Meet Akshaya Narayanan — Ethics Lab’s Newest Team Member
Akshaya Narayanan
Assistant Professor, Design & Creative Pedagogy
Akshaya Narayanan is a designer and Assistant Professor of the Practice at Ethics Lab. Her design-led research lies at the intersection of creative pedagogies, alternative learning processes and systems thinking.
Akshaya comes to Ethics lab after completing her M.F.A in Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons where she focused on building methods to center responsible play, critical reflection and expand awareness in design education. At the Parsons DESIS Lab, she was a part of the team that co-designed Justice Initiatives Toolkit in collaboration with the Brooklyn Public Library.
She previously worked as an architect at Studio Lotus, in Delhi, India where she was involved in multiple projects in retail and restaurant interiors.
What drew you to Ethics Lab?
I just completed my masters from the transdisciplinary design program at Parsons, and something that I’ve been really involved in is understanding different creative paradigms and trying to understand the realm of design education. A lot of things that Ethics Lab offers including the multidisciplinary team—a unique combination of designers and philosophers, which I never before heard—was something that I was super drawn towards. I found the bridge between theory and practice really interesting because as much as I am in the academy, I am very interested to see how theories get converted into real time and what effects they have.
Are there any projects you’re excited about?
I’ve gotten to be a part of three, four design engagements, and they're always exciting because we start with something so broad and streamline it into a 75 minute session that sparks discussion. They consider how to facilitate teaching in different ways and the alternative ways of learning and knowledge producing. I’ve also been a part of one of the salons, and it was interesting to see how collaboration happens with people inside and outside of the university and the ethical conundrums they face.
How do you see Ethics Lab advancing your personal and professional interests?
I have a background in architecture that was strictly disciplinarian, and I am trying to move away from being siloed into one particular discipline. It’s been interesting to see how people from various training backgrounds and experiences think through questions creatively. I am now getting deep into philosophical concepts and theories, and that’s an interesting dimension of knowledge building for me. Ethics Lab allows me a window into the kind of systems that we’re entrenched in. What are we designing? How are we creating more problems than we’re solving? These are questions I’ve always grappled with, and this has been a great platform for me to see that in real life—whether it be through Tech & Society or environmental issues.
What’s inspiring you right now?
I went to this design tech exhibition called ‘Analogue City’ in New York on how the city was working on different infrastructures and systems that did not have any kind of digitalization. It was still technology, in the sense that we were looking at these large, unwieldy machines, whether it was in press, architecture, or public libraries. How did communication happen? How did collection of knowledge happen? How did sorting happen? How did communication and facilitation of different institutions happen?
I’m also teaching part-time at Parsons with a co-faculty. It’s called ‘Thinking Design for This Century,’ and I think something that’s been inspirational is the kinds of conversations and meetings we’ve been having, whether it’s about how we design for care and solidarity, how we center workers, and how we look at sustainable transition for our planet. Since design is so tied to increasing efficiency and productivity, it’s been a refreshing way to look at things.
I’m reading two books: One is called A Little Life, and the non-fiction book is about social reproduction theory. It’s been blowing my mind in terms of how that happens in day to day life.