The recently appointed head of research at Kolding School of Design, Poul Rind Christensen, wants to strengthen the interaction between the analytical research approach to new knowledge and the experimental exploration of the world that characterises artistic development activities. It is in the fields of tensions between these two ways of new knowledge development that we should search for the origins of key aspects of the unique character of design research, he says.

By Hans Emborg Bünemann

The artistic development activity within design and design research are based on separate forms of logic. The two forms of knowledge production are capable of contributing positively to each other if the artistic and the scientific practice are brought into closer interaction. This is one of the visions that the new head of research at the Kolding School of Design, Poul Rind Christensen, wants to bring to the ongoing development of Danish design research.

The research project Regulating Daylight in the Public Space incorporates experiments with textiles. The photo shows three backlit layers of materials intended to combine functional, sustainable and decorative aspects. Photo: Vibeke Riisberg

Development-Driven Research

He uses the term development-driven research and points out the potential synergy between the two forms of knowledge production as something that should continue to be articulated and strengthened in coming years.
"Artistic design development projects aim at creating new realities, while research is focused on analysing the facets and contexts of realities. In this sense, the tangible knowledge in the artistic work becomes a driving force for research. At the same time, research knowledge can raise the level of the artistic experiments," he says.

Textile Research Experiments

As an example, Poul Rind Christensen mentions the domain of textiles, which is one of the fields of research at Kolding School of Design:
"Artistic experiments with the impact of various textiles on the light conditions in a room provide insights into textile light reflection. The researchers analyse this knowledge systematically, compare the analytical findings with research-based knowledge about the phenomenon of light and are then able to establish a qualified point of departure for new experiments. This generates the exchange between research and practice that is unique to design research," he says.

Poul Rind Christensen considers it to be crucial for the continued development of Danish design research to maintain and expand this interaction. He notes increasing pressures to streamline design research and make it conform to the requirement of producing findings available in writing. Researchers clearly need to meet this requirement in order to earn credit and to attract funding for future research projects.

However, the new head of research at Kolding School of Design emphasises that this requirement should not be allowed to draw research away from the experimental approach to the creation of new knowledge.
"The – often uncontrolled – artistic process is capable of generating new ideas and innovative solutions and is thus a tremendous source of inspiration for researchers," he points out.

Research is focused on predicting the future, while the artistic development project seeks to create it. Mixing the two types of knowledge production makes it possible to achieve a synergy effect that benefits both endeavours, says Poul Rind Christensen. Illustration: Sofie Romme

Interdisciplinary Approaches and Trinity

To Poul Rind Christensen, it makes sense that design research is focused on proving its relevance to the business sector. For example, with its interdisciplinary approach, research contributes to the generation of new knowledge about the role of design and the design process in society today and tomorrow. He explains,
"The designer's role is changing because society is changing. For example, the virtual, digitised society that is emerging alongside the material reality needs the knowledge that we can give new designers through the research-based design education programmes in Denmark. This applies, for example, to the fields of animation, human-computer design and interaction design."

Poul Rind Christensen also points to the expanding field of user-driven design . Carrying out qualified work within this field requires profound and multi-facetted research based insight into the analysis of user behaviour, he says, and also notes the need to grasp the wide applicability of the concept:
"Here, we must draw on a wide variety of disciplines," he says. "By including, say, engineers, anthropologists and marketing people in design research, we ensure that the research is relevant to practicing designers as well as our students. In my view, the students constitute the main channel for the dissemination of the outcomes of research as well as the artistic activities. I have a vision of strengthening the established trinity of education, research and artistic development."

Poul Rind Christensen became head of research at Kolding School of Design on 1 February 2009. He holds an MSc in Economics and Business Administration from Aarhus University (1972) and a Post Graduate Research Diploma from the Institute of Social Studies, Den Haag, the Netherlands (1974). Prior to his current position, Poul Rind Christensen was a professor in the Department of Management, Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University (2005-2008). Prior to that, he was a professor in the Department of Organisation and Management, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding (1993-2005).

Cover photo: Vibeke Riisberg

Mind Design #18, 2009