Katharine Whitehorn
JOURNALIST (1928 - 2021)
Katharine Whitehorn was a journalist, who
worked for the Observer from the 1960s. She
revolutionised journalism for women, both in
terms of how it was written and consumed, by
rejecting the quest for perfection and bring
women's issues to public attention. She
received the 'Women Who Make a Difference'
award from the International Woman's Forum
in 1992. Under her tutelage women's pages
received attention, whereas prior they were
seen as inferior and ignored by the male
dominated print industry. Although writing
about serious concerns, Whitehorn used
humour and pathos in her commentary on life
through a woman's eye.
Neri Oxman
MECHANICAL ENGINEER (1976 - Present)
From tree bark and crustacean shells to
silkworm webs and human breath, nature
shapes Neri Oxman's innovative design and
production processes. As a designer,
architect, and founding director of The
Mediated Matter Group at the MIT Media Lab,
Oxman has developed not only new ways of
thinking about materials, objects, buildings,
and construction methods, but also new
frameworks for interdisciplinary-and even
interspecies-collaborations. Her pioneering
approach, she calls "material ecology," brings
together materials science, digital fabrication
technologies, and organic design, to create
new possibilities for the future. While
individually these works are beautiful and
revolutionary, together they put forward a new
philosophy of designing.
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