Centre for Design Studies
Exploring all aspects of design
Centre for Design Studies serves as a hub for research into design across Kristiania and beyond.
We are interested in exploring all aspects of design, including its results, methods, theory, culture and consequences. Research spans geographies and temporalities, looking not only at how design has shaped our history and present, both nationally and internationally but also at how it may affect possible futures.
Adopting a cross-disciplinary understanding of design we focus on tangible objects of visual and material culture as well on systems and interactions.
Design Research Forum
Design Research Forum is a monthly seminar organised by the Centre for Design Studies. The forum meets on the last Thursday each month (August-June) and is open for everyone at Kristiania.
Partners
The Georgetown Iteration Lab (external link)
PhD-topics
Kristiania is recruiting PhD Candidates for 2025. Read more about the available topics for PhD projects, and apply through this page.
The following topics are connected to the Centre for Design Studies in the PhD in Communication and Leadership:
- Design studies
- Fashion Communication
- Leadership for design-driven innovation within the public sectors
The following topics are connected to the Centre for Design Studies in the PhD in Applied Information Technology:
- Human-Centered Design and AI
- Human-Centered AI in Norwegian public health services
Research Projects
The Centre for Design Studies at Kristiania University College has been involved in a diverse range of research projects that explore the intersections of design, culture, and education.
From uncovering untold histories of Norwegian fashion to developing innovative educational tools like wargames, and examining the impact of digital media on fashion, the Centre's work spans multiple disciplines and addresses complex societal issues through design.
Projects 1 CDS
Designing the Future
Can you touch a system? How do you change it? This interdisciplinary (pre)project explores how we learn about, represent and transform systemic issues through design of practice, organizations and policy.Read more
Designing Educational Wargames
Designing Educational Wargames" investigates the use of "wargames" as educational tools in higher education. The project owner is the Norwegian Defense Research Institute (FFI).Read more
Projects 2 CDS
Norwegian Fashion: New Histories
What is the history of Norwegian fashion, and how do we write fashion history in Norway today? This project uncovers as-yet untold histories of Norwegian fashion and reassesses those already known.Read more
Playable Systems
This project develops processes and methods for teaching at Kristiania University College and Georgetown University, addressing complex issues through game co-design.Read more
Projects 3 CDS
The New Typography in Scandinavia
The first in-depth study of the New Typography movement of the 1920s and 1930s in the Scandinavian countries, focusing on its spread, adoption, adaptation and use.Read more
Graphic Design in Hyper Britain
The project explores graphic design in a period of great technological, political and societal change through the application of terms like anxiety, nostalgia, pleasure, flexibility and fragmentation.Read more
Prosjekter 4 CDS
Fashion Media in the Age of Connectivity
Fashion Media in the Age of Connectivity investigates fashion as mediated expression in digital domains. It connects perspectives from media and communication studies with studies of fashion.Read more
Norwegian fashion: cultural production and aesthetic mediational practices
The project investigates how Norwegian clothing designers relate to digital culture and aesthetic practices in interaction with the extended cultural field they are part of.Les mer
