Symposium The Design of History and the History of Design


London College of Communication
15 September, 2025



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SpeakerS and Abstracts:

Huda Almazroua
Alberto Atalla Filho
Russ Bestley
Kevin Biderman
Silvia Bombardini
David Cross
Dora Souza Dias
Sam Gathercole
Ian Horton and Ian Hague
Jennifer Hankin
Zarna Hart
John-Patrick Hartnett
Fenella Hitchcock
Abbie Vickress and Sakis Kyratzis
Christopher Lacy
Timothy Miller
Danah Nassief
Jesse O’Neill
Nina O’Reilly
Patrick O’Shea
David Preston
Cheryl Roberts
Rebecca Ross
Antoin Sharkey
Andrew Slatter
Kate Trant
Vanessa Vanden Berghe
Judy Willcocks
Christin Yu



A symposium for UAL’s Design History research community


The Design of History and the History of Design is a one-day symposium that maps research into, through or at the boundaries of design history at UAL. While design history may underpin our teaching across different disciplines, research in design history across UAL is somewhat hidden. This symposium aims to share and make visible the work of researchers (staff and students) at all career stages across all UAL colleges.

Exploring the intersections of historical narrative and design practice, it examines how history is constructed, represented, and mediated through design, and how the discipline of design itself is shaped by its evolving historiography.

The symposium will serve as the starting point for a Design History Network at UAL, bringing together researchers from across the university. It also lays the foundation for a welcoming research community in design history, with potential for ongoing events, collaboration, publications, and curriculum development.

If you have any questions or would like to be involved in future activities, please get in touch with the convenors:

Rujana Rebernjak
r.rebernjak@lcc.arts.ac.ukTai Cossich
t.cossich@lcc.arts.ac.uk
Please also sign up for the UAL Design Histories Newsletter




    David Cross
    Co-designing a co-operative university


    The current historical period is marked by feedback loops of cause and effect, with systemic risks cascading across domains and tending towards social, political, and planetary crisis. As the material gains of modernization peak and decline, the meta-narrative of modernism is in doubt; meanwhile, public relations, political spin and “fake news” undermine trust in public institutions.

    Yet amidst the chaos and disappointment, Higher Education Institutions retain memories of a social conception of conscious purpose, in which people of different identities and experiences from around the world develop skills of ideation and reflection, critical analysis and collective deliberation. Could these memories and skills enable staff and students to transform not only the curriculum, but also the learning environment, and even the governance system of the university? If so, what should be the design parameters and principles?

    The Stockholm Resilience Centre identified “Planetary Boundaries”, ecological limits including climate breakdown, pollution, and biodiversity destruction, which define a safe operating space for humanity. Kate Raworth added to these limits a social foundation of human rights to define a safe and just space for humanity. Mike Neary and Cilla Ross describe, “affinities between co-operative values and principles and academic culture and practice: a commitment to open and accessible membership, collegiality, collaboration, the centrality of education and training, as well as the sharing of knowledge and information, and a concern for community.” Trebor Scholz proposed Platform Co-operatives as combining the job security of co-operatives with the flexibility and innovation of digital platforms, and using technology for social benefit, not social harm.

    This presentation outlines how staff and students might apply such parameters and principles to co-design a vision and model of the university as a co-operative, owned and controlled by its members, and dedicated to education as a public and common good.



    — David Cross


    David was in artistic collaboration with Matthew Cornford as Cornford & Cross from 1991–2014. As artist and academic, David critically engages with the social-ecological crisis through visual culture. To reconcile his internationalism and environmentalism, he stopped using jet travel in 2005. In 2012, following the Artist Placement Group, he designated his job at UAL as an artist placement, connecting artistic and academic activities, and proposing that UAL switch to an ethical bank. In 2015, he campaigned with students for UAL to divest from fossil fuels; since 2018, David has advocated for Climate Justice as a conjunction of decarbonisation and decolonisation; in 2022, David persuaded UAL to commit to decarbonise within a just share of the Global Carbon Budget. In 2024, David persuaded UAL’s Responsible Investment Group to include its banking relationship with Lloyds Bank, which directly finances fossil fuels, controversial weapons and weapons to non-state actors and conflict zones.