Forming Counter Balance

Color-blind Telescopes, Lab-Grown Species, Altered Perception of Time? The projects in Counterbalance outline a world where certainties are displaced, and new design practices are emerging. These ´boundary´ practices act as bridge-builders or translators between traditions and futures. They embody in a subtle way an essential role of design today and propose more inclusive scenarios built on alterity and difference.

These six designers are individual journeys and processes which are scaffolded by their research into specific spheres of human activity: Farming, travel, health, social distance, multiculturalism, super fiction – and more. The collective spirit emanating from the projects is that notions of identity are complex and in transition. Therefore, if the narratives feeding these six design practices are multiple, they share a deep sensitivity to the human condition that goes beyond fetishizing a particular technology or aesthetics. The Ma Design Explorations and Translations team invites you to engage in a dialogue with our 2021 graduates through their individual work