“From the discussion, there was a prevailing sentiment that the traditional top-down approach to city design is outdated in an increasingly complex and urban world. Over-determined policies and master-designs which have attempted to reduce complexity have “de-urbanized” the city and resulted in the loss of knowledge and spontaneity which form the essence of the city. In place of the top-down approach, some participants called for a “democratization of design” which puts citizens at the heart of the design process.

Participants debated whether democratic design could actually work in cities. The outcome was an overarching call for balance. Participants resisted the temptation to say that democratic design is the only future. They acknowledged that some of the best urban spaces – the grand boulevards of Paris – were the result of grand-scale master-planning, and recognized that design by consensus can often fail to yield badly needed sweeping changes for pressing social problems. The future must accommodate both approaches. The role of the specialized designer and citizens must thus must be recognized for their potential in the city design process.”

*Text courtesy of The World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Design and Innovation

As Archrival describes it:

“Arena Calcetto explores the theme of ‘Formations’ and was conceived to represent Archrival’s practice ideals; to engage a wide number of collaborators and to create new connections between the audience, exhibitors and curators at the Biennale event. Our vision is to challenge existing practices in architecture and to expand the practice of creative professionals by harnessing the potential of design rivalries.”

For the installation, VisionArc produced a team of 11 players that were milled from 35mm pieces of corian with colored pictograms laser etched into their surfaces. The set sought to ask: How can we think of a “game” where individual players are instead replaced by some of the most wicked issues of our time- water scarcity, food crisis, energy and natural resource depletion, education, healthcare? How does this ask us to redefine the concept of the “common goal”? What is the nature of competition and collaboration on a playing field in this context? The answers to some of these questions may very well describe the nature of 21st century design. In other words, the practice of architecture in the 21st century has emerged as an increasingly issue driven endeavor- expanding its field perhaps more so than at any other moment.

Whereas in the past, the architect’s “material” palette may have been mostly defined by physical matter, today our practice operates more and more in what has been called that “dark matter” of design- matters of collaboration, policy making, negotiation, research, and advocacy. These broader, underlying systems and mechanisms are less about creating stuff and more about constructing contexts. In the coming decades architects and designers must demonstrate an ability to deftly navigate and negotiate these areas both tactically and strategically. Perhaps the athletic analogy can teach us something after all!

For more on VisionArc’s and others’ work on this collaborative effort check out Patrick Fileti’s short film here.

Recently, the Global Agenda Council on Design and Innovation asked VisionArc to help map out and illustrate the breadth of cross-council connections established through 5 of their initiatives during the last year. These included: a plan for a Design Innovation Policy, who’s aim is to create a new values system for design integration in the global community; a Visualizing Complex Systems initiative that creates tools to inform society through transparency and participation; a Reciprocal Design Index for sustainable social and urban design policy; an Environmental Index for creating a shared information platform for resource consumption awareness; and a Safe Water Project that entails the design of an inexpensive, hand-held filtration product to serve the needs for drinking water in environmentally challenged and under-served communities.

VisionArc’s mapping helped communicate the broad reach of design and its relevance, through the Design Council’s efforts, to the larger World Economic Forum community.