Interactive textiles, battery-less wearables, and clothing that can change their features. These are just a few of the innovations that will be showcased during the Dutch Design Week (DDW), where visitors get to have a glimpse into how the future will look like.
DDW kicks off on the 16th of October in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, and the 2021 edition will see visitors attending talks and exhibitions in person again. Hundreds of seminars, workshops, and talks will liven up the city. Among all the events, we selected 7 exhibitions that should not be missed. Have a look at the technologies that will shape the world of tomorrow.
Second Skins Re-FREAM
Clothes can become smart and adaptable thanks to Second Skins. It is a modular piece of clothing that is paving the way towards new sustainable business models, and makes it possible to change the features of a garment. Developed within the Re-FREAM research project, Second Skin envisions an enhancement in the lifespan of products, which in turn would reduce the need for new items of clothing.
Link to the exhibition here
FLORAL LAB
Sari Rikken – a recent graduate from the Willem de Kooning Academy – designed FLORAL LAB, a modular vase that supports the full lifecycle of flowers. Hercreation is composed of four elements – all made with ceramic and glass – and are inspired by common kitchen tools. The vase makes flower arranging easier and prepares flowers for use once they are in full bloom.
Link to the exhibition here
MINI Vision Urbanaut
The use of space and approaches towards mobility are being completely revolutionized by MINI Vision Urbanaut. Their car drives electrically, and its main focus is on the experiential side of travel. What’s new is that it offers the opportunity to set the interior and the exterior design of the vehicle according to the mood of the user. Despite the minimum dimensions – the car is just 4.46 meters long – MINI Vision Urbanaut is suitable for all kinds of uses.
Link to the exhibition here
My Home Office
The COVID-19 pandemic made us set up home offices for remote working or schooling. But what if the office was in our garden? That’s the idea from Cosmas Bronsgeest and Bart Berkhout, who designed My Home Office, a sustainable solution that can placed close to your house, but creates a separate space to work.
Link to the exhibition here
Interacting with textiles
In exploring the ways in which smart textiles could create new interactive possibilities, Aston Martin, in partnership with Tongji University, has presented three prototypes that feature gesture interaction, textile displays, and an aesthetic experience.
Ingenious Skin offers the user the chance to swipe textile to set the infotainment’s system volume levels, Blooming shows the status of the smart cockpit on the seat belt in real-time, and Sobric lets the audience experience lighting changes and sound effects that interact with the system.
Link to the exhibition here
Efficiency for Access Design Challenge
Students teams from 13 universities all over the world took part in the Efficiency for Access Design Challenge, developing prototypes for innovative appliances in low to middle-income countries. During the DDW, visitors will get to see a selection of the projects that the students developed which involve agriculture, cooking or healthcare. Vegetable dryers, water pumps, and vaccine refrigeration are some of the ideas that the teams have worked on.
Link to the exhibition here
WEAR
Happy.Green presents WEAR, a collection of wooden battery-less wearables. The design and the functionalities still stay the same as the ones of conventional wearables but are made with sustainable materials. Operating music and lights can be done via these sunglasses, bracelets, and watches which provide an alternative to plastic wearables.
Link to the exhibition here
Link to the full DDW program
Photo: the 2020 Dutch Design Awards during the DDW
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