This interdisciplinary collection has been exhibited at three distinguished academic venues – Ball State University in Indiana and the School of Design Strategies at Parsons in New York City and Kansas State University in the 2015-2016 academic year. After an international call for submissions invited work for curatorial review from across several areas disciplinary focus, twenty-eight pieces were selected from over two hundred submissions for the show and its forthcoming publication. The exhibition showcases and collectively deconstructs all stages of the conceptual design process, with sketches and built works by students, early-career practitioners and such well-established designers as James Corner, Chris Reed and Michael Van Valkenburgh. From rough to more resolved, the show traces layers of the designer’s investment as an idea first becomes visible both through traditional as well as more contemporary imaging methods. Through a careful arrangement that integrates analog, digital and mixed media works, the exhibition highlights differences between diverse techniques and triggers debate between design, representation and technology. Taken together, the exhibition’s visual investigation of the conceptual design process serves as a pedagogical tool of experiential learning for aspiring designers and seasoned professionals alike. By bridging creative disciplines, including art, architecture, landscape architecture and product design, the exhibition reveals meaning in the seemingly effortless and often-accidental discoveries that grow out of conceptual visual thinking.
The exhibit was co-curated and Simon Bussiere of Ball State University & Quilian Riano of DSGN AGNC. The exhibited spaces and dates have thus far been:
Full list of invited contributors:
Full list of refereed contributors:
Co-curator and organizer for the K-State exhibit.
