A practice-led symposium exploring the role of design practice in research contexts. Held at the Monash University Prato Center in Prato, Italy, from September 22nd - 26th, 2025.
We acknowledge the people of the Kulin Nations, on whose unseeded land the majority of this research takes place. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.
This symposium on practice-based design research invites design academics and practitioners to explore how design uniquely contributes to knowledge production. Knowledge creation that occurs both in the explicit research contexts of universities and in the research-informed projects of design practitioners. Practices of design can act to translate, synthesize and integrate the knowledge produced by traditional research disciplines into tangible artefacts that range from communications, to products, from system and service design, to policy change. At the heart of this inquiry is the recognition that design research’s value lies not only in its tangible outcomes but also in the unique processes that inform its practice and generate knowledge and insights through action and experimentation. This theoretical framing sets the stage to examine how design methods facilitate both experimentation and rigour, opening up new pathways for knowledge construction, dissemination, and impact.
Design researchers often navigate the liminal space between theory and practice, leveraging situated and experiential knowledge that may not be easily generalised. This nuanced approach, while powerful, raises fundamental questions about design’s legitimacy within traditional academic structures that prioritise formalised, replicable results. The symposium will consider how academia can better recognise and value design research’s reflexive and context-sensitive contributions. In embracing the designer’s subjective engagement with the research process, we expand our understanding of knowledge creation and pave the way for more inclusive, creative epistemologies.
Image taken as part of an ongoing ethnographic exploration of design and practice research in action.
Honouring this idea, the symposium will break with a traditional conversation and presentation format, blending practice with discourse and engaging with context-sensitive design practice in collaboration with local Italian designers GISTO and Lottezero. Exploring this topic concurrently through practice and conversation. Asking:
What is the current state of contemporary practice-based design research, and how is it evolving? What does design research look like? What does it feel like to do practice research, to design? How is design research defined and experienced across disciplines? What does it mean to engage in the process of designing as a form of research? How does it feel to navigate the tensions and possibilities of practice-led inquiry? What are the unique contributions of design practice to knowledge creation, and how are these understood and valued within and beyond academia? What impact does practice-based design research have on industries, communities, and broader societal challenges? How do the methods, tools, and outputs of design research shape and influence interdisciplinary collaborations? What forms of knowledge does design research create, and how are they disseminated? How does design practice challenge or complement traditional academic structures and expectations? What new futures can design research imagine, prototype, and bring to life? What knowledge does design research contribute?
Recovered materials were transformed into new material for the creation of the collection of modular surfaces and volumes designed by Studio Ossidiana to accommodate and organise a range of activities in the museum. Photo Riccardo De Vecchi.
An open workshop fully equipped with machinery and tools to do research on textile materials and develop textile related projects.
Through collaborative discussions, practical design experiments, and reflections on dissemination, this symposium will foster a collective inquiry into the evolving role of design research. We will interrogate how design methods embody a fluidity that is both challenging and essential in complex problem spaces and how this capacity for integration positions design as a uniquely valuable form of research. This event offers an opportunity to collectively explore and expand design’s methodological and epistemological contributions, embracing its capacity to reimagine research boundaries and engage diverse audiences in transformative ways.
A key element of practice-based design is its acceptance of uncertainty and failure, which is often seen as a liability in other research fields. Through methods like prototyping, speculative design, and iterative testing, designers generate insights that transcend traditional success metrics. Yet translating these insights and processes into clear, actionable applications remains a challenge. We will discuss how practice-based design researchers can articulate the value of their work to fields where repeatable and predictable outcomes are expected, while also showcasing the strength of design's experimental and speculative nature as a means of inquiry.
By examining design’s capacity to bridge academia and the public, we challenge conventional divisions between doing, knowing, and sharing. Design becomes an integrative force, demonstrating its potential to create knowledge, foster reflection, and engage audiences simultaneously. This approach not only elevates design’s role in the research landscape but also redefines how knowledge can be made accessible and impactful.
Image taken as part of an ongoing ethnographic exploration of design and practice research in action.
We recognise the context of this conversation occurring in Italy and within this rich historial design context. In the spirit of Radical Italian Design and the rich histories of Italian Design Manifestos, we adopt the form of the manifesto as a simultaneous form of practice and conversation, inviting critique and co-creation. Through the symposium, we will discuss the ideas represented in an emerging draft manifesto, collectively building, printing, and distributing these manifestos through creative practice in direct connection with the rich textile history of Prato through the experimental textile laboratory Lottozero.
“Full of contradictions, ironies, and clashes, manifestos operate on unsteady ground. The genre combines a romantic quality of dreamers and artists imagining something new and whimsical together with the crushing power of a Mack truck bulldozing over established traditions, trashing accepted/acceptable modes of thought, and eradicating the past. Manifestos do the transformative work of hoping and destroying, reflecting and violently ending things”
Manifesto of Radical Design Research: Toward a Research Future Unbound by Convention
A work-in-progress draft manifesto inviting comment on this emerging conversation.
Symposium Schedule
Conversation and Design Practice.
About Prato
Accomidation, Getting There, and other Important Information.
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1234 Malesuada Rex
Elemeu, AB
349—5874 XYZ
We acknowledge the people of the Kulin Nations, on whose unseeded land the majority of this research takes place. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.
This research is funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council. Dr. Rowan Page is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (DECRA) Fellowship (DE240100161).