Challenges
Over eight weeks of research and discussion, students explored issues of urban life, social values, sustainability and collective visions. The project responded to an ongoing international discourse on future cities, reflected in symposia, research initiatives and cultural debates across disciplines such as sociology, architecture, ecology, economics, climate science, cultural studies and the arts. Based on the readings of Mark Fisher – Capitalist Realism and Richard Sennett – Was ist Stadt? As a starting point the class developed a collection of possible design-related analysis from design students.
Within this context, the course explicitly asked: what is the role of communication design in shaping urban futures?
Approach & Method
Design
Rather than positioning communication design as a service discipline at the end of an expert-driven process, the course treated design as a critical, investigative and reflective practice.
Visual & Editorial Strategy
The outcomes of the course were compiled into a publication that documents research processes, conceptual positions and design contributions. The publication functions as a curated collection of designerly viewpoints on urban futures, emphasising design as a cultural and intellectual practice.
Outcome & Impact
Stadt der Zukunft positions communication design as an active participant in debates about sustainability, urban development and social coexistence. The project demonstrates how design education can foster critical thinking, interdisciplinary dialogue and socially responsible perspectives.
By encouraging students to question their own role and agency, the course contributes to a broader understanding of communication design as a discipline capable of generating insight, critique and speculative futures — rather than merely communicating existing ideas.
