Karin Seiler
What determines your working day?
Juggling all the different smaller and larger tasks in my day-to-day working life at the university while also thinking ahead short-term as well as long-term. For instance, ensuring that students can graduate in the appropriate form in the spring term of 2021, finishing the term, planning the autumn term and developing the new curriculum as part of the academic reform.
Where at the ZHdK can you be found?
In future, hopefully teaching again in the Oblichtsaal – one of the most beautiful rooms at the Toni-Areal site. Conditions there are ideal for teaching analogue drawing and painting, the basic skills on which scientific illustrators build their expertise. The sound of a pencil on paper and the smell of paint really lift the spirits after three terms of distance teaching.
Which topics are you focussing on at the moment?
The crisis of trust in science that emerged in the context of the pandemic has made me think more deeply about the role of visualisation in science communication and also about new formats and media. How can the latest research results be conveyed in a precise and comprehensible way to the widest possible audience? How can the different aspirations of science and design be combined? This is a highly relevant issue, also in the context of the climate crisis.
What are you reading at the moment?
The book «Invisible Women» by Caroline Criado Perez about the «gender data gap» is an eye-opener. It highlights the need for action in society to achieve genuine equality between women and men. I very much recommend it, particularly for designers.
Who would you like to work with one day?
I am fascinated by the history and collections of natural science museums, so at some point, I would like to work together with experts and jointly curate an exhibition at the interface between scientific research and design.
What is your personal definition of design?
Design is everything that has been deliberately created with a specific function in mind.
With whom would you like to switch roles for half a year?
With a dancer, a choreographer or a singer. I would like to work with my body or voice for a while and immerse myself in their respective ways of working.
Where do you see the Department of Design in 2050?
I hope that the department will have evolved in ways we can’t even imagine now – because I believe that today’s challenges will require new forms of society and therefore also a different concept of education.
