2014 IDEA Journal

Design Activism: Developing Models, Modes and Methodologies of Practice

GUEST EDITOR: Dr. Lorella Di Cintio
CALL FOR PAPERS/PROPOSALS
http://idea-edu.com/journal/2014-idea-journal/

Provocation

The living conditions of First Nations communities, food-security concerns, access to clean safe water, domestic violence – seemingly disparate subjects can be, and are being, connected to interior design teaching and practice. Such issues are particularly linked to the ongoing discussions of designers working within the new global design paradigm. There is evidence that a range of worthwhile initiatives have been undertaken by design professionals who choose to pursue socially responsible practices, and by educators and practitioners who are intentionally shifting away from a focus on pure aesthetics and market-driven practices.

Dissatisfied with what they perceive as an over-emphasis by the design community on aesthetics, and its failure to meaningfully address the design needs of at-risk and low-income communities, several academics and practitioners have started to incorporate social-justice issues into their design research and teaching – while a number of independent design practitioners are involving themselves in activism.

Design activism is a combined entity of aesthetics and ethics. It is trans-disciplinary, it incorporates mixed media, and it is inspired by the ethics of socio-political activism and community building. Several design activists have partnered with the design profession and specific political agencies to create design solutions that meet the needs of politically, economically, and socially disadvantaged communities, but initiatives are sporadic. In order to make what are now essentially grassroots initiatives a part of the mainstream, models and methodologies for action need to be developed within the design academy. As guest editor, this call is shaped by my desire to make ethics a more central component of interior design practice and pedagogy.

This journal’s theme calls for a re-thinking of interior design pedagogy and a review of current practices found in design activism. For instance, the author(s), could consider and highlight noteworthy projects of scholars whose pedagogy and critical work is linked with activism, and/or respond to pedagogical shifts found in the field of design activism, particularly as they emerge in and relate to the discipline of interior design/interior architecture.

The goals of this call are two-fold: to promote debate, discussion and theorization among designers, design academics and various segments of the general public about the place of ethics and activism in design, and to contribute to the development of knowledge that focuses on embedding design activism into the design curriculum and design profession. The overall objective of the call is to encourage a shift towards activism in interior design theory and design education.

THE IDEA JOURNAL ACCEPTS:

DESIGN RESEARCH PAPERS

that demonstrate development and engagement with interior design/interior architecture history, theory, education and practice through critique and synthesis. The focus is on the documentation and critical review of both speculative research and practice-based research

REFEREED STUDIOS
|that present the nature and outcomes of refereed design studios which have either been previously peer reviewed in situ and/or critically discussed through text and imagery for the IDEA JOURNAL.

PROJECT REVIEWS
that critically evaluate design-based works which seek to expand the nature of spatial, temporal and theoretical practice in interior design/interior architecture and associated disciplines.

VISUAL ESSAYS
that demonstrate and present speculative research and practice-based research through visual media.

BOOK & EXHIBITION REVIEWS
to encourage debate into the emerging literature dedicated to the expression and expansion of the theory and practice of interior design/interior architecture.

REGISTRATION OF INTEREST:

Authors are invited to register their interest in submitting a paper on the form following and forward by email to the Executive Editor, Suzie Attiwill by 21 October 2013 (extended to 22/11/2013). Registration of interest is not refereed. The acknowledgement of registration facilitates development of a proposal to full research paper, refereed studio, visual essay or project review by providing formatting guidelines and publication standards to registrants.

Email: IDEAJournal2014@gmail.com

Important deadlines/dates:

Call for contributions: August to October 2013

Registration of interest including 50 words and image if appropriate due by 22 November 2013

Acknowledgement by mid November 2013

Submit full draft for review by 24 February 2014

Peer-review: March to June 2014

Notification by mid July 2014

Revisions by author(s) returned to Executive Editor by 31 August 2014

Journal published early 2015

GUEST EDITOR:

Lorella Di Cintio, PhD, is a faculty member in the School of Interior Design at Ryerson University. She has been educated in Canada, United States, and Europe in the fields of Interior Design, Architecture, and Philosophy. Her research focuses primarily on design activism and social responsibility and she is the founder of The Design Change = Exchange Initiative. She is affiliated with the Centre for Studies in Food Security and EDGE lab at Ryerson University. Her area of research focuses on the social and political positions undertaken by designers. Current projects explore and employ various design strategies in the areas of design activism, cross-cultural collaborative design learning, civic engagement and participation, food security activism and human-centred design models. Di Cintio is a dedicated and respected advocate for equity, inclusion and social justice at Ryerson and beyond. She has forged working partnerships with First Nations communities in Canada and Mexico, and her students’ designs have supported Toronto food-bank users, Haitian earthquake survivors, and others. Di Cintio creates unique pedagogical links among design, service learning, and such complex issues as socioeconomic status and food security. She works to develop curriculum that transforms theory into practice.

She has received a silver medal for design education and service from the Universidad Iberoamericana, and represented Ryerson on a design mission to China. Several of Professor Di Cintio’s appointments and accolades, both academically and within the profession, have been “first precedents” for the School of Interior Design. She is an academic reviewer for the Journal of Interior Design with a focus on service-learning pedagogy, and she was recently awarded the position of Editor-in-Charge of Service Activities in Academia with the Interior Design Educators Council (a North American organization). Lorella Di Cintio is increasingly recognized as a leader in the teaching of design activism and the pursuit of design with a conscience.