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From Pneumatic Inflatables to Designing for Healthcare: Better World by Design 2016

By Molly Millette - September 30, 2016

Friday morning registration took place on RISD's campus. 1 of 50

An inflatable structure by Providence-based design collective Pneuhaus was present provided the backdrop for registration throughout the weekend. 2 of 50

Thanks to the screen printing social venture Printambrose, even Better World's tote bags given to attendees demonstrated how design contributes to creating a better world. Printambrose is a Michigan based screen printing social venture that employs urban youth transitioning to post secondary education while also providing them with entrepreneurial leadership skills. Printambrose via Instagram 3 of 50

While pneumatic inflatable's exterior looks like a RGB hedgehog, the interior felt like a rainbow-cloud dreamscape. 4 of 50

Synthetic biologist and artist Christina Agapakis of Gingko Bioworks opened the conference with her keynote "At the Microbe Scale," in which she shared examples of combining design with biology, and an experiment in which she grew cheese from her foot bacteria. 5 of 50

In SAP Labs' Kursat Ozenc's presentation "Ritual Design Lab: Power to the Rituals!" attendees worked in small groups to identify the mechanics and power behind rituals. Better World by Design via Instagram 6 of 50

The two Pneuhaus members used webbing and clips to create harnesses for 257 beachballs and set a beginning web for participants to work from. 7 of 50

Matt Muller and AugustLehrecke of Pneuhaus held the first workshop of the weekend, "Pneumatic Masonry," on the RISD Beach. 8 of 50

Demonstrating the steps for assembly, the partners dislodged a group of balls from the mass and folded the pattern to create a more bulbous form. 9 of 50

Workshop attendees were instructed to pair off and follow the steps to assemble as many of their own beach ball formations as possible. 10 of 50

Some participants had fun finding alternative uses for the inflated formation—beach ball dress anyone? 11 of 50

Some Better World volunteers found the workshop to be quite uniting. 12 of 50

After disassembling the net of harnesses and reforming them with the beach balls to create a new network, the group began to construct the predetermined pneumatic structure. 13 of 50

In workshop "DSI: It Makes Sense—Experimental Sensory Methodology" Jess Suttner and Rinat Sherzer of It Makes Sense lead participants through a series of exercises focused on the connection between tactile sensations and memories. Better World by Design via Twitter 14 of 50

In lecture "Baltimore HEARS: The Interplay of Design + Public Health," a team comprised of professionals from MICA, Johns Hopkins and UMASS Amherst presented their program designed for older adults, Baltimore HEARS (Hearing Equality through Accessible Research and Solutions.) 15 of 50

Through Design for America student-led workshop "DFA: Intro to Human Centered Design" attendees brainstormed ways to apply empathic design to everyday health issues. 16 of 50

In the closing keynote, Tad Hirsch of Public Practice Studio presented his work which introduces material participation as a vehicle for political action, emphasizing common interactions between people and products. 17 of 50

On day two Pneuhaus installed two of their inflatable structures on the Brown University green. 18 of 50

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Popping in to the STEAM Pavillion 20 of 50

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"Designing for Hope + Health" lecturers Samantha Dempsey (RISD IL '13) of Hennepin County Medical Center and Olga Elizarova (Brown '15) examined how co-design can address an expanding perception of "health" and redefine patient care. 23 of 50

Exploring several approaches to teaching digital literacy, workshop participants learned through analog and participatory activities from Ingrid Burrington in "An Alternative Take on Digital Literacy." Better World by Design via Twitter 24 of 50

Through conversation followed by a workshop session, conference attendees learned about the design challenge to reimagine existing food systems and structures in a competition held by Autodesk in partnership with Better World by Design. Mike Alcazaren via Twitter 25 of 50

Organizations and companies involved with the Better World Conference set up during a lunch expo on day two. 26 of 50

RISD's Industrial Designer's Society of America represented at the expo. 27 of 50

Food oriented quarterly publication at RISD, "The Cook Book," provides a platform for an exploration of food systems and recipes throughout different cultures. 28 of 50

Mad*Pow's merch was a hit at the expo, as there's no better place than BWxD to take a designer's oath. 29 of 50

Also present at the expo was representation for the Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island's new project Southlight, a community space and performance venue. Designed by a team of RISD students, the structure operates as a reconfigured greenhouse that can can open to transform into a canopy with a garden backdrop for events. In addition to providing the students with a tremendous learning opportunity, the project supports community needs and will provide the community a source of revenue. 30 of 50

In a midday keynote conversation "Compassion and Inclusion: Participatory Design in the Field of Health," Samantha Dempsey of Hennepin County Medical Center, Olga Elizarova of Mad*Pow andHannah Chung of Sproutel, moderated by Leslie Fontana of RISD Industrial Design, assess the role of the designer in participatory design and emphasize the importance of involving users throughout the process in order to design the best possible outcome. 31 of 50

Attendees gathered in the Pneuhaus STEAM Pavillion for midday conversation "Cybernetics: On Virtual Communities and their Dynamics." 32 of 50

While visitors can slip through slits between the inflated and flexible columns to enter and exit the STEAM Pavilion, each side also has one designated "door" that flips up to allow passage. 33 of 50

In workshop "Mending the Gap: Reimagining the 6-10 Connector to Build More Livable Neighborhoods," participants explored the socioeconomic, political and infrastructural issues challenging the city with Stephanie Caress of Providence's Department of Innovation and Allen Penman of Providence's Department of Planning. Better World by Design via Twitter 34 of 50

In "The Anywhere Ballot, the Future of Universal Access in Voting," Dana Chisnell of Center for Civic Design presented the center's design oriented work that strives to alter voting practices by providing the tools to alter the systems and objects used in contemporary elections. 35 of 50

In the closing keynote for day two, "Creating Plots and Schemes," designer Ilona Gaynor examined the materiality of systems and presence of constructed plots and schemes in her work involved with law enforcement. 36 of 50

"You know occasionally a severed finger will land on your desk. Delivered via FedEx." 37 of 50

In day three's opening keynote presentation "Futurism and the Attention Economy," Imran Hafiz of Vice Media failed to prepare an actual presentation (instead just flipping between browser tabs) yet offered many thought provoking, yet shallow, sentiments. Conference lecturer Ingrid Burrington of Data and Society Research Institute perfectly summarized Hafiz's presentation: "It's like if the California Ideology was fed through a memes meat grinder and turned into a Buzzfeed gif-ticle" via Twitter. 38 of 50

"Why Designers Need to Run for Congress" was one of the most intriguing presentations of the weekend. In her presentation, Leah Chung (RISD ID '14) of US AID spoke to attendees about the importance of incorporating design into government and outlined her path to successfully implementing design skills to policies that enact change at an international level. 39 of 50

Though her lecture gave examples of how to apply design thinking to federal government, the lessons Leah Chung highlighted can be applied to bring design skills to any unconventional field. 40 of 50

The last midday keynote conversation "On Virtual Reality and the Rise of Interactive Media" Jamin Warren of Kill Screen, Max Fowler of Computer Lab and RISD professor Chris Novello examined the growing technology and culture surrounding the idea of virtual reality and envisioned the future of digital literacy. 41 of 50

During the keynote RISD Professor Chris Novello ripped the top off his Macbook and passed it around the audience as a tray to collect objects and "data." 42 of 50

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In order to create a better world for the future, one needs to be conscious about waste and the objects of the past. Better World by Design prioritized proper waste disposal, using graphics to account for all the disposable items they distributed and how users should go about disposing of them. 44 of 50

In his presentation "Building with Mushrooms: Engineering Living Systems," Philip Ross of MycoWorksrecounted his experience manipulating and redesigning materials for new uses through his work with mycelium. 45 of 50

Lecture attendees had the opportunity to engage with MycoWorks' innovative mycelium substitute for leather. Better World by Design via Instagram 46 of 50

To close the conference, MIT Media Lab's Cesar Hidalgo gave a keynote presentation on the importance of data collection and how data creates "Macro Connections." 47 of 50

While the importance of data collection may seem obvious, Hidalgo dove deeper and detailed how people from all fields can benefit from incorporating research into their practices more often. Additionally, Hidalgo provided attendees references and tools for displaying collected data. 48 of 50

The 2016 Better World by Design Conference was a success. Made possible by students and volunteers who worked tirelessly to provide an amazing learning experience for the 700 people in attendance, participants were truly inspired to go forth and work towards a better world by design. 49 of 50

One last bounce on Pneuhaus's rainbow-dream-like-RGB-inflatable-hedgehog-arch. 50 of 50

This past weekend over 700 people gathered in Providence, Rhode Island for Better World by Design. In its ninth year, the conference held between adjacent college campuses Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University, brings creators, innovators and professionals of all types together for a three day long gathering to examine and promote the importance of critical design thinking. Based on the theme of Interplay, the conference was broken into three categories: Micro, Meso and Macro. Each day examined the social and physical scale at which interplay is occurring. Through thirty-five presentations, conference attendees critically analyzed design's interdisciplinary power and gained greater understanding of how to truly strive towards creating a better world.

Photo Source: Better World by Design

While the official themes were Micro, Meso and Macro, presentations also seemed to fall into one of three categories: biological design, design's role in policy and envisioning technological futures. From learning about cybernetics in an inflatable pavilion to hearing a woman talk about how she grew cheese from foot bacteria, envisioning design applications to urban infrastructure and healthcare, the workshops and lectures were as entertaining and engaging as they were informative and thought provoking. Thanks for an amazing conference Better World, see you next year for conference number ten.