Is Design for Everyone?: A Look at How We Do (and Do Not) Access Design From the Birth of the Internet to the Rise of the Drone

How do people interact with the designed products, buildings, and frameworks of everyday life? What barriers stand in our way, for us and for others? And why should we care?

Modern and contemporary design history has often charted an uncritical teleology of “design for the common good” that positively impacts society. And design does do good. When British computer scientist Tim Berners Lee lit up the stadium at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremonies with the tweet “This Is for Everyone” he highlighted the way that the Internet—perhaps the most radical social design experiment of the last quarter century—has created limitless possibilities for the discovery, sharing, and expansion of knowledge and information.

However, while designers often intend no harm, no design is inherently benign or democratic (internet adoption is radically affected by, among other factors, low household income and education level). Design operates as contingently and ambiguously as other forms of expression and endeavor, and this idea lies at the core of a truly holistic history of the field.

This Olio will interrogate contemporary design across multiple genres (including critical design, clothing, and architecture) and types (ranging from data visualizations to bio registry components). Participants will explore the ways in which contemporary design shapes and serves the world around us, for better, for worse, and always selectively in terms of its politics, economies, communities, and critical paradigms.

Tickets $20

Open bar with wine and cocktails.

Chandelier Creative

611 BROADWAY, Suite 900 | NEW YORK, NY 10012