susana soares :: design

2011-07-03T18:09:00.002+01:00

"Anything that can be done chemically can be done by other means."
"Desperation is the raw material of drastic change."

William S. Burroughs

SEE YOURSELF SENSING - WORK gallery

2011-06-19T18:29:00.001+01:00

"New technologies and advances in bio-science, nanotechnology and genetics are destabilising distinctions between mind and body, blurring boundaries between organic and artificial, internal and external, and public and private. Artists and designers are challenging these traditional dualities by exploring the frontiers of sensory perception and spatial awareness. See Yourself Sensing: Re-designing Human Perception will bring together a cross-section of designers and artists whose practices envision new ways of relating to and experiencing the world around us"

PATHOGEN HUNTER will feature at SEE YOURSELF SENSING - WORK gallery, London.
24 June— 24 September 2011
PRIVATE VIEW 23 JUNE 2011 6–9pm

SEE YOURSELF SENSING has been developed in conjunction with a publication of the same name, authored by Madeline Schwartzman and released in June 2011 by Black Dog Publishing.

WORK gallery
10A Acton Street, London, WC1X 9NG
http://workgallery.co.uk/WORK/WORK__Future_Exhibitions.html

Madeline Schwartzman
http://www.facebook.com/pages/See-Yourself-Sensing/184369981612805?v=info

scientific designer

2010-06-04T14:07:00.001+01:00

industrial revolution ⇔ industrial design
scientific revolution ⇔ scientific design

therefore the need for a new taxonomy of design practice

i am a scientific designer

Headspace - on scent as design

2010-03-23T22:57:00.001Z

Headspace is a one-day symposium on the conception, impact, and potential applications of scent.
I am glad to be one of the guest speakers among designers, scientists, artists and perfumers.
The formulation and articulation of the project has been a collaboration Parsons, MoMA, IFF, and SEED magazine.

March 26, 2010
10-5:30PM
The New School,
Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street,
off 6th Avenue
NEW YORK
USA

http://www.headspace2010.com
http://transdesign.parsons.edu/?p=295

2010-03-22T00:57:00.009Z

Pathogen Hunter

2010-03-22T00:54:00.001Z

Pathogen Hunter project explores how disease monitoring might change our health etiquette. Surveillance personnel - Pathogen Hunters - would be specially trained with very particular tools to manage infectious outbreaks. But no matter how clean we are or how healthy we feel, we still carry billions of microbes on our bodies.
Will we change our behaviour by preventing the spread of pathogens to others? What will be the consequences for our social conventions?

Designers:
Mikael Metthey
Susana Soares

Collaborators:
Steak Studio
Marcelo Vianna

Thanks to:
Miguel Fernandes Ceia
Filipa Alves de Sousa
Milan Metthey
Annabella Maneljuk
Lotan Satir
Rowan Brooks
James Wood

EPSRC - Impact! Exhibition
Helen Bailey

RCA Design Interactions Department
Prof. Anthony Dunne
Fiona Raby

AptaMEMS-ID - Newcastle University

2010-03-22T00:43:00.001Z

Courtesy Prof. Calum McNeil

The AptaMEMS-ID project brings together a multi-disciplinary team with complementary expertise to further develop nano-enabled sensor systems towards the detection of infectious organisms. The primary aim of AptaMEMS-ID is to develop patient-side, nano enabled devices capable of detecting target bacteria within minutes.

Impact project collaborators:

Prof. Calum McNeil

Prof. Colin Harwood

Dr James Henderson

Dr Neil Keegan

Dr. Phillip Manning

Ms Becci Sharrock

Mrs Julia Spoors

Microscopic life-forms

2010-03-22T00:36:00.002Z

Illustration by Steak Studio

Ever since their discovery, bacteria have held both scientific and creative minds in their thrall. Nor are the public at large immune to an obsession with these microscopic yet paradoxically high-profile life-forms. But has the threat they pose to human health been overblown?
The disconcerting truth is that, even in the developed world, bacterial infections remain a major cause of illness and mortality. And with some strains showing increased resistance to antibiotics, the need to rapidly pinpoint hospital patients infected by or simply carrying, harmful bacteria has never been greater.

Pathogen Hunter project is based on AptaMEMS-ID a research project from the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Technologies in Newcastle University.

IMPACT! project

2010-03-17T23:31:00.006Z

IMPACT! exhibition is a collaboration between EPRSC, RCA Design Interactions Department and NESTA.

16 design projects were developed by students, graduates and staff from Royal College of Art Design Interactions Department and are based on a research project supported by EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council).

The projects explore the impacts, implications and alternative views of how science could influence our future.

IMPACT! exhibition

2010-03-16T23:48:00.003Z

16 — 21 March 2010
11 .00 am — 5.30 pm
Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU

A unique collaboration between science and design that explores the
importance of engineering and physical sciences in all aspects of our lives.

www.impactexhibition.org.uk
http://impact-art.ning.com/

WHAT IF...We could redesign human teeth to encourage vegetarianism?

2009-10-18T21:46:00.002+01:00

VEGETARIAN TOOTH :: 2008

Susana Soares

Recent research into the effects of eating meat on global warming estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of gas emissions. Recently the UN appealed for a radical shift in diet, arguing that it wouldn't only be good for our health, but for the planet in general. Teeth are an essential tool for nutrition - their shape is related to diet. Herbivore animals, for example, have developed teeth that reflect their feeding preferences and facilitate the consumption of plant material.
Could our teeth structure be replaced to encourage a more sustainable dietary shift?

WHAT IF... Insects could help us diagnose illness?

2009-10-18T21:41:00.000+01:00

BEE'S :: 2007-2009
Susana Soares

Scientific research has demonstrated that bees have an extraordinarily acute sense of smell. They can be trained within minutes, using Pavlov's reflex, to perform a health check by detecting a specific odour of people's breath.
This project consists of a series of alternative diagnostic tools that use bees to accurately diagnose a vast variety of diseases at an early stage. The project aims to build on current technological research, using design to translate the outcome into systems and objects that people can understand and use in their daily lives.

What if ? :: Opening 8.10.09

2009-10-18T21:26:00.002+01:00

What if ?

2009-10-18T20:54:00.005+01:00

WHAT IF... at Science Gallery - Dublin, Ireland

08.10.09 - 13.12.09.

The exhibition has been curated by London based designers Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby and features a range of works by designers who have explored future form, future function and future Fictions.

http://www.sciencegallery.com/whatif

http://www.facebook.com/ScienceGallery

http://www.dunneandraby.co.uk

Lapse in time :: Bee's and Am i attractive?

2009-09-17T00:47:00.018+01:00

Sociedade Nacional de Belas Artes :: Lisboa
13.09.09 - 08.11.09

Bee's :: 2007-2009

Am i attractive? :: 2009
experiment from Why me? exhibit :: Rothamsted Research

http://www.designguide.tv/

EXD :: Lapse in time

2009-09-16T00:35:00.000+01:00

Design between elasticity and social - cultural responsibility

" Lapse in Time spotlights young designers who have chosen the opposite route, uncompromising designers whose work is grounded on highly individual, in-depth thinking and boundary-defying creative elasticity. Pursuing innovation and cutting-edge experimentation at the crossroads of design, cognitive sciences, environmental concerns and intercultural exchange, they strive towards a change in paradigm, one that is also temporal. Though unique in vision and attitude, they share a common trait: that of operating on a wholly different “lapse of time”. They choose slow-evolving projects over consumerist rush, making fewer but better, more relevant, products."
Hans Maier-Aichen Curator of Lapse in time

http://www.experimentadesign.pt/2009/en/02-02-03.html

STATE OF THE ARTS :: 10.09.09 ::18:00-19:00

2009-09-16T00:27:00.000+01:00

Debate about Lapse in Time exhibition

The design of the future is going to be fabulous, fury, furious and fun. It will be a tool for love, a superhero ready to do battle for good and for evil. It will ask why it exists and what its purpose in life is. It will stick its middle finger up, run through the woods naked, and save the world.
Jerszy Seymour

EXD 09 :: It's about time

2009-09-15T23:58:00.011+01:00

ExperimentaDesign is an international Biennale dedicated to design, architecture and creativity.
It's about time is the theme of the 5th edition of EXD.

Opening week:

http://www.experimentadesign.pt/2009/en/01-01-00.html
http://www.experimentadesign.pt/2009/blog/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seexd/

" am i attractive ?" at PESTIVAL Southbank Centre, London 2009

2009-09-11T14:12:00.006+01:00

"Am i attractive?" at Pestival 2009

2009-09-10T23:11:00.004+01:00

An experiment from the "Why me?" exhibit from Rothamsted Research.

PESTIVAL :: Southbank Centre London :: September 2009
Celebrating insects in art, and the art of being an insect.
http://pestival.org/

Collaborators:
Dr. James Logan, Rothamsted Research.

Credits:
Dr. James Logan and Mr. James Cook - Rothamsted Research Scientists
Susana Soares - Designer
Mónica Santos – Filmmaker

Acknowledgements:
Andrew Forkes – Designer
Chris Merridan – Electronic engineer
PESTIVAL Team

"Am i attractive ?" :: 2009

2009-08-18T23:04:00.001+01:00

In collaboration with Dr. James Logan team from Rothamsted Research, UK.

The concept for Why me object is that people find out, in a playful way, if their odour is attractive or unattractive to mosquitoes.

Two people place their hands in opposite sides of the object and in an average of 90 seconds the insects will invariable fly towards the most attractive scent.

The aim of project was to create a tool to raise awareness for this particular research and ultimately gather volunteers to find which specific chemicals are the mosquitoes attracted to.

Pictures from project development at Rothamsted Research, July 2009.
Courtesy of Dr. James Logan and Mr. James Cook.

WHY ME ? Rothamsted Research

2009-08-17T22:58:00.001+01:00

1.2 million people die each year from malaria
Why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes than others?
Could human scent provide an answer for malaria researchers?

Courtesy of Dr. James Logan :: Rothamsted Research

Dr. James Logan and his team at Rothamsted Research Laboratory have developed a new theory to explain why some people are more attractive to mosquitoes and midges than others, which might help further research into major international health problems.
People who are unattractive to biting insects mask the attractive odours chemicals within their body odour.

http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/forthepublic/SnapshotMosquitoes.html
http://royalsociety.org/exhibit.asp?id=4654

BEE'S :: 2007-2009

2009-07-01T22:30:00.011+01:00

Person performing a heath check up
Face object (36*25 cm) prototype 2007; Blown handmade glass; Crisform, Portugal.

BEE’S explores how we might co-habit with natural biological systems and use their potential to increase our perceptive abilities. We have always co-existed with these systems, but their potential was unknown.
The overall project aims to create platforms to generate sustainable symbiotic links where the potential of those natural systems around us can be wisely used.

The project is based on ongoing research about insects’ phenomenal odour perception, in particular bees. They can be trained within minutes using Pavlov’s reflex to target a specific odour and their range of detection includes chemical threats, toxins and diagnosing diseases.

The first developments consist in a series of alternative diagnosis tools that use trained bees to perform a health check up and detect diseases in someone’s breath.

The glass objects have a smaller chamber that serves as the diagnosis space and a bigger chamber where previously trained bees are kept.
People would exhale and the bees would rush into the smaller chamber if they detect something.

One of the aims is to develop collaborative relations between science and design translating the outcome into systems and objects that people can understand and use.

Person exhaling into the diagnostic chamber
Diagnostic tool 2 (26*15 cm) prototype 2007; borosilicate; Vilabo, Portugal.

Scientific research demonstrated that trained bees can detect certain diseases in a person's breath
Precise object (22*12 cm) prototype 2007 ; borosilicate; Vilabo, Portugal.

At the beehive - checking the bees behaviour in the diagnostic tools

Bees detect chemicals in the odorous secretion of the axilla, apocrine glands are known to contain pheromones that retain information about a person's health that bees antennae can identify
Diagnostic tool 4 (25*16 cm) prototype 2008 ; borosilicate; Vilabo, Portugal.

Acknowledgements:
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
Prof. Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby (Royal College of Art, Design Interactions Department)
Dr. Mathilde Briens (Inscentinel - UK)
Monica Santos (Filmmaker)
David Perkins (Roots & Shoots - London Beekeeper Association)
Des. Sónia Durães and Glass Master Mateus (Crisform)
Mr. João Gomes (Vilabo)

Credits:
Susana Soares

Models:
Bernardete Fernandes
Clarie Ducruet
Margarida Matos

Finally I got a blog…

2007-06-24T23:12:00.001+01:00

The need to have a blog follows The Great Exhibition 2007 – Royal College Summer Show.
Personal websites (for people like me that have little know how about) are difficult to modify, upgrade and more “formal”, a blog become a more flexible platform of communication.