4th Dieter Rams Forum

Design – or rather its precursors – and architecture have existed in a kind of symbiosis since the earliest times. From ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics on temple and tomb walls, lavish murals in Pompeii or in the Baroque period, to advertising spaces on house walls in the 19th and 20th centuries, communication design has always been present on and in architecture. And to ensure that people don’t get lost inside, guidance systems are still in use today. Industrial design has been linked to architecture since the 19th century, from historicist over-furnishing to the minimalist built-in bathtubs and fitted kitchens of modernism. Architecture often sets the standard for product design, from the Meissen porcelain temple of love as a table centrepiece in the 18th century to everyday objects as micro-architectures in postmodernism in the 20th century. In addition to the physical, analogue connection between architecture and design, there is now also a digital dimension of virtual spaces.

How could these correlations develop further, and what might the relationship between architecture and design look like in the future? The rams foundation is exploring this question with experts from the fields of architecture, interior design, scenography, signage and journalism.