IN THE BUBBLE JOHN THACKARA - witz cultural

viii Acknowledgments
many journalists keep us on our toes. Together with our software and
engineering maestros Jan Jaap Spreij and Paul Jongsma, I’ve been truly
privileged to learn about design, on the job, with such an amazing group
of people. Ivo Janssen, who animated the whole enterprise with his piano
performances at Doors, also introduced me to the music of Simeon ten
Holt, which has provided me with the metaphor that concludes the book.
Doors has flourished as a fledgling enterprise thanks to the stewardship of
our Board: Dingeman Kuilman, Christian Oberman, Ben Pluijmers, Walter
Amerika, and Krijn van Beek.
A central theme of this book is the design of projects and institutions.
The subject has been brought to life for me by working with some highly
enlightened commissioners. Jakub Wejchert, at the European Commission,
enabled many of us in Europe to put social issues at the center of technology
innovation projects for the first time. Paola Antonelli, at MoMA, gave
me the opportunity, as one of her helpers on Workspheres, to explore the
future design of work. Roger Coleman and Jeremy Myerson at the Royal
College of Art, Elena Pacenti at Domus Academy, and Tim Brown at Ideo
were inspiring partners on the Presence project about elders online. Franco
Debenedetti, Barbara Ghella, and Gillian Crampton Smith invited me
along on a fabulous adventure: to get Interaction Design Institute Ivrea up
and running. Most of what I know about interaction design (and Canavese
food) I’ve learned from them and the Institute’s gifted faculty: Walter
Aprile, Michael Kieslinger, Simona Maschi, Stefano Mirti, Casey Reas, Dag
Svaenes, and Jan-Christoph Zoels. Sean Blair and Kevin Gavaghan in London
and Claire Byers at One North East in Newcastle involved me in the
design of a region-specific institution—and in my hometown, to boot. Victor
Lo and John Frazer, on the Hong Kong Design Task Force, introduced
me to the complexity of developments in China. Without Yrjo Sotamaa,
Eija Salmi, and Jan Verwijnen in Helsinki, Peter Gall Krogh in Aarhus, Alessandro
Biamonti in Milan, and Arvo Parenson in Tallinn, I would not have
been able to visit the farthest and most fascinating corners of Europe for
the Spark! project. Cathy Brickwood and Martine Posthuma de Boer, and
my colleagues in Virtual Platform, introduced me to Europe’s best media
art when we did E-Culture Fair together. Luuk Boelens, of Urban Unlimited,
opened my eyes to the need for services connecting high-speed trains to
the places where they stop; he also alerted me to the emerging phenomenon
of design-free zones.