We are eagerly awaiting the 2011 A Better World by Design conference coming up this weekend, Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, on the campuses of the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. We have covered this energetic, exclusively student-run conference on socially conscious design in the past, and will be attending once again to bring you the highlights. If you’re as excited as we are, tickets are still available with an 80% student discount!
This year’s jam-packed 3-day schedule features such inspiring speakers as Kate Stohr, Managing Director of Architecture for Humanity and co-editor of Design Like You Give a Damn; Peter Haas, founder of AIDG, an NGO that supports small infrastructure companies in Haiti and Guatemala; John Fetterman, Mayor of Braddock, PA; and Elizabeth Johansen, Director of Product Development at Design That Matters. We also can’t wait to hear Wolfgang Feist, founder of the rigorous Passivhaus standard for low-energy buildings, who will be presenting via teleconferencing.
Equally thrilling are the cutting-edge panels and workshops, as well as this year’s new sustainability initiative to make all daytime conference meals locally sourced and zero-waste. We suggest looking into the panels on Socially Engaged Architecture and Research Into Zero Energy Architecture, as well as Continuum’s workshop on Design Thinking for Social Innovation and Mary Hark’s hands-on workshop on Ecologically and Socially Sustainable Material Choices.
Lastly, Sunday’s Better World Expo is sure to feature some surprising new designs and innovative start-ups. We’re looking forward to helping set up and walk through the QuadDror Emergency House, designed using Studio Dror’s promising new structural system. We hope to see you there!
+ A Better World by Design
