#26 Social design and invisible privilege

We often think of people as so individual, so removed from their context… As individuals.  But try as we might, we are.. the constantly shifting point that sits at the intersection of our internal identity and our external environment.  

And if you think about the curve of human history, this fact has been the point *pause* of thousands of years of frustration. It’s a little bit of an adversarial  relationship. Most of what we categorize as necessities, clothing, shelter, access to clean water are acts of environmental design

But on this episode, we’re discussing how this is changing. How shaping an external environment can enable changes in our internal environment, rather than prevent them. This is part two of a conversation with Risa Puno, creator of The Privilege of escape. An escape room, that uses environmental design to explore the concept of privilege.

This portion of the conversation is by itself fantastic and illuminating and illustrative but if you find yourself wanting to know a little more about the context of the piece, you should go check out the first part of the interview, episode 23 which you can find wherever you might be listening right now. Beyond that, I hope you enjoy this window into the world of escape rooms, social dynamics, and the way our environment shapes our awareness. 

Selected Links:
The Privilege of Escape

Risa Puno
•@risapuno
•On twitter
•On Vimeo

Creative time
-Sugar Sphinx
-Pigeon lights performance

The Onassis foundation
The olympic tower building
On Post Game Frothing

Show Notes:

The original room design [2:37]
Harvesting spines, you know, the usual [3:42]
The concept of neutral authority [4:14]
The issue of provoking thought [5:26]
The puzzles and the flow and easter eggs [7:20]
Escape room life: Confusion and frustration [9:43]
Privilege is everything you don’t have to deal with [12:23]
Hacking empathy [16:19]
You have to listen [17:04]
Part refrigerator, part escape room [19:10]