8—10 September 2027
Istanbul Technical University
Crossings of researchers, educators, and practitioners to advance dialogue in design education.
Crossings
This year’s theme, Crossings, emphasizes transformative encounters that shape design education through new and traditional pedagogies, human and artificial intelligence, local and global knowledge, studio practices and digital hybridities, as well as disciplinary boundaries and emerging fields.
Hosted in Istanbul, a city geographically and symbolically defined by crossings of continents, cultures and histories, Learn X Design 2027 creates a space for where researchers, educators and practitioners to cross among different perspectives, controversies, responsibilities and possibilities in design education research.
Crossings
This year’s theme, Crossings, emphasizes transformative encounters that shape design education through new and traditional pedagogies, human and artificial intelligence, local and global knowledge, studio practices and digital hybridities, as well as disciplinary boundaries and emerging fields.
Hosted in Istanbul, a city geographically and symbolically defined by crossings of continents, cultures and histories, Learn X Design 2027 creates a space for where researchers, educators and practitioners to cross among different perspectives, controversies, responsibilities and possibilities in design education research.
Crossings of Perspectives
Which traditions in design education are being sustained, questioned, or transformed—and why? How do different epistemologies—academic, tacit, embodied, indigenous, experiential—intersect or clash in design teaching and learning? What new or hybrid methods are emerging in response to complexity, uncertainty, and transdisciplinary challenges? How can design education challenge dominant knowledge hierarchies and open space for plural ways of knowing?
Crossings of Responsibilities
How can design education cultivate ethical responsibility in the face of uncertainty, complexity, and unintended consequences? Who is held responsible for design decisions when agency is distributed across humans, technologies, and more-than-human actors? How can uncertainty be embraced as a pedagogical resource rather than treated as a problem to be eliminated? How might teaching design differently reshape our ethical relationships with the planet and other forms of life?
Crossings of Controversies
What controversies currently shape design education, and why do they persist? Where do conflicts emerge between institutional expectations, pedagogical values, and societal demands? How can design education create space for disagreement, friction, and uncomfortable conversations? When do controversies become productive sites for learning, transformation, or re-positioning design education?
Crossings of Possibilities
How can design education move beyond solving today’s problems to imagining and rehearsing possible futures? What dominant design traditions, methods, and values need to be unsettled in order to make space for otherwise practices? How can participatory, decolonial, feminist, and community-led approaches reconfigure what counts as design education? What would a pluriversal design curriculum look like if alternative voices were taken seriously?
Crossings of Controversies
What controversies currently shape design education, and why do they persist? Where do conflicts emerge between institutional expectations, pedagogical values, and societal demands? How can design education create space for disagreement, friction, and uncomfortable conversations? When do controversies become productive sites for learning, transformation, or re-positioning design education?
Crossings of Possibilities
How can design education move beyond solving today’s problems to imagining and rehearsing possible futures? What dominant design traditions, methods, and values need to be unsettled in order to make space for otherwise practices? How can participatory, decolonial, feminist, and community-led approaches reconfigure what counts as design education? What would a pluriversal design curriculum look like if alternative voices were taken seriously?
Theme tracks
Theme Tracks
Crossings of Perspectives
Which traditions in design education are being sustained, questioned, or transformed—and why? How do different epistemologies—academic, tacit, embodied, indigenous, experiential—intersect or clash in design teaching and learning? What new or hybrid methods are emerging in response to complexity, uncertainty, and transdisciplinary challenges? How can design education challenge dominant knowledge hierarchies and open space for plural ways of knowing?
Crossings of Responsibilities
How can design education cultivate ethical responsibility in the face of uncertainty, complexity, and unintended consequences? Who is held responsible for design decisions when agency is distributed across humans, technologies, and more-than-human actors? How can uncertainty be embraced as a pedagogical resource rather than treated as a problem to be eliminated? How might teaching design differently reshape our ethical relationships with the planet and other forms of life?
Submissions
Important Dates
Submissions TBA
Notification of Acceptance TBA
Conference Dates 8—10 September 2027
Venue
Located in the heart of Istanbul, Istanbul Technical University’s Faculty of Architecture (Taşkışla Campus) is within a 10-minute walking distance of Taksim Square.
Address
Harbiye, Taşkışla Cd. No:2, 34367 Şişli/İstanbul
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