Island Matters
DesignCamp 2021

Facts

Project title

Island Matters - DesignCamp 2021

Project type

MA1 course across People, Planet and Play

Project period

25 January - 5 February 2021

Partners

Gourmet Bornholm / Bornholms Landbrug & Fødevarer / BOFA / Makers' Island / Natur Bornholm / A/S Læsø Fiskeindustri / Læsø Tang / Læsø Tangtage

Participating from Design School Kolding

Louise Aagard, Keila Zari Pérez Quiñones, Barnabas Wetton, Adam Montandon, Astrid Mody

Knowledge base

The event brings together experts across practice, research, artistic research and industry

About Island Matters

What if we could explore possible courses of action or new values in isolated areas in
need of self-sufficiency and regeneration?

The year 2020 may be one of the most transformative years of our lifetimes. The normalities we enjoyed at the beginning of the 21st century are no longer possible. Traveling on a whim is frowned upon, hugging in public give us the feeling of having done wrong, and living sustainably is imperative.

We have entered the era of rethinking what our normality means. This has made us realise that the societal systems we have built may no longer be in line with values we deem important.

Islands have certain qualities that make for a more plausible study and exploration of new possibilities, causes and effects. Much like the rest of the world, they need new reconfigurations of life. The interconnectivity of issues within an islands geographical limitation might put extra pressure for these reconfigurations to happen urgently and precisely.

At DesignCamp 2021 Island Matters - Speculative Fabulations of Possible Futures we take our starting point in Danish islands, which we will use as case studies for pilot projects. We aim to gain research insights from the rest of the world to arrive at potential scenarios that have a global relevance. Under the three research focuses the institution is committed to: Design for Planet, Design for People and Design for Play, students will approach specific Danish islands and outskirts as case studies.

What if...?

Making use of speculative design as a tool for imagining worlds that can be radically different, students will produce tangible stories & objects based on potential new systems of the near future.

They will explore the power of ‘Speculative Fabulation’ inspired by Donna Haraway, an approach to make suggestions for new realities around our physical and social environments.

Rather than developing fully polished concepts, the purpose of Camp 2021 is to reframe problems to ‘What if...’ questions that serve as design strategies for understanding both the present and the future.

Through speculative fabulations we combine knowledge, human insights, technologies and consideration for all living species to enact possible scenarios. Making use of storytelling as a tool for communicating their possibility.

Design School Kolding’s camp is distinguished for being a complex social fabric that meshes students, teachers, industry experts and collaborative partners.