Formafantasma is a design studio founded in 2009 by Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi, with offices in Milan and in Rotterdam. Their practice is based on research, and their deep investigations into the ecological, historical, political, and social forces shaping the discipline of design today inform not only their critical and influential exhibitions and academic inquiry, but also the exquisite objects they have produced for commercial manufacturers of global renown. In this episode, Simone and Andrea discuss with Paola Antonelli their use of design as a lens to and understand the world, and their reliance on the formal elegance of objects as Trojan horses to unveil unethical practices and exploitative systems of extraction that are entangled with design and production - exposing them so they can be dismantled.  Three projects in particular, supported by solid, publicly available research and culminating in exhibitions, illustrate their approach. Ore Streams (National Gallery Victoria in Melbourne, 2017, and Triennale di Milano, 2019) focused on electronic waste, while Cambio (Serpentine, London, 2020) examined the global ecology of timber. Oltre Terra, which will open in May 2023 at the National Museum in Oslo, studies the systems of extraction and production of wool, and therefore the complex relationship between animals, humans, and the environment.  You’ll find images of the projects Simone and Andrea describe in this interview on our Instagram feed @design.emergency. Thank you for listening! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.