Architect Edmund Carter and industrial designer and artist Simone LeAmon share a collaborative practice. Known for developing design and creative strategies in the areas of public and urban design, interiors, product design and exhibitions, Carter LeAmon’s projects draw on the sense of place, cultural values and wit. Recent projects include the exhibition design for Melbourne Design Now, the design component of Melbourne Now featuring the design wall Design In everyday life on level 3 at the Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia.
The eleventh design studio to participate in the Melbourne Now Design Residency in the NGV Garden (13-16 February) Carter LeAmon used their time in the Bolwell EDGE caravan to launch Reasons to Design, a project which aims to uncover opportunities for design.
Carter LeAmon asked the NGV audience: ‘Would you like to transform a situation? Would you like to improve the quality of somebody’s life? Would you like to effect change in your community? Or would you simply like to design something new, nicer, better and with a bit more sentiment?’ As such, they collaborated with members of the public and explored how returning to a specific experience or observation of daily life, can help establish a context for design. Hence, rather than define a solution or outcome, Carter LeAmon aimed to collect sites for design action and review the history of our experiences to get to the bottom of the problems we face – the reason to design.
Listening to people’s stories, Carter LeAmon mapped the narratives visually on a large unfurling roll of canvas, extracting motive and sentiment to illuminate the issues. Receiving stories about pending unemployment, disharmony in a small community and physical disability, Carter LeAmon used storytelling and narrative to drive design thinking – better known as a ‘way of thinking’ about complex problems.
Why? We know that the world is full of things that need creative solutions and Carter LeAmon believe that design is an agency for delivering them – but they’re also interested in knowing what they are. Reasons to Design is part of an ongoing project and Carter LeAmon are still receiving contributions – so tell them your story!