Public Defense: Franz James, Design

Franz James is a multi-tasking senior lecturer, doctoral student and practicing product/furniture designer. As partner in a design company he works with design of interior objects for closed environments, such as prisons and psychiatric hospitals. James doctoral project, "Sketch and Talk”-Drawing lines between humans, objects and the interior in compulsory care -Seeing beyond carceral design to future design for wellbeing in prisons, youth homes and psychiatric hospitals, discusses design research method development, ethics and carceral design. Moreover, the dichotomy between design for wellbeing and/or security is critically examined in his work, as well as terms like ‘home’, ‘non-institutional’, and ‘normality’.

James is a researcher in an interdisciplinary research project concerning the meaning of the physical environment at the Swedish state’s special residential homes (SiS) for young people with psychosocial problems, substance abuse and criminal behaviour.

Download the thesis here

The public defense will be conducted in Swedish.