WDC 2014: Speaking of which....

The recent reality of political alliances -as A4D-D4A stated in the previous post, (with the implementation of B.R.I.C.S forthcoming summits to contemporary design reality), relates to the first global event, concerning design disciplines. Cape Town is the new World Design Capital 2014, with a series of exciting, interesting, innovative projects. Engraving the new Design World map? Certainly yes, the countdown to the next decade 2020-2030, has already kick-started, with the rise of a new Design, regime. For all updates and ventures, check the official website:
http://www.wdccapetown2014.com

SHIFT OF POWERS??? - The Design [New] World Map (post-Cold War no2).

Key figures, people of power, old associations, large governmental organisations, refreshed policies, unexpected circumstances, new alliances. There is a  new world balance, and it affects design, as much as everything else. Fundamental desicions and change of routine in Europe and overseas, define a new landscape, about to emerge, concerning creativity, education, industrial production and economy. Here A4D- D4A lists some essential facts and personalities, combining the elements of a new design era.
1.Turmoil in Europe? There is certainly some policies undertaken, which thicken the design plot. The
 German Universities Excellence Initiative, enlarged the list of "elite" universities in the country, to a total of twelve, (including the famous Munich School of Architecture, which joined the list in 2006). Allthough the official authorities denounce the term "Ivy League" for this new structure, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation , succeded in attracting the best young minds, in what is seems to be Europe's  new, best, university network, that covers all the disciplines related to the design field.
2. In the always, education-wise, competitive and design-savvy UK , Michael Gove, former Secretary of State for Education (until July 2014), expanded the curriculum of five core subjects (English, maths, two sciences, a foreign language, history or geography), to include arts and technology, Praised by the craft and  design world in the UK, M.Gove's  initial scheme was to prevent a generation of potential artists, designers and meakers casting adrift, in an era where the creative industries are far more promising, economically.
In Finland, the ministry of Education and Culture (OKM) continues to show the way, by adopting now cloud technologies in education, and furthermore: the Finnish diagnosed the cause of unemployment due to the recession, being the set-up of false priorities in education. People cannot find a job anymore, most propably, because of lack of innovative tools and new technologies, needed to be infiltrated, in the educational system, early on.

3. Promotion, funding, unions and professional infrastructures of current design organisations, are coming to a point of refreshing, to say the least. In Japan and the USA, these structures date sometimes from the mid 50's , combining the creative with the commercial aspect, bulding up the  local design communities and scheduling export policies. Still, in Netherlands, the flexible and agile
Premsela,  supports Dutch design and fashion industries, providing a security net for european exports in general, with a healthy surplus. Spain, Italy and France follow up, aiming at the re-instated legal framework for intellectual rights protection, patents and innovative products in Europe (new enlarged, office service , is  starting up soon in Alicante, Spain).

4. Recent developments in Russia, (regarding the counry's sanctions, applied by the E.U), started spreading the rumours of a "new Vkhutemas", emerging, with the blessings of president V.Putin. This time, the russian authorities, also visualize a strong co-alition with the other BRICS members, -China, Brazil, India and South Africa- concerning the areas of industrial production, creative arts, IT technologies and textile industry, respectively. At the same time, the rest of Africa, apparently leads a more independent way. Nicolas Sawalo Cissé, pioneer Senegalese designer and architect, founder of African Designers Association, is the father-figure of a design generation, standing out from design cartels, representing the psyche of the continent, with a whole new bunch of ideas and techniques.

Study the  design New World map, is helpful to know and understand the New design World or the New World map or Both!!!

Faithfully yours
A4D-D4A

AKEA 2nd ANNUAL MEETING OF YOUNG ARCHITECTS: 21-24/8, Stamos Stournas Hostel, Pelion, Greece.





Always interesting and eclectic,(even if you are not a communist party affiliate), Akea 2nd Annual Meeting  of Young Architects, offers food for thought, and a unique opportunity to attend a program of lectures, workshops and concerts, around contemporary architectural issues and new urbanism. Escape Athens, open up your mind and prepare to debate.

 

http://akea2011.wordpress.com/2014/07/28/programaekdiloseon2/

FAIR & SQUARE: A4D-D4A means to support fair trade design for food, cosmetics,clothing,objects, artefacts,buildings,media...check out our big time faves for this summer!

Picture bellow (top row: 1,2,3- bottom row: 4,5,6)

1.http://www.urtekram.dk
The danish Ultimate eco-friendly prototype of a factory (almost every system in the production area,
has a recycling program applied), producing organic and fair-trade cosmetics and foods, continues
to excel beyond Scandinavian territories. The manufacturing model of the future, coming from the near past.

2.www.toms.com
Tom's founder Blake Mycoskie, (after re-inventing contemporary marketing with a Social Responsibility-centred company, mainly manufacturing shoes), joins the world of Fair-trade coffee, with a similar concept. Over-accused of hiding two many skeletons in the closet, Blake just does what he knows best, and what society, currently imposes: he provides a good quality product,trying to give something back to the local community.

3.https://www.facebook.com/rhowholesomefoods
RHO, a Wholesome Food company in Greece, makes raw Kale chips in their workshop, in downtown Athens. Urban, tasty, post-climate change foods, made with advanced techniques (dehydrating under 45o C), light, full of nutrients and energy, aiming to feed a generation, destined to live with much less.

4.http://www.whomadeyourpants.co.uk
A collective, run like a mainstream business, following all rules and regulations of ethical commerce? Yes, it exists. Apart from designing and manufacturing the hottest knickers in Europe, Whomadeyourpants supports a number of extremely important causes and organisations.


http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/

5.http://www.rush3studio.com/kebo
Good design, aesthetically, but most important, functionally? Rush3studio presents Kebo, the bottle opener for single-handed people. Handicap in design is strictly remote from this intelligent team of designers. Pay attention.

6.http://www.csao.fr
The amazing CSAO, more than just a concept store, a whole commercial network, operating under ethical and sustainable distribution and manufacturing policies, counts more than 16 years already. One visit, and it becomes a shopping addiction, for all the good reasons;amazing design and crafts, fair prices, great space, transparent service, recycled materials, tradition embracing avant-garde.

Discover more on the actual websites- happy design-thinking!!!

DESIGN COUNCIL is hiring....!

http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/about-us/jobs

And History Was MADE.

http://www.made.com/fr
 Picture bellow: The MADE team.

 

The humble beginnings in Notting Hill, London, UK in 2010. ended 4 years later to the most exciting design collective and e-business in Europe. MADE was made to combine so many different values for contemporary furniture and design in general, that it seems almost an alien nation. Yet it is a real company, alive and kicking, giving away innovative urban designs, high manufacturing quality, ethical, sustainable commerce , social responsibility , and of course, a super adequate customer service justifying their “très british” business reputation. In the era of declined, predatory capitalism, new variables for commodities are establishing in the global market. MADE presents an example of how things could evolve in the distant future, for artisans or big studios, local shops or shopping malls, common design practice or research centers. Enjoy navigating MADE and think again about domestic needs and objects designed to be MADE for a society of well-rounded* individuals.

[*The definition of well rounded is someone who is skilled, capable or knowledgeable in a lot of different things, or something that covers a lot of different areas or subjects. http://www.yourdictionary.com/well-rounded].

 

 

THE MANY FACETS OF PWLINA PAPANIKOLAOU

Pwlina Papanikolaou is a 31-year old legal base criminologist, activist and researcher. Born partially sighted, she completed her primary and secondary education, graduating from the classic Hellenic general high school. She entered the Law school in Athens, Greece and quickly she got engaged to the movement of Equal Opportunities and Rights for the Partially Sighted and overall, for Persons with Disability. Pwlina is specialized in Criminology and the last four years she conducts her PHD research on the victimisation case studies in crimes against the environment (“Green criminology”). She is currently employed in the Ministry of Justice. Pwlina speaks to A4D-D4A about sight and her personal vision, technology and society- and finally- implementing design in everyday life.

Pic above: Pwlina Navigating Intelligence...
 

More about Pwlina and her admirable universe on her blog: http://anthrwpokentrika.wordpress.com/

Central pic above: Pwlina Navigating Intelligence on her I-phone 5

A4D-D4A:Pwlina, what kind of applications, tools or techniques you use daily, for work or leisure?

Pwlina: I started reading and studying by using large-scale typefaces, audio-books and eventually a scanner/printer with a 24- screen reader on a PC with Windows Aero-NVPA (“NVDA”) (NonVisual Desktop Access). I convert photocopies on PDF and OCR files, to read and process them later, with the additional support of Alt Text (Alternative Text) description for pictures and photos. HIL Link database (through Virtual Private Network :VPN) is a big help also, giving access to thousands of magazines and publications. My I-Phone 5 offers some impressive apps as well, like a really good magnifying lens system (Magnificent), also the emoticons are a huge fun to play with, because of the great voice roll-overs. There is a proposal to VOICE OVER all Apple Apps- that would be ideal! The site APVIS.COM  has all kinds of apps to download, compatible with all different kinds of screen readers. I am trained to use the traditional white  cane if needed, which can be used as a kind of landmark  to facilitate interaction with my fellow citizens during public circulation and transport. I AM NOT a Braille user, never been one, and I cannot intonate enough the need to personalize the educational methods and tools for partially sighted people and people in general. Every single one of us is an individual!!!So he/she needs a different approach to learning, according to age, character, abilities, talent, flair etc.

A4D-D4A:You mentioned education. The RNIBP (Royal National Institute for Blind People) in Scotland, launched recently a new program, for training and accessibility of partially sighted, long-term unemployed people, to work. What's the importance of re-designing work environment, in order to absorb more professionals with disability?

P:The importance of education, functionality and accessibility FOR ALL, is huge. The political decisions and strategies need to readdress the agenda towards designing universal working environments for the digital age- places where all people could work together, having access to all the tools and applications they need, in order to be ABLE to work WELL . The more we create systems to engage professionals with a disability - to use their assets, (what THEY CAN DO and not the opposite), the more we eliminate poverty, discrimination and approaching regulation, growth and peace in society.

A4D-D4A:Ecofriendly, sustainable and ethical design is no longer a trend but an wide professional sector, tending to commercial domination and social recognition. You believe there is room for partially  sighted citizens to explore the field further, and attain eventually more equal opportunities and larger working flexibility?

P:It is a matter of how you see things, in the end. We live in a society of post-innovation, giving birth to new sectors and specialization, is also vital. We do not know everything, there is certainly room for knowledge and evolution towards new disciplines.

A4D-D4A:Do you have any favourite objects, buildings, spaces, interfaces, accessories or clothes?

P:Strong colours, touch pads, shapes and contrasts work with me! Especially in public places like the Metro, it is good when you have the staircase ends, defined with strong colours. GPS is a good invention also and speaking PCs and mobiles (laughs)...Google's interactive maps with voice rollovers. Shiny surfaces with colour and TEXTURE, (velvety, fluffy, furry)- I' d love to see embossed posters or maps, with textures you can TOUCH  in the metro, or even ads  spraying scent, triggered by motion detectors, when the passenger stops by... I was impressed in Strasbourg, France, when I heard a full AUDIO description at the ticket point, about how purchasing my ticket. They also do transport plan cards with large typeface, which I also used, designed for PT people. When I am at home, I often use to underline text, my favourite 1.0 lead- mechanical pencil- I don't use highlighters whatsoever.

A4D-D4A:What is the future of a child, born with high percentage of vision deficiency? Could we talk about a generation of partially sighted architects, industrial designers or/and graphic designers in 15 years from now?

P:As I mentioned before, it is a matter of how you see things in the end. Innovation accelerates evolution, in contemporary society. Maybe you should ask – where the percentage of prejudice would be, regarding disability, in 15 years from now? Disability is not a desease. It is a daily situation you deal with, like every other daily mission, and it is part of life.

PWLINA THANK YOU !!!