Reflecting on DESIGN CULTURE(S) Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 Volume #1 Cumulus Conference Proceedings Series 07/2021 Rome Reflecting on Design Culture(s). Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 Volume #1 Editors Angela Giambattista Viktor Malakuczi Layout and Graphic Design Viktor Malakuczi Concept for Cumulus Conference Proceedings Series was developed in 2018 by Jani Pulkka Cumulus conference Design Culture(s) hosted by Sapienza University of Rome, Italy on June 8-11, 2021. Conference website: www.cumulusroma2020.org Published by Cumulus Cumulus the Global Association of Art and Design Education and Research. Aalto University, School of Arts, Design and Architecture PO BOX 31000, FI-00076 Aalto www.cumulusassociation.org Copyright © 2021 Sapienza University of Rome, Cumulus Association, Aalto University. All content remains the property of authors, editors and institutes. ISBN 978-952-64-9006-9 (PDF) ISSN 2490-046X Cumulus Conference Proceedings Series, N°7 Cumulus Conference Proceedings Series Editor-in-Chief Cumulus President Mariana Amatullo Publications in the Series 01/17 Kolding, REDO 02/17 Bengaluru, Letters to the Future 03/18 Paris, To get there: designing together 04/18 Wuxi, Diffused Transition & Design Opportunities 05/19 Rovaniemi, Around the Campfire – Resilience and Intelligence 06/19 Bogotá, The Design After 07/21 Rome, Design Culture(s) Volume #1, Volume #2 Reflecting on DESIGN CULTURE(S) Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 Volume #1 Cumulus Conference Proceedings Series Cumulus the Global Association of Art and Design Education and Research Rome 2021 \ 7 Designing Culture(s) for Plurality Mariana Amatullo 9 Design Cultures: when Design is a discipline Loredana Di Lucchio 12 53 A Virtual Reality or a Better Reality? João de Sá Bonelli 56 Challenges in design of the new artificial Giuseppe Mincolelli, Patrizia Marti 60 Don’t stop taking position: four stories of design awareness Nicolò Ceccarelli 64 Towards New Visual Language(s) of Design in Democracy Merav Perez 69 Towards a pluriversal approach to design Anna Bernagozzi 72 Design is human, too human Giuseppe Di Bucchianico 75 Beyond people-centred design Emília Duarte 79 A new Design Paradigm Sabrina Lucibello 83 Designerly Ways of Making Andreas Sicklinger, Oscar Tomico, Eujin Pei, Mario Buono Design Cultures for Cumulus Lorenzo Imbesi 18 19 Spreading Design Research Angela Giambattista 27 Design Culture(s) distilled: emerging connections Viktor Malakuczi 41 42 46 Designing in the Anthropocene Pier Luigi Capucci The Illustrated Principles of Nuovo Abitare Salvatore Iaconesi, Oriana Persico \ 91 Regenerative socio-technical systems of production Oscar Tomico 93 Design Culture of Multiplicity. Through Gender, Pluralism and Diversity Raffaella Fagnoni, Gianni Sinni 100 New Normal Jose Allard, Adam de Eyto, Michael Krohn, Philipp Heidkamp 105 New Communities Claudia De Giorgi 108 Hybrid Proximity Giuseppe Lotti 111 Design culture (of) resilience. Social innovation, circular economy, sustainability Davide Fassi, Miaosen Gong, Nicola Morelli, Regina Aparecida Sanches, Maria Antonietta Sbordone 119 Revolutions? Hélène Day-Fraser, Alastair Fuad-Luke, Stefano Maffei, Betti Marenko 128 Design Culture (of) Thinking. Design Thinking VS Design Research. Reaffirming Design Cognitive Nature Paola Bertola 132 Tracing the origin of sustainable design: the role of design organizations Pier Paolo Peruccio 136 Design Capitalism under Scrutiny Márton Szentpéteri Designing in the Anthropocene Pier Luigi Capucci Fine Arts Academies of Reggio Calabria and Urbino, Italy Noema KEYWORDS | DISTANCE, ANTHROPOCENE, CLIMATE, DESIGN, TECHNOLOGIES Abstract The text takes into consideration some emerging issues that design has to face. 1) A rethinking of the technologies of distance and of their tools, that have been emphasized by the COVID-19 pandemic and will remain in use. 2) The emerging of “Third Life”, that is the life of entities and organisms, inorganic, organic and mixed, originating from human culture, that are evolving increasingly powerful and autonomous. 3) The challenge of the climate crisis and of the Anthropocene, that implies a cognitive leap, a different idea of the relationship with the “non-human” as a complex dynamic intercourse, and requires a transdisciplinary outstanding design vision. Technologies of distance The pandemic has put on stage the topic of distance. We have to maintain a distance from each other and we must wear filtrating masks. But it has also enforced the “technologies of distance”. We do remote work, remote teaching and learning, the remote dimension has been for many months at the centre of our life. “Smart working” already existed before, but during the pandemic it has been extended whenever possible, changing the habits of people and companies. In many situations these acquisitions will remain in use, since they are well economically and ecologically suited. Many people have rose their voice against distance, claiming for the physical presence. This is interesting. From one side we crave to be near, physically in touch to each other. But since 42 Reflecting on Design Culture(s). Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 P. L. Capucci the dawn of humanity and the development of the symbolic abilities we have done nothing but use and invent ways to mediate reality and act at distance. Distance has been a main quest in human evolution. Since its dawn humanity has developed techniques to operate in distance, synchronously and asynchronously: indexical signs, oral language, image and writing. With these tools our ancestors have multiplied and spread the human culture in space, almost all over Earth, and in time, through the millennia. Remote communication in real-time has been a big wish in history, because of the advantage it could bring in war, commerce and in the administration of territories. Many techniques were invented, and some are still in use: light, from the alarm fires to lighthouses, car headlights, traffic lights, and mirrors. Smoke signals. Acoustic information, and bells, doorbells, sirens, car horns... Until the technologies of distance, like the telegraph, the telephone, the radio, and today’s networks. Indeed, the evolution of humanity could be interpreted as a continuous and tireless research to communicate ever faster, ever further away, in an ever more extensive, reliable and economic way (with the above mentioned four primary modes: indexical signs, oral language, image and writing). Acting through distance requires well suited tools and services. Life online – onlife, as the Italian philosopher Luciano Floridi calls it – is mostly dominated by a few private companies. This poses issues regarding monopoly, privacy, control, security, and since billions of people worldwide use these services and tools, these problems exist at a global scale. On one side we cannot help using digital tools and services in our everyday life, for work, study, learn, project, fun. A relevant part of our life takes place in the virtual worlds, “there” we take some of the most important decisions in our life, and “there” in the future we will be increasingly living. On the other side we cannot control those worlds, privacy and security are at risk, we can unknowingly be monitored all the time. Designing for distance and solving the above duality are hot, delicate and strategic tasks in a near future. The Third Life and the externalisation process Today, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Artificial Life, Synthetic Biology, Genetic Engineering, Biotechnology, De-Extinction, are expanding the boundaries of life and evolution. Many machines are becoming increasingly powerful and autonomous, presenting behaviours similar to the living. Living organisms can be modified and even created. We are witnessing the extension of life to a scenery with organic, inorganic and mixed living forms. A “Third 43 Reflecting on Design Culture(s). Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 Designing in the Anthropocene Life” originating from the human culture, being the “First Life” the biological life and the “Second Life” the life in the symbolic dimension1. This process is consistent with the progressive externalisation outside the body of human functions and activities. In the beginning, with tools and weapons, of body parts; then, with pictures and writings, of knowledge and memory; then, with machines and automatic devices, of activities and labour; and recently, with Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Artificial Life, algorithms, of some narrow reasoning and autonomous action. If this trend goes on in the future more and more human activities will be externalised, and the outcomes of human culture will evolve into Third Life. Transdisciplinarity, complexity and awareness are at the basis of imagining, participating and designing in such an evolution. Designing for the Anthropocene A major challenge for human culture and design is the climate emergency. This challenge requires to act into an extended and intergenerational time. Climate Change imposes a reflection about the time of the species and culture instead of the time of the individual, a vision of a future that we must try to govern knowing that we will not be part of it. This implies a cognitive leap, a different idea of the relationship with the “non-human” as a complex dynamic intercourse, towards a further level of awareness. Humanity is not destroying planet Earth, as it is often claimed. What it is actually strongly contributing to destroy is that set of situations and events – climatic, environmental, biological... – that for a few tens of thousands of years has allowed our species to evolve, spread and become pervasive, impacting significantly on the global environment. We are destroying that balance that for millennia has supported our evolution, that must be preserved and applied to all species, and imposed to the planet. In fact, all resources and climate agreements aim to preserve that set of situations and events that has made us who we are. Therefore, a strong seemingly ecological message like “Save the Planet” actually hides a deeply anthropocentric position. The Anthropocene requires transdisciplinary outstanding design visions and abilities. Humanity has always used science and technology to solve issues like famines, predators, diseases, pandemics ... Science and technology will be also fundamental in contrasting Climate Change. Will they be up to such an extremely complex challenge? On the “Third Life” see my texts: “From life to life. The multiplicity of the living”, in R.Ascott, G.Bast, W.Fiel, M.Jahrmann, R.Schnell (eds.), New Realities: Being Syncretic, Wien, Springer-Verlag, 2009; “Declinations of the living: Toward the Third Life”, in D.Bulatov (ed.), Evolution Haute Couture. Art and Science in the Post-Biological Age, Kaliningrad, BB NCCA, 2013. 1 44 Reflecting on Design Culture(s). Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021 P. L. Capucci References Capucci, P.L. (2009). From life to life. The multiplicity of the living. In: Ascott, R., Bast, G., Fiel, W., Jahrmann, M., Schnell, R. (eds.), New Realities: Being Syncretic. Edition Angewandte. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-78891-2_12 Capucci, P. L. (2013). Declinations of the living: Toward the Third Life. In: D.Bulatov (ed.), Evolution Haute Couture. Art and Science in the Post-Biological Age, Kaliningrad, BB NCCA About the Chair: Pier Luigi Capucci has been concerned with the new media and the new art forms since the early ‘80s, and with the relationships among arts, sciences and technologies. His theoretical activity is concerned with technologies of representation and communication and with technoscience-based art forms. He has been professor at the Universities of Rome “La Sapienza”, Bologna, Florence, SUPSI – University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Southern Switzerland in Lugano, Urbino and Udine. Currently he is professor at the Fine Arts Academies of Reggio Calabria and Urbino. Since 2007 he has been working as a supervisor in the T-Node PhD Research Program of the Planetary Collegium (University of Plymouth), and from 2013 to 2018 he has been appointed as Director of Studies. He is a member of AICA (Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art/International Association of Art Critics). 45 Reflecting on Design Culture(s). Cumulus Conference Proceedings Roma 2021