New @ TUM: Media dissertation, symposium “Design-Related Research”

On November 10 and 11, the symposium ‘Design-Related Research’ took place at the Technical University of Munich. The focus: the new media dissertation.

A doctorate usually involves writing up the research question. The results are documented in the dissertation – in written form. A circumstance that Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Ludwig from the Chair of Green Technologies in Landscape Architecture at the Technical University of Munich criticizes: “The dominance of primarily scientific and engineering ways of thinking has not necessarily made this world a better place.” Especially in design, art and design-based fields of research, for example, written discussion is not always the obvious means of expression. These professions generate knowledge and insights primarily through other media. And according to Ferdinand Ludwig, this diversity needs to be better integrated into the established knowledge landscape: “We need a plurality of knowledge formats – and the “designerly way of knowing” can make a decisive contribution to the burning questions of our time.”

This is why the Technical University of Munich has been using a new form of dissertation since March of this year. The so-called media dissertation consists of a doctoral thesis in combination with another medium. This new approach will have to prove itself in future dissertation results. There are still no standardized methods for media-based doctoral studies. In order to present this new form of doctorate to a broad audience for the first time, the symposium ‘Design-Related Research’ took place on November 10 and 11 of this year at the Department of Architecture at the Technical University of Munich. It helped the participants to sharpen their methodological approach and to network with each other. The event was organized and curated by Prof. Uta Graff, Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Ludwig, Katharina Voigt and Julian Schäfer and represents only the first of further events in the future.

The program of the two-day symposium was aimed at all universities who are already working on a media-based doctorate or intend to do so. This time, doctoral students in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design were primarily represented. However, the organizers also want to reach other interested parties from the fields of engineering and design who want to use the methods of the core design courses in the future. This time, 60 participants attended the introductory event. They benefited from a varied program.

On the one hand, five doctoral projects were presented in detail in the colloquium and discussed in subsequent feedback sessions. Furthermore, an exhibition as a public ‘forum’ with 12 ongoing or planned doctoral projects accompanied the event. In addition, the two guest critics Dr. Eva Sommeregger from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and Dr. Matthias Ballestrem from Bauhaus Erde presented their current research projects, thus concluding the first day. On the second day, there was a joint reflection on the previous day in the ‘Atelier’. Finally, two workshops on ‘Methods and Design’ and the formulation of the research question offered participants the opportunity to actively work on ideas for their doctoral projects.

The intensive symposium ends with positive feedback. The exchange is irreplaceable for the doctoral students. “In the absence of good role models, there is a need to enter into an in-depth specialist discourse and explore the possibilities and limitations,” explains co-organizer Julian Schäfer. In the entire German-speaking world, there is only one comparable program besides the media dissertation at the TU Munich at the TU Berlin. Schäfer also emphasizes that at the heart of media-based research must always be a methodically sound examination of the design. The “freer working forms of design” must be systematically considered and evaluated. Only through reflection that follows clear scientific rules can new – and reliable – knowledge be generated in the end.

Ferdinand Ludwig also makes it clear that the media dissertation does not claim to reclassify design as a science. However, according to the organizers, it should offer the opportunity to promote research through landscape architecture and architecture and the design working methods that already exist in the disciplines themselves. In the end, added value can be generated from the classic doctoral methods and the artistic approach. And thus, at best, “make a decisive contribution to the burning questions of our time” in the future.

There are still a few academic steps to go before the dissertation. You can read more about studying landscape architecture here, for example.