Social
Spaces

On March 1^st the e-book Dat is design (This is design) was launched. The book is a collection of essential writings concerning design reflection. It follows the concept of the book Dat is Architectuur (This is architecture) that was published in 2001. 150 texts of the 21^st century, starting from 1850, are presented in chronological order. The texts are categorized in 15 themes, namely triviality (alledaagsheid), canon, consumption, digital, function, tool, identity, critique, art?, literature, machine, research, beauty, sign (teken) and responsibility. The MAD-faculty, and more specifically researchers from Social Spaces, developed the themes digital and research.

Dat is design is a collaboration between the design institutions of the KULeuven Association. The professional bachelor program Interior Design of the group Design & Technology (Lessius Mechelen) initiated and coordinated the development of the book. In this phase the book is only accessible for the institutions of the KULeuven Association. However, the book will be published later. Visit the website for more information (it is in Dutch however).

“When things start talking back, you’ve become part of an Internet of Things. Auto-sensoring, basic intelligence, interaction, we’re increasingly part of a world were things and living souls are equally connected. The fridge is a node just as you are.”

On July 15th, Volume #28: Internet of Things was released. Diving into new dimensions of reality, into the consequences for design and for our understanding of our own position in the world, authors such as Stephen Gage, Shintaro Miyazaki, Nina Larsen, Edwin Gardner and Marcell Mars have contributed to the book.

For € 19.50, you can order a copy here. And if you want to know more, click here or send an e-mail to Valérie Blom at pr@archis.org.

LA PUBLICITÉ DANS L’ART CONTEMPORAIN (T I) Esthétique et postmodernisme par Vangelis Athanassopoulos

A travers l’étude de l’appropriation de la publicité par l’art contemporain, cet ouvrage vise à articuler une théorie critique sur le statut de l’image après la crise de l’avant-garde et sa collusion avec la sphère des médias de masse. Ni apologie, ni condamnation inconditionnelle du postmodernisme, il s’agit d’une tentative de réfléchir avec les images plutôt que simplement sur elles, permettant de penser le rapport entre ce qu’elles disent et ce qu’elles font dans cette culture visuelle qui est la nôtre. (Coll. Ouverture Philosophique, 208 p., 21 EUR) ISBN 978-2-296-10838-7