The culmination of this year’s international festival of design and visual culture ONE DESIGN WEEK (June 10-19) is the professional forum which will be held on June 18 at the House of Culture “Boris Hristov”, Plovdiv. The event is dedicated to design in all its diversity. World renowed names from the contemporary design scene will arrive in Bulgaria for the event and present their interpretation of the festival’s main theme – “Can I help you?”, which explores design as a tool that gives shape to every aspect of our lives.
Together with the lecturers announced until now – Alice Rawsthorne, one of the most respected design critics in the world; Eisuke Tachikawa (Japan) – a representative of the new generation of contemporary Japanese designers; known for his specific approach with an emphasis on social innovation, who comes to Bulgaria with the support of EU JAPAN FEST and Foundation Plovdiv 2019; and Pieter-Jan Pieters, founder of the studio OWOW (with the support of Creative Industries NL), more leading experts from all fields of contemporary design are joining the professional forum.
Peter Marigold (UK), the creator of FORMcard, graduated as Product designer at Royal College of Art. His work stands out with unconventional and innovative solutions. The designer has a number of awards including Design Museum of London Award, Designer of the Future award by Design Miami, and others. His works have been exhibited at MoMA, Design Museum Holon, 20_21Design Sight Tokyo and many others. Although he prefers working with wood, his work is diversified with other materials for large manufacturers such as china for Meissen, cashmere for Oyuna, and textiles for Kvadrat.
Adam fon Haffner (Denmark) is responsible for the global communication strategy of the Danish NGO http://designtoimprovelife.dk/, organizers of the most prestigious design award, which is granted to projects with the potential to improve human life globally. The last edition of the award attracted 1123 applicants from 72 countries. It distinguishes projects and ideas that use design as a tool for creating a better life for people worldwide. Authoritative sources define INDEX: Design Award as the Nobel Prize of the fieldof design.
Stephen Serrato (USA) graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and Werkplaats Typografie in the Netherlands. Currently he teaches Graphic and Communication Design at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles. Among his customers are the Amsterdam School of the Arts, de Appel Arts Center, Kunstverein Publishers, Stedelijk Museum, Warp Records and others. He comes with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria.
Special guest of the forum will be the designer and curator Matilda Kzhikovski, co-founder and one of the directors of DEPOT BASEL (space for contemporary design in Switzerland). Besides being a participant in the program ONE DESIGN WEEK, Matilda Kzhikovski will also be a moderator of the festival’s professional forum. The work of Matilda Kzhikovski is related to introspection. She explores and experiments with inner works of design and focuses on collaborative practices and executive projects that examine design process in its various stages.
All lectures during the forum of ONE DESIGN WEEK 2016 will be held in English.