“Design in Complexity”

Emerging Practices:

Design Research and Education Conference 2016

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October 13–16, 2016

Every autumn, the Tongji University College of Design and Innovation organizes a small, highly interactive conference on design research and design education titled “Emerging Practices” (EPC). Since the first EPC in 2012, this has become an annual forum for debates on such themes as new practices, values, and approaches arising in design and design education; open design; influences on developing practices; DesignX; and design activism.

The main theme of EPC this year is “Design in Complexity.” It will continue and expand the conversation initiated by the DesignX Manifesto in 2014. This conversation developed further in a two-day DesignX workshop hosted by Tongji University in 2015. The first DesignX Manifesto articulated the nature of working in and with complex sociotechnical systems, attempting to explore the framework for designers to address such issues. The follow-up DesignX workshop explored the principles of working with such systems, highlighted the importance and difficulty of implementing solutions to DesignX problems. It sparked a lively discussion that we will continue this year.

The 5th Emerging Practices Conference will be hosted by Tongji University College of Design and Innovation from October 13 to 15, 2016.

We are standing at the point where the design field attempts to enter, intervene, and hopefully improve the complex systems with which designers increasingly interact. For meaningful impact on the real world, designers must seek new knowledge and practices at the intersection of different fields. This year, we gather here to share and discuss a set of emerging cases, addressing issues arising from areas including government policy, healthcare, transportation, public space, industrial transformation, etc. Hopefullythese cases will demonstrate concrete approaches to improving complex sociotechnical systems. We look forward to using these cases as the starting point to reflect on the following key questions:

What are the difficulties and advantages of designing in, through, or for complexity? How does designing in complexity re-shape the design process? Do we have effective tools and methods to cope with complexity? Can we provide evidence to support the impact of design on complex systems?

We are honored to announce that the following distinguished guests will participate in the conference (in order of appearance):

Zhilei XU | Academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering, China

Renke HE | Dean, Professor, School of Design, Hunan University, China

Haiyan WU | Dean, Professor, School of Design, China Academy of Art, China

Ping XU | Professor, China Central Academy of Fine Arts, China

Linghao ZHANG | Dean, Professor, School of Design, Jiangnan University, China

Lixin LI | Director of the editorial office of Journal of Nanjing Arts Institute; Executive Editor of Journal of Nanjing Arts Institute—Fine Arts & Design; Professor, Najing Arts Institute, China

Yingqing XU | Professor, Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, China

Xiewei SONG | Dean, Professor, China Central Academy of Fine Arts, China

Yongqi LOU | Dean, Professor, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China

Xiaofeng FANG | Editor-in-Chief of Zhuangshi, Professor, Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, China

Jiang CHEN| Dean, Professor, School of Industrial Design, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, China

Jiajia CHEN | Head of Department of Industrial Design, Najing Arts Institute, China

Jiang XU | Vice Dean, Research Fellow, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China

Hai FANG | Dean, Professor, School of Arts & Design, Guangdong University of Technology, China

Chao ZHAO | Associate Professor, Head of Department of Industrial Design, Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University, China

Lingyun SUN | Professor, Zhejiang University, China

Xihui Sylvia LIU | Assistant Professor, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China

Jin MA | Managing Editor of She Ji: The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation; Associate Research Fellow, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China

Mingjie ZHU | PhD candidate, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University and School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China

Dongjin SONG | PhD candidate, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University

Michael Lissack|Director, Institute for the Study of Coherence and Emergence (ISCE), USA

Patrick Whitney | Professor, Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), USA

Yrjö Sotamaa | Professor Emeritus, Aalto University School of Art and Design, Finland

Michael Thomas | Anthropologist, designer, Head of HMI China, Ford, USA

Xiaofeng SONG | CEO, 021 Incubator, China

Xiaohong YIN | PhD student, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China; strategic designer

Kai HUANG | PhD, New Product Planning Manager, Medtronic, China

Yubei GONG | PhD student, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China; strategic designer; anthropologist; Innovation strategist

Richard Buchanan | Professor of Design, Management and Innovation, Weatherhead School of ManagementCase Western Reserve University, USA;Chair Professor of Design Theory, Practice, and Entrepreneurship, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China

Sooshin Choi | Provost & Vice President, Professor of Design, College for Creative Studies (CCS), USA

Tim Scanlon | Head of Global Engagement, Education Experiences, Autodesk, Inc., USA

Clare Brass | Head of SustainRCA, Director of SEED Foundation, Royal College of Art, UK 

Nan CAO | Professor, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China      

Ling FAN | Research Fellow, College of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, China; Founder and CEO, Tezign.com

Sabine Junginger | PhD, Head of Competency Center Design and Management, University of Applied Sciences Lucerne, Switzerland

Mariana Amatullo | PhD, Vice President and Co-Founder, Designmatters Department, ArtCenter College of Design, USA

DAY ONE

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October 13

“Chinese Perspectives in Design Research and Education”

Emerging Practices:

Design Research and Education Conference 2016

Language: Chinese

DAY TWO

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October 14

Workshops & Conversations

Emerging Practices:

Design Research and Education Conference 2016

 Language: Chinese+English

DAY THREE & FOUR

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October 15-16

“Design in Complexity”

Emerging Practices:

Design Research and Education Conference 2016

 Language: English

Registration Fee Standard

OCT 15th–16th

2000 rmb/person（including lunch for Oct. 15th and 16th）

For students:

50% off，120 students only（suggestion: master degree and above）

Online Registration

Please inform us of your registration by mailing to emergingpractices@tongji.edu.cn after payment of the registration fee. Make sure the bank remittance voucher is carefully kept. You will receive a confirmation message if you have successfully registered. Please indicate your name, organization, and contact information in the message and enclose the bank remittance voucher. If you need an invoice, please indicate in your mail the invoice title and content.

Please note the deadline for online registration is 8th. October 2016. To secure your place of participation, registration before 1 October 2016 is strongly recommended.

Bank Remittance Information

Beneficiary Bank: Bank of China, Shanghai Branch

23, Zhongshan Road (E.1) Shanghai, 200002, P. R. China

Swift code: BKCHCNBJ300

Beneficiary: Tongji University

Beneficiary Bank Account No.: 433859245525

Please leave the remark “For Tongji Design Week 2016” while conducting bank remittance.