Julia Habarda, Selma Mühlbauer, Ula Reutina, Deep Dive, 2020
DESIGN INVESTIGATIONS is for the curious and critical. It is for people who are open to the complexity and uncertainty of our world. It is for the responsible radicals who want to question and change the world around them. It is a place where people come together to create tools, experiences, stories and provocations that help to create a more hopeful and humane future for all of us.
The department offers a solid education that uses critical thinking, investigative research, prototyping and conceptual speculation to design objects, experiences, stories and systems. We explore the role of designers by facing real challenges and questioning the limits of our current reality. At the same time we address the future of design and its role in society, culture, politics and the environment.
Experts from all over the world give lectures and lead workshops on topics such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, creative writing and sound and set design. Graduates of our department work for agencies like IDEO and brands like BMW, while others have founded their own studios. Many are active in curating, teaching and research. During their studies they have completed internships with companies such as L’Oréal, Atelier Iris van Herpen, Superflux, Biofaction and Studio PSK.
Prof. Anab Jain, Institute for Design
Stephanie Kneissl, PillowTalk, Diploma 2020
Sarah Franzl, Denise Schindele, Why of All Things — An A.I. Oracle, 2020
Felix Lenz, Political Atmosphere, Pre-diploma 2020
Barbara Ejdys, Claudia Montalvo, Leo Mühlfeld, Paul Mairböck, Overcoming Disgust, 2020
Sophie Falkeis, Denise Schindele, Jan Ihno Raddatz, Eszter Zwickel, Eating Death, 2020
What if you could taste death?
“Eating Death” asks us to confront our own mortality by inviting us to a ritualistic tasting experience of potent botanical and fungal toxins.
The “Eating Death” Ritual celebrates four categories of toxins: berries, blossoms, nuts & seeds, and fungi. Knowing that every single apricot kernel contains a potent toxin and some blossoms poison, we are invited to take one step closer to death. Exquisitely handcrafted tools help in measuring and tasting microscopic extracts of such toxins.
This project seeks to reframe our perception about nature and its powers in relation to us and our own mortality, and challenges our anthropocentric attempts to ‘control nature’. By taking a moment to perform the ritual, we have an opportunity to mark our own mortality and death’s immanence in our lives.
Sophie Falkeis, Denise Schindele, Jan Ihno Raddatz, Eszter Zwickel, Eating Death, 2020
Mockups
Lara Huz, SoftWear, 2020
Claudia Montalvo, Simon Platzgumer, Lena Reutenauer, Dorian Great, 2020