KISD graduate Flora Karger and her BA thesis “Programme begreifen – eine performative Umsetzung “ has been ranked “First Place“ at Kölner Design Preis (Cologne Design Prize) 2017 award ceremony on October 26 at MAKK, Museum of Applied Arts Cologne. A total of 26 graduate works of four Cologne-based design and art schools had been nominated, KISD – Köln International School of Design was represented by ten graduates’ project works.
Flora Karger’s BA thesis “Programme begreifen – eine performative Umsetzung” deals with the topic of programs, algorithms, and computer-generated communication and analyzes the interactions between man/machine and program/programming. Karger illustrates the patterns and principles of this interaction process and shows how the main characteristics of programs can be practically translated and transformed into a dance performance. How are programs and human perception linked and mutually dependent? Who determines, dominates in this interplay? How do man and machine communicate?
The jury of Kölner Design Preis stressed: “Using language and communication is our daily work. However, this should not obscure the fact that our communicative skills are limited. Through her project ‚Programme begreifen’, Flora Karger points out that even computer-generated communication and interaction does not entirely solve that problem but, on the contrary, makes it even harder for us since it can deprive us of our maturity and autonomy.“
Sonja Lorenz’ (ecosign) work “begreifen“ (comprehend) was ranked second place presenting a social inclusion effort for blind, visually impaired, and normally-sighted people in order to perceive architecture without handicap and beyond sensual perception. The bachelor thesis “Jung und Alt“ by Jana Klasen from Rheinische Fachhochschule Köln was ranked third place and deals with the housing conditions in Cologne through taking a closer look at demographic change and its consequences.
KISD director Wolfgang Laubersheimer said: “Once again, the excellent results and the high quality of the nominated project works demonstrate the fantastic development of Cologne as a venue for design. The jury had to judge on 26 stunning works and came to a final conclusion only after intense and long debates. That Flora Karger and her project ‚Programme begreifen’ were ranked first place also indicates that the approach of design to be integrating and integrative has been very successfully put to the test.“
The awarded BA thesis of Flora Karger at KISD had been supervised by Prof. Andreas Muxel (Interaction Design) and Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler (Design Theory and Research). After graduating from KISD, Flora Karger served in the summer term 2017 as a visiting lecture at KISD and thereby continued her research on programs/programming in the context of the project “Perform Programs in Space“. The latter brought up ten individual results with regard to the analysis of entities, codes, decoding, and the repeating of program-like structures and ideas.
Video of the Projekt “Perform Programs”
About Cologne Design Prize
The Kölner Design Preis (Cologne Design Prize) is a joint project by KISD – Köln International School of Design, ecosign Academy, Macromedia University of Applied Sciences, and Rheinische Fachhochschule Cologne. This year, 26 project works/final theses were approved for final selection. All 26 nominated works will be exhibited at MAKK from October 27 to November 19.
For more information on Flora Karger’s work “Programme begreifen“, please vist: www.florakarger.com
In 2017, the jury consisted of Dr. Petra Hesse (director of MAKK Museum Cologne), Nils Holger Moormann (Managing Director, Nils Holger Moormann Ltd.), Claudia Neumann (Managing Director, Neumann-Communication), Stephan Ott (Editor-in-Chief of “form”-magazine), and Prof. Ralph Sommer (Professor for Concept Design, University of Fine Arts of Hamburg).
Kölner Design Preis (Cologne Design Prize)
2017 Award Ceremony
October 26, 2017, 7 pm
Museum of Applied Arts Cologne (Museum für Angewandte Kunst Köln, MAKK)
An der Rechtschule, 50667 Cologne
Exhibition of All Nominated Theses/Projects: October 27 – November 19, for detailed opening hours and more information: www.koelnerdesignpreis.de
© Photos: Flora Ines Karger and Manuela Patschurkowski