Programme

You will be invited to evaluate and co-developing the DCFA Design Principles: the culmination of everything the journey over the past two years taught. A list of eight design principles – not linear, but always interlinked – that can be used as a basis for those who’d like to design for all. The DCFA Design Principles are  subject to constant re-evaluation, scrutiny and new input.

 

Innovate your art-practice

This programme offers you the opportunity to deepen your (artistic) research skills in a multidisciplinary environment and work as a community, with fellow research participants, the staff of ArtEZ, the Programme Leaders of Pakhuis de Zwijger and the various international guests. You will be stimulated to immerse yourself in theoretical and practice-related topics and an ongoing critical dialogue. Peer-to-peer learning is in the heart of the pedagogy of this programme. Working collectively, as a team, with diverse backgrounds and orientation, is a real-world simulation and prepares you for your future. At the end, the result is up-to-you and your energy!

Class days and studio spaces

Most of the learning activities take place on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays. You can work on your research in the weekends, where the program offers you flexible studiospaces with a shared desk, internet, coffee, tea and a place to sit and meet. This allows you to work and be present during the opening-hours as an “researcher in residence’.

Research paper and exhibition

You will be working on your individual research paper. ArtEZ provides academic writing and methodology classes, to further your research. You will be supervised by an experienced Sr. Research Fellow during this process. The paper does not attract ECTS or a formal assessments, but it will be reviewed so you can learn about improvements and how to move ahead with your research.

At the end of your research period, you present your new artistic work in a suitable exhibition space in New West, for example: Bureau Postjesweg, OBA: Plein 40 - 45, Stadsdeelkantoor New West, Locatie Kolenkit (Fouad), Van Eesteren Museum, Broedplaats Lely, Broedplaats de Vlugt. 

About this project and the collaboration with Pakhuis de Zwijger

The past two years were marked by some highly disruptive developments on the world stage. As a result of all this, exclusion by design – the (conscious or unconscious) exclusion of certain people, groups or other beings by non-inclusive design – has clearly surfaced at the micro, meso and macro levels. It turns out that our systems are not built to catch us in times of crisis – or at least, not all of us.  Responding to this notion, in 2021 and 2022 Pakhuis de Zwijger’s research and activity program Designing Cities for All (DCFA) laid the foundation for inter- and transdisciplinary and intersectional insights into inclusive design of city and society, in the broadest sense of the word. The domains of Diversity & Inclusion, Architecture, Climate, (Digital) Democracy, Equity and Equal Opportunities, Technology, (Health)care, Journalism, Participatory Design, Environmental Justice, Education and Decolonization have been mapped out during twelve investigative triptychs, six of which in collaboration with DCFA Fellows (intensive content partnerships with Lyongo Juliana, Dark Matter Labs/Indy Johar, Galit Ariel, OneWorld, Daphina Misiedjan and de Chrononauten. T

In total, over sixty programs were made, with a diverse array of over 150 (national and international) designers and other relevant professionals, along with a series of podcasts, DCFA Book Clubs, two essay books with a local, regional, national, but certainly also global and international scope, and the publication of the DCFA Design Principles.

The project has also taken up partnerships with various colleges and universities and organized talks in collaboration with Eindhoven University of Technology, TU Delft, Design Academy Eindhoven, ArtEZ and others during Dutch Design Week 2022. For more information on the programme and a full archive of all Designing Cities for All (DCFA) programs of Pakhuis de Zwijger, please visit www.dezwijger.nl/dcfa.

About the Community Research Programme at ArtEZ

The Community Research Program (CRP), introduces participants to the disruptive, inspiring and constantly changing world outside the buildings of an art academy – both in the Netherlands and abroad. The program is designed in close collaboration with partners, for example social enterprises, cultural centers, artist and/or NGO’s. At different locations, participants with diverse backgrounds can work for a short period of time (12 to 20 weeks) at a temporary studio-facility, focusing on a contemporary, emerging and often complex research question.  Participants receive a Certificate of Participation from ArtEZ.  

The Community Research Program previously took place in Zaandam (Het HEM), where international participants conducted research connected to CHAPTER 5IVE, a theme formulated by architects Rem Koolhaas and Samir Bantal.  More information about the previous Community Research Programme at Het HEM can be found here.