Industrial designer and social activist Cynthia E. Smith curated the exhibition Design for the other 90% at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. Smith was inspired by a personal desire to make a difference as a designer. In this interview with Powerhouse Museum Curator of Product Design Angelique Hutchison, Smith discuss the efforts of passionate, like-minded designers, engineers, students, professors, architects, and social entrepreneurs from all over the globe who are turning their attention to the disenfranchised majority; the 90% of the world’s population who don’t even have regular access to food, clean water, or shelter, let alone the sleek and seductive designer luxury items we take for granted.


Cynthia E. Smith manages travelling exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York. She was brought to Australia in partnership with Design Island and Arts Tasmania, assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts.

Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum
Design for the other 90%


TAGS
+ Socially responsible design
+ Product design
+ Shelter
+ Health
+ Transport
+ Water
+ Energy