Infrastructure is one of the most important areas of design, but is mostly ignored – until it goes horribly wrong. At a time when global investment in developing new forms of infrastructure is soaring, Alice and Paola discuss why it is so important to improve the design quality of the data networks, energy and water supplies, transport and sanitation systems and other aspects of infrastructure, which have a huge impact on our lives. 

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From Joseph Bazalgette’s epic mid-19th century sewage system for London and Massimo Vignelli’s wildly controversial diagrammatic New York subway map, to Kate Crawford’s pioneering work in charting the social and environmental damage caused by the new genre of gigantic data centres and the Sponge City natural flood defence strategy designed by Turenscape in China, Alice and Paola debate the pros and cons of infrastructure design at different times and in very different places.

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We hope you’ll enjoy this episode. You can find images of the projects Alice and Paola describe on our Instagram @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will hear from inspiring global design leaders whose work is at the forefront of forging positive change. 

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Design Emergency is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

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