Reflections II - Design with others
Reflect Workshop
Syllabus⇝
A four-day seminar of four-hour sessions with lectures, conversations and workshops with the participation of renowned researchers to kickstart designing with other intelligences. Design practice and the role of the designer have been continuously evolving. What began as a practical discipline at the service of industry ("design over") expanded to include the perspective of the human user and their needs ("design for") and later evolved into more participatory approaches where the user becomes an active agent in the design process ("design with"). In the context of growing existential risks and challenges, it is now critical to push these questions further by incorporating principles of otherness, design justice, alterity, communities, situated epistemologies and intra-action into design practices. Building on the lecture series, the students will collectively prototype “Other Otherness”.
Learning Objectives⇝
Students, after completion of the seminar, should be able to:
- Detect, understand and tackle complex issues through design practices.
- Engage with communities related to the matters of concern.
- Situate their practice in the field.
- Engage in strategic intervention.
- Widen their community engagement perspective and learn to work(in) non-human agents.
Keywords: Other(ness), AI and Robotoics, Parallel Minds, Material Intelligences, Collective Care
Schedule⇝
9:30-11:00
Course Introduction + dynamics + objectives
11:00-13:00
Lecture and Q&A session with Ben Ditto, YAYALABS Creative Director on Bridging Human Creativity and AI&Robotics. “Science-fiction is brainstorming for venture capital”.
About Ben Ditto: Ben Ditto is a creative director living and working in London. Ditto’s projects span a broad spectrum of disciplines including moving image, CGI, creative coding, branding, AI, print and live experience to name just a few. Ben’s utilisation of Instagram as a tool for reportage on topics ranging from military hardware to surgical procedures – and everything in between – has gained him a cult online following and propelled him to the realm of “niche micro-internet celebrity”. This led to the cultivation of an online community, Ditto Nation, on Telegram and Discord, as well as a documentary series under the same name. Ben is also the art director of his eponymous publishing company Ditto, and founded Dazed Beauty alongside Isamaya Ffrench. Ditto was recently appointed as the creative director of YAYALABS.
About YAYALABS: Yaya Labs is an AI and robotics company based in London and Berlin. We are building a deep, expressive personality protocol for AIs, robots, and avatars, designed to transcend hardware and software boundaries. Our mission is to create a software-agnostic, fully sensory-adaptive system with an ethical core, allowing a singular persona to manifest seamlessly across screens, robots, vehicles, and beyond. Throughout this process, we are developing a suite of tools and applications that harness the technology and insights gained from the development of the Yaya protocol.
13:00-13:30
1st Briefing launch and closure
9:30-11:00
1st Other Otherness short presentations (Per groups)
11:00-13:00
Lecture and Q&A session with Laura Tripaldi, researcher and writer on Parallel Minds.
About Laura Tripaldi: Laura Tripaldi is a transdisciplinary researcher at the interface of science, technology, and speculative thinking. Her research focuses on materiality, exploring its cultural implications and technological futures. She holds a PhD in Materials Science and Nanotechnology from the University of Milan-Bicocca. She has taught courses, seminars, and workshops in several cultural and academic institutions, including the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW, Medialab Matadero Madrid, the University of Roma Tre, the Institute for Postnatural Studies, and the New Center for Research and Practice. Her writing was featured in numerous publications, books, and exhibition catalogs. Her book Parallel Minds (Urbanomic, 2022) was translated into multiple languages and presented at festivals and conferences worldwide.
13:00-13:30
2nd Briefing launch and closure
9:30-11:00
2nd Other Otherness short presentations (Per groups)
11:00-13:00
Lecture and Q&A session with Ruben Pater, designer, author and researcher on Capitalism and Material Cultures.
About Ruben Pater: Ruben Pater is a designer at a moment in time, when more design is about the last thing the world needs. In search for ethical alternatives he designs, writes, and teaches. He is the author of The Politics of Design (BIS, 2016) and CAPS LOCK (Valiz, 2021)
13:00-13:30
3rd Briefing launch and closure
9:30-11:00
3rd Other Otherness short presentations (Per groups)
11:00-13:00
Collective feedback and reviews
13:00-13:30
Closing
Methodological Strategies⇝
- Lectures
- Case studies
- Prototyping
- Project-based learning
- Team-based learning
Deliverables⇝
Answering to each lecture and provocation, students will work in groups to produce a deliverable, in an open format, that critically engages with the theme of “Other Otherness.” In the final session, we will collaboratively map out a plural positioning.
Grading Method⇝
Assignments, participation, self-assessment
The course will be evaluated with a numeric grade that will average results from the 4 sessions.
| Percentage | Description |
|---|---|
| 20% | Participation |
| 40% | Prototype development |
| 40% | Personal reflections |
European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
2 ECTS
Faculty⇝
Saúl Baeza is DOES and MAYBE Creative Director, VISIONS BY Founder and Editor-in-chief and VIBE content director. While lecturing at Elisava Barcelona University of Design and Engineering he also researches functional and digital identities as part of the “Making with..." Research Group (TU Eindhoven Research) and "Futures Now" Research Group (Elisava Research). Saúl is the co-director of the Master in Design For Emergent Futures (MDEF), organised by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC) and Elisava Barcelona School of Design and Engineering, in collaboration with the Fab Academy. Saúl has been visiting professor and lecturer at international universities, educational institutions and cultural venues such as Harvard GSD, Central Saint Martins and London College of Communication (UAL), Institute for advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC), RMIT University Melbourne, Rhode Island School of Design, Pascual Bravo University in Medellín, Sónar+D, Victoria&Albert Museum, CCCB and DHUB, among others.