Think today, design tomorrow: Show highlights design with a conscience

Lecce, Italy – Socially aware design is the subject of ‘Design that Thinks’, the forthcoming exhibition of past and present work from Design Academy Eindhoven. The exhibition will bring to life the academy’s ethos, which encourages students to think about and engage with design in real-world terms. ‘Students are never asked to design an object, or to work with a technique,’ curators (and alumni) Agata Jaworska and Giovanni Innella explain. ‘Rather, the brief is always centered on the human in relation to something that is happening in the world.’

Key examples on show include the ‘Bling Bling’ medallion by Frank Tjepkema, whose layers of gold-plated corporate logos are a witty comment on the value of branding, and Mischer’Traxler’s ‘Idea of a Tree’, a solar-powered weaving machine whose final products depend on the amount and intensity of sunlight available on the day they are made.

‘Design that Thinks’ is part of the ‘Super’ design exhibition taking place from 17 May to 12 July at the church of San Francesco della Scarpa in the historic southern Italian city.