Murmur Ring has partnered with the Institute of Design and Lima-based global consultancy Empathy to create a four-day immersion in Peru’s Sacred Valley to explore design implications in a region undergoing rapid change and apply learnings to their own industries and practice.
Taking place in Peru’s Sacred Valley June 23-27, this immersion offers global design leaders a meaningful opportunity to deepen their network. Participants will exchange ideas, reflections, and best practices with a global cohort of designers in the real world, while utilizing the Sacred Valley as a living research site at the confluence of traditional and contemporary practices.
Why Peru?
“Peru is a country of creativity. People from emerging countries will recognize this. It’s a mindset. No matter what is happening, we are going to find a way, and collaborating and prototyping is in the essence of that mindset.”
Rodrigo Isasi
Empathy Managing Partner
Immersion Co-Host
With its agricultural fertility, astronomical alignment, and archeological sites, the Sacred Valley has long been a spiritual destination. In recent years innovations in gastronomy pioneered in The Sacred Valley have garnered global recognition resulting in an influx of new development, technology, and tourism. We will use these culinary advancements and other creative mediums as analogous inputs to uncover design’s role as a medium to harness opportunities and mitigate risks to environment and culture associated with accelerated popularity of a place as a tourist destination.
The Immersion’s Connection to Chicago
“This is a design experience that will move in both directions. We will garner inspiration for our design practices in our own communities, while at the same time apply our design capability and mindset to leave a positive impact.”
Ashley Lukasik
Murmur Ring Founder and CEO
Immersion Co-Host
Murmur Ring’s network is global, but there is a uniquely engaged audience in Chicago. This uniquely Chicago-perspective will be emphasized during the Reclaiming Value immersion through the partnership with the Institute of Design. A premier institution for creating global design leaders, ID has pioneered a Chicago-specific design perspective that has influenced design models, applications, and aesthetics for nearly nine decades.
Together, the cohort will utilize insights uncovered in Peru and the relationships built amongst the network of participants to create collaborations and tools that will directly impact their work in Chicago.
What participants will gain
- Inputs and Inspiration
Participants will find inspiration at the confluence of traditional and contemporary practices while collectively considering pathways to sustained growth that benefit the region and preserve its resources. - Frameworks and Tools
A meaningful alternative to standard conferences and retreats, this immersion is an opportunity to exchange ideas, reflections, and best practices with a global cohort of design leaders in the real world. - Nature-Design Connection
We will use nature as a teacher, connecting biological systems to our human-designed platforms, setting the foundation for a sustainable future in our communities and personal practices.
Immersion Participant Testimonials
“Part of my practice is to be deeply involved in the communities I work with. The immersion is the perfect way to just be able to do that”.
Bud Rodecker
Span Studio Partner & Design Director
“I walked away from the immersion with a new point of view about design and its role. It was a great way to underscore what I think we’re missing in the practice, which is craft.”
Tony Bynum
Institute of Design Professor of Practice and Director of ID Academy“Murmur Ring’s immersion in Oaxaca was a week-long experience full of activities and stories that shed light on ways of existing, creating, collaborating, and meaning-making. Since then, I’ve been applying teachings I’ve learned in small ways throughout the work I’m doing to build culture and community across much of what I do.”
Christian Solorzano
Chicago Graphic Design Club Founder“Exactly what I didn’t know I needed. The immersion gave me time to think, reflect, and strategize. When at an inflection point, an immersion is the perfect way to reflect and re-align.”
Conor McFerran
Lift Collective Founder“We’re moving into a future where everything will be done fast and will be replicated with AI, rapid prototyping, and 3D printing. But qualitatively and experientially, there is value beyond dollars in retaining multi-generational processes. There is value in intangibles. How can we define and communicate the value experience brings?”
Cybelle Jones
Society for Experiential Graphic Design CEO“The immersion dealt with issues we would never get to while sitting behind the desk. It brought soul to the work. It brought meaning.”
Steven White
Innovation Strategist“The immersion and its corresponding intensive team charrettes allowed us to envision pathways and create prototypes for better civic futures. It sparked conversations around the potential of design to address civic and policy-level challenges, and I’m excited to keep exploring how we can contribute to shaping better futures.”
Shreya Mathur
Institute of Design MDM Student
Logistics
The early bird rate of $4,500 is available through February 28, 2025. The standard individual rate starting March 1, 2025 will be $5,000. ID alumni will have access to an exclusive participation rate.
Apply to join the cohort here.
Interested in learning more?
Contact Murmur Ring CEO Ashley Lukasik for details at ashley@murmur-ring.com.
