School of Art and Design, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
May-June 2011

Nordes calls for perspectives on ‘Making Design Matter’. In the 2011 Nordic Design Research Conference, you are invited to present and discuss how design matters today.

Nordes 2011 in Helsinki is the 4th in a series of biannual conferences, which has included conferences in Copenhagen in 2005, Stockholm in 2007 and Oslo in 2009. Organized by Nordes – an open network of people interested in design research in the Nordic countries – the conference is attended by about 200 people and has rapidly been established as an important venue for design research. It serves several constituencies in design, ranging from design studies, history and management to professional design and practice-based research in art, crafts and design.

Participation is also open to people from outside the Nordic countries.

Click here to read the Call for Participation!

Next year’s conference will be held in Rome, Italy. The Design Conference is a place to explore the meaning and purpose of ‘design’, as well as speaking in grounded ways about the task of design and the use of designed artifacts and processes. The conference is a cross-disciplinary forum that brings together researchers, teachers and practitioners to discuss the nature and future of design. In professional and disciplinary terms, the conference traverses a broad sweep to construct a dialogue which encompasses the perspectives and practices of: anthropology, architecture, art, artificial intelligence, business, cognitive science, communication studies, computer science, cultural studies, design studies, education, e-learning, engineering, ergonomics, fashion, graphic design, history, information systems, industrial design, industrial engineering, instructional design, interior design, interaction design, interface design, journalism, landscape architecture, law, linguistics and semiotics, management, media and entertainment, psychology, sociology, software engineering and telecommunications.

This highly inclusive format provides conference delegates with significant opportunities to connect with people from shared fields and disciplines and with those from vastly different specializations. The resulting conversations provide ample occasions for mutual learning, often weaving between the theoretical and the empirical, research and application, and market pragmatics and social idealism.

As well as an international line-up of plenary speakers, the conference will also include numerous paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by practitioners, teachers and researchers. Presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in the refereed Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal. If you are unable to attend the conference in person, virtual registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for refereeing and possible publication, as well as access to the journal.

Whether you are a virtual or in-person presenter at the Design Conference, we also encourage you to present on the conference YouTube Channel. Please select the online sessions link on the conference website for further details.

The deadline for the next round in the call for papers (a title and short abstract) is 15 April 2010. Future deadlines will be announced on the conference website after this date. Proposals are reviewed within two weeks of submission. Full details of the conference, including an online proposal submission form, may be found on the conference website at www.Design-Conference.com.

We look forward to receiving your proposal and hope you will be able to join us in Rome in February.

Following the success of last years Sustainability Now events which attracted a combined audience of 3,000 professionals, this virtual event will continue to drive the sustainability agenda with a high quality conference programme and fantastic networking opportunities. The event offers the perfect opportunity for professionals working across architecture, engineering, quantity surveying, project management and construction to discuss and collaborate on cost effective sustainability.

For more information contact:

Martin Hurn
E: martin.hurn@ubm.com
T: +44 (0)20 7560 4072
M: +44 (0)7765 221 607

Registration to attend Sustainability Now is now open

Colour and Light in Architecture
International Conference, 11-12 November 2010
University Iuav of Venice, Venice, Italy
Please visit www.iuav.it/colour&light for updated information.

Call for papers deadline: 30 April 2010
Abstracts deadline: 14 June 2010
Full papers deadline (for accepted abstracts): 1 September 2010

Colour and light in architecture is an international two-day scientific conference for those interested in the history, human effects and design of colour and light (natural and artificial) on the built environment. It approaches the themes in their broadest sense, including aesthetics, psychology, history, design, physics, sustainability, emotions, performance and communication. Colour and light in architecture is the first international conference that has a major focus on the contemporary architectural processes related to the culture, design and perception and exposure to both natural and artificial lighting.

The goal is to bring together a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary group of researchers and designers working in this domain so they can meet, share experiences, present research, and exchange ideas.

The conference themes are focused on:

• History, Culture, Aesthetics and Representation of Colour&Light
• Colour&Light Design between Theory and Praxis
• New Technologies for Colour&Light

Colour and/or light at architectural, urban and environmental scale will be examined in depth  by these topics:

1. Historical and/or Contemporary Architecture:

• Historical or Contemporary design
• Restauration, requalification, maintenance, etc…
• Simulation  and Virtualization of Architecture

2. Colour and/or Light Planning and Mapping:

• Urban and Human Environmental Palettes
• Chromatic and/or Lighting Organization in Working Places and Schools
• Signs/Signals (eg. Road signals, Work signals, etc…)

3. Chromatic and/or Lighting Information:

• Archives, Methods and Instruments for Historical and Cultural Memory
• Urban Screens, Environmental Visuals etc.
• New Tools for Information

4. Innovation for Architecture and/or the Environment:

• The actual Production and Application Techniques
• Innovative Technologies and Peak Solutions
• R&D for Sustainable Innovation of Colour&Light

The Modern Interiors Research Centre Conference
Kingston University, London — Thursday 13 and Friday 14 May 2010

This conference will consider the historical insights that ethno/auto/biographical investigations into the lives of individuals, groups and interiors can offer architectural and design historians; the methodological issues that arise from the use of ethno/auto/biographical sources to explore the history of the interior as a site in which everyday life is experienced and performed; and the ways in which contemporary architects and interior designers draw on personal and collective histories in their practice.

Online booking now open