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Always Further – Emilie Pilloton: teaching design for change

Emily Pilloton, designer, is the founder of Project H (design initiatives for Humanity, Habitats, Health, and Happiness), a nonprofit organization dedicated to design and architecture. Its goal: relying on design to improve life for all, transforming the community and inventing "design products  for humanity." Convinced that "the design itself is a constant process of education," and thus that the solutions given by design can strengthen individuals, groups and the economy, Emilie Pilloton launched many projects with, as a motto, "design / build / transform."

Notably involved with the creation of "educational environments" for public schools, she helps, thanks to the initiative "learning landscape", to design buildings improving performance and collaboration between students and teachers. These constructions strengthen  conviviality and openness, each time using local materials, limited budgets, and especially carrying out the project with the people involved. Emily Pilloton hopes to show how easy it is, thanks to this new approach, to create a space for children's learning through games and activities. Emily Pilloton  teaches also at Bertie County, North Carolina, one of the most poor and rural state, and develops a curriculum "design / build" for high school students, called Studio H. This course seeks to involve the mind and body and show the new opportunities offered by intelligent and appropriate  design  (see their work). Her book Design Revolution: 100 Products That Empower People is a call to action illustrated by social impact of design with more than 100 contemporary objects.

To go further

Project H 

Credits: Project H