3rd year studio

Urban Acupuncture and sustainable change

Lecturer: Elisha Tal

Acupuncture is a small and local intervention that can drive significant and overall change.

Can an accurate design action bring about change of a place, of behavior or quality of life?

This question will be examined throughout the course by a series of experiments and interventions in the urban space.

As designers, we will turn our gaze from the private to the public sphere. Instead of designing a privately owned personal object, we will design common objects.  We will move from design directed by the consumer economy and focus on design that promotes the sharing economy. In our design approach will examine the ways in which an object can encourage and promote change.

In this context, the urban space poses a huge challenge, and it is a broad and fresh field for design intervention. Today, most people in the world live in cities, and a vital city is the ultimate sustainable solution in a world that has become overpopulated and is low in space, and resources. Thriving cities are a melting pot for new ideas, fertile ground for cultural life, and provide a high quality of life. But most cities are sick, alienated, violent and miss these qualities. In this context, the design processes of the modern city were flawed and led to the fact that the public space has turned into a consumer realm. It was designed in favor of the vehicle at the expense of people. The city center, which was the focal point of public life in the past, has been abandoned in favor of the dream of the mall and the suburb.

During the course we will delve into these issues, and sustainability issues in general to understand the origin of these processes that are now clear to all that they lead to a crisis. We will go on tours,  have  lectures, and sharpen our understanding of the role of design in generating change and in realization of sustainable solutions. A role that stems from the ability to integrate disciplines, to offer a holistic way of thinking, and especially in its unique position to present an up-to-date materialistic and moral vision.