The lecture provides an overview of the cultural and design history of the 20th century to the present day. We also discuss how the history of design can be conceived in the first place: What should it actually encompass? When did design begin? What exactly is design? Because in the general literature, one often encounters rather “dusty” views on these questions.  The lecture includes an accompanying workshop on scientific writing with Carolin Scheler. The aim is to submit a written homework on a topic of your choice (mandatory in the first semester of ID). The exercise takes place in small groups.  Topics covered in the lecture:  What is design? Concept criticism  Design as a social reform movement  The Bauhaus: Cathedral of the arts European avant-garde: From Dada, De Stijl, and constructivists Design as propaganda: From Nazi design to “fake news” Contradictions of the post-war period: Kidney table HfG Ulm – from the myth of functionality Pop design postmodernism Excursion to Hamburg: Museum of Arts and Crafts

The current era is particularly marked by conflicts and even wars, especially those in which the fronts are already completely entrenched, the warring parties have utterly opposing views, and each believes itself to be in the right. Constructive encounters that do not further divide people, as well as societal and social progress, are hardly possible in such a setting. The concept of ambiguity is experiencing a resurgence, possibly as a kind of response to the current state of society. Not only current non-fiction literature, such as Svenja Flaßpöhler's book 'Streiten' (Arguing), but also recent films such as 'Barbie' and 'American Fiction' provide multi-layered answers to questions that may not have clear-cut answers. The ideas presented in these books and films offer perspectives that can be interpreted and developed in different directions. Strategies of ambiguity are also used in art, and even design can be influenced by them. All these fields of application thus represent a principle that Thomas Bauer, for example, calls 'tolerance of ambiguity', or the intellectual approach of narrative diversity described by Fritz Breithaupt. The seminar deals with strategies that counteract the 'simple answers' of the present day and allow for multiple answers to complex questions. In addition to the field of art, popular culture and design, the focus is on topics such as ambiguity intolerance and racism, diversity and tolerance, and self-realization. The aim is to develop various theoretical concepts of ambiguity and to watch and analyze the film 'American Fiction' together against this backdrop, in order to explore how ambiguity and ambiguity are anchored in the respective creative practice or in the everyday life of the students.