Syntopia Episteme: A Design Odyssey

As the world is being parceled out, Ayesha, born Bajau, a stateless Southeast Asian sea dweller, loses her mother in a traumatic accident. Orphaned in Sumatra, adopted in Singapore, her Leonardesque gift for drawing leads her to study design in France.

At every stage of her journey, mentors and bullies, some real and some composite, appear like stepping stones across a widening river delta, sharpening her worldview and refining her sense of what design can be at ...