PHILADELPHIA, PA.- DesignPhiladelphia has become the largest national celebration of its kind! With over 90 events and 450 designers, this city-wide cultural event will take place Wednesday, October 7 thru Tuesday, October 13, 2009.
DesignPhiladelphia spotlights all things design - from architecture to interior design, fashion to product design, textile to graphic design. Boutiques, galleries, design studios, cultural institutions, universities, warehouses and city streets become platforms for the creative energy soaring throughout Philadelphia. For seven days, visitors can explore exhibitions, workshops, studio tours, lectures, runway shows, special events and product roll-outs that inspire, engage, excite and delight.
2009 events will include:
Dialogues on Design - a series of conversations featuring design professionals such as: graphic designer, author and curator Ellen Lupton; product designer Karim Rashid; editor-in-chief, Metropolis Magazine, Susan Szenasy; architect James Timberlake
SoReFa - an eco-couture runway show featuring socially responsible fashion
Philly {heart} Design - a collaborative design intervention in an empty city lot exploring urban park design
Philly Works - a marketplace and exhibition of locally designed and produced products
Dining by Design - specialized menus in local restaurants blending distinctive meal preparation with distinctive ambience
Open Studios - more than 15 architecture, product design and graphic design firms will open their doors to the public. They include: Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT), Interface Studio, Cloud Geshan, Galbraith & Paul, Moto Designshop
2008 was a banner year for DesignPhiladelphia. Over 55 million people encountered DesignPhiladelphia information via online blogs, magazines, newspaper articles, E-newsletters, advertisements, and TV broadcasts. Approximately 235,000 people attended a DesignPhiladelphia event (up from 160,000 in 2007) including Philadelphia residents, as well as students, design professionals, and consumers working, studying, and living in the Mid-Atlantic region.
For 2009, DesignPhiladelphia is maintaining its focus on sustainability, a subject matter that recognizes and gives voice to the enormity of eco-culture initiatives taking place locally, across the country, and around the world. Organizers expect that many participants will address this global need for change through their installations, symposia, fashion shows, tours, workshops, and product launches.
DesignPhiladelphia Founder and Executive Director Hilary Jay, says, "Through showcasing the extent of designers and retailers, professional offices, museums, and galleries in this area, DesignPhiladelphia aides the city's retention and attraction of young designers and creative professionals. DesignPhiladelphia is instrumental in raising the national reputation of Philadelphia as a city of change and innovation."
Since 2005, DesignPhiladelphia has made a significant contribution in telling the story of the expanding creative vibrancy in Philadelphia. While unifying businesses, academic institutions, and professional associations, DesignPhiladelphia continues to showcase the diverse and ever-growing population of the creative sector. According to Innovation Philadelphia's Creative Footprint, the Philadelphia Region boasts nearly 56,000 creative economy firms and 766,000 creative industry workers. Of these, 18% are in design, with a direct output of $2.7 billion.
"Design can be felt throughout work, social interactions, education, commutes - it is really in every form of our lives - the poster we look at while waiting for the bus that takes us to the building where we use computers to communicate and produce; it helps us decide what box of cereal to buy, which coat to wear, how we carry our things," says Beth Van Why, program manager. "Design affects everyone and everything every moment of every day."
