In the Loop: Ramon Sangüesa

After mixing critical and participatory design. What is next?

This is a very open talk about Ramon Sangüesa's experiences, frustrations, and hopes after years of trying to connect the democratic potential of participation with the disruptive possibilities of critical approaches to design. He’ll discuss several of the projects completed at La Mandarina de Newton and some others, which will open into a discussion about the intricacies and tensions between group participation and critical approaches. 

About Ramon

Ramon Sangüesa is professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC, Department of Software) and at the Elisava Design School in Barcelona. He has a PhD in artificial intelligence and a master’s degree in science communication. He is a visiting researcher at the Center for Organizational Innovation at Columbia University (New York) and senior fellow at the Strategic Innovation Lab at the Ontario College of Art and Design, University of Toronto (Canada). In 2007 he was one of the founders of Citilab, a civic innovation center, where he helped develop social innovation projects in urbanism and technocultural appropriation. From this he moved on to lead the co-creating cultures area at La Mandarina de Newton, a “transformation agency” where he has participated in projects in participatory and organizational design. He has tried to find a common ground between participation, expertise, and a critical design attitude. The projects he has been involved in range from organizational aesthetics to ArtScience to food ecosystems with the Tech Museum of California, Telefónica, BMW, and renowned chef Ferran Adria from the restaurant elBulli.