[Discussion] issues of Design Education, Business and Material Culture

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

CALL FOR PAPERS

BY DESIGN: An interdisciplinary Conference on issues of Design
Education, Business and Material Culture

The Design Exchange, (DX) Canada's only museum of post-1945 design will
host a conference from 12-15 October 2005 exploring the life-course of
designed objects and environments, including buildings, interiors and
constructed landscapes. Interested in issues of design education,
theories of 'good design' as smart business strategy and the status of
the designed object in public culture and the academy, this conference
has been conceived of as three distinct, but interrelated and
interdependent streams. Intended to encourage dialogue about design
culture, this conference acknowledges Peter Dormer's observation that as
a social phenomenon what is called "design" is both a product of western
liberal capitalism and dependant upon it, and that the meaning of design
is determined both in the marketplace and the museum. Accordingly, the
DX invites designers, design educators from across disciplines, business
leaders, museum and heritage professionals, scholars, collectors and
interested observers to submit paper and presentation proposals that
address the critical issues of the conference and which seek to explore
the relationships between the theory, practice and place of design in
society, both present and past.

Conference Stream I
'In a Class by itself': The States of Design Education

Concerned with the vital role and pedagogical challenges of design
education, this dimension of the conference requests papers that
investigate both the theories of design education - at the high school,
college and university level - and the relationships between design
education and contemporary practice. Interested as much with the
rationale, development and implementation of design education as with
the more philosophical questions of whether or not design talent can be
taught, papers are requested that address issues relating to the social,
cultural and economic implications of design education in contemporary
society.

Conference Stream II
'Selling Style': The Good Business of Design

Acknowledging that the variable of "good design" has historically proven
beneficial to investors and pleasing to consumers, this conference
stream welcomes papers and formal presentations from across design
disciplines that explore issues of the design process, production
strategies, aesthetics and popular taste, marketing practice and the
history and culture of consumption. Concerned with the relationships
between producers, clients, patrons and consumers that define capitalist
exchange, this conference stream is as much interested in discussions
about the decisions that designers and manufacturers make in order to
get a "product" to market, as with the experiences of the people who buy
and live with design in its many forms.

Conference Stream III
'Shelf Life' or from Product to Piece: The Evolving Status of the
Designed Object and the Preservation of the Built Environment

Holding that all objects and environments have a life cycle - from
inception to production, use to disuse and beyond - this third and final
section of the conference will explore the status of the historical and
contemporary "designed" object and environment in the museum, the
landscape, private collections and scholarly discourse. Interested in
the rationales, objectives and passions that govern the institutional
and private collecting of design and the ways that history, art history
and other academic disciplines have made sense of the twentieth century
phenomena of design culture, the DX seeks papers and presentations that
examine such broad, but related issues as design and collective memory,
the meanings of aesthetic elitism, class identity and connoisseurship
and collecting as social narrative.

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All proposals are due by *1 March 2005,* whether as email attachments or
as hard copy. Proposals sent electronically should be formatted as MS
Word or PDF format and should not exceed 300 words in length. The DX
encourages a variety of submissions, including academic papers, case
studies and workshops as well as alternative formats. The use of visual
material is welcomed. Individuals submitting proposals are requested to
state clearly which conference stream they believe their proposal best
fits (acknowledging the overlap of themes) and provide a brief resume,
including contact information. The conference will be structured around
concurrent, thematically specific panels of multiple presenters. The
panels will be moderated, with each presenter being allotted twenty
minutes. Discussion will follow. It is requested that a detailed pr=E9cis
of the paper or presentation, if not a completed copy, be made available
to the moderator no later than 12 September 2005. Following the
conference, it is planned that selected papers will be published.

For more information about the conference, please visit the web address
shown below.

Please send any questions and proposals to the following e-mail address.
Alternatively, please mail proposals to:

	Conference Organizers
The Design Exchange
Toronto Dominion Centre
234 Bay Street Box 18
Toronto, ON
CANADA M5K 1B2
Email: dxconference@dx.org <mailto:dxconference@dx.org>
Visit the website at http://www.dx.org/conference