Doing Things between Theorypraxis and Praxistheory

 

Konstantin D. Haensch (Dr. des. Berlin, M.A. Berlin, M.A. Princeton) is a professor in the ‘Science and Theory’ Cluster of the Faculty of Design at the University of Applied Science and Art Hildesheim. He teaches classes on i) Design Research/Research through Design and ii) the history, theory, and critical praxis of design and its managerial, strategic, and entrepreneurial entanglements.

 

Biographical Notes

In the nexus of theory and praxis, Konstantin has worked in the interdisciplinary areas of aesthetics, media culture, design, strategy, and business. His research delves into the connections between various epistemologies and materialities that shape objects of modernity like “Entrepreneurship” and “Interfaces,” operating within current design, creative, and entrepreneurial dispositifs. He is the founder and co-editor of the 8-volume book series texturen (Logos Berlin), Uncanny Issues (Textem Hamburg), and co-editor of Genealogy of Media-Thinking (UdK Berlin).

He has taught B.A. and M.A. courses at Berlin University of the Arts, HTW University of Applied Sciences Berlin, University of Potsdam, HAWK – University of Applied Science and Art Hildesheim, and Princeton University.

Konstantin’s professional journey began as a certificated Media Designer for Digital and Print (IHK Fulda). Before his academic pursuits, he co-founded a tech startup. Subsequently, he was a branding executive at a digital platform company and worked as ‘Head of Strategy’ at a digital agency. Upon his relocation to Berlin, he earned his B.A. and M.A. (supervisor: Siegfried Zielinski) in Communication in Social and Economic Contexts from Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin), with the support of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung).

While at UdK Berlin, he served for six years as a Research Assistant at UdK’s Institute for Theory and Praxis of Communication under the chair of Thomas Düllo. As part of a research project on urban ethnography and cultural geography, he served as a visiting scholar in the Chinese University of Hong Kong‘s anthropology department. 2022 Konstantin completed his dissertation project under the guidance of Thomas Düllo and Franz Liebl on the design & strategy history of the connected smart speaker (publication in progress).

From 2020-23, he held a graduate stipend from the German Department at Princeton University, where he completed the M.A. program with a thesis on Hans Blumenberg and Michel Foucault. (Advisors: Joel Lande, Nikolaus Wegmann)

 

Editorial Work

Book Series “texturen. Buchreihe für texturale Artikulationen”

Genealogy of Media Thinking

Uncanny Issues

Latest Books

  • “Design aus Hildesheim. Verorten – verantworten – verhandeln – verändern.” Göttingen: 2025. Ed. Sabine Foraita, Konstantin Haensch, Dominika Hasse. (via Steidl Verlag)
  • “Texturen Nr. 9 – Schmucken” Berlin: 2025. Ed. Melanie Isverding, Konstantin Haensch, Thomas Düllo, Karin Deckner. (via Logos Verlag)

Texts

Events

  • Event: “Mapping “Research Through Design” – Karten der Designforschung” March 2024, at Projektor Project Space. Berlin, Germany
  • Lecture: “Doing Cultural Studies: A Story of the Smart Speaker ‘Amazon Echo'” November 2023, at: Faculty of Social Sciences at: University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • Conference Presentation: “Methods of Design Management” August 2023, at: Guangdong Design Week, Guangdong University of Technology, China
  • Event: Uncanny Issues x RISS “‘Un-‘: An Evening for a Prefix” 24.04.2023, at: Lettrétage Berlin, Germany
  • Workshop Participation: “Boundary Project,” 2022, at: Berlin University of the Arts, Germany and University of Oxford, England
  • Conference Organization: “Akustische Interfaces Konferenz,” 2022, at: Medientheater, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany
  • Conference Moderation: “Panel 3 – Utopia and Idyll Today,” 2021, at: Idyll and Utopia Conference, Princeton University, USA
  • Conference Presentation: “‘Smart Home’, ‘Home Automation’ und ‘Shy-Tech:’ Neue Interface-Räume des alltäglichen Unheimlichen und medialen Horrors,” 2021, at: Tagung Horror Medien Räume, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
  • Conference Presentation (postponed): “‘Interfacing Spaces:’ Impacts of the Customer-Centricity Paradigm in Technological and Cultural Environments,” 2020, at: Crossroads in Cultural Studies, University of Lisbon, Portugal
  • Lecture: “Materialität der Medien und Medialität der Dinge. Transformationen der Dingwelt im Ubiquitären Computing,” 2019, at: Ringvorlesung zu aktuellen Fragen der Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftskommunikation, Berlin University of the Arts Berlin, Germany
  • Conference Presentation: “Von der Materialität digitaler Medien zu der Digitalität alltäglicher Materialität am Beispiel von Smart Speakern,” 2019, at: Jahrestagung der Sektion Medien- und Kommunikationssoziologie, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Soziologie, University of Gießen, Germany
  • Conference Presentation: “Interface-Dinge. Normalisierungen von datafizierter Materialität,” 2019, on the panel “Materialitäten des Interfaces” at: GfM Jahrestagung 2019 “Medien-Materialitäten,” University of Cologne, Germany
  • Conference Presentation: “From Unfamiliar to Familiar. Processes of Normalization through TV/Web-Video Content on the Example of Smart Speakers,” 2019, at: Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies – The Future of Democracy in the Digital Age, University of Bonn, Germany
  • Participation: “ACS Summer Institute 2019 – The Future of Publics,” 2019, at: Association for Cultural Studies Summer Institute 2019, Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany
  • Conference Presentation: “‘Echoes’ in our ‘Home.’ Aspects of the Uncanny of a new Class of Everyday Objects,” 2018, at: Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference 2018, Shanghai University, China
  • Presentation: “Das Unheimliche der Schnittstelle,” 2017, at: 3. Promotionskolloquium der Fakultät Gestaltung, Berlin Centre for Advanced Studies in Arts and Sciences, Berlin, Germany
  • Conference Presentation: “The Magical Interface – Objects in Cinema as Foreshadowing of Modern Interaction Technology,” 2014, at: Interface Critique Conference, Berlin University of the Arts, Germany
  • Exhibition: “Bilder von Einheimischen,” 2014, at: Festival Steirischer Herbst, Institut des Steierischen Herbstes, Schaumfabrik Graz and Vienna, Austria

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