Marco Da Re

Marco's roots in strategic communication, design and filmmaking constantly intersect, leading him to take a transdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach. His projects of the last two years aim to tackle wicked problems, focusing on supporting human motivation and well-being in contexts of crisis.

Below are a series of projects that have allowed him to gain an in-depth understanding of designing processes and outcomes in specific contexts. The projects were implemented in six countries worldwide, bridging the gaps between brands, local authorities and citizens.

Selected Achievements

CSO & Co-Founder, Tadow Agency (2020, Ongoing)

London Design Biennale (2021)

Oppo: The New Extraordinary (Award-Winning Designer) (2021)

Venice Biennale (Award-Winning Artist) (2020)

New York International Contemporary Furniture Fair (2022)

I have spent the last few years exploring design in its broadest sense. Every trace we leave behind as designers has a semiotic impact, a meaning often not considered in the design.

Therefore, my goal is to ensure that design is purposeful, practical, effective and improves the well-being of society by designing meaning.

Recently my interest has focused on design in times of crisis. My last project is called Alta Quanto (High As), set in the city of Venice. It is a new way of preparing for and warning about unexpected and exceptional flooding.

The uncertainty that characterises times of crisis urges us to examine the current context, question the strategies and tools available to us, and improve them through design.

In recent years, the average water tide and frequency of exceptional high tide events in Venice have increased, like other climate-related events worldwide. Designing disaster preparedness - and making it engaging and effective - has become vital to improving vulnerable communities' resilience. 'Alta Quanto' is a tool that motivates flood-prone communities to prepare for unexpected high-tide events. It transforms the usual quantitative forecast of the tide into embodied interaction.

Venetians have always lived with the natural phenomenon of 'acqua alta' (high tide) and have got used to living with it.

In 2019, however, Venice experienced an unexpected high tide of over 187cm above sea level, the second-highest in history. This event found the citizens unprepared.

Medium:

Design Research

'Alta Quanto (High As)' is a digital tool that motivates flood-prone communities to prepare for unexpected climate disasters.

It transforms the usual quantitative forecast of the tide into embodied interaction. Thus, it allows users to understand the forecast in relation to their physical surroundings.

A combination of forecast and preparedness features is integrated into the system used daily by the Venetian community.

Medium:

Digital Product

A novel research-driven and user-centred methodology is adopted. It includes the Design Science Approach.

Three field trips involving the final users and the local government helped to establish an intimate connection with the environment and quickly verify the design iterations.

A kit of cultural probes has been developed to gain unexpected insights spread over time even after the visit.

New ways to prepare flood-prone communities  for unexpected climate disasters – This is a paper on the project's process. How to design novel ways to improve environmental disaster preparedness.

Design for Disaster Preparedness Framework – A tool to design correctly objects for disaster preparedness. It is the result of the deep investigation of the key concepts of communication theory, user experience design and psychology.

If you would like to find out more, or have the full presentation, write to marcodare@network.rca.ac.uk.

Nuova York (2021) – Nuova York is a three-into-one table representing the evolution of South-Italian families in New York City. A material representation of a four-month research project in the Italian-American communities.

C–Earth (2021-22) – A citizen-led system to optimize tree-planting projects. Using phone pictures to predict the carbon sequestration of trees and the monitoring of tree growth over time.

Just Archetypes (2021) – A series of four portraits made with a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) each representing the female stereotype on television in Japan, Italy, Thailand and the UK respectively.

Grano (2020-21) – A tool that makes communication more effective, precise and sensitive within the cultural context – using fundamentals of visual semiotics.

If you would like to find out more about the contents presented above, please write to me at marcodare@network.rca.ac.uk. Happy to chat.