R. Peres, F. van Amstel

Exploratory Papers

Rafaella Peres Eleuterio is design student at Federal University of Technology – Paraná (Brazil). Her final work articulated a designing coalition to promote women coffee work in North of Paraná state. From this experience, she started a social business that articulates coalitions for women working in other fields, including matchmaking and marketing assistance, helping women and family producers to improve their livelihoods.

Dr Frederick van Amstel is assistant professor at the Industrial Design Department, Federal University of Technology – Paraná (Brazil), teaching courses related to interaction design, experience design, service design, social innovation, and creativity. His PhD thesis, accepted by the University of Twente, maps the contradictions faced by architectural design and service design in contemporary practice. Instead of eliminating them from design, it harnesses contradictions as a source of change in the political relationship between activity and space. His most recent research is focused on the contradiction of oppression and the possibility of designing for liberation. Frederick holds a Bachelor in Media Studies and a Masters in Science, Technology and Society.