“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” —Winston Churchill

Churchill's observation can easily be extended beyond buildings to all things—from the phone in your pocket to the largest cities. Good design is about making the world a beautiful, functional, safe, equitable, and sustainable place—now and into the future. Through creative problem solving, purposeful design tackles such challenges as poor health care, substandard housing, urban development, environmental degradation, and disaster mitigation.

At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17, Future Tense—a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University—will hold a free happy-hour event in Washington, D.C., on the role of design in enhancing our lives and those of generations to come. For more information and to RSVP, visit the New America website.

Agenda:

6:30 p.m.: What Is Design?
Prasad Boradkar, director, InnovationSpace at Arizona State University

6:50 p.m.: The “Beats” Story: A Design Case Study
Mark Chichester, director of design development, Ammunition Group

7:30 p.m.: Where Will Design Take Us Next?
Mark Chichester and Prasad Boradkar