The Crit #4: Seetal Solanki
Have you ever wondered what designers really think about their work? Well, thanks to The Crit, a new podcast from Disegno, now you know!
Each fortnight, Disegno’s editor-in-chief Oli Stratford invites a leading designer to reflect on their career. Each episode, our guest will tell us what worked best; what failed; what pushed their career to new heights; what feedback most shaped their practice; and what they feel needs to be redesigned.
At the end of each episode, to complete their crit, they’ll be asked to give themselves a grade for their career to date: fail, pass, commendation or distinction.
It’s a design-school crit, delivered every fortnight! Subscribe to the show here, or sign up wherever you get your podcasts from.
Our fourth guest on The Crit is Seetal Solanki, accompanied by show host Oli Stratford.
Episode #4: Seetal Solanki
For our fourth episode of The Crit, we welcomed Seetal Solanki from Ma-tt-er into the studio to explore her interest in materials, education, and research-based, site-specific design solutions.
Working across spaces, objects, texts and research, Solanki collaborates with brands and institutions from Ikea/Space10 and Google, to The Design Museum and Venice Biennale to create design strategies that are more ecologically responsive, biodiverse and inclusive.
Solanki is also a passionate educator, with experience ranging from teaching on the Royal College of Art’s textiles programme and lecturing on Central St Martins’ architecture degree to authoring Why Materials Matter, a book which breaks the mould of inaccessibly scientific and academic materials literature and investigates past, present and future materials while offering a guide for more responsible choices.
Listen to the episode to hear Solanki review her work to date, from mapping materials in Bali and creating a community centre in Nigeria, to using quizzes and memes as an educational exercise and owning the individuality of her own practice.
Show Notes: Seetal Solanki
Best design: Desa Potato Head Bali or 16/16 residency
Worst design: An unnamed restaurant window display
Most successful design: Materials Personality Quiz
Most impactful feedback: You need to own it
Dream design: The education system
This episode of The Crit was recorded at Uncommon Holborn.
The Crit’s graphics were created by Leonhard Rothmoser.
The Crit’s music was created by Yuri Suzuki and Team Suzuki.