60 412 Taste in print (Spring 2026)

Over the past decade, students’ contact and literacy in design publishing have diminished drastically. This decline is due in no small part to the proliferation of digital media, which after its massive expansion around 2009 promised widespread, free access to high-quality content. In reality, recent years have seen this promise replaced by an overwhelming ecology of dubiously curated material, often lacking any human, let alone expert, editorial oversight.

This shift from print to digital has also coincided with a broader trend in higher education that encourages and rewards designer that teach to publish in increasingly obscure, specialized journals rather than in independent or leading design publications. As a result, the universities’ role in shaping taste and public discourse has also declined.

This elective course introduces students to how design publishing shapes taste, and uses the library to introduce students to the rich landscape of design publishing, something earlier generations may have taken for granted, but which today is threatened more by widespread ignorance among young generations than by the fragile economics of the industry.

Meeting weekly in the library, the course will introduce and discuss a wide range of design publications, from monographs, periodicals, peer-reviewed journals, self-published works, to independent and edgy imprints, with a focus on the role of graphic material as a form of knowledge. Guest speakers engaged in some of the most interesting design publishing today will share how they select new projects, secure funding, and connect with their evolving young audiences.

Together, we will study publications that have been instrumental in defining trends and shaping taste over the past two decades, exploring what channels are replacing them today. We will trace the turbulent transition from print media to the rise (and fall) of high-quality blogs, Tumblr accounts, and paywalled digital platforms, concluding with a look at exemplary Instagram-based self-publishing practices.

Structured as a series of conversations in the library, the course requires active participation. We will treat the student group itself as a cross-section of today’s design audience, using this as an opportunity to examine how taste is formed, what influences it, and how individual preferences are shaped by broader cultural consumption. As with food, we are what we consume.

In parallel, students will develop an individual project: the selection and classification of at least 25 drawings related to “the road” as an architectural or landscape surface. Through the publications we explore, we will build a collective archive of at least one hundred annotated images as a foundation for a potential future publication. Finally, we will discuss what such a publication could become, its audience, ideal publisher, potential funding strategies, and how to formulate a compelling book proposal.

After successfully completing the course, you have acquired the following knowledge:

• Research methods that introduce students to notions of impact and quality applied to visual material as opposed to text-based scholarship.
• Learning about drawings and graphic representations as meaningful disciplinary contributions in landscape architecture and architecture.
• Learning to compare different printed sources and understand the nature of design publishing, including the endurance of ideas in print.
• Basic techniques for discerning and organizing graphic material found in print sources.
• The students will acquire the knowledge necessary to effectively engage in historic graphic research.
• A broad understanding of the evolution of architecture and landscape architecture publishing culture in the past two decades

You have acquired the following skills:

• Graphic research techniques
• Evaluation of impact on different forms of print material
• Advanced use of the library
• Critically discussing the work and impact of other designers thorough the channels it is published.

You have acquired the following general competence:

• Research and design communication

Weekly meetings in the library where we discuss books, periodicals and other publications available in the library. Some sessions are used entirely or partially to explore in the library and find relevant material for the following session. The main pedagogical method is to meet as a group around books on the table. Some sessions will be used in part for guests involved in design publishing.

Course structure

At the beginning of each class, all relevant books should be organized on the table and open in the relevant pages. The second hour of the course can also be used to scan material.

In some sessions we will have discussions on book making, publishing culture, publication strategies and publishers.

Make sure to show your progress at least once every two weeks.

During the elective week we will assemble a collection off annotated images and discuss at the end how to start a publication.

The last day of the elective week there will be a final exhibition and presentations with one external guest involved in design publishing.

Form of assessment: Assignment submission

Grouping: Individual

Grading scale: Pass/fail

Description of the assessment: Students generate a report A4 format. Minimum 25 annotated images as per the template. The report will be exhibited in the library on the final review day. Students present orally using the content of the report as support.