Mobile media 2015 – thinking design through archaeology

When the graves of ancient Macedonians crossed with the Dodge Charger … Back in 2005 my lab ran a collaborative project of research and consultation with RTNA (Research and Technology North America) – the research division of DaimlerChrysler. What will be the media experiences of the car of 2015? How can we assess what people…

Foresight, design studies, the long term, and archaeology

Last Friday Bill Cockayne (Stanford Humanities Lab Assoc. Director) and I (also in my role as co-Director of Stanford Humanities Lab) were at the local office of DaimlerChrysler – RTNA (Research and Technology North America). In response to their request, we were proposing a project to research the future of car culture, with a focus…

Design – a question of form following function? Or much more?

Trouble at the Design Museum in London. This is how The Telegraph describes it The Design Museum in London has been thrown into crisis by the sudden resignation of its chairman, James Dyson, in protest at what he sees as the museum’s misguided pursuit of empty style over substance. In a terse letter to his…

Why fakes and counterfeit pasts are fascinating

A couple of things last week have got me thinking about an old fascination of mine – fakes and ideas of authenticity. My angle – some notions of authentic reality and truth can be quite mischievous and misleading! And lying can be liberating! It started in the Washington Post – Sure, It’s Real! Real Fake…