The design of architecture and living space does not only touch questions of structural engineering, economy and sociology, but also of perception (psychology), of presentation (artistic practice) and of media theory (cultural technique). With the integration of these different disciplines into teaching, new points of view are introduced: inter-weavings and the blurring of boundaries of various approaches and strategies uncover potentials to capture our environment in an unfamiliar manner, to think about space differently and to design it innovatively.

In the context of an artistic university, it is especially the class of Fine Arts and Experimental Design that guarantees the integrative connection and interdisciplinary character that can not only point out future-oriented niches in an occupational field that continuously grows more versatile, but can also convey competences that lead beyond a venerable architectural education.

In teaching, we convey design practice as a process which does not primarily orient towards a static goal, but which asks about the possible and feasible versatility of places, spaces and objects and our perception. The experimental design work is characterized by conceptual considerations and versatile studies on form and space determination. Instead of the application of supposedly venerable solutions, the experiment and the process are in the focus of design and draft theory. Theoretical analyses and conceptual considerations build an equally important basis for design practice as the experimental handling of different material, media and its specific techniques.

The learning units are accompanied by an interdisciplinary lecture series where artists, architectures, designers and scientists present their work as well as the ideas, methods, materials and techniques that determine the design process.

The future of design lies in the reflection on the possible and not in the execution of the feasible. Unconventional settings of tasks and questions allow unconventional approaches and solutions. The concentration on the process and on the experiment supplies the needed space for an intense analysis of the practice of designing and drafting. Here, the journey is the destination.

Prof. Annett Zinsmeister, 2010