Interaction Design

«Ecological practices and Design Future(s); the integrative field's value»

Delfina Fantini van Ditmar, Royal College of Art
in conversation with Rasa Weber

Tue 28 March 2023
17.00 – 18.30
Kaskadenfoyer 5.K04

Grounded on more than human ethics of care and a nondualistic consideration of nature, the talk will address design's cultural and material transformational responsibility for constructing preferable future(s). Through the conceptual lenses of Anna Tsing's 'capitalist ruin' / 'more-than-human attunement'; Maria Puig de la Bellacasa 'matters of care; speculative ethics in more than human worlds' and Donna Haraway's vision of 'staying with the trouble', the lecture will reflect on the role of design practices in acting upon our relationship with the living.

Against this backdrop, the talk will raise critical questions on how designers could reimagine the relationship with the world by integrating care and regeneration. In the dispiriting context of environmental collapse, the talk will evidence the value of design's creative approaches through a series of examples.

Biography

Dr Delfina Fantini van Ditmar is a biologist, design researcher and Senior Lecturer at the Royal College of Art School of Design. Driven by her interest in ecological thinking, reflective practices and inter-relations as a systemic response to the environmental collapse, Delfina's critical practice examines ethics of care and the necessary paradigm shift in design. In her teaching practice, Delfina encourages students to reflect on epistemological paradigms, envision alternative futures, think systemically and critically analyse the broader implications of their decisions. In 2022 Delfina was a Design Researcher in Residency at the Future Observatory at the Design Museum. The residency culminated with the RESTORE exhibition, a call to develop systems to reduce consumption and protect our planet for all lifeforms now and in years to come.

Delfina has been a crit and Visiting Lecturer in several institutions, including The Bartlett, Architectural Association, University of the Arts London (Central Saint Martins), Imperial College London, Manchester School of Art, University of Brighton, University for the Creative Arts (CCA), Liverpool University, University of Leeds, Critical Media Lab Basel, École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD), Politecnico di Milano, Syracuse University, Rice University, TU Berlin and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) among others.