Their joint interest and goals brought together Tulga Beyerle, Thomas Geisler and Lilli Hollein to found the Neigungsgruppe Design in 2006 as an initiative to define the perception of design in Austria more precisely, to stimulate discourse and examination of this theme, to illustrate the position held by design in the field of tension between culture and business, all in all to convey and spread their passion for design. After their first presentation of the Passionswege 2006, the three curators developed a common roof for the active Viennese design scene by setting up the Vienna Design Week in 2007. The success of this festival is an explicit sign of the quality of design and the level of design enthusiasm in Vienna and underlines the credo of the Neigungsgruppe Design, that one can discuss and mediate design in different ways and inspire the public at the same time.

Thomas Geisler
Designer and design researcher, Vienna

(*1971), studied product design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and at Danmarks Designskole, Copenhagen, and has an MAS in Exhibition and Cultural Communication Management (ECM). Since 2000 he has worked as a free-lance designer, at times collaborating with the design collective maupi and focussing particularly on scenography and communication design. After teaching at the FH Joanneum in Graz as well as at Vienna Technical University, since 2005 Thomas Geisler has been a researcher and lecturer in design history and theory at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (publications he has worked on include Karriereleiter – (K)eine Anleitung zur Designarbeit! Vienna 2007, together with Ingrid M��ckstein; Victor Papane: Design f��r die reale Welt, Springer Wien/New York 2008, together with Martina Fineder and Florian Pumh��sl). He currently prepares an exhibition on war and design at the K��nstlerhaus Wien.

thomas.geisler@neigungsgruppe-design.org

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Tulga Beyerle
Design consultant, curator and author, Vienna (A)

(*1964) studied industrial design in Vienna. From 1993-2000 she was teaching assistant in theory and history of design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Since 2001 she has worked as a freelance consultant and author (working with, among others, Karin Hirschberger, editor of A Century of Austrian Design 1900-2005, Basel 2006; On the Re-edition of Frederick Kiesler. Nucleus of Forces in Friedrich Kiesler, Designer, Ostfildern 2005) and curator (most recently Elke Krystufek, Liquid Logic, MAK, Vienna 2007; also: Peter Eisenman, Barfu�� auf wei��gl��henden Mauern, MAK, Vienna 2004; Global Tools, K��nstlerhaus, Vienna 2001, together with Vitus Weh).

tulga.beyerle@neigungsgruppe-design.org

Lilli Hollein
Journalist und curator, Vienna (A)

(*1972) studied industrial design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna��and has worked since 1996 as a freelance journalist, architecture and design critic for��daily newspapers such as Der Standard as well as magazines, among them Domus, blueprint, Frame, MARK, H.O.M.E. She also works as a freelance editor for Austrian national television. She was recently the curator of the Austrian contribution for the Sao Paulo Architecture Biennial 2007. She curated the exhibitions AustriArchitecture��–��seven debuts from Austria in Berlin (2005) and Vienna (2006), Memphis – Kunst/Kitsch/Kult in Vienna in 2002, and Memphis – 21 Years after the Design Revolution at Kunsthalle Krems in the same year.

lilli.hollein@neigungsgruppe-design.org

Neigungsgruppe Design
Margaretenstrasse 96/1
1050 Wien, Austria

Tel. +43.1.913 43 56
Fax +43.1.913 68 31
office@neigungsgruppe-design.org
www.neigungsgruppe-design.org

Projects:
2008
> Vienna Design Week

2007
> Design 07 - Die Mitte
> Passionswege
> Vienna Design Week

2006
>Design 06 - Zeitzonen
> Passionswege