Assist. Prof. Dr Damla Tönük

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E-Mail: dtonuk@metu.edu.tr

Phone: +90 312 210 2242

Room: 41

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Damla TONUK got her BSc and MSc degrees from METU, TR, Department of Industrial Design and PhD from Lancaster University, UK, Department of Sociology. Her disciplinary vision is driven by material culture studies, cultural studies, and Science and Technology Studies. In conjunction of these broad disciplinary approaches lay everyday objects and materials of design that present intriguing units of study as social, cultural and technological entities. Tonuk's publications are localized around materials in general, and plastics and bioplastics more specifically. She supervises thesis projects on VR, schoolbags, gender, and is involved in research projects in diverse topics as architecture history and biomaterials. Currently, Tonuk is Assistant Professor at METU, Department of Industrial Design, and co-convenor of DRS - OPENSIG.

Özcan, Ş. Z., & Tonuk, D. (2025). What is in a bag? Doing and becoming subjectivity. Journal of Consumer Culture, 0(0).

Özcan, Ş. Z., & Tonuk, D. (2024). Physical Products and Their Digital Representations: Social Media Interaction via School Bags. Tykhe Sanat ve Tasarım Dergisi, 9(17), 291-303.

Tonuk, D. (2023). Plastic Matter Plastic Legacies: Pollution, Persistence, and Politics. Journal of Design History, 176.

Tonuk, D., & Fisher, T. (2020). Material processuality: alternative grounds for design research. Design and Culture, 12(2), 119-139.

Tonuk, D. (2018). Materials as temporally specific phenomena: Specialization and compromise in bioplastics production. Journal of Material Culture, 23(1), 114-130.

Tonuk, D. (2016). Making materials: The case of elaborating qualities of bioplastics. Design Issues, 32(4), 64-75.

Projects

Director: BAP-Kariyer: Kendin-yap Atık Malzeme Dönüşümü Tasarımıyla Kampüs Ölçeğinde Sıfır Atık Çözümleri

Researcher: Erasmus+ Project (2017-1- TR01-KA203- 046818): Timeline Travel: An Alternative Tool for Architectural History Learning and Teaching