From climate change, safety and mobility to circularity, health care and water: these are all themes that challenge the growing world population. At Innovation Origins we are looking for solutions to these problems every single day. What future do we have? And what kind of future do we actually want? How do we design that future? Designers try to answer all these questions during Dutch Design Week. At the World Design Embassies, these questions will be further explored in exhibitions, presentations, workshops, lectures and debates. Each embassy will also organise a conference, where the relevant issue will be explored in great depth.
On the eve of Dutch Design Week, we will visit the six different ’embassies’ that are set up around the themes of Safety, Circular and Bio-based Building, Sustainable Design, Health, Mobility and Water. In the podcasts, we discuss the subject in more detail with the participants of the embassies and in the long reads, you can read more about the embassies.
Embassy of Safety
How can designers contribute to current safety issues? This embassy focuses on research and experimentation. From different perspectives, designers are investigating relevant answers to the broad question: ‘Is safety a right’?
Location: Strijp S, Ketelhuisplein
Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building
How can we ensure that everyone can live in the Netherlands in the coming years? And how can we ensure that within these building assignments the climate objectives are also achieved through efficient energy use, climate-proof and bio-based and emission-friendly design and construction?
Location: Strijp S, Ketelhuisplein
Embassy of Sustainable Design
How can we make an impact, as a business, as designers, as consumers? This embassy emphasizes the urgency of the transition to a sustainable economy and way of life and shows what you can do about it in concrete terms.
Location: Strijp S & T, Innovation Powerhouse, Gloeilampenplantsoen, Yksi Expo
Embassy of Health
Design talents, healthcare professionals, commercial parties and governments address the central question: what will happen if the hospital of today no longer exists? Where will healthcare be provided, and how? What impact will this have on the healthcare landscape? And what is the role of designers shaping the future of healthcare?
Location: Strijp S, Klokgebouw
Embassy of Mobility
How beautifully we planned our cities in the first half of the last century. Very efficient too. For cars, not for people. Now that the world looks very different we are forced to go back to the drawing board, we can not afford to make the same mistake. Today, people must come first.
Location: Strijp S, Achter Radio Royaal
Embassy of Water
Water. It is such an essential part of our lives. It is everywhere and is literally in everything. In fact, it is so ubiquitous that we don’t even think about it. But more and more often we hear negative news about our water. Pollution, drought, flooding – the messages affect us all and many of the problems are man-made.
Location: Campina terrein, het Lab
All embassies can be visited during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven, from 19 to 27 October.
These podcasts and long reads were produced for World Design Embassies, by Anik See and Bart Brouwers, supported by the Dutch Design Foundation.