The Future of Design – Designing the Future

The Imag(e)ining Futures symposium 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 (an desirability) can be generated, 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.

Registration fees 

• THWS students & THWS staff & students (extern): free of charge
• One-day ticket (external): €25
• Two-day ticket (external): €45

In addition, THWS students and THWS staff, as well as external guests, will have the option to book conference catering.

• One-day catering: €10
• Two-day catering: €20

Online registration will open in September. Further information will follow shortly here and on our Instagram channel ↗

9:00 am

Open Doors.

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9:30 am

Welcome and Opening.

• Prof. Claudia Frey, Dean Faculty of Design (THWS)
• Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schweppenhäuser (THWS)
  “Visions of progress, speculators and ‘backward-looking prophets'”

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10:15 am

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.

Including presentations by

• Prof. Dr. Rafael Dernbach (HSBI, Bielefeld)
  “How visions of the future shape the future — hope as a social practice”
• Malin Schulz (Visual Director DIE ZEIT, Berlin/Hamburg)
  “The New Power of Images: AI and the Transformation of Visual Reality”
• Prof. Salvatore Vitale (University of South Wales)

Panel 1 will conclude with a roundtable discussion.

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1:00 pm

Lunch break with time to chat.

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2:oo pm

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.

Including presentations by

• Prof. Dr. Susanne Ritzmann (KHK, Kassel)
  “Design in the Wasteocene – Shifting Perspectives, Transformation, and Values”
• Prof. Dr. Eileen Mandir (HM, München)
  “Participatory Design Futuring – exploring, imagining and negotiating conflicting futures for sustainable urban transitions”
  

Following the presentations, symposium participants will have the opportunity to explore the topics in greater depth in a series of discussion sessions. These will be moderated by

• Prof. Raffaela Aversa (University of Campania)
  “The History of design as a history of technology transfer”
• Julian Moder (THWS)
  “Second-Hand Futures”
• Barbara Schmidt (THWS)
  “Decolonizing sustainability”

Further details on the Lectures und Discussion sessions

Panel 2 will conclude with a roundtable discussion.

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5:30 pm

Dinner Keynote.

Prof. Erich Schöls (THWS), in conversation with Dr Jörg Vogel (Würzburg) and Max Seeger (Berlin)

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6:30 Uhr

Exhibition Opening.

8:30 am

Open Doors.

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9:00 am

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.

Keynote by Gentile Systems Berlin (Berlin)

Following the keynote presentation, there will be a series of workshops on the theme of ‘Thinking about the Future through Design Practice’. These will be led by

• Prof. Andreas Muxel (THA, Augsburg)
  “Positive Futures 2046: Living with Machines”
• Eva Katsaiti (University of West Attica, Athen)
  “From Wound to Word to World”
• Julian Moder (THWS)
  “Thinking, Prompting, Drawing: Generative Systems in the Design Process”
• Prof. André Rösler, Dr. Beatrice Barrois (THWS)
  “Drawing Forward – Comics as a Narrative Experiment”
• Tessa von Both (THWS)
  “Zine Fiction”
• Prof. Sydney Craig, Nicholas Witten (Herron School of Art and Design, Indiana)
  “Sensory Futures: Non-Visual Prototyping as Epistemic Practice”
• Prof. Manuel Casasola-Merkle (OHM, Nürnberg)
• Further details on all the workshops

Closing session in the form of a panel discussion, moderated by Prof. Dr Gesa Foken (h-da, Darmstadt)

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1:00 pm

Lunch break with time to chat.

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2:00 pm

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.

Including presentations by

• Markus Turber (Intuity Media Lab, Stuttgart)
  “There has rarely been more to shape. Exploration to Market Impact — Filling the Vacuum Instead of Measuring It”
• M.A. Magdalena Soetebeer (FU Berlin)
  “No Visions of the Future, No Democracy? Shaping the Future: Walking the Tightrope Between Strategy and Reflection”
• Further information on the contributions and the speakers

This will be followed by a final joint panel discussion.

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4:00 pm

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. 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
• Tessa von Both
  Würzburg-Schweinfurt Technical University of Applied Sciences (DE), Political and feminist theories in communication design
• 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
• Julian Moder
• Prof. Erich Schöls
• Samira Wirtz

For general questions, please contact: symposium.fg@thws.de