What is DELLI HAUS - Experimental research "in-class" studio?

In today's academic world full of "Factories", "Agencies", "Employability" departments, internships... Why DELLI still focus on the Studio, Office, "Haus" experimental Learning Experience approach?

Today let me start by stating what the DELLI HAUS concept is NOT!

• DELLI HAUS is not a "FACTORY";
• DELLI HAUS is not a Structure to "build" personal "Egos and fake Personas";
• DELLI HAUS is not a "alternative medicine" to host lectures and researchers that don't have a Professional Background and real life project experience and use the "factories" to undercover this "missing part" of their Curriculum;
• DELLI HAUS is not a "low cost agency" to compete in the Market with the real life market Design companies, Studios, Ateliers and Freelance Designers;
• DELLI HAUS is not a Show-off of Market brands that uses this University "factories" to pay much less for creativity and to enrich their "Ideas database" with all the students ideas even when their only reward One Final selected IDEA?!;
• DELLI HAUS is not a "side dish" autonomous to design programs that aim to "use" students low-cost labor and Creativity only with the purpose of increasing the Design University Social Media awareness of their Courses...

Now, i can state clearly what DESIGN HAUS at DELLI - Design Lusófona Lisboa is:

• DELLI HAUS is centered on our students learning experience - Is part of their skills development within their Design course 3 + 2 Years Program, meaning that is part of their learning model since the moment they step into DELLI Design course. This approach was created since the re-design of our Lusófona Design course. Our Course directors called it "Learning in Curatorship" - Teachers with Academic and Professional background were selected the define the classes programs regarding today's and future's Design languages, market, opportunities and Statements.
• DELLI HAUS philosophy is to bring the Creative Industries community to the classes and back to school to share their manifesto, experience, techniques and real market knowledge to our students, to do that we developed a teaching/learning Method called "CommunityLearning" - based on letting the students Learn with the community that they will be part of when going to the market.
• DELLI HAUS is one of our flagship's to disseminate our self developed applied research models, such as DELLI Metasystem model. In the same future scenarios building challenges, the real life companies and the students learn "hands on" how to use our model creating the future pathways and focus for Design and for Designers. To do that we created, adapted and validate a learning/teaching model called "Contextual Learning" - based on setting contextual challenges and future scenarios with companies, students and the market itself.

DELLI HAUS - Future Scenario Challenge Contextual Learning-class DELTA

• DELLI HAUS results are disseminated by our students work, being a Author Book or a Design proposal. We created the "DELLI Press Unit" to produce and Publish our students work and Show-it in the 4 corners of the world Like the Book Fairs in São Paulo, New York examples. Regarding the Social Media dissemination the "stage" is given to our invited guest lectures / Designers like Lord Manstraste, João Drumond, Bráulio Amado, Isabel Lucena, Rita Carvalho among others. DELLI HAUS is the platform and the HUB to bring together the students and the professionals.

DELLI Design Students Authors Books at São Paulo Book Fair - 2018

Does size matter in the ability and wisdom to innovate in the courses of Design?

In my personal view YES it matters... Why? because to make significative relevant changes in todays Design Courses you need:

• a lean flat organisational structure;
• changing ideas most be built bottom-up, meaning teachers, course directores and management sharing the same view:
• teachers that don't live in their "Comfort zone environments", that have the "sense of urgency" to change;
• a small, cohesive, altruistic team that wants to be in the academy but does not want to lose its connection to the market and the real experiences with companies and creative world;
• a vision oriented to the future that later is translated in the competences and the knowledge that is transmitted to the students TODAY;
• an organisation that is not geared to immediate financial results but rather to the sustainability of the building of a design school that works on the basis of innovative models and design elements that will sustain the profession and Design professionals in the near future;
• an organisation that is willing to do so with students as the engines of this future design. They are the ones who must ask today's questions and seek probable solutions to them;

These set of Assets are easier to find in smaller growing programs, that are more agile, adaptable and willing to make serious structural and deep changes. In these type of Design schools lectures have less barriers and resistance to change because it may mean "survival of extinction", for example.

Its also relevant that its easier to attract specific and hand picked new powerful teachers to a small design program, based on:

• the differentiation of the proposal itself;
• the request to have lectures with academic degree, experience and track record but also that are still connected to the design market, to applied research or even that have "world", meaning professional and academic international experience;

In the end of the day you need lectures, students and managers that are willing to build together the best and the most innovative Design School in Portugal and probable the one of the best "Design Learning Experience in the World"...

At DELLI we are building this Design course, we have been attracting "new but experienced" lectures with international relevance to join our value proposal, we have enrolled "Market Curators", we have the "Creative Community" every day more committed to share their experience with our students, we have a proven teaching / learning approach and model, we have a booming applied research scientific group that is bringing research projects to the Class-room and to the Masters thesis... Still a long and hard way to go, but the existing results empowers our motivation to CHANGE and to INNOVATE every single day, always putting our students not our "egos" in the center of our (r)evolution....

FABLAB ULHT development group powered by DELLI HAUS and Luiz Salomão Ph.D

Américo Mateus - HEAD OF RESEARCH at DELLI - Design Lusófona Lisboa