The MENA Design Research Center, in conjunction with Beirut Design Week and in collaboration with the Sursock Museum, is proud to host Criteria: A Conference on Critical Design. This one-day event will explore the theories and practices of critical design, an emerging field dedicated to challenging the industrial underpinnings of design and questioning its continued relevance in our quickly changing world. The Criteria panels will bring forward conversations about the theoretical orientations of critical design and its educational applications, as well as critical design as praxis and prototype. The event as a whole aims to connect critical design to other critical turns in the arts, humanities, and social sciences and to distill the value of critical design to this year’s Beirut Design Week theme, Is Design a Need?

CRITERIA CONFERENCE AT SURSOCK MUSEUM | SATURDAY MAY 20 2017
10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
REGISTRATION
SURSOCK MUSEUM AUDITORIUM
Level - 2
11:00 AM to 11:30 AM
WELCOME TO CRITERIA
Opening Speech
11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
CRITERIA I: EXPLORING THEORY
FRIEDRICH VON BORRIES | TOKE RIIS EBBESEN
OLIVER BARON | FRANKE BJÖRN | KARMA DABAGHI
1:30 PM to 3:00 PM
LUNCH BREAK
3:00 PM to 3:30 PM
CRITERIA 2: CRITICAL LEARNING
JANA TRABOULSI
3:30 PM to 4:00 PM
COFFEE BREAK
4:00 PM to 5:30 PM
CRITERIA 3: PROTOTYPING INTERVENTIONS
BERND HOPFENGÄRTNER | AMELIE GOLDFUSS
DAISY ALEXANDRA GINSBERG| PACO MEJIAS | BROWNER, SANZENI, KIM
5:30 PM to 6:30 PM
CRITERIA CLOSING REMARKS
Objects of Change by L'Artisan du Liban at Sursock Museum

On this occasion, ADL will exhibit a design installation in collaboration with Lebanese artisans, featuring designer Ghassan Salameh and glass artisan Atelier Céline Hage. The installation focuses on an evolution of traditional craft techniques applied on various materials, reconfiguring and extending the usage of basic geometric elements found in various oriental aesthetics, into a connective symbiotic system. Through this experimentation, ADL invites Lebanese artisans into an encounter with a young designer and a new generation artisan. The installation co-occurs with an exhibition curated by Adham Selim. Location: Sursock Esplanade, open all day.