Thomas van Arkel

I am Thomas van Arkel, a design/researcher from Rotterdam who works at the intersection of design practice and research for societal change.

Currently PhD candidate at TU Delft

About me

I’m a designer and researcher working at the Delft University of Technology. As a designer and researcher I try to understand how designers can foster systemic change in society through the act of design. I do this on the one hand by integrating various fields of research to understand and support the design process, and on the other hand by working on real-world social issues by turning theory into concrete design artefacts. In my free time I am an avid collector of books and records—as well as reading and listening 🎵 to them, or getting lost in a game 🎮 .

Work in progress

In my PhD research Designing with institutions ↗︎ , I adopt a co-evolutionary, practice-based and impact-driven approach. I combine two ways of doing research in praxis: by collaborating with partners from design practice on the implementation and institutionalisation of their design interventions; and consciously exploring the research topic in a project where we aim to transform an organisational practice within UWV by continuing to develop, implement and institutionalise an intervention developed previously in A precarious equilibrium ↗︎ .