The Dutch Design Week (DDW) takes place in the Dutch city of Eindhoven every year in October. The event has grown tremendously over the past years. In 2018, the DDW attracted 355,000 visitors from home and abroad. But this year the event cannot physically take place due to the corona pandemic. This is why the organization has set up an online program.
Online program
The organization behind DDW had been taking the impact of the coronavirus into account for some time already. As such, it has been working for months on the design of a virtual alternative.
All online events can be attended on the DDW website. The program comprises digital exhibitions, live streams with designers, articles, and videos. It is also possible to chat with the participating designers. There are over 450 online events this year. We highlight some of the online experiences here.
Aiki
The Dutch designer Josephine de Fijter has designed the Aiki in collaboration with the Charlie Braveheart Foundation and Studio Bibi van der Velden. Medical treatments are often extremely frightening and stressful for children. The Aika works as a kind of breathing exercise. The cuddly toy ‘breathes’ along with the child. Children are calmed down by maintaining the same calm breathing rhythm as the toy.
Aiki slowly changes color when a child is anxious. Aiki measures this when the child starts to breathe more quickly. The way in which children hold the soft toy can also show the practitioner how the child feels.
The IKEA Virtual Greenhouse
Various experts at the Virtual Greenhouse give master classes, lectures, and advice on how people can create a warm personal atmosphere at home. The experts focus on nutrition, health, sustainability, and botany.
Each session at the Virtual Greenhouse offers information about being green and living happily. Consider storing seeds from plants or building a terrarium for your home. The goal of the Virtual Greenhouse is to help people live a sustainable and balanced life at home.
FABULOUS FUNGI
This project by designer Ilse Kremer focuses on the use of fungi in biodesign instead of toxic textile dyes. A lot of water pollution is caused by the use of such dyes. Fungi are a promising alternative according to Kremer.
Different types of fungi produce pigments that can be used for dyeing textiles. Kremer has jointly developed fungus dye with the Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute. This paint reacts in a different way to various types of fabric and creates unique prints this way. Kremer uses these textiles to make clothes.
Bank of Care
This alternative banking system is founded on unpaid care work. The non-market-based work in households, childcare, cleaning, and so on, form the basis of today’s economy. This is imperative to the functioning of society, nevertheless, this is not commonly acknowledged. The Bank of Care (BoC) registers this care work, translates it into readable data, and gives the care workers an income for this care work.
Agora – Mental Wellness For Cancer
Cancer patients often suffer from psychological challenges such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia. The Agora designers responded to this need by developing an app that helps with these problems with the support of therapeutic tools.
Manifestations
Each year Manifestations presents artists who experiment with Art & Tech. The theme of Manifestations this year is Monsters. Several artists offer insight into the dilemmas that technological developments bring to bear.
WatAlsStad
What if children are allowed to shape the city of the future? Five designers used their own work methods to design workshops for children to shape their own city. During these workshops, children speculate about what the city of the future will look like. The workshops lead to unique buildings and ideas about the ‘Wat-Als-Stad‘ (What-If-City in English).
Visual coverage of the workshops will be provided during the DDW. Live construction will take place on the ‘Wat-Als-City’ model during the autumn school break. A model of a new city will be presented here at the end of the week.
The full program of the DDW can be found on their website.
Also interesting:
An impression of the Dutch Design Week 2019
DDW Talk: Humanoid robots need to alleviate human anxiety
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