BRIEF BIO and RESEARCH AREAS

• Chenxi Cui is a design researcher of more-than-human design (MTHD), queering design and Interdisciplinary Design.
• CUI works at the intersection of design theory, design methodology, design philosophy, design ethics, and design culture/criticism.
• He explores Design ethical questions through affect, embodiment, sensory experience, and material vitality.
• Drawing on plural and hybrid theoretical frameworks (such as new materialism, affect theory, and queer and feminist methodologies) and emerging design practices (including speculative design, adversarial design, object-oriented design, and performative participatory design), he develops critical perspectives that move beyond human-centered paradigms.
• His work foregrounds marginal, minoritarian, boundary, and alternative interdisciplinary design narratives across design research such as Human–Computer Interaction (HCI), artificial intelligence, and debates in design ethics and design philosophy.

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Art and Design

Sep 2024 – Jul 2027 (expected)

School of Art and Design
Guangdong University of Technology, CHINA

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Design

Sep 2019 – Jun 2023

Design College, Shandong University of Arts, CHINA

AFFILIATIONS

Currently pursuing a Master’s degree. School of Art and Design, Guangdong University of Technology, CHINA

POSITIONS

• Student member of the Design History Society (DHS)
• Student member of the Design Research Society (DRS)
• Member of the Society for the Study of Affect (SSA)

ACADEMIC SERVICE, VOLUNTEER WORK, AND ORGANIZATION

• Co-chair, Track 2.2 Queer(ing) Design Research/Practice, Design Research Society (DRS) Conference, University of Edinburgh, 2026.
• Reviewer, Design Research Society (DRS) Conference, 2026.
• Founder & Convenor (in progress), Design Philosophy Research Institute, Design Research Society (DRS).

1. Master’s Thesis and Primary Research Topic:

A Study on Strategies of Design Ethics for Affective Matter in More-than-Human Design

I am also currently exploring the ethical dimensions of design through affect, sensory experience, and bodily atmospheres in relation to nonhuman beings such as fungi, as well as their interactions with technology, politics, culture, human and social contexts.

1. Journal Contribution to Journal

Cui, C., Shi, H., and Loizeau, J. (2026) Affective Contamination: Alternative Resistance in Contemporary Chinese Queer Design, in Special Issue “The Power of Emotions and Passions in Design”, Design and Culture (accepted).

2. Conference and Proceedings

2.1 Conference Presentation (Poster, Publicly Presented)

Cui, C., & Shi, H. (2025, March 29–30). The subjective potential of vibrant matter? The alternative speculative strategy construction of object-oriented design in the post-media culture under the affective turning [Poster session]. Digital Intelligence, Cosmotechnics, and Planetary Future: Tsinghua University The 6th Media Materiality Forum, Future Media Lab, School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

2.2 Conference proceedings Paper

Cui, C., Shi, H., Zhang, L., & Yan, Z. (2025, October 10–12). Affective turn and vibrant matter: Object-oriented design encounter strategies [Conference presentation]. International Committee for Design History and Design Studies, ICDHS14: Cultures of Design, Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, New Delhi, India. (Accepted, to be published)

Cui, C., & Shi, H. (2025, September 4–6). Affective turn and speculative innovation in design criticism [Conference presentation]. Design History Society, DHS 2025 Annual Conference: Converging Paths—Design in the Creative Economy, Ankara Bilim University, Ankara, Turkey.

2.3 Conference Paper Submitted (Manuscript Under Review)

Cui, C., Zhang, L., Shi, H., and Li, Y. (2026) Design Apparatuses of Contingent Encounters: Affective Ecologies Assemblages in More-Than-Human Design, in DRS2026 Conference (under review), Edinburgh, UK, 8–12 June 2026.

Book Chapters

Cui, C. (forthcoming, 2026/2027). Bodily Atmospheres of Disalignment: Queer Affective Infrastructures in Postsocialist China. In M. Jobst & A. Filipović (Eds.), Disalignments: Queer Postsocialist Environments. Bloomsbury Academic TBD. (chapter proposal accepted; full chapter in preparation).

Cui, C. (forthcoming, 2027). Affective Mapping of Plastic Dust: More-than-human Sensory Design and the Ethics of Trans-corporeal Contamination. In M. Jobst & A. Filipović (Eds.), Alterplastics: Histories, Aesthetics, Ontologies. Bloomsbury Academic. (chapter proposal accepted; full chapter in preparation).

III. SUMMER SCHOOL

3.1 August 3–10, 2025

School of Materialist Research: “Nature/Artifice Reimagined” Summer Institute for Advanced Design Practices, Greece.

Co-organizers:

• Arizona State University, Center for Philosophical Technologies (USA)
• Goldsmiths University of London, Design Department (UK)
• Politecnico di Milano, Design Department (Italy)
• Sandberg Instituut, Amsterdam (NL)
• Founding institution of SMR

IV. RESEARCH FUNDING and GRANTS

Design History Society, DHS2025 Outreach and Event Grant (Independent Grant Holder)

Research Project Title: “Affect Materialities: An Affective New Materialist Perspective on Design in Contemporary Chinese Queer Scenes (2000–2025)”

V. WORKSHOP

5.1 July 13—20, 2024:

Tsinghua University FutureLab – “Embodied Media Design for Interpersonal Emotional Communication” Workshop.

Group Research Topic: Interactive VR Garden Sharing Experience Space: Improving Intergenerational Relationships and Isolation Among Empty Nesters.

5.2 July 1–5, 2024:

The 5th Tsinghua STS Workshop – Fundamentals of Science and Technology Studies.

• Speaker: Janet Vertesi, Associate Professor of Sociology, Princeton University.
• Host: Wei Hong, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Tsinghua University.