International Open Call program a highlight in World Design Capital Taipei 2016 year-long calendar of public and industry design events
TAIPEI, Taiwan , Mar. 7, 2016 — World Design Capital® (WDC) Taipei 2016’s Open Call initiative will see innovative international organizations and groups like CONTINUUM (USA, Italy, Korea, and China), the United Nations University (Germany), and the British Council join forces with Taiwan-based counterparts.
Together, the Open Call teams will bring a multitude of carefully researched social design interventions to Taipei residents during the WDC Taipei year–from playgrounds built of junk to inner city recycling vending machines, traditional food re-design to experimental lunch schemes.
Alice Wang Design (Taiwan) and British Council Taiwan join forces to create healthy redesigns of local food, including an installation by London-based food design studio, Bompas & Parr, and CONTINUUM and IxDA Taiwan collaborate to bring local farmers, “empty nesters,” and Taipei’s young workers together in an experimental public lunch scheme.
Working with nearby residents, AGUA (Taiwan) and Basurama (Spain) will transform two sites at a historic Taipei City military facility turned public park into playgrounds made of found materials. To innovate Taipei’s existing recycling practices, a Reverse Vending Machine by REnato Lab (Taiwan) and United Nations University (Germany) will recycle or repair broken household items donated by the public.
Local social innovation organization, 5% Design Action, champions an international project that reinvents current strategies for aged care in Taiwan, and the Chinese Institute of Urban Design (Taiwan) are behind Citizen of Tomorrow–a public mouthpiece initiative that aims to give Taipei residents a voice in city planning.
Through Open Call, WDC Taipei 2016 seeks to promote deeper engagement between designers, organizations, and enterprises in Taipei City and the international community. The six participant teams were selected by a ten-person international jury that included Han Wu, CEO of WDC Taipei 2016 (Taiwan) and Mugendi K. M’Rithaa, President of International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) (South Africa).
Members of the public are encouraged to interact with the Open Call workshops and seminars in Taipei between March and October this year, and teams will exhibit their research and outcomes at the International Design House Exhibition, running in Taipei from October 13-30.
The full WDC Taipei 2016 calendar, released in late January, features a variety of public and industry events. Design industry professionals need to note the International Design Policy Conference, held in Taipei from October 15-16, and for design enthusiasts, the International Design Week Forum is also in October. Among other not-to-be-missed local events are the Creative Expo Taiwan 2016 (April 20-24) and the 2016 Taiwan Design Expo (October 13-30). To view the calendar, please visit: http://wdc2016.taipei/en/2016-world-design-capital-events-calendar/.
About WDC Taipei 2016
“Adaptive City – Design in Motion” was Taipei City’s core concept in its 2015 application to host World Design Capital 2016. How can we apply innovative “design thinking” practices to overcome the constraints that limited resources place on our city’s development, pursue continual change in our urban governance, create happiness in the lives of our citizens–providing them with a better quality of life in a more livable, forward-looking city? These are the goals for Taipei City. 2016 marks the beginning of an evolution for Taipei, where we will take advantage of the potential in change by “Engaging Communities,” “Connecting Information,” and “Revitalizing the City.”
For more information on WDC Taipei 2016, visit the official website ( http://wdc2016.taipei/) or follow on Facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/taipeidesign/).
About World Design Capital
World Design Capital® (WDC) is designated by Icsid every two years to recognize a city’s innovative use of design for economic, social and cultural development and to showcase effective design-led urban revitalization strategies that other cities can benefit from. Past cities to hold the WDC title include Torino (Italy) in 2008, Seoul (South Korea) in 2010, Helsinki (Finland) in 2012, and Cape Town (South Africa) 2014. Taipei (Taiwan) is this year’s WDC, and Mexico City has just been named WDC 2018. For more information, please visit http://www.worlddesigncapital.com.
Image caption: 6 international projects have been selected to create social design interventions in Taipei City as part of WDC Taipei 2016’s Open Call program. Image courtesy WDC Taipei 2016.
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KATE NICHOLSON
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