CreaSearch is a research project aiming at proposing satisfying models of creation based research in design. Creation in design is to be understood as a specific, unexpected and prospective answer to complex problems; creation in design is different from conception, in the sense that it focuses on the aesthetic and critical quality of the answers (or prototypes or products), but it also is different from artistic creation (Moles, 1970, Steiner, 2001), in the sense that design is linked to a production-consumption system that cannot be confused or compared to the art world. CreaSearch is based on a three-step enquiry (close examination of the art and design research literature, quantitative enquiry by email questionnaires to Art and Design Schools worldwide and qualitative interviews with senior researchers active in research creation). Mapping how research creation is understood and practiced provides a pragmatic context for developing research models that are methodologically acceptable for designers focused on a creative activity and for the international design research community. Theoretically focused on project-based research (Findeli, 2007), CreaSearch examines how and to what extent creative projects can be relevant to research.
Leading House HEAD – Genève - Institut de recherche en design
Research Team Magdalena Gerber / Lysianne Léchot Hirt – project leader / Florence Marguerat / Manon Mello / Laurent Soldini
Partners ECAL
Financing Fond stratégique HES-SO
Website www.creasearching.ch
