Design 21: Social Design Network

Sali Sasaki asked these questions to Ak Kuxtal Sian Ka’an, a collective to empower artisans living near the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in southern Quintana Roo, Mexico. This response is by Elsa Torres, principal in U’yo’olche with Basilio Vásquez Chí and Ak Kuxtal participants.

INDIGO Articles

The United States is currently at a crossroad where the transitions between its past, present and future are being articulated. Cities from around the country are challenged in unprecedented ways at the beginning of this 21st century. The American urban model, developed around cars, highways, and vast suburbs, is slowly exhausting its promises for a better life while poor planning has made cities incredibly obsolete. In this time of crisis, many places have to learn how to become relevant again.

At a global level, many people are asking what makes a city great. Are great cities those that provide unforgettable experiences? Or are they places that manage to seamlessly bind the way they look with the way they work? How should they balance both tradition and modernity?

This paper shows, through best practice examples collected during a 30-city tour, the various roles that designers play in this time of urban transformation. It also questions the implications linked to historic preservation and the relevance of both old and new ideas in urban environments.

Read the paper: Cities x Design: Best Design Practices from the United States

Learn about best design practices for social, economic and cultural development in urban settings.

World Design Capital: Design Success Stories

The Project: “Ak Kuxtal Sian Ka’an,” (Kuxtal—Maya—that which gives us life; pronounced kush-tol), is a network of artisans established to counter the systemically low value, low wages, and low expectations of and by artisans and simultaneously promote environmental stewardship by fostering an economically, culturally, socially, and environmentally sustainable craft industry. Specifically, Kuxtal, as a socially and environmentally committed business, would promote this new, equitable concept. As a grassroots organization, Kuxtal was established in 2008 as a collaborative initiative between two local conservation NGOs—Amigos de Sian Ka’an (Amigos) and U’yo’olche—and a small group of diverse, skilled, and experienced artisans living in close proximity to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. Since people in Amigos and U’yo’olche worked closely with local artisans prior to the inception of the Kuxtal project, the needs that emerged from these cumulative interactions inspired this project.

INDIGO Indigenous Design Network

INDIGO, the International Indigenous Design Network, has launched Mother Tongue, an innovative online exhibition that seeks to capture the power of language – verbal and visual, formal and informal.

Language is not only a product of human life – it is a pre-requisite that humans require to form relationships. As a fundamental form of expression, language binds people together. But not all languages are spoken. A language can be visual – made up of complex ideas of truth deeply rooted in symbols, custom and imagery.

Intended to stimulate creative dialogue, Mother Tongue offers designers a forum to respond to the position that indigenous language iconography, process and design knowledge can and should play an integral role in contemporary design. This cross-cultural platform will honour languages at risk and encourage collaborative projects that deepen our understanding of people’s culture in our visual world of this 21 century.

“We need a culture shift. Can design reconcile differences?” says David Lancashire, Chair of the INDIGO Advisory Group. “Let’s begin a journey of understanding – fostering a new respect for life, nature and the natural world. Let’s value the principles of truth, honesty, generosity, equity and kinship.”

Mother Tongue is an open, multi-disciplinary, online exhibition. It is open to designers of all disciplines, students of design, poets and writers. Participants are invited to submit responses in the form of a poster, a photogr...

What is Indigenous design? The notion of indigenous and local design is frequently contested, hard won and usually indeterminate. It often includes themes of colonisation, migration, politics, language, history, identity and conditions such as the economy and natural resources. To address this notion and to further explore its meaning and interpretation throughout the world, INDIGO was born.

About INDIGO INDIGO, the International Indigenous Design Network, is an open platform that connects designers worldwide in an effort to explore our understanding of indigenous design. It provides an online forum for sharing ideas and information, fostering discourse among participants, and contributing to the furtherance of indigenous and local design.

Through its participants and projects, INDIGO seeks to gain some insight into what makes design distinctive to its home, the connections to the place where it is made and for whom it is made. As more and more designers work within a global context seemingly without borders, INDIGO provides an online medium for design practice as it contributes to the formation of national cultural identities.

Join the network INDIGO is highly participatory and collaborative in its approach and welcomes contributions and commentary from designers everywhere. Everyone is encouraged to sign up, share news on current or future events, activities and research initiatives related to indigenous design and participate in the international dialogue. Individuals m...

In July 1987, a working paper entitled Graphic Design for Development was submitted by board members of Icograda to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), following a four-day seminar in Nairobi, Kenya. The main objectives of the seminar were to raise awareness on the contributions graphic design can make in improving people's lives and to increase a better understanding of graphic design in international organisations.

21 years on, this study shows how graphic designers have become more sensitive to world issues and how the professional world of design tries to encourage and promote new social design practices.

ICOGRADA Feature

We are building the largest database of Cities x Design best practices and we need your help. We are now looking for contributions from designers from across the United States. Please fill out the form (link below) and let us know how design is affecting your city. Have a look around the site for the type of interventions we are looking for and then start uploading.

Cities x Design is laying the groundwork for new thinking that promotes local creativity and design practices that add value to cities.

Our mission is to connect cities, cultures and creative people in order to demonstrate how investing in design can change perceptions, boost economies and create unique places.

Our vision is to transform places creatively and promote design-led futures in American cities.

Submit your design to Cities x Design

Social Design Consulting Services offering in the following areas:

*Communications: Creative tools and services that are customized around specific projects, events, or networks.

*Media Storytelling: Video, photography and interactive storytelling to promote projects or events via multiple platforms.

*Social Design Research: Reports and news related to design with a social or environmental impact.

*Cities: Expertise on the future of cities and the role of design in urban settings.

*Social design Workshops: Concept development for design workshops that are targeting social, cultural or urban issues.

Sali Sasaki