Thinking and writing for Design

At UCL (one of my alma mater), Bartlett School of Architecture has developed an intelligent way to develop their research profile – Bartlett Design Research Folios. The purpose of these folios is to encourage academics and practitioners to write about the assignments and researches taking place in the School in a pre-peer-reviewed forum which acts as both public showcase and nursery slope for emergent research.

Aside from it’s obvious strengths in branding, the Research Folios website enables discourse around the discipline. At Bartlett and, for example, TU/e , educators in undergraduate and postgraduate taught programs make use of learning and teaching experiments, materials and discussion to fuel more advanced research enquiry. So, for example, a cohort of undergrads on a product design program at TU/e might be engaged on an assignment which acts as a pilot study for a later-developed industry-funded research project.

Now, on newGD, we too can begin the task of bringing our research enquiries to the forefront; to explore, critique and promote our ideas around design pedagogy, practice and politics…

Take a closer look at the Bartlett Design Research Folios here