de en

Artistic Research Project "Commune"


The artistic research project Commune, conducted by Christoph Knoth and Konrad Renner (both professors of Digital Graphics at the HFBK Hamburg) and taking place during the summer semester of 2020, investigated the social structures and technical needs of temporary communities in the digital sphere. What power structures exist in the digital sphere? What are the technological, but also social (and usually invisible) norms that are constructed within it? In partnership with the designer and curator Prem Krishnamurthy, a number of experts were invited to participate in a total of four rounds of digital discussion. Students from the Digital Graphics class prepared the framework, in terms of both form and content. The talks took place in a video chat designed by Benedikt Rottstegge and could be followed in a livestream on the project's own website.

With Prem Krishnamurthy performing magnificently as moderator, a very wide diversity of discussion participants were brought together: whilst the Amsterdam design studio Moniker reported on their experience of participative online film projects and described the effects of gamification, Elvia Wilk discussed forms of communication in live-action role-playing (LARP) groups. For these groups – which also exist in the digital sphere – are by no means protected spaces with established communication rules. Rather, it is a case of developing an ethical Interaction Design and becoming conscious of the existing forms of racism. This was also the central theme of the lecture by American Artist. They researches the digital information age against the backdrop of blackness and Afro-American culture. One of their theses is that current network technology must also be examined for colonial influences, just like other social spheres. Artist* references the transition that took place in the 1970s from black command lines to the white user interfaces that we use today. This is because white interfaces – Google’s front page, for instance – are perceived as neutral. Although many devices of today offer a dark mode, this does not represent a general systemic change in technological development, as the structures of Silicon Valley are insufficiently diverse to support this.

In her contribution, Laura Kurgan addresses the significance of homophily – the supposition that we like people who are similar to ourselves. Social housing planning is based upon this hypothesis, and, indeed, it is also applied to virtual communities. A good example of this is the Facebook algorithm that relates to findings on homophily. However, even the investigations into friendship conducted in 1964 by the scientists Lazarsfeld and Merton demonstrate the deficiencies, as Kurgan neatly demonstrates. What if the opposite were true? In support of this, Kurgan cites a scientific study by Mark Granovetter. In 1973, Granovetter demonstrated the importance of the less developed social relationships: it is the weak ties that are in the position to bring together members of very different small groups. If the algorithm were different, perhaps we would not find ourselves in this filter bubble?

Influenced by his experiences with the Occupy movement, Richard D. Bartlett has developed software that uses virtual decisionmaking and coordination or voting processes in non-hierarchically organised groups and institutions. Building on his experiences with The Hum, a form of management consultancy for organisations without management, he founded the research network microsolidarity.cc. Within this network, he collects instructions and support for smaller groups and crews who arrive at certain specific content-related issues and come together in order to perform meaningful work together. In this context, individual experiences of family and religious communities have a significant influence on behaviour and presentation within groups. How do we take all interests into account without holding endless meetings with no decisions? How should we collect feedback, and how should we prioritise? Thus, the focus is primarily on interpersonal rather than technical problems. Many groups fail because they require one hundred percent agreement from all members for all their decisions. It would be far more helpful to define a set of minimal compromises that can then be built on and further defined.

At the conclusion of this series of discussions, on 1 July 2020, a meeting took place between James Andrews and Rebecca Stephany: two figures who address empowerment, community building, and diversity in very different ways. Whilst Andrews, who has a background in the music business and early Internet business, brings together venture capital and young entrepreneurs who operate outside established networks and take social interaction into virtual spaces, Rebecca Stephany conducts work on visual fundamentals: working jointly with the designer Anja Kaiser, she has developed the “Glossary of Undisciplined Design”: this multi-part project consists of a series of teaching formats and workshops, the symposium, and a publication. In it, they present non-adapted pioneers in graphic design alongside contemporary artists whose practices question the Eurocentric and male-dominated historiography in graphic design. The range of formats they present in the context of Commune include artistic interventions, performances, and lectures. In this way, they allow a multiplicity of voices to be heard with an equality of rights and equality in terms of content, an approach that Commune also pursues and achieves.

In the second phase of the project, explorative workshops, experimental series, and visual sketches will be used to research ways of allowing different opinions and attitudes to be heard with parity and ways for discourses can be enabled that are not normally perceived owing to the existing power structures. The results will then be published on an online platform. Together, all of this adds up to a speculative collecting of knowledge on alternative methods of digital communication, on social responsibility in digital learning, in transparent decision-making processes, and in the influence of the interface.

10th June – 1st July 2020, Commune, 10th June 2020, Design Studio Moniker (Luna Maurer & Roel Wouters, Amsterdam) and Elvia Wilk (the art and architecture critic and author of the 2019 novel Oval, who lives in New York City) | 17th June 2020, Laura Kurgan (professor of architecture at the Center for Spatial Research at Columbia University) and American Artist (an artist, author, and culture producer who lives in New York City.) | 24th June 2020, Richard D. Bartlett (software developer, activist, and author) and Nora N. Khan (a critic and author who writes on technology, digital culture, and philosophy who also lectures at the Rhode Island School of Design) | 1st July 2020, James Andrews (networker and entrepreneur) and Rebecca Stephany (designer and professor for visual communication at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe) | A project by Prof. Christoph Knoth and Prof. Konrad Renner, with Prem Krishnamurthy and students from the Digital Graphics class at the HFBK Hamburg. Supported by the Hamburg Open Online University | https://commune.hfbk.net/

Link to the Commune-Website

Jahresausstellung 2019, Arbeit von Hanna Naske und Florence Schreiber (Klasse Prof Raimund Bauer); photo: Lukes Engelhardt

Grande Finale

At the end of the year, we invite you to a varied program of events with a film premiere by Omer Fast at the Abaton Kino, a book presentation and the student book fair at the Extended Library, the ASA-Open Studios and a new exhibition at ICAT. Better than snow!

A sculpture of a small elephant that functions as a climbing frame in a park in Hamburg

Der Elefant im (öffentlichen) Raum Hamburg

The Elephant in The Room – Sculpture today

The two-day symposium on December 2 and 3, 2024, is dedicated to current issues and developments in the field of sculpture. It will be accompanied by an exhibition at the HFBK Hamburg's ICAT.

Exhibition view on the occasion of Hiscox Art Prize 2024; photo: Tim Albrecht

Hiscox Art Prize 2024

The HFBK Hamburg cordially invites to the award ceremony of the Hiscox Art Prize 2024 and to the opening of the exhibition with the nominated artists.

The cinema in the new film house, Finkenau 42; photo: Tim Albrecht

Opening of the 2024/25 semester centred on the new film house

After six decades of outstanding film education at the HFBK Hamburg, we will celebrate the opening of the new film house on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 with the start of the academic year. We will also introduce the new professors and welcome the new students.

Graphic design of the exhibition title

"The New Woman - How Female Artists and Designers shaped the Image of Modernism", graphic by Liudmila Savelyeva, Karla Krey, Amira Mostafa (Klasse Digitale Grafik)

The New Woman

The exhibition "The New Woman - How Female Artists and Designers Shaped the Image of Modernism" presents more than 50 works by 14 selected female artists and designers who studied at the Staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule zu Hamburg, the predecessor institution of the HFBK, from 1907 onwards. At a time when women were still denied access to many other art academies.

Matthis Frickhœffer in his installation "Framing Electric Dreams" (with Sebastian Kommer) as part of the exhibition "Imaging Health I" 2022 at the ICAT of the HFBK Hamburg; photo: Tim Albrecht

Doing a PhD at the HFBK Hamburg

The HFBK Hamburg is the first art academy in Germany to offer a PhD in Art Practice. At the start of the programme, we are looking for artistic doctoral projects that deal with changing health concepts and the diverse social transformation processes from an artistic perspective. Apply now!

Fade-in of the Hannah Arendt sequence from the conversation with Günter Gaus at the start of the conversation between Juliane Rebentisch and Natan Sznaider in the auditorium of the HFBK Hamburg on 7 June 2024; photo: Maximilian Glas

Summer of theory

The past semester was filled with lectures, discussions, panels and talks. Here we offer a brief look back at the summer of Theory 2024 with the lecture series "Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism in Art", the project "Archives of the Body - The Body of Archiving" as well as the talks with Natan Sznaider.

Detail: Installation by Mark Morris; photo: Tim Albrecht

Graduate Show 2024 - Letting Go

From 12 to 14 July 2024 (2 - 8 p.m.), more than 160 graduates from the 2023/24 academic year will be showing their final artistic works in a comprehensive exhibition at the HFBK Hamburg. In addition, all graduation films will be presented in the new cinema hall of the Filmhaus at Finkenau 42 as part of Final Cut.

Julia Scher, Territorium, 2024, installationview at ICAT of HFBK Hamburg; photo: Tim Albrecht

Finkenwerder Art Prize 2024

The US artist Julia Scher will receive the Finkenwerder Art Prize 2024, while Anna Stüdeli, who studied sculpture at the HFBK Hamburg, will be honoured with the Finkenwerder Grant from the HFBK.

Archives of the Body - The Body in Archiving

With a symposium, an exhibition, a film programme and a digital publication, the research project conceived by Prof. Hanne Loreck and Vanessa Gravenor examines the "archive" as a form of order with regard to the human body. Which body archives and discourses have become established? What potentials for political-aesthetic resistance and activism could and can emerge?

Sharon Poliakine, Untitled, 2023, oil on canvas, detail

New partnership with the School of Arts at the University of Haifa

On the occasion of a new partnership with the School of Arts at the University of Haifa, the HFBK Hamburg is presenting an exhibition by the artists Birgit Brandis, Sharon Poliakine and HFBK students.

photo: Ronja Lotz

Exhibition recommendations

Numerous exhibitions with HFBK participation are currently on display. We present a small selection and invite you to visit the exhibitions during the term break.

Visitors of the annual exhibition 2024; photo: Lukes Engelhardt

Annual Exhibition 2024 at the HFBK Hamburg

From February 9 -11, 2024 (daily 2-8 pm) the students of HFBK Hamburg present their artistic productions from the past year. In addition, the exhibition »Think & Feel! Speak & Act!« curated by Nadine Droste, as well as the presentation of exchange students from Goldsmiths, University of London, can be seen at ICAT.

Examination of the submitted portfolios

How to apply: study at HFBK Hamburg

The application period for studying at the HFBK Hamburg runs from 1 February to 5 March 2024, 4 p.m. All important information can be found here.

photo: Tim Albrecht

(Ex)Changes of / in Art

There's a lot going on at the HFBK Hamburg at the end of the year: exhibitions at ICAT, the ASA students' Open Studios in Karolinenstraße, performances in the Extended Library and lectures in the Aula Wartenau.

Extended Libraries

Knowledge is now accessible from anywhere, at any time. In such a scenario, what role(s) can libraries still play? How can they support not only as knowledge archives but also as facilitators of artistic knowledge production? As an example, we present library projects by students and alumni, as well as our new knowledge space: the Extended Library.

And Still I Rise

For over 20 years, US artist Rajkamal Kahlon has been interested in the connections between aesthetics and power, which are organized across historical and geographical boundaries, primarily through violence. With this solo exhibition, the HFBK Hamburg presents the versatile work of the professor of painting and drawing to the Hamburg art public for the first time.

photo: Lukes Engelhardt

photo: Lukes Engelhardt

No Tracking. No Paywall.

Just Premium Content! The (missing) summer offers the ideal opportunity to catch up on what has been missed. In our media library, faculty, students and alumni share knowledge and discussions with us - both emotional moments and controversial discourses. Through podcasts and videos, they contribute to current debates and address important topics that are currently in focus.

Let's talk about language

There are currently around 350 international students studying at the HFBK Hamburg, who speak 55 different languages - at least these are the official languages of their countries of origin. A quarter of the teaching staff have an international background. And the trend is rising. But how do we deal productively with the multilingualism of university members in everyday life? What ways of communication can be found? The current Lerchenfeld issue looks at creative solutions for dealing with multilingualism and lets numerous former international students have their say.

photo: Miriam Schmidt / HFBK

Graduate Show 2023: Unfinished Business

From July 13 to 16, 2023, 165 Bachelor's and Master's graduates of the class of 2022/23 will present their final projects from all areas of study. Under the title Final Cut, all graduation films will be shown on a big screen in the auditorium of the HFBK Hamburg.

A disguised man with sunglasses holds a star-shaped sign for the camera. It says "Suckle". The picture is taken in black and white.

photo: Honey-Suckle Company

Let`s work together

Collectives are booming in the art world. And they have been for several decades. For the start of the summer semester 2023, the new issue of the Lerchenfeld Magazine is dedicated to the topic of collective practice in art, presents selected collectives, and also explores the dangers and problems of collective working.

Jahresausstellung 2023, Arbeit von Toni Mosebach / Nora Strömer; photo: Lukes Engelhardt

Annual Exhibition 2023 at HFBK Hamburg

From February 10-12, students from all departments will present their artistic works at Lerchenfeld 2, Wartenau 15 and AtelierHaus, Lerchenfeld 2a. At ICAT, Tobias Peper, Artistic Director of the Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, curates an exhibition with HFBK master students. Also 10 exchange students from Goldsmiths, University of London will show their work there.

Symposium: Controversy over documenta fifteen

With this symposium on documenta fifteen on the 1st and 2nd of February, the HFBK Hamburg aims to analyze the background and context, foster dialogue between different viewpoints, and enable a debate that explicitly addresses anti-Semitism in the field of art. The symposium offers space for divergent positions and aims to open up perspectives for the present and future of exhibition making.

ASA Open Studios winter semester 2021/22; photo: Marie-Theres Böhmker

ASA Open Studios winter semester 2021/22; photo: Marie-Theres Böhmker

The best is saved until last

At the end of the year, once again there will be numerous exhibitions and events with an HFBK context. We have compiled some of them here. You will also find a short preview of two lectures of the professionalization program in January.

Non-Knowledge, Laughter and the Moving Image, Grafik: Leon Lothschütz

Non-Knowledge, Laughter and the Moving Image, Grafik: Leon Lothschütz

Festival and Symposium: Non-Knowledge, Laughter and the Moving Image

As the final part of the artistic research project, the festival and symposium invite you to screenings, performances, talks, and discussions that explore the potential of the moving images and the (human and non-human) body to overturn our habitual course and change the dominant order of things.

Solo exhibition by Konstantin Grcic

From September 29 to October 23, 2022, Konstantin Grcic (Professor of Industrial Design) will be showing a room-sized installation at ICAT - Institute for Contemporary Art & Transfer at the HFBK Hamburg consisting of objects designed by him and existing, newly assembled objects. At the same time, the space he designed for workshops, seminars and office workstations in the AtelierHaus will be put into operation.

Amna Elhassan, Tea Lady, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Amna Elhassan, Tea Lady, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Art and war

"Every artist is a human being". This statement by Martin Kippenberger, which is as true as it is existentialist (in an ironic rephrasing of the well-known Beuys quote), gets to the heart of the matter in many ways. On the one hand, it reminds us not to look away, to be (artistically) active and to raise our voices. At the same time, it is an exhortation to help those who are in need. And that is a lot of people at the moment, among them many artists. That is why it is important for art institutions to discuss not only art, but also politics.

Merlin Reichert, Die Alltäglichkeit des Untergangs, Installation in der Galerie der HFBK; photo: Tim Albrecht

Graduate Show 2022: We’ve Only Just Begun

From July 8 to 10, 2022, more than 160 Bachelor’s and Master’s graduates of the class of 2021/22 will present their final projects from all majors. Under the title Final Cut, all graduation films will be shown on a big screen in the auditorium of the HFBK Hamburg. At the same time, the exhibition of the Sudanese guest lecturer Amna Elhassan can be seen in the HFBK gallery in the Atelierhaus.

Grafik: Nele Willert, Dennise Salinas

Grafik: Nele Willert, Dennise Salinas

June is full of art and theory

It has been a long time since there has been so much on offer: a three-day congress on the visuality of the Internet brings together international web designers; the research collective freethought discusses the role of infrastructures; and the symposium marking the farewell of professor Michaela Ott takes up central questions of her research work.

Renée Green. ED/HF, 2017. Film still. Courtesy of the artist, Free Agent Media, Bortolami Gallery, New York, and Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin/Cologne/Munich.

Renée Green. ED/HF, 2017. Film still. Courtesy of the artist, Free Agent Media, Bortolami Gallery, New York, and Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin/Cologne/Munich.

Finkenwerder Art Prize 2022

The Finkenwerder Art Prize, initiated in 1999 by the Kulturkreis Finkenwerder e.V., has undergone a realignment: As a new partner, the HFBK Hamburg is expanding the prize to include the aspect of promoting young artists and, starting in 2022, will host the exhibition of the award winners in the HFBK Gallery. This year's Finkenwerder Art Prize will be awarded to the US artist Renée Green. HFBK graduate Frieda Toranzo Jaeger receives the Finkenwerder Art Prize for recent graduates.

Amanda F. Koch-Nielsen, Motherslugger; photo: Lukas Engelhardt

Amanda F. Koch-Nielsen, Motherslugger; photo: Lukas Engelhardt

Nachhaltigkeit im Kontext von Kunst und Kunsthochschule

Im Bewusstsein einer ausstehenden fundamentalen gesellschaftlichen Transformation und der nicht unwesentlichen Schrittmacherfunktion, die einem Ort der künstlerischen Forschung und Produktion hierbei womöglich zukommt, hat sich die HFBK Hamburg auf den Weg gemacht, das Thema strategisch wie konkret pragmatisch für die Hochschule zu entwickeln. Denn wer, wenn nicht die Künstler*innen sind in ihrer täglichen Arbeit damit befasst, das Gegebene zu hinterfragen, genau hinzuschauen, neue Möglichkeiten, wie die Welt sein könnte, zu erkennen und durchzuspielen, einem anderen Wissen Gestalt zu geben

New studio in the row of houses at Lerchenfeld

New studio in the row of houses at Lerchenfeld, in the background the building of Fritz Schumacher; photo: Tim Albrecht

Raum für die Kunst

After more than 40 years of intensive effort, a long-cherished dream is becoming reality for the HFBK Hamburg. With the newly opened studio building, the main areas of study Painting/Drawing, Sculpture and Time-Related Media will finally have the urgently needed studio space for Master's students. It simply needs space for their own ideas, for thinking, for art production, exhibitions and as a depot.

Martha Szymkowiak / Emilia Bongilaj, Installation “Mmh”; photo: Tim Albrecht

Martha Szymkowiak / Emilia Bongilaj, Installation “Mmh”; photo: Tim Albrecht

Annual Exhibition 2022 at the HFBK

After last year's digital edition, the 2022 annual exhibition at the HFBK Hamburg will once again take place with an audience. From 11-13 February, students from all departments will present their artistic work in the building at Lerchenfeld, Wartenau 15 and the newly opened Atelierhaus.

Annette Wehrmann, photography from the series Blumensprengungen, 1991-95; photo: Ort des Gegen e.V., VG-Bild Kunst Bonn

Annette Wehrmann, photography from the series Blumensprengungen, 1991-95; photo: Ort des Gegen e.V., VG-Bild Kunst Bonn

Conference: Counter-Monuments and Para-Monuments.

The international conference at HFBK Hamburg on December 2-4, 2021 – jointly conceived by Nora Sternfeld and Michaela Melián –, is dedicated to the history of artistic counter-monuments and forms of protest, discusses aesthetics of memory and historical manifestations in public space, and asks about para-monuments for the present.

23 Fragen des Institutional Questionaire, grafisch umgesetzt von Ran Altamirano auf den Türgläsern der HFBK Hamburg zur Jahresausstellung 2021; photo: Charlotte Spiegelfeld

23 Fragen des Institutional Questionaire, grafisch umgesetzt von Ran Altamirano auf den Türgläsern der HFBK Hamburg zur Jahresausstellung 2021; photo: Charlotte Spiegelfeld

Diversity

Who speaks? Who paints which motif? Who is shown, who is not? Questions of identity politics play an important role in art and thus also at the HFBK Hamburg. In the current issue, the university's own Lerchenfeld magazine highlights university structures as well as student initiatives that deal with diversity and identity.

photo: Klaus Frahm

photo: Klaus Frahm

Summer Break

The HFBK Hamburg is in the lecture-free period, many students and teachers are on summer vacation, art institutions have summer break. This is a good opportunity to read and see a variety of things:

ASA Open Studio 2019, Karolinenstraße 2a, Haus 5; photo: Matthew Muir

ASA Open Studio 2019, Karolinenstraße 2a, Haus 5; photo: Matthew Muir

Live und in Farbe: die ASA Open Studios im Juni 2021

Since 2010, the HFBK has organised the international exchange programme Art School Alliance. It enables HFBK students to spend a semester abroad at renowned partner universities and, vice versa, invites international art students to the HFBK. At the end of their stay in Hamburg, the students exhibit their work in the Open Studios in Karolinenstraße, which are now open again to the art-interested public.

Studiengruppe Prof. Dr. Anja Steidinger, Was animiert uns?, 2021, Mediathek der HFBK Hamburg, Filmstill

Studiengruppe Prof. Dr. Anja Steidinger, Was animiert uns?, 2021, Mediathek der HFBK Hamburg, Filmstill

Unlearning: Wartenau Assemblies

The art education professors Nora Sternfeld and Anja Steidinger initiated the format "Wartenau Assemblies". It oscillates between art, education, research and activism. Complementing this open space for action, there is now a dedicated website that accompanies the discourses, conversations and events.

Ausstellungsansicht "Schule der Folgenlosigkeit. Übungen für ein anderes Leben" im Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg; photo: Maximilian Schwarzmann

Ausstellungsansicht "Schule der Folgenlosigkeit. Übungen für ein anderes Leben" im Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg; photo: Maximilian Schwarzmann

School of No Consequences

Everyone is talking about consequences: The consequences of climate change, the Corona pandemic or digitalization. Friedrich von Borries (professor of design theory), on the other hand, is dedicated to consequence-free design. In “School of No Consequences. Exercises for a New Life” at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, he links collection objects with a "self-learning room" set up especially for the exhibition in such a way that a new perspective on "sustainability" emerges and supposedly universally valid ideas of a "proper life" are questioned.

Annual Exhibition 2021 at the HFBK

Annual exhibition a bit different: From February 12- 14, 2021 students at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts, together with their professors, had developed a variety of presentations on different communication channels. The formats ranged from streamed live performances to video programs, radio broadcasts, a telephone hotline, online conferences, and a web store for editions. In addition, isolated interventions could be discovered in the outdoor space of the HFBK and in the city.

Katja Pilipenko

Katja Pilipenko

Semestereröffnung und Hiscox-Preisverleihung 2020

On the evening of November 4, the HFBK celebrated the opening of the academic year 2020/21 as well as the awarding of the Hiscox Art Prize in a livestream - offline with enough distance and yet together online.

Exhibition Transparencies with works by Elena Crijnen, Annika Faescke, Svenja Frank, Francis Kussatz, Anne Meerpohl, Elisa Nessler, Julia Nordholz, Florentine Pahl, Cristina Rüesch, Janka Schubert, Wiebke Schwarzhans, Rosa Thiemer, Lea van Hall. Organized by Prof. Verena Issel and Fabian Hesse; photo: Screenshot

Exhibition Transparencies with works by Elena Crijnen, Annika Faescke, Svenja Frank, Francis Kussatz, Anne Meerpohl, Elisa Nessler, Julia Nordholz, Florentine Pahl, Cristina Rüesch, Janka Schubert, Wiebke Schwarzhans, Rosa Thiemer, Lea van Hall. Organized by Prof. Verena Issel and Fabian Hesse; photo: Screenshot

Teaching Art Online at the HFBK

How the university brings together its artistic interdisciplinary study structure with digital formats and their possibilities.

Alltagsrealität oder Klischee?; photo: Tim Albrecht

Alltagsrealität oder Klischee?; photo: Tim Albrecht

HFBK Graduate Survey

Studying art - and what comes next? The clichéd images stand their ground: Those who have studied art either become taxi drivers, work in a bar or marry rich. But only very few people could really live from art – especially in times of global crises. The HFBK Hamburg wanted to know more about this and commissioned the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Hamburg to conduct a broad-based survey of its graduates from the last 15 years.

Ausstellung Social Design, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Teilansicht; photo: MKG Hamburg

Ausstellung Social Design, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, Teilansicht; photo: MKG Hamburg

How political is Social Design?

Social Design, as its own claim is often formulated, wants to address social grievances and ideally change them. Therefore, it sees itself as critical of society – and at the same time optimizes the existing. So what is the political dimension of Social Design – is it a motor for change or does it contribute to stabilizing and normalizing existing injustices?