Acknowledgements
They say that it takes a village to raise a child. The same goes for this book; it’s the result of encounters and shared experiences over several years which gave rise to the questions, first raised at Doors of Perception conferences, that are now addressed here. The most insightful of these questions are not mine: they come from the late Peter Dormer, John Chris Jones, Derrick de Kerckhove, Jouke Kleerebezem, Ezio Manzini, Caroline Nevejan, Jogi Panghaal, Chee Pearlman, Aditya Dev Sood, and Marco Susani. A number of the examples in the book are based on encounters in Japan and East Asia enabled by Tadanori Nagasawa and Kayoko Ota. Kayoko also introduced me to my first Amsterdammer, Willem Velthoven who, in turn, helped me organize the first Doors of Perception conferences. I owe a lot to Harry Swaak who hired me to run the Netherlands Design Institute back in 1993; It was there that many of the perplexities in this book first crystallized, and where Doors of Perception was born. Our journey since then has been much enlivened by the presence of fellow explorers: Janet Abrams, Conny Bakker, Ole Bouman, Josephine Grieve, Bert Mulder, Michiel Schwarz, Gert Staal. Doors speakers, who inspired us with their insight, have also been unfailingly generous in spirit. The warmth and insistent collaboration of the Doors tribe - the compost that has nourished this book – are due to the stewardship of our producer, Janneke Berkelbach, and her live-wire colleagues. My optimism about the future of design comes from working with some fabulous practitioners in recent times: Michael Samyn and Remon Tijssen on the Doors and Netherlands Design Institute websites; Wouter van Eyck and Ton Homburg, on publications; Edith Gruson and Lynne Leegte on venues; and with Abhishek Hazra on Doors East. Debra Solomon has artfully connected Doors with food and design. Aya van Caspel and Jane Szita have been wordsmiths to die for, and Livia Ponzio helped many journalists keep us on our toes. Together with our software and engineering maestros, Jan Jaap Spreij and Paul Jongsma, I’ve been truly privileged to learn about design, on the job, with such a talented group of people. Ivo Janssen, who animated the whole enterprise with his piano performances at Doors, also introduced me to the music of Simeon ten Holt which has provided me with the metaphor that concludes the book. Doors has flourished as a fledgling enterprise thanks to the stewardship of our Board: Dingeman Kuilman,Christian Oberman, Ben Pluijmers, Walter Amerika and Krijn van Beek.
A central theme of this book is the design of projects and institutions.The subject has been brought to life for me by working with enlightened project partners. Jakub Wejchert, at the European Commission, enabled many of us in Europe to put social issues at the centre of technology innovation projects for the first time. Paola Antonelli, at MoMA, gave me the opportunity, as one of her helpers on Workspheres, to explore the future design of work. Roger Coleman and Jeremy Myerson, at the Royal College of Art, Elena Pacenti at Domus Academy, and Tim Brown at Ideo, were inspiring partners on the Presence project about elders online. Franco Debenedetti, Barbara Ghella, and Gillian Crampton Smith, invited me along on a fabulous adventure: to get Interaction Design Institute Ivrea up and running. Most of what I know about interaction design (and Canavese food) I’ve learned from them and the Institute’s gifted faculty: Walter Aprile, Michael Kieslinger, Simona Maschi, Stefano Mirti, Casey Reas, Dag Svaenes, and Jan-Christoph Zoels. Sean Blair and Kevin Gavaghan in London, and Claire Byers at One North East in Newcastle, involved me in the design of a region-specific institution – and in my home town, to boot. Victor Lo and John Frazer, on the Hong Kong Design Task Force, introduced me to the complexity of developments in China. Without Yrjo Sotamaa, Eija Salmi and Jan Verwijnen in Helsinki, Peter Gall Krogh in Aarhus, Alessandro Biamonti in Milan, and Arvo Parenson in Tallinn, I would not have been able to visit the farthest corners of Europe for the Spark! project. Cathy Brickwood and Martine Posthuma de Boer, and my colleagues in Virtual Platform, introduced me to Europe’s best media art when we did E-Culture Fair together. Luuk Boelens, of Urban Unlimited, opened my eyes to the need for services connecting High Speed Trains to the places where they stop; he also alerted me to the emerging phenomenon of Design-Free-Zones.
James Bradburne, Malcolm McCullough, and Ben Reason and Chris Downs, ploughed through early drafts of this book; they were kind enough to say that there were bits worth saving. At MIT Press my manuscript has been made presentable by kind and expert editors: Doug Sery, Michael Sims, Kathleen Caruso and, especially, Michael Harrup.
At the heart of the village which raised this book are friends and family who have had to tolerate a preoccupied writer for too long. Tony Graham told me most of what I’ve written, in the pages that follow, about theatre. Hilary Arnold and Colin Robinson gave me professional and moral support when it was most needed. My daughter Kate has been my inspiration. Kristi van Riet is the fire in the village square.
I don’t know where it will lead, but I do know where it came from: this book is dedicated to my parents, Lex and Eleanor Thackara.
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