Category: Design comment
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Can we design truly ‘zero carbon’ buildings?
At the end of 2018, after repeated advice by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the European Commission called for a climate neutral Europe by 2050. For the construction industry achieving this will be particularly problematic. Not only is it the industry responsible for the highest percentage of global emissions, it already has exceptionally high […]
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Architectural Innovation in Energy Systems
Electricity systems underpin much of everyday life in the city. As urban populations expand, become more affluent and carbon reduction targets ramp up it is likely that such systems will need to change considerably over the coming years. Here many commenters argue that wholesale transitions to low carbon robust electricity systems are needed. However, as […]
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The design thinking of children
One may argue that we are all natural designers. From very young age, we are designing: we are looking around us with a critical eye, we develop opinions about things and spaces that we like or dislike, we are dreaming about a better future, but also we experiment and make things that could make our […]
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AI, are you a watcher or a skeptic?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly being used to aid humans in many scenarios and everyday tasks or challenges. From health and welfare to leading military systems AI is already being seen by designers and developers, as futuristic technologies which are available today. But what is AI technology? What can it do? What can it do for humans now and […]
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Design dreams of digital worlds – but is digitech sympathetic?
The architectural collective Assemble– winners of the Turner Prize – continue to explore the designed and manufactured world in the second part of BBC Radio 4’s series, The Sympathy of Things inspired by John Ruskin’s views on aesthetics and the central role of sympathy. With Amica Dall and Giles Smith, the BBC state “The series is an argument […]
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Design Museum: designs of the year 2018
On Saturday, a group of 22 Design and Innovation students (and their friends and family) joined the Qualification team and two Associate Lecturers on a tour of the Design Museum’s permanent exhibition ‘Designer Maker User’ and the Beazley’s Designs of the Year 2018 exhibition. Andy, a U101 student, gives a good summary of the rundown […]
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Gift for Mental Health
Black Friday, cyber Monday… and all sorts of other market strategies all year around often feed on our vulnerabilities and mental distress. As Ernest Becker portrayed in The Denial of Death, the consumer ‘religion’ is just another way to shed away existential terrors, anaesthetise ourselves. But what if things were designed intentionally to reflect a little more […]
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A Trendy Design Post: Trend Design
You may think that Trend Design is all about gazing into a crystal ball, or putting on floaty Kaftans whilst using mythical mend bending meditation tactics to realise trends of the future. However, Trend Design is much more than just the black art of marketing, it can offer the next trending colour or the […]
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The challenges of smart city mobilities
Smart urbanisation is one of the main approaches for cities around the world to realise their social, environmental and economic goals. Applying the latest ‘smart IT ‘to augment transport, energy, communication and other urban systems and services that underpin everyday life in cities is seen increasingly as necessary and desirable. However, research shows that there […]
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Joining designerly dots
This is a post by Stephen Potter, Professor Emeritus at Design and Innovation This Thursday a one-off return of the BBC programme Tomorrow’s World is appearing on BBC4. As a kid, in the 1960s this programme really stimulated my interest in design and technology. Each week a set of potentially life-changing gizmos and gadgets were demonstrated […]