Symposium: Design and Development: Histories, Legacies and Futures
Organised by Heng Zhi with Alison J. Clarke
Department of Design History and Theory, University of Applied Arts Vienna

From Cold War development agendas to today’s geopolitical transformations driven by digitalisation and AI, what role does design play in global development politics across post-colonial contexts? Bringing together international researchers in design history, media and cultural studies, fashion studies, and architectural theory, this symposium explores how designers, institutions, and communities shape emerging infrastructures, power relations, and debates beyond Eurocentric frameworks.

June 09, 9:30 – 17:00, online

Programme (All times CEST)

9:30–9:45 Welcome and Opening Remarks

9:45–12:30 — Panel 1: Contemporary Practices of Design and Development
Miao Lu Toward a Southern Perspective of Design: The Case of Chinese Mobile Technology in Africa

Tommy Tse The Life of Clothes: Smell, Touch, and the Remaking of Authenticity in China–Africa Fashion Worlds

Innocent (Ib) Batsani-Ncube 'Mutual Dissemblance' as Ingratiation and Agency in Sino-Zimbabwe Architectural Diplomacy Interactions

Response: Alpay Er

Panel Discussion

12:30–14:00 Break

14:00–17:00 — Panel 2: Cold War Politics and Histories of Design and Development

Vishal Khandelwal Architecture and Development at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad

Bahar Emgin The Redefinition of Craft in Mid-Century Turkey: Fragmented Interventions and Development

Danielle Charlap Design and the Diplomat Curator: The International Cooperation Administration and the Fight for Influence

Response: Tanishka Kachru

Panel Discussion

Closing Remarks

Registration: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/universityofappliedartvienna/2119591