"Designing in Dark Times: Possibilities for Thought and Action" - An interdisciplinary explorative journey between Parsons School of Design (NY) and Politecnico di Milano



What does it mean to consider design's role in times of fear and uncertainty? What can designing as a mode of thinking/acting possibly add to the contemporary philosophical discourse?  The "Designing in Dark Times" course will look at designing as a means of articulating unforeseen possibilities and will show how it offers key capabilities for thinking and acting today. The old division between the theoretical focus of the social sciences and the practical stance integral to designing, making, and shaping the world is dissolving. It then becomes relevant to explore how designing can be considered as a reflective mode of acting that brings together thought and action: a mode of action that is much needed in times in which, on the one side, critique often misses touching on reality, while, on the other side the "dark times" we are living urgently require the development of capacities for transformative actions.   

Objectives:  The course will explore the ways in which designing, in the broadest definition of the term, has become indistinguishable from action in general, and designers (professional or not) are increasingly engaging in the public realm, exploring new models of action to transform our relationship with governments, cities, organizations, technologies, and natural systems.  Groups of students from Parsons School of Design and Politecnico di Milano will have to: 

• experiment with design and philosophy starting from Hannah Arendt's thought-provoking insights on citizenship, politics, action, power and so on (see: her book The Human Condition, 1958).
• develop prototypes of any kind (artfacts, performances, films, animations, media productions, etc¿) prompting those philosophical insights and experimenting in what those philosophical concepts might mean for design practices today.

dal Gennaio 2022 a Maggio 2022