Design In An

Age of Crisis

URGENT OPEN CALL FOR RADICAL DESIGN THINKING

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We want to hear your radical design thinking about the world you want to live in. How can we create healthier, greener, equal and prosperous societies?

Design In An Age Of Crisis is a global OPEN CALL from Chatham House and London Design Biennale, inviting radical design thinking from the world’s design community, the public and young people. It seeks to harness the creativity that comes from crisis. The OPEN CALL has now closed, however we have extended the Under 18 & Young Person's Brief through to April 2021.

Watch A Video For The Young Person's Brief

Designers, Young People & The Public Will Have The Opportunity To Be

1. Selected for an online exhibition, Design In An Age Of Crisis, in Autumn 2020

2. Exhibited at the London Design Biennale at Somerset House in June 2021

3. Considered for further development and implementation by Chatham House

Undercurrents: Design In An Age Of Crisis Podcast Series

Episode 1: The Search for Radical Solutions

https://www.chathamhouse.org/file/design-age-crisis-search-radical-solutions

Episode 2: Rethinking Work and the Environment

https://www.chathamhouse.org/file/design-age-crisis-rethinking-work-and-environment

Episode 3: Rethinking Health and Society

https://www.chathamhouse.org/file/design-age-crisis-rethinking-health-and-society

Listen Here to Help Inform Your Submission

Scroll Through To Hear From The Steering Group Members

The Briefs

We are living in an age of world crises which the current Covid-19 pandemic has either shone a light on or further exacerbated. These include: the poor health and unhealthy living situations of millions of people across the world; the climate emergency which gets more urgent day-by-day; the deeply embedded social and economic inequalities in our societies; and the rapid transformations in work and the economy which will affect the employment and livelihood opportunities for all.

Open to all, from established practices to budding young designers across all design disciplines, Design In An Age Of Crisis seeks to find radical and rapid responses to problems facing humanity, today and tomorrow, in response to four briefs.

https://www.londondesignbiennale.com/sites/default/files/General%20Brief.pdf

https://www.londondesignbiennale.com/sites/default/files/Young%20Person%27s%20Brief_0.pdf

https://www.londondesignbiennale.com/work

https://www.londondesignbiennale.com/environment

https://www.londondesignbiennale.com/health

https://www.londondesignbiennale.com/society

Submit Your Radical Design Thinking Here

Radical Design Thinking Inspiration

Sir Joseph William Bazalgette was a 19th-century English civil engineer who created - in response to the Great Stink of 1858 - a sewer network for central London which was instrumental in relieving the city from cholera epidemics, while beginning to clean the River Thames. Image Credit: Mark Lovatt/Getty Images/Flickr Open

Anya Hindmarch, in collaboration with Professor Hugh Montgomery, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London, created the Holdster as a safe and accessible way for ICU staff to carry their important belongings whilst on the front line during the Covid-19 pandemic. Image Credit: Anya Hindmarch

The 1991 wind-up radio by Trevor Baylis (1937 - 2018), pioneered technology, which not only saved the lives of millions of people but was also environmentally and economically friendly. Baylis reacted to hearing how the AIDS virus was spreading fast in communities in Africa because many people had no access to news of the crisis, and he designed a wind up version needing no batteries. The radios, were able to be air-dropped into the hardest to reach places. Image Credit: Pat Langan

The Steering Groups

Chatham House and London Design Biennale convened over fifty international steering group members consisting of designers, academics, entrepreneurs, industry experts and business leaders to create the four briefs. You can find the full list of members across the four steering groups here. The groups met virtually and were co-chaired by:

Health:

Alice Rawsthorn, Design Critic and Author
Kara Hanson, Professor of Health System Economics, LSHTM

Environment:

Keith Priest, Co-Founder, Fletcher Priest
Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Mayor of London Office

Work:

Lucy Parker, Senior Partner, Brunswick Group
Professor Jeremy Myerson, Helen Hamlyn Professor of Design, RCA

Society:

Lisa Witter, Co-Founder & Executive Chair, Apolitical
Ben Terrett, CEO, Public Digital

Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR SELECTED SUBMISSIONS

All submitters retain ownership and copyright of their work. However, by submitting your idea, you consent to allow London Design Biennale, Chatham House, Somerset House and any collaborating partners and supporters the opportunity to feature and promote your work as part of an exhibition and across advertising and marketing channels.

During the review and shortlisting period, London Design Biennale and Chatham House will contact those being shortlisted. You must respond within seventy-two (72) hours. For verification purposes, you may be asked to provide the original files of your work and your ID. If you are under 18, we will need to confirm consent from your parent or guardian. Due to the number of submissions received, it is not possible to provide commentary or feedback individually.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE

This opportunity is open globally. Submissions are welcome from individuals and groups, through to professionals and practices. You can choose to respond to one brief, or all four. There is a specially designed brief for young people under 18.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS

You can submit work in any of these file formats:
- Pdf, word doc, ppt
- Video (10 seconds – 3 minutes) in mp4, vimeo, youtube link
- Audio (music, podcast, sound experience) in mp4, vimeo, youtube, psa, audio file
- Images in jpeg, eps, ai or gif format
Please submit high resolution, layered artwork files where relevant
Please note that we cannot accept physical submissions
Don’t use London Design Biennale or Chatham House logos
Please submit, where possible, in English. If this is not possible, please note that we will use an online translator tool to translate the submission
Include all sources or reference points
Please only submit original work
For any creators, please ensure you own all rights to use all elements included in the work submitted
Don’t submit any content which can be interpreted as discriminatory, abusive, or inappropriate
Submissions can be either pre-existing or unique work created especially for this opportunity