Designing with(in) Open Materiality: Crafting the Intangible to Manage the Real

This chapter addresses the relationship between design, digital technologies and power structures in the current digital era. The exponential pace of technological change is leading to a crisis in political systems and changing the way reality is experienced. The authors highlights the political responsibility of design in shaping power structures and the importance of designers engaging with the political impact of their proposals. The use of algorithms and AI in everyday life is creating biases and reinforcing inequalities, making it imperative for designers to understand the political nature of design and take responsibility for the effects their designs may have on society. The concept of open materiality is introduced as a new designing space that takes into account the social, political, and technical aspects of sociotechnical assemblages. Designers must embrace interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity to build desirable futures through the use of digital technology.