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SWITCH!

Switch! speculates on alternatives to current modes of energy consumption and challenges design that affirms the status quo or merely incremental change. Learning from the arts, social sciences, and environmental studies, Switch! conceives and materializes alternative ways of living – and consuming. Graphics, products, and the built environment are designed to express issues of ecological complexity, un/desirable futures, cultural norms, and social in/justice. Conceptually, the Switch! research program explores energy as embedded within multiple technical, material, social, and political systems – and designs that disrupt or introduce new values within these 'energy ecologies'. Methodologically, approaches from critical design, futures studies and design anthropology are developed to stage interventions and discussions in sites of consumption, professional settings, and public forums.

As a practice-based research program, Switch! has been carried out through collaborative development of design examples, namely, Energy Futures, Telltale, 3Ecologies, Green Memes, Ab|Norm and Symbiots.

Switch! was a design research program at the Interactive Institute sponsored by the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) between 2008 and 2009. More info is available on the web link below.

The Book

SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies is a book edited by Ramia Mazé, with contributors Martin Avila, Jenny Bergström, Loove Broms, John Carpenter, Brendon Clark, Karin Ehrnberger, Alberto Frigo, Aude Messager, Johan Redström, Thomas Thwaites, Anna Vallgårda, Basar Önal, maoworks (Tobi Schneidler, Tom Ballhatchet and Solon Sasson), Olivia Jeczmyk and Bildinstitutet. Published by the Interactive Institute, the book is designed by Martin Frostner and Lisa Olausson at Medium.

External homepage: 
http://dru.tii.se/switch/
Publications
Number of items: 21.

Mazé, Ramia, ed. (2013) SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies. Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

Avila, Martin and Carpenter, John and Mazé, Ramia (2013) 3Ecologies. In: SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies. Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 45-80. ISBN ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

Bergström, Jenny and Clark, Brendon and Frigo, Alberto and Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan and Vallgårda, Anna (2013) Telltale. In: SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies. Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 101-132. ISBN ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

Bergström, Jenny and Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan and Vallgårda, Anna and Jeczmyk, Olivia and Bildinstitutet, (2013) Symbiots. In: SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies. Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Stockholm, pp. 159-200. ISBN ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

Broms, Loove and Ehrnberger, Karin and Mazé, Ramia (2013) Ab|Norm. In: SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies. Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 133-158. ISBN ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan (2013) Explanation. In: SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies. Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 201-223. ISBN ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

Schneidler, Tobi and Ballhatchet, Tom and Sasson, Solon and Mazé, Ramia (2013) Green Memes. In: SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies. Interactive Institute Swedish ICT, Stockholm, Sweden, pp. 81-100. ISBN ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

Önal, Başar (2010) Designing for/from the Future. Masters thesis, Konstfack College of Arts, Crafts, and Design.

Avila, Martin and Carpenter, John and Mazé, Ramia (2010) 3Ecologies: Visualizing sustainability factors and futures. In: LeNS conference 'Sustainability in Design: Now!', 29 Sept - 1 Oct 2010, Bangalore, India.

Bergström, Jenny and Clark, Brendon and Frigo, Alberto and Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan and Vallgårda, Anna (2010) Becoming materials: Material forms and forms of practice. Digital Creativity, 21 (3). pp. 155-172. ISSN 1462-6268 (print) 1744-3806 (online)

Mazé, Ramia (2010) RE: Thinking sustainability – Critical thinking and design practice. In: Designing for Sustainable Living & Working. VSSD, Delft, The Netherlands, pp. 29-38. ISBN 978-90-6562-244-0

Mazé, Ramia and Önal, Başar (2010) Hands on the Future. In: Proceedings of the Stockholm Futures Conference, Nov 2010, Stockholm, Sweden. (Unpublished)

Bergström, J. and Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan and Vallgårda, Anna (2009) Symbiots: Conceptual interventions into energy systems. In: Nordic Design Research Conference, 30 Aug -1 Sept 2009, Oslo, Norway.

Mazé, Ramia (2009) Critical form(ations): a case study. In: Communicating (by) Design, 15-17 April 2009, Brussels, Belgium.

Mazé, Ramia (2009) Critical of What? / Kritiska mot vad? In: Iaspis Forum on Design and Critical Practice – The Reader. Sternberg Press, Berlin, pp. 378-397. ISBN 978-1-933128-63-4

Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan (2009) DIFFICULT FORMS: Critical practices of design and research. Research Design Journal, 1 (1). pp. 28-39.

Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan (2008) Switch! Energy ecologies in everyday life. International Journal of Design, 2 (3). pp. 55-70.

Mazé, Ramia (2008) Criticality meets sustainability: Constructing critical practices in design research for sustainability. In: Changing the Change: Design, Visions, Proposals and Tools: Proceedings, 10-12 July 2008, Turin, Italy.

Redström, Johan (2008) RE:Definitions of use. Design Studies, 29 (4). pp. 410-423.

Bergström, Jenny (2007) This is the air we breathe ... In: Art of Research: Research Narratives, 27-29 Oct 2007, London, UK.

Mazé, Ramia and Redström, Johan (2007) Difficult forms: critical practices of design and research. In: IASDR'07: International Association of Socities of Design Research 2007 - Emerging Trends in Design Research, 12-15 Nov 2007, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Design.

This list was generated on Tue Jun 19 00:19:55 2018 CEST.
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Switch! - The Book

Announcing the first comprehensive book about this critical design research project by the Interactive Institute!

Mazé, Ramia (ed) (2013) SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies.
Stockholm: Interactive Institute Swedish ICT.
ISBN (Print) 9789198092400 ISBN (E-book): 9789198092417

There is no single answer to the question of how people should live nor any silver bullet to solve current ecological problems – and yet, we must seek new ways to think and act in light of emerging environmental challenges. Given the power of design to influence consumer and societal values, its role must be questioned and renewed in relation to current problematics of mass-production and (over)consumption. SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies is a book that expands current approaches and strategies within design discourse concerning sustainability and environmentalism.

Evading design genres of greenwashing and eco-horror, future utopias and dystopias, the authors of this book attempt to raise more fundamental questions. They ask, for example, how does design mediate people’s access to nature and control over resources? What kinds of futures – or who’s – do we assume, desire and determine by design? How are environmental experiences, risks and values made visible in everyday life? These questions were explored in a series of collaborative and experimental design processes carried out since 2008 by an international team of designers, artists, architects, computer and social scientists at the Interactive Institute in Sweden.

The book features original texts by researchers and previously unpublished images and illustrations. Collectively authored, the book is a highly visual and reflective presentation of the 6 resulting projects –‘Energy Futures’, ‘3Ecologies’, ‘Green Memes’, ‘Telltale’, 'Ab|Norm' and ‘Symbiots’ – which are also contextualized within contemporary themes in ecology, critical design and practice-based research.

SWITCH! Design and everyday energy ecologies is edited by Ramia Mazé, with contributors Martin Avila, Jenny Bergström, Loove Broms, John Carpenter, Brendon Clark, Karin Ehrnberger, Alberto Frigo, Aude Messager, Johan Redström, Thomas Thwaites, Anna Vallgårda, Başar Önal, maoworks (Tobi Schneidler, Tom Ballhatchet and Solon Sasson), Olivia Jeczmyk and Bildinstitutet. Published by the Interactive Institute, the book is designed by Martin Frostner and Lisa Olausson at Medium. The book is published and distributed in a sustainable way, through a limited-edition print version and an electronic version.

order the book

Print version of Switch! at Antenne Books 
Print version of Switch! at Amazon.com
Electronic version of Switch! at this English-language website: Addbooks.se
Electronic version of Switch! at this Swedish-language website: Bokus.se and Adlibris.se
Electronic version of Switch! is also widely available through libraries
Press may contact ramia.maze [at] tii.se for a review copy

press release

SWITCH! – new book from the Interactive Institute!

 

 

Participants and sponsors

Participants:

Martin Avila
Sara Backlund
Jenny Bergström
Loove Broms
John Carpenter
Brendon Clark
Karin Ehrnberger
Alberto Frigo
Aude Messager
Johan Redström
Thomas Thwaites
Anna Vallgårda
Christina Öhman
Basar Önal

Collaborators:

Olivia Jeczmyk and Bildinstitutet
maoworks (Tobi Schneidler, Tom Ballhatchet and Solon Sasson)
Medium (Martin Frostner and Lisa Olausson)

Project leader:

Ramia Mazé

Sponsors:

Switch! is a design research program at the Interactive Institute sponsored by the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) in 2008-2009.

Additional support was received for developing design examples through: the Smart Textiles initiative, funded by the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (VINNOVA), and Forms of Sustainability, a design research program at the Interactive Institute funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet). Participants in Switch! received additional support through individual artistic grants, research projects, and doctoral studies at other institutions including: Iaspis / Swedish Arts Grants Committee; IT University Copenhagen; Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design; Linköping University, and; School of Design and Crafts at the University of Gothenburg.

Educational collaboration:

Switch! has been part of educational curricula at: Umeå Institute of Design (through the 'Design Ethnography and Participatory Design' course within the Interaction Design MA program) and Konstfack (through the 'Environmental Experience' course in the Experience Design MA program and through the 'Research Through Practice' MA course).