About
Astrid Heimer is an associate professor at the department for Produkt Design, TKD, OsloMet. Heimer has a PhD in Cultural studies, from USN's faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Sciences, and a diploma in ceramics from the Oslo Academy of the Arts (previously Statens Håndverks og Kunstindustriskole). The thesis, «Grip to get a grip of form. Concrete and abstract comprehension of form» is about form, how haptic perception, and embodied comprehension of form can supplement knowledge based on abstract form theories and visual perception. The dissertation contributes to create connections between different knowledge from practice and theory.
Heimer's expertise applies to various aesthetic practice-based disciplines such as design, arts, and crafts. Her special fields at Product Design are aesthetic practice-based methods, emphasizing creativity, form, perception, and materiality in design. Another key topic in her research and teaching is Design and Culture.
Heimer participates in the research group Design, Culture and Sustainability, and in the projects, CraftHub, UTFORSK and The Measure - Participatory Design. CraftHub is a European project, part of the Creative Europe Program and focuses on crafts and cultural heritage in contemporary practice. UTFORSK and The Measure - Participatory Design are two collaborative projects between OsloMet and UNESP, Bauru in Brazil. The two projects involve research and teaching related to design, health and well-being.
Parallel with the position at Product Design, Heimer works as a ceramist artist. See her work on the website: https://www.astridheimer.no.
Research groups
Publications and research
Scientific publications
Rognstad, Ole-Andreas;
Heimer, Astrid Maria
(2025).
Design og eierskap - designfaglige, estetiske og juridiske perspektiver.
FormAkademisk - Forskningstidsskriftet for design og designdidaktikk.
Vol. 18.
https://doi.org/10.7577/formakademisk.5086
Heimer, Astrid Maria
(2023).
The role of aesthetics in design education
Leverage of creativity through concrete and abstract form exploration.
Techne Serien.
Vol. 30.
https://doi.org/10.7577/TechneA.5259
Heimer, Astrid Maria
(2022).
AestPra – a Meta-methodology for Art and Craft
Positioning of aesthetic practice in academic scientific research.
Nordic Journal of Art & Research (A & R).
Vol. 11.
https://doi.org/10.7577/information.5066
Heimer, Astrid Maria
;
Andreassen, Kristin
;
Haugen, Sigrid
(2017).
Values of crafting in design education.
Berg, Arild; Bohemia, Erik; Buck, Lyndon; Gulden, Tore; Kovacevic, Ahmed; Pavel, Nenad (Ed.).
Proceedings of E&PDE 2017 - International Conference on Engineering and Product Design Education. Building Community: Design Education for a Sustainable Future. p. 116-121.
The Design Society.
https://hdl.handle.net/10642/6201
Heimer, Astrid Maria
(2016).
The aesthetics of form knowledge: Embodied knowledge through
materialization.
Studies in Material Thinking.
Vol. 14.
https://hdl.handle.net/10642/4417
Heimer, Astrid
(2005).
Formkavalkade. Undersøkelser av tredimensjonal positiv/negativ form.
Skjerven, Astrid (Ed.).
Designkompetanse: utvikling, forskning og undervisning. p. 115-129.
Akademisk Publisering.
https://hdl.handle.net/11250/4455984
