Vienna Design Week 2009

[i]raises appetite for design by using fresh formats[/i] Eleven day design festival from October 1st to 11th Vienna, Austria “VDW Lab” With “VDW Lab”, young product -, industrial -, and graphic designers receive a prominent platform at the project space of the KUNSTHALLE on Karlsplatz. Invited by “Neigungsgruppe Design”, organiser of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, and guest curator and communication designer Erwin Bauer, project teams work on-site on special projects. Thus, visitors of the laboratory get to experience individual operating processes and approaches in an open studio situation. At the same time, the location serves as festival headquarters for exchange, meetings, and the gathering of programme information. “VDW Debut” Ten chosen design students and design alumni, who graduated no longer than three years ago, present their works in the context of “VDW Debut”, supported by the internationally renowned James Dyson Foundation and James Dyson Award. The projects of young product -, and industrial designers, who beforehand submitted for the James Dyson Award, are going to be displayed at Vorgartenmarkt in the Stuwerviertel neighbourhood. Furthermore, in this once notorious and now more hipper Stuwerviertel, one focus of this year’s PASSIONSWEGE is located. This design path across the first and second city district with ten stops in total can be discovered on foot as the centrepiece of the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK. Brigitte Jank, President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and partner of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, thinks “the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK living proof that more and more traditional companies in Vienna rely on the inspiring cooperation with young designers.” This festival format is supported by James Dyson Foundation and James Dyson Award. “VDW Carte Blanche” With “VDW Carte Blanche”, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK acknowledges five ambitious projects, which show the vigour of design apart from its commercial purposes. This year, projects include, amongst others: a retirement home project by Danklhampel and Julia Landsiedl, a cooperation between Little Joe’s Gang and Austrian designer Adam Wehsely-Swiczinsky, as well as a project by bkm and the veneer company RoHol. “VDW Carte Blanche” is supported by forum mozartplatz – raum für wirtschaft und kultur. “VDW Talks” Under the working title “art or craft”, “Neigungsgruppe Design” contrives an afternoon series of talks dealing with design and handicraft in view of current developments that again attract notice of young designers to craftsmen techniques and handmade goods. The discussion series “art or craft” is enabled by support of the Austrian furniture industry and aws/Impulse. Additionally, Bene, producer of office furniture, asks in the context of a round tables event with Jeremy Myerson (Professor for Design at Royal College of Art, London), PearsonLloyd (Designstudio, London) and Thomas Bene (Board of Bene AG) how research, design practice and manufacturers connect during the designing process, with an example of a specific product presentation. festival website: www.viennadesignweek.at