Design practice always unfolds under a particular set of forces or conditions, commonly referred to as constraints. Some are direct and indisputable, such as physical or material properties: the force of gravity or the tensile strength of a structural beam. Others are the subject of discussion and compromise, like financial budgets or timelines. Still others involve aesthetic or cultural considerations, such as fashion trends or social movements. These more tangible constraints shape the design process by establishing clear limits that can be either respected or contested.

But constraints also exist in more covert, abstract, or oblique forms, such as national infrastructure systems like energy grids. These become so normalised that they force designers to work within their dominant paradigms. Myths of progress reduce the technological future to recycled utopian imaginaries that preserve the status quo and obscure systemic flaws. Meanwhile, constraints imposed by design's economic relationship with the market encourage, among other things, questionable approaches to resources, labour, distribution, and repair.

This presentation will begin by examining some of these dominant oblique constraints and how they limit the role and potential of design. The second part will describe the approach of Reconstrained Design, which identifies such constraints in order to reverse, bypass, or ignore them.  This expands the potential of the design and the designer's capacity to radically rethink modes of practice.