Artificial is a culmination of projects by our 2024/25 cohort of Design Researchers in Residence, exploring the perceived boundaries between what is ‘natural’ and what is ‘artificial’ or made by humans.

From London’s thriving parakeet population to the design of the humble Henry Hoover, the display interrogates the artificial relationships woven into everyday life and explores the ways in which design can help us imagine a future rooted in care, collaboration and coexistence.

The 2024/25 Design Researchers in Residence are Christie Swallow, Hani Salih, Laura Lebeau and Neba Sere.

The Design Researchers in Residence programme supports emerging designers at the start of their careers to spend a year developing a new research project in response to a theme. It builds upon the Design Museum’s flagship designers’ residence which has supported emerging designers since 2007. Former residents include Asif Khan, Adam Nathaniel Furman, Jade Folawiyo and Lawrence Lek. Previous themes for the programme were ‘Restore’ and ‘Islands’. Design Researchers in Residence is part of the museum’s Future Observatory, a national design research programme based at and coordinated by the Design Museum and generously supported by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).