‚… for the one who arrives in the next village is not the one who set out on the journey, but another.‘ Walter Benjamin , ‚Understanding Brecht‘
Since the recognition of design as a profession, design theories, definitions, approaches, and teaching methods have always changed. From the beginning, design has been the scene of controversy between art and engineering. Design science, which is newly forming and is becoming very differentiated and fed by, among other things, material turn and design turn, has the potential to be a revolutionary discipline. However, the question remains that while the science-based enframing is seen by many philosophers and thinkers as a potential danger, whether this historical redirection towards science is wise. What has happened in this paradigm shift is forgetting and neglecting the concept of making. My dissertation explores the semantic and structural connection between design and poiesis.
My impression is that poietic making can be achieved through lived experience as well as deliberate reflection on experience. Experience, as phenomenologists claim, is directly related to consciousness, and consciousness leads to openness and creation. In this way, what to build and why to build are the questions that poiesis responses. For this reason, I endeavor to describe the quality of such experience in training designers, particularly product designers. Here, I should emphasize that poiesis in design does not indicate confronting mass production or returning to craftsmanship, but merely an attempt to re-think design philosophy and designer’s worldview, before any planning and building. Since this approach is not defined as a school among common design schools, I select empirical examples from various design schools and styles and state my reasons for my choices. In my dissertation, I will explicate how design is an evolutionary learning process, a process of exploration, discovery, understanding, and interpretation. I will explain how it is fundamentally a hermeneutic process.
Curriculum vitae
2014-2017
MSc. in Product Design, Sapienza University, Rome
2009-2011
MA in Fine Arts, Soore University, Tehran
2001-2005
MA in Fine Arts, Alzahra University, Tehran
2006-2007
Product Designer / Interior Designer, ‚Arman Naghsh Architecture‘, Tehran
2007-2014
Entrepreneur, Designer and Instructor, ‚Afarinesh Ceramic and Pottery Studio‘, Tehran
SoSe 2019
Teaching Assistant, ‚Lab Culture‘ Course (development of projects with organic materials), KISD, Cologne
“Growing leather-like material from Kombucha tea“ Workshop, Biomaterial Experiment, KISD, Cologne
2016-2017
Collaboration Scholarship, Course and Admission Advisor, Sapienza University, Rome
WS 2015
Advanced Course Scholarship, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Sapienza University, Rome
Research topics
Design research
Product design
Design philosophy
Design pedagogy
Phenomenology in design
Publications
Studying the “Meta” Properties of Iranian Ancient Handmade Products Resulted from the Designer’s Worldview , Mohammadganjee. Z, Ninth European Conference of Iranian Studies (ECIS 9), Berlin. http://ecis9.de/
The Role of Philosopher Designer in Defining New Attitude towards Nature , Mohammadganjee.Z, Shahhoseiny.S, The Design Journal, 22: sup1, 1715-1722, DOI: 10.1080 / 14606925.2019.1595003
Salt Glazing in Low Temperature, an Empirical Investigation on Sustainable Materials in Product Design , Mohammadganjee . Z, Almas Magazine, issues 25 & 26
