When design meets art and Turkish culture. Lessons learned from making

Worldwide social, economic and political changes have altered not only our lives but also art and design and its meaning in society. It is time to revise our frame of reference and criteria. The questions in this paper relate to socio-cultural awareness: how and in what way can designers meet with artists as to build a bridge between different cultures? How and in what way does this meeting and active collaboration of different perceptions and approaches on identities and heritage consolidate the rich cultural diversity of Europe? Linked to the actual setting of the city of Istanbul as cultural capital of Europe in 2010, questions relating to this cultural context have been initiated by a group of art and design students from Brussels (St Lukas), Eindhoven (TU/e) and Istanbul (ITU), resulting in a short-term exhibition in Istanbul as a showcase of their artistic and design outcomes. The present paper follows the track of 3 Eindhoven design students. Within Ludvigsen’s framework of social interaction [9], it presents and analyses motivational drives and strategies of the reflective and transformative design process and prototyping, as has been set out by Hummels and Frens [3]. To conclude it takes a closer look at the differences between the educational cultures of art and design and what lessons can be learned in the future.