Nantes, France

4 June 2025, in the context of the Cumulus conference working groups series.

PRE AI Digital Culture

The Cumulus+IxDA partnership – with institutions and organizations from different parts of the world – creates diversified and constructed spaces for conversations building on the synergy of education and research expertise, brought by Cumulusians, along with the practitioners’ perspectives brought by IxDA and its local partners.

End 2022 saw a shift in Digital Culture with the Cult of AI.
How are we bending the corners as practitioners, as researchers, as educators ? 
The P-R-E series encourages focused conversations on identifying critical elements that further capacity building for designers, at different stages of their careers, from studies to professional practice to lifelong learning. The Nantes P-R-E meeting will allow to craft what could be or should be at stake for “critical thinking” for any stakeholder. Let’s bend design? Let’s bend AI?

Contributions:

_ Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1957, Giuseppe Attoma Pepe studied Communication and Social Sciences at the University of Bologna (DAMS) and Architecture at the University of Genoa. He later earned a Master’s degree in Sustainable Innovation by Design from ENSCI–Les Ateliers in Paris, France.
After moving to Paris, he became a pioneer in Service Design, Information Design, and User Experience Design in France. Through his agency, Attoma, he has addressed complex challenges in mobility, urban infrastructure, the energy transition, and the manufacturing and IT sectors. With over 25 years of international design experience, he now works as a Strategic Design Consultant, leading missions that span the design, structuring, and evaluation of complex service systems.
A regular speaker and published author, Giuseppe also curates attomalab.eu, a blog exploring design culture and emerging trends.

_ Mie Miyamoto is a Professor at the School of Design, Tokyo University of Technology.
Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a PhD in Fine Arts from Tokyo University of the Arts, as well as an AA Diploma from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Her research focuses on the co-creation of space through workshops, and she has conducted more than 100 workshops in various countries, including Japan, the UK, and Germany. She places particular emphasis on integrating these workshop activities with education, research, and professional practice.

_ Lucrezia Russo is a designer, educator, and researcher whose work lies at the intersection of design, pedagogy, and critical inquiry. With over twenty years of experience in graphic design within the cultural sector, she has been Chair of the Communication Design department at Paris College of Art since 2015, where she teaches in an international environment.
Her pedagogical approach is rooted in collaborative and transdisciplinary methodologies, which she applies to curriculum development, student mentoring, and the design of hybrid educational formats. She is also the co-founder of Offschool, an experimental learning platform dedicated to interdisciplinary exploration in art, design, and architecture.
Lucrezia holds an MA in Graphic Design (IED Milan) MFA in Transdisciplinary New Media (Paris College of Art) and a Mastère Spécialisé in Innovation by Design (ENSCI – Les Ateliers). Her current research focuses on educational innovation in higher education, with a particular interest in how institutions adapt to social and pedagogical change. Committed to critical and inclusive pedagogy, she is also interested in knowledge transmission beyond academic settings and in the potential of design as a driver of change.