Conferentie Hands on Design

IN PRAISE OF HANDS: DESIGN AND MATERIAL INTELLIGENCE

In 1974, the Mexican poet Octavio Paz wrote an essay entitled 'In Praise of Hands.' He argued that, in the face of advancing technology and globalism, respect for local skills and traditions was more important than ever. Today, more than four decades on, it seems worth revisiting these ideas. How should designers regard the question of handwork? Need it be framed as a traditional matter, rooted in place, or can it be treated as a completely fluid capability, there to be used as any creator chooses? Craft theorist and historian Glenn Adamson will consider these questions in light of recent design projects, and argue for an ongoing investment in material intelligence in the age of the digital.

THE SUM OF MANY PARTS – IRISH DESIGN 2015

Initiatives such as Liminal – Irish Design at the Threshold and the Global Irish Design Challenge enable designers to build collaborative relationships with a purpose and determination to create a narrative between their own process and one that is influenced by parameters of partnership, time and material.  

Ease of access to shared knowledge, the rise of communities of practice and radical changes in connectivity are revolutionising how we interact, design and collaborate. The shift in attitude from individual ownership of ideas, concepts and systems to shared co-creative environments is becoming increasingly prevalent. However, in practical terms, finding the impetus and time to realise a collaborative project can be challenging. Shaping an environment for co-creation is a delicate yet important undertaking requiring a level of trust and openness, a willingness to fail, an ambition to succeed and an appetitie for adventure. Through small interventions such as FUSE development clinics to large scale projects such as Irish Design 2015 the conditions for collaboration can be fostered. 

Lecture topic TBA

Lecture topic TBA

Lecture topic TBA