Temporary department

Designing Democracy

In a time when confidence in democracy is under increasing pressure – from the Euro crisis to the US shutdown and from the Occupy movement to the streets of Athens – this temporary programme uses design to question the future of democracy. Directed by architecture studio XML, this interdisciplinary studio explores the power of design to activate potential forms of collectivity – the quality or state of being collective – and ranges from intervening on the scale of personal media to rethinking the institutions of democracy itself.

Forum

During the two-year Master’s an intensive program of lectures, workshops and public events is organized as part of the studio. The ‘Sandberg Forum’ program is held at a prime location in the city of Amsterdam and, when relevant, at venues in other world cities. Moving away from academic insularity by extending the interface between academia and society, the studio effectively operates as a do-tank that is capable of addressing urgencies in society. Students are challenged to invite and introduce guests on this platform based on their own individual projects.

Furthermore, part of the studio process will be an extensive online documentation of the studio’s ongoing activities on www.designingdemocracy.com.