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How designers became pandemic first responders

How designers became pandemic first responders

The creativity sparked by the challenges of COVID-19 is helping to redefine public and political perceptions of the role of design.

Design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn says designers "have been empowered to adopt more eclectic and ambitious roles by pursuing their own environmental, social and political concerns”. 

Stephen ToddDesign editor

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Regular readers of Wallpaper* magazine might have been surprised by last month’s cover. Instead of stylised imagery of highly desirable objets or a swoon-worthy interior in some exotic location, the mag whose tag line is "the stuff that refines you" came emblazoned with the words "Design Emergency".

Guest edited by Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and design critic and author Alice Rawsthorn, the special issue was a spin-off of the Instagram feed the pair began in April as a response to the coronavirus crisis.

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Stephen Todd
Stephen ToddDesign editorStephen Todd writes for The Australian Financial Review's weekly Life&Leisure lift out and AFR Magazine. Email Stephen at stephen.todd@afr.com

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Original URL: https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/design/how-designers-became-pandemic-first-responders-20201104-p56bha