[Symbolic picture for Infotag: Gestaltung und Kunst / Konservierung und Restaurierung]


Sehen wir uns morgen? Wir stecken schon mächtig in den Vorbereitungen!
Infotag an der HKB, Fellerstrasse 11, Bern: hkb.bfh.ch/infotage

What a week:

Starting tomorrow at 17:30 with a guided tour and panel discussion at the Kunstmuseum Bern on “Johannes Itten und die kritische Utopie” with Prof. Dr. Annette Geiger (Professor for Theory and History of Design, HKF Bremen), Prof. Robert Lzicar (Head of MA Design, HKB Bern) and Markus Schwander (artist and lecturer at the HGK Basel); moderated by Hochparterre editor Meret Ernst. More: https://www.kunstmuseumbern.ch/de/sehen/heute/912-fuehrung-und-talk-johannes-itten-und-die-kritische-utopie-120.html.

On Wednesday, we will open our doors to the colloquium of our first semester students for the Infotag: Gestaltung und Kunst / Konservierung und Restaurierung. Please join us at 13:00 for an introduction to the HKB / MA DESIGN by the head of the course Robert Lzicar. More: https://www.hkb.bfh.ch/de/aktuell/veranstaltungen/infoveranstaltung-master-design-20-01-15/.

On Thursday and Friday, we will be part of the Tagung: Wir diskutieren in the Kunsthalle Bern. The one and a half day conference aims to discuss the phenomenon of independent publishing through lectures, discussions and interventions by international speakers. More: http://www.wir-publizieren.ch/en/.

We hope to meet you!

Wieviel Itten steckt im HKB / MA DESIGN?

Hochparterre und das Kunstmuseum Bern laden am 14. Januar, ab 17:30 Uhr zu einer Veranstaltung über das kritische Bewusstsein der Bauhauslehre unter Johannes Itten.

Es diskutieren Prof. Dr. Annette Geiger, HfK Bremen; Prof. Robert Lzicar, HKB Bern; Markus Schwander, HGK Basel; moderiert wird die Diskussion von Hochparterre-Redaktorin Meret Ernst. Weitere Informationen auf https://www.hochparterre.ch/nachrichten/design/blog/post/detail/johannes-itten-und-die-kritische-utopie/1578390771/


Hochparterre und das Kunstmuseum Bern laden am 14. Januar zur Veranstaltung über das kritische Bewusstsein der Bauhauslehre.

It fills us with joy to see that our students get involved in the public discourse with their topics, besides their studies: Max Frischknecht will complete his studies in Design Research with us in January. Now, he was able to exhibit his work at the “Regionale 20” as part of the exhibition “I AND THE MACHINE, EXPERIMENTIEREN MIT DIGITALITÄT” at the Galerie für Gegenwartskunst (http://gegenwartskunst-freiburg.de/). The exhibition is opened until 5.1.2020. The photos are by Marc Doradzillo.

"This year, [13] designers from the MA Design at the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB will graduate with projects that could not be more different. Their common ground: the personally motivated engagement with complex problems, the social relevance of the projects, the high level of creativity involved in their work.” Read the whole preview of the MAD Examination 2020 in the current edition of the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB / Haute école des arts de Berne HKB Zeitung: https://issuu.com/hochschulederkunstebern/docs/191120_hkb_zeitung419_web?fr=sMDE1MjIyNDI5NQ

Sabina Sieghart, designer, design researcher and HKB / MA Design alumna, has contributed a chapter on “leichte Sprache” to the new publication “Lesbar- Typografie in der Wissensvermittlung” (Triest Verlag 2019).
https://www.triest-verlag.ch/produkte/buch-26/typografie-141/lesbar-2906. Congratulations!

The launch was accompanied by the symposium “Das Auge liest mit. Über den didaktischen Mehrwert von Typografie” of the typographische gesellschaft austria (tga). Here are some photographic impressions.

What a day! The photos of this year’s Junior Design Research Conference at the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB / Haute école des arts de Berne HKB are available. Feel free to share.


Every year in November, master students from the six universities of applied arts in Switzerland assemble for the Junior Design Research Conference. Their backgrounds are various, their interests multifarious. Looking for common ground across fourteen design specializations may seem like a hard—if not impossible—task. Yet that is exactly what this year’s edition wanted to do: to find what truly binds us together as a collectivity. As such, the event was purposely retitled “Assembly.” Because, “to assemble” means to bring together different parts into one whole. In a political sense, an “assembly” is a gathering of a multiplicity of positions to discuss pressing issues of the world.

At the 2019 Junior Design Research Assembly, we wanted to take the term “assemble” at face value, and create an event that aims at forging bonds, strengthening networks and building collectivity. Understanding that border thinking is not an additive concept but a systemic one, the Assembly— this year in its 9th edition—has been entirely reimagined. Traditional modes of paper and project presentation, based on a hierarchy of speaker-receiver, have been set aside to make space for newly envisioned formats. The event unfolded through a one-day, multifaceted program for participation, debate, and exchange, giving space for multiple perspectives, positions, and personalities to co-exist. With this, the conference hopes to ignite a reflection on what binds us together as a group, which is a crucial step towards understanding how we designers are entangled with complex social and environmental problems, and thereby can gain agency by playing our part in impacting change.

Organized by HKB / MA Design (https://www.hkb-ma-design.ch) and common-interest (http://common-interest.ch).
Lunch by Lauren Wildbolz (https://laurenwildbolz.ch).
Photos by Hanna Buker (https://www.whereshadowsfall.com).
More at https://junior-research.ch.

Every year in November, master students from the six universities of applied arts in Switzerland assemble for the Junior Design Research Conference. Their backgrounds are various, their interests multifarious. Looking for common ground across fourteen design specializations may seem like a hard—if not impossible—task. Yet that is exactly what this year’s edition wanted to do: to find what truly binds us together as a collectivity. As such, the event was purposely retitled “Assembly.” Because, “to assemble” means to bring together different parts into one whole. In a political sense, an “assembly” is a gathering of a multiplicity of positions to discuss pressing issues of the world.

At the 2019 Junior Design Research Assembly, we wanted to take the term “assemble” at face value, and create an event that aims at forging bonds, strengthening networks and building collectivity. Understanding that border thinking is not an additive concept but a systemic one, the Assembly— this year in its 9th edition—has been entirely reimagined. Traditional modes of paper and project presentation, based on a hierarchy of speaker-receiver, have been set aside to make space for newly envisioned formats. The event unfolded through a one-day, multifaceted program for participation, debate, and exchange, giving space for multiple perspectives, positions, and personalities to co-exist. With this, the conference hopes to ignite a reflection on what binds us together as a group, which is a crucial step towards understanding how we designers are entangled with complex social and environmental problems, and thereby can gain agency by playing our part in impacting change.

Organized by HKB / MA Design (https://www.hkb-ma-design.ch) and common-interest (http://common-interest.ch).
Lunch by Lauren Wildbolz (https://laurenwildbolz.ch).
Photos by Hanna Buker (https://www.whereshadowsfall.com).
More at https://junior-research.ch.


Every year in November, master students from the six universities of applied arts in Switzerland assemble for the Junior Design Research Conference. Their backgrounds are various, their interests multifarious. Looking for common ground across fourteen design specializations may seem like a hard—if not impossible—task. Yet that is exactly what this year’s edition wanted to do: to find what truly binds us together as a collectivity. As such, the event was purposely retitled “Assembly.” Because, “to assemble” means to bring together different parts into one whole. In a political sense, an “assembly” is a gathering of a multiplicity of positions to discuss pressing issues of the world.

At the 2019 Junior Design Research Assembly, we wanted to take the term “assemble” at face value, and create an event that aims at forging bonds, strengthening networks and building collectivity. Understanding that border thinking is not an additive concept but a systemic one, the Assembly— this year in its 9th edition—has been entirely reimagined. Traditional modes of paper and project presentation, based on a hierarchy of speaker-receiver, have been set aside to make space for newly envisioned formats. The event unfolded through a one-day, multifaceted program for participation, debate, and exchange, giving space for multiple perspectives, positions, and personalities to co-exist. With this, the conference hopes to ignite a reflection on what binds us together as a group, which is a crucial step towards understanding how we designers are entangled with complex social and environmental problems, and thereby can gain agency by playing our part in impacting change.

Organized by HKB / MA Design (https://www.hkb-ma-design.ch) and common-interest (http://common-interest.ch).
Lunch by Lauren Wildbolz (https://laurenwildbolz.ch).
Photos by Hanna Buker (https://www.whereshadowsfall.com).
More at https://junior-research.ch.

“Design skills cut across all situations, but skills in relating to vulnerable or marginalized populations rather than to a brief from a manufacturer need to be developed by future social designers. Students of social design will have to learn more about social needs and how they are currently addressed by helping professionals. They might do an internship with a clinical team in a psychiatric hospital, a community agency, or a residential facility for the elderly. They would also need a stronger background in sociology, psychology, and public policy.” (Victor Margolin and Sylvia Margolin, “A ‘Social Model’ of Design”, 2002, https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/0747936023...

Rest in peace Victor and our heartfelt condolences to Sylvia. You were, are and remain an inspiration for us!

Once again, we can congratulate Marius Disler on a grant for his project Mikafi mikafi. Pro Helvetia supports the development of a prototype for a coffee roasting machine for the gastronomy industry. We are excited and wish Marius and the mikafi team all the best for this next phase of the project! https://prohelvetia.ch/en/2019/11/design-results-call-5/


In response to the 5th Call for Projects (in summer 2019), 77 candidates submitted a wide range of projects in the fields of product design, fashion design and service design.

The annual Design Research Methods Festival of the HKB / MA DESIGN is dedicated to theories and methods relevant to design and to design research. We invited six experts to hold a workshop, introducing the participants to why and how they do what they do.

Photos: Hanna Buker.

More: https://www.hkb-ma-design.ch/en/events/design-research-methods-festival-162.html


The annual Design Research Methods Festival of the HKB / MA DESIGN is dedicated to theories and methods relevant to design and to design research. We invited six experts to hold a workshop, introducing the participants to why and how they do what they do.

Photos: Hanna Buker.

More: https://www.hkb-ma-design.ch/en/events/design-research-methods-festival-162.html

✨ We thank all participating students, lecturers, performers, presenters, chefs, thinkers, helpers, …! ✨ We hope you will keep the Junior Design Research Assembly in good memory. See you at the #JRC2020 organized by the Master Design at Hochschule Luzern. More photos will follow soon.

Forschungs-Mittwoch FSP Kommunikationsdesign + MAD Keynote: “Design as a missing link”.

Design by definition is cross-functional. Why? Because this discipline is based on the cooperation between the variety of disciplines from engineering, social sciences to craftsmanship. That’s why designers should have the ability to adjust their language and behaviours to different interlocutors.

Our environment is surrounded by a diversity of products. Industrial designers are perpetually testing, analysing and looking for the design improvements. Thus, designers should be open-minded and open-eyed.

This multidisciplinarity is nothing new. The core curriculum of Bauhaus, introduced one hundred years ago, based on the different areas like art, formal sciences, social sciences and hands-on practice. The only difference is the proportion between the elements. New technologies, sustainability, carbon neutrality, social responsibility, those aspects play a crucial role nowadays.

Environmental changes are speeding up so the new generation designers should think holistically and be very adaptable.

Robert Pludra is an industrial designer and a Deputy Dean of Faculty of Design at the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie. He runs his own studio focused on product, social and exhibition design as well as leads design workshops.

Photos: Hanna Buker


Forschungs-Mittwoch FSP Kommunikationsdesign + MAD Keynote: “Design as a missing link”.

Design by definition is cross-functional. Why? Because this discipline is based on the cooperation between the variety of disciplines from engineering, social sciences to craftsmanship. That’s why designers should have the ability to adjust their language and behaviours to different interlocutors.

Our environment is surrounded by a diversity of products. Industrial designers are perpetually testing, analysing and looking for the design improvements. Thus, designers should be open-minded and open-eyed.

This multidisciplinarity is nothing new. The core curriculum of Bauhaus, introduced one hundred years ago, based on the different areas like art, formal sciences, social sciences and hands-on practice. The only difference is the proportion between the elements. New technologies, sustainability, carbon neutrality, social responsibility, those aspects play a crucial role nowadays.

Environmental changes are speeding up so the new generation designers should think holistically and be very adaptable.

Robert Pludra is an industrial designer and a Deputy Dean of Faculty of Design at the Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Warszawie. He runs his own studio focused on product, social and exhibition design as well as leads design workshops.

Photos: Hanna Buker

This Friday, we will host the Junior Design Research Assembly at the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB / Haute école des arts de Berne HKB.

We are very much looking forward to the great program, which was developed by common-interest (Nina Paim and Corinne Gisel) together with us. You can find it on https://junior-design-research-assembly.ch/.

The morning is reserved for registered Master students, but the afternoon program FORMS OF ACTIVISM from 15:00 is free of charge and accessible without registration. However, please note that we can only provide a limited number of seats.

We want to invite all of you to this public part of the program and look forward to meeting you on Friday!


Junior Design Research Conference

Congratulations, Tina Güntner! After studying Design at the Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB / Haute école des arts de Berne HKB, Tina emigrated to Peru with her family and has been involved with sustainability and “real” fair fashion for years. Now she has taken the next step and founded PACABAMBA, a clothing company, which has just completed a successful kickstart campaign 🦙❤️🎉. If you are looking for sustainable and fair Christmas presents, you will definitely find them here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/alpaca-wool-sweater/baby-alpaca-wool-sweater-naturally-dyed


– PACABAMBA –

Offene Stelle an der Hochschule der Künste Bern: Doktorandin oder Doktorand für das SNF-Projekt «Sterbesettings» gesucht!