DAE welcomes students into a new year at Design Academy
On August 30th 2022, students and tutors filled the presentation wing of Design Academy Eindhoven’s Masters’ floor to be welcomed into a new year at DAE – a year, which creative director Joseph Grima noted with relief, felt like it could be a return to normal after the tribulations of the recent pandemic years.
To guide the community into this fresh start, Grima began with a simple question: “What is design and what does society need from us as designers?” Citing the history of both industrial production and the Club of Rome conference in 1972, where the limits of growth were first introduced within a design context, Grima urged DAE’s community to ask thermselves these questions and define exactly the problems that they’re trying to solve.
“What we’re here for is not the answer, but equipping ourselves with the tools to strive to search for the answer" - Joseph Grima
Grima went on to stress the importance of actively redefining notions of wealth and prosperity and urged students to integrate these ideals into their work, referencing this quote by Cedric Price: “No one should be interested in building bridges, they should be interested in how to get to the other side."
“The essence of [DAE’s] attitude towards design is not about being anti-capitalist or production, but asking what is the problem we’re trying to solve and how can we answer this,” added Grima.
As a practical follow-up to Grima’s opening address, Raf De Keninck, Director of Organization and Research at DAE, took to the stage to discuss how these internal reflections have translated to changes within the educational system, particularly within the new bachelor programme.
He expressed that this new model will "bring more support, guidance and opportunities to choose for students.”, while also encouraging the need for critical reflection and evaluation moments from students and staff alike.
To conclude the presentation, the floor was left open for questions and impressions from the audience. A highly animated and close-to-home debate about issues within the academy followed.
Bachelor student Daisy Dawson was the first to speak up, asking about DAE’s inclusivity and neurodiversity efforts, to which De Keninck responded by introducing the school’s new Diversity and Inclusion officer, Leigh Tukker. Other topics included the student housing crisis, where a student-led housing crisis meeting was announced, and the question of compensation for student council members, to which De Keninck responded by saying that no funding would be allocated. With optimism, Grima finished by giving perspective on the attitude needed to enact change not only within the local environment but the world at large.
“One has to be completely unwavering when goals are so big as to change the world," said Grima. "Taken as a whole it’s unbelievingly difficult and requires incredible determination and perseverance, so let’s do it together, because there’s nobody here who doesn’t want to do it, and we’re not going to stop until it’s done.”
The event concluded with a party, with music provided by the student-led Elevator Radio.
