Antwerp’s International Design Workshop 2024
The International Design Workshop at the University of Antwerp explored the theme of Alienation. Berlin International University of Applied Sciences participated with the innovative I¡dentify! Workshop, led by Prof. Katrin Brünjes and Prof. Carola Ebert, posing the intriguing question: What’s your favorite problem? Curated by students and faculty, this event transcended conventional boundaries and broadened perspectives on design education.
The critical approach of the participants was vividly expressed through three large-scale installations: "Pocket Plaza," which explored spatial distribution; "Copy Culture," which delved into cultural heritage; and "Hands On," which emphasized the need for action. These installations showcased their creativity and critical thinking and highlighted their ability to address complex social issues through design.
The workshop addressed the unique challenges faced by urban and interior designers, architects, developers, and heritage specialists, who are tasked with finding solutions to pressing contemporary issues within the existing world. The complexity of these topics and the high requirements often leave little time for reflection or revisiting past works. The pressing thoughts and drivers behind their work can become hidden within the complexity of their proposals. This workshop started from these challenges, encouraging participants to ask themselves: What are you actually interested in? What’s your opinion? What do you think today about solutions proposed by your previous self? In short: What do you identify with?
Reversing the usual design process of question > discover > define > develop > deliver (the double diamond problem-solving approach), the workshop asked participants to work backwards, identifying their “favorite problem” within previously found solutions. Over the course of the workshop, participants reflected, discovered new perspectives, reformulated ideas, and created connections with previous solutions and across disciplines. Unfulfilled wishes, absences, and feelings of alienation were highlighted on Day 1. These experiences were then compared to previously successful strategies and skills on Day 2.
To discard unnecessary baggage and reveal individual ideals in the form of a ‘favorite problem’, participants identified their own stance and made it tactile, visual, atmospheric, and/or tangible for others. Individual ideals and topics were then clustered and reflected upon in interdisciplinary groups on Day 3, with findings developed and materialized as installations, performances, storyboards, films, and more on Day 4. The final exhibition on Day 5 became a thinking space for viewers, re-connecting, arranging, and engaging with the individual questions of alienation in an interdisciplinary dialogue: Can you find your favorite problem here?
Participation in international workshops like IDW Antwerp is just a glimpse of the BA Interior Architecture/Interior Design program at Berlin International. These experiences give unique opportunities to engage with global design challenges, collaborate with peers worldwide, and gain exposure to diverse perspectives and methodologies. Such international engagements are instrumental in shaping well-rounded designers equipped to navigate and influence the global design landscape.
Stay tuned for more updates and accomplishments as we continue to foster innovation, creativity, and excellence in design education at Berlin International University of Applied Sciences.