Wolfgang Schäffner
Humboldt-Universität

In recent decades, a design turn has shaped the natural sciences and inspired the creation of  integrative interdisciplinary research programs. Within this design turn, however, two fundamentally opposing strategies of design are to be distinguished: invasive design (still a driver of the devastating effects of the Anthropocene) and adaptive design, based on the principle of active matter. In this lunchtime talk, Dr. Wolfgang Schäffner explores how adaptive design goes beyond hylomorphism, extractivism, and circulation, aiming at both a non-destructive relationship with nature and a socio-political model for symmetric and plural interactions that include non-human actors.

Dr. Wolfgang Schäffner, a historian of science and media technologies, has been Professor of the Cultural History of Knowledge at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin since 2009; Director of the Cluster of Excellence “Image Knowledge Gestaltung” from 2012 to 2018; Director of the Herman von Helmholtz Center for Cultural Techniques from 2013 to 2021, and currently he is Director of the Cluster of Excellence “Matters of Activity” (all at Humboldt-Universität). He has also been Permanent Guest Full Professor and Director of the Walter Gropius Program at the Universidad de Buenos Aires since 2005.

Thursday, November 3, 12:15 pm
38 West 86th Street, Lecture Hall