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 air:         

.the design challenge 

2023
air: recipes for action 

The 2023 Common Design Studio explores our relationship with the air that we share, locally and globally, designing for the planet as well as diverse human needs.

For this year’s Common Design Studio the overarching theme of ‘Air’ provided a direction for all the student groups. We collectively aim to offer more than preventative measures - instead looking to positive futures made possible through knowledge sharing and design as a means of action. 

The current ecological crisis presents consequences for all of us and as designers we have a responsibility to act, propose, challenge and share. Over the period of two weeks students and staff collaboratively worked together on the Planetary Health Cookbook, populated with radical interventions, design challenges, guides, advice, hacks, tips, tutorials, instruction sets, individual stories, coping mechanisms, training exercises, manifestos and collective actions; recipes for people to act on individually or collectively. 

This project has a design-led focus on developing actionable strategies for a beneficial, sustainable, holistic relationship with the earth, its diverse peoples, its flora and fauna, addressing some of the risks to our interconnected ecologies.  

Guest speakers

 

  • Tobias Revell & James Bellinger - ARUP /
    Air Quality: 
    Designing for the invisible  
     

  • Eva Verhoeven - UAL Creative Computing & Robotics / 
    Obtrusive
    RelationshipsCommons in Design with a focus on human de-centred design
     

  • Olga Subirós - Designer, Curator, Researcher /
    Air / Aria / Aire / Air Pollution Global Conflict 
     

  • Alban Mannisi -  Scapethical /
    Environmental History of Air 
     

  • Malte Wagenfeld - Breathe Earth Collective / 
    Designing Sensual Urban Atmospheres …in the context of climate change 
     

2022
radical gardening in urban spaces 

For the 2022 Common Design Studio the overarching theme of 'Radical Gardening in Urban Spaces' provided a direction for all the student groups. We collectively aim to offer more than preventative measures - instead looking to positive futures made possible through knowledge sharing and design as a means of action. 

2021
a cookbook for planetary health

In 2021 the studio focused engagement as ‘Ideas for Humanity’, in a Cookbook for Planetary Health. This design sprint established the model of rapid development of proposals and sharing recipes for action via this website.  

 studio partners 

UAL / LCC 

Design School 
London College of Communication 

London 

Joel Karamath 

Digby Usher

Laura Lovell-Anderson

Amy Henry 

Marion Lagedamont 

RMIT Melbourne

School of Design 
RMIT University 

Melbourne 

Neal Haslem 

Blair Wilde

Elisava 

School of Design

& Engineering 

Barcelona 

Albert Fuster 

Roger Paez

RMIT Vietnam 

School of Communication 
& Design
 

Vietnam 

Manny Ling 

Andrew Stiff 

Ace Duc Anh Nguyen 

Michal Teague 

Becky Lu

Sweii Chong 

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