"Design Science: Nature's Problem Solving Method" a Two-Day Symposium at RISD: 14-15 Nov 2009

Theme:

Design Science: Nature's Problem Solving Method

When:

Design Science Exhibit (Art Show) Opens: Thursday, 12 November 2009, 6PM - 9PM, Waterman Gallery, Waterman Building
Symposium Reception: Friday, 13 November 2009, 5:30PM - 7:30PM, Waterman Gallery, Waterman Building
Symposium: Saturday 14 November 2009, 8AM - 10PM, Metcalf Auditorium, Chace Center
Symposium: Sunday 15 November 2009, 8AM - 5PM, Metcalf Auditorium, Chace Center

Where:

Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Metcalf Auditorium, Chace Center
20 N. Main St
Providence, RI 02906

Short Description:

In these times of crisis, finding ways to build regenerative solutions for Humanity's problems that adequately address all environmental issues is critical to our survival. The Design Science symposium will provide an interactive, artifact inspired, collaborative, and trans-disciplinary setting to better understand the comprehensive problem solving approach used in Nature's complex processes.

Description:

The Synergetics Collaborative and The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) will present a symposium on Design Science: Nature's Problem Solving Method at RISD on 14-15 November 2009. In addition to the engaging program on Design Science, there will be a Design Science Exhibit (art show) with participants' work opening on Nov 12 in the Waterman Gallery and a reception on Nov 13.

• What are the principles of design science?
• How can these principles guide us in making a world that respects all life on Earth and that ensures a regenerative future for all of Humanity?
• How are geometric order and structure related to the evolution of life and ecological design?
• How do we create more effective design using less material, less energy and less time?

These are just some of the questions we hope to address at the symposium.

On Saturday morning the program will start with an engaging hands-on & heads-on process working with artifacts to explore the elements of Design Science. Presenters include Joe Clinton (watch a video clip from Joe's 2007 RISD Symposium talk on Synergetics 100), Tom Miller (watch a recent video of Tom talking about his work on Synergetics 3), and Carl Fasano.

Michael Ben-Eli of The Sustainability Laboratory in New York City will give the keynote address on Design Science (watch a video of Michael Ben-Eli). Then there will be some more involved Guided Explorations of Nature's Structures with our guides of Carl Fasano, Tom Miller, and Joe Clinton. Amy Leidtke will join them to pull the separate tracks together so everyone can understand and appreciate the design principles explored.

Finally, Saturday evening D. W. Jacobs, the playwright behind "R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE" will engage us with a presentation on "Design Science and Playwrighting" (watch a video of D. W. Jacobs).

On Sunday the program will include the MIT "Smart Cities" team that won the 2009 Buckminster Fuller Challenge grant of $100,000. Then we will invite participants to share their work with "Show-N-Tell" (watch the video of Nick Tomlin's Show-N-Tell from our 2007 Symposium at RISD).

Then Zann Gill will deliver our second keynote presentation "Design Science as Anticipatory Sustainability via Worldgaming" (watch a video of Zann Gill). Finally, we will conclude the event with a panel discussion.

The event will offer an opportunity to discuss and share diverse viewpoints among the Synergetics community, the RISD/Brown University student and faculty communities, and other explorers of design solutions working to meet humanity's needs.

Please join the Synergetics Collaborative, RISD/Brown faculty, students and others as we explore design, Nature, problem-solving, and understanding how our world can be made to work for 100% of humanity at this two-day symposium on November 14-15.

"We have to recognize that every event and manifestation of nature is design, that to live within the laws of nature means to express our human intention as an interdependent species, aware and grateful that we are at the mercy of sacred forces larger than ourselves, and that we obey these laws in order to honor the sacred in each other and in all things. We must come to peace with and accept our place in the natural world."
--- William McDonough

Representative Symposium Topics:

Industrial design; emergency shelter prototypes; ecological materials and solutions; design principles; biomimicry; cross-disciplinary innovation; geometry and its relationship to design principles and the natural world; work relating to the Design Science Approach of Buckminster Fuller and Arthur Loeb.

Registration

The registration fee is $175 ($150 for checks received before 6 November), $30 for students (RISD students enter at no charge but registration is required). Please fill out the on-line registration form. Please mail checks to Synergetics Collaborative; 240 Copley Road; Upper Darby, PA 19082-4016.

Design Science Exhibit (Art Show)

There will be limited space in the Waterman Gallery and The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab for exhibiting 2-D and 3-D pieces and digital art. The juried art show will be opening on Thursday 12 November. The deadline for applications is 25 October. Artwork must be received by 29 October 2009 in order to appear in the Waterman Gallery. There will be space in a side room for participants who want to show their work but cannot get it to the curators by the deadline. To partipate in the juried and professionally curated art show please fill out the Art Show submission form.

Schedule

The tentative schedule for the Symposium on "Design Science" is now available at http://SynergeticsCollaborative.org/schedule.nov.2009.html.

YouTube Videos

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Event Poster

Please let others know about this event by passing on this poster: Design Science Flyer. A second poster is now available: Design Science Flyer #2 (tailored for the RISD campus).

Travel and Parking Directions

Travel Directions for Chace Center and Waterman Building.

International Participants

Information for international participants

About The Sponsors

• Synergetics Collaborative (SNEC) was founded in 2002 to bring together a diverse group of people with an interest in Buckminster Fuller's Synergetics in face-to-face workshops, symposia, seminars, and other meetings to educate and support research and understanding of the many facets of Synergetics, its methods and principles.
  Visit the Synergetics Collaborative on-line.
• The Edna Lawrence Nature Lab at Rhode Island School of Design uniquely integrates a natural history collection, a lending library of natural specimens and a studio environment. With its growing collection of more than 80,000 natural history objects, books, visual resources, microscopes and a digital work station, the Nature Lab serves as an invaluable research facility for the RISD community. In 2003, The Nature Lab accepted the Arthur Loeb Design Teaching Collection. This hands-on collection of hundreds of three-dimensional polyhedra and two-dimensional patterns inspires students and faculty to examine nature's fundamental responses to design problems.
  Visit the Nature Lab online.