The year just started, but we’re still in a lockdown situation because of Covid-19. Behind this seeming tranquillity, there is a storm raging through our values and structures. It gives us the space to think about a complete ‘reset’ of the dysfunctional systems in our society. In this series, we showcase the perspectives of a variety of thought leaders who will reflect on our present-day situation. Through the lens of their own area of expertise and with an emphasis on the power of design and imagination. The corona crisis is, without a doubt, a crisis that is leaving behind a trail of victims. But which transformations will we be left within the aftermath? In times as these, it is the creatives, philosophers, scientists, makers, and designers who can visualize new scenarios, and develop new insights for our future.
Edwin Gardner
As one of the founders of Studio Monnik, Edwin specializes in technological developments and the way they affect society. From spatial planning to social engineering. He has worked as an editor, designer, urban researcher and theorist for Archis/Volume and Partizan Public. He studied architecture at Delft University of Technology and was a fellow at the Jan van Eyk Academy. He lived and worked all over the world, from Tokyo to Istanbul.
Paul Bogard
Paul Bogard is the author of The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light. Paul is also editor of the anthology Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark, a collection of essays by twenty-eight writers on the value of darkness and the costs of light pollution. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Slate, Salon, Los Angeles Times, Outside, Audubon, Conservation, Reader’s Digest, National Geographic, Creative Nonfiction, and elsewhere. As a native Minnesotan, Paul grew up exploring the forest and watching the stars near a lake in the northern part of the state. He has lived and taught in New Mexico, Nevada, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Virginia, and is now associate professor of English at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
