Anthologies of Sand on Alpine Snow positions design as a transformative (storytelling) practice through an autoethnographic investigation, emphasising feminist and decolonial epistemologies. It challenges dominant ableist, colonial, and capitalist paradigms inherent in design pedagogy and practice, instead proposing a methodology rooted in care, collaboration, and soft practices. Through storytelling, placed at the core, this project underlines design as a reflective and generative political act.

Softness like sand or snow.
Softness that hardens and flows.
Softness that bends without breaking,
Softness that navigates the tension of the steadfast and its contradictions.

Softness is feminist!
Softness is strength!
Softness is resistance!
Softness is radical!
Softness is …

Softness represents a state of radical, vulnerable honesty.

It is not merely a trait or philosophy, but an approach that challenges the assumption of softness as inherently or exclusively feminine. This softness questions and queers this gendered and historically anchored postulation– it’s an expression of radical self-love and acceptance and, therefore, resistance.

It resists the pressure to be loud, stubborn or impatient. It is assertive while undermining the stereotype that assertiveness is for some form or other bitchy. It takes up space and makes itself heard while inviting others to join and contribute on their terms. Rooted in radical self-acceptance, love and commitment to justice, it advocates for emancipation through abolitionist and reparative strategies.

Softness is strength—it is the flexibility to bend without breaking. It is adaptable and can withstand internal contradictions. While active and intentional, softness is inherently tied to empathy and centres accountability.

At their core, soft practices are about designing in service of stories and their tellers and highlighting their transformative and transversal potential. They seek to challenge power structures by nurturing relationships and creating and holding space for vulnerability. We can document and contribute to this story. I am not interested in speaking about community but in creating a space where community can speak for and centre itself within these stories.

Softness, in its myriad forms, is both method and message. These practices are formulated through and in the tradition of feminist epistemologies.[1]

Soft practices redefine design as a practice for storytellers.

We, the storytellers, can confront and reimagine the world, whether through tiny whispers or loud drumbeats.
Our words are inherently relational, shaped by our encounters and the contributions and insights of those we engage with. I see storytelling as a tool for demonstrating, responding to, and reflecting upon the injustices that permeate our world: colonial expansion, capitalism, racism, misogyny, patriarchy, classism, and ableism. So, here’s my proposal: Tell me your story!
Let it complicate, expand, and reshape the narratives I’ve begun here. Insert your ideas, contradictions and experiences in the lines between my own and help fulfil the promise of shared authorship. 

[1]  Epistemologies: the study of the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge.