News - design investigations

Conference

‘Possible Futures of (Design) Education’

We were thrilled to have hosted an exciting panel discussion by DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS and Anab Jain at die Angewandte. On 14 December, we presented ‘Possible Futures of (Design) Education’, an online and in-person event that explored the futures of education, with a specific focus on design. We were honored to welcome pioneering educators, thinkers, and

News

Entrance Exam

Entrance exams are coming up! 👾 Due to the ongoing pandemic the Angewandte is adapting the procedures for applications. The digital registration and portfolio upload for the Design Investigations department will be from 12th – 28th (12.00 am)January 2022 via the central registration tool of the University of Applied Arts Vienna. https://application.uni-ak.ac.at The entrance exam

Alumni Profile

Our graduate Max Lackner works at IDEO now and talks about his experience at our studio.

Where do you work now, what do you do? What is the nature of your work? I am a Visual Interaction Designer working in San Francisco for the design consultant agency IDEO. IDEO is famous for their human-centered design approach and design thinking methods. My task as a Visual Interaction Designer is finding new ways

News

A.I. Snake Oil

With AI comes AI SNAKE OIL, the technologically advanced products and services that lead us to believe that the impossible is now possible. . This summer semester brief is all about AI SNAKE OIL, which we kicked off just before the COVID crisis. Students are working in teams and individually to research, investigate, code, experiment,

News

A.I. Snake Oil Trade Show Microsite

Our AI Snake oil Trade Show is launching at the Angewandte Festival! Our proposals span fashion, well-being, music and science. Don’t be shy, come on try! https://aisnakeoil.designinvestigations.at/

News

Distance Learning during the Corona Crisis

In light of the COVID 19 situation in Austria, and the closure of the Angewandte buildings, the Design Investigations department will continue in ‘distance learning’ mode. The teachers and students are working on the semester brief and diploma projects through virtual tutorials, blogs and online lectures until further notice. Please do write to us if

News

We have been growing food in the Studio!

For the 2019-2020 Winter Semester, we converted our Studio into a Farm. We are tackling the brief ‘Hungry Ghosts’ and to understand all aspects of food production, we are using various different techniques: from permaculture to acquaponics to grow food in the studio. We also have mushrooms and mealworms, and even chicken!

Alumni Profile

Our alumni Alexandra Fruhstorfer shares her thoughts about studying at Design Investigations

Our alumni Alexandra Fruhstorfer shares her thoughts about studying at Design Investigations and how the experience prepared her to face a complex and uncertain world with confidence.

News

Boat Building Workshop

To start of the 2018-2019 Winter Semester, we split the class in two teams and build two identical boats out of wood, fabric and a bit of varnish. After every students planned the boat in CAD, the cross sections where cut out with the jigsaw in order to be connected by wooden slats. After the

News

For the 2019-2020 winter semester, we are exploring the way we will grow and consume food in the context of climate change.

For the winter semester 2019 at Design Investigations, we are using the lens of FOOD, to explore, investigate, prototype and propose new, alternate, even radical ways in which we will mitigate, and adapt to the rapidly unfolding climate crisis.

News

A project by Stephanie Knissel and Lucy Li won a first prize at Vienna Design Week

Congratulations to our students Lucy Li and Stephanie Kneissl for winning the Stadtarbeit Prize at the Vienna Design Week for their project ‘Alsergrund on Display’. Building on the studio democracy brief ‘Active Citizenry’, Lucy and Stephanie spent the summer creating the tools for their new citizen museum.

News

De Volkskrant published a long interview with our Professor

Recently, the Dutch National Newspaper, De Volkskrant, published a long interview with our Professor Anab Jain about speculative design, colonial histories and long term futures, technological visions and critical thinking in their weekend edition.

News

Our new book: 'After Abundance: A Speculation on Climate Change in the Alps' can be bought at Birkhauser Books

We are thrilled to launch our new book, ‘AFTER ABUNDANCE: A SPECULATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE ALPS’, published by Birhauser Books. Edited by our Professor Anab Jain and curator Thomas Geisler, ‘After Abundance’ is the culmination of our project originally presented as Austria’s official entry to the London Design Biennale 2018.

News

Global Grad Show

Our graduate Ege Kökel was invited to the Global Grad Show as part of Dubai Design Week this year! She showed her project DODO IN THE ROOM that investigates the de-extinction of animals.

News

Guest Lecture by Fiona Raby

Today we welcomed back our former professor Fiona Raby to deliver a guest lecture. She gave a talk in which she outlined her critical practice by showing four projects by her studio Dunne & Raby. The care that goes into the design of their objects and spaces was important for the students to see, and

Exhibition

Design Investigations is part of Vienna Design Week 2019

We are taking part in this years Vienna Design Week at festival headquarters (details below). Come visit us and check out our interactive projects! Here is the context and bracket under which the projects were developed: FUTURES OF DEMOCRACY? The shared political reality of democracy as we we know it in the Western world is

News

After Abundance in the Press

We are proud to see the positive responses to the After Abundance Exhibition in international and national media. Extensive coverage included, amongst others, the New York Times, Kurier and an appearance in the Zeit im Bild, while Metropolis Magazine and Abitare Magazine featured us in their Top Ten picks for the London Design Biennale. Follow

News

London Design Biennale 2018

We are thrilled to announce that Design Investigations is representing Austria at the London Design Biennale 2018! Our installation ‘After Abundance’ at the Biennale will be open to the public from the 4th to 23rd September at Somerset House in London. We hope you can come by and see our work.

News

News from Students and Recent Graduates (Summer 2018)

We love to hear news from our recent graduates and learn more about how they are developing their practice. Here are some recent highlights.

Conference

Vienna Biennale 2017

We were honoured to be invited to present a curated show of our projects at the prestigious MAK Museum, for the Vienna Biennale 2017. For this show, we presented a series of projects that emerged from a year long investigation titled ‘DESIGN FOR AGENCY’.