I like to think about design not only as a pro­fes­sion geared to the con­struc­tion of solu­tions but also as a larger social and cul­tural prac­tice involved in the cre­ation of oppor­tu­ni­ties for reflect­ing and dis­cussing about the world we live in.

Although this con­test was ini­ti­ated to inspire the cre­ation of solu­tions, I would like push the lim­its to encour­age the devel­op­ment of crit­i­cal design pro­pos­als that not nec­es­sar­ily look for solv­ing par­tic­u­lar prob­lems in the fist world but to inspire think­ing about them in a dif­fer­ent way or that make evi­dent new and crit­i­cal visions about them. Why are those prob­lems cre­ated in the first place? Are there any cul­tural rea­sons for them? How long have they existed for? Do all peo­ple see them as prob­lems and why?

I believe Design For the First World has the poten­tial to inspire very inter­est­ing reflec­tions and fos­ter future debates about what we under­stand by devel­op­ment and progress both in the first and third worlds, but I also see it as an oppor­tu­nity to fos­ter the cre­ation of crit­i­cal design approaches to come out from the “third” world.

I would be much hap­pier to see crit­i­cal and reflex­ive pro­pos­als than func­tional and prac­ti­cal solutions.

Ale­jan­dro.