Design Emergency

David Chipperfield on Architecture’s Priorities

What are the most important challenges for architecture today? And what will they be in the future? One of the most influential architects of our time, David Chipperfield

Francis Kéré on Building Stories

Francis Kéré, architect, educator, builder, and one of the most compelling advocates for architecture as a force for dignity, participation, and social transformation. Ké

Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn on Crafts

In this episode of Design Emergency, Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli explore how craft has evolved into a powerful force for social, cultural, and environmental chang

Irma Boom on the Future of Book Design

What is the future of the printed book? Does it have one? And, if so what will it consist of? Who better to answer this than the woman who is inconstestably the greatest

Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn celebrate the Hidden Heroines of Design on International Women’s Day 2026

Happy International Women’s Day! One of Alice and Paola’s favourite episodes of Design Emergency every year is the International Women’s Day Special in which they celebra

Beatriz Colomina and Mark Wigley on Biotic Architecture

Architecture has long treated bacteria as an enemy to be controlled—dangerous foreign agents to be sealed out, sterilized, or erased. In their new book, We the Bacteria:

Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn celebrate Women in Tech on Ada Lovelace Day

Every year, the second Tuesday in October is designated as Ada Lovelace Day as a tribute to its namesake, Ada Lovelace, the 19th century mathematician and pioneering comp

Maya Bird-Murphy on Architecture and Communities

How can we empower more people, particularly young people from disinvested communities, to engage with architecture, and to use it as a tool to improve their daily lives

David Gissen on the Architecture of Disability

Architecture’s traditional approach to disability revolves around “fixing problems” by securing adaptations that will allow disabled people to access the ideal world of f

Tosin Oshinówò on Designing Africa’s Future

In this episode of Design Emergency podcast, the Nigerian architect, Tosin Oshinówò, tells our cofounder, Alice Rawsthorn, how design and architecture can help to forge a

Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn on Design and Infrastructure

Infrastructure is one of the most important areas of design, but is mostly ignored – until it goes horribly wrong. At a time when global investment in developing new form

Hilary Cottam on Redesigning Work

What is a good working life in the 21st century? And how do we get there? In the latest episode of Design Emergency, our cofounder, Alice Rawsthorn, explores these issues

Sadie Red Wing on Indigenous design

One of the deepest, most often overlooked emergencies in the design world is the erasure of Indigenous knowledge systems—and the continued exclusion of Indigenous voices

Hidden Heroines of Design

Who are the Hidden Heroines of Design, the gifted, resourceful and determined women who have achieved so much in design, yet have never been given the recognition they so

Julia Watson on Design and Water

As the global water crisis and climate emergency intensify, how can design help us to tackle the devastating food shortages, storm surges, rising sea-levels and other pro

Pirjo Haikola on Designing for the Ocean

Coral are tough clients, as Pirjo Haikola knows well. The Finnish designer is renowned for her work on coral reef conservation and ocean biodiversity. Now based at the

Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn on Design and Human Rights

How can design help to defend and strengthen our human rights? And the rights of other species with whom we share our planet? At a time when rights and freedoms are under

Yvonne Jewkes on Design and Prisons

How can design help to make our failing prisons fit for purpose? In this episode of Design Emergency, our cofounder, Alice Rawsthorn, discusses the design deficiencies of

Domestic Data Streamers on data and emotions

Why should we care about data? Not only because “data is the new oil,” as British mathematician Clive Humby famously said in 2006, but also because data sets can contain

Philippe Rahm on Climatic Architecture

How can architecture help us to address the escalating climate emergency? There are many ways it can do so: from ensuring that new buildings are designed to radically red