Open/Ended Design

In this conversation, Sougwen Chung (Scilicet Studio), Freya Murray (Google Arts & Culture), and Suhair Khan (open-ended design) talk about the confluence of machine learning and robotics with artistic practice. Could we imagine an engineer as an artist, or an artist as an engineer? Can you make real innovations in designing with machine learning without access to research teams at major tech companies? Should algorithms be given names to remind ourselves that they are not “neutral”? This conversation is part of open-ended design's Technology & Design Lab in partnership with London Design Festival 2022. The mission is to connect visionary creatives and technologists, to catalyse, seed and build around new ideas. In this series, we are asking the question: “In an age of disruption and innovation: where do we go next?” For future events, follow open-ended design on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, or visit openended.design. The Technology & Design Lab has been generously supported by Google, The House of KOKO, WeTransfer, Gaia Art Foundation, and Lito.io.

In this conversation, Tom Dixon OBE (Tom Dixon), Karen Kang (TikTok), and Amon Kale (Central Saint Martins, LVMH) consider the role of creatives across digital platforms. They discuss the ways in which creativity is being decentralised, the role of social media in increasing access, and what is meant by an “authentic” brand voice. This conversation is part of open-ended design's Technology & Design Lab in partnership with London Design Festival 2022. The mission is to connect visionary creatives and technologists, to catalyse, seed and build around new ideas. In this series, we are asking the question: “In an age of disruption and innovation: where do we go next?” For future events, follow open-ended design on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, or visit openended.design. The Technology & Design Lab has been generously supported by Google, The House of KOKO, WeTransfer, Gaia Art Foundation, and Lito.io.

In this conversation, Diana Alcausin (WeTransfer), Mariasole Pastori (Diorama), Emily Benn (Editor, Councillor City of London), Dayo Olopade (Amazon Studios, YouTube), and Maxim Zhestkov (zhestkov.studio) speak about ethics, bias, and innovation in art and design across all digital platforms. Hear their collective first-hand experiences working with NFTs, generative AI, and the role of curation in our multi-platform world. This conversation is part of open-ended design's Technology & Design Lab in partnership with London Design Festival 2022. The mission is to connect visionary creatives and technologists, to catalyse, seed and build around new ideas. In this series, we are asking the question: “In an age of disruption and innovation: where do we go next?” For future events, follow open-ended design on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, or visit openended.design. The Technology & Design Lab was been generously supported by Google, The House of KOKO, WeTransfer, Gaia Art Foundation, and Lito.io.

In this conversation, Whitney Richardson (Apple, The New York Times), Greg Robson (Kintanna Ventures), Dara Huang (DH Liberty), and Suhair Khan (open-ended design) speak about how the role of creatives, architects and designers is changing with new markets, new users, and new platforms. Are we all hypocrites when it comes to designing and building sustainably? Where do nature and technology intersect? How do we make choices for ourselves, our business, and also for our consumers? This conversation is part of open-ended design's Technology & Design Lab in partnership with London Design Festival 2022. The mission is to connect visionary creatives and technologists, to catalyse, seed and build around new ideas. In this series, we are asking the question: “In an age of disruption and innovation: where do we go next?” For future events, follow open-ended design on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, or visit openended.design. The Technology & Design Lab has been generously supported by Google, The House of KOKO, WeTransfer, Gaia Art Foundation, and Lito.io.

In this conversation, Arthur Mamou-Mani (Mamou-Mani Architects), Shajay Bhooshan (Zaha Hadid Architects), Jen Haugan (Nexus Studios), and Suhair Khan (open-ended design) speak about placemaking and designing for the metaverse. Who defines the metaverse? Are we excited or terrified by what comes next? Who owns these spaces? They discuss building virtual worlds across hybrid realities and raise new questions on the future of creativity and the ethics of technology. This conversation is part of open-ended design's Technology & Design Lab in partnership with London Design Festival 2022. The mission is to connect visionary creatives and technologists, to catalyse, seed and build around new ideas. In this series, we are asking the question: “In an age of disruption and innovation: where do we go next?” For future events, follow open-ended design on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, or visit openended.design. The Technology & Design Lab has been generously supported by Google, The House of KOKO, WeTransfer, Gaia Art Foundation, and Lito.io.

In this conversation, artist and designer Es Devlin speaks with Suhair Khan about how to thoughtfully engage technology to push the boundaries of imagination across art, culture, and design. This conversation is part of open-ended design's Technology & Design Lab in partnership with London Design Festival 2022. The mission is to connect visionary creatives and technologists, to catalyse, seed and build around new ideas. In this series, we are asking the question: “In an age of disruption and innovation: where do we go next?” For future events, follow open-ended design on Instagram, subscribe to our newsletter, or visit openended.design. The Technology & Design Lab has been generously supported by Google, The House of KOKO, WeTransfer, Gaia Art Foundation, and Lito.io.

We continue our planet focused season this week with curator Diana Campbell, who is committed to fostering a transnational art world. Championing socially engaged artistic practices of underrepresented artists and regions has earned her recognition on the annual ArtReviewPower100 list.

This week's open-ended conversation is with the versatile Shloka Nath, head of sustainability and policy at Tata Trusts in Mumbai. Shloka Nath is a thought leader focused on funding climate in India across business and society.At the center of her work as the co-founder and Acting CEO of the India Climate Collaborative, is the question of how climate can be funded in the broader ecosystem in India.In this episode, Shloka speaks about connecting with nature, the wildlife book that inspired her work on climate, and how art is a part of everything she does.

This weeks conversation is with architect and teacher Hussam Dakkak.  Hussam has been the founder and program director of the AA Jeddah Visiting School since 2015, which critically archives and studies Makkah, a city sacred to all Muslims and home to the holiest site in Islam, the Ka'aba. A historian and archivist, Hussam's work is political and sometimes subversive.  He is a partner at Studio Bound, a design collaborative based between London and Saudi, and holds a masters in architecture from the Architectural Association in London. Most recently, Hussam curated the Saudi Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Hussam gives Open/Ended an inside view into his Makkah project, his process of archiving social histories through research and storytelling, and much more.

This weeks conversation is with Katie Patrick, an environmental engineer and software designer based in San Francisco. Katie works at the intersection of environmental behaviour, gamification, and technology, tackling complex environmental issues by applying data-driven game and behaviour-change techniques.Passionate about the power of gaming to save the planet, Katie is an author and podcast host, How to Save the World: How to make changing the world the greatest game ever played.She has collaborated with UNEP, NASA JPL, Goggle, Magic Leap, IES, Institute for the future, and Stanford. Katie's now founded multiple climate-focused platforms and startups: 

We kick off the new year with a conversation with multimedia artist Shezad Dawood, who works across the disciplines of painting, film, sculpture, performance, virtual reality and digital media.  His work asks key questions of narrative, history, and embodiment, fusing artistic narratives with the issues of our time, challenging us to think about the future in new ways. Shezad has had an epic couple of years. Some of his recent projects include co-producing the ‘Concert From Bangladesh', a mixed-reality music concert, and creating The Terrarium, a VR experience that presents a world 300 years from now, where the Earth's surface is 90% water. Particularly passionate about climate change, he shares his thoughts about environment, technology, and his work across the South Asian subcontinent. 

This week's Open/Ended conversation features Whitney Richardson, a creative visual strategist who uses technology, events and journalism to connect people around the world. Over the last few years, Whitney has produced live events for The New York Times across Europe to address the most pressing stories of our time: climate change, gender, tech, and culture. Whitney speaks about her work on one of the most ambitious live events in The New York Times's 170-year history, a series of 70+ virtual events on climate for the NYT Climate Hub at COP26 in Glasgow.

To kick off Season 3, we are excited to welcome Anab Jain - designer, futurist and filmmaker. As co-founder of Superflux, Anab leads a seminal design practice that is responsive to the challenges and opportunities of this era. Anab and her team imagine and build future worlds for the present moment. They confront issues such as climate change and inequality, the emergence of artificial intelligence, and the future of work. And they collaborate in surprising ways, they're currently working on new narratives in Artificial Intelligence with organisations like Deepmind and Omidyar. Anab is a dreamer, storyteller, and mythmaker, and her childhood in India has brought her on a remarkable journey. We hope you enjoy this conversation.

#19 Josie Wells is an award-winning journalist and founder of Footnotes and Indexes, a New York-based book club that aims to initiate personal growth and foster critical thinking through works by Black writers. Making academia accessible, her accompanying online newsletter provides space for people to address social issues and dig deeper into Black culture and Black feminism. Started in January 2020, the Footnotes and Indexes book club and newsletter combine text with music, videos, and documentaries to move seamlessly between history and modern contemporary pop culture. In response to the pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, Josie also created a free introductory online masterclass on Black feminism, which has been transformative for those who joined in from around the world.In this Open/Ended conversation, Josie speaks with us about the origins of Black feminism / and the transformative effect of great writers such as Audre Lorde, James Baldwin and Bell Hooks in her own life.

Jaz O'Hara founded The Worldwide Tribe in 2015 after a life-changing visit to the refugee camp in Calais, known as ‘The Jungle', and a subsequent Facebook post that went viral. The Worldwide Tribe uses creative storytelling to amplify human perspectives of displaced people within the refugee crisis, inspiring a global community and leaving a legacy of positive, social change. Jaz and her team have provided essential support in camps across Europe and the Middle East. Alongside coordinating food, clothing, and shelter, they organise larger projects such as installing wifi for refugee camps in France and Greece and supporting search and rescue teams for distressed migrants in the Mediterranean. In this Open/Ended conversation, Jaz talks with Suhair Khan about the scale of displacement due to climate change, war, and the pandemic / changing the dehumanising language used for those who are displaced / and technology's power to nurture human relations.

Blaze Lightfoot Jones-Yellin is an afro-indigenous urbanist whose practice and teaching has largely focused on environmental justice and community-centric design in New York. He is also a professor at the Sustainability and Environmental Justice department at CUNY John Jay. Throughout his career, Blaze has helped create equitable communities by blending human and environment-centred design; always bringing community voices to the forefront of city revitalization projects. He has supported the recovery of communities in Far Rockaway after Superstorm Sandy and has worked on The Lowline - the world's first underground park, in New York City. In all of this work, he has driven the philosophy that designing for equity is good in the long run for both residents and developers. In this Open/Ended conversation, Blaze speaks with us about climate migration / building inclusive and resilient urban communities / empowering the local / and how there is no going back following this pandemic.

This week's Open/Ended conversation features Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, a multidisciplinary artist who examines the relationship between humans and nature through exobiology, synthetic biology, conservation, and biodiversity. Using artificial intelligence and virtual reality as primary means of expression, much of her practice-led research has focused on the human desire to ‘better' the world. At present, she is working on a new permanent artwork commissioned by the Eden Project in Cornwall and funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation, with additional partners Gaia Art Foundation. By taking part in a national project to save endangered species of pollinator insects, Daisy's artwork, developed in dialogue with horticulturists, scientists and consultants, seeks to help us understand the vital roles of indigenous plants and their pollinators. In this Open/Ended conversation, we speak with Daisy about empathy for non-humans, hierarchies in nature, and experimenting with technology to visualise possible futures.Website: daisyginsberg.com edenproject.com openended-design.org

Sertaç Taşdelen is an Istanbul-based tech entrepreneur who has spent the last 10 years bringing artificial intelligence to the worlds of spirituality and fortune-telling. As co-founder and CEO of Binnaz and Faladdin, two psychic apps, and Iyilik Paylaş, an online donation platform, Sertaç was not always an entrepreneur. He was based in Singapore when he left his job as a management consultant to being a tech startup founder — one of the first with a lens entirely on mysticism. Sertaç's first venture was inspired by his mother, whose traditional Turkish coffee cup readings sparked the idea for an online marketplace of fortune-tellers. Today, Faladdin is the Number 1 app in Turkey and has been downloaded by more than 25 million people across the globe with 1.2 million daily active users. Coming from the mixture of ‘Fal', meaning fortune, and the tale of ‘Aladdin', the Faladdin business is imaginative, fun, and full of personality. Through a series of early startup bootstrapping marketing appearances, Sertaç himself is the now hugely well-known face of the brand. In this Open/Ended conversation, we speak with Sertaç on running a tech business about people's hopes and fortunes. We talk about data privacy, personal creative freedom versus big money VC investments, and the outcomes of a positive mindset. Today, Sertaç is an example of using the power of culture and tradition in a global marketplace, and of leaning into the power of optimism.

Widharmika ‘Widhar' Agung is founder and director of Indorelawan.org, Indonesia's largest web-based volunteer matching network, which he founded in 2012 inspired by his own community-centric Balinese heritage. Indorelawan now has 180,000 volunteers who sign up and engage via the website and app, supporting 3000+ organisations with 6000+ activities, to help one of the world's largest and most diverse countries strengthen community action and build towards a brighter and more connected future. For this Open/Ended conversation, Widhar joins us from his second office, the Jakarta headquarters of heritage batik fashion brand Iwan Tirta (where he has been CEO and navigated dressing world leaders and collaborations with Disney) to speak about impact investment as a way to preserve culture / craftsmanship in design / using technology to harness the power of community. “Iwan Tirta is not about selling a product - it is about the pride of being Indonesian and about Indonesian craftsmanship.”

"All our secrets are revealed in the way we move." Aparna Rao, part of the Indo-Danish art duo Pors & Rao, joins us from her studio based in Bangalore, India for this Open/Ended conversation. She and her collaborator Søren Pors work with objects and installations, often incorporating lifelike physical movement and responsive behaviours. Technology brings their sculptures to life, sensitively programmed to respond to their environment; you may glimpse behaviour patterns such as shyness, fatigue or quirky confidence and be puzzled by their captivating apparent consciousness. Aparna has worked for over a decade on building electro-mechanical systems and interactive installations, often investing several years into the development of artworks.Based between Bangalore and Zurich, Pors and Rao have exhibited around the world, in memorable locations such as Shodoshima island, as part of the Setouchie Triennale 2016, and the 2nd Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014 in Kerala, India. Since March 2017, they have been in residence at Wyss Zurich (UZH + ETHZ) where they have set up their lab PATHOS (Poetic Animatronics Through Hands-On Systems). Their research here aims to address the hostilities encountered in robotics by creating a more user-friendly animatronics platform.Growing up in a family of furniture makers, Aparna was surrounded by creators and three-dimensional design. She eventually abandoned her screen-centric work as a graphic designer and started to work with objects through code. Pors and Rao have been driven to create a usable browser-based interface that facilitates intuitive animation without having to code. The software and specialised set of motors compress months and years of production into just a few minutes.She's been working with several major tech companies on collaborative projects: Watch this space. Open/Ended talking points: How do we programme Technology to appear emotional? An 18-year journey of making and learning to take your time Blurring the boundaries between Technology and Art Animating a life-like gust of wind; the function of memories within art

#11 Esra'a Al Shafei on Platforming Marginalised Voices Esra'a Al Shafei is a Bahraini human rights activist and founder of Majal.org, a network of digital platforms that amplify under-reported and marginalized voices in the Middle East, North Africa and beyond; building communities that celebrate, protect and promote diversity and social justice. Director's Fellow at the MIT Media Lab, Esra'a and her team of remote-working women coders and techies across the Middle East and North Africa emerged during the Arab Spring in 2010-2012 with the crowd-sourcing news platform Crowdvoice.org. Since then, they have produced mould-breaking platforms such Ahwaa, an online space built to support and protect the Arab LGTBQ community, and Mideast Tunes, a platform in the Middle East that drives to empower underground bands, one which helped revolutionary bands like Mashrou' Leila and Justina find new audiences. Esra'a spends much of her time on initiatives with the unifying goals of freedom of expression and access to information, not just in the Middle East and North Africa but around the world. At the forefront of this is Migrant Rights, advancing the rights of migrant workers in the Middle East and often in direct confrontation with local governments and authorities in the region. Open/Ended talking points: What is a political act? How do we find our own voice and stand up for what matters to us and our own community? Music, the role it plays in contemporary politics, and how singing in your native tongue can be an act of courage and activism. The financial impact of the pandemic on Majal.org and non-profits around the world. The lack of resources & fundraising challenges for women entrepreneurs and founders coming from the Global South Esra'a's plan for what comes next in unifying voices for the truth to power from her new vantage point within the MIT Media Lab. ----------------------------------------------------- Open/Ended is a diverse community of creative practitioners and technologists working across disciplines. The platform spotlights innovators in culture, design, and technology from around the world, all of whom consider positive social or environmental impact as central to their work. Open/Ended is for anyone with an interest in generating a positive impact, and how we can work together to get there.

#10 Marquise Stillwell on Community through Design Marquise Stillwell's work spans art, culture, film and the problems (and solutions) of design in the world's major cities. He speaks about life as an editor, film producer, curator, philanthropist and increasingly, a voice for social justice. In 2009 Marquise founded Openbox in New York City - bringing together designers, researchers, and urbanists working with human-centered design; with a particular focus on building more inclusive, equitable communities. He also runs the film production company Opendox, and is the co-founder of Deem Journal; both platforms which explore lesser-known narratives through design and culture. (link to there youtube channels) In our Open/Ended conversation we speak about: Thinking about a different kind of AI - 'Ancestral Intelligence'. Issue #1 of Deem Journal, 'Designing for Dignity'; created to ask proactive questions and raise the visibility of women and people of colour as creative problem solvers and thinkers. Opendox's newest documentary 'The New Bauhaus' reflecting on living creatively and across disciplines in the 21st century. Empathy as a muscle. ----------------------------------------------------- Open/Ended is a diverse community of creative practitioners and technologists working across disciplines. The platform spotlights innovators in culture, design, and technology from around the world, all of whom consider positive social or environmental impact as central to their work. Open/Ended is for anyone with an interest in generating a positive impact, and how we can work together to get there. Instagram: @openended_design Website: http://www.openended-design.org/ Spotify: Open/Ended Design Podcast

/ Dr. Jessica Wade is a fantastic physicist with multiple scientific awards under the belt of her lab coat. By day she works on her post-doc on chiral organic light-emitting diodes at Imperial College London and by night she is a whizz on Wikipedia. Amongst many other professional projects, Jess is aiming to diversify the science world through her work and voice. She has now written over 1150 Wikipedia profiles on women and underrepresented communities since she started to tackle the power dynamics of information online. The aim is to tackle an overwhelming bias in the history of science on the world's largest online public encyclopedia. And she's part of a group of awesome scientists and activists pushing back on what they call “pseudoscience” in its many forms at a global scale Jess is leading the charge to reclaim this space…

Leila Meroue is the founding director of the NGO Let's Build My School and her own architectural practice LM Architecture. Focused on sustainability and humanitarian work, Leila speaks to us about her research and design methodology; and her work and interests in the natural world, sustainable materials, and community empowerment. Let's Build My School is an initiative which uses locally sourced materials to construct schools in remote areas in developing countries. Skilling up both global volunteers from around the world and the local communities in Senegal, where the schools are built, the building techniques learnt can then be replicated in the future. __________________ Let's Build My School is on Instagram, Facebook, and their website. If you would like to support them in building more schools you can Donate, spread the word or apply to volunteer. As Leila said at the end of the call “It's really not about me at all, I was very hesitant in the beginning to join your interview because I am not a big fan of going and throwing in my own story, but I thought it would be a great thing to do it for the kids and build for others all the time."

/ Priya Khanchandani has been a bright light in the world of design for most of her career across continents. A writer, curator and commentator (and trained solicitor!), she's just stepping into her new role as the Head of Curatorial and Interpretation at the Design Museum in London.Once a curator at the V&A in London Priya kicked off their seminal contemporary design acquisitions program — basically allowing them to augment their illustrious collection with (usually fascinating, sometimes odd!) objects from the contemporary world. This habit has stuck, she's been thinking a lot about pandemic objects the last few weeks and months!In this Open/Ended chat, she speaks with us about her interdisciplinary world: growing up with a hard-to-pronounce name (some of us can relate!), the importance of female mentorship and acquiring Katy Perry's eyelashes for the V&A collection…

/ Jayden Ali's practice sits at the intersection of architecture, urban strategy, art and performance. He is the Founding Director of interdisciplinary practice JA Projects and (not your typical professor) he's a unit leader and lecturer in the incredible MA Architecture program at Central Saint Martins. At once a teacher, writer, filmmaker, designer, creator and activist, Jayden is constantly thinking far out beyond the borders of design and architecture, and redefining this for himself and his students as he goes along. It is clear Jayden's building blocks are not solely made of concrete. From Kim Kardashian to stories of mosques in London to Le Corbusier, listen to our full conversation to connect with Jayden's serious and eloquent voice...

/ Soft-spoken and always thoughtful, tech-star Tilek Mamutov recently left Google X to found his own venture, Outtalent; a career accelerator that helps engineers from emerging markets get jobs at top tech companies abroad. Tilek grew up in in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, studied computer science and has stayed close to home throughout his career journey in more ways than one. In an expansive chat, he speaks with Suhair about the importance of immigration, language, critical thinking, diversity in teams, and the future of AI...

/ What is your purpose? Our conversation with Liza kept us up at night with her words "This is actually going deep and asking yourself - what are my preferences? What are the things that drive and motivate me? Where do I find purpose?" playing over in our minds, forcing us to pause if even for a minute, to check in with ourselves.

Divya Thakur has led the creation of a contemporary Indian design identity. Based in Mumbai with a life and home in Colaba which reflect her textured Indian worldview, she is feisty, funny, bold and always thoughtful to speak with. She is a powerhouse of design thinking, product and practice and has had exhibitions and projects spanning the world of contemporary design./ Divya speaks with us about future dreams in forging a stronger professional voice and space outside of India; but also about her life's work in creating a contemporary Indian visual language, technology and design, continually adapting in design across the cerebral and the practical, India's connection to the Bauhaus and uncovering the forgotten history behind India's Chairs. / "I think my cultural crusade has been to use my skill sets as a designer to create a modern Indian visual vocabulary. This may sound simple but it hasn't been an easy journey - as we've all tended to look to the west.” /

Open/Ended is a platform for activist designers and thinkers around the world. Together, we will explore the spaces where creativity, culture and design intersect with technology, science, and engineering; with a lens on positive change. / Melodie Leung is a Senior Associate at Zaha Hadid Architects. Her practice has evolved over the last 15 years in lateral ways - extending into architectural, interior, product and furniture design - all of which would have done her mentor and friend Zaha very proud. She speaks with us about learning from Zaha, deep time, the future of technology and architecture, building and strengthening communities, design in the public realm, and her dreams for the future. / "If the present is not just today or this year, but the present includes everybody from 100 years before and 100 years ahead of us, that fundamentally changes the responsibility we feel in any of the actions that we do.” - Melodie Leung, Open/Ended #2

Open/Ended is a platform for activist designers and thinkers around the world. Together, we will explore the spaces where creativity, culture and design intersect with technology, science, and engineering; with a lens on positive change. / Azu Nwagbogu is a cultural force in Africa, leading for change through experimentation, intellect and intuition. Azu began his career in science, obtaining a Masters in Public Health from The University of Cambridge. In the course of his career with journalism he realised the power of the visual image. He ended up founding the African Artists Foundation and the groundbreaking Lagos Photo Festival - both of which he continues to direct. / “We are living through incredible change; it's not normal that you experience so much change and transition in a lifetime. It's never happened before. It's incredible. Each generation must find and discover its own reason for its existence, and so it really is demanding of us. Our hands are full.” - Azu Nwagbogu, Open/Ended #1