Would you like a glimpse to how the future might look? Come to Dutch Design Week (DDW). This design fest kicks off on Saturday, 19 October and runs until Sunday 27 October.
DDW will explore themes that are as diverse as they are challenging and timely. The exhibits will focus as much on speculative ideas as the finished products. This year’s projects range from the conceptual, quirky, and artistic to the practical.
One of these themes is something none of us can live without – food. Sustainable farming is a co-theme. Food design takes centre stage at DDW19. Food is explored as a means of sustenance. But also as something that needs to be grown and consumed differently. Especially now, at a time of enormous climate and biodiversity crisis.
In one location, Sectie-C, Agri Meets Design. Here, designers, farmers, policymakers, and businesses come together. They explore the creation of a future-proof food system. They also ask how designers contribute to a new circular agricultural food system in the Netherlands?
Robotics and AI
Robots and AI are amazing and terrifying, all at once. They promise to change society forever. Ultimately, ethics, not technology, will dominate discussions about these technologies for years to come. One of this project’s highlights is Aiml. This is one of the ‘creatures’ in the interactive circus show, Cirque du Data. ‘She’ comes to DDW for the first time this year.
Aiml creates drawings that show how ‘her’ mood is affected by ‘her’ surroundings. The project aims to show how a machine can gain insight into the mood and feelings of people near it. It uses AI and Machine Learning techniques. This ‘animal’ explores how this kind of technology could be integrated into a public space in an organic, beneficial way. CLEVERºFRANKE is the interactive design agency behind the project. They won the Dutch Design Award in the Service & Systems category.
But, technology does not have to be scary or a far-off concept. It can also be poetic and beautiful. One example at this at DDW19 is Flylight. This is an interactive light installation made from glass tubes used in labs. It was designed by one of this year’s DDW Ambassadors, Studio Drift. The installation responds to the viewers around it. It is inspired by the behaviour of flocks of birds and the mesmerising patterns they make while in flight.
A moving ‘flock’
Ultrasonic sensors measure the distance between the viewer and the installation. The ‘flock’ reacts differently the closer you get to it or when more people approach it at once. The piece will be exhibited for the first time in Eindhoven in the DOMUSDELA, a venue that promises to become a new DDW hotspot.
Please visit the Dutch Design Week website for more information about the various themes and a complete programme of all the week’s events.
Source: Dutch Design Week
