How to un-perform design and un-design performance

The object of all design is to improve a performance – the performance of an object, a service, people or even an entire society in relation to its environment. But design often ends up under-performing in comparison to its vision for a better world. This July, students and faculty from around the world gathered at the American University of Paris to learn, exchange, and experiment with performative techniques and design methods in order to explore ways of designing that do not start out from focus on an object or a problem or a system, but rather, a discovery through performance.