Astrid Mody’s ‘Textilisation of Light: Using Textile Logics to Expand the Use of LED Technology from a Technology of Display towards a Technology of Spatial Orientation’ (2016). Source: Authors
Designing Design – Building the Conceptual Framework for a Design-led PhD

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cover cubic journal issue 7

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31182/cubic.2024.7.73

Published

2024-12-31

Issue

No. 7 (2024): PhD Design and the Design PhD — In · Through · About

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2024 Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, Karen Honour

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Designing Design – Building the Conceptual Framework for a Design-led PhD. (2024). Cubic Journal, 7(7), 86-97. https://doi.org/10.31182/cubic.2024.7.73

Keywords:

design-led research, design driven theory building, textiles practice, crafts based design, architectural research

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of the conceptual framework in design-led research. Identifying the conceptual framework as the consolidation of an interdisciplinary positioning merging historical, theoretical and technological, creates a platform from which a research project can contribute new theories and solutions. Taking its point of departure in a series of design-led PhDs undertaken at the Centre for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA) at the Royal Danish Academy - Architecture, Design, Conservation, the three discussed PhDs demonstrate how design is used as a driver for material-technological as well as conceptual-spatial contributions. One of the PhDs (Karen Honour’s) conceptual framework is further illuminated through the generation of a conceptual Wunderkammer which activates driving concepts within a tradition of knowledge acquisition, reflection and dissemination. This paper argues that the construction of a conceptual framework empowers the specifics of a design experiment to provide novel contributions to the field of architecture and design.

Author Biographies

  • Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation

    Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen examines the intersections between architecture and advanced computational design processes examining the profound changes that digital technologies instigate in the way architecture is thought, designed and built. In 2005 she founded the Centre for IT and Architecture research group (CITA) at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design and Conservation, where she has piloted a special research focus on the new digital-material relations that digital technologies bring forth. CITA has been central in the forming of an international research field examining the changes to material practice in architecture. This has been led by a series of research investigations developing concepts and technologies as well as strategic projects such as the international Marie Curie ITN network Innochain and the ERC project “Eco- Metabolistic Modelling for Architectural Design” that fosters interdisciplinary sharing and dissemination of expertise and supports new collaborations in the fields of architecture, engineering and fabrication.

  • Karen Honour, Royal Academy of Fine Arts

    Karen Honour is a designer, practice-based researcher and educator situated at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture, Design and Conservation. Frequently working with the medium of knitted textiles, her work transitions in scale from garments to soft architectures, exploring the relationships between body, textile and space. Honour has been investigating these notions in an industrial PhD in collaboration with Danish textile company Kvadrat.

References

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