Massive Change: Expanding design’s role in the world

Whether we realize it or not, we live in a designed world. The question is: will this be a design for destruction or for a sustainable new world that we can safely hand down to our children and our children’s children?

Our idea of design goes beyond the way things look to the way things work. To paraphrase Marcel Duchamp, we set out to liberate design from “the tyranny of the eye.” Surveying the world we found hundreds of examples where visionaries were using design to effect positive change on a global scale. We call this pattern Massive Change.

Can good design help solve some of humanity’s most urgent problems?

In collaboration with the Institute without Borders, BMD collected these stories into a touring museum exhibition that shattered attendance records in Vancouver, Toronto and Chicago, as well as a best-selling book.

We created an interactive, immersive experience to encourage visitors to engage in conversation about the design of their world.

“A vision of the world designed to get readers excited about stoves that burn peanut shells, superlight gels that can protect flowers from flame, and plants and microbes that turn open sewers into water supplies.” —Publishers Weekly

Massive change sparked meaningful dialogue not only about the world of design, but the design of the world.
  • Client

    Vancouver Art Gallery

  • Industry

    Design & Architecture

  • Services

    Editorial Design, Environments

  • Collaborators

    Institute without Borders

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