Cumulus Conference Report

CUMULUS CONFERENCE

ROMA

JUNE 2021

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contents j dates

8–9

g

14–15

about

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24–25

k

l

10–11

schedule

12–13 venues

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16–17

b

20–23

R

26–31

v

32–37

tracks

track one

theme

track two

track three

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y

x

50–55

38–43 track four

44–49 track five

track six

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56–61 track seven

62–67 track eight

68–73 track nine

5 Art Director: Jessica Scott Art Contributors: cumulusroma.org, swansea.ac.uk, lapinkansa.fi, cumulusgreen.org, cumulusrovani2019.org, Andrea Chioldlin, Tim Foster Created in Adobe CC 2020 FatFrank, Futura, Futura PT, ZeitguysOne Printed on Cover: 80# Semi-gloss (216 GSM) for heft and protection Paper: 80# Matte text (115 GSM) paper Printed At: blurb.com

Follow me on instagram @jessiemscott

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7 CHAIRS

team

Loredana Di Lucchio | Full Professor in Design, Sapienza University of Rome Lorenzo Imbesi | Full Professor in Design, Sapienza University of Rome

CONFERENCE MANAGERS Angela Giambattista | PhD, Research Fellow, Sapienza University of Rome Viktor Malakuczi | PhD, Research Fellow, Sapienza University of Rome

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Mariana Amatullo | President of Cumulus Association Banny Banerjee | Director of Stanford ChangeLabs Luisa Bocchietto | President of World Design Organization Lin-Lin Chen | Chair of Design Innovation Strategy, Eindhoven University of Technology Luisa Collina | Past President of Cumulus Association Rachel Cooper | President of Design Research Society Cees de Bont | Dean School of Design, Loughborough University Claudio Germak | President of Italian Scientific Society of Design Christian Guellerin | Past President of Cumulus Association Antonio Paris | Emeritus Professor in Design, Sapienza University of Rome Rodrigo Rodriguez | President of Material Connexion Italia srl Yrjö Sotamaa | President Emeritus of Cumulus Association Francesca Tosi | President of Conference of Italian School of Design

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02–05

JUNE

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schedule DAY 1 9:30–10:50 11:10–12:30 Pre-conference 12:30–12:50 Pre-conference 14:30–15:50 Opening Plenary & Keynote Speeches 16:10–17:30 Opening Plenary & Keynote Speeches 20:00 Exhibition Opening & Welcome Drink

DAY 2 9:30–10:50 Track session (x9), New Members Fair, AADTE WG 11:10–12:30 Track session (x9), New Members Fair, Leadership 12:30–12:50 Track round table (x9), Conversations, Leadership 14:30–15:50 Track session (x9), Conversations, ReVeDA WG 16:10–17:30 Track session (x9), Conversations, CWGs

DAY 3

20:00

9:30–10:50 Track session (x9), Conversations, Food Design WG 11:10–12:30 Track session (x9), X-files (workshop), Business I.I. 12:30–12:50 Track round table (x9), X-files (workshop), Business I.I. 14:30–15:50 Track session (x9), Conversations, DESIS cluster 16:10–17:30 Track session (x9), Conversations, EIDD Seminar

DAY 4

20:00 Cumulus Green, General Assembly*

9:30–10:50 Poster session, X-files (conference), Digital Culture 11:10–12:30 Poster session, X-files (essence), Contemp. Art 12:30–12:50 Fashion & Textile WG, EDu4FashionTech 14:30–15:50 Closing Plenary & Keynote Speeches 16:10-17:30 Closing Plenary & Keynote Speeches 20:00 Closing Party

11 *General Assembly is open to representatives of Cumulus member schools.

Please contact the secretariat at cumulus@taik.fi for any questions. The venue is at the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Architecture at via Antonio Gramsci 53 Please find the mentioned abbreviations below: j EIDD: European Institute for Design and Disability J Business I. I.: Business, Industry & Innovation l Leadership S.: Leadership and Strategy H AADTE: Art and Design Teacher Education and Pedagogy A ReVeDa: Research Vectors in Design and Art b DESIS: Design for Social Innovation towards Sustainability

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ven

The conference will have three venues: b Faculty of Architecture at Via Antonio Gramsci, 53, 00197 Roma RM (main activities, all parallel sessions) t Main Sapienza Campus at Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Roma RM (opening event) p Faculty of Architecture at Piazza Borghese, 9, 00186 Roma RM (satellite events) We recommend booking accommodations accordingly; common booking platforms feature a large number of options.

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ues

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about City Of Rome The theme Design Culture(s) has undoubtedly an international appeal because it is addressing the challenges of our time and the city of Rome is the ultimate place to embody such quality: it’s notoriously a rich city for history and tradition, but also an important global capital, which is projected towards the future. It’s a cosmopolitan and multicultural city, which treasures a multitude of concepts and visions. In such scenario, which is rich in history and culture, attendees are also invited to visit and learn about a city of great interest.

Cumulus International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media Cumulus is the only global association to serve art and design education and research. It was founded in 1990 and has today over 280 prominent university members from 56 countries. It is a forum for partnership and transfer of knowledge and best practices with the aim to build and maintain a dynamic and flexible academic scene which would bring together top level educational institutions from all parts of the world.

Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Architecture and School of Industrial Design The conference will take place at Sapienza University of Rome, Faculty of Architecture.

Sapienza University of Rome was founded in 1303 by Pope Boniface VIII and it is one of the oldest universities in the world. At the moment, Sapienza is hosting about 115,000 students and 4.000 professors and researchers, and it is a top performer in international university rankings, thanks to the 63 Departments organized in 11 Faculties driving high levels of excellence in several fields.

The Degrees of Design are part of the Faculty of Architecture, which was founded in 1920 and it happens to be the first modern Faculty of Architecture in Italy. At the core of its mission is the commitment to innovation, technology, urban living, while serving a fast changing society.

Its programs and curricula are divided between scientific research, studies in the humanities and experimentation with old and new technology. All this is leading to the education of the modern designer, which can be considered the synthesis of a scientist and a humanist who is both an artist and a technologist at the same time.

After the Degrees in Design, the Faculty is also offering programs in architecture, city planning, landscape, interior architecture and design management. Its high-calibre graduates are equipped with the skills which are necessary to design and to manage sustainable products, systems, services and environments, leading to innovation, technology, visual communication and design.

The Design Degrees in Sapienza are the following: o A Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design; l An International Master of Science in Product Design (in English); w A Master in Design and Visual and Multimedia Communication; G An Interdisciplinary PhD Program in ‘Planning, Design, Technology of architecture’.

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tracks The Conference is organized into 9 parallel tracks in order to address several different Cultures of Design. Each track is described with only three keywords to tackle and explore all possible approaches, methods, visions, experiments that can draw the scenario of different Design Cultures. Therefore, authors are invited to share innovative, original, inspiring and disruptive ideas in their papers. The call for Papers, Posters and Exhibition is available in PDF format and below.

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TRACK O N E

21 Professor Matt Jones

Swansea University, Swansea, UK Presentation title: The Robots are Coming - Be Afraid!

Matt Jones has been working on mobile interaction design for 20+ years. He has written two books on the subject (Mobile Interactions Design, with Gary Marsden; and There’s not An App for That, with Simon Robinson and Gary Marsden). His research work has explored a diverse range of mobile topics including small screen browsing; navigation systems; storytelling; digital inclusion; conversational systems; and, deformable devices. He is the Director of one of the UK’s national Digital Economy Centres; led on creating the newly opened multimillion pound Computational Foundry; and is the Director of a new EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in AI and Big Data - all of these activities but people-first in the pursuit of technological innovation.

DESIGN (OF) C U LT U R E ARTIFICIAL DESIGN (OF)

C U LT U R E ARTIFICIAL DESIGN (OF) C U LT U R E ARTIFICIAL

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track one DIGITAL | TECHNOLOGY | ROBOTICS chairs: João de Sá Bonelli, PUC-Rio Department of Arts & Design, Brasile Mathias Funk, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands Patrizia Marti, University of Siena, Italy Giuseppe Mincolelli, University of Ferrara, Italy

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Aligned with the vision of Cumulus Association and its commitment for sharing design knowledge and practices in a global and multidisciplinary perspective, Sapienza University of Rome will host the Annual Cumulus conference with the aim to house and to foster the international debate on the current cultural, social, and economic challenges in design.

In particular, the conference is calling designers, academics and experts to tackle the relationship between Design and Culture, with the purpose of valorizing interdisciplinarity and diversity in Cumulus community.

The working title of the Conference is “Design Culture(s)” and it is aimed to map the most advanced research and education in design, by reflecting on the idea of design as a form of culture, while drawing its field and opening to new directions.

Design Culture(s) is investigating not simply on the concept of culture as a monolithic expression of a specific knowledge that reflects on itself, but as the product of an investigation that is open to many different “Cultures” which are emerging and revolving around it in society, in the places and in history.

We live in an increasingly complex society, which is crossed by new social, cultural and economic challenges and at the same time it is more global and multicultural than ever, more and more enriched by new languages and the flows of people.

As a consequence, design is evolving as a wide-open field with many new applications and cultural meanings.

Design as expression of Culture(s) is taking into consideration the cultures we are inheriting from the past and which should be granted for the benefit of future generations, so intertwining past and future, tangible and intangible, innovation and tradition.

This is the time when it is urgent to multiply the opportunities for knowledge sharing and dissemination, in order to tackle the cultural, societal, economical, technological and industrial shifts of the future, through design education and research.

The goal of this event is to create a forum to explore meaningful changes in design profiles and convergence of design disciplines. By connecting cross-disciplinary, cultural, and social knowledge and various design approaches from diverse design domains, Design Connects will explore emerging design issues to make our life better.

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theme

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TRACK

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T WO

DESIGN ( O L A N G

C U LT U R E F ) U A G E S

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track two AESTHETICS | EXPRESSION | VISUAL

chairs: Nicolò Ceccarelli, University of Sassari, Italy Chele Esteve Sendra, Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain Spartaco Paris, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Merav Perez, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Israel

34 Liisa Holmberg

Film commissioner, International Sámi Film Institute (ISFI), Norway Presentation title: Indigenous peoples design and storytelling.

Purpose of Arctic Indigenous Film Fund Liisa Holmberg is a Sámi film maker originally from Finnish side of the Saamiland. She has worked in the film business as a producer, production manager and film consultant from the year 1994. Big part of her work as a film commissioner is working internationally with Indigenous film makers in Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Sápmi and Russia to establish an Arctic Indigenous Film Fund (AIFF). During the years 2008-2018 Holmberg worked as a rector of the Sámi Education Institute in Inari, Finland. The purpose of the Institute is to support Sámi languages, cultures and livelihoods.

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TRACK THREE

(OF) LIFE

DESIGN C U LT U R E

DESIGN C U LT U R E (OF) LIFE

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track three

39 NATURE | BIOLOGY | HUMAN chairs: Anna Bernagozzi, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, France Pepetto Di Bucchianico, D’Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara, Italy Emilia Duarte, IADE, Universidade Europeia, Portugal Sabrina Lucibello, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy

40 Together, The Need For A Shared Language?

Together, The Lifting Of Conflicts?

Does the interdisciplinarity inherent to design imply speaking a common language? Acculturating to the language of the other, inventing a common language and culture in order to understand each other and progress together, could it therefore be the condition of successful interdisciplinary collaboration?

But what is the language of designers? How do other professions in design and other disciplines understand design and designers, how the end-users? Have designers invented their own language? If so, what is its nature? How can we evolve in the Tower of Babel that is the manufactory of the world?

Being together, doing together, is not just about conviviality and good humour, it is also about comparing oneself to others, to their ideas, their actions, their interests and it is about taking the risk of not always being on the same wavelength or about calling oneself into question. Collectivity is not always chosen, but if it is approached in an active and participative manner it can become a place of unexpected exchange of ideas, of skills and of creativity and it can make shared solutions emerge. How is design a good lever for action to escape what divides, opposes, excludes or oversteps these rationales of division, opposition and exclusion?

Together, (Re)Acquaintance With Actors?

Productions stemming from design are rarely the work of a single person. While the credits of a film present an exhaustive list of all contributors, this is not the case with fashion or even architectural projects, which nevertheless only emerge with the assistance of several professions. Whether visible or concealed, these credits reveal the methods of organising creative work. Whether vertical or horizontal rationales, very hierarchical or elective (collectives, associations, etc.), all are effective and impact design.

Together… Or Happy Alone?

The collective imaginary of creation is rooted in the figure of the author, the artist, of a distinct personality. The world of creation has always produced a tension between individuality and collectivity. Several design studios showcase the name of the creator behind whom numerous assistants are concealed. In addition, from the top of his ‘ivory tower’, the creator knows very well how to find his place among his peers. How does this tension operate, between the fact of working alone and working in a group? How much solitude or interaction with others is necessary to give birth to a remarkable production?

Together, How To Foster Innovation?

Working in groups, whether intra- or interdisciplinary, is above all recognised for its capacity to unlock the creative potential of everyone, to promote the unpredictable, to diversify approaches and to extend the limits of what is possible.

How is interdisciplinarity in the field of design a lever for innovation? Why is design almost always allotted to objectives of innovation? Is there a designated discipline to try to reach this objective? Where is innovation situated, if it exists? Is it a formal, everyday, technical or social innovation?

Biodiversity-Driven Design The unique and unexplored world’s ecosystems areas offer an opportunity to spark designers’ imagination and practices in search of new solutions to everyday needs. Moreover, the rapid exploitation of natural resources has accelerated climate change, making us question how can we redesign our relationship with the environment without placing at stake its biodiversity? The intersection between science and design takes research one step further. It allows scientists to question how can knowledge be used to solve real world problems and allows designers to incorporate scientific processes in their design practice, increasing their scope and impact.

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TRACK

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FOUR

(OF)

DESIGN C U LT U R E MAKING

(OF)

DESIGN C U LT U R E

MAKING

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track four

47 PROCESS | MANUFACTURING | POST-INDUSTRY chairs: Mario Buono, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy Eujin Pei, Brunel University London, United Kingdom Andreas Sicklinger, University of Bologna, Italy Oscar Tomico, ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering, Spain

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TRACK

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FIVE

DESIGN C U LT U R E

MULTIPLICITY

(OF)

chairs: Özlem Er, Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey Raffaella Fagnoni, University of Genova, Italy Gianni Sinni, University of the Republic of San Marino, San Marino Pradyumna Vyas, National Institute of Design, India

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track five GENDER | PLURALISM | DIVERSITY

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TRACK S I X

55 Design and Counterculture Countercultural design is not a product, it doesn’t live in halls or museums. A free and spontaneous design which acts on an immediate social framework. In fragmented societies, it is difficult to identify with a hegemonic position response. Maybe look for the countercultural with an integrative sensibility. In a productive society, counterculture means generosity and exchange, a strategy of social transformation for a space in which dialogue didn’t exist. Designs remind us of another possible world, as the paths that lead us to it. What could be the countercultural position of contemporary design?

Sensing the City, Sensing the Rural Urban and rural spaces are undergoing a radical transformation in post-digital times, these transformations are driven by negotiations between computational and physical domains.

How are negotiations affecting large urban areas and smaller settlements? How can we reinforce connections between rural and urban spaces? With the ever-growing tendency of people moving to cities, rural areas are disappearing? Can we take advantage of technologies to empower the rural landscape? How are we taking advantage of information we are now extracting in both of those spaces? We invite participants to bring to the scope: design projects, design cases, urban and rural planning proposals, new technologies, artistic interpretations to illuminate our discourses and practices related to urban and rural places in present times and in desirable futures.

Somewhere, Nowhere: Wicked Design Design has become a strategic, progressive and adaptable social process. This process involves singular proposals reacting to its context. Design becomes culturally dependent and therefore challenges more specific, diverse and innovative approaches. Singular narratives deploy projects encountering diversity, to recover the essence of each context.

What alternate design approaches allow to propose solutions integrating culture, economy, and environment? How can collective intelligences dialogue with contemporary design processes? How can design methodologies tackle wicked problems?

(OF)

(OF)

P R OX I M I T Y

P R OX I M I T Y

DESIGN CULTURE DESIGN CULTURE

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track six PLACES | PEOPLE | ECONOMY chairs: Sam Bucolo, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia Frédéric Degouzon, L’École de design Nantes Atlantique, France Claudia De Giorgi, Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy Giuseppe Lotti, University of Firenze, Italy

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TRACK SEVEN

61 Lou Yongqi

Dean of the College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, Former Cumulus Vice President; Cumulus Executive Board (2013-2016) Prof. Dr. LOU Yongqi, PhD, is Dean of the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University in Shanghai, Fellow of Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), and Vice President of China Industrial Design Association(CIDA).

Lou has been the pioneer in China for design-driven innovation education, research and practices that connect design, business, and technology.

He is the founder of Design Harvests, a design-driven urban-rural interaction project; Shanghai Tongji-Huangpu School of Design and Innovation, the first design-thinking K12 school in China; and She Ji — the Journal of Design, Innovation, and Economics published by Tongji University and Elsevier.

Lou served as the board director of World Design Organization (WDO) and Vice President of CUMULUS, International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media. He is the Editorial Board Member of the journal Design Issues published by The MIT Press, and the Journal of Visual Arts published by Taylor & Francis.

NGISED E R U TL U C ) F O ( ECNEILISER

DESIGN C U LT U R E ( O F ) RESILIENCE

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track seven SOCIAL INNOVATION | CIRCULAR ECONOMY | SUSTAINABILITY chairs: Davide Fassi, Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy Miaosen Gong, Jiangnan University, China Nicola Morelli, Aalborg University, Denmark Regina Aparecida Sanches, University of São Paulo Maria Antonietta Sbordone, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy

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TRACK EIGHT

67 Learning With, Through And Beyond The Digital In 2007 Laurillard wrote:‘Imaginative use of digital technologies could be transformational for teaching and learning, taking us well beyond the incremental value of more accessible lecture presentations. The problem is that transformation is more about the human and organisational aspects of teaching and learning than it is about the use of technology. We have the ambition. We have the technology. What is missing is what connects the two’ (Laurillard, 2007, pxvii) Almost ten years later how much have we embraced this rally call to move beyond the allure of the digital, to fully occupying its potential? Apart from ‘flipped classrooms’ and MOOC modalities, how successful have we been in bridging the ambition/technology gap?

Issues to explore may include online, distance and blended learning in design, from tutor, student and technological perspectives. How do students select the best digital tools from those available? What impact does the digital have on learning in design at different educational levels? Are we seduced by the digital?

How do we reconcile the hand made with the digital in learning for an unknown future? Is there a digital way of knowing or digital literacy which facilitates learning in design subjects? We have lived with ‘new technologies’ for over 30 years, what have we learned about learning during this time? What should we be concerned about? What are the problems of learning in a post digital age?

Researching Design Learning and Teaching What kind of approaches might be used to research the digital and non-digital aspects of learning and teaching in design? What are the opportunities and pitfalls associated with particular research approaches? How might we benefit from educational theories and what can we contribute from our disciplinary perspectives to wider debates in learning and teaching? How do educational theories play out in studio-based learning in practice? Student’s’ learning approaches demand creative solutions to a wide range of complex themes and contexts. We welcome debates on the scope of learner literacies and studies that

investigate how formal and informal learning can be synergized. Dialogues that address new cultures of learning, issues of learner identities, tutor roles, space and their implications in the design of learning environments are also encouraged. In this context the digital imbues all such practices. This is a call for papers and we hope you will make a date in your diary to contribute to the conference. Places will be limited for the submitted papers.

Design Pedagogy Practices What kinds of practices are we engaged in when students learn design subjects?

Can we say that we fully understand the ways we teach and the impact these have on our students’ sense of self? Can we critically evaluate our pedagogic practices and invent better ways to help students to become successful designers?

What kinds of emotional, affectual and identity work is being undertaken in the learning environment and how important is this? Have pedagogies changed over time and if so why? Are we in danger of losing important aspects of our signature pedagogies? What are the implications for changing job roles on knowledge and its associated epistemologies within the university and school? How should we manage interdisciplinarity in the curriculum? What is the best way to prepare young people for working in a design industry?

Design Learning and ‘third space’ Practices The ‘third space’ has been used to describe the emergence of roles that exist in non-traditional spaces in the university (Whitchurch 2013). These include professionals working on projects inside and outside the university, on outreach and widening participation, and on study support. There are many new roles which transcend the traditional academic roles of teaching and research. How do these roles support students learning in design? What are the issues encountered by those operating across boundaries and in the ‘third space’? How do our technical support teams contribute to student learning and could technicians be described as operating in the ‘third space’?

DESIGN CULTURE (OF) REVOL

UTION

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track eight CRITICAL THINKING | DISRUPTION | CHANGE

chairs: Hélène Day-Fraser, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Canada Alastair Fuad-Luke, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy Stefano Maffei, Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy Betti Marenko, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, United Kingdom

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TRACK

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NINE

DESIGN C U LT U R E (OF) THINKING

DESIGN C U LT U R E (OF) THINKING

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track nine THEORY | HISTORY | CRITICS chairs: Paola Bertola, Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy Pier Paolo Peruccio, Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy Márton Szentpéteri, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, Hungary

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