My name is Naomi Bueno de Mesquita. I am a researcher, designer, and educator based in Barcelona. My work is situated at the intersection of design, anthropology, and philosophy focusing on embodiment and emerging technologies.
Currently holding a position as Professor of Design and Social Justice at Design Academy Eindhoven, I lead the Social Justice Lab; a research platform aiming to structurally rethink the role of design in promoting an equitable, just, and non-discriminatory society. I am furthermore a lecturer at two universities in Barcelona in the areas of participatory design methodology, human-centered design, and social design.
In 2014, I was selected as one of six Research Fellows in the EU Marie Curie project TRADERS – Training Art and Design Researchers in Participation for Public Space (2014-2017, http://tr-aders.eu). In this project, I contributed to developing a methodological framework to guide future artists and designers who work in participatory and public space contexts. The findings of this research were published in the book Trading Places, which I co-edited.
I obtained a PhD from KU Leuven (Belgium) in 2022. The doctoral research is situated at the crossing of critical cartography and design research and looks at the potential and implications of digital technologies in map creation and map use for society, research, and education. Through exploring and defining the affordances of Digital Performative Mapping, the PhD proposes uses for map apps as a novel method for knowledge acquisition and knowledge transfer.
Having traveled extensively and lived in many countries for large periods of my life, I have a natural capacity to work seamlessly in/with different cultural, linguistic, and geographic contexts.