The art of working together 

At a university of applied sciences, one question is constantly on the agenda: What does “designing a community” actually involve beyond classic product or communication design?

“With respect to design as a discipline, it still seems to be news to many,” says Markus Frenzl, Professor of Design and Media Theory at the Design Faculty of München University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) and director of the Applied Design Research master’s program. “Design is not merely a sales promotion tool, as many seem to believe; it has always also been a shaper of social contexts. In fact, that is where our discipline has its roots.” By including “Social Change and Transformative Processes” and “Design Theory and Design Cultures” among its areas of focus, the master’s program thus also reflects and analyzes the changing role of designers in a society that is hurtling through ever faster, ever more fundamental change against a backdrop of the great transformational tasks of our age. Frenzl explains that in terms of design, a sociocultural innovation may take the form of representational design, but may equally shape a social movement. No wonder that this kind of “research- and experimentation-based exploration of design, transformation, and sociocultural innovation” encourages and demands a rather different type of designer: someone that not only designs for other people, but that works with them to explore and develop new solutions and new patterns of action. 

Design connects 

For many years, master’s students have also established networks with students from other disciplines as well as with partners including the research association ForDemocracy. The COVID-19 pandemic threw up ideas about simple ways for communicating basic democratic values as early as kindergarten level. But despite sounding simple, those ideas raise some fundamental questions. What is codetermination? What principles of resilient design could there be? Even the traditional Masters’ Dinner organized annually by the students elevates the topic to that of a community task, a kind of “performed democracy.” The dinner marking the start of the master’s course transforms a predefined topic into an up-close experience. For example, one of its courses was entitled “Dictatorship,” designed by the students and served to the diners. How did they feel? “We had to follow rules specifying when we were permitted to talk during the meal. One student deliberately broke those rules and was hauled off dramatically.” After that, everyone obeyed the rules, bringing the concept of “dictatorship” to life for all. The Masters’ Dinner is also a team process from start to finish, from initial research to folding the serviettes, in which individuals from completely different design backgrounds must be clear about their personal role in the team. The goal is to achieve something together, to reflect on social conditions, and to make transformation processes accessible. Today’s future-facing design course could hardly be expected to deliver more. 

For the mcbw, the master’s students will present happenings and exhibitions documenting the results and research themes from their semester project, “Community, Protest, and Conflict Solutions — Cultural Techniques for Sustainable Coexistence.”

In addition, the Design Cultures Institute for Applied Design Research (dci) will present the research project WiPa (German acronym for Effective Participation for Mobility Innovations) and trial initial forms of participation.