HUMANITARIAN, BY DESIGN?
Humanitarian, by Design? explores the objects and technologies commonly used in humanitarian action—such as first-aid kits, tents, prostheses, maps and makeshift shelters—and asks what they reveal about the lives of those who rely on them. The exhibition examines how design, whether improvised or institutional, shapes life in situations of crisis, displacement or extreme precarity. From hacked plastics to architectures of waiting, and from crisis imagery to digital media, it sheds light on fragile and often invisible practices designed for purposes of endurance, resistance and hope. The exhibition was developed through a collaboration between HEAD – Genève, the Geneva Graduate Institute, the University of Copenhagen, the EPFL EssentialTech Centre and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum.
Category: Exhibition
Curator/s: Pascal Hufschmid, Javier F. Contreras, Anna Leander, Jonathan L. Austin, Elisa Rusca, Diane Samuel, Méloée Piaget
Scenography: HEAD – Genève, Interior Architecture (Damien Greder, Yony Santos, Sam Jaccard, Javier F. Contreras)
Research Platform: The Future of
Humanitarian Design
© HEAD – Genève, Javier F. Contreras
Humanitarian, by Design? explores the objects and technologies commonly used in humanitarian action—such as first-aid kits, tents, prostheses, maps and makeshift shelters—and asks what they reveal about the lives of those who rely on them. The exhibition examines how design, whether improvised or institutional, shapes life in situations of crisis, displacement or extreme precarity. From hacked plastics to architectures of waiting, and from crisis imagery to digital media, it sheds light on fragile and often invisible practices designed for purposes of endurance, resistance and hope. The exhibition was developed through a collaboration between HEAD – Genève, the Geneva Graduate Institute, the University of Copenhagen, the EPFL EssentialTech Centre and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum.
Category: Exhibition
Curator/s: Pascal Hufschmid, Javier F. Contreras, Anna Leander, Jonathan L. Austin, Elisa Rusca, Diane Samuel, Méloée Piaget
Scenography: HEAD – Genève, Interior Architecture (Damien Greder, Yony Santos, Sam Jaccard, Javier F. Contreras)
Research Platform: The Future of
Humanitarian Design
© HEAD – Genève, Javier F. Contreras
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum / Geneva, 2026-2027
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