Lets not be cars on a freeway

This weekend I attended the Better World by Design conference held here between Brown and RISD. Since Friday I have had the privilege to listen to many influential people in the field of humanitarian design. What am I left with at the end of this conference? I’m left with: a canvas bag, programme, map, orange water bottle, name tag on a lanyard and notes in my sketchbook. Now that the three-day conference is over we can think about it a little more, digest the discussions and put it in a drawer for a while and do the studio work that was suspended this weekend. This is one of the most frustrating times of a conference because the longevity of its impact is uncertain. The closing speech we got from RISD ID's senior, Mike Eng, was uplifting and gave me the sense of closure I needed which was really a push out of my seat. He showed us a photo of all these cars in a traffic jam on a freeway. In that image he saw people who were alone. Each car was independent of each other. Rather than working like that he beautifully used Transformers as a metaphor of how we should work and collaborate and keep in contact with each other after this conference. So if I pinch the pages that I filled from this conference it would be a quarter of an inch thick but what really surfaces the sketchbook are what three speakers said about creating the sense of ownership amongst disaster survivors, biomimicry, and decentralization. These three topics I will take add to the list of things that I gathered from the conference and hopefully remember them when I work.

Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, spoke to us about how people need to feel the need of ownership. He blushed slightly and said thank you when people thanked him for speaking and inspiring them. AFH seeks architecture and design solutions to humanitarian crises. When asked about why AFH does not have any signage by another architect, Sinclair’s response blew me away. He said that the greatest moment for architects is when the community forgets to thank. The members of the communities that have had this reaction to AFH’s help are so happy and back on their feet. They are empowered with the ability to generate their own income, support their families and live again. The humility of AFH is admirable. At the same time, this is an organization that surpasses donation and really touches on what is appropriate like what our class’s guest speaker, Bruce Becker, mentioned. We can all die hard trying but not when people’s lives depend on it. yes, we should do nothing because it might be wrong. Please, design students, think about what you do. It is inappropriate to have less emphasis on research. Like Cameron Sinclair mentioned, disaster relief volunteers and design students cannot be testing ideas on people who need solutions. People who live on the border of survival don’t need students testing out ideas on them so they can go home and write about how they ‘helped’ victims. Sinclair also mentioned that the moment you call somebody a victim, you victimize them. This field calls for so much sensitivity and preparation before entering.

Denise DeLuca spoke to us about biomimicry which I hope will serve as inspiration when we design products, systems or services. She is the outreach director of Biomimicry Institute which is where innovation is inspired by nature. She enthusiastically gave examples where human beings use nature's design. Even if the auditorium was dark, I could see her eyes beam while talking about how corrugation is inspired by shells to get more strength out of a material and how leaves inspired the creation of photovoltaic cells. Biologist and founder, Janine Benyus, said that biomimicry is the conscious emulation of nature’s genius. DeLuca asked us to ask nature how to. How can buildings be like trees or cities function like forests? Nature’s principles are exactly the same as Sustainable Design Principles.

Life adapts and evolves

• Locally attuned and responsive
• Has cyclical processes
• Resilient

Life creates conditions conducive to life

• Optimises rather than maximises
• Interdependent
• Uses benign manufacturing techniques
  Nature’s wisdom makes me weak and to have an entire institute dedicated to emulating its systems is such a huge service to humanity. We have to humble ourselves before the world.

Iqbal Quadir was the keynote speaker at the end of the conference and left us with the idea of decentralised prosperity. In his introduction, he thanked us for taking the time to be there rather than spending the beautiful day outside. Much like in nature, prosperity should be dispersed evenly. Organisms are not lining up for their turn instead the distribution of energy is happening simultaneously from different places. This main formula for productivity was connectivity. Quadir’s development of the GrameenPhone enabled millions of people in Bangladesh to have a cellular phone. This facilitated people’s ability to start businesses and grow. In this case, communication helps income to be generated simultaneously from different places. Quadir noticed similar patterns between Europe’s progress from the dark ages to the renaissance period and those of developing countries enabling him to predict what is to come. He was very adamant about the devolution of authority and the empowerment of citizens. The story of progress, he says, is the distortion of power. The same goes for the food crisis. There is no shortage but a mismanagement of distribution, absence of food preservation technology and political hurdles. That is why his next point about accountability is so important. A doctor will not risk anything because there is a whole group of people who have the power to hold them accountable by suing them. People in developing countries on the other hand, have no power to hold economists or government officials accountable for the negligence of their systems or so called solutions. This is why empowering citizens is so important. Repeating what I learned from Sinclair, we should not do anything even if we think it’s wrong. If we as designers have the urge to help and do something, we are responsible to make sure it is appropriate.

Remembering the people you’re designing for, asking nature and finding ways for things not to be systematically centralised are the three main ideas that I want to study and cultivate over time as I design. Through all this I hope to also be able to learn, digest and be able to tell it all. With the handful of my friends who were also a part of this conference I hope to be able to grow with them and still be able to return to them as we are all searching for ways to better the world by design. Hopefully we will remember when Bernard Amadei of Engineers Without Borders challenged us to write our mission statement on this planet. I challenge you to do the same. They always talk about them and they- filling the hall with his volume, sick of those words, he said, “I cannot stand those words! Who are We?” The human part of humanitarian design reminds me of who I interact with everyday and that the design starts there. Amadei also said, in his loud and passionate French accent, “if you do not bring smiles, it is useless”. Part of humanitarian design is personally being of service to humanity. Dream big but act small. We will experience, seek information and come across stories. Armed with all these we will become advocates, be able to tell the stories and through that inspire others.