Joana Ozorio de Almeida Meroz, MA

PhD research

A Socio-Cultural History of Dutch Design, 1945-2010.

This research examines the history of the construction of the idea of Dutch Design, 1945-2010. It advances from the premise that Dutch Design is the product of a discursive construction rather than the natural result of a 'typically Dutch' identity or culture. Accordingly, this research traces the development of ideas about Dutch Design as well as the actors involved in the production and institutionalisation of those ideas. Ultimately, the aim is to develop an empirical understanding of the actual relationships between Dutch Design and its socio-cultural contexts without relying on stereotypes of national culture and of design. The broader relevance of this study is that it contributes to the development of a theoretical-methodological framework within which the relationship between design and society can be studied scientifically. This is key to the development of the new academic field of Design studies in the Netherlands and abroad.

This research is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, NWO) programme Mosaic.

Teaching Assistant Design Cultures

2011-2012

• Design History and Culture
• Methods of Design Analysis: The Meanings of Design
• The Arts and Crafts of 'Dutch Design'
• Design in Words: Criticism, Writing & Theory
• Thesis supervisor

Publications

Journal article

• 'Unraveling Materiality: Das kritische Design von EventArchitectuur im Zeitalter der konvergierenden Architektur (Unravelling Materiality: The Critical Design of EventArchitectuur in the Age of Convergence Culture)', Banz, Claudia (ed.), Kunstforum International: Special edition on Social Design, 27 (2011), pp. 94-103.

Reviews

• 'Book review: Design as Politics by Tony Fry', Design and Culture 4 (2012) 1, pp. 112-114.
• 'Exhibition review: Making is Thinking’, The Journal of Modern Craft, 4 (2011) 3, pp. 339-342.
• 'Book review: Design Activism. Beautiful Strangeness for a Sustainable World by Alastair Fuad-Luke', in Michael Benton and Alan Clinton (eds.), Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture Journal. Special edition on Inventions of Activism 10 (2010) 3. Online access: http://reconstruction.eserver.org/103/Meroz_01.shtml

General interest

• Ozorio de Almeida Meroz, Joana and Stefaan Vervoort, 'The Double Promise of Virtuality: On the Social Function of Culture in the Case of Virtual Museum Zuidas', in Wouter Davidts and Alan Smart (eds.), Life after Planning: A Masterclass on Visual Identities of Zuidas Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Sandberg Instituut Amsterdam/Virtueel Museum Zuidas/Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) 2011, pp. 74-78.
• ‘The Grounds of Autonomy’, in Clare Butcher, Paul Byrne and Steven ten Thije (eds.), The Autonomy Newspaper #2: Frameworks, Eindhoven (Onomatopee) 2011, pp. 65-67 .
• 'Stories: An Access to Objects?’, in Freek Lomme and Michael Capio (eds.), Pre-Specifics: Access X!, Eindhoven (Onomatopee) 2010, pp. 75-81.
• 'De-signing Design: Blurring the Perception of Reality and Representation', in The Dutch Design History Foundation (12 August 2009). Online access: http://www.designhistory.nl/2009/de-signing-design-blurring-the-perception-of-realityand-representation/. 
• 'Dutch Pragmatism vs. Dutch Morality: An Interview with Marianne Jonker', in Louise Schouwenberg (ed.), Source 04: Tippelzone Revised, Rotterdam (Episode Publishers) 2009, pp. 50-55.
• Bandoni, Andrea, Davide Dulcetti and Joana Ozorio de Almeida Meroz, 'From Tippel to Top', in Louise Schouwenberg (ed.), Source 04: Tippelzone Revised, Rotterdam (Episode Publishers) 2009, pp. 18-23.
• 'Dare to Take Beauty Seriously', Morf 5 (2008), pp. 187-198. 
• 'Industry, Crafts, Arts and the Unexpected', Morf 8 (2008), pp. 109-113. 

Academic conferences

• 'Eindhoven: from Periphery to Center of the Dutch Design Map', part of the panel Creative Cities in the Low Countries: a Comparative Study between Eindhoven, Antwerp and Brussels. Low Countries, Big Cities: 9th Biennial Conference of the Association for Low Countries Studies, University of Sheffield (3-5 April 2012).
• 'Re-mixing Criticality: Materiality as the New Medium of Social Critique', The Culture of Remix: 2nd International Graduate Conference in Communication and Culture, Universidade Católica Portugesa, Lisbon (13-14 October 2011).
• ‘The Speculative Proposal and the Craft of Social Critique’, Conference Material Culture, Craft & Community: Negotiating Objects Across Time & Place, Material Culture Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton (20–21 May 2011).

Peer review

• The Design Journal