KISD – Köln International School of Design, an institute of TH Köln, will in March 2016 host the “Global Design Initiative.“ From March 7 to March 12, renowned international design institutions from Asia and Europe will participate at the KISD workshop. The initiative’s long-term target is to establish a “Global Design Faculty“ – for an international and interdisciplinary design education.
The “Global Design Initiative“ was launched in 2014 in Tokyo, in 2015, the design schools involved met in Singapore for the first workshop, and in 2016, KISD – Köln International School of Design will be hosting institution for this year’s workshop. The Global Design Initiative and the Global Design Faculty want to address challenges and objectives of an increasing globalized and interdependent design world. “We closely cooperate with our partners and friends from international design institutions and colleges in order to develop and establish state-of-the-art-design study patterns from and with a truly international perspective,“ says KISD professor and current chair of the Global Design Faculty, Philipp Heidkamp, also Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences of TH Köln. KISD is thereby collaborating with Central Saint Martins College, University of the Arts, London, Musashino Art University, Tokyo, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore, and Shih Chien University, Taiwan.
Intercultural Learning and Exchange
Ten lecturers and 12 students of the listed universities will take part in the KISD workshop in Cologne. The topics of intercultural learning and education, identity, networking, design and its related disciplines will be on the agenda. One of the workshop’s objectives is also to shape open-mindedness, common approaches, and to appreciate, respect, and integrate differences and different perspectives in design, art, society, and culture. “During the last decade, demands on design and design education have significantly changed and more and more encompass interdisciplinary and international issues. It is also through the Global Design Faculty and the Global Design Initiative that we have taken this development into account and now establish excellent conditions for coming designers,“ stresses KISD professor Philipp Heidkamp.
Key Topic “Designing Strangeness“
Guiding principle of the Global Design Initiative’s workshops and projects is the topic of “Designing Strangeness:“ experience, analysis, and handling of foreignness, otherness, and dichotomies. Which heterogeneous perspectives do exist? Is a different cultural identity synonymous with a different design? How are issues like time, space, subject/object, innovation discussed, considered, and evaluated in a varied cultural context in Europe, Asia, and across the globe? At the Global Design Initiative’s meeting at KISD, intercultural project groups with participants from Cologne, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Taipei will discuss and analyze the latest developments and questions in design, art, culture, and society.
Global Design Initiative, event and workshop at KISD – Köln International School of Design, an institute of TH Köln
in cooperation with Saint Martins College, University of the Arts, London, Musashino Art University Tokyo, LASALLE College of the Arts Singapore, Shih Chien University Taiwan
March 7 – March 12, 2016 , KISD – Köln International School of Design, Ubierring 40, 50678 Cologne
More Information: https://kisd.de/gdi/