The Nature Of Things

MasterClass: Justin McGuirk

May 21, 2026, 17.00-19.00

Focusing on the processes through which objects are produced, used, and acquire meaning, the program opens up a discussion on the cultural, political, and environmental dimensions of design. This masterclass with international design curator and critic Justin McGuirk approaches objects not merely as functional entities, but as cultural actors shaped within social relations, economic systems, and ecological contexts. Drawing on contemporary design practices and global examples, McGuirk examines how design today assumes new areas of responsibility and what the life cycles of objects mean for designers.

The event will be held in English.

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About

Justin McGuirk is the director of Future Observatory, the UK’s national design research programme for the green transition, based at the Design Museum in London. He is also the former chief curator of the Design Museum, where he oversaw and curated numerous high-profile exhibitions and public programmes. In 2012 he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture for an installation curated with Urban-Think Tank. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the Guardian, e-flux and numerous art and design journals. He is the author or editor of ten books, including Radical Cities: Across Latin America in Search of a New Architecture (2014) and, most recently, More than Human: Making with the Living World (2025).