Barbara Szaniecki

Barbara Szaniecki is a professor at the School of Industrial Design at Rio de Janeiro State University. She holds a bachelor's degree in visual communication from ENSAD (1994), a master's degree (2005) and a doctorate (2010) in design from the Pontifical Catholic University. With extensive practical experience in graphic design, her research focuses on the links between design and political concepts such as multitude, power, representation, and manifestation. She has conducted postdoctoral research entitled Digital Technologies and Authenticity: The Status of the Photographic Image in Contemporary Visual Language (Esdi/UERJ) and Terrestrial, Territories, and Terraforming: Images for the Resurgence of the Earth (EnsadLab Art, Design, and Society Platform, Paris, 2023-2024).

She is a PROCIÊNCIA researcher at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), a CNE researcher at the Rio de Janeiro State Research Foundation (FAPERJ), and a PQ-C researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) in Brazil. She is co-editor of the journals Lugar Comum (Universidade Nômade, Rio de Janeiro), Multitudes (Paris), and Sciences du Design (Paris). She is the author of the books Esthétique de la Multitude (Civilização Brasileira, 2007), Disforme Contemporain et Design Incarné: D’Autres Monstres Possibles (Annablume, 2014), Le Making de la Métropole: Rios, Rythmes et Algorythmes (with Giuseppe Cocco) (RioBooks, 2021), and Une Forêt d’Images - Pour une Reforestation des Imaginaires Politiques (RioBooks, 2025).

The project

Title: A Forest of Images - For the Reforestation of Urban Spaces and Political Imagination.

"Anthropocene. Global warming. Faced with this reality, governments and institutions are seeking solutions to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere. At the same time, citizen initiatives promoting alternative lifestyles in cities and elsewhere are multiplying. Many movements are also expressing their concerns at global and local events. The younger generations seem to aspire to much more than simply reducing CO2 emissions; they are seeking a genuine transition and reorientation of the planet. While technical solutions are essential, they are not enough to stimulate the imagination and mobilization necessary for this transition and reorientation of the Earth. On the one hand, certain images aestheticize the Anthropocene and its effects, and in these cases, the use of technological resources can indirectly and unconsciously encourage devastation. On the other hand, certain political actions and demonstrations expressed through images fail to formulate ways to adequately address the challenges facing cities and forests. Criticism of the “Anthropocene” resulting from harmful human actions is important, and it is necessary to find remedial solutions."

Hosting institution: Plateforme Art, Design et Société - ENSADLab

Selective Bibliography

• Uma Floresta de Imagens  - Pour une Reforestation des Imaginaires Politiques (éditeur RioBooks, 2025).
• O Making da Metrópole – Rios, Ritmos e Algoritmos (Avec Giuseppe Cocco) (Éditeur Rio Books, 2022)
• "Soulever la terre, suspendre le ciel" (revue Multitudes, numéro 96, automne 2024)
• "Iconing – défis de la recherche-création" (revue Multitudes, numéro 100, automne 2024)
• "Soulèvements et révolutions" (avec Giuseppe Cocco) (revue Multitudes, numéro 96, automne 2024)
• "Design is the answer, but what was the question? Approches politiques et écologiques du design" (avec Francesca Cozzolino et Emanuele Quinz) (revue Multitudes numéro 89, hiver 2022)