Can we transform consumption from a passive behavior into a violent act of creation?

Design is an essential mechanism to generate desire for both the consumer object and the act of consumption itself. Can designers manipulate demand to produce alternative perspectives on consumption?

In this symposium, we positioned design as the inherently political creation of possible futures. We investigated how consumption designs our environment and discussed how to balance the ethical urgency of our social contract with our affinity for playful invention and interaction.

Our guests co-created the event alongside experts in the field of consumption, feeding debate and provoking reactions. Using space as a stage to express opinions, we did not simply consume but actively produce and exchange information.

The speakers of the day were Alastair Fuad-Luke, Frank Trentmann, Jen Conway and Jessy Young, Martina Muzi and Marco Petroni.