Skip to content
graphic treatment of titlegraphic treatment of title

Design Redefined

Design Redefined is series of events seeking to challenge our perception of design as a process of enhancing aesthetics, usability, or marketability and moving towards a deeper understanding of it as a powerful tool for change.

Appropriate for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, as well as design professionals, each session will feature a panel discussion featuring thought leaders, followed by a hands-on exploration of key design principles, light refreshments, and networking. Co-hosted by MIT MAD and Innovators for Purpose.

Free with Museum admission (note: the museum will waive admission for all visitors beginning at 3:00pm on the session dates)
Seating is limited.

Designing Accessibility: People, Artifacts, and Access

MIT MAD’s Rosa Weinberg will moderate a panel discussion examining design for accessibility. Centering on the experiences of PEOPLE with disabilities, we will explore the opportunities and challenges associated with the design of adaptive technologies and ARTIFACTS. We will also explore how explicit design of the built environment enhances or hinders ACCESS for all.

Moderator, Rosa Wienberg

MIT MAD

Designing Sensation: Performance, Play, and Participation

Shifting the focus from the design of material goods and physical artifacts, we will explore the design of human experience, and discuss how whether for games, performances, or other engagements, design plays a critical role in how we perceive, interact, and feel.

Designing Sustainability: Materials, Mitigation, and Management

In this session, we’ll look at sustainability with a wider lens, focusing on collaborative, interdisciplinary, and connected solutions as we explore products, the built environment, and policy.

Past Sessions

Designing Justice: Sustain, Heal, and Empower

Drawing inspiration from the Design Justice Network Principles, we’ll explore strategies and best practices for using design, with accountability, for social impact.

Moderator Madhurima Das

PhD candidate, MIT Ideation Lab

Panelist Jennat Jounadi

Host, Voices of 2 Blocks podcast

Panelist, Hermela Shimelis

Host, Voices of 2 Blocks podcast

Panelist, Kenneth Bailey

Co-Founder, Design for Social Impact