Becoming a Designer  (Course 1 -Introduction) 

• The Search for Ideas vs. The Search for How to Look for Ideas
  
• Art is not about Acting but about Re-acting
  
• The Designers' Job: The Production of Sign
  
• Why "design Thinking"  is Bullshit ?

# The Landscape of Knowledge # Rigid Frameworks and the Creative Space #Stephen Adly Guirguis , # Zadie Smith # Roland Barthes / Production of the Sign. # Marshall Mc Luhan

(...) Within a school, you will learn various working methods: how to approach a question, respond to a brief, study a project, experiment, engage in a shared process with a team, design prototypes, iterate, and ultimately express your final ideas. Both conceptual and technical processes—some inspired by art, others by engineering culture, and even marketing culture—will be introduced to you. Throughout the year, specific analytical or technical tools appropriate to your field will also be taught.There is a risk associated with the power of these tools—whether conceptual or technical: they will influence both your thinking and your expression. While there is, of course, a risk of standardization, more critically, there is a risk of limiting your sensitivity and intelligence. (…)

«Creator do not wait for inspiration but wake up and goes to work - Chuck Close

(...)The real challenge is not in finding ideas, but in knowing how to find them. Whether it’s the writer crafting a story, the designer creating a logo, a chair, a space, or the filmmaker constructing a narrative, they are all working with common themes of human experience: emotion, connection, conflict, growth, etc. (…)

# The Landscape of Knowledge # Rigid Frameworks and the Creative Space

Why "design Thinking"  is Bullshit ?

(...) Design thinking is utter nonsense, as it conveniently overlooks the main issue, the proverbial elephant in the room: ideation. Before diving into the process of testing and iteration (which, admittedly, is useful in many disciplines), design thinking neglects a crucial element—it's as though it deliberately diverts its gaze from the core challenge: how to come up with a good idea in the first place. After all, no amount of testing a bad idea with your audience will miraculously make it better. A designer’s true worth lies in their ability to study a problem and generate great ideas. That’s where the value really lies.(...)

Art is not about Acting but about Re-acting (Course 1 - Part 2)

"The greatest proof of imagination is not in the ability to think up new ideas, but in the ability to make something out of the old,» T.S. Eliot  

(...) New York playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis' writing technique can be summed up as: respond to the world around you. «Write down what’s on your mind—whatever you’re feelin’, whatever’s goin' on in your head. Just keep it real, you know? Write your gut reaction to what went down. Then, after a few days or weeks, come back to it. Look at what you wrote and think, ‘What if this was something a character in a play would say?’ Now, take that and flip it—add a new character who’s gotta respond. Boom. You got yourself a dialogue. You got yourself a play..» This is about writing fiction. As a designer, I think you should keep in mind the idea of the "First Reaction (from the gut)" as a starting point for "stories" that you don’t even know exist yet. For Stephen Adly Guirgis, his short first text isn’t even considered a part of a story yet, nor as a dialogue. As a designer, when you look at an object, a design element, an architectural piece, a fabric, or a pair of shoes, if you feel something, you must react to it — without self-censorship or unnecessary judgment. Draw it, correct its shape, redesign what you just saw, add comments, write down "It’s so bad, but..." or "I love it because..." Please, do react. All these first reactions will be the seeds, the premises, of your future creative projects (…). - This concept of reciprocity by Zadie Smith

#Stephen Adly Guirguis , # Zadie Smith

The Designers' Job: The Production of Sign (Course 1 - Part 3)

(...) Design (whether in furniture, graphic design, web design, architecture, shop design, fashion design, etc.) can be defined in many ways. My favorite approach is to study design as the "production of the sign."  (...) Design participates in the production of new social codes and sometimes new behaviors. Design may create new social conventions and, in turn, new perception habits. (…) Design is not only the production of signs. More often, a new design approach is about redefining the use of an existing sign or creating a new sign based on an old one. It’s about reevaluation, it’s about archetypes.(...)

# Roland Barthes / Production of the Sign. # Marshall Mc Luhan

The Audience is Searching (Course 2)

• The Audience must work and must be worked.
  
• The Art of Suspense in Narrative Art Forms.
  
• Suspense in Architecture 
• Suspense in Graphic Design
• Two concepts : the Unfinto and wabi sabi.

"I write for young people, for old people. I want them to read me and say, 'What did he mean by that?' And I want them to think, and that's all, and I hope they get some sort of joy out of it." — William Faulkner.

(...) Faulkner here expresses his belief that the purpose of literature is not merely to entertain, but to provoke thought and emotion in the reader, making them engage critically with the text. Could this be the same for design? The pleasure of searching, of discovery. How can we structure a creative process to respond in this way? Can some designs not provide answers, but instead ask questions or tease the intelligence of the audience? (…)

(...) The Art of Suspense requires narrative stages, narration, clues, etc. (...) Can the designer offer the pleasure of discovery, a pleasure equivalent to that of creation? I believe this is the principle behind cinematic storytelling. The viewer tries to anticipate what will happen next; they are engaged in a creative act of anticipation, and the pleasure comes from the bold discovery. (…) Suspense in architecture: The wandering of the user, the discovery of a building through a journey that reveals its structure (...) Suspense in graphic design: Maintaining visual tension. "I am far from a poster, I move closer, and I get even closer. Here, time is once again created by the body of the audience...

#Alfred Hitchock, Bernard Tsumi #Scott Mc Cloud # Wabi Sabi #Michel Ange.

Inheritance of Social Behavior and Its Transformation (Course 3)

(...) Our daily lives demand spaces and tools; our society and social interactions are built on behaviors that are known and shared by our contemporaries. Designers respond to these interaction needs, and sometimes, through their new designs, they modify our behavior and systems of interaction. We design social behavior by designing objects and spaces, which serve as mediators of interaction and meaning between us. Human behavior is at the center of all experiences in our design disciplines. By designing objects and spaces, we shape behaviors. (...) Some social behaviors and conventions require objects and spaces, such as furniture. However, because we are not like our grandparents, because our beliefs have changed, and because we have forgotten the meaning of certain gestures or the symbolic value of certain objects or motifs, our needs evolve. As a result, we design new variations of old objects.  Some design contexts shape behavior, while others tell complex stories based on our shared myths and needs. We all need to sleep, eat, raise our children, deal with sickness, and grieve. Stories show us ways to handle these things. Design provides tools to adapt to these moments more easily. (...)

(…) Therefore, we can say that an object has a narrative. When designing a chair, the concept of a chair already exists long before your design. Each chair can be considered a reinterpretation of that concept.

#Monomyths, #Mythem, #Behaviorism # Joseph Campbell # Anthropology and design # Reinterpretation. #Philippe Stark-Louis the Ghost # Furoshiki # Gestural Design # The addition practice

Why Minimalism ? (Course 4)

• What do we mean by minimalism
• Minimalism and industrialisation / Minimalism & simplicity / Minimalism & visibility?
  
• Minimalist narrative in design
• Does minimalism lead to archetypes?
• Design a Gift ?
• Criticism of Baroque Aesthetic in Contemporary Art and Cinema

(…) But let’s be more precise. What do we mean by minimalism? The first notion that comes to mind related to minimalism is minimal in its "appearance." The object is simple, or looks simple; perhaps there is the use of a unique material, a unique pattern, a unique vocabulary. But today’s culture, minimalism rhymes with efficiency, ergonomics? Is that true, or just today’s trend? (…) Is minimalism synonymous with quality, longevity, and durability? Can we also look for minimal symbolic value?(...)

(...) The criticism that Baroque can mask a lack of depth or meaning by relying on excessive decoration and overstaging is not a new one. This critique has its roots in art history, where Baroque art was often seen as overwrought or too theatrical, especially in contrast with earlier artistic traditions.(...)

Design a Gift ?  In design, the process of adding symbolic value to an object through extra gestures or meaningful details is often referred to as "symbolic design" or "design with symbolic meaning.(...)

#Dieter Rams # Ergonomy #Essentialism # Baroque # Kitch # Peter Greenaway # Furoshiki # Gestural Design # The addition practice

Design Process and Written Language (Course 5)

• Why writing when you can take a photo or sketches… 
• Why can the act of writing—and then challenging the written word—help foster a designer's creativity? Linguistic richness.(…)
• Search for complexity?
• The act of drawing / Why should designers should draw? 

(...) Why writing when you can take a photo or sketches… Text is abstract, meaning it requires us to decode symbols (letters) that have no inherent meaning on their own. The meaning arises when these symbols are interpreted through the structure of language. We actively construct meaning through the syntactical
This lecture will serve as a creative exercise (on paper), utilizing one of the core qualities of written language: the ability to isolate a sentence, question its meaning, and explore its depth. We can choose a word, dive into its multiple interpretations, and engage with it in various ways. We can literally write in the margins, accumulate comments, read others' reflections, and even comment on their comments.(…) In linguistics, the autonomy of each word in written language is a key distinction that sets it apart from visual language. (…) The distinction between written language and visual language (such as graphic design or art) is often marked by the autonomy of words. Visual language often relies on gestalt principles and perception where elements merge to form a holistic view.(…)

(...) Search for complexity? For playwright Tony Kushner, this notion of multiple interpretations is critical. His plays, particularly Angels in America, do not offer straightforward moral conclusions or simple truths. Instead, they present characters and themes from many angles, leaving space for dialogue and debate. (…) Can designers—whether architects, fashion designers, or graphic designers—also leave space for dialogue and debate within their work? (…) The Talmudic tradition ( in serach for complexity)

(...) Why using words? because of linguistic richness.(…)
I invite you to create your own linguistic richness, your own linguistic library,
by inventing new words for you own concepts to express specific interactions or types of visual effects.

(...) The act of drawing "There is the power of image and the power of the written language. There’s an “in-between” act: it’s the act of drawing. David Hockney’s approach to drawing and painting is one of the best examples I would like to share. «By drawing, you make decisions: Shall I focus on the shapes? Shall I study only the color? Shall I only draw what is emotionally important to me? Drawing involves making structural choices, just like in a sentence."

# Gestalt # Giannia Rodari # Oulipo  # Multylayers #Serge Tisseron # David Hockney #Joseph Kosuth  #ATN Latour # Sequential vs. Simultaneous Processing  #Word and their autonomy / linguistic library #Ambiguity as a source of creativity. #The Talmudic tradition (Layers of commentary invites multiple viewpoints) # Gestalt # Gianni Rodari # Oulipo #Serge Tisseron # David Hockney #Joseph Kosuth 

The Atelier as a Living Creature (Course 6)

The workspace must be a lab of possibilities, structured like a collage, where the creative individual should experience random collages and random articulations. While moving through your space, your past research must engage with your present ideas. There is a need to allow unexpected collages to emerge. (...)

Spatial Intelligence and Phenomenology (Course 7)

Artistic expression involves the ability to represent, manipulate, or evoke spatial relationships in a way that resonates with others. In art, space is not merely a physical concept—it’s a phenomenological experience that is both visually and emotionally felt. (…) Student are invited to check how artists can teach us about design: Kapoor, Eliasson, Whiterad… they invite us to experience extreme perceptive distortions of our reality. What do these experiences teach us? In sculpture (e.g., Tony Cragg, Richard Serra, Rachel Whiteread), the work must be experienced firsthand. The artist engages the viewer’s spatial intelligence more directly. Sculpture often takes into account the viewer’s physical movement around the object and can manipulate their perception of space by altering scale, material, and form.

# Bachelard # Merlau Ponty # Anish Kappoor # Oliasson # Whiteread

Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT) (Course 8)

• Focus on the Relationships Between Humans, Objects, and Networks

(...) Latour’s Actor-Network Theory (ANT) examines the relationships between humans, objects, and networks. This approach complements my interest in how objects, like clothe or function within larger social and cultural systems.(...)

#ATN Latour

Design and temporality (Course 9)

• Exploring impermanence : mono no aware
  
• The different Time in Design

Zeitgeist or no Zeitgeist? (Course 10)

• To Reveal the Zeitgeist: The Usage Parody
  
• The Usage Irony / The Stand-up comedian and its Punch line
• Oxymoron and Creative Tension in Design Practice

Team work:  the bridge (Course 11)

The Five Obstructions and Creativity through Limitations (Course 12)

In The Five Obstructions (2003), Lars von Trier collaborates with Danish filmmaker Jørgen Leth to remake one of Leth's earlier films, The Perfect Human, under a series of increasingly severe constraints (or «obstructions"). (…)