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Matthijs van Dijk, Lowie Vermeersch (eds.)

Mobility | Society

Society Seen through the Lens of Mobilities

Mobility has always been integral to human experience. Despite its importance, mainstream discussions on the subject tend to reduce it to the movement of people and objects from one point to the next. Encompassing flows of not only the mundane (food, people) but also the intangible (ideas, money), and what lies beyond our everyday perception (the Earth’s crust, atoms), mobility is an unpredictable, highly influential force.

This book recognizes mobility as an interdisciplinary entanglement of relationships with society, which shapes social structures. "Mobility | Society" explores the relationship between the two concepts by taking the broadest possible perspective and examining society through various mobility lenses. To fully understand the significance and potential of mobility, the book combines data-driven and metaphorical approaches. Not adhering to a strict sequence, the book’s design offers the readers various entry points, suggesting possible connections between disciplines and providing inspiration for societal improvement through design innovation.

Edited by Matthijs van Dijk, Lowie Vermeersch

Foreword by Caspar Chorus

With essays by Matthijs van Dijk, Lowie Vermeersch, Costanza Milano, Wouter Haspeslagh, Elmer van Grondelle, Kader Abdolah, Peter Adey, Adrian Bejan, Rawad Choubassi, Tim Cresswell, Femke de Boer, Annelien De Dijn, Livia Del Conte, Vincent Kaufmann, Euiyoung Kim, Emily Molnar, et. al.

Design: Integral Lars Müller, Lowie Vermeersch, Matthijs van Dijk

16,5 × 24 cm, 6 ½ × 9 ½ in

312 pages, 99 illustrations

paperback

2024, 978-3-03778-736-6, English

CHF 40.00

Matthijs van Dijk

Matthijs van Dijk, born in 1965 in The Netherlands, holds two part-time chairs in academia: Professor of Mobility Design at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, TU Delft, The Netherlands (2003–present) and Professor of Strategic Design at the Faculty Architecture and Design, NTNU Norway (2012–present). His main interests are design methodology and design processes. He is co-author of the book “Vision in Design: A Guidebook for Innovators” (now in its 3rd edition), embraced by both academia and design practitioners. He is also one of the founders and board members of the Design and Emotion Foundation (1999–2016) and the Redesigning Society Foundation (2022–present). In 1992, van Dijk established Reframing Studio, a design consultancy based in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Drawing on his experience in robotics engineering, innovation methodologies, and strategic design, he lends to Reframing Studio his expertise in unravelling patterns in complex systems. He is adept at shaping future meaning that resonates profoundly with both society and nature. Van Dijk feels most energized and feels a sense of duty when championing the needs of (future) society, focusing on themes like mobility, citizenship and democracy, art and culture, education, biodiversity, and mental well-being.

Lowie Vermeersch

Lowie Vermeersch, born in 1974, is a Flemish designer who is part of a distinguished artistic family. He completed his studies at the Faculty of Industrial Design at the Technical University of Delft, earning his degree in 1997. After completing his studies, he relocated to Italy in 1997 to begin working at Pininfarina Studi e Ricerche. He eventually became Design Director in 2007. In 2011, he founded Granstudio, his own mobility research and design consultancy, to expand his expertise in automotive design into the broader field of mobility design. Today, Granstudio is an internationally recognized mobility design studio with a team of over 60 designers, engineers, and mobility experts. They work in Turin (Italy) and Kortrijk (Belgium) on a wide variety of projects for renowned international clients. In addition to working on a wide range of mobility projects, they also focus on developing new mobility solutions at an urban scale. Together with Wouter Haspeslagh he is also the coordinator of the Transdisciplinary Masters in Mobility Design at IED Torino. Vermeersch lives and works in both Turin and Bolzano.