Launch of the Design Lab and a Great IDEA

The University of Sydney, the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning recently launched the Design Lab, an innovative new centre for digital design.

The Design Lab brings together engineers, designers, artists and architects - all linked by their passion for design and its interface with technology.

The lab reflects the exciting innovation and teaching happening in the Faculty.

Its previous incarnation was known as the Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition (KCDCC), which has been at the cutting edge of its area since the sixties.

As Dr Michael Rosenman, Head of Design Lab, points out: "Back then, computers were mysterious, new, occupying large rooms visited only by boffins in white coats.

Today is a different world, computers are ubiquitous and becoming even more so.

"In future we will see them in the clothes we wear, in wallpaper or even in paint.

Everyone has contact with computing whether it is their watch, mobile phone or washing machine."

Dr Rosenman continues: "The Design Lab shifts focus from traditional computing to design using information and interaction technology.

This is the future - creating, designing and refining our experience of the world through technology."