Symposium: Design and Theories of Things

Conference & Events

1 May 2018

What do theories of things mean, to, for, and in design in both their historical and contemporary contexts?

This one-day symposium is based on, and expands upon, the material collected in the volume Encountering Things. Design and Theories of Things by Leslie Atzmon and Prasad Boradkar (eds.) (London, Bloomsbury, 2017). The symposium brings together design theorists, historians and practitioners to examine and debate how designed objects are located in a larger nexus of theories of things. Panel and respondents' presentations - which are varied and rich in case-studies - show how theory is relevant to those who are interested in the processes through which designed things come into being, and the ways that designed things and objects resonate with those who use them. The presentations offer insights into how things and objects are the central, inevitable media of design, and how design is, therefore, particularly consequential to the ways that things and objects fashion the world around us.

With presentations from: Dr. Betti Marenko, Dr. Phil Jones, Dr. Claire Pajaczkowska, Professor Prasad Boradkar, Dr. Sarah Teasley, Dr. Adam Drazin and Dr. Peter Hall.

Date/time: 9 June 2018, 10:00-18:30
Venue: Design History Society, 70 Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EJ

View the full programme.