Cooking School of Design

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the cooking school of design

OCTOBER 18 · It’s our opinion, that you can learn a lot about design through cooking. So when we were invited to be part of RISD’s Visiting Designer Series, our “studio” was a fully-equipped kitchen. Our three-day workshop centered around a simple prompt. Students were asked to swap family recipes—ones which had stories as rich as their ingredients—and to prepare those dishes, together. Their exchange mimicked a client relationship, so attentive listening and carefully considered questions were key. When you’re making (someone else’s) Mom’s chicken wings, you better get it right! Kitchens are a natural place for conversation. Ours centered around storytelling & narrative, our individual habits as designers (good & bad), and the importance of clear communication in the design process. Thanks to all the students who participated, and to visiting food critic Douglas Scott, for an amazing workshop. Bon appetite!

RISD Workshop

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RISD workshop

APRIL 4 · Open, generous, and careful listening is essential for designers, but rarely discussed directly. We offered this day-long workshop, by invitation of Tom Okerse, for the course Relational Design—in which students were embarking on design ethnography project. Our public talk offered inspiration from listeners as divergent as Naomi Shihab Nye and Paul Rand; and as varied in their approach as Andy Goldsworthy and Thomas Starr. We followed it up with a workshop which included silent meditation and a sequence of guided prompts that helped spark conversation around the role of listening in the design process.

Thank you to the students (all 60 of you!) who made this such a fun day.