Bio
Flavia Amadeu is a Brazilian designer and an MPhil/PhD researcher with Transtechnology Research Group at the University of Plymouth, sponsored by CAPES. Her research also works in collaboration with the TECBOR Project developed by the chemistry laboratory LATEQ from the UnB – University of Brasília, a partnership that has come since her MA in Arts at the same university (2004-2006).
In Brazil she has taught at Industrial Design department from UnB; in Fashion Design and Interior Design courses in two other educational institutions. She also worked as a designer consultant for craft based communities and individuals, besides developing her authorial design work, most in jewellery and fashion, and varied design projects for institutions and companies, including works in graphic design.
Her Organic Jewellery Collection made with the natural rubber from the Amazon was nominated to The Brit Insurance Design Awards 2011 and to the Brazilian Biennial of Design in 2010.
Project
Keywords: creative communities, design, natural rubber, participatory methods, sustainability.
This thesis aims at the critical analysis of the design practice and thinking as an agent to promote better conditions for social and environmental sustainability acting in projects of technological innovation developed by/with local communities. It will discuss the implications of the design practice in this kind of scenario, for designers and for local communities, by focusing on the employment of participatory methods that are based on the creative production developed by community members and in accord to their aims and necessities. The assumption of the thesis stems from the belief in the interconnectedness of these communities, their work and their environment and the consideration of cultural, ecological and ethical aspects.
Case Study
In order to approach these issues, this research runs in collaboration with the project Technologies for the production of the natural rubber and artefacts in the Amazon (TECBOR/LATEQ/UnB) that promotes alternative methods for the production of the natural rubber with a view to enabling better conditions of life for rubber tappers and their families, with a concern for the preservation of the rainforest.
This research will address theoretical and practical issues drawing on a rubber community, which produces rubber according to this method and develops rubber artefacts creatively as an additional income source. In doing so, this research will explore how this context could impinge upon the design practice.
This provides a situation in which it may be possible to evaluate the processes and impacts of this project for the local communities and as well as the natural environment; to carry evidence for the actions and creativity that emerge from the community members; to reflect about the design activity; and maybe to envision perspectives and new alternatives for the future of these communities. The relevance of this research is centred in perceiving how a non-exploitative project embraces ethical, ecological and cultural aspects.
Research Seminar – 21st March 2012
Participation in events, conferences, exhibitions
