27 February–3 April 2006 / Casco HQ
February 27: Jeanne van Heeswijk
March 13: Pascale Gatzen
March 27: Matthew Fuller
April 3: Ben van Berkel
The current research programs of Casco, MAHKU/MA Design and the Utrecht Manifest engage with interdisciplinary questions. The basis for this crossover approach is the tendency of theoretical discourses on visuality to fork into specific fields such as visual art, fashion, interior design, urban design, and editorial design. Consequently, interconnectivity between visual fields and their research output rarely occurs despite the proclaimed interest in crossovers and a joint passion for visual culture and visual information. Thus, crossover research and the related production of concepts and ideas seem to be mere occasional incidents due to the theoretical fragmentation of the visual field.
Indeed, one could speak of a void in the production of topical discourse in the field of visual information. Accordingly, a desire for modernist forms of engagement – which has always functioned as a legitimation for design work and visual work in general – appears to emerge as a common denominator albeit one with topical undercurrents. In this context, questions emerge such as: What form could a topical legitimation of visuality take? What forms of engagement function in visual work in the 21st century? How could an interdisciplinary form of discourse contribute to those forms of engagement?
Each of the four workshops begins with a designer or artist introducing their practice, each of which is characterized by interdisciplinarity and engagement. Five questions will be formulated in the context of the introduction. Students work in groups of five and elaborate on those questions and their possible answers. At the end of the afternoon, the results of the group discussions are presented in a plenary meeting.

