Gallery Conversation

Industrial Design has long clothed itself in aspirational visions of the future. But as these great visions of design are revealed to be exclusive and narrow in spite of their claims to universality, is there a sense of future-fatigue in the design profession? Has the very notion of the future collapsed into the present? Are visions of the future irresponsible in the face of our present day challenges? Associate professor, Paolo Cardini and assistant professor, Thomas Thwaites, both in RISD’s Industrial Design department, discuss these questions as they relate their past and future work in the exhibition, Repair and Design Futures.
Free with admission.
 
Paolo Cardini’s work ranges from product design to interaction design and from integrated communication to strategic planning. He studied industrial design at Politecnico di Milano and Glasgow School of Art and has worked at the interdisciplinary graduate design program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar and Istituto Europeo di Design in Turin. In addition to teaching, Cardini designs and consults for various international firms and lectures at conferences and design schools worldwide.

Thomas Thwaites is a designer (of a more speculative and experimental sort) interested in the social impacts of science and technology. He holds degrees from the Royal College of Art, and University College, London. His work is in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum and he has exhibited in the National Museum of China, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul, the Science Museum (London), Cooper Hewitt, and at La Triennale di Milano. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Süddeutsche and The Financial Times. He is the author of two books: The Toaster Project and GoatMan, both published by Princeton Architectural Press in English, Korean, Japanese, and Norwegian editions.