VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2009

Festival programme of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2009
raises appetite for design by using fresh formats

Eleven day design festival from October 1st to 11th in Vienna, Austria
On Wednesday June 24th, the “Neigungsgruppe Design” presented the festival programme of the third VIENNA DESIGN WEEK in Vienna, which once more invites to experiencing design in everyday life from October 1st to 11th. Newly developed formats as “VDW Lab”, “VDW Debut” and “VDW Carte Blanche” add to the successful portfolio of talks, presentations and exhibitions.

“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.

Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Managing Director departure wirtschaft, kunst und kultur gmbh and partner of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, emphasizes: „VIENNA DESIGN WEEK facilitates valuable possibilities of networking withing the Viennese scene, and attracts internatinal attention. Thanks to the unresting work of Neigungsgruppe Design, Vienna can again look forward to a bulging and multifaceted design week.“


Established Programme Items Strengthened – Presentations and Exhibitions
Last year’s developed programme elements “Presentations” and “Exhibitions” are again part of the festival concept – with new content.

In the context of the category “Exhibitions”, young designers from Danklhampel together with Robert Rüf devise interventions for the permanent collection of the Imperial Furniture Collection • Furniture Museum Vienna. The Wagner:Werk Museum Postsparkasse shows an exhibition of every day design, curated by Rolf Sachsse. The Technische Museum Wien prepares a preview event for VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, dealing with the exhibition “Medicine and Technology”. Riess Kelomat presents at Bulthaup Store on the Opera ring road a new series of enamel pots, designed by dottings - Sofia Podreka and Katrin Radanitsch. designaustria plans an entire day of actions, including three members who make their studios accessable to the public, and introduce their current works. On October 7th 2009, a chance to discuss the shown projects is offered at the designforum.

Young Design Institutions Add to the Programme
The junior design institutions of Vienna also add to the programme of the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK. Walking Chair Gallery invites the Freitag brothers, who are by now internationally popular for their bags made out of truck tarpaulins, and present a new work dealing with “Urban Gardening”. The workgroup Design Tradition shows a first exhibiton of special design pieces from the 20th Century from Austria at the three locations Lichterloh, Rauminhalt and Patrick Kovacs Kunsthandel. Thus it presents the demands of the “Manual Design”, of which the introduction as international standard is part of the mission of Design Tradition. Additionally, at the designforum Vienna, this year’s guest country Belgium displays the design exhibition “Je suis dada”, the closing event of which coincides with the end of the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK on October 11th.

The impact of the festival on the attractiveness of Vienna as travel destination, is outlined by the director of the Vienna Tourism Board, Norbert Kettner: “VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is a most welcome, appealing offer for tourists interested in culture and lifestyle, who look for genuine contemporary city events. This already big target group is growing noticeably, and is getting more and more important for city tourism."

festival website:
www.viennadesignweek.at