Claudia Mareis

Life is a journey, not a destination.

Prof. Dr. Claudia Mareis is an expert for Design as well as Cultural History and Theory. Since 2021, she has been Professor of Design and History of Knowledge at the Department of Cultural History and Theory at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Since 2019, she is also the Co-Director of the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image Space Material«.

Her research interests include history, theory and methodology of design in the 20th century, knowledge cultures in design, cultural history of creativity, design and material politics.

After initial training in Graphic Design, she studied Design, Art and Cultural Studies in Zurich, Berlin and Linz. Research and teaching positions subsequently took her to the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, the University of the Arts Berne, the University of Basel, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge/MA, and the Vilnius Academy of Art, among others.

From 2013 to 2021, she directed the Institute for Experimental Design and Media Cultures (IXDM) as well as the Critical Media Lab at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design in Basel. At IXDM she has built up a pioneering interdisciplinary research group converging Design, Media Arts, Anthropology, Historical Studies, and Technology.

As a member of several leading design research associations in Germany and Switzerland, Claudia Mareis has excellent networks in the field of Design Research, including the Swiss Design Network and German Society for Design Theory and Research. She also served as a member of the National Research Council of the Swiss National Science Foundation from 2018 to 2021.