Tales on Soles: driving design via Design Activism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studio, a breeding ground for curiosity and wonder, has become more of a confined space for innovation lately. Infrastructure shortage also has triggered a somewhat impersonal attitude to studio learning. Can Design-Activism mitigate such stresses on the studio by becoming an alternative mode of driving studio processes? Reflectively, this study reports on upskilling students via alternative modes of learning to overcome infrastructure dependency. Participants of Tales on Soles (ToS) student design competition, embarked on an exploratory excursion to turn the studio into a place to adventure in a different way: emancipation of studio via activism. Narrated via reflective accounts of the author and the stakeholders, ToS delves into intricacies of innate nuances of a pertinent pedagogy: studio. The improvised studio infrastructure via transformed didactic models demonstrated Design-Activism's ability to harness alternate modes of driving studio. The themes deduced from the process demonstrate activism as an emancipation tool for studio innovations.