The Future of Design – Designing the Future

The Imag(e)ining Futures conference will examine the epistemic, aesthetic, and political practices of design through the lens of visions and images of the future. It asks how visions of the future emerge, how they circulate in cultural and media contexts, and how they exert their influence. Here, processes such as prototyping and speculative approaches are understood not merely as forms of expression, but as methods through which spaces of possibility can be made visible, and alternative narratives of the future can be explored.

The conference is based on the idea that visions and images of the future (Zukunftsentwürfe) play a key role in how society understands itself amidst ecological, technological and social changes. These visions and images function not merely as projections, but as practices that organise expectations and guide present-day action. The conference addresses this by collectively and interdisciplinarily examining the aesthetic forms, epistemic claims and political dimensions of such visions.

Visions and images of the future are examined as cultural and media forms that condense contemporary analyses, value judgements and collective expectations. Research into ‘imaginaries’ reveals that visions of scientific and technological progress frequently align with concepts of the common good and shared futures. Imag(e)ining Futures brings together researchers, futurologists, designers, lecturers, students and alumni to explore the role of design in developing visions of the future whilst questioning the future of design itself. The conference demonstrates how design makes the future conceivable and negotiable, from visual media and product and interaction design to spatial and visual practices.

The aim is to combine focused interdisciplinary discourse with conceptual clarification, case studies and workshop formats. An open-access publication will make the conference’s processes and results accessible to specialists. An exhibition of the same name, showcasing the work of students from the Faculty of Design, will accompany the conference.

• Welcome and Opening
• Panel 1: The Future of Images – Images of the Future
  What visual forms and narrative patterns shape contemporary visions of the future? The focus is on the question of what images, by their very nature, can be in the future – and to what extent they shape the future itself. The panel will examine how images not only represent, but also actively structure expectations, imaginations and forms of knowledge. Images shape our present – and mould our future.
• Lunch
• Panel 2: Sustainability & Futures Studies in Design
  How are visions of the future shaped within discourses on sustainability and transformation? The focus is on goals, values and areas of conflict, as well as the question of how these visions are translated into political, social and cultural processes.
• Dinner Keynote & Exhibition Opening

• Welcome
• Panel 3: Prototypes and other tools for thinking about the future
  To what extent do prototypes, scenarios and speculative design processes generate their own knowledge? This session asks how designs make assumptions visible and alternatives testable, and how criticism of assumptions about linear progress can be methodologically captured.
• Lunch
• Panel 4: Visions of the Future in Practice
  How do visions of the future come into play in applied contexts, such as policy advice, planning, education, technological development or cultural mediation? We will examine how visions of the future are used as a guide, what criteria underpin their plausibility, and how they shape decision-making processes.
• Closing remarks

• Prof. Raffaela Aversa
  University of Campania (IT), Materials Research and Bioengineering
• Prof. Manuel Casasola-Merkle
  Nuremberg Technical University of Applied Sciences (DE), Computer-Generated Imaging
• Prof. Sydney Craig
  Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University (USA), Narratives and Artistic Practice
• Prof. Dr. Rafael Dernbach
  Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (Germany), Media Theory
• Prof. Dr. Gesa Foken
  Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences (DE), Art and Design Education and Research
• Eva Katsaiti
  University of West Attica (GR), Department of Photography and Audiovisual Arts
• Prof. Dr. Eileen Mandir
  Munich University of Applied Sciences (DE), Systemic Design in the Context of Social Change and Transformative Processes
• Prof. Andreas Muxel
  Augsburg Technical University of Applied Sciences (DE), Physical Human-Machine Interfaces
• Prof. Dr. Nicholas Müller
  Würzburg-Schweinfurt Technical University of Applied Sciences (DE), Socio-informatics and the social aspects of digitalisation
• Prof. Dr. Susanne Ritzmann
  Kassel University of the Arts (DE), Sustainable Product Design and Development
• Malin Schulz
  Berlin/Hamburg (DE), Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Visual Director at DIE ZEIT
• Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schweppenhäuser
  Würzburg-Schweinfurt Technical University of Applied Sciences (DE), Design, Communication and Media Theory
• Magdalena Soetebeer
  Schaltzeit GmbH (DE), futurology
• Markus Turber
  Intuity Media Lab (DE), Innovation Development
• Prof. Salvatore Vitale 
  Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (CH), Photography, Modernist systems influenced by technology
• Prof. Dr. Jörg Vogel
  Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (DE), Data interfaces for RNA-based infection research
• Nicholas Witten
  Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana University (USA), Fine Art and Foundations of Artistic Training

• Dr. Beatrice Barrois
• Prof. Johanna Diehl
• Prof. Carl Frech
• Prof. Judith Glaser
• Prof. Erich Schöls
• Julian Moder
• Samira Wirtz