Conference – Integrated Design Research Conference

IDR Theme 2024 -

“Design and Culture: Intersections, Inspirations, and Impact”

This year’s Integrated Design Research (IDR) Conference, themed “Design and Culture: Intersections, Inspirations, and Impact,” will explore the profound relationship between design and culture. The conference aims to delve into how cultural contexts shape design practices and how design, in turn, influences cultural evolution. By examining the intersections and inspirations that arise from this interplay, we seek to uncover the significant impact that design has on cultural landscapes and vice versa.

The conference will feature a diverse range of sub-themes to provide a comprehensive exploration of this relationship:

Society and Culture: Discussing how design reflects and influences societal norms, values, and cultural identities.
Vernacular Knowledge and Practice: Exploring traditional design practices and local knowledge systems, and their integration into contemporary design.
Economy and Industries: Examining the role of design in economic development and its impact on various industries.
Design Pedagogy and Thinking: Investigating innovative approaches to design education and the cultivation of design thinking skills.
Design Across Technologies: Analyzing the interplay between design and emerging technologies, and how they shape user experiences and interactions.
Circularity and Sustainability: Addressing sustainable design practices and the role of design in promoting circular economies and environmental stewardship.

Join us for a series of insightful discussions, innovative presentations, and collaborative sessions that highlight the synergy between design and culture. This conference will foster a deeper understanding of their interconnectedness, providing valuable insights for academics, practitioners, and students alike. Together, we will explore how design can inspire cultural change and how cultural heritage can enrich design practices, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable future.

Date and Venue

21st - 23rd, November 2024

University of Moratuwa,
Bandaranayake Mawatha, Moratuwa 10400 Sri Lanka.
www.uom.lk

Keynote Speakers

Vision Speech by

Sarita Sundar

Designer and Design Historian, India
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Sarita Sundar is a designer and design historian based in India. At Hanno, her heritage interpretation and design consultancy (www.hanno.in), she combines 35 years of working with brand design and strategy with her academic training in museum studies. Through the years, her work has looked critically at how culture engages with the visual, ranging from research into Indian vernacular typography to studies of intangible culture in performance practices.She has a particular interest in unearthing alternate views of modernity in design practices and research. Her recent publication: ‘From the Frugal to the Ornate: Stories of the Seat in India’, culturally and temporally, maps the journey of a ubiquitous and everyday object, while also challenging existing norms of design historiography. During a recent Fulbright Teaching and Research Fellowship she investigated the resistances to modernism in Indian and American design histories. She has conducted lectures at academic and cultural institutions across India and abroad.

Sarita has a Post-Graduation in Visual Communications from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (1990), and a Master of Arts in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester, UK (2016). She ran an award winning multi-disciplinary design company, Trapeze for a decade before moving her focus to a research oriented consultancy at Hanno. She received The Professor Eilean Hooper-Greenhill Academic Prize for 2016 from the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, and an Arts Research Grant from the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) to study Poothan Thira, a ritual performance from Kerala (2015-2017). Sarita continues her fascination for seats through a project that studies the Planter’s Chair in collaboration with Dr. Rachel Lee of TUV Delft.

Keynote Speech by

Prof. Dr. Petra Černe Oven

Department of Visual Communication Design, Chair of Theoretical Studies, Research Institute of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana

Coming from a small country in Central Europe with 2 million inhabitants who speak a language with around 50 dialects, she has always been eager to forge professional connections around the globe. She studied visual communication design and later ventured into theory and research, completing a PhD at the University of Reading. Her interests include the history and theory of design, typography, service design, and information design. She has worked on research and applied projects in health, mobility, education, sustainability, and cultural areas.

She has worked at the University of Reading, served as a visiting professor at the Politecnico di Milano, and published extensively in academic and professional journals. She curates exhibitions, edits books, and holds positions in professional organizations such as AtypI. Most importantly, she believes in the power of design as a catalyst for society.