Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad
- Design as Catalyst Platform Tutor
- Design Products MA/MDes
Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad is a designer, researcher and educator working across design anthropology, aesthetics, co-design and social design. His practice develops experimental tools and methods that engage users and stakeholders directly in design processes, particularly in relation to complex and open-ended social and spatial questions.
Hashemi-Nezhad completed his PhD research at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, focusing on the problem of participant habit in social/collaborative design, developing experimental tools and methods in response. Specialising in design workshops, both designing and leading workshops across academic, commercial and cultural sectors. Including with Denstu Japan, OPPO, National Trust England, Shanghai Academy of Fine Art, and Imperial College amongst others.
He has exhibited and led workshops in the UK and internationally, including major commissions and collaborations with the Greater London Authority, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Serpentine Galleries, V&A, Shanghai Biennial, Liverpool Biennial and Nottingham Contemporary.
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Research interests
Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad’s research interests lie in social and participatory design, focusing on how habits and routines shape everyday experience and inform co-design research. His work considers how design research can move beyond empathetic approaches to create conditions for reflection, critical inquiry and new ways of perceiving familiar situations. Drawing on aesthetics, phenomenology, linguistics, art theory and design research, his practice investigates defamiliarisation, estrangement, idioms and question-making as methodological tools for disrupting habitual perspectives.
Central to his research is the design and delivery of ‘the workshop model’ as a framework for developing modes of engagement that support participation, dialogue and the co-production of knowledge. Through participatory and experimental practices, his work develops alternative ways of articulating complex lived experiences, generating new forms of knowledge and informing social design practice.
External collaborations
Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad has worked with external organisations and partners including: HS2, Arts Catalyst, City of Sanctuary Sheffield, Serpentine Galleries, Greater London Authority, Victoria and Albert Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Sumida City Office, Tokyo Arts and Space, Shanghai Biennale, Liverpool Biennial, Nottingham Contemporary, New Art Exchange, The Showroom, Camden Council, Westminster Council, Nottingham City Homes, Bristol City Council, OPDC, Create London, Delfina Foundation, British Council, AHRC, Ishinomaki Laboratory, The Jencks Foundation, British Museum, National Trust, YAMAHA Music, Dentsu Japan and Power Station of Art, Shanghai.
Co-Hostings — Arts Catalyst / City of Sanctuary Sheffield (2020–26)
Long-term collaborative project with refugees and asylum seekers exploring belonging, language, safety and forms of collective knowledge through workshops and publishing.
Sweet Terrain — HS2 / Old Oak Common (2025–26)
Public artwork developed with Rafael El Baz, transforming clay excavated from HS2’s Old Oak Common site into architectural tiles inspired by Middle Eastern maamoul moulds.
CCA Tashkent — Designer in Residence (2026)
Design research residency exploring local contexts, material cultures and alternative modes of design practice in Uzbekistan.
Co-Hostings — Migration Matters Festival / Arts Catalyst (2025)
Workshops exploring non-verbal forms of gathering, organising and connection with migrant and refugee communities in Sheffield.
Skylarking — The Jencks Foundation / The Cosmic House (2023–2024)
Furniture commission responding to the architecture, archives and ideas of Charles and Maggie Jencks.
Work-Leisure II — Yorkshire Art Space (2021–ongoing)
Expansion of Work-Leisure, documenting objects made by Britain’s manufacturing workforce through skills, materials and processes developed outside formal employment.
Work-Leisure — OPDC / Create London / Arts Council England (2019–21)
Commission exploring objects made by workers during their leisure time across Park Royal’s industrial community.
Frog Marsh — Bristol City Council / Bannerman Road Community Academy (2017–20)
Community-designed public space developed through workshops with children, parents and teachers.
On What Grounds — Serpentine Galleries (2017–19)
Participatory project with young children exploring play, perception and relationships with the built environment.
Changing Play — Serpentine Galleries (2017–19)
Contribution to a wider programme investigating play, childhood, learning and the relationship between children and the city.
Learning with Sumida — Tokyo Arts and Space / Sumida City Office (2017)
Residency developing collaborative models of working with local communities, manufacturers and craftspeople in Sumida, Tokyo.
Narrow Marsh Residents’ Group — Nottingham Contemporary / Nottingham City Homes (2016–18)
Long-term participatory project establishing dialogue between residents, housing organisations and local authorities through meetings, events and publications.
Church Street Local Projects Shelf — Serpentine Galleries (2016)
Community-led initiative developed through workshops and a shared local resource for neighbourhood projects and knowledge.
Trans—Design — Shanghai Biennale (2016)
Exhibition and research activity presented as part of the Shanghai Biennale.
The City Questions — Nottingham Contemporary (2016–17)
Participatory research investigating civic life, local knowledge and relationships between residents and urban development.
Hello Stranger — V&A Museum of Childhood (2015–16)
Residency developing an experimental participatory design method and game exploring encounters between strangers.
Hyson Green Workshops — New Art Exchange, Nottingham (2015–16)
Research and exhibition exploring local histories of citizen-led design through archives, oral histories, workshops and public discussion.
Dinu Stool — Ishinomaki Laboratory, Japan (2015)
Furniture collaboration with the community-based Ishinomaki Laboratory, established following the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami.
Near Now Fellowship — Nottingham (2015)
Research fellowship supported by Arts Council England and Innovate UK, leading to subsequent community-based projects.
The Urban Craftsmen — Sumida, Tokyo (2014–ongoing)
Research and design collaboration examining local manufacturing, craft and relationships between traditional production and contemporary design.
Public Plinths — Camden Council / London Design Festival (2014)
Project developed with Samuel Perea Díaz exploring alternative uses of rooftops and public infrastructure through local collaboration.
Politics of Food — Delfina Foundation (2014)
UK Associate Residency investigating food, politics, production and social relations as part of Delfina Foundation’s programme.
Mapping Mapusa Market / Naak Wangi — British Council / AHRC (2013–2015)
Collaborative research in Goa examining the social, cultural and material life of Mapusa Market.
Futurist Library — Liverpool Biennial (2013)
Exhibition and research project exploring alternative forms of knowledge, reading and public engagement.
Communal Knowledge — The Showroom (2012)
Participatory programme investigating domestic life, neighbourhood relations and collective forms of knowledge.
Edgware Road Project — Serpentine Galleries (2012)
Collaborative projects with students, residents and local organisations exploring the social and spatial conditions of Edgware Road.
Seamless — Sarai–CSDS, Delhi (2012)
Research project examining tacit knowledge, everyday practices and informal techniques embedded within urban life.
Tokyo Arts and Space Research Residency — Tokyo (2011)
Residency investigating everyday urban life, design and local contexts in Tokyo.
Speak Out — Serpentine Gallery (2011)
Contribution to Serpentine’s public programme of socially engaged and discursive practices.
Aubergine:NW8 — Westminster / Church Street Market (2010)
Participatory food project bringing together market traders and residents through recipes, conversation and a temporary street restaurant.