Submission: July 4, 2022
Registration: July 4, 2022
Language: English
Location: Global
Prizes: Please see details below
Type: Open
Magazines and websites are constantly promoting special places, new products and spectacular objects. There are numerous publications, articles or commercials on the High Line in New York, Nespresso, the Apple watch, etc. All celebrating the extraordinary qualities of these places, products and objects. Conceptualised and constructed as high-end projects, they become a contemporary standard for other projects.
Their design is copied, reused, reinterpreted and brought into (cultural) contexts to which they hardly relate. They have become a sort of international standard of good design.
And yet, in our daily lives, we aren’t surrounded by these high-end projects. Most of the time we live in, and are surrounded by, rather banal and dull spaces and objects. Daily spaces and objects. Things that don’t meet the standards of magazines and websites at all but still fulfil an important role in the lives of many people. A bus stop, a parking lot near the supermarket, a white plastic garden chair. Spaces and objects that connect and bring people together from all walks of life. These are spaces and objects that often balance between the formal representation of society and all types of informal appropriation and (mis)use. These spaces and objects have been subject of research by, for instance, J.B. Jackson or Margaret Crawford and coined as collective spaces, loose space, thickened space, etc.
This year’s Designers in Residence programme will focus on the daily. How to distinguish the extraordinary from the daily? How can these spaces and objects be identified? What determines them? What role do they play in people’s lives? How do they connect and strengthen interpersonal relations? How do they relate to our online alter ego? What (spatial) features do they have? And above all, what future do they have?
Context
Designers in Residence Kortrijk is an initiative of Designregio Kortrijk, platform for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for the region Kortrijk in Belgium. A region part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) that breaths design thinking, visible through its design education, creative making industry, international events and inspiring public space.
We are a joint venture of 5 regional organisations, with whom you will work closely together. This will allow you as a designer to connect with the local community (city of Kortrijk), local producers and maker industry (Voka West-Flanders & Interieur Foundation), urban planners and developers (Leiedal) and innovative education (Howest).
At the same time, the Buda Island is the focal point for a fascinating community of creative individuals, companies, cultural organizations, creative teaching as well as end-users. The aim is to connect with the local maker industry, largely embedded in the region and local producers in a contemporary way.
The Budafabriek, Budalab Open Makerspace & Broelkaai 6 -DURF 2030 are the inspirational locations in Kortrijk (Belgium) where you will create, work and live.
The Kortrijk region (Belgium) is a strong player in the economically blooming largest European inter-regional Eurometropolis.
University College HOWEST & their Industrial Design Center is an open knowledge center and a communication platform between the industry and the education, research and development programs of the Howest and Ghent University in Kortrijk. Digital Arts & Entertainment is, amongst others, one of their state of the art education programs. There is also Digital Design & Development, part of The Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) and the Royal Conservatory, focusing on the intersection of design, development and research.
The compactness of this region is both a benefit and a challenge.
The selected designers will take part in Living Summer School 2022 – Living Blocks – The Social Units of Future Habitats.
During WONDER – Kortrijk Creativity Festival (21/10 – 6/11/2022) the Designers in Residence Kortrijk will get the opportunity to showcase their research and on-going progress to the audience.
Designers in Residence Kortrijk is organized since 2014. The 2021 trajectory can be found on the site The Dispersal Project.
Selection criteria
The profile of the designers must correspond to the following criteria:
- recently graduated (minimum level: master or equal by experience)
- team player
- manual skills (conceptual, handy, production, fabrication)
- an international outlook
Please note: !!! Completed forms must be submitted to Designregio Kortrijk before Monday 4 July 2022, 9:00 a.m. CET. Applications received after this deadline will not be accepted.
