Dublin’s Bid For World Design Capital 2014 Featured in "SEE Project" Bulletin

FROM SOURCE: www.seeproject.org

Rising to several centimetres thickness, each copy bearing one of 30 different covers submitted by 30 different designers, comprising a staggering 416 pages of dense research and vivid imagery and accompanied by a specially made film, Dublin’s bid for World Design Capital was submitted for the end of March deadline to the competition agency ICSID. Entitled “PIVOT Dublin – Turn Design Inside Out”, the bid celebrates ambiguity, diversity and difference. It argues: “Dublin is a paradox, it is not about dour perfection or monotony. It’s about everything that’s possible when people, relationships, creativity and culture collide”.

The bid is a collaboration between the four Dublin Municipal Authorities and has National Government support. Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Enda Kenny, considers participation in the World Design Capital project a significant contribution to his Government’s ambitions for Ireland as a creative and innovative economy: In his letter of support for Dublin’s bid he says “this designation if awarded would provide a valuable opportunity for us to showcase Ireland’s vibrant design and creative industries while the invigoration provided by the proposed programme of events and projects would bring a renewed excitement and vibrancy to the city building on our experiences as City of Science 2012”.

The design and delivery of the bid document and associated film was undertaken by an interdisciplinary consortium of Red & Grey Design; Emma Curley Architect and Areaman Productions (film). Using material gathered from a year of exploratory workshops and conversations facilitated by the co-ordination team led by the Dublin City Architect, they have produced a document that arguably represents the most comprehensive research into a wider Irish design culture since the pioneering report Design in Ireland, which led to the establishment of the Kilkenny Design workshop in 1965. It is hoped that Dublin’s bid will act as a similar catalyst towards developing a shared understanding of the benefits that design thinking can bring to economic, environmental, social and political challenges.

This ambition is encapsulated in the bid title ‘PIVOT Dublin – Turn Design Inside Out’ a response to Dublin’s unleashed potential to use design as the vehicle to turn things inside out; to adapt, innovate and grow. A key strength in Dublin’s bid lies in its diversity. Alongside the more established design disciplines such as product, craft, fashion and graphic design, it features architecture and urban design, as well as the new digital design cultures and reflects Ireland’s recent success in animation, film and the gaming industry. Overwhelmed by a plethora of design events that take place in the city, the biggest challenge for the bid team was in editing the information. To tell Dublin’s story, the team focused on a few key projects that have transformed the city including the landmark new bridges that link north and south along the River Liffey, the community connections made by the Special Olympics in 2003, and the international outreach of a Digital Hub project that redesigns computers for schools in Africa.

The PIVOT Dublin bid strategy identifies an opportunity to use Dublin as a test bed for new ideas which address local need yet have global relevance. The bid explores these challenges and opportunities under four themes, which represent issues that face all cities; ‘Connecting Cities, ‘Making Cities Lighter’, ‘Making Cities Flow’; and ‘Making Cities Smile’. These themes are being explored through the development of ‘seed’ project collaborations between the public sector, business and design communities. Central to the bid strategy is that the seed projects start as soon as the bid is submitted and this work is now underway.

The PIVOT Dublin team hopes that the bid will convince an international audience that Dublin is a repository of much talent and a solid tradition of great Irish design. Above all, the bid conveys what a “cool city” Dublin is. Perhaps it does not tell a conventional story but it is a fascinating one, it is a story about a very sociable city for an extraordinary design experience. The Dublin design community agrees, as is evident in this testimonial by graphic designer David Smith of Atelier, the first Irish Designer to be elected to the AGI (Alliance Graphique Internationale):

“That is what I would love to emerge from it; the legacy. That we use design to make a difference. If that came out of it at the end – win, lose or fail – that would be the best thing that we could have achieved for our city and the bid certainly presents that opportunity”.

More information on Dublin’s bid for World Design Capital 2014, is available from www.pivotdublin.com