Talk

MA Design Research, Writing and Criticism presents curator, writer and educator Andrea Lipps, who will discuss Dutch designer Joris Laarman. 

Working at the intersection of design, art and science, Dutch designer Joris Laarman and his multidisciplinary team are known for their pioneering and elegant applications of digital technologies. From the iconic Bone Chair, generated from algorithms that mimic bone growth, to a pedestrian bridge built in mid-air using advanced robotic 3D printing, Joris Laarman Lab is revolutionizing the design process. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is currently hosting a major retrospective about Laarman’s work. Curator Andrea Lipps will discuss Laarman’s most thrilling advancements, which point to a future where form and fabrication surpass the limitations of industrial production.

Andrea Lipps is the assistant curator of contemporary design at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, where she is co-curating upcoming exhibitions, including "The Senses: Design Beyond Vision" (2018) and the next "Design Triennial" (2019). Andrea has organized and contributed to numerous books and exhibitions, including "Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial," Design with the Other 90%: CITIES, Why Design Now?: National Design Triennial and Design for the Other 90%. She advises on contemporary acquisitions at the museum and is a visiting critic at Pratt Institute and Rhode Island School of Design. In 2015, Andrea served as a Mobius Fellow in Helsinki, Finland. She regularly participates on international design juries and lectures and speaks frequently at events, symposia and conferences on contemporary design and curatorial practice. Andrea holds a master’s degree in History of Decorative Arts and Design from Parsons/Cooper Hewitt, and a bachelor’s degree in French, Sociology and Women’s Studies from the University of Michigan.