design with others

This week focused on exploring collaborative approaches to design, emphasizing the importance of engaging with creative communities and the broader social body.

We got into how design practices have evolved from serving industrial needs ("design over") to prioritizing human users ("design for"), and now, increasingly, to involving users and communities as active participants in the design process ("design with”), all this by integrating concepts such as otherness, design justice, alterity, situated epistemologies, and intra-action into our design practices. This approach not only redefines the role of the designer but also situates our work within a more inclusive and equitable framework.

Key Concept:

• Language as Action

• Intersectionality: Analise multiple forms of discrimination and privilege intersect, adding layers of complexity to social dynamics.

• Multividuals:

• Worlding:patterning possible worlds and times

Visits:

Salamina and Eemeemee: Visiting Salamina in L'Hospitalet allowed us to witness a unique shared workspace. We met Eemeemee , a collective focused on mycology. Their work spans mushroom cultivation for food sovereignty, bioremediation, and ecological discussions about interspecies relationships and hierarchies. This visit highlighted the incredible synergy between biology, technology, and community-driven processes. What stood out to me was the openness of the space and the generosity of the collective in sharing their knowledge. The concept of interspecies collaboration was particularly inspiring and opened up new ways of thinking about the role of biology in design.

Mutan Monkey: The next day, we visited Mutan Monkey, a cultural association for sound research based in Horta. Built collectively through DIY approaches, this space fosters experimentation in electronics and electroacoustics. What struck me was how they transformed their vision into reality through a process of "learning by doing." Despite having no prior expertise, we were encouraged to explore freely, creating an environment that felt safe and inclusive. Personally, I found it empowering to engage with the instruments, even without any technical knowledge, as it allowed me to experience firsthand the liberating power of collaboration and experimentation.