Course detail

Contemporary Theory of Design

FaVU-STDESAcad. year: 2025/2026

The content of the course is a survey of current ways in which we can understand the concept of design. These form the basis for contemporary forms of design practice. The course will reflect on the following overarching concepts, from the perspectives of different disciplines: human-centered design, strategic design, medium design, speculative design, design for social innovation, transitional design and system-oriented design. An overview and reflection on current trends in Western (Euro-American) design will be expanded to introduce what, in a non-Western context, could be identified with the design process. 

 

 

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

2

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

doc. MgA. Mikuláš Macháček

Department

Department of Design (KDE)

Entry knowledge

An interest in contemporary design practice. 

 

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

The following conditions are set for the award of the examination: 

  • active participation in the class (max. 2 absences).  

  • position paper (5 NS) - reflection on own practice in the context of the topics covered in the course 

 


Classes are held in the classrooms of the KTDU FaVU BUT in the hours specified in the schedule. Attendance is mandatory (2 unexcused absences allowed). Higher number of absences can be compensated by submitting an alternative assignment after agreement with the lecturers. 

 

 

Aims

The aim of the course is to introduce, largely Western, ways of understanding the concept of design and the discipline of designing from the second half of the 20th century to the present. Students should recognize that understandings of the concept of design have been and continue to be influenced by perspectives from a variety of disciplines - new media studies, philosophy of technology, economics, and the social sciences. Knowledge from the course should help students reflect on their own practice in the context of contemporary discourses. 

 


The student have an overview of the ways in which the concept of design is understood in contemporary, predominantly Western, discourse. 

The student is able to take its own stance on current ways of understanding the concept of design, and is able to reflect on these in the context of its own practice. 

 

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Anthony Dunne - Fiona Raby, Speculative Everything, Cambridge 2013. (EN)
Donald Norman, Design pro Každý den, Praha 2010. (CS)
Tony Fry, Design as Politics, London 2011. (EN)

Recommended reading

Anne Marie Willis, Transition Design: The Need to Refuse Discipline and Transcend Instrumentalism, Design Philosophy Papers, 2015, vol. 13, č. 1. (EN)
Arturo Escobar, Designs for the Pluriverses, Durham 2018. (EN)
Benjamin H. Bratton, The Stack: On Software and Sovereignity, Cambridge 2016. (EN)
Bruno Latour, Down to Earth. Politics in the New Climatic Regime, Cambridge 2018. (EN)
Dan Hill, Dark Matter and Trojan Horses. A Strategic Design Vocabulary, Moscow 2012. (EN)
Ezio Manzini, Design, when everybody designs, Cambridge 2015. (EN)
Jane Bennett, Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things, Durham 2008. (EN)
John Thackara, How to Thrive in the Next Economy. Designing Tomorrow's World Today, London 2015. (EN)
Kat Holmes, Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design, Cambridge 2018. (EN)
Keller Easterling, Extrastatecraft. The Power of Infrastructure Space, New York 2016. (EN)
Keller Easterling, Medium Design, Moscow 2017. (EN)
Manuel Arias–Maldonado, Rethinking the Environment for the Anthropocene: Political Theory and Socionatural Relations in the New Geological Epoch, London 2019. (EN)
Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, New York 2014. (EN)
Stuart Walker - Jacques Giard (eds.), Handbook of Design for Sustainability, London 2013. (EN)
Tony Fry, Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice, Oxford 2008. (EN)
Wendy Gunn - Ton Otto - Rachel Charlotte Smith (eds.), Design Anthropology: Theory and Practice, London 2013. (EN)

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme DES_B Bachelor's 3 year of study, summer semester, compulsory
    3 year of study, summer semester, compulsory
    3 year of study, summer semester, compulsory
    3 year of study, summer semester, compulsory
  • Programme VUM_B Bachelor's 3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective
    3 year of study, summer semester, elective
    4 year of study, summer semester, elective

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

13 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Mgr. et MgA. Kristína Jamrichová, Ph.D.

Syllabus

1. The construction of the concept of design in the second half of the 20th century. Design as a process leading to change. 2. Between the feasible and the acceptable, between technology and humans. Design as a 3rd culture. 3. Anyone can be a designer. Design thinking and its diffusion in organizations. 4. From commission for the individual creator to empathy for the user experience. Reflection on the Human Centered Design (HCD) approach. 5. The designer as interpreter. Design as a tool for advocacy and persuasion. 6. When data is not enough. Strategic Design. 7. Sneaky designers and architects. Keller Easterling's concept of medium design. 8. Preferred futures and useless products. Speculative design. 9. Design principles for social innovation. Design for public administration and for organizations whose primary goal is not to generate profit. 10. Design and the complex problems of today. The concept of "wicked problems". 11. Transitive design. Sustainability in design discourse versus adaptation to changing environmental conditions. 12. Designing interventions into the system. System-oriented design and Donella Meadows' concept of "leverage points". 13. Design forms that stand outside the Western world. The coexistence of individual approaches in the multiplicity of the global whole.

Seminar

13 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. MgA. Mikuláš Macháček