SPOD #8 Schwierige Formen

Design takes place in an ambivalent place, oscillating between the concerns of culture and capital. As a kind of criticism from within, critical design explores what design is about - how it relates to the market, what is meant by “good design” and how design and the development of technology work.

Schwierige Formen discusses the operational and intellectual foundation of a renewed critical practice.

The open-ended publication series Studienhefte Problemorientiertes Design SPOD makes historical and contemporary reflections on the social and political dimension of Design accessible. It is a collection of irregularly appearing texts that critically examine the practical, cultural, methodological and everyday functions of Design. The problem-oriented approach aims to link design to the contradictions, potentials and circumstances of reality.

Based on a critical examination of the possibilities and limitations of Design, alternative models of Design are outlined that contradict the established market-based design practice.