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Bridging the Gap between
Design and Technology
Designers, architects, artists and scientists are joining forces
next week Tuesday in a 'Design Day' (or 'Dag van het Ontwerp').
Speakers from all over the world will discuss the theme of design
and smart technology. There will be twelve workshops on exciting
new developments.
The people behind this third edition of the annual Design Day
are interested in bridging the gap between design and technology.
Organisers are journalist Walter van Hulst and designer Han le
Blanc of Vormgeversoverleg Eindhoven. They say design and technology
are no longer as separate as they were once perceived to be. "These
days, design processes are driven by multidisciplinary teams.
Design is no longer just a marketing tool for packaging the product.
Design management has become a science," Le Blanc said in
an interview with Cursor last week. "Products must measure
up to high level requirements in the areas of technology, environment
and style. Also, markets are more and more volatile and there
are no longer just a few kinds of consumers. Products are almost
tailored to individual taste." Philips Natlab, TU/e and the
Design Academy are also involved in this annual Design Day.
Boredom
An issue many scientific researchers face is whether technological
progress always means human progress. A group of designers and
trend watchers have decided to look at this question 'scientifically'
during the Design Day. "The day will not only be pro-technology.
Technology does not always make a better world. Not everything
that is possible is actually desirable from the point of view
of society," says Le Blanc. "So we need a kind of filter
in the persons of trend watchers and scenario writers. How should
we give consumers the use of infinite functionality? We can squeeze
UMTS and GPS into a mobile phone, but if the manual turns into
something the size of an encyclopaedia, then what have we gained?
We have to relate technology to people and from there create products
consumers can actually use to improve their lives. We also need
to watch out for the kind of comfortable boredom that will put
everyone to sleep if everything in life is automatic."
Computers Everywhere
American designer and computer researcher Bill Buxton is one
of the most prominent speakers invited to the Design Day. He will
talk about social and cultural aspects of the omnipresent computer.
Buxton is an authority in the area of user/system interaction,
his seminar on Tuesday afternoon is entitled 'When the Computer
is Everywhere'. Buxton is interested in the use of technology
in design, film and music. Designing and using computers in music
brought him to his specialisation in user/system interaction.
Other workshops/discussions/lectures: Tracking and Tracing by
TNO; Design & Smart Technology by Damian O'Sullivan of Design
Academy Eindhoven; Design Methodology by Stan Ackermans Instituut
and Design Academy Eindhoven; Designing the Home Experience by
Philips Design and Philips Research; Design Management by European
Design Centre; The (Non)sense of Smart Technology a debate
between John Thackara and Willem de Ridder; Eindhoven Design Region
by Oscar Peña of Philips Design Milan; Johnny Lippinkhof
of Philips Design on Smart Homes; Knowledge Area Experiment in
Eindhoven en Helmond; Egbert Jan Sol of Ericsson Stockholm on
Tomorrow's Communication and finally Yrjö Sotamaa of the
University of Art and Design Helsinki on the Future Home.
The Design Day will be held on Tuesday November
14. The morning lecture program will be in the 'Witte Dame' building
downtown from 9.00 to 12.00 a.m. After that the program continues
at TU/e with lunch in the Auditorium, and workshops, a seminar,
a debate and a fair in the afternoon. All lectures and most of
the workshops/discussions will be in English. Please contact Studium
Generale at extension 4900 if you are interested in attending.
Tickets are priced at 150 guilders or 50 guilders for students./.