BROKEN NATURE

Design takes on human survival

Alice Rawsthorn wrote about Paola Antonelli and this exhibition in Wallpaper and in her series of Instagram posts on women in design, which led me to visit this vast, staggeringly beautiful, revealing and even hopeful exhibition.

Humans and the natural world: what have we done, what are we doing, and is there such a things as restorative design? Too much to see and take in in one visit, I'm working through the catalogue.

One example of practical innovation is a housing project by Chilean architects Elemental where limited resources are used to design and build half a good house, for completion by the resident as and when they have the cash to do so. Incremental design, simultaneously shifting prejudices and addressing social inequality.

The Wonderwater Café is one of a series of pop-ups at cultural events, an initiative by Jane Withers and Kari Korkman, CEO Helsinki Design Week, in collaboration with water scientists at Aalto University Helsinki and King’s College London.

It uses very direct and easy-access graphics to make the link between a quick snack and its environmental impacts, and illustrates the need for cross-sector working to arrive at clearly communicated, science-backed ideas.

Some of this now finding its way into teaching; sideways-thinking is central to the exhibition and questioning is at the start of all design so redirecting focus is not such a big step, more challenging is decoupling design from industry and reconnecting with nature.

Broken Nature Design Takes on Human Survival 
Elemental Recent work
Jane Wither Studio Wonderwater Café