THE DANISH CENTRE FOR DESIGN RESEARCH (DCDR)
at The Royal School of Fine Arts, School of Architecture

Head of research: Anders Brix

Design research at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture focuses on design areas related to architecture - the spatial. The DCDR's research covers five main areas and their respective methodological tracks:

• Material, process and form: investigating the relationship between material features and production possibilities as well as the forms which eventually may arise from these two prerequisites.
• Space, furniture and object: form a cluster focusing on the accommodation of spaces and the shapes of furniture and elements within certain spaces.
• Design theory and history: strives to develop a specific design theory as an aspect of architectural theory and history.
• Font, identity and wayfinding: a cluster within research in graphic design, examining the design of fonts and types with particular focus on public, architectural spaces.
• Dialogue-based design and innovation: explores the processes, methods and results of user-driven innovation, which increasingly defines the conditions for product development in the field of design.

Design Research is all at once basic, architectural and multidisciplinary. On the basic level, we are working on the ontology and core issues of design disciplines, be it in the form of written theoretical reflections, or as artistic development work. The professional, architectural and multidisciplinary approach is eminent in our collaborations with companies and other specialised units at universities in Denmark and abroad.
Research results are being communicated in several ways: Partly via the traditional channels of research publication, i.e. through articles in research journals and other media, partly by exhibitions and through the documentation of innovation work in design.
In addition, KA's design researchers perform various tasks related to cultural heritage. These tasks range from accumulating knowledge about the conservation and reconstruction of inscriptions to maintaining and expanding the school's furniture collection.

Research and teaching are linked. As professional, architectural research and design methodology are the core of research processes at KA, it is natural that students are included in the work, just as research results form the basis for teaching.

THE DANISH CENTRE FOR DESIGN RESEARCH (DCDR)
at the architect and design schools

Head: Dorthe Mejlhede

Mission
The mission of the Danish Centre for Design Research (DCDR) is to promote research efforts in design in Denmark in general and to help the Danish design schools establish productive and interlinked research environments in particular. Thus, the DCDR aims to form the basis for research-based education in the design education programmes under the Danish Ministry of Culture.

Collaboration with the industry
The Centre actively engages in dialogue with the industry. By this, the DCDR aims to make design research available to Danish companies and to test the applicability of new theoretical and practical knowledge in cooperation with the industry.
Thus, the Centre seeks to strengthen the exchange of knowledge about design research and to facilitate the identification of potential areas of cooperation between researchers, design schools and the industry, both nationally and internationally.

Activities
The Danish Centre for Design Research is active in:

• gathering and disseminating knowledge about design research at the partnership institutions
• coordinating ongoing research and supporting the initiation of new research projects carried out at the partnership institutions, individually or as joint efforts
• establishing research environments with active research efforts to allow researchers to qualify for positions as assistant and associate professors in a university structure
• establishing collaboration with other research institutions and networks in the design field, nationally as well as internationally
• hosting seminars, conferences, debates etc.
• seeking to increase the external funding for DCDR's activities
• offering supervision to research students, and
• participating in the development and provision of master's programmes in design.

Background
The centre for Design Research was established in 2003 on the basis of an evaluation report on Danish design education programmes issued by the Danish Ministry of Culture in 2000. The report recommended that the Danish architecture and design schools strengthen their research efforts in the area of design.
As an umbrella organisation for the partnership institutions' design research, the DCDR is supposed to establish networks between the participating schools and other institutions as well as the industry.

University status
The Danish architecture schools have acquired university status and offer research-based bachelor and master's programmes in architecture and design. The DCDR's role is to assist the institutions in their efforts to promote design research as the foundation for research-based teaching.
The Danish design schools are in the process of developing strong research environments with a view to acquire university status and awarding bachelors' and master's degrees on par with the schools of architecture. The DCDR contributes to this process, for example by coordinating developments in design research, communicating research results and by initiating new research projects.

Research Evaluation
In 2010, the design research carried out at architecture and design schools will be evaluated. The evaluation will show whether the design schools' research is of the required quality and whether their research environments are sufficient in size in order to grant the schools university status.