Zhuo Chen, 2020

Michael Candy, 2020

Chris Kay, 2021

4D Design

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Department Philosophy

The newest program offered at the Academy, the 4D Design department aims to prepare the next generation of design innovators and leaders aspiring to work with emerging technology.

Department Philosophy

The newest program offered at the Academy, the 4D Design department aims to prepare the next generation of design innovators and leaders aspiring to work with emerging technology.

The department explores the myriad ways that the physical world around us has become infused with an undercurrent of flowing data, turning everyday experiences into connected, feedback-driven interactions that are transforming every aspect of culture and society.

We build on Cranbrook’s historic legacy of experimental design activities–such as Eames’ endless tinkering to produce new forms from experimental materials–while redefining craft to encompass a broad range of outcomes including interactive objects, projected images, embedded electronics, applied robotics, computer-controlled machining, 3D printing and mixed reality environments.

Department Philosophy

We are designers, activists, artists, authors and entrepreneurs.

Cryptid, Michael Candy

Department Philosophy

We are designers, activists, artists, authors and entrepreneurs.

We know that future solutions can only be understood through real time, physical, interactive experiences and value the importance of hands-on making to push ideas forward through iterative, prototyped experiences. Our practice spans a variety of scales, both in its presence as well as its production, morphing easily from a handheld device to a room-sized installation to a digitally-distributed, locally manufactured product. We are designers, activists, artists, authors and entrepreneurs.

Though relatively new as a field, the impact of 4D Design is profound. While we can confidently say that the future is here in terms of technological advances, it will take a new generation of well-educated and sophisticated designers to weave that technology into the world that we want for ourselves and future generations. Cranbrook 4D students will be perfectly positioned to lead the way through thoughtful, responsible and compassionate design exploration.

Carla Diana with POLI Service Robot Close Project

Designer In Residence

Carla Diana

Carla Diana is a designer, author, and educator who explores the impact of future technologies through hands-on experiments in product design and tangible interaction. She has designed a range of products from robots to connected home appliances, and her designs have appeared on the covers of Popular Science, Technology Review and The New York Times Sunday Review. She is an ongoing collaborator with the Socially Intelligent Machines Lab at the University of Texas, Austin, where advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning manifest in expressive robots. She also serves as Head of Design for Diligent Robotics. Diana writes and lectures frequently on the social impact of robotics and emerging technology and created the world’s first children’s book on 3D printing, LEO the Maker Prince. She co-hosts the Robopsych Podcast, a biweekly discussion around design and the psychological impact of human-robot interaction, and is the author of My Robot Gets Me: How Social Design Can Make New Products More Human, published by Harvard Business Review Press.

More About Carla

Steve Kuypers, 2020

Jerry Li, Emotional Hat Prototype, 2020

Zhuo Chen, 2020

Program

The 4D program embraces the fields of Experience Design/Interaction Design and other time-based, technology-driven, interactive works.

Cranbrook’s 4D Design program centers around a communal studio environment where exceptional designers and artists will explore the intersection of the physical and the digital to create prototypes, products, and provocations in the form of interactive objects, dynamic displays, and mixed reality environments. Work produced in the program grows from each individual’s pursuit of a line of inquiry that incites passion and reflects personal values.

The program welcomes applicants with a foundation in engineering and/or computer science knowledge who want to be immersed in a rigorous culture of creative practice and critical thinking, as well as those with significant design, art, or architecture experience who wish to focus their work on technological implications to pursue a higher level of discourse. Each cohort will be comprised of a carefully curated mix of individuals whose viewpoints and skillsets complement one another, encouraging a rich dynamic of rapid and continuous knowledge sharing.

Still have questions about the program? Are you wondering, “what is the fourth D?” Click on our “Frequently Asked Questions” below for more information.

4D Design Department FAQs

Program

The 4D studio culture is defined by hacking, making, coding, and obsessive tinkering.

Program

The 4D studio culture is defined by hacking, making, coding, and obsessive tinkering.

Students will advance their knowledge through passionate research, active prototype creation and iteration and strategic alliances with experts and sources of inspiration. As with the other disciplines in the Academy, the core program activity centers around studio-based projects with an emphasis on developing an individual body of work. Students delve deeply into a personal area of interest while engaging with other members of their cohort to collectively fuel knowledge through ongoing dialogue and regularly scheduled critique. In addition to the program-specific critiques, students will participate in Academy-wide reviews. 4D designers will also serve as disciplinary ambassadors by welcoming alliances that can benefit ambitious projects while matching their own educational goals.

Program

4D students build upon the following areas of exploration:

1. Dynamic product behaviors
2. Software development
3. Expressive coding
4. Systems visualization
5. Embedded electronics and applied robotics
6. Connected devices and product ecosystems
7. Augmented, virtual and mixed reality
8. Voice control and conversational interfaces
9. 3D printing and material creation
10. Biometrics, prosthetics, and augmentation
11. Telepresence and avatars

Program

Facilities

4D Design is housed in a state-of-the-art facility that was custom designed for the new program. Each student is given studio space dedicated to their focused work and ongoing projects.

Equipment includes soldering and electronics assembly work stations and digital fabrication equipment:

Tormach 1100M Four Axis CNC Milling Machine
Makerbot Replicator Z18 Large Build Volume FDM Printer
Form Labs Form 3 UV SLA Printer
Tronrud Engineering TC-2 Digital Jacquard Loom
Bantam Tools Desktop PCB Milling Machine
Mayku vacuum former
Shaper Origin Handheld CNC Router
Roland 24 Vinyl Cutter
Several sewing machines for wearable electronics and soft goods prototyping

We also have a space dedicated to virtual, augmented, and mixed reality that includes VR headsets and a ceiling-mounted grid for hanging projectors and RGBd cameras.

4D Design students have access to Cranbrook’s excellent central facilities for fabrication in metals, wood, ceramics, fiber, and other materials as well as the Academy’s Central Media Lab which houses large format printers, computer stations, a theater, and photography studio.

Timi Amos Oyedeji

Madeline Schwartzman at Cranbrook Academy of Art

Brendan Dawes

Nervous System

Emilie Baltz

Catalysts

Instead of having visiting artists, we have Catalysts.

4D Catalysts are internationally recognized experts in the area of design for emerging technology who have an ongoing relationship with the program. They will work directly with students through lectures and workshops in active engagements that will take a variety of forms such as charrette challenges with specific design prompts, one-on-one critiques, studio tours, and targeted research projects. Catalysts are carefully selected to represent a spectrum of current ideas and contribute to the collective voice of the program.