Exploring current and future challenges through design

Exploring current and future challenges through design

Leading RMIT academics and students are set to feature in Victoria's annual celebration of design, Melbourne Design Week (MDW).

An 11-day program of exhibitions, talks, films, installations and more, MDW champions and interrogates how design can be used as a force for good in an increasingly complex and precarious world.​​​​​​​ 

A partner of MDW since its inception in 2017, RMIT will again present a series of events in 2023 alongside RMIT Culture and RMIT Design Archives.

In collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), RMIT will also present the MDW keynote lecture by internationally renowned duo Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby: Dunne & Raby, Not Here, Not Now. 

The Melbourne Art Book Fair, running as part of the MDW program, also features events curated by RMIT and its academics, including Why Publish? Critical Practices in Design & Print presented by the School of Design and NGV.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Design and Social Context and Vice-President Professor Tim Marshall said RMIT is proud to be an active partner of this significant week for design practitioners, educators, businesses and the public.

“Design is critical to addressing the current and future challenges we face, especially as we grapple with developing regenerative processes that decentre humans in the ecosystem and move us toward a new understanding of inclusion, sustainability and equity,” he said. 

“This concern is central to our teaching and research in the College of Design and Social Context, and Melbourne Design Week provides valuable opportunities for the appreciation of design disciplines and exchange of knowledge with the broader community.”

Ranked number one in Art and Design in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, RMIT is globally recognised as a leading University for design education and research, with innovative and industry-connected programs. 

Marshall said as a University deeply ingrained in Melbourne’s civic life, RMIT’s partnerships with cultural organisations play an important role in enriching and advancing the city’s design culture.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with Melbourne Design Week for another year and can’t wait to see, hear and engage with the work and ideas presented across the program,” he said.  

Discover the full program at Melbourne Design Week.  

Where to find RMIT, its students and academics at MDW:

Expand all sections

Dunne & Raby, Not Here, Not Now 
Presented by National Gallery of Victoria and RMIT University  
25 May

Dunne & Raby will also deliver a keynote address at RMIT’s Practice Research Symposium on 31 May at the RMIT Design Hub. 

Air: Recipes for action on planetary health 
Presented by RMIT University School of Design 
18-23 May

buildingstories 
Presented by Andy Miller and Olivia Hamilton  
18-27 May

Forcing Tectonics 
Presented by Dr. Nic Bao 
20-28 May

Hyperrealia: Augmented Reality Interventions with the state library of Vic collection 
Presented by Hyperrealia and State Library Victoria 
19-20 May 
 
IM-PERMANENT 
Presented by Industrial Design Program RMIT and Ellis Jones 
18-28 May

Personal but not private  
Presented by NH Architecture + Guled Elyas, supported by RMIT Culture   
18-26 May

Plump: Embracing multi-species time to alleviate eco-anxiety  
Presented by RMIT University School of Design  
18-27 May

Projections and Disruptions – Drawing Practices of Interiors and Landscapes 
RMIT University, School of Architecture and Urban Design, Interior Design and Landscape Architecture disciplines 
25-27 May

Radical Utopia: an archaeology of a creative city  
Presented by RMIT Culture 
18-27 May 

The Change Room 
Presented by RMIT University School of Design 
19-21 May 
 
The Piano Transformation 
Presented by Pianos Recycled 
18-27 May 

MDW Film Festival

RMIT Culture presents the MDW Film Festival, featuring seven films including five Australian premieres. 

Grethe Meyer – The Queen of Danish Design 
20-27 May

Hunter from Elsewhere: A Journey with Helen Britton 
20-28 May

Last and First Men 
20-27 May

Paradise Lost – History in the Unmaking 
21-28 May

Robin Hood Gardens 
21-27 May

Shelter Without Shelter 
20-27 May

Avantwhatever Commissions Launch and Listening Party 
Presented by Avantwhatever 
26 May

House Precinct Territory: Design Strategies for the Productive City 
Presented by John Doyle 
19 May

All About Paper 
Presented by Fay Russell 
20 May

Distabling: acts of emergent design research 
Presented by WIP Club / RMIT 
22-23 May

Ocean Undercurrents: human-water entanglements in Naarm 
Presented by ORCA: Oceans Research & Climate Action Network RMIT University 
19 May

Mindful Observation Workshop 
Presented by Nicola Hardy 
27 May

Photobook and Zine Making 
Presented by Centre for Contemporary Photography 
28 May 

Regenerating A Body Of Water: A Walk With Birrarung-ga 
Presented by Alliance for Praxis Research + Professor N’arweet Carolyn Briggs AM PhD + Troy Innocent 
20 May

Reworlding: play the world we want 
Presented by Future Play Lab 
26-27 May

Senses and Sensors S2 (Micro-Labs Bourke St) 
Presented by Fay Russell 
20-27 May 

BABBLE 03: Value 
Presented by RMIT University School of Design  
19 May

Circular matters: A panel discussion of designers, entrepreneurs and academics working with Mycelium 
Presented by Industrial Design Program RMIT and Ellis Jones 
20 May

Clarence Chai: Into the Archives  
Presented by RMIT Design Archives 
26 May

Drinking from the Eye 
Presented by Photo Australia 
20 May

Handmade Bookmaking: A talk by Tara Books 
Presented by C. Arumugam 
18 May 

Hot Cities: Speculative Design, Artistic Visions and Practical Policy 
Presented by RMIT Urban Futures Enabling Impact Platform and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Vienna  
25 May

Humpty Doom 
Presented by Bad News Books 
20 May

Photobook Editing, Sequencing and Construction 
Presented by Centre for Contemporary Photography 
27 May

Radical Melbourne: City of Ideas 
Presented by RMIT Culture 
18 May

Supertight 
Presented by Uro Publications 
26 May

The Excellent City Series – Design Review in a Design City 
Presented by City of Melbourne 
22 May

What Do You Do? The Future of Creative Work  
Presented by Benjamin Thomson 
24 May

Why Publish? Critical Practices in Design & Print 
Presented by RMIT School of Design & National Gallery of Victoria 
19 May

18 May 2023

Share

18 May 2023

Share

Engage

Related News

A journalist is working on a computer at their workplace.

Australian media need generative AI policies to help navigate misinformation and disinformation

New research into generative AI images shows only over a third of media organisations surveyed at the time of research have an image-specific AI policy in place.

Key design and creative subjects ranked #1 in Australia, top 20 in the world

RMIT has secured its position as the nation’s leading institution for design and creative fields, with Architecture / Built Environment and Art & Design both ranked #1 in Australia and in the top 20 globally in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject.

A navy box next to three playing cards, covered with abstract orange and pink label

RMIT graduates celebrated at the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Design Awards

A toolkit to help fashion businesses build better strategies for a sustainable future and a prosthetic leg for amputee motorcyclists designed by RMIT graduates were praised at the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Design Awards.

A doorway into a gallery exhibition with a text description on the left and the artwork through the doorwayin the distance

New exhibition explores AI’s influence on the future of photography

A new exhibition at RMIT Gallery explores photography’s transformation into a software output, featuring an interactive AI-image-generator.

Show more
aboriginal flag
torres strait flag

Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.

More information