Lehre

In the Winter Semester 2026/2027, the Professorship of Design Theory and Design Research offers a diverse range of disciplinary and multidisciplinary courses — ranging from foundational lectures, specific seminars and workshops, to methodology-oriented and research-based formats. The teaching program is aimed at students of all creative disciplines and stages of study — from bachelor to doctoral — and invites critical engagement with questions of design, its positions, processes, and contexts.

• Fundamentals – Introduction to the Theory and History of Design: The lecture series offers a broad overview of central paradigms in  in design – from historical approaches, political perspectives, modern functionalism, systemic design solutions, postmodern disruptions and digital transformation to sustainability. It is open to students of all disciplines and forms an important basis for a comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of design.

   

• Digital Culture in Design, Media and Architecture: This lecture series examines current digital discourses at the intersections of design, media, and architecture. It focuses on topics such as artificial intelligence, digital materiality, robotics, human-machine interaction, digital sustainability, the Internet of Things, etc. The lecture series is open to all students and fields of study with an interest in digital culture in design, media, and architecture – and beyond.

   

• Design Theories: Positionen, Politics and Perspectives: This seminar discusses key positions in design (such as Bruno Latour, Herbert A. Simon, Donna Haraway, Victor Papanek, etc.) and is intended both as an opportunity to actively engage with fundamental design theories and as an open forum to explore the intricate relationships between design and culture, design and politics, and, ultimately, design and society.  

   

• Digital Technologies in Architecture and Design: The seminar explores the theoretical and discursive foundations of digital technologies in architecture and design. It examines how digital transformation not only permeates and fundamentally reshapes the design disciplines, their processes, and practices, but also profoundly affects and transforms the world in which we live. The course provides a platform for critically engaging with the terminology, methods, and cultural perspectives of the digital. It is primarily aimed at students enrolled in the Master’s program “Digital Technologies in Architecture and Design.”

   

• Robotic Tectonics IV – Negotiating Computation, Materiality, and Structural Performance: In Robotic Tectonics IV, students explore the concepts of individual production, the design of non-standardized objects, and, ultimately, their robotic fabrication. As such, the course combines theoretical approaches, methodological perspectives, and digital practices – and is conducted as an interdisciplinary collaboration between the Faculties of Art and Design and Civil and Environmental Engineering (Chair of Complex Structures). The results will be presented as part of the Winter Exhibition 2027.

   

• Scientific Work: Research, Writing, Presentation: In this seminar, participants will – collaboratively – explore the essenatials of scientific work: ranging from the criteria of scientitfic work to research strategies and literature management to citation styles, project planning, time management, and academic writing. The seminar is offered as a Bauhaus.Module (with Dana Horch, Dr. Franziska Matthes, and Larissa Barth). 

   

• Bachelor Essentials: Theoretical Foundations for Developing the Bachelor's Thesis: The bachelor's preparation module supports product design students in the conception and development of their final thesis. It discusses essential documentary, methodological, and reflective approaches to finding (and defining) a substantialn topic, writing a coherent thesis, and positioning one's own design work in a professional and research context.

   

• Lab Talks: Graduate seminar in the Ph.D. program: The Lab Talks offer a discursive format for doctoral students in the field of design. The focus is on the presentation and discussion of ongoing research work, the exchange of ideas on methodology and theory, and joint reflection on disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary approaches in design.

Further information and dates for individual courses can be found in the course catalogue of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.