James Carpenter ‘72 IL and President Maeda are currently participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Thanks to James for sending in his impressions of the Forum’s themes thus far.

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“Rethink, Redesign and Rebuild” are key organizational words for the programs at the WEF in Davos this year and there is a clear desire to foreground the importance of culture as an essential component of the discussions. To that end, I was delighted to be on the panel “Culture, Art and the Digital Age,” with John Maeda on the first day of the conference. On a panel of four, two of us have RISD roots - I think speaks to RISD’s relevance on these critical issues.

John’s message specifically was quite clear in outlining the essential connection between the creative, innovative thinking at the core of the RISD education to the fields of science, technology and business. This vision that creative thought influences the core of what are often thought of as unrelated fields, I find, is extraordinarily exciting and points the way towards the remarkable potential for the RISD experience.

My presentation, “Constructing the Ephemeral,” focused on my own interests in the phenomenology of light and its deployment in the built environment.

It is an exciting week here, and I am reminded that much of our work as designers and artists addresses only a slim percentage of the world population - we must all seek, in our own ways, to apply our talents to the broadest issues that affect us all.

- James Carpenter