Hong Kong conference to hear how design can solve problems the world faces, such as ageing, ill-health and mobility
Inclusive design that puts the needs of people first will be on the agenda at Knowledge of Design Week
The world is becomingincreasingly divided – income inequality is on the rise, the World Economic Forum said earlier this year, and many countries, including China and the United States, have seen a growing split between the urban and rural areas. Can design offer a solution to these problems, and how?
That is the question to be tackled at the Knowledge of Design Week 2017, a five-day conference in Hong Kong next week organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), whose theme is “Include”.
“Inclusive design is about design for people and with people. The outcomes are experiential transformation, beyond design in the narrowest sense,” says Edmund Lee, the executive director of the HKDC. “It’s timely to revisit how design can help to shape a better future, placing the needs of people, citizen and users, and their well-being, at the centre, ahead of bureaucracy or departmental needs.”
Let’s design HK 3.0
Design in this broad sense refers to the process of seeking solutions to problems rather than how a product looks or functions. “Having a commitment to foster an inclusive society is good, but the true power of design for inclusivity goes beyond accessibility and … the provision of services for the underprivileged or handicapped,” Lee says.
So what is good design and how does it work? Twenty speakers from around the world will make their case for the usefulness of design to address issues such as ageing, ill-health and mobility.
Piotr Loj, from Poland, who established the Virtual Dream Foundation, will talk about how he uses virtual reality to take children suffering from long-term diseases beyond the walls of hospitals and give them experiences they could never otherwise have.