Speaker: Irene Maldini (VU University, Amsterdam)

I am a design practitioner, teacher and researcher (Uruguay-Brazil-Netherlands). After designing for the quick-developing industry of the south of Brazil, I got interested in DIY and later open design as alternative circuits of production and consumption of objects. Nowadays I live in the Netherlands and work as a teacher in industrial design for EUCD (Uruguay), as embedded researcher for VU University Amsterdam in Waag Society and teacher assistant in the master in design studies ‘Design Cultures’, at VU University Amsterdam.

Title: DIY and open design

Both during my MA Thesis and the current embedded research at Waag Society I was/am exploring the expectations of the models of DIY and open design. These alternative cycles of production and consumption of objects are said to have certain advantages over the model of mass production. They are expected to be more democratic, more sustainable, and to contest the phenomenon of consumerism. Through ethnographic methods and the analysis of case studies, my research intends to evaluate these statements in practice, seeking to better understand the implications of DIY and open design.

Related Links

onmyresearch.blogspot.com
vu.nl
designculturesvu.blogspot.com
eucd.edu.uy
tocomadera.org