London is ready to join the design biennale club as it begins working toward launching its very first international design biennale at the Somerset House on September 7-27, 2016**. Modeled after the biannual Venice architecture and art events, London plans to gather up to 40 countries that will contribute representative design installations and exhibitions in response to a particular theme. The Neoclassical Somerset House, a former royal-palace cultural hotspot near the banks of the River Thames, will serve as an elaborate backdrop for the event.
With Dr. Christopher Turner as deputy director, participants will address the theme "Utopia by Design', in marking the 500th anniversary of the publication of Sir Thomas More's fictional classic Utopia.
"Participants are encouraged to interrogate the history of the utopian idea and engage with some of the fundamental issues faced by humanity, suggesting solutions to them that use design and engineering. Their responses will not only show design’s innate power to strike up and inform debate, but also as a catalyst: provoking real change by suggesting inspiring or cautionary futures. These visions might be big or small, practical or hypothetical, but together they will represent a laboratory of ambitious ideas that might, in their way, contribute to making the world a better place. And what other objective is there to good design?"
The Biennale has already appointed an International Advisory Committee and Jury that will bestow medals to outstanding national contributions during the event.
You can read more about the biennale here.
More on Archinect:
The 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale
Chicago Architectural Biennial
**Update: Date has been changed
3 Comments
They seem to prefer these uber traditional places for biennales. Suppose that makes the work seem more edgy.
Thayer-D, How important is "being edgy" or "not being edgy" to you?
If it looks nice, I'm fine with edgy. Important? Not at all.
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