#2 Building The Politics Of Change with Indy Johar

Will we be jobless in the future? Is there a role for designers in re-imagining public services? How can we get the most out of machines whilst unleashing human potential? How can we democratize city-making? Enter Indy Johar. Indy is a London-based architect and co-founder of Architecture00, focusing on the role of design in complex system change and social investment. As well as this, he is Senior Innovation Associate with the Young Foundation and Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield. Most of Indy’s day-to-day is occupied with Dark Matter Labs, which he founded a few years ago to apply complex systems science to urban & regional renewal, turning what is generally perceived as a threat of our time – spill-over effects across borders, boundaries and silos – into a resource to solve the wicked challenges society faces in the 21st century. Dark Matter Laboratories utilizes an experimentation method typical of a fieldwork scientific laboratory, undertaking real-world research and prototyping in order to seed the next generation of institutional infrastructure. The studio is currently working on a series of initiatives from developing a new class of System Change – Impact Funds, Town Halls for Social Innovation, a new generation of Polytechnics, and the transformation of numerous existing institutions.