Open Talks were one of Salone del Mobile‘s most significant events. With a diverse calendar with multiple imponent voices in the world of interior design, some important and emergent discussions were brought to life.

There will always be a Design Emergency

This open talk features two international figures in the design world, Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design and Director of Research and Development at MoMA, and Alice Rawsthorn, a journalist, critic, and design expert, have discussed the amazing diversity of design and its efficacy in addressing urgent problems through their Design Emergency Instagram Live series of talks (@design.emergency).

They created a book, Design Emergency: Building a Better Future, published by Phaidon in May. We were present at their talk at SaloneSatellite called There Will Always Be a Design Emergency, discussing the story behind the project and including a selection of past interviews.

“Architecture has been connected to building monuments, it has been a predominately male profession – it has been about giving people what they thought they want”, but more than that, they discussed that architecture needs to embrace the community, finding out not only what they want, but what they need as well.

All emergencies are connected.

They start by presenting their book to the community. “Design emergency is a labour of love for both of us. It began at the start of the pandemic when Paola and I were catching up to one another”, and then the masterpiece was born and published, disclosing Alice Rawsthorn.

In the early summer of 2020, they focused on the design emergency, especially investigating designs. “If you look back on historic emergencies, from the great place to world wars, there always, always capitalise great change across society”. The two speakers were, then, convinced that Covid-19 was also going to be a great change in society.

As an inspiration for their book, they took in a climate emergency, refugee crisis, other crises currently going on, and even the growth of social intelligence as a big portion of how it was directly referred to as the design emergency point.

In this open talk, Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn included a selection of past interviews as concrete examples of how designers are tackling complex challenges in every field, in a bid to make our lives safer, healthier, happier, more productive and inclusive.

See also: What is going on at Milan Design Week

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