Scientific Associate and Postdoctoral Researcher
Professorship Design Theory and Design Research
D–LAB, Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 13, Room 105
99423 Weimar
e-mail michael.braun[at]uni-weimar.de
Office hours: by appointment via e-mail
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Michael Braun is a postdoctoralresearcher at the Chair of Design Theory and Design Research at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and isaffiliatedwiththe Academic Fields of Study at the Faculty of Art and Design. As a design scholar and productdesigner, he works at theintersectionofdesigntheory, design history, material culture, and digital design and fabricationtechnologies. His research and teachingfocus on digital craftsmanship and on thequestionofhow craft-basedformsofknowledge, material processesofexperience, and process-oriented design logicscanbedescribed, reflected upon, and mademethodologicallyproductiveundertheconditionsof digital design.
His workcombinesperspectivesfrom design history and design theorywith experimental, material-based, and computational design processes. His thematicfocusareasinclude digital culture, computational design, digital fabrication, creativerobotics, and process-based design methods. In thiscontext, he examineshow digital design and fabricationprocessescannotbedescribedsolely in termsofcontrol, precision, and repeatability, but also throughfeedback, deviation, material behaviour, and design decision-making. At thecentreofhisworkisthequestionofhownew design knowledgecanemergefromtheinterplaybetween digital models, technicalprocedures, and material realisation.
Since 2018, Michael Braun hasbeenactive in teaching and research at the Faculty of Art and Design at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. His teachingformatscombinetheoreticalfoundationswithapplied and experimental approaches. Theyaddresshistorical and contemporarydevelopments in design aswellasthecultural, technological, and material conditionsofdesign — ranging fromquestionsofdesignhistory and design theoryto digital culture and design methodology, aswellascomputational design, robotic design processes, and digital fabrication. A particularconcernofhisteachingistoprovidestudentsfrom different disciplineswithaccesstoreflective design practice, academicresearch, and material-experimental researchprocesses.
Michael Braun studiedProduct Design at the University of Applied Sciences Dresden and SustainableProduct Cultures at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. Hecompletedhisdoctorate at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar with a dissertation on thepotentialsof digital craftsmanship. Completed and publishedin 2025, thedissertationinvestigates, throughtheexampleofroboticporcelainextrusion, how digital design and fabricationprocessesare not determinedexclusivelybyprecision, repeatability, and control, but equallyby material feedback, deviation, and processuality. In thiscontext, he developedthemethodologicalapproachof Deviation-Driven Design, whichunderstandsdeviationsbetween digital intention and material realisation not asmereerrors, but asconstitutiveelementsofthe design process.
In additiontohisteaching and researchactivities, Michael Braun isinvolved in thedevelopmentof experimental researchinfrastructures, particularly in thefieldofrobotic and digital fabrication. Hecontributestotheconceptionofinterdisciplinaryteaching and researchformats and works on third-party fundedprojectsconcernedwith digital, robotic, and craft-relatedtransformationprocesses. His publicationsincludecontributions on design history, digital culture, material practices, and contemporary design processes.
Expertise
Design theory, design research, design history, digital craftsmanship, material culture, digital culture, design research, Research through Design, epistemicpracticesofdesigning, design methodology, process-orienteddesign, deviationas a momentofknowledgeproduction, Deviation-Driven Design, tacitknowledge, material agency, computational design, digital fabrication, creativerobotics, human–technologyrelations, experimental material practice, product design