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John Thackara
Blog | Biography | Public Speaking | Publications | Projects | Doors of Perception | Subscribe | Books | Contact

Publications


Wouldn't It be Great If... Designs of The Time Manual, London, Design Council, 2007
 
In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2005

The New Geographies of Learning. Amsterdam: University of Professional Education (HvA), 2003

Winners! How Europe's Most Successful Companies Use Design To Innovate. London: Ashgate, 1999

Lost In Space: A Traveler's Tale, Haarlem: De Grafische Haarlem, 1994

DoPRom (Doors of Perception CDRom; co-editor), Amsterdam: Mediamatic,  1994

Design After Modernism (Japanese edition, revised). Tokyo: Kajima, 1992

T-Zone (co-edited with Riiche Miyake) Brussels: Europalia (in association with Architectural Association) 1991

Image and Object: Nouveau Design de Londres (ed). Paris: Centre Pompidou, 1990

Design After Modernism: Beyond the Object (ed), London: Thames and Hudson, 1988

Leading Edge (ed) Tokyo: Axis 1990

New British Design. Co-edited with Stuart Jane. London: Thames and Hudson, 1987



Chapters contributed to


Eva Jiricna. London: Architectural Association, 1988

Daniel Weil. London: Architectural Association, 1988

Narrative Architecture Today. London : NATO Publications | Air Gallery, 1990

Urban Design Strategy For 2000, Tokyo: Tokyu / Kajima, 1990

Metropolis, ed Janet Abrams. London: Institute for Contemporary Arts, 1991

Formes des Metropoles, ed F Burkhardt. Paris, Centre Pompidou, 1992

Tokyo Design Visions, Toyo Ito, ed. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1992

Business by Design, John Kao ed. New York, Allworth, 1995

Edge of the Millenium, Susan Yelavitch ed. New York, Cooper Union, 1995

Eternally Yours. Ed van Hinte ed. Rotterdam: 010, 1997

Workspheres. Paola Antonelli, ed. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1998

The Style Engine. Giannino Malossi ed. New York: Chronicle,  1998

From Dada To Data. Amsterdam: Virtual Platform, 1998

Airport, Jeremy Miller and Michiel Schwarz eds. London: Photographers Gallery, 1998

Presence: Elders Online, Amsterdam: Netherlands Design Institute, 1999

New Media Culture In Europe, C Brickwood ed. Amsterdam: de Balie, 1999

If/Then, Janet Abrams ed. New York: DAP,  1999

Tresspassers, C Bakker and Ed van Hinte, eds. Rotterdam: 010, 1999

New Media New Narratives, Anne Burdick ed.  New York: American Center for Design, 2000

The Design Challenge Of Pervasive Computing (Proceedings of CHI2000). New York, ACM: 2000

New Media: From Practice To Policy, Amsterdam: De Balie | Council Of Europe, 1999

Contole geven of nemen: een politieke agenda voor de informatie-samenleving. Krijn van Beek et al, eds. Infodrome / Otto Cramwinckel Uitgever, Amsterdam. 2001

Beyond Media: Architecture and Video. Marco Brizzi and Paola Giaconia, eds. Editrice Compositori, Firenze. 2002

Creativity and the City. Amsterdam: Westergasfabriek, 2003

How To Be A Hub (Proceedings of Cumulus St Petersburg). Helsinki, UIAH, 2004

The Killer App Is Green. In Proceedings of NIC2001. New York: ACM, 2001

Next (Venice Architecture Biennale). D Sudjic, ed. Venice, 2003

Kaos Pilots A-Z. Uffe Elbek, ed. Aarhus: KaosPilots, 2004

Spark! Design And Local Knowledge. (Co-edited with Jan Verwijnen). Helsinki, UIAH|European Commission, 2004

Creativity and the City. Edited by Simon Franke and Evert Verhagen. NAi Publishers (Rotterdam) 2005

Uncommon Ground: Creative Encounters Across Sectors and Discplines. eds Cathy Brickwood, Bronac Ferran. BS Publishers. Amsterdam 2006

Experimenta February 2007 (page 155). Interview with John  Thackara.
KaosPilots A-Z  Edited by Uffe Elbeck

Flexibility: Design in a Fast-Changing Society, ed Guta Moura Guedes
Geodesign, Torino 2008

(Re-) searching a digital bauhaus. Eds Thomas Binder, Jonas Löwgren and Lone Malmborg. Malmo, November 2008

Designers
, Visionaries and Other Stories, J Chapman, ed, London, Earthscan, 2007
John Thackara is a writer, speaker and design producer, and director of Doors of Perception. In addition to this blog, he is the author of twelve books including In The Bubble: Designing In A Complex World and Wouldn't It Be Great If….


Newsletter


From March 2002 to September 2010, John Thackara sent out a monthly email newsletter: Doors of Perception Report. The newsletter contained short, opinionated texts about social innovation and design.
ARCHIVES >>

Does the world need a professional development program to support designers, architects and design professors making a fundamental transition to a new kind of design? To explore that question, Doors of Perception has launched an enquiry with the working title xskool. An xskool encounter took place at West Lexham in the UK last weekend. It was a wonderful experience, but a question remains open: was last weekend's positive energy, attention, and mindfulness a happy fluke? Or could one reproduce the conditions that nurtured them? In which ways might xskool be an intentional part of 'the change we wish to see in the world'? A next discussion is in New York City on the morning [09-12h] of Wednesday 8 June. It's hosted by hosted by Cameron Tonkinwise at Parsons. If you would care to join us, email me at: john at doorsofperception dot com


Recent Essay


Cycle Commerce As An Ecosystem

Cycle Commerce As An Ecosystem

John Thackara reviews new products, services and ingredients needed to help a cycle commerce ecosystem flourish in India’s cities, towns and villages.


Recent Book



In the Bubble: Desiging in a Complex World
John Thackara
The MIT Press, 2005
More books by John Thackara >>


Design Observer Essays


05.07.13

Paranoid But Pretty

A review of Matthias Megyeri's new show at the German Architecture Center, and a review of the question the exhibition inspires: "Are we safer?"

04.26.13

A Roof, A Skill, A Market

The Nubian Vault Association has evolved a unique approach to housing in West Africa that creates three kinds of value within local economies: a roof, a skill and a market.

04.17.13

Big, Hairy, and Agile

The UK government’s digital services platform, gov.uk, has won the Design of the Year award.

03.20.13

The Ecozoic City

How humans are reintegrating their endeavours into a larger ecological consciousness.

03.13.13

Artefact as Campfire: Where People and Living Systems Meet

Overview of the August Doors of Perception workshop at the FuturePerfect Festival in Sweden.

DESIGN OBSERVER ESSAY ARCHIVE

02.04.13: Cycle Commerce: The Red Blood Cells of a Smart City
01.29.13: An Open Design School for India
01.14.13: Healing The Metabolic Rift
12.07.12: German Government Think-Tank Supports Fringe Change Agents
12.05.12: Venice: from Gated Lagoon to Bioregion
10.23.12: From Autobahn to Bioregion
10.16.12: Transition Dogville
10.02.12: How To Manage a Constellation
09.26.12: Old Growth
08.22.12: Top Down Nature
08.07.12: What Is, Or Is Not, a ‘Green Job’?
07.23.12: The Other Green Economy
07.18.12: Why Bill Gates Needs To Listen To More Gamelan Music
07.03.12: Love vs Power In Iceland
06.27.12: The Hidden Costs of Tiger Water
06.05.12: Why White Is Wicked
05.17.12: Who Is the Arne Jacobsen of Urban Food?
05.01.12: Istanbul: City of Seeds
04.11.12: 'Beyond Good Intentions' – The Movie





DESIGN OBSERVER JOBS






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JOHN THACKARA: RECOMMENDED BOOKS


Social Venturing
Robin Murray, Julie Caulier-Grice & Geoff Mulgan

the internet and everyone
John Chris Jones

Power and Love
Adam Kahane

Just Enough
Azby Brown

Hungry City
Carolyn Steele

Agriculture in Urban Planning: Generating Livelihoods and Food Security
Mark Redwood, editor

The New Economics
David Boyle and Andrew Simms

Just Enough: Lessons In Living Green From Traditional Japan
Azby Brown

Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys
Kate Fletcher

Animate Earth
Stephan Harding