randr research institute was founded in 2021 by Rahma Shahid and Rio Chen. The aim is to promote the use of political language in design. A space for designers and creators to come together and collaborate on work that address their local concerns and to understand how surveillance, protest, peace and support work when design is involved.
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Satellite Project

Satellite Project is an international virtual residency program, focusing on political philosophy in the making and conceptualizing of design. We aim to highlight objects which are satellites between their regional political environment and the larger conversation about movements. With an annual workshop event, we bring together designers and creators to participate in discussions and the making of projects that highlight design in its larger context to our social, economic and political infrastructure.

Our projects prove that our political, economic, and religious differences have an underlying commonality of power imbalance in design. These power imbalances have been perpetuated by racism, sexism, colonial rejection of indigenous knowledge, and the war waged by corporations and nations against the environment. By coming together, our projects are supposed to force the design world to acknowledge the vivid politics of design. These projects, no matter where, have certain similarities that act as conduits to each other’s works and words.

Satellite is a statement. It represents a starting point from which to begin our understanding of how systems are functioning and often failing.
We aim for Satellite to be a creator-based think-tank.

randr research institute and Satellite Project have been on numerous notable publications including
e-flux Architecture, Daily Art News, Bold Journey, Industrial Designers Society of America, Taiwan Architect Magazine, and more