Symposium on Sound-Driven Design: Sounding Objects for Societal Impact

This two-day symposium is dedicated to exploring how sound can inform and transform design practices for societal good.

Sound is a vital yet often overlooked dimension of our interactions with the world. It plays a key role in shaping human experiences, environmental awareness, and social cohesion. It influences human perception, urban and ecological systems, and cultural practices – yet it currently remains a gap in how sound is considered and integrated.

This symposium aims to bridge that gap through a multidisciplinary research dialogue, bringing together the sound and design research communities. We will investigate how systemic approaches to sound-driven design can help address the ways in which society influences and is influenced by sound.

This research-focused event will bring together experts in design and sound to explore how systemic approaches to sound-driven design can support societal transformation, through three main thematic sessions:

1. Design Process and Methodology
2. Human-Technology Entanglement
3. Societal Impact of Design

Each session will feature paired lectures and dialogues from design and sound experts, followed by facilitated thematic focus groups. Outcomes from these discussions will be considered for publication in the DRS Digital Library.

Who Should Attend?

This symposium is designed as an active research event where participants can actively engage in research discussions. We therefore expect participants to be at least advanced PhD students. We also welcome early-career or confirmed researchers and practitioners with a strong academic or practice based interest in design and sound engaged in interdisciplinary work.