Lecture 1&2
I found both speakers interesting, however personally I felt that Matthew Taylor was more engaging. His use of examples helped visualize his ideas and his use of jokes, helped keep the atmosphere pleasant. He spoke about “The social aspiration gap”, which questions how does a person prosper unless they change the way they think and behave.
Three ways people need to change:
• People need to be more engaged in their lives. For example; they need to more involved in what shapes their future.
• Secondly people need to more self sufficient and resourceful. They need to be comfortable managing their lives.
• Humans are social beings that are affected by the people around them; so to be a better person, they need better friends. As well as they need to make the right choices.
Additionally people need to be more aware of other aspects that can affect the way they act. E.g. Within days of Zimabardo’s Stanford Prison experiment, the officers became sadistic and the prisoners became passive.
Keyword - Change
Keyword - Change
Lecture 3&4
The first lecture we had today was Nina Power, she spoke about the perception of women and how women have influenced design, as well as how they are influenced in everyday life. There was one quote from the lecture, which I thought was great:
“I am writing as an ugly one for the ugly ones, the old hags, the dykes, the frigid, the unfucked, the unfuckables, the neurotics, the psychos, for all those girls that don’t get a look-in in the universal market of the consumable chick.” Virginit Despentes – King Kong Theory.
The second speaker was Paul Greenhalgh on the World’s Expos. The Fairs were places, where people could exhibit and sell their work. Traders were also able to move in and set up shop. Exhibitors would invent things they imagined in the future, including transportation or moving streets with different speeds. Also people from different cultures were placed on display, some volunteered to be there, others were “confused”. This meant people could be exposed to different cultures and artists were inspired. However it was demeaning to place these people on display like in a zoo.
These Expos were good for trade, as well as it was good for the cities because it allowed them to be developed for the better. Even though the buildings for the Fairs were demolished once the fair was over, there were sewers, transportation links and landmarks left over. Additionally museums were invented in 1851 based on the World’s Fairs, even though cultures were destroyed, at least these cultures are now preserved instead of forgotten.
Keyword - Progress
Keyword - Progress