During a meeting of the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty on July 13, Fritz Frenkler presented the new book »The State of Design« to TUM President Thomas F. Hofmann. The publication provides an up-to-date overview of design in the face of the global challenges of our time.
From left to right: Prof. Dr. (Univ. Rom) Dr. h.c. Dipl.-Ing. Thomas Herzog, TUM Emeritus of
Excellence; Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang A. Herrmann, TUM Präsident Emeritus; Prof. Fritz
Frenkler, TUM Emeritus of Excellence; Prof. Dr. Thomas F. Hofmann, TUM Präsident; Prof. Dr.-Ing.
Werner Lang, TUM Vizepräsident Sustainable Transformation
– Photo and copyright: Birgit Herbst-Gaebel
The authors of the now published book »The State of Design« take a look at the topic from different perspectives, showing the great importance of integrating design into interdisciplinary education, especially at technical universities. Design is not just a form-giving, aesthetic add-on at the end of a process or development, but a crucial and driving component of the process and development itself. In the future, this will require students to have not only technical know-how but also a deep understanding of how to design user-friendly and sustainable products and services. »The State of Design« is intended to inspire designers, engineers, sociologists, materials scientists and academics from other disciplines alike to consider design as an integral part of research and teaching.
Photo and copyright: Steven Stannard
The contributions to the book, edited by Fritz Frenkler, Birgit Herbst-Gaebel, Michael Molls, Sebastian Stadler and Wilhelm Vossenkuhl, come from an interdisciplinary group of scholars who can look back on many years of experience in research, teaching, organization and international cooperation. In his foreword, for example, the renowned German industrial designer Dieter Rams encourages us to constantly question and update the design of our surroundings. »Our planet, spaceship Earth, is no longer doing well. This has made me — like every designer — more and more thoughtful as a co-responsible person for the concrete state of the world,« says Rams.
Animation: chilli mind GmbH
TUM has been awarding the honorary title of TUM Emerita/Emeritus of Excellence (EoE) to outstanding and committed retired professors since 2007 and involves them in the university's tasks on an honorary basis. The TUM Emeriti of Excellence are particularly valued as advisors due to their personal independence, their many years of experience and their high scientific reputation. The interdisciplinary group of TUM Emeriti of Excellence in its entirety forms the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty. With their top position in science, their special commitment beyond their own discipline, and their excellent networking in society, this group brings together a wide range of experience in professional, social, and societal terms.
