OPEN EVERYTHING#2:  WHAT THE HEALTH?

Bright was the early summer noon, when quickened steps followed each other after our beloved Patricia Moore.  In end-March 2014, Dr Patricia Moore, our long-term mentor of HKDI DESIS Lab for Social Design Research, paid a tight-scheduled and fruitful visit to Hong Kong from Phoenix, Arizona of US. Recognized by ID Magazine as one of the “40 Most Socially Conscious Designers” in the world and the pioneer in design for the ageing population, Dr Moore was the mentor of our 2nd Open Design Event: What the Health: inviting people to design our health.  ‘We could have humour on discussing some very difficult topics. As we go, all things will be changed by the body.  We can either be sad about it, or accept it with grace and happiness even be playful about it.  I am amazed to see the same playfulness in the title “What the health?” , which makes everyone pay attention to what we advocate,’ said Dr Moore.  With joining efforts, we conducted a series of workshops for students and teachers of visual communication on inclusive medical packages. Product design students were also invited to prototype new medical equipment to be used in everyday life. Finally, the results were shared at our citizen design workshop on 29 March. The weather was bad with heavy rain that day, but we still got over 50 participants for the hands-on session. After Dr Moore’s engaging presentation, HKDI design students, senior citizens, professional occupation therapists and staff members of Culture Homes (文化邨, our project partner), all participated in the design jamming session to generate new ideas on design for future ageing population.