A blog about design at the OU.
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Design for democracy
Dockland Democracy When design academics at the OU were planning visits with students, without consciously realising it, all of the visits chosen were to statement buildings on the waterside in reclaimed dockland areas. Following the visits to the V&A Dundee and the Riverside Museum Glasgow, the final visit was to the Senedd, Welsh Assembly building […]
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Fostering Sustainable Practices in Fashion
Finally, sustainability in fashion is being noticed. The fast fashion of the last decades has given us cheap clothes of often doubtful quality, which is fast bought and fast disposed. The cheap clothes is often produced in low wage countries and shipped half across the world just to end up in landfill in Europe and […]
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Models
Something on models caught my eye at a conference inspired by the work of Lionel March Professor of Design at the OU 1976-1981. Several people from the OU past and present, Phil Steadman (UCL), George Stiny (MIT), Ramesh Krishnamurthi (CMU) and Iestyn Jowers, joined colleagues from around the world including his former students Helen Couclelis (UC Santa […]
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Making a (political) design statement
The past weekend saw several members of design@open venturing to Scotland to meet up with students for visits to two iconic buildings, the V&A Dundee and the Riverside Museum, Glasgow. Both buildings have a lot in common, they are both designed by prominent architects, situated on the riverside and have a tall sailing ship anchored […]
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Can we design truly ‘zero carbon’ buildings?
At the end of 2018, after repeated advice by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the European Commission called for a climate neutral Europe by 2050. For the construction industry achieving this will be particularly problematic. Not only is it the industry responsible for the highest percentage of global emissions, it already has exceptionally high […]
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Architectural Innovation in Energy Systems
Electricity systems underpin much of everyday life in the city. As urban populations expand, become more affluent and carbon reduction targets ramp up it is likely that such systems will need to change considerably over the coming years. Here many commenters argue that wholesale transitions to low carbon robust electricity systems are needed. However, as […]
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The design thinking of children
One may argue that we are all natural designers. From very young age, we are designing: we are looking around us with a critical eye, we develop opinions about things and spaces that we like or dislike, we are dreaming about a better future, but also we experiment and make things that could make our […]
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Engaging children in design
As part of a research project that aims to explore the processes of empowering people to design (www.empoweringdesign.net), the research team has occasionally explored different ways for engaging the children of participating families in the design of community spaces. This typically occurs in workshops and open day events where children of adult participants engage in […]
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Bauhaus 100
The Bauhaus –one of the world’s most influential art and design schools – was established by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany in 1919 and this year the centenary of its foundation is being celebrated in Germany and many other countries. Beginning in Weimar, relocated to Dessau in 1925 and closed in Berlin under pressure from […]
