Design for Next

Contemporary shifts in society, technology, production are reframing design processes, approaches and tools. While professionals, educators and researchers are questioning the next stage of innovation, design is evolving as a wide open field with many applications and meanings. More than ever it is important to investigate through design research and practice in order to tackle the societal, technological and industrial shifts of the future. The 12th EAD Conference was hosted by Sapienza University of Rome in Italy, and it fostered discussion among designers, academics and experts about the articulated scenario of contemporary design and its perspectives, with intent to nurture diversity and interdisciplinarity. 'Design for Next ...' is the title and topic of the Conference: 'Next' implies the concept of proximity as well as of destination, related to time and to physical space. The conference seeked to discover future fields of investigation in design, as well to discover and to connect the space and the people who share common interests in design research. The book is hosting the contributions from professionals, academics and students to address the following questions with their own research, projects and experiences: What is Design for the Next? And what is the 'Next' focus of Design? The book is organized into 9 chapters in order to address 9 wide fields of Design for Next: Aesthetics | Economy | Education | Environment | Health | Industry | Society | Technology | Thinking Each chapter focused around a keyword to engage and tackle the different fields of Design research and practice and together it is drawing the big picture of Next Design.