FUTUREGROUND SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED

Brussels (Belgium) - Featuring an international list of speakers, 150 papers and 7 daily parallel sessions, FUTUREGROUND promises to be an exciting networking opportunity for designers and researchers.
Brussels (Belgium) - Featuring an international list of speakers, 150 papers and 7 daily parallel sessions, FUTUREGROUND promises to be an exciting networking opportunity for designers and researchers.

06.09.2004 News

Brussels (Belgium) - Featuring an international list of speakers, 150 papers and 7 daily parallel sessions, FUTUREGROUND promises to be an exciting networking opportunity for designers and researchers. The conference will cover an extensive range of topics, including human-centred design, sustainability, architecture, industrial design, engineering, philosophy, visual communication, design practice and education. With representatives from 100 universities in 32 countries, FUTUREGROUND will debate directions emerging from design research around the world.

The evolution of research in our field is at a critical point. The conceptualisation of research 'in' and 'by' design focused on design's cultural contribution as well as on its functionality, and the emergence of a studio-based 'research practice', challenges many current notions of design research. The conference will be the forum for 'The Third Degree' debate, in which the 'comfort zones' of current research will be vigorously challenged.

The keynote speakers of FUTUREGROUND are:

Prof Mark Burry
Director, Spatial Information Architecture Laboratory, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia

Professor Burry's spatial information architecture laboratory uses high level software to explore the built environment, and to synthesise new possibilities in fields as diverse as the acoustics of a city, through to enabling the completion of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia.

Much of his research is practice-based, and is of direct application in design and architecture. He has published widely on design, construction, and the use of computers in design theory and practice, and has challenged architecture through both theory and practice. He is particularly well known for his publications on the life and work of architect Antoni Gaudi.

Dr John Armstrong
Department of Philosophy, Melbourne University, Australia

The unifying theme of Dr John Armstrong's work is 'the quality of experience'. Across three books, The Secret Power of Beauty (2004), Conditions of Love (2002) and The Intimate Philosophy of Art (2000), he examines some of the deepest and most satisfying - as well as most elusive - kinds of experiences, but ones which are central to a vision of design as a cultural activity.

In his keynote speech, The Eloquence of Silent Objects - research projects for Design Philosophy, Dr Armstrong will speak on the potent but intangible concepts of function, symbol and expression as they relate to design. He will draw attention to the very different attitudes and resources people bring to their encounter with objects, and help to re-position the object as a focus of design research.

Clive Dilnot
Parsons School of Design, New York, United States

Design historian and theorist Clive Dilnot will speak on Mapping the Discipline of Design Research. Clive has taught design theory and critical studies at institutions including Harvard University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, as well as universities in Australia, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. Founder and co-editor of Design Philosophy Papers, he has published widely on topics in design history, theory, and pedagogy.

The full list of speakers is now on the conference website at www.futureground.monash.edu.au



FUTUREGROUND Conference:
17-21 November 2004
Monash University, Victoria, Australia
Conference dinner: the stunningly redesigned Mario Bellini/Metier 3 National Gallery of Victoria

Early bird registrations close 1 October 2004



For further information please contact:

Futureground Conference
C/O The Meeting Planners
91-97 Islington Street Collingwood, VIC 3066
F: + 61 3 9417 0899
E: futureground@artdes.monash.edu.au
W: www.futureground.monash.edu.au

* FUTUREGROUND is endorsed by Icograda. Icograda endorsement is a guarantee that the design event complies with approved international guidelines.
Brussels (Belgium) - Featuring an international list of speakers, 150 papers and 7 daily parallel sessions, FUTUREGROUND promises to be an exciting networking opportunity for designers and researchers.
Brussels (Belgium) - Featuring an international list of speakers, 150 papers and 7 daily parallel sessions, FUTUREGROUND promises to be an exciting networking opportunity for designers and researchers.

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