Design research in cooperation with the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the Cluster of Excellence “Matters of Activity. Image Space Material” at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.

More than any other institution, the Bauhaus Dessau expressed a modern understanding of design that took a sceptical view of antiquated design traditions and substituted these with direct research into materials and the innovative potentials of technology and science. Since then, design has been perceived as a cooperative discipline that synthesises diverse aspects of knowledge. Since Autumn 2014 the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in cooperation with the transdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence „Matters of Activity. Image Space Material“ at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin offer a Masters Programme, which engages with the Bauhaus’s legacy in design research.

The one-year Master program COOP Design Research offers an overview of the diversity of academic scholarship in this field and contributes to strengthening a research practice by the means provided by design. The program strives to integrate design and research as a transdisciplinary field between material studies, social sciences, design anthropology, cultural studies, technology studies, architecture and design history, and theory.
Throughout the program, the students obtain the academic knowledge and intellectual competencies to critically engage with the complex challenges designers face in the 21st century. In this respect, students acquire the ability to engage in an academic discourse, to theoretically penetrate phenomena of the material environment and to articulate themselves in writing.
The students’ experiences gained in previous studies and professional practice constitute the basis for developing an approach towards a design research led by critical reflection. Comprehensive introductions to methodologies of theory reading, academic writing, field research, and analysis are provided as tools for complementing both theoretical knowledge and practical reflexivity. It is not only about what is studied, but also about how it is learned: due to its interdisciplinary and transcultural structure, the program also promotes inclusion, diversity and critical thinking.

The COOP Design Research MSc. program is conducted as a teaching cooperative by Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in cooperation with Humboldt University Berlin, with coursework taking place both at Gropius’ Bauhaus in Dessau and—to a lesser degree—at Humboldt University in Berlin. The diversity of the teaching staff with their different academic backgrounds contributes to the multi-perspectivity of the program. The courses are jointly run by professors and lecturers from the associated institutions as well as by international guest lecturers.

Drawing from different teaching methods contributed by each of the three aforementioned partner institutions, the core of the MSc. program relies on three thematic building blocks: Design as Research; Design as Education; Design as Projection.

The degree of Master of Science opens up professional perspectives in the fields of research and teaching of design, cultural studies, as well as curatorial practice. It can be conceived as either a preparatory step towards doctoral studies or as a theoretical enrichment for applied design research and practice. Moreover, the program fosters international cultural exchange, personal growth and as such paves the way for a meaningful level of social engagement.
The programme is conducted at Gropius´ Bauhaus in Dessau. Some lectures take place at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. See the video on COOP Design Research MSc. program here

The section “Design as Research” focuses on analyzing the complex processes of knowledge production of designers: Is designing a research activity, and how does a designer do research? Which kinds of knowledge does design research generate? How do shifting regimes of knowledge resonate in design discourses?
The “invention” of design at the Bauhaus as a research-based practice reveals lines of conflict that continue to inform debates concerning the definition of design as a unique mode of knowledge production until today. In contemporary discourses on “research through design”, design on the one hand is understood as a singular type of knowledge generation, namely an “implicit knowledge”, a synthetic and holistic approach; on the other hand as an analytically focused, interventionist model of generating knowledge.
Along these two research perspectives, the module discusses a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches: its structure comprises historical and theoretical reflections within different temporal layers, discussing how cultures of knowledge of design have changed. This also includes new perspectives on material culture, design ecologies, as well as voices from postcolonial contexts questioning the western dominance in the design discourse deeply rooted in a colonial past, advocating alternative narratives in design history and research.
Against this backdrop, the module introduces design-anthropological approaches on discourses renegotiating design knowledge and practice; cultures of making; and designing as a radically collaborative, situated, and participatory process, as a mode of collective practice, and the associated epistemological upheavals.

This section takes as its point of departure the historical Bauhaus as part of a broad and international school reform movement that initiated a paradigm shift in art and design education: away from learning according to conventions that primarily sought to imitate traditional formal canons of, as was common practice at art academies, and towards the development of creativity and imagination potentially attributed to everyone as an integral agenda of a democratic society. The school’s pedagogic approach, its manifestation in its artefacts and the school building as well as its institutional setting, serves as an ideal starting point reflecting the legacies of design as education.
The module comprises the study of different creative learning experiments, progressive education institutions and learning environments that are reflected in their historical contexts and theoretical framings. Thus the module is structured along methods and tools, institutions and spaces of design learning—spaces that themselves act as “third teachers” with crucial influence on what (and how) is being taught in them.
In excursions and experimental workshops students critically engage in various methods of design learning: from tactile and sensory learning, „unlearning“ to „learning by doing“, embodied knowledge, to drawing and performing, to participatory and community-based approaches and critical pedagogy experiments.

Research in design is often understood as a phase of generating knowledge for the design of possible futures. It is one of the characteristics of design practice to push form and structure in a certain direction towards anticipated outcomes. But what kinds of knowledge and epistemic practices do cultural techniques such as designing, planning and shaping have as their background?
The module deals with the theoretical and practical framework of this field of action, which is oriented towards change and transformation of a given reality. It comprises historical studies of utopian projections in architecture and design, taking into account their respective contexts. It also examines procedures, techniques, cultures and methods of projection: e.g. master plans, prototypes, models, scenarios, mood boards.
While the historical Bauhaus in the spirit of modernity still designed the future as evolutionary and directed, the relationship between projective design and research has changed radically in the 21st century. Ideas of the future have become pluralised, a linear understanding of the future has given way to the coexistence of different conceptions oscillating between technotopias and dystopias.
Drawing upon contemporary approaches in the fields of social, transition, and critical design, students will explore collaborative, multivocal and participatory practices of designing futures, reflecting on the changing understanding of the role of the designer and architect, shifting from the attitude of the master planner to an engagement in mediation, care, and stewardship.

The Bauhaus Study Rooms, a cooperation between the Academy of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation and the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, offer the opportunity to intensively engage with aspects of the respective annual theme of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation in relation to current issues and positions of design research .
The Study Rooms are conceived as an open format; they only emerge from the resources of the participants in order to strengthen the international alumni network. The Study Rooms thus consciously focus on polyphony, transdisciplinarity and multi-perspectivity; the respective annual themes thus constitute something like “vessels” which are made up of a series of different learning situations. Research results from the master theses of the Coop alumni and also the Bauhaus Lab are discussed in round tables; performative exercises, tours and experimental workshops form the building blocks of the program.

Introductory phase / Preliminary laboratory

3 Weeks [ECTS Part of 02 Labratory] The preliminary laboratory (3 weeks) provides access to the program. This involves a general introduction to the various positions in design research and the working practices and methods of scientific work. Selected examples of design research will be analysed and reflected on in seminars.

Design Research Laboratory

12 weeks [10 ECTS] The laboratory is made up of three thematic building blocks: design as research, design as education and design as projection. In lectures, seminars and exercises these diverse modes of design knowledge production will be systematically analysed both historically and theoretically and argued in presentations based on selected examples.

Proposal

6 weeks [5 ECTS] Following up 02 Laboratory, the insights, methods and skills acquired in the first term will be applied in a self-chosen thematic project. The proposal serves as a test phase for an independent, original design research argumentation.

Theory and Methods

weekly [5 ECTS] The lecture series offers an overview of the history of modern design research and presents discourses, projects and concepts in the field. The seminar will reflect on different approaches to the development of theories in, e.g., the natural sciences, the humanities and design. The seminar also includes an introduction to the varied methods of scientific work, e.g., literature research, archive study techniques, data analysis, interview techniques, qualitative methods, e.g. participatory observation or material studies, and aims to enable students to take a reflexive approach to these methods.

COOP Module

[5 ECTS] The COOP module comprises intensive sessions in which partner universities present their research areas and introduce participants to the issues arising from these contexts. The COOP module broadens the thematic spectrum and enlarges the teaching content of the lectures and modules.

Master Talk / Research Colloquium

[5+5 ECTS] The Master Talks offer a platform for international exchange on approaches to design research. Guest scientists and designers present their research approaches and hypotheses for discussion. In accompanying or separately organised research colloquia, the program’s participants, in association with the guests, can deepen their understanding of issues arising from the contexts of the respective themes.

Master Thesis and Colloquium

[20+5 ECTS] The Master Thesis follows up the exposé. Students develop and elaborate their research argumentation to a full thesis under the supervision of their mentors within 20 weeks. Master Thesis will finally be presented in a public colloquium.

Coop Design Research MSC Program

See the full Program.

Selection of successfully completed Master´s Theses

Here you will find abstracts of successfully completed Master´s Theses as pdf for download.

Students working together in their study room

The program is set out along transdisciplinary lines and draws on the following disciplines: Architecture, design, cultural studies, visual studies, materials science and the history and theory of design and architecture. The new Masters Program unites the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation with its historic collection and its education and communication formats with the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the combined outstanding academic expertise of Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, especially of the Cluster of Excellence „Matters of Activity. Image Space Material“. Moreover, engaging with the historic artefacts, materials and buildings found in the Bauhaus City Dessau means that contemporary issues in design may be explored through materials-based research and their currency tested in exhibition and communication formats.

Lecturers: Regina Bittner, Mary Copple, Sabine Hansmann, Michael Hohl, Richard Koeck, Joachim Krausse, Rebekka Ladewig, Zainab Marvi, Louise Mazet, Nicole Opel, Stephan Pinkau, Dieter Raffler, Friederike Schäfer, Wolfgang Schäffner, Angelika Seppi, Christian Stein, Niloufar Tajeri, Gernot Weckherlin, et al.

This MSc. Program requires a successful completion of a Diploma or a Bachelor / Master degree in the field of Architecture or Design, Cultural Sciences or similar of at least 240 ECTS (four years) and an application via UNI-assyst, including

a portfolio of 10 -12 pages including CV, copies of diploma certificates and own work
a letter of intent focusing on the COOP Design Research MSc Program consisting of two parts (300 words each): an articulation of your interest and a description of the personal background (see form “Letter of Intent” below).

Applicants with a Bachelor degree have to proof one year of practical experience in their field of studies. Next application period: December 16^th, 2023 – May 15^th, 2024 (try to submit as early as possible). The course is held in English, the Master thesis may be optionally written and submitted in German or English. Applicants who have not completed their school education up to university maturity or their university study at a German-speaking institution or at an English-speaking institution shall present evidence that their proficiency in the English language according to TOEFL or a comparable test corresponds to level C1 of the Common European Reference Framework of Reference (CERF).
Fees: 1.250 EUR / Semester, which we will refund 100% in case you will not be able to join. For further questions, please contact info(at)coopdesignresearch.de

Thank you for your interest in applying to the COOP DESIGN RESEARCH MSc program. Your application is the window through which we see your accomplishments, hear your ideas, and evaluate your potential. Applicants are admitted for Fall term only; there is no mid-year admission.

Please start your application here. Please use the provided form for your Letter of Intent and contact us for guiding you through the application process!

At UNI-assyst,
1. Please enter course name “Design Reseach” top left of the page.
2. Please follow this step-by-step description.

Application period for fall 2024 starts Dec. 16th!

Letter of Intent [Form]

Project Team

Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Stephan Pinkau
Prof. Dr. Regina Bittner

COOP Design Research MSc Program

Bauhaus Dessau
Gropiusallee 38
06846 Dessau, Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 340 5197 1554
Fax: +49 (0) 340 5197 1599

Email: info(at)coopdesignresearch.de

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Bauhaus Legacies

Taking inspirations from the historical Bauhaus, the idea of COOP Design Research reassesses the avant-garde school’s central understanding of design as researching practice and links studies in design history to perspectives on current topics of architecture and design research. Selected objects, architectures, exhibitions, texts, and case studies from design and architecture history and anthropology are the starting points of the discussion-based teachings, supplemented by archival and museum visits, learning experiments and excursions. This also includes the reflection of radical epistemological shifts in the self-conception and the practices of designers and architects; the critique, distancing and revision of hegemonic design ideologies established in the global north, their problematic entanglements with resource exploitation and environmental destruction and the attempt to place them in the context of contemporary ecological and decolonial discourses and practices.

In the scope of the multi-tier seminar (preliminary lab as an introduction, followed by a lab with three parts), students will gain greater knowledge of scientific work at the interface between design processes and their analytical evaluation, as well as methods of communicating the obtained findings.

In this module the students systematically analyse knowledge production in design and develop appropriate formats to communicate the findings of their research. In the process, various scientific research methods and alternative concepts for illustration and visualisation will be developed, put to the test in laboratory conditions and presented.
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The Preliminary Laboratory (3 weeks) provides access to the program. This involves a general introduction to the various positions in design research and the working practices and methods of scientific work. Selected examples of design research will be analysed and reflected on in seminars.
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The Laboratory (12 weeks) is made up of three thematic building blocks of similar size, and a continuous seminary „Theoretical Framework“:
1.: Design as Research
2.: Design as Education
3.: Design as Projection
TF.: Theoretical Framework
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About 1.: Design as Research
This building block is dedicated to the analysis of design as a process of synthesising practices.
To this end, fundamental types of knowledge (cybernetics, ethnography, sociology, empiricism, etc.) will be introduced and their connections with selected design projects subsequently analysed.
Following an introduction to the historical, theoretical and methodical foundations, the seminar will focus on the investigation of sites of knowledge production in design, based on historical and contemporary examples.
Ultimately, the focus is on processes of knowledge production in design: experimentation, historicisation, field study, the integration of design in production, etc.
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About 2.: Design as Education
This building block focuses on analyses of the importance of design in education and knowledge architecture/information design.
One of the core themes is the study of collective institutions that were able to channel the avant-garde tendencies in design education and methodology of their time institutionally into the realisation of concrete concepts, and thereby facilitated their breakthrough.
The meaning of space as a “third pedagogue” presents a further subject for analysis. Based on innovative historical approaches in the region (H.A. Francke, F.W. v. Erdmannsdorff, J.H. Basedow), the focus is on the study of modern pedagogical spatial concepts.
In addition, tools of education, communication and representation will be investigated, as will the status of the user between production, use and design. The relocation of education and design from the analogue to the digital world establishes the code as standard. Digital technologies are evolving as tools for universal structuring and as a result, traditional processes in education must be re-formatted.
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About 3.: Design as Projection
In this building block, the projective properties of design will be examined as well as their strategies of anticipation and materialisation in order to change society.
The goal is to gain a greater understanding of the idiosyncrasies of development and design, also and especially in contrast to the scientific approach. To that end, the initial focus is on clarifying the relationship between the design disciplines and the sciences and the way in which architecture and design participate in knowledge production.
Furthermore, the question of how genuine design knowledge in the design disciplines is articulated and manifested out of elaborate forms of non-knowledge will be investigated.
Based on these contexts of origin, the focus is on the epistemological meaning of design knowledge for the sciences.
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About TF.: Theoretical Framework
As a regular and cross-lab/module seminar format, the “Theoretical Framework” offers a forum for the analysis and discussion of epistemological concepts and practical knowledge. As a theory-centred seminar, it comprises a conceptually orientated syllabus and establishes a continuous reading and discussion practice in the lab. In the transition to projective work and for the Master’s thesis, workshops will be held as required.

The participants apply the knowledge gained in the preceding 15 term weeks and the acquired methods and skills in the framework of an instructed, six-week fact-finding phase on a self-chosen subject.
They develop an exposé to test its viability and present this for debate in the framework of a final presentation. They acquire further experience in the application of scientific working methods for the subsequent development of their Master’s thesis.

The Projective Work (6 weeks) follows on from the first semester’s 15-week period of lectures and seminars. In this module, forms of projective work will be developed based on a self-chosen subject. In the process, the participants are called upon to draw up a reflexive protocol that captures and argues the process of projection. The projective work takes place in a range of formats, scenarios, buildings, performances, designs, installations or temporary actions. The exposition lies between the first and second semester and serves as preparation for the Master’s thesis/exposé.

The participants acquire an overview and foundational and broader knowledge of design research, knowledge types and the methods of various scientific disciplines. In addition, the participants should be able to confidently apply the techniques and rules of scientific work and to subsequently deploy these in the framework of their Master’s thesis.

The module of Theory und Methods (15 Weeks) consists of a lecture series and accompanying seminaries. It offers an overview of the history of modern design research in the 20th century; here, discourses, projects and concepts of research through design will be introduced and explored in depth in seminars and reading assignments.

Further, it deals with the practical approach to preparing a research project with the necessary tools, techniques, software applications and work procedures.

In a final examination the participants are then required to demonstrate argumentatively one of the approaches put forward in the context of the scientific discourse on research through design.

In the COOP Module the participants identify the contemporary research priority of the respective research groups and understand approaches for their own further work.
In particular, in the seminar sessions they select such approaches to the presented field of research that directly appeal to their own interests.
In practical terms, students and lecturers develop personal contacts with the universities, which establish a discourse that extends beyond the given framework.

The elective course of study consists of block sessions, in the scope of which partner universities present their research fields and introduce contemporary issues from each respective context to the participating students.
The students attend 4 of the 6 workshops offered (50 % of the module grade).
Of these, they choose one workshop to study in greater depth and prepare a detailed study of one thematic aspect in ca. 3,000 words (50 % of the module grade).
The block sessions allow the guests to interest the students in their research fields and also to highlight appropriate approaches for their ‘Proposal’ module.
The elective course of study broadens the thematic spectrum and actively integrates the partner universities in teaching in the appropriate format of a block session.

Examples of workshops:

Workshop Mobile Structures – Give Me a Gun and I Will Make all Buildings Move. Sabine Hansmann, Fabian Scholz, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Workshop Health and Design – The Hospital Bed. Maria Keil, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Workshop Architectures of Knowledge – Experiments with Space. Christian Stein, Henrike Rabe, Friedrich Schmidgall, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Workshop The City and the Moving Image. Richard Koeck, Univerity of Liverpool

Workshop Attention and Form – The Fly. Carola Becker, Franziska Kunze, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

The students acquire knowledge about the range of scientific subjects, knowledge types and methods of analysis from the spectrum of the course of study. In the discursive character of the colloquium, the participants learn the techniques and skills of scientific discourse and gain practice in the representation and defence of the findings of their own research.

In the lecture series, guest researchers present their research approaches and theories. In subsequent or specially arranged research colloquiums, the discussion will focus on the scientific questions of invited guests and the interim findings of student projects from the modules ‘Preliminary Lab’/’Design Research Lab’ or ‘Projective Work’.

The goal of the Master’s thesis is to successfully acquire the ability to independently develop a scientific question within a given time frame, apply scientific knowledge, gain an overview of technically complex coherencies, establish application and research references and practice methodological critique. This also includes proficiency in interdisciplinary work and essential social competencies.

The students choose the topics of the Master’s thesis freely from the spectrum of Preliminary Lab/Lab, elective courses and Projective Work.

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Master of Science Program

Design research in cooperation with the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the Cluster of Excellence “Matters of Activity. Image Space Material” at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.

Master of Science Program

Design research in cooperation with the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, the Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the Cluster of Excellence “Matters of Activity. Image Space Material” at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.

The Program

Design as Research

Design as Education

Design as Projection

Bauhaus Study Rooms

Curriculum of one Year

Introductory phase / Preliminary laboratory

Design Research Laboratory

Proposal

Theory and Methods

COOP Module

Master Talk / Research Colloquium

Master Thesis and Colloquium

Coop Design Research MSC Program

Selection of successfully completed Master´s Theses

About us: Cooperative teaching

Requirements, Fees

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Project Team

COOP Design Research MSc Program

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