From the stone blade and the fire stick to the latest algorithms of genetic code, we shape our world through the act of design. With its roots in the Renaissance notion disegno, design is the ability not only to make something, but also to conceive of its invention and reflect on its meaning. Whether we valorise it as the democratisation of design or critique it as the perversion of the commodity fetish, designed things are now ubiquitous. Not only things but entire systems must now be designed and objects reconceived and redesigned as mere moments in unfathomably complex ecological flows. The planet itself, and even space beyond, is now presented as a design problem. What does landscape architecture bring to the broader culture of design? What lessons can be learned from other disciplines at the cutting edge of design? What role does design play in a time of transformative technological change? In LA+ Design we move beyond the designed outcome to explore the myths, methods, meanings, and futures of design. Engineer and physicist Adrian Bejan outlines his constructal theory, which predicts natural design and its evolution in engineering, scientific, and social systems. Design researchers Craig Bremner + Paul Rodgers take us through an A Z of design ecology. Architects Lizzie Yarina + Claudia Bode open our eyes to new ways of seeing things through subject-object relations. Jenni Zell explores life as a woman landscape architect through a Kafkaesque lens. Daniel Pittman interviews MoMA's curator of architecture and design, Paola Antonelli. Architect David Salomon explores methods of using data as both fact and fiction. Christopher Marcinkoski interviews Anthony Dunne + Fiona Raby (Dunne + Raby) to discuss how their practice continuously redefines the role of design in society. Thomas Oles challenges stereotypes of landscape architecture s professional identity. Richard Weller discusses the terrarium as the ultimate design experiment. Dane Carlson goes deep into the culture of Nepal s hinterlands to explore new modes and geographies for landscape architecture beyond the first world. Through LA's signage, anthropologist Keith Murphy shows how different groups of people interact with and give meaning to the landscapes they inhabit. Interviewed by Colin Curley, architect Andrés Jaque (Office for Political Innovation) discusses the role of technology and agency of architecture in society today. Game designer Colleen Macklin shows how public space can be redefined and subverted through the agency of play. Javier Arpa interviews urban design guru Winy Maas (MVRDV, The Why Factory) to discuss his views on the future of design and design education. Experimental psychologist Thomas Jacobsen describes current neurological research into the subjectivity of beauty. Landscape architect James Corner talks about the evolution of the profession of landscape architecture in a wide-ranging interview.

Pressing Matters is an exciting design and research compilation from PennDesign's Department of Architecture, featuring recent student work, news, important symposia and lectures. Society faces many challenges: global warming and environmental change, pollution and waste, transition to new energy and resource economies, the redistribution and reorganisation of political and economic power worldwide; globalisation of the construction and development industries, population growth, shrinkage and migration; urban intensification and attrition; privatisation of public sector activities; and the transformation of cultural identities and social institutions. We seek to bring the expansion of expertise and creativity in architecture to bear on these challenges with a goal to be at the forefront of advanced research and design by creating an advanced research institute that focuses on new design methodologies and future manufacturing through the interlinked intelligence of digital design, scripting and robotics. Printed on recycled paper with non-toxic inks, Pressing Matters focuses on social awareness and responsibility, and endeavours to be a think-tank for critical exchange and advanced debate within and across disciplinary boundaries. We are a connective device linking invited experts for ongoing lectures and publications to a growing international audience and an increasing network of experts. Approximately 310 graduate students, the Graduate Architecture Department is comprised of design studios, exhibition spaces, classrooms, and offices, a facility that includes state-of-the-art laboratories for computing and fabrication and two advanced research labs: the Digital Design Research Lab and the Building Simulation Group. PennDesign has also introduced 3-D printers in the newly renovated studio spaces and a brand new Robotic lab.