Better World By Design

There are always something happening on campus. One of the well-known conferences is Better World By Design, an annual three-day conference organized by RISD and Brown.

Before I came to Brown, I received a fancy newsletter talking about future and design thinking. As soon as I opened the link, I was struck by the well-designed layout (thanks to the amazing design team!). Though I had no idea of what Better World By Design was actually doing, I still applied for volunteering out of immense curiosity. At the end of September, I finally joined these beautiful people and experienced the great impact of BWxD16.

Interplay

“The way in which two or more things have an effect on each other when they happen or exist together.”

The interplay of ideas sparked a great conversation among object, city, and the global community. One of the special parts about BWxD16 was the variety of workshops. There were always four or more workshops happening at the same time. Starting from Friday, we explored the micro level of Object, People, and Personal Space.

Meso: Community, City, System

"Our environments are the envelope that contain the inner workings of our society." - Craig Dykers

By focusing on the diversity, awareness, and engagement of studio habitat, we analyzed a lot of great human-centered buildings throughout the keynote speech.

Digital Literacy

To understand the systems of the built world is to know, in your bones, something powerful.

Lunch & Startup Fair

STEAM Pavilion

At the intersection of art and technology, great things will happen. #Cybernetics

Macro: Global, Context, Network

When design involves virtual reality and touches upon social issues, really impact will be made.

"Our world is made of crystallized imagination" - Cesar Hidalgo of MIT Media Lab @cesifoti pic.twitter.com/aOiHxalKi4
— BetterWorldxDesign (@betterxdesign) September 25, 2016

Better world challenges us to approach the design in a more human-centered way. I am so grateful to learn from the congregation of ideas and start designing my better life.