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/4 Institute of Design and Communication Jørgen Hauberg/Head of Institute
It is the Institute's objective to develop creative research models that create the best possible coherence between the process and method of research and the profession's practice. Such practicebased research concerns the direct relationship between the analysing and the proposing, and it investigates how knowledge is developed through our practice and through the inclusion of the architect's tools, processes, methods and experience. We use the term ‘practice-based’ research and see this as part of the international research practice that is developed under the concept of ‘research by design’. Practice-based research encompasses the methodologically scientific, and in various ways, it reaches out towards art, the intuitive and the concretely proposing. Practice-based research is artistic research, and it ranges from experimental work with materiality and composition to development work orientated directly towards the profession's needs. In this way, both the artistically abstract work and the concrete proposal work are set in a framework. The Institute's field of research may be described as a particular focus on the relationship between the space of representation (visual communication, IT and drawing) and that which is carried by materials (design and digital presentation). The Institute participates in a number of interdisciplinary and international collaboration projects with both academic and profession/industry orientated partners. Through these collaboration projects, the researchers' international and national networks are developed and technological knowledge from other disciplines is transferred to the benefit of the Institute's research projects and the School's students who receive research-based teaching through courses and workshops. Teaching at the Institute develops common foundational disciplines in interplay between analogue and digital tools and technologies. The Institute also aims to develop new creative hybrids between research and teaching in the form of courses and workshops. The Institute's research is aimed at the areas of ‘Design’, ‘Information and Communication Technology’ and ‘Visual Communication’. Design deals with the development of types and widely usable systems. The subject area contributes to the study of building types and supplementary systems, furniture and fittings systems along with signs and symbols as well as text and information systems. Design includes subjects such as the design of building components, industrial design, furniture and room design, and industrial graphic design. Information and Communication Technology deals with the development of IT as a medium and tool in the design process and it includes subjects such as CAD/CAM and digital visualisation. Visual Communication deals with the development of architectural tools and approaches to be used in architectural proposals and dissemination. Visual Communication includes subject areas such as architectural visualisation, descriptive geometry and morphology, colour, photography and model making.