A Partnership and Associate Academy created to support and promote space for you to be curious.
To find out more about the Bureau, meet the Partners and Fellows involved, and the design and delivery of some of The Sessions we have facilitated so far.
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BECOMING AN ASSOCIATE OF THE CURIOSITY BUREAU
In a world where our time and space can often feel compromised, The Curiosity Bureau have recognised a way you can be supported to find time and space to be curious.
Perhaps you have always wanted to experiment with a new way of seeing something - for example, you want to challenge an existing product, process or system?
Perhaps you want to mix up disciplines and play with your interests in community development, laser physics, comedy and social cohesion; or communication, trampolining, transport design and urban planning; or software engineering, kitchen appliances and music festivals?
Whatever your curiosities, the Associates Academy is a space where we support you in identifying a focus and a process of deeper inquiry into your topics of interest.
Click here for more information about the newest Associate.
If you have further questions, take a look at the Associate Academy FAQs.
PROJECTS OF CURIOSITY
A Portrait of a Digi-Maker
Being curious about photo elicitation in a tech-demo environment, FabLearn Europe
April 2014 - June 2014
"I am a professional photographer based in Manchester and I am particularly curious about people and their creativity. My project of curiosity began with a conversation with Becca in a local coffee shop in Manchester, and I thought it would be exciting to take on a project that went that bit further than me taking a photograph of a client, and then moving onto to the next client.
Clare Bowman was such an interesting person to meet, a woman living on a barge with an allotment in Morecambe, and yet connected to the invention of things using technology and digital capabilities.
We took the portraits to Denmark, it was my first ever insight into a world where academia meets the maker-movement. FabLearn Europe was a really unusual place to invite people to discuss my photographs.
I hope to return to the portraits of Clare and work on a series of portraits of digi-makers from across the world and co-curate with The Curiosity Bureau an exhibition that invites people to be curious of photo elicitation specifically surrounding people being curious about things that you perhaps wouldn't expect."
Read more about Drew's project of curiosity here: AbSoLuTeLy FaB-LaB-uLoUs!
Flavour
Designing an intimate dining experience that explores and challenges our understanding of umami through to soylent
Sept 2014 - ongoing
"In early 2014 I felt the need to satisfy my curiosity about food in rather more abstract and conceptual realms. After having explored other topics of interest I then returned full circle and back to the fascinating simplicity of food - something utterly intrinsic to our day-to-day. Food, a subject which at it’s core is charged with a very primal energy, a series of chemical reactions in our brain, it challenges our survival instinct. We excite our papillae and olfactory receptors with modern flavours, and in addition to this we dress the experience with colourful cultural and social attire.
As Hospitality & Design Direction for Busaba, London I design experiences for commercial settings. However, The Curiosity Bureau provided me with space to consider the design and curation of a deeper and more reflective, intimate dining experience surrounding flavour. It has provided me a forum, or platform, to experiment with a format that could take on different guises not just in London but across the world.
It is Ilse Crawford’s human centered approach to design, along with other authors, thinkers and doers curious about food, flavour and experience, that has made me rethink the future outcome of this project. I would like to explore a graphic and product design inspired artefact, an interpretation of the experience of the dining experience so far, which I hope to design, develop and publish later in 2015/2016”
Read more about Alex's project of curiosity here Norm Wishes You a Very Merry Christmas. Alex will also soon be launching a new website and micro-journal called 'Please wait to be seated' where he will explore hospitality design related topics.
Being Curious About Curiosity
Graphic and communication design and investigating the identity of the designer
Oct 2013 - ongoing
"Following an intensive 12 weeks back in Oct-Dec 2013 I continue to be an active participant and Associate of The Curiosity Bureau.
I contacted The Curiosity Bureau during my Masters in Business and Design at Gothenburg University. When I moved to London Becca, Tom and Anton introduced me to Alison Coward Founder of Bracket and Araceli Founder of The Cube and We Create NYC. My desk would then be based at both Central Working and The Cube and being based in the centre of London was fantastic. I could then get to thinking about what I was going to focus on and identify my 'project of curiosity'. It turned out that I focused my project on being curious about curiosity, and I interpreted the ideas of The Curiosity Bureau through designing graphics and visualisation inspired by kaleidoscopes and the ecosystems of where our curiosities cross boundaries.
I found The Curiosity Bureau was an exciting time for growth and discoveries and I didn't want it to stop. Tom Morgan, Fellow of The Curiosity Bureau continued to be my Curiosity Tutor throughout my Masters Thesis, which for me became another project of curiosity, you can read more about this here.
I continue to keep in touch with The Bureau and I am particularly curious about changing the representation of multidisciplinary designers and currently work on re-thinking the way we work as designers and particularly in distributed teams or co-working spaces.
Read more about Gabija's project of curiosity here.