Gabriel Fontana uses sport as a metaphor for society in his work: what rules have we agreed upon in the past, and do they now work for us or against us? He researches how our bodies propagate, internalise and reproduce social norms and proposes ways to unlearn this behaviour. As such, he designs and develops new forms of pedagogy, activities and games. His work focuses on inclusion and reaches different layers of society through education, culture and the sports industry. His educational programme Multiform (2019) contributes to inclusive physical education and Tournament of the Unknown (2022) is a tournament series that gives new meaning to our idea of togetherness.

In a time of great division, Gabriel Fontana’s strength is that he uses design effectively to influence how we interact. The goal of his methods is to give people a playful way of experiencing what the prevailing norms of identity, community and inclusion really mean, and how we can bring about change. He uses sport as the perfect metaphor, where the idea of playing ‘against each other’ is the norm. Collaboration is deeply embedded in all of Gabriel’s processes, which leads to a very solid and effective design product. It is amazing what he can already do at this early stage of his career.