The 2020 edition of What Design Can Do was canceled due to the pandemic, and now they are back. What happened in between and how was the process of restarting everything? There are some guests that match those in the previous event plan, but there are also new ones.
Yes, some guests follow, but we didn’t have all of them for all sorts of reasons. Some by agenda, others by danger. Time was also a great disruptor. The event was planned for May of last year and we had to pass it for October, but then we had to cancel it. Now it’s October again, so it took us a year and a half to have a new date. I’m very happy to be able to do it now, with all the restrictions and in an open space. Most of our speakers will be in person but we also have some online connections. In that sense, I love being able to do it all.
On a creative level, what reflection did this intermission unleash in you?
We have two programs. In one we organized workshops, conferences and all kinds of events in Amsterdam and cities like Sao Paulo, Tokyo, New Delhi and Nairobi, and they were canceled as soon as the pandemic started. On the other hand, we have a challenge program, which is an international program in which we convene designers from all over the world to think of solutions for big problems. Right now it is a No Waste Challenge. This is global, it is a digital native initiative, but the others are location events. So, at a certain point we thought about doing an online event, but we decided not to do it because it was important for us to bring people together, because that is our essence. Yes, we can do many things online and we have a place there, the Challenge, which was much more successful than we expected and everything flowed wonderfully. But after doing some events online, we saw that we did not have the coexistence, which is a large part of creativity in general. Online it is much more difficult to have that.
What can design do in a pandemic world?
Give comfort. If you have a very direct relationship, if you have a nice, comfortable, well-designed house, you have a better time in times of coronavirus. On the other hand, we also saw that many designers tried to find solutions to all kinds of problems. This attitude is hopeful and makes us see that there is something beyond the horizon. Maybe not all solutions worked, but the idea of people working on alternatives and solutions is itself an important thing. There was a sense of activism to which people responded, for example, to the consequences of the pandemic, inequality, loneliness … suddenly the climate crisis was no longer the only thing. Work continues on it, of course. We saw that people became very critical and very active in an activist sense.
What challenges do we have as a society in which design can make a change?
There are many. For example, in matters of climate change, circular design is super important and is already something that is being worked on. Our No Waste Challenge grew out of that. The point when talking about climate change is adaptation. For example, in Holland we have to deal with the ocean and there are all kinds of design-oriented solutions, which plan to solve the relationship with different water levels, with things like floating houses, or for example a basketball court that can also store water. , and so on. A huge issue is the energy transition, how we are going to work with solar energy and how we are going to deal with energy poverty, that is, how we will do so that everyone has access. When you look at climate change as adaptation, you also see that there are many issues that stem from this, such as climate refugees in Africa. There are global issues that are urgent for Mexico, too, such as sustainability, gender equality, and we are seeing the issue of decolonizing design. They are two relevant issues for the Mexican audience and I hope they resonate with people.
Let’s dive deeper into the decolonization of design …
Design has always been viewed from one perspective, and to this day it remains a very large influence in the countries that were once colonized. Of course, European design has always been predominant, but we must also change the way we perceive craftsmanship because sometimes people see it as something minor, and I think it is something very debatable because artisan culture is very important and in some countries have a very high standard and must be assessed in the right way. For example, there is a major design school in Delhi, but its entire curriculum is based on modernism, which is a European movement that grew out of the destruction of Europe by wars. It is amazing for Europe but not for Delhi. If you look at the fashion industry, for example, something unique is happening in Kenya and Ghana, a very significant movement in which they are stopping turning to Milan and Paris to take their own direction. I think something like this happens in Mexico. It is a place very rich in culture but it has a European and American point of view. It remains to discover the Mexican point of view.
Maybe it comes from a topic of endophobia …
Yes, I do, and to be very honest, I have lived it. We invited many Mexicans to speak in Amsterdam, and they were nervous, obviously, like many people, but they were in a position where they saw the work of others upwards and theirs downwards. I was very sorry. Please don’t do that because we are impressed with what you do. Share what you do with the public because people love it.
Of the speakers that What Design Can Do, some were from the edition that did not happen, but there are also several new ones. What were the criteria for choosing them?
We tried to make a program that was not one-minded. So not only do we have names like Stefan Sagmeister or Eric Kessels, but we have all kinds of people, be it emerging, or people who bring a story that maybe is not so well known but it should. We also have experienced leaders. We always try to mix. Also, as our focus is social and environmental, we involve people with other perspectives and professions: journalists, scientists, urban planners or even heads of government. For example, I am glad that Claudia Sheinbaum is going to participate. There is Nacho Padilla, creative director at the Council of Bracelona, documentary maker Josh Fox, among others.