SYDNEY.- This year, Sydney's leading festival of design, offers an inspirational city-wide program of more than 75 events exploring the theme, Design re-think – can clever design save the world?
The program features exhibitions, talks, tours and workshops across 16 days from 3 – 18 August.
Sydney Design highlights at the Powerhouse Museum begins with a retrospective of the visionary work of George Nelson (1908 – 1986): Architect, Designer, Photographer, Writer and Teacher, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in American design during the second half of the 20th Century.
Nelson created classics of modern furniture and interior design such as the Ball Clock (1947), Coconut Chair (1956), Marshmallow Sofa (1956), Bubble Lamps (1952) and the Action Office (1964).
Hear from two internationally acclaimed architects as they deliver the keynote addresses - discussing how designers can strengthen cities and cultures. Indonesian architect, Eko Prawoto will discuss his search for balance between old and new traditions. Both he and New Zealand based architect, David Sheppard, will discuss the vital role architects and clever design play in the recovery and reconstruction of cities devastated by earthquakes.
Witness three teams of designers solve some difficult problems in society through socially-responsible design in the 3x3x3 Design Challenge. Visitors can see Paul Pholeros and Heleana Genaus from Healthabitat show the connection between health problems and parts of the living environment and housing, explore an emergency shelter design by architects Jun Sakaguchi and Jeremy Bishop and be inspired by Tasman Munro’s pop-up multi-purpose transportable community workshop, like no other.
Come and see the future, as city farming goes vertical with a high-rise harvest. Edible Walls installation in the Powerhouse Museum’s café demonstrates what lies ahead for the future of city food. This lush green wall showcases the benefits of a food wall and what can be grown from vegetables to edible flowers and fruits – teaching the next generation the ease of growing and harvesting your own food in small urban spaces.
Hypothetical: Can clever design save the world? offers an entertaining evening of insights and revelations into the pleasures and pitfalls of socially-responsible design with an eminent panel of designers, business and industry experts, facilitated by Nell Schofield.
Other Sydney Design highlights across the city are;
• Australian International Design Awards featuring outstanding designs from hi-tech firefighting packs, wi-fi security cameras linked to social networks and the new cochlear implants that allow remote testing and tuning.
• AAA Walks - a guided tour around Sydney to rediscover some of the city’s most iconic buildings.
• Out of Earth – exhibition exploring constructions with the ultimate green building material, earth.
• Local Objects – proving that social change can happen when new ideas are incubated in open spaces of experimentation.
• Vorsprugarten – delves into an immersive retreat, with a bio-diverse matrix of native species, right in the heart of Parramatta.
• Stringram competition and tutorials – creating designs with string and posting them on Instagram to document the best entries.
• Earth to Earth, Ashes to Ashes – explores delicate contemporary jewelry designed to disappear in the wearing – a lightness of touch we should invest in for the planet.
• Quietly in a Busy Place – A moment of discovery for night-time passers by and day-time pedestrians with video projections, stop motion, crowd-sourced portrait and poetic text.
• Translocated Making – Exchanging Indian ideas, practices and traditional skills to create new objects papier mache, bronze and wood.
• Workshopped13 – Meet designers who have tackled production issues to make objects of desire.
• Souvenir and a Limited Edition – an exhibition of ceramics, glass and jewellery by students using trick of the eye, manipulation and playing on our relationship with the physical world.
Now in its 16th year, Sydney Design is one of the longest running contemporary design festivals around the world, creating a platform for the convergence of people, ideas and activity from across the creative industry sector.
Program content provides visitors with an opportunity to unpack design and to understand the processes, functions and narratives within design enterprise.
