As a 4TU Research Centre, Design United plays a facilitating role, it connects technologically advanced design research at TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, the University of Twente and Wageningen University & Research.
Evolving and expanding
Design research is a relatively young and fast-evolving discipline that is rapidly expanding. It combines and integrates knowledge from different fields, providing context and insight into the design process. Design United does just this.
Probes
The probe funding is a means to create communities of 4TU researchers around contemporary design-research themes. With the grant, we want to enable researchers to make the first steps toward acquiring joint projects.
Global healthcare systems are facing challenges in providing quality healthcare to an ageing population with complex care need, as populations are ageing globally at a fast pace. New or emerging technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence or socially assistive robots, provide opportunities to support older adults to age well at home.
What happens when we modify simple 3D printers to incorporate material coiling techniques? Coiling is a physical principle where liquid materials naturally twist around themselves when printed in midair.
The PROBE project "Soiled" looks at ontological, temporal, and material relations we form with soil. Through workshops, hands-on experiments, and design fiction sessions, Soiled explores how we can transmit notions of our bodies being constituted by and returning to soil, explore soil's temporality in relation to our mortality over time, and imagine novel soil care practices through the livingness of soil.