Who are the precarious citizens today and how can design be of service to them?

Arnhem | Book release Designing for Precarious Citizens: Building on the Bauhaus Legacy

2019 marked the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus. The centennial raised questions of how contemporary art education aims to prepare designers for a rapidly changing society. Designing for Precarious Citizens links the ideals of Bauhaus to research carried out by designers and students into the living conditions of the precarious working classes.

The Lessons of Johan Niegeman
This publication takes the work of Dutch architect and Bauhaus teacher Johan Niegeman as a starting point. His aim was to achieve a better quality of housing for the masses, specifically for groups that live in poor conditions, the so-called precarious citizens. How would Niegeman have communicated his core ideas and beliefs to his students in 2020? Who are todays vulnerable citizens? And how can designers aim to build a future for them?

Research by Design
Designing for Precarious Citizens looks back at how designers tackled these questions in the past, but also poses this question to experimental designer Frank Kolkman, artist and designer Giuditta Vendrame, and interactive artist and designer Klasien van de Zandschulp. Each of these designers transposed Niegeman’s ideas onto a contemporary setting as part of their own design practice.

About Jeroen van den Eijnde and Jorn Konijn
Jeroen van den Eijnde was trained as a product designer (ArtEZ) and design historian (Leiden University). In 2015 he obtained his PhD on his research Het huis van IK. Ideologie en theorie in het Nederlandse vormgevingsonderwijs [The House of I. Ideology and theory in the Netherlands' Design Education] Currently, Van den Eijnde is the Professor of Product Design and Interior Architecture at the ArtEZ University of the Arts.

Jorn Konijn is an architecture & design curator and writer. He curated several exhibitions, such as the official Dutch pavilion for the International Architecture Biennale of Sao Paulo (Brazil) on Unsolicited Architecture, the award winning Housing with a Mission exhibition for the Urbanism & Architecture Bi-City Biennale of Hong Kong and Shenzhen 2011 and the exhibition Lelé – Architect of health and happiness for the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi) in 2012. Currently, he is the head of program for the Dutch Design Week.

The book is written in English and available at the online ArtEZ Press bookstore.

About ArtEZ Press
Driving change, shifting perspectives and emphasising the power of the arts.
At ArtEZ Press every publication is of value to the arts and society. Our publications drive change and innovation, offer new perspectives and show the power of the arts. They are an inspiring source of knowledge for students, artists, researchers and anyone interested in art, culture and education. Our publications stimulate diversity and richness in theory and practice.

ArtEZ Press is the publishing house attached to ArtEZ University of the Arts. Founded in 2005, we publish high quality books, in terms of both content and design. The unique design reinforces the content, and vice versa. The carefully curated collection that ArtEZ Press has built up throughout the years represents disciplines like architecture, visual arts, dance, interior design, art education, fashion, music and music therapy, product design, theatre, design and theory of art.

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