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.



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“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/10.1162/074793602320827406).

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



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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.



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✨ 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.





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