Max Pratt
Tradition-Revolution: Modernizing Craft-Technologies for the Future of Mobility
This PhD research investigates the relationship between craft and vehicle design, specifically how designers of road vehicles might learn from the practice of a craftsperson and in turn, how that practice might inherently lend itself to a more circular approach to the design and manufacturing of products.
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Biography
Max Pratt is a designer, researcher, and educator who works to develop and inform sustainable practices and products in mobility, human health, social equity, rapid prototyping and manufacturing.
Max holds an MID from Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Industrial Design, as well as a BFA in Furniture Design, and teaches in both the department of Industrial Design and in the Hyundai Regeneration Studio at RISD.
As a product designer, they worked in the design engineering and manufacturing of performance racing bicycles. Max was a founding partner and technical director of nice bikes, a racing bicycle manufacturing company and professional women’s cycling team with a mission of promoting equity and inclusion in the outdoor industry.
The bicycles they designed and fabricated won numerous UCI races and placed top 10 at UCI World Cups and US National Championships. Their work in bikes has been featured in Outside Magazine, VELO, VeloNews, Bicycling Magazine, Bike Quarterly, The Radavist, Cyclingtips and more.
Max is currently pursuing a PhD in Intelligent Mobility Design at the Royal College of Art, investigating pre-industrial materials and manufacturing methods and their applications for solving modern mobility problems.
Their practice as a partner of studio405 focuses on advanced product design, small-scale architectural studies, and in-depth scientific research of the marine ecology and how our behaviours impact it.
Degrees
MFA Furniture Design, Rhode Island School of Design (Concentration in Nature, Culture, & Sustainability Studies)
MID Industrial Design, Rhode Island School of Design