 6th of February. Further details on TFRC's  blog.

Out of Control - 8th International Conference on Design & Emotion

London 11–14 September 2012

The organising committee of the 8th International Conference on Design & Emotion is very pleased to invite you to participate in this event. This conference is a forum held every other year where practitioners, academics and industry leaders meet and exchange knowledge and insights concerning the cross-disciplinary field of design and emotion.

We are looking for researchers, academics and practitioners to submit proposals.

Conference Topic

While Design &Emotion is the overarching focus of the conference–allowing us to consider all aspects of the relationship between human experience and design understood in its widest senses–the theme this year is "Out of Control".

For a number of years, uncertainty, crisis and chaos have been keywords describing the experience of many of us. A world driven by uncertainty, crisis and chaos demands different responses from design (as a community, a practice and a process). On one hand we can mitigate against these designing systems which can withstand, or manage, the challenges they produce. Here there is a focus upon design as a "problem solving" activity. On the other, we can use them as springboards to a creative future. In this way, design as "opportunity mapping" becomes important.

We would like to encompass both of these approaches to design and to examine how they impact upon, or are generated by, the whole spectrum of human emotion experienced at the macro (socio-cultural), micro (personal), meta (philosophical), processural (methodological) and strategic levels.

This conference is open to any theoretical, empirical or methodological work on Design & Emotion and we are particularly interested in receiving papers from researchers, academics and practitioners in the following topic areas (though they are by no means exhaustive and other work relevant to the theme will be considered):

 SOCIETY/CULTURE
Socially Responsive/
Responsible Design
Design for Behavioural Change
Design & Space/Environment
Design for Digital Media
Corporate Social
Responsibility

THE SELF/THE OBJECT
Design & Identity
Design & Well-Being
(incl. food, healthcare & love)
Design & Illusion,
Fake & Fraud
User Experience
(inc. Human Factors & HCI)
Experience Design

THE PHILOPHICAL
Design without Emotion
Design, Affect & the Materiality of Experience
Design, Magic & Enchantment

 PROCESSES, METHODOLOGIES, TOOLS & METHODS
Research Methodologies
Theoretical Foundations
Empirical Approaches

DESIGN, STATEGY & INNOVATION
Design & the Future (foresight/trends)
Designing Services Business Experience Branding

Deadlines

1 February 2012 -Papers & Case Study submissions

1 May 2012 -Workshops/Masterclasses submissions

Further details on the conference website

Vacant PhD scholarship "Complex Modelling"

Though it is not specifically related to textiles, I thought I would just mention this great opportunity for PhD studentship as it might interest some of our architects and digital crafting friends. The PhD will take place at CITA, Centre for IT & Architecture, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture from the 1rst of April 2012. The Scholarship is for 3 years and fully funded. The position is placed within the framing research topic Complex Modelling.

A bit more content is provided below with introduction to the context of research but for full details about the application please visit this link.

Over the last 30 years, we have witnessed a large-scale digitisation of archictectural practice. Contemporary architecture is almost exclusively produced using digital tools, and the computer has become a key tool in the way architecture is thought of, designed and produced. Today, digital tools have an impact on architecture on the most simple level to the most complex one. If on the one hand, the computer is a simple drawing tool that we use to represent our surroundings, its is on the other hand also the medium through which we seek solutions to complex contemporary issues that our society faces. It is through these digital tools and their potential to compute large amounts of data with a high degree of complexity that we as a knowledge society seek to find solutions to the urbanisation of mega-cities, globalisation and sustainability.

This shift has placed new demands on our represenation forms. The new information models that are able to actively calculate the economic, environmental and spatial effects of a proposal, have transformed architectural representation into a dynamic and flexible medium that is able to interface directly with outside knowledge fields. However, information models also have there own inherent problems. They become larger because they contain data from the many practices that constitute the construction industry, they become longer because they are expanded to include several of the building phases and they become deeper because the specific volumes of information, which the models must be able to handle, are growing.

This results in a dramatic increase in complexity, and leads us to question the fundamental ways in which information models are organised. If we as architects and engineers must work with large datasets and must be able to simulate and analyse these in ways that make sense, it is necessary that we consider how these models may be presented.

Today, information models are reproduced in accordance with architecture’s traditional development in three dimensions. As an automation of plans and section views, the 3D model serves as a continuation of the traditional architectural drawing hall. This PhD project will explore how other forms of information organisation may help to create intelligent tools for architectural design, analysis and realisation. To manage these digital models concretely and optimally, it is essential to have a critical understanding of how parametric and generative computer models may be developed and monitored.

Applications are to be handed in no later than Wednesday 1 February 2012 at 12.00 noon.

The Role of Material Evidence in Architectural Research: Drawings, Models, Experiments

The Role of Material Evidence in Architectural Research: Drawings, Models, Experiments, by Anne Beim and Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen is one of the recent publications of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design and Conservation discussing what is regarded as valid evidence in arhcitectural research and how to evaluate these materials.

The publication gathers the results of the debates initiated during the seminar of the same name organized at the school in November 2010. It gathers texts and interviews from guest researchers as for instance Jonathan Hill discussing Design Research as a 500 hundred years tradition or Yeoryia Manolopoulou talking about Enaction Drawing. The book is also an introduction to on-going PhD projects at the school which range 'from tectonic inquiries into material qualities and properties to computational crafting and model making, to the creation and testing of theoretical models for simulation or articulation of tectonic principles in ordered pictograms'. A modest but rich contribution to the debate of practice-based research methodology.

With contributions by

Researchers

Jonathan Hill, Yeoryia Manolopoulou, Peter Bertram, Billie Faircloth, Karin Søndergaard, Merete Madsen, Mikkel Kragh

PhD Students

Anne-Mette Manelius, Aurélie Mossé, Peter Andreas Sattrup, Ofri Earon, Nanet Krogsbæk Mathiasen, Jacob Riiber Nielsen, Søren Nielsen, Johannes Rauff Greisen, Jan Schipull Kauschen, Cecilie Bendixen, Tore Banke

Precise writing

Here I would like to share two references that will benefit PhD students in their writting-up period, especially useful for non-native speakers

Williams, Joseph M. 1988. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Scott, Foresman, & Co.

William Strunk, Jr., 1918, The Elements of Style

These are good tools to help you structuring your writing more accuretaly. Beyond reminding you about generic rules, they provide very useful vocabulary lists/examples.

New materials within a design professional and sustainable frame of reference.

Call for PHD fellowship

Kolding School of Design invites applications for a PhD Fellowship starting 1 February, 2012 or as soon as possible after that date. The fellowship has a three year duration and is in the field:

New materials within a design professional and sustainable frame of reference.

The position will be affiliated with the future doctoral school under the auspices of the Architect and Design Schools with place of employment at Kolding School of Design, Department of Product Design.

The project will contribute to building knowledge of new materials in a broad design sense within a sustainable frame of reference. The Department of Product Design comprises three specialist domains, Fashion, Textile, and Industrial Design, and sustainability represents one of the school’s strategic target areas.

New knowledge in this field intends to strengthen creativity and innovation in terms of education and practice, contribute to renewed self-understanding, and support design solutions to the many future challenges of product design.

The application should investigate the significance of new materials on design practice. The investigation should relate to relevant, existing, international research environments that work with material knowledge at the most advanced professional level. Moreover, in terms of methodology, the project should connect to action research and/or practice-oriented research traditions such as e.g. research-through-design. Furthermore, the application should explicate how the contribution will support the development of the three specialist domains of the department, including how it will strengthen the future development of design practice and create renewed professional self-understanding.  

The Application:
There is no application form. The application must be in writing in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or English and allow for the appointment committee to be able to assess the applicant’s qualifications and potential for completing the project.

The Application must include:

• Project description stating the subject and the thesis and delimiting the theory and methodology expected to be applied.

• A preliminary timetable which includes any expected stays with other research institutions, organisations, or companies.

The project description must be a relatively detailed design presentation of the PhD project, while the timetable must be a brief outline of the expected course of study on a quarterly basis. The application, including notes, may not exceed 14,400 characters corresponding to approx six A4 pages.

Attachments must include:

• Copy of master’s degree diploma or corresponding diploma

• Curriculum Vitae and list of any scientific or other publications which the applicant wishes to present in support of his or her application

• Any recommendations

Where possible and relevant, attached should also be:

• Information concerning project specific teaching requirements

• Information concerning special requirements regarding equipment and facilities – including requirements due to any disabilities.

• Information concerning specific requests regarding main supervisor and project supervisor as well as any secondary supervisors.

Submission and Deadline:
Application marked ”New materials within a design professional and sustainable frame of reference” must be forwarded in 4 copies to Designskolen Kolding, Aagade 10, 6000 Kolding att. Research Secretary Lise Yde no later than 15 December, 2011 at 12 PM. An electronic version (PDF file) of the application must also be uploaded via the following link:

http://golf.hr-manager.net/ApplicationInit.aspx?ProjectId=65707&DepartmentId=7546&SkipAdvertisement=true

We encourage everyone regardless of their personal background to submit their application. 

FURTHER DETAILS HERE

For more information regarding the contents of the PhD Fellowship, please contact Head of Department Mathilde Aggebo, telephone +45 76 30 11 00 or mobile +45 21 42 77 04 (ma@dskd.dk).

Digital Crafting Consequences: Symposium

Today digital technologies inform all levels of building practice. As a link between representation, design, analysis and production, digital technologies are both practical tools by which to optimise existing practice as well as speculative media by which to explore its future. By facilitating exchange and feedback between the different knowledge fields of design, engineering and crafts, digital technology holds the potential to effect new answers to the complex challenges of contemporary building practice.

The second Digital Crafting symposium will discuss the future perspectives for a new integrated digital practice. Inviting practitioners from the fields of architecture, engineering and theory to share their experiences and present recent work, the symposium aims to unfold new visions for thinking the links between design, analysis and fabrication. With a focus on interdisciplinary collaboration, bottom up thinking and complex modeling we ask how the shared digital platform can create new material strategies for design.

Digital Crafting is hosted by CITA Centre for IT and Architecture, Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design and Conservation.

Date:                     25. Nov 2011 - 10.30h - 17.30h

Venue:                 Royal Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design and Conservation Google maps

Auditorium - Rhytmisk Musikkonservatorium

Leo Mathisens Vej 1, Holmen, Copenhagen

Program:

10:15                     Registration and coffee

10:45                     Welcome and introduction Martin Tamke

11.00h Session 1:  Consequences for making

chair: Phil Ayres (CITA)

Antoine Picon - Harvard Graduate School of Design / Cambridge

Fabio Gramazio – ETH / Gramazio Kohler architects / Zuerich

14.00h  Session 2:  Consequences for material practice

chair: Christoph Schindler (schindlersalmeron)

Jan Knippers – TU Stuttgart / Knippers Helbig Engineers / Stuttgart - New York

Marta Malé-Alemany – IAAC Barcelona / AA London

16.00h Session 3:  Consequences for design practice

chair: Mette Ramsgard Thomsen (CITA)

Tobias Nolte - Gehry Technologies / Paris

Reinhard Kropf – Helen Hard Architects / Stavanger / Norway

17.30 Closing remarks and and of Symposium

The DigitalCrafting symposium addresses practitioners, researchers and students from the fields of architecture, engineering and construction. The symposium is open to the public and free of charge. Due to demand and to support organisation we ask you email your participation: martin.tamke@karch.dk