Rolf A. Faste (1943–2003) was an American designer who made major contributions to the fields of human-centered design and

design education Design education is the teaching of theory and application in the design of products, services, and environments, and focuses on the development of both particular and general skills for designing. It is primarily orientated to preparing higher edu ...

. He is best known for his contributions to

design thinking Design thinking refers to the set of Cognition, cognitive, strategic and practical procedures used by designers in the process of designing, and to the body of knowledge that has been developed about how people reason when engaging with design prob ...

which he advanced as a 'whole person' approach to problem solving centered on the perception of needs. He was professor of industrial design at the Syracuse University from 1971 to 1983, and professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Stanford Joint Program in Design from 1984 to 2003.

Early life and education

Faste was born in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, the eldest child of Andreas Faste, a naval architect noted for his work on the

MV Coho MV may refer to: Businesses and organizations In transportation * Motor vessel, a motorized ship; used as a prefix for ship names * MV Agusta, a motorcycle manufacturer based in Cascina Costa, Italy * Armenian International Airways (IATA code MV) ...

ferry, and Edith Morch Faste, an artist. Interested from a young age with the intersection between art and engineering, he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from

Stevens Institute of Technology Stevens Institute of Technology is a Private university, private research university in Hoboken, New Jersey. Founded in 1870, it is one of the oldest technological universities in the United States and was the first college in America solely de ...

in 1965, a master's degree in engineering design from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

in 1971, and a second bachelor's degree in architecture from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

in 1977. Faste's graduate thesis work at Tufts on engineering creativity was advised by William J. J. Gordon, the originator of

Synectics Synectics is a problem solving methodology that stimulates thought processes of which the subject may be unaware. This method was developed by George M. Prince (1918–2009)

, and demonstrated a correlation between an individual's creative ability when working on science and engineering problems and their capacity to visualize solution concepts.

Career

Faste was a professor of design at

from 1971 to 1984, where he taught classes on rapid visualization, prototyping, materials, computer-aided design, aesthetics and the creative process. He was active in the field of accessible design in the early 1970s, and as research associate on the

ANSI The American National Standards Institute (ANSI ) is a private nonprofit organization that oversees the development of voluntary consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems, and personnel in the United States. The organiz ...

A117 project he co-authored the national standards for accessibility to buildings. During this time he also served as an

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

consultant to the

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT- Bombay or IIT-B) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. IIT Bombay is mainly known for the highly competitive four-year Bachelor of Techno ...

, India. At

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Faste was noted for his contributions to engineering education and

design research Design research was originally constituted as primarily concerned with ways of supporting and improving the process of design, developing from work in design methods. The concept has been expanded to include research embedded within the process of ...

, developing courses to strengthen students' visual and creative skills such as ''Aesthetics of Machinery'', ''Ambidextrous Thinking'' and ''Expression of Function''. He was interested in exploring the way that the body and mind influence technical creativity, understanding needs and cultural meaning in the creation of products, and incorporating functional, aesthetic and humanistic concerns in design. He was a recipient of the Raymond J. Perrin Award for Teaching and Course Development, and held five patents and one patent pending for his innovations.

Foundation

In 2009, Faste's sons founded the Rolf A. Faste Foundation for Design Creativity, a non-profit center for creativity research. The foundation is dedicated to furthering Rolf's vision of design as a way of being in the world for the betterment of human society and mind.

Legacy

The Faste Laboratory, a centre for innovation in the area of functional products at

Luleå University of Technology Luleå University of Technology is a Public university, public research university in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The university has four campuses located in the Arctic, Arctic Region in the cities of Luleå, Kiruna, Skellefteå, and Piteå. With ...

, Sweden, was named in his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faste, Rolf 1943 births 2003 deaths American industrial designers Syracuse University faculty Stanford University Department of Mechanical Engineering faculty Design educators Tufts University School of Engineering alumni Syracuse University School of Architecture alumni