Design Policy Days

Dissent Needs Design

On 12 November, the second day of the Design Policy Days will take the form of a symposium in Offenbach entitled When Form Becomes Attitude, exploring how design can take a stand – and why this is needed now more than ever.

International perspectives on a political understanding of design will come together here, creating a space for dialogue on “Partisan Design” – design that takes a stand at the intersection of responsibility, commitment and transformation. The focus is on questions regarding a politicised design discipline, new roles for designers in the public sphere, and the need to understand design as a social attitude.

Contributors:

Prof. Dr. Tatjana Schneider, Hermine Poschmann [Sea Rescue Life Line], Prof. Dr. Peter Friedrich Stephan, Noemi Biasseton, Silvio Lorusso, Maziar Rezai [Object Oriented Democracy], Nila Rezai [Crafted Liberation], Designer’s Union

Key topics:

• Design’s political self-understanding (“Design taking a stand”)
• Partisan Design: Stance, Responsibility and Transformation
• Design as a social and political practice
• New roles for designers in the public sphere
• Activism, engagement and ethics in design
• Design between critique, intervention and institutional integration

For further information and enquiries: felix.kosok@wdc2026.org