Who should you be looking out for at the Design Indaba 2012?

For those who missed the roadside advertising, blogs, twats, twits, tweets and all the rest of the hubbub, here's a little heads-up! The Design Indaba is taking place at the CTICC from 29 Febr - 4 March. The Indaba which has creative cape town in a stir is comprised of two main components, the conference and the exhibition.  

The conference which runs from the 29th to the 2nd will give Capetonians the opportunity to interact with some of the most influential design personalities currently gracing the scene. You can see the program here. 

We would recommend checking out award-winning Danish architect  and founder of BIG Group, Bjarke Ingels on Fri 02@15:10. Big was also responsible for publishing the Yes is More Archicomic. Arising from an exhibition at the Danish Architecture Centre, the book calls itself "a popular cultural manifesto" instead of a monograph. The 35 projects are presented distinctly in comic book format with Bjarke Ingels popping up in unexpected places to highlight certain aspects through comic speech balloons. 

BIG's Denmark Pavillion for the Shanghai Expo was voted building of the year 2010 by ArchDaily. Truly inspirational!

From Left: Interior view of the Denmark Pavillion for the Shanghai Expo 2010, The Yes is More Archicomic and Bjarke Ingels.

The exhibition which runs from 2-4 March is a showcase of come of the best local design, spreading across all platforms from jewelry to fashion to furniture. Find out about that here. We think that the team from RAW Studios are doing some really interesting work.

The Ikonik range by Raw Studios represents their version of the original steel locker. Modular components lend flexibility while a variety of prints and colours will stimulate your creativity.

Another event worth mentioning is the trend seminar presented by internationally acclaimed trend forecaster, Li Edelkoort, which will take place on Saturday 3 March 2012 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.  Lidewij pioneers trend forecasting as a profession, predicting  the concepts, colours and materials which will be in fashion two or more years in advance.  Lidewij was chairwoman of the Design Academy Eindhoven from 1999-2008 and in 2003, TIME magazine named her one of the world’s 25 most influential people in fashion. Should be well worth it!

Li Edelkoort with two of her publications

The Design Indaba Film festival will also be running until the 4th of March. Here are a couple of films which we feel should be worthwhile:
How much does your building weigh, Mr Foster?
British Architect, Norman Foster, famous for London’s Millennium Bridge, The British Museum, The Reichstag(Berlin),  ‘the Gherkin’ and the Beijing Airport, shares his thoughts with us on the future of architecture and cities in general. Foster was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1990 and received the Pritzker Prize in 1999 for his contribution to architecture. The Labia on Orange, 29 February 2012 - 6:15pm - 8:15pm

Norman Foster flanked by the iconic 'Gherkin' skyscraper which decorates the London skyline.

Urbanized
Gary Hustwit, who brought us Helvetica (2007) and Objectified (2009),  concludes his design trilogy with this film. Urbanized takes a closer look at architecture and urban design and their role in the shaping of cities with reference to among other cities, Cape Town. The feature-length film showcases prominent architects, planners, policymakers, builders and thinkers in an insightful global discussion on the design of cities. The Labia on Orange, 3 March 2012 - 6:15pm -8:15pm

And of course there's the Design Indaba Party which is taking place at the Cape Town City Hall on the 1st of March from 8pm. Among others you will be entertained by artists Felix Laband; and Mr Sakitumi & The Grrrl. Nice! Tickets are available through Computicket.

Check out www.designindaba.com for more information on all of the above!