De second edition of the Amsterdam conference What Design Can Do, in May 2012, brought bright minds from all over the world together to investigate what design can do to address the world’s truly pressing problems. I wrote a roundup for the magazine Items. ‘The role of the designer is somewhere between compassion and expertise.’
The city of Rotterdam asked a group of artists to help rejuvenate the former harbor area of Katendrecht through the use of light. the winner of the competition was Rudolf Teunissen of Daglicht & Vorm. His award-winning design projects a wavy pattern on the street and siewalk and narrow pennants of lights on the facades of the social income housing. In the beginning the inhabitants were wary, but now they’re proud of the way that lighting project ‘Broken Light’ has softened the look and feel of the street. Read my story for Architectural Record here. Read the article…
Conferences used to be about star designers showing pretty things. Now they’re about sharing social concerns. The second edition of the Amsterdam conference What Design Can Do was all about how the social role that design can play. The designer is now both a catalyst and a go-between: part problem-solver, part community organizer, part dreamer. I interviewed Hella Jongerius at the conference and for the magazine Items I wrote an essay which you can read here.
Photos: The theme of ‘WDCD’ in 2013 will be ‘Collaboration’ | project by Febrik in the Lebanese refugee camp Burj el Barajneh | colored vases series 3 by Hella Jongerius | graphic design on the streets of Bogotá from the blog Popular de Lujo Read the article…
As part of the rejuvenation of Rotterdam’s old harbor area of Katendrecht, known for its sailors’ bars and whorehouses, the city commissioned a combined art and lighting project. The winner was ‘Broken Light’ by lighting designer Rudolf Teunissen of Daglicht & Vorm. In the August issue of Architectural RecordI describe how his lighting gives the street a tranquility and a dignity it has never before known.
At a gathering in the Vitra Design Museum I interviewed founder Renny Ramakers of Droog Design for Premsela’s series Pioneers of Industrial Culture. Download the free iTunes podcast here. I also toured the Vitra campus – a true architects’ playground – and saw the exhibition Confrontations, for which five Dutch designers worked together with local Swiss designers (more on that in my next Observation). Read the article…
De tentoonstelling ‘De Etende Mens’ die eating designer Marije Vogelzang voor Premsela samenstelde, bevat zo’n vijftig projecten van kunstenaars over wat en hoe we eten. Vissticks zijn óók ontworpen en verdienen een plaats in het museum, vindt het Oostenrijkse duo Honey&Bunny. Lees hier mijn stuk voor het NRC Handelsblad. Read the article…