Design for Debate

A discussion about the social, cultural and ethical implications of existing, and emerging technologies.
Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, London UK

Presented by SymbioticA and The Bureau of Ideas

Hyde Park Hotel
Monday 3 August
6-9pm. 6.30 start

London designers Dunne & Raby use design as a medium to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry and the public. Designers are usually expected to make technology sexy, consumable, and easy to use; to ensure its entry into everyday life goes as smoothly as possible. But as it becomes more complex, there may be the need to slow down and debate the impact of different technological futures before they happen. Dunne and Raby believe designers need to collectively decide on which futures are the most desirable, and the least harmful.

• “Designs for fragile personalities in anxious times”, including “Hideaway Furniture” (for hiding people) and the “Huggable Atomic Mushroom”, phobias are treated as though they are perfectly reasonable and objects are designed for how people really are, rather than how they are supposed to be.
• The “Technological Dream Series no1, Robots” sparks discussion about how we'd like our robots to relate to us in the future: should they be subservient, intimate, dependent or equal?
• The “Spymaker” is a speculative product involving a blinkered muzzle for dogs that guides its handler to zones free of CCTV and electronic monitoring. Dunne and Raby raise issues of the cultural and political impacts of technology on everyday life, throw forward future and potential scenarios for debate and question the very nature of design.

Following their participation in Melbourne at the State of Design Festival, SymbioticA in collaboration with The Bureau of Ideas bring Dunne and Raby to Perth for a public presentation, chaired by Oron Catts, SymbioticA Director. The talk will include projects from Dunne & Raby and their students on the MA Design Interactions course at the Royal College of Art to illustrate new design roles, contexts and methods for debating the social, cultural and ethical implications of existing, and emerging technologies.
Dunne and Raby’s work has been exhibited at MOMA, the Pompidou Centre, and the Science Museum in London and is in the permanent collections of MOMA, V&A, FRAC and FNAC. They have consulted for Sony, Philips Design, National Panasonic and France Telecom and have published two books: Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects (Princeton Architectural Press) and Hertzian Tales (MIT Press).Anthony Dunne is professor and Head of the Design Interactions Department at the Royal College of Art in London. Fiona Raby is a faculty member.

Design for Debate:  Monday 3 August, 6-9pm. 6.30 start. Hyde Park Hotel.
$15 admission. $5 students/concession.
Food service available from 6-8pm  $12 meals.

The Bureau of Ideas, created by Marie Bonnal  and Julian Goddard in 2003, is known for its free, critical and provocative thoughts, shared with a public of Artists, Students, Academic, Independent and Public Art Institutions, Collectors, Art media and non art experts.

For more information visit: www.thebureauofideas.com | www.dunneandraby.co.uk

Design for Debate flyer