Design in Dublin #4: The Lifeline

Here we are! The fourth and final part of my Design in Dublin series, published in full in Iterations issue 3. Enjoy the last of the series, which looks at Kaethe Burt-O'Dea's work on the Lifeline and other projects as examples of citizen design, and read back on parts #1, #2 and #3 if you haven't already.

Design in Dublin #3: DCC Beta

Welcome to part #3 of my Design in Dublin series, looking at the work of Dublin City Council Beta as civic design. This follows on from parts #1 and #2, and stay tuned for the fourth and final part. Design in Dublin is published in full in Iterations issue 3, an Irish design journal available from the IDI.

Design in Dublin #2: Framework

Following on from part #1, which looked at the Dublin Honey Project as an example of agile design in Dublin, here is part #2 of my series of posts on Design in Dublin, this time looking at some of the work being done by Dublin City Council which I class as being responsive design. Design in Dublin is also published in full in Iterations issue 3, available from the IDI.

Design in Dublin #1: Dublin Honey Project

To round off my studies in Curating Contemporary Design last year I undertook some research into (surprise, surprise) contemporary Irish design. More specifically, I looked at design in urban settings in Ireland, as I was getting a little frustrated at just how often Irish design was presented as being rural in exhibitions at home and abroad (you can read some of that research in a three-part series here on I Like Local called Design, Exhibitions and Irish Identity). As my research into contemporary Irish design in urban settings progressed, I honed in on Dublin, and began to see some patterns emerge. I documented these in an essay which I'm sharing here now, in four parts. You can also read this essay - in full - in the third edition of Irish design journal Iterations, which is available to buy through the Institute of Designers in Ireland. Without further ado...

ID2015: the end of something, or the beginning?

When the Glass Society of Ireland asked me to contribute to their annual journal, it provided a great opportunity to reflect (boom boom) not only on glass, the discipline I specialised in years ago for my undergraduate degree, but also on the year that has passed: 2015, the Year of Irish Design. It's been an interesting thing to look on at from afar, and a particularly curious thing to consider from my current Scandinavian location. Read on...

Vital Interventions: Assemble wins the Turner Prize

Assemble, a collective of London-based 'sort of' architects who design and make urban interventions and community collaborations has won the 2015 Turner Prize, the UK art world's highest accolade, previously won with such iconic conceptual works as Damien Hirst's cow and calf in formaldehyde and Martin Creed's light going on and off. The work that got Assemble nominated is very different: a regeneration project in Liverpool's dilapidated Toxteth neighbourhood, which is inspiring proof of the power of a determined community and enlightened designers. But what does Assemble winning the Turner Prize mean for work of this kind in the future?

Design, Museums and Society

Studying Curating Contemporary Design and working in the V&A meant I spent a lot of time over the past year thinking about what the V&A's cool dude Contemporary team have been up to. I think they've been doing more interesting stuff than anyone else in the design museum world lately, and here's an abridged version of an essay I wrote about whether or not I think they're being successful in their quest to renew the V&A's position as a public institution and design's position as an agent of change in society. This is the first of a few 'so long London' posts before I start sharing my Danish exploits, so read on and enjoy!

Design, Exhibitions and Irish Identity #3: Now and Next

Here is the third and final part of my series of posts on how Irish design and exhibitions have presented Irish identity, with Parts #1 and #2 available for you to read back on. This final part looks at recent and current international exhibitions of Irish design to see how they continue in a particular tradition of... well... tradition. Read on!

Design, Exhibitions and Irish Identity #2: 19th and 20th Centuries

Welcome to Part #2 of my look at how Irish identity has been explored, constructed and presented through design and exhibitions. This part looks at some key exhibitions and presentations in the 19th and 20th centuries, contrasting the different ways that design and manufactures were presented at home and abroad, and exploring the struggle between presenting tradition and rurality and presenting progress and modernity. Read back on Part #1, while Part #3, looking at Irish design exhibitions now and next, will be posted next week, so stay tuned!

Design, Exhibitions and Irish Identity #1: Designing Irish Identity

I've just handed in two more essays for my masters, one of which took a whirlwind trip through the history of Irish international design exhibitions. I really enjoyed researching and writing this one, so thought I would share it with you. As it goes on for ages (by blog standards, not academic ones), I've split it into three parts. Here is Part #1, which introduces and explores the role design has played in the construction of Irish identity, particularly the identity of Ireland as a fledgling nation. Part #2 will look at how Irish identity was presented in key international exhibitions and displays in the 19th and 20th centuries and will be posted later this week. Finally, Part #3 will take a look at recent and current international exhibitions of Irish design to see how certain identities are being represented even now. Enjoy!

Moments in Irish Design History

All this recent talk of Irish design thanks to Irish Design 2015 (from places other than this blog, cos obviously I Like Local is always banging on about Irish design...) has got me thinking about Irish design history. Collected below is nothing comprehensive and doesn't even stretch back that far (I'm useless at knowing anything that happened before the 20th century, in this field or in any other) but it's a selection of 10 important things that have happened to help make Irish design what it is today. And speaking of today, what better time to share this than St. Patrick's Day! Have I missed something? Probably, so tell me!

Irish Architecture is Taking Over the World

Irish architecture has never before enjoyed the international profile it has gained in the past number of years. In 2008 Grafton Architects won the inaugural World Building of the Year award for their Università commerciale Luigi Bocconi building in Milan and won the Silver Lion for their contribution to David Chipperfield's Venice Architecture Biennale in 2012. Heneghan Peng have won international competitions to design major museum buildings such as the Palestinian Museum, the Grand Epyptian Building and the National Centre for Contemporary Arts in Moscow. London-based Níall McLaughlin was the favourite for last year's Stirling Prize (in a shortlist that was 50% Irish) and was recently announced as the architect of a new extension to London's Natural History Museum. In 2012 O'Donnell + Tuomey Architects were awarded Icon magazine's Architecture Practice of the Year and recently were announced as being on this year's Stirling Prize shortlist for their Saw Swee Hock Student Centre at LSE, their fifth appearance on the shortlist. Younger practices regularly feature in the Architectural Review Awards, the Wallpaper* Architects Directory and other international barometers. Why is that? Why now?!

A No, For Now...

Back in November, the Crafts Council of Ireland circulated a survey among its members and member organisations to float the idea of changing its name to include the word 'design' somewhere. The reasoning behind this was that it would better reflect the proportion of their membership working across or between craft and design, but I wrote here about the negative ramifications this could have on Ireland's wider design community, who remain unrepresented at government level and who the Crafts Council were adamant they would not broaden their remit to include.

Fundit's First Birthday

Last week saw Ireland's first crowd-funding platform Fundit celebrate its first birthday. And in twelve short months Fundit has seen over €300,000 pledged by thousands of people to support almost 150 creative projects all over Ireland for some really cool rewards (based on the most recent figure I could see on their blog - these figures could actually be a little higher now). Of those 150 or so projects, I've been involved in two of them and have funded (or attempted to fund) a further three. Being part of some projects and a funder of others hasn't made me an expert on this at all - I doubt anyone could claim to be an expert at something still very young; the American model, Kickstarter, is only 3 or so years old, so this type of online crowd-funding for creative projects really is in its infancy - but it has given me some food for thought on it all. With Fundit now one year old, I think now is a great time to take stock on the initiative and see what's worked in order to continue growing the initiative's success, so I thought I'd share my take on things.

Design For All

Last week I attended the launch of a universal design resource in Dublin. A publication by the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) and the National Disability Authority (NDA), 'Building for Everyone' is a set of booklets giving a comprehensive guide to how to design a building or urban space according to the principles of universal design. Not solely a launch with a speech from the relevant government minister (this time round it was Phil Hogan, Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government), the event also brought together a number of speakers who helped stress the importance of universal design across all scales.

A Council By Any Other Name...

The Crafts Council of Ireland, after having postponed voting on this issue at their last AGM, are proposing to change their name to include the word 'Design' somewhere. Though they do not intend to change or extend their remit, they feel amending the organisation's name will better reflect the part of their membership which works between craft and design. They're currently running an online survey for members of their Guilds, Associations, Networks and Societies as well as registered members of the Crafts Council to express whether they're for or against a name change and if they're for it, what the name should change to. Based on the results of the survey, this issue could be voted on by the Crafts Council's membership at the next AGM in June 2012 or at an EGM at another time.

A Redraft of Dublin

(One of 30 Pivot Dublin covers, designed by Conor Swanton)

I've just spent a chunk of this afternoon watching the videos on the Pivot Dublin website. Made to accompany Dublin city's bid to be designated 2014 World Design Capital, they communicate some of the ideas that have both led to and developed from Dublin City Council's decision to put the city in the running for WDC. Dublin's entry into this international competition (for want of a better word for it) not only causes you to question what it is or what it could be that makes a city a design capital (does a city have to have a longstanding tradition in design to be a design capital?) but reminds you of the first principles of design (working out of necessity, problem-solving, encouraging change) and elucidates how and why design might be applied across all scales for the good of a city and its inhabitants. From any conversations I've heard or been part of since Pivot Dublin began to develop, and indeed from many of the conversations that have been happening for the past two years in Ireland, it's become clear that Ireland and its capital city are at a pivotal point: the ways of being before now don't work anymore and many facets of our economy and society need to be rethought (or redesigned). Pivot Dublin embodies this need and offers the opportunity (and the 'permission' - an interesting word that got used in all of the filmed conversations that accompany the bid) to redraft Dublin and redesign our daily lives. Perhaps being a design capital doesn't mean producing a lot of design professionals, maybe it means applying design to make the city work better and feel happier.

Discussing Dublin

I've been to a number of events in recent weeks and months that have put the spotlight on our fair oul' city of Dublin. It seems a number of people, for related or perhaps completely unrelated reasons, have begun to see the need for a rethink of Ireland's capital city, and Ireland being a nation of talkers, discussion seems to be step one of that rethink.

Heritage

If, like me, you’re a bit of a design nut, then maybe, like me, you’ve been gorging yourself on Dublin-based design events for the months of October and November. From Open House, Ireland’s biggest architecture festival, to Sweettalk, the Candy Collective’s 37th instalment of creative worship in the Sugar Club, from Refresh Dublin’s reflections on the “State of Play” in Irish interaction design to Bombay Sapphire’s Design Week 09, it’s been an ergonomically-sound extravaganza of all things designed in Ireland (apart from clothes, the next Dublin Fashion Week comes to us in Spring 2010). And if, like me, the state of design in Ireland is never far from your mind, then the last few weeks will have given you a lot to think about.