![[Image: Design Research Institute]](/database/images/display/sb4a70d20e023ff.jpg)
PROFILE: DESIGN RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Professor Maxine Naylor
Director, Design Research Institute
Faculty of Arts and Architecture, University of Brighton
Design research in the twenty-first century has been a fundamental aspect of national and international design agendas, whether in terms of the flurry of activity evident in the early 2000s, including the establishment of the Korean and Hong Kong Design Centres in 2001, the Indian government's endorsement of the country's National Design Policy in 2007 or the publication of a proposed United States National Design Policy in 2009.
In terms of the wider higher education research agenda there have also been a number of key national design research initiatives, as in the case of the University of Industrial Arts Helsinki (UIAH) contribution to the shaping of national design research policy exemplified by its role in the policy paper Design 2005! (2000). The design research landscape in the higher education sector in the UK is rather different for a number of reasons, although its national significance has been underlined in the recent national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008, http://submissions.rae.ac.uk/results) in which 70 universities and free-standing specialist institutions submitted their research achievements and ongoing strategies in art and design over a six-year period for peer review.
65 per cent of the University of Brighton's research in art and design was classified as either 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent', confirming Brighton and its Faculty of Arts and Architecture amongst the leading research centres in the UK for art and design, with Research Fortnight ranking the submission second nationally in terms of the volume and quality of research. (For a full picture of Brighton's ongoing research across design, the visual and performing arts and the humanities see http://designresearch.brighton.ac.uk).
As an intrinsic aspect of its strategy, the Faculty of Arts & Architecture has also sought to promote and influence the significance of design and design research through the establishment of its Design Research Institute (DRI) in 2007. Under the leadership of Professor Maxine Naylor the DRI is committed to the integration of creativity, innovation, knowledge exchange and research. It is also concerned with design as a process of cultural and social interpretation, which frames and addresses issues that confront and challenge communities and society.
Important too is the DRI's endorsement of the faculty's firm commitment to trans-disciplinary research that cuts across the university's five faculties, with researchers also making significant contributions to social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing. The wider context in which such research is situated may be seen in Transforming Research, the University of Brighton's award-winning publication located at www.brighton.ac.uk/research
The DRI represents design scholarship and research, concerned with inter alia, Visual Communication, Design Practices, Materiality, Sustainability and Design History. Such research shapes and enhances knowledge and understanding in design and related disciplinary areas. Visual Communication explores questions addressing the interrelationships between drawing, perception, representation and forms of mechanical production, as well as writings on design practice and comparative studies of hand-made and digital communication. Materiality explores questions concerning material narratives that examine the social dynamics of contemporary domestic architecture and everyday, commonplace objects and the value, patina and inherent longevity of materials, whilst Sustainability explores issues of systems, technologies, waste management, environmental performance of buildings, urban investigations, sustainable consumption and pro-environmental behaviour.
Many DRI researchers and associates play key roles nationally and internationally through participation in, and leadership of, national and international research councils and peer review bodies, professional design organisations and societies, journal editorial boards, design juries, higher education policy-forming committees as well as archives and museums. DRI participants have also presented numerous keynote addresses at influential conferences around the world.
Leading Professors engaged in design research at Brighton include Professor George Hardie, an influential member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and RDI (Royal Designer for Industry), alongside Visiting Professors and Research Fellows such as the distinguished British graphic designer and art director Ken Garland and American author and researcher Professor Victor Margolin.
Research activity is also underpinned through the building of close links with institutions such as the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art, as well as relationships with many universities in North and South America, Europe and Eastern Asia. Collaborations with the Victoria & Albert Museum's Research Department have generated a number of influential texts and exhibitions including Brand New (2000-2001), Cold War Modern: Design 1945-1970 (2008 – 2009) and Postmodernism - Victoria and Albert Museum, for 2011-2012. Jane Pavitt, the University's Principal Research Fellow at the V&A since 1997, curated all three exhibitions. Further partnerships have also been established with the Edward Johnston Foundation and others, alongside the forging of new opportunities with a variety of professional organisations such as the Chartered Society of Designers.
The DRI benefits from its position within a strong research infrastructure which embraces the university's internationally renowned Design Archives (which, amongst its sixteen collections, houses the archives of Icograda, ICSID, Design Council UK and FHK Henrion), Screen Archive South East, the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design (CETLD) and the Art, Design & Media Subject Centre: Higher Education Academy (ADM:HEA), and the Faculty of Arts and Architecture's Centre for Research and Development. Significant also is the university's well-located gallery and theatre for mounting major exhibitions, performances, seminars and large-scale conferences. All are situated within the main faculty building, itself located in Brighton's cultural quarter, close to the city's Museum and Art Gallery, award winning Library and Royal Pavilion and within walking distance of the railway station with links to London (50 minutes) and London Gatwick Airport (30 minutes).
To find out more about the Design Research Institute, visit: http://artsresearch.brighton.ac.uk/research/centre/dri
For more information, please contact:
University of Brighton
Faculty of Arts and Architecture
Grand Parade
Brighton
BN2 0JY United Kingdom
T: +44 1273 643728
F: +44 1273 643128
W: www.brighton.ac.uk/arts
Director, Design Research Institute
Faculty of Arts and Architecture, University of Brighton
Design research in the twenty-first century has been a fundamental aspect of national and international design agendas, whether in terms of the flurry of activity evident in the early 2000s, including the establishment of the Korean and Hong Kong Design Centres in 2001, the Indian government's endorsement of the country's National Design Policy in 2007 or the publication of a proposed United States National Design Policy in 2009.
In terms of the wider higher education research agenda there have also been a number of key national design research initiatives, as in the case of the University of Industrial Arts Helsinki (UIAH) contribution to the shaping of national design research policy exemplified by its role in the policy paper Design 2005! (2000). The design research landscape in the higher education sector in the UK is rather different for a number of reasons, although its national significance has been underlined in the recent national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008, http://submissions.rae.ac.uk/results) in which 70 universities and free-standing specialist institutions submitted their research achievements and ongoing strategies in art and design over a six-year period for peer review.
65 per cent of the University of Brighton's research in art and design was classified as either 'world leading' or 'internationally excellent', confirming Brighton and its Faculty of Arts and Architecture amongst the leading research centres in the UK for art and design, with Research Fortnight ranking the submission second nationally in terms of the volume and quality of research. (For a full picture of Brighton's ongoing research across design, the visual and performing arts and the humanities see http://designresearch.brighton.ac.uk).
As an intrinsic aspect of its strategy, the Faculty of Arts & Architecture has also sought to promote and influence the significance of design and design research through the establishment of its Design Research Institute (DRI) in 2007. Under the leadership of Professor Maxine Naylor the DRI is committed to the integration of creativity, innovation, knowledge exchange and research. It is also concerned with design as a process of cultural and social interpretation, which frames and addresses issues that confront and challenge communities and society.
Important too is the DRI's endorsement of the faculty's firm commitment to trans-disciplinary research that cuts across the university's five faculties, with researchers also making significant contributions to social, cultural, economic and environmental wellbeing. The wider context in which such research is situated may be seen in Transforming Research, the University of Brighton's award-winning publication located at www.brighton.ac.uk/research
The DRI represents design scholarship and research, concerned with inter alia, Visual Communication, Design Practices, Materiality, Sustainability and Design History. Such research shapes and enhances knowledge and understanding in design and related disciplinary areas. Visual Communication explores questions addressing the interrelationships between drawing, perception, representation and forms of mechanical production, as well as writings on design practice and comparative studies of hand-made and digital communication. Materiality explores questions concerning material narratives that examine the social dynamics of contemporary domestic architecture and everyday, commonplace objects and the value, patina and inherent longevity of materials, whilst Sustainability explores issues of systems, technologies, waste management, environmental performance of buildings, urban investigations, sustainable consumption and pro-environmental behaviour.
Many DRI researchers and associates play key roles nationally and internationally through participation in, and leadership of, national and international research councils and peer review bodies, professional design organisations and societies, journal editorial boards, design juries, higher education policy-forming committees as well as archives and museums. DRI participants have also presented numerous keynote addresses at influential conferences around the world.
Leading Professors engaged in design research at Brighton include Professor George Hardie, an influential member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale and RDI (Royal Designer for Industry), alongside Visiting Professors and Research Fellows such as the distinguished British graphic designer and art director Ken Garland and American author and researcher Professor Victor Margolin.
Research activity is also underpinned through the building of close links with institutions such as the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art, as well as relationships with many universities in North and South America, Europe and Eastern Asia. Collaborations with the Victoria & Albert Museum's Research Department have generated a number of influential texts and exhibitions including Brand New (2000-2001), Cold War Modern: Design 1945-1970 (2008 – 2009) and Postmodernism - Victoria and Albert Museum, for 2011-2012. Jane Pavitt, the University's Principal Research Fellow at the V&A since 1997, curated all three exhibitions. Further partnerships have also been established with the Edward Johnston Foundation and others, alongside the forging of new opportunities with a variety of professional organisations such as the Chartered Society of Designers.
The DRI benefits from its position within a strong research infrastructure which embraces the university's internationally renowned Design Archives (which, amongst its sixteen collections, houses the archives of Icograda, ICSID, Design Council UK and FHK Henrion), Screen Archive South East, the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning through Design (CETLD) and the Art, Design & Media Subject Centre: Higher Education Academy (ADM:HEA), and the Faculty of Arts and Architecture's Centre for Research and Development. Significant also is the university's well-located gallery and theatre for mounting major exhibitions, performances, seminars and large-scale conferences. All are situated within the main faculty building, itself located in Brighton's cultural quarter, close to the city's Museum and Art Gallery, award winning Library and Royal Pavilion and within walking distance of the railway station with links to London (50 minutes) and London Gatwick Airport (30 minutes).
To find out more about the Design Research Institute, visit: http://artsresearch.brighton.ac.uk/research/centre/dri
For more information, please contact:
University of Brighton
Faculty of Arts and Architecture
Grand Parade
Brighton
BN2 0JY United Kingdom
T: +44 1273 643728
F: +44 1273 643128
W: www.brighton.ac.uk/arts
![[Image: Iridescent: Icograda Journal of Design Research - Volume 1]](/database/images/display/sb4ee69233de296.jpg "Iridescent: Volume 1")