From Brain to Home: Designing with Friction with Verda Alexander
About this episode
Sustainable Design is on the table today!
In this episode, we are joined by San Francisco-based designer, artist, and climate activist, Verda Alexander. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts from San Jose State University and advanced studies in landscape architecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Verda co-founded Studio O+A. Studio O+A is a design firm renowned for creating innovative workspaces for leading technology companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Slack. Beyond her design practice, Alexander is the Editor-at-Large at Metropolis Magazine, where she expands conversations around design, climate activism, social justice, and art. Alexander also engages audiences through "Break Some Dishes," a podcast addressing design's role in climate change.
Verda Alexander joins Ashley to discuss what she has learned about productivity and comfort in the workspace from designing for some of the biggest tech companies in the world. The two dive deep into Verda’s climate activism and the ways in which climate change, sustainability and design intersect. What results is an astute conversation that interrogates the ways capitalism informs design, and the intentionality necessary to create designs that help our planet and the people living on it.
Follow Verda on Instagram.
Listen to Verda’s Podcast Break Some Dishes
Check out Studio X+O
Read Food for Thought Truck by Studio X+O
Check out the Alternative Practice Project
Read Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
Learn More about John Muir’s Alarm Clock Bed
Read The Eco Playbook
Read Metropolis Magazine
Read Invisible Women - Exposing Data in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
Read How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
Follow On the Table with Ashley on Instagram and TikTok.
On the Table with Ashley is presented by Âme Atendre, a luxury home goods and tableware brand with a mission to connect people to all that matters.
If you have ideas for new episodes or guests, or just want to share feedback, email us at [email protected].
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