Workshops

by dr Kristof Vaes, Wim Maes, Nele Simons and Sven Verheyen
room A1.02

How do we communicate about displacement and how do we displace communication?

This workshop will be in charge of the communication about displacement during the International Design Workshop week ‘Re-ACT by Design’. We will cover the whole event using various online communication tools, such as a website and social media. The communication will be ‘instant publishing’, which means that we will strive for dynamic real-time media coverage of the ongoing events in the different workshops. Therefore, the communication team will be in close contact with a communication responsible in each workshop. We will reflect on how we can cover the essence of the workshop processes and how we can strategically tell the story of the common theme ‘displacement’.

At the same time, we will also explore how we can displace our communication about the event: how can we make the International Design Workshop week ‘Re-ACT by Design’ visible for others outside of the campus? We will explore different offline communication tools (e.g. window painting, guerrilla marketing, ‘babbelbox’, etc.) to go into the city and ‘pop up’ with visualisations and installations that represent (parts of) the various workshops in order to attract the attention of the public and the press.

The aim of the workshop is to create visibility and to inform not only the participating students of the workshop week, other students and staff of the Faculty of Design Sciences, but also external stakeholders and the wider public.

This workshop is looking specifically for

• students with knowledge of and skills in website building, video making/editing, photography, drawing;
• intensive social media users;
• students who like to challenge communication in words and visuals.

by Lore Veelaert and Nico Kimpe
room A2.17 B

This workshop is all about recycled materials and how we as product developers can « Design From Recycling ». Currently, material engineers have managed to recycle mixed post-consumer plastic waste and to industrially process it (f.e. injection moulding, extrusion). But now the challenge lies in applying them in new and high quality products. Therefore, we want to focus on the uniqueness of the recycled materials in terms of sensorial and experiential characteristics. To address their user-centred identity, consumers need to be involved as well. How do people perceive and sense these materials? What do they make people feel?  Can a material (pretend to) be sexy, cosy, strange, durable, honest etc.? How can we as designers influence this? And what about the value of imperfections in such recycled materials?

After an introduction by Vanheede to two recycled materials, we will use the tools of the rMDD roadmap to get to know and to characterise their material samples on a sensorial, experiential and technical level, to explore the material’s identity and to brainstorm towards opportunities. These findings and the I2M tool will guide the idea generation, quick designs and idea selection. During a design boost session by Pilipili, the best product ideas will be further developed and visualised in posters, mood boards, prototypes etc. that express the unique character of the material!

by Stefan Vandervelden
room A1.17 B

Food is closely related to any form of human displacement, whether it is travelling, nomadic life, migration or fleeing. 

Food can be problematic:

• shortage of food causes conflicts and makes people move or flee
  https://www.refugeesinternational.org/blog/2016/3/7/foodsecurity
• Food security can be a big concern during the displacement and during the stay in camps.
  http://www.unhcr.org/nutrition-and-food-security.html

Food can also unite people:

• Eating/sharing food has a strong social function. Offering a meal is a strong expression of hospitality, it breaks the ice and stimulates rapprochement (think of social kitchens, public barbecues,…)
• Food and culinary habits are often very closely related to culture and are a strong daily link to people’s culture and origin.

The objective of the workshop is to dig into an aspect of the subject and design a concept, an object or a space which either solves a problem (e.g. shelter) or expresses a social statement (e.g. lonely planet for refugees, work of Banksy). So the result of the creative process can be quite divers.

The week will start with some inspirational talks to get you going.

During the week it will be possible to get in contact with refugees, former refugees, or people working for aid organisations.

by Frederik Vanden Borre
room A1.11

As of June 2008, China relocated 1.24 million residents as 13 cities, 140 towns and 1350 villages either flooded or were partially flooded by the reservoir due to the creation of the Three Gorges Dam. Relocation was completed in 2008. Some 2007 reports claimed that Chongqing Municipality will encourage an additional four million people to move away from the dam to the main urban area of Chongqing by 2020.

Relocating a large quantity of people in a short time span is challenging, definitely when we’re talking about 1.24 million residents who’s houses suddenly disappear. How can we move people from a small town to an unprepared city? With growing megacities rising around the world, we evermore need to reflect on how we live in these large areas. What makes us feel comfortable and connected when we’re getting around in this magnificent man made surrounding? We’ll be exploring new types of transportation for these rapidly developing urban areas without infrastructure.

by Stina Vanhoof and Craig Soenen
room A2.17 A

Project: 'Slimme subsidies'

The Flemish government recognises the system of finding and applying for grants is very complex for most citizens. They would like the improve the experience, so that it does not cause that much frustrations as it does nowadays.

But want to citizens really need? Is it the lack of information that needs to be designed in a better way or the complicated application systems or something totally different? Before we start designing we need to discover through design research what it is we will design. We will take you through the process of gathering customer insights and translating that to better experiences through design workshops.

by Hilde Van Dyck
room A1.17 A

HOW to stay Playful in the condition of temporary or permanent displacement?

"Play is an indicator of psychological and physical well-being.
It is usually the first activity to disappear if an individual is stressed, anxious, hungry or ill."
Held & Spinka, 2011

In this workshop week we will use the techniques of design thinking, user-centered design and other creativity techniques to solve a challenge that you choose for yourself, related to the theme above.
The more specific your target audience, the better the insights will be, which results in a more innovative idea.

Achievements by the end of the week

• Work with a specific target audience
• Gather insights around target group
• How to diverge and converge in one week with creativity techniques
• Prototype & test (minimum once)
• Evaluate myself and others
• Choose something you like leads to successful results

let’s go for more #Playfulness

by Kris Vancoppenolle
room A1.11

The focus of the workshop will be all about sketching cars. We will learn about proportions, surfacing and volumes and the way we can visualize them with a sketch. Sketching methods can range from pencil on paper till full-on Photoshop renderings.

During the workshop we will also try to think about mobility in the future. What will our transport look like in the nearby and faraway future? Will cars still exist like we know them today or will they become pure leisure objects? What will urban mobility look like? How will our cities adapt to future mobility? Will mobility become part of our architecture?  The technical possibilities for change were never as big as they are today and they are only increasing. For this we will try to think as open minded as possible.  In the end the challenge will be to visualize your concepts with your newly learned sketching skills and we will present our work like it is done in a professional studio.

by Sebastian Lenders, Marnik Heijligen and Quinten Vermincksel
room A1.07

gap (n.)

    early 14c., "an opening in a wall or hedge; a break, a breach," mid-13c. in place names, from Old Norse gap "chasm, empty space," related to gapa "to gape, open the mouth wide," common Proto-Germanic (cognates: Middle Dutch, Dutch gapen, German gaffen "to gape, stare," Swedish gapa, Danish gabe), from PIE *ghai- "to yawn, gape" (see yawn (v.)). From late 14c. as "a break or opening between mountains;" broader sense "unfilled space or interval, any hiatus or interruption" is from c. 1600. In U.S., common in place names in reference to a deep break or pass in a long mountain chain (especially one that water flows through), a feature in the middle Appalachians.

To enter,
To divide,
To provide,
To expose,

We will manipulate the existing [spatial] conditions through a hands-on approach for both temporary use and as a means for reflecting upon bigger societal issues involving displacement.