The Design Cultures research group places design, material culture and the history of design within a broad social and cultural context.
We explore new approaches to historicising design, taking account of institutional structures, geopolitics, environmental sustainability and activist networks. Starting from a European perspective, we follow transnational patterns to observe the complex circuits of social life shaping contemporary design practices. We draw on theoretical approaches that explain cultural dynamics: gender studies, theories of national identity, post-colonial and decolonial theories, new materialism and the interaction between materiality and visual culture.