At The Coalface: Responsibility

Whether it be completing our daily workload, looking after our dependents, paying our taxes, or even simply being less wasteful, responsibility is a familiar day-to-day concern for all of us. But what does the word mean within design?

As technology offers us increased access to information and extends our global awareness, it closes the gap between our actions and exposes us to their repercussions. In an industry that traditionally and primarily produces, how do designers balance their priorities, not just in terms of sustainability and consumption, but of ethics? What are the principles that underpin the work they do? Who is responsible for an object or an idea after that object is made or that idea voiced?

Join us for the second instalment of At the Coalface, a regular series of evening discussions hosted by Somerset House and Makerversity. A panel of designers, fixers and architects will share their perspectives on this multifaceted debate, and reflect upon the values and priorities that drive their work.