Why should we care about data? Not only because “data is the new oil,” as British mathematician Clive Humby famously said in 2006, but also because data sets can contain the values, culture, and future of communities and society. In other words, data is us. Domestic Data Streamers, a design studio based in Barcelona since 2013, has worked to redefine how we engage with data, moving from visualization through diagrams and other graphic tools to actual data interaction and performance. In this episode, Paola Antonelli speaks with founding partner and director Pau Garcia and creative and research director Marta Handenawer.

With a background not only in design, but also in theater and improvisation, the founding members of DDS have set out to make complex information more human and accessible, evolving traditional data visualization into data experiences. They believe that data can move people emotionally, not just inform them, and they thus use every tool at their disposal––from analog, hands-on installations to generative AI––to make them come alive.

Among their most remarkable projects is Synthetic Memories, “a public service for reconstructing lost or undocumented memories using AI” that not only allows citizens to see their remembrances in photographs or videos that never existed, but also to file them along those of family members, neighbors, or compatriots to form a collective archive. In the case of survivors, refugees, and migrants, it can be a way to document a past life for future generations and make sure cultures are not entirely lost.

You can find images of Domestic Data Streamers’ work on our Instagram grid @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will hear from other global design leaders who, like Pau, Marta, and their colleagues are at the forefront of positive change.

Design Emergency is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How can architecture help us to address the escalating climate emergency? There are many ways it can do so: from ensuring that new buildings are designed to radically reduce carbon emissions during construction, to doing the same in terms of how they will function.

.

The Swiss architect, Philippe Rahm, is at the forefront of this process through his experiments with what he calls climatic architecture, the theme – and title - of his latest book. In this episode of Design Emergency, Philippe tells our cofounder Alice Rawsthorn how he developed the concept of climatic architecture and is putting it into practice.

.

Born in Switzerland, Philippe studied architecture there and in France, where he runs Philippe Rahm Architectes, which he founded ten years ago in Paris. His mission is to enable buildings to become more ecologically responsible by aligning them with their locations and climates to make the most of the light, humidity and other natural phenomena in order to minimise the use of fossil fuels in heating or cooling them.

.

Philippe tells Alice how these principles have been applied to completed and ongoing projects including: Central Park in the Taiwanese city of Taichung, the entrance to Maison de la Radio et de la Musique in Paris, and, working in collaboration with OMA, the Scalo Farini project to redevelop two disused railway yards in Milan.

.

We hope you’ll enjoy this episode. You can find images of Philippe and his work on our Instagram @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will hear from other inspiring global design leaders who are forging positive change.

.

Design Emergency is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things are not exactly looking up. While the climate emergency is undeniably advancing, however, a powerful cultural shift is also afoot––away from doomsday alarmism or resignation, and towards optimism.

Despite being a wide-awake scientist, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson is among those who are presenting to the world the constructive, energetic, even joyful side of the fight for climate justice.

Ayana is a marine biologist; the founder of Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank dedicated to addressing climate issues in coastal cities; a frequent advisor on environmental policy and strategy to governmental agencies, foundations, and multinational corporations; and an author. Her most recent book, What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures, is based on 30+ interviews in which she pokes scientists, designers, curators, and policy experts with that hard question, arm-wrestling them into optimism.

Ayana’s reliance on design and art, of particular relevance for Design Emergency, shows how instrumental these attitudes are if we want to imagine a better future for all, and then will it into being. In the book as well as in Climate Futurism, an exhibition she curated at Pioneer Works in New York, she paints a picture in which humanity successfully tackles climate challenges, offering actionable insights and highlighting the potential for a just and sustainable world.

You can find images related to Ayana’s work on our Instagram grid @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will hear from other global design leaders who, like her, are at the forefront of positive change.

Design Emergency is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.