design and vitra are practically synonymous. the family-owned swiss company is trusted with manufacturing the works of some of the world’s most respected and renowned designers. think eames, vernor panton, and jean prouvé —these are just some of the iconic names that have entrusted them to manufacture their pieces.
this year, vitra design museum is leading the charge in moving the conversation around design forward through a conference called the politics of design. the day-long affair will address design as a political activity with the idea that designers are constantly making decisions regarding social issues such as inclusion, identity, and sustainability. the aim of the conference is to explore the big question that surrounds this line of thinking: “while design is a powerful took for social and political change does it really have an effect on things?”
taking place on april 10 from 1:45 to 6:30, the day will be broken into three parts with top players in the fields of design, philosophy, sociology, and politics speaking on panels. confirmed speakers include paola antonelli, bruce sterling, danah abdulla, jan boelen, claudia chwalisz, indy johar, amelie klein, and etienne turpin.
the politics of design is presented by the vitra design museum and will take place april 10 at trienalle milano, teatro dell’arte.
organized by the istanbul foundation for culture and arts (i̇ksv), the 4th istanbul design biennial will be held from 22 september to 4 november 2018 with the title of a school of schools.
in 2018, the biennial will seek to consolidate the legacies of previous editions, and reinvent the biennial format into a productive process-orientated platform for researching, experimenting and learning. a school of schools will manifest as a multi-platform biennial that uses, tests, and revises a variety of educational strategies to reflect on the role of design, knowledge, and global connectedness in contemporary istanbul and beyond. the biennial will stretch both the space and time of the traditional design event, manifesting as a flexible year-long programm within which to respond to global acceleration, generating alternative methodologies, outputs and forms of design and education.
initiating an open call from 12 october 2017, a school of schools invites a broad range of designers and thinkers from around the world to explore eight themes: measures and maps, time and attention, mediterranean and migration, disasters and earthquakes, food and customs, patterns and rhythm, currency and capital, and parts and pockets. focusing on the process as much as the outcomes, the biennial aims to create new knowledge, search for alternatives to implemented systems, and with radical diversity, push the boundaries of the design discipline.
for the 4th istanbul design biennial jan boelen is teaming up with vera sacchetti as associate curator and nadine botha as assistant curator. the details of the 4th istanbul design biennial program will be announced in 2018. the media and professional preview of the biennial will be on 20 and 21 september 2018.
