Christmas Island Detention Centre

The Christmas Island detention centre known as “Immigration Reception and Processing Centre” has recently been completed at the cost of AUS$360 million. Using the Pacific Solution policy (Australian government policy to transport asylum seekers to detention camps on small island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing [...]

Taryn Simon @ The Photographers Gallery

Avian Quarantine Facility, The New York Animal Import Center, Newburgh, New York. European Finches seized upon illegal importation into the U.S. and African Gray Parrots in quarantine.
Currently at the photographers gallery in west central london, is a wonderful exhibition by Taryn Simon entitled: An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar. This exhibition [...]

Emergency rescue dogs @ Security and Safety Trade Expo in Tokyo

A dog wears a rescue jacket and rain coat at a demonstration during the Security and Safety Trade Expo in Tokyo October 17, 2007. The rescue jacket for either a pet dog or cat contains an emergency kit and food, for use in a possible disaster, and the price ranges from JPY 28,000 to JPY [...]

Film series: SAFE

On October 16th, Cindy Weber introduced the film ‘Safe’ directed by Todd Haynes and released in 1995. It is the first film in the program of films co-sponsored by Dukes Cinema and IAS program year New Sciences of Protection: Designing Safe Living. (see film schedule here&gt

Design: Introductory workshop - 4-5 Oct 2007 - Day 2

Response from Brian Bloomfield (Department of Organisation, Work and Technology, Lancaster University)
One thing that could be picked from all the discussion is the question of politics.
Fiona mentioned how designers are accidentally political, and she also raised the question about how decisions are made about what is dangerous or not. You could say that design is [...]

Design -Introductory workshop - 4-5 Oct 2007 - Day 2

Gerd Kortuem (Computing, Lancaster University)
Reporting on a collaborative project (Nemo) that uses pervasive sensing technologies for industrial environments. We all work on computers, but many other people work physically. For instance, vibration exposure is a serious problem. It can lead to ‘vibration white finger.’ How can technology be brought in to improve the current [...]

Design - Introductory workshop - 4-5 October 2007

Sabine Junginger (LICA, Lancaster University)
Fiona Raby has shown that design and change are deeply linked. She has pointed to the strength of design as a way of challenging assumptions, using visualisation, prototyping, alternative scenarios, and thus pointing to new possibilities for product development. It also shows some weaknesses of design: it’s abstract, fun, but pointless? [...]

Design - Introductory workshop - 4-5 Oct 2007 - Day 2

Design session
Cindy Weber introduced the design speakers from RCA, LICA &Imagination@Lancaster, Lancaster University, Department of Computing, and Department of Organisation, Work and Technology.
Fiona Raby on critical design
Fiona Raby of Dunne + Raby discussed feral nature of critical design, and the accidental political nature of what it does. It works with the mismatch between official [...]

Sciences of Protection? - Introductory workshop - 4-5 Oct 2007

Sciences of protection?

Professor John Law (Centre for Science Studies, Lancaster University): how does control overcome complexity? The case study for this is the FMD outbreak centred on Pirbright.

The response [...]

Introductory workshop - 4-5 Oct 2007 - Day 1

There are 45 people at the workshop from nearly all faculties at Lancaster University, as well as participants from Manchester and London. The annual research program was introduced by Corinne May-Chahal (FASS) and Ruth Wodak (Chair, Academic Board, IAS).
Professor Cindy Weber introduced the key questions for the program: how is safe living conceived today? However [...]