Design and designing are at a tipping point where their inherent prefiguring nature and directionality* demands careful investigation and engagement by thinkers, teachers and practitioners alike.

Design projects have become increasingly multi-disciplinary in their stimulation of discussion and debate in fields such as business, ethics, philosophy, political science, ICT, life sciences and biology. Design is exposed to a wider societal arena and this calls for dialogue around the big question: ‘How do we design and research not for the way things are, but for the way things could be?’

This conference is an initiative from the Faculty of Informatics & Design (FID) of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) and  is about what makes design a discipline.

This conference aims to stimulate debate and elicit thought provoking responses from the design community, both in academia and in practice, that will help develop the dynamic discourse of design, its processes and development, its intent, its dilemmas and outcomes.

Some of us call ourselves designers, others call themselves engineers, architects or instructors, but when asked what we do, we say we design things.

So, what is this thing called ‘design’?

Another word that worries us, is ‘development’. What do we develop? Why do we develop? What do we mean by ‘development’?

Similarly, what makes design researchable? What is the role of design in research? And, what is research design?

These and other dilemmas are what this conference is about.

{ddr} Call for Participation:

The link below provides details about the Call for Papers, etc.

Programme of the event can be viewed here:

• Programme

There is still time to register for the Design Development and Research conference 2-5 Sept 2012
http://www.design-development-research.co.za/index.html
* Willis, A.M. (2008). ‘Design, redirective practice and sustainment’, keynote talk at 360 Degrees Conference.