Turkey's megalopolis Istanbul recently hosted a significant event called the Istanbul Design Weekend 2009 (IDW), organized by the Dream Design Factory and Italian Design Partners.
Experts, art professors, opinion leaders, and renowned designers from Turkey, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco and Israel gathered at this four-day event on June18-21. This year’s theme “Mediterranean Design between Present and Future” grabbed the attention of design enthusiasts with impressive exhibitions, installations and new products. About 60 independent design events with a shared Mediterranean identity took place at various venues scattered around the city.
The Design Week exhibitions were divided into two core sections linked by the common theme. The first section ensured the involvement of the best showrooms and malls, which interpreted the topic of Mediterranean Design through the set up of spaces and shop windows. The second section consisted of unedited exhibitions and cultural initiatives related to the same topic.
Eye-catching mélange of ideas, creativity breaking patterns
Two Turkish exhibitions entitled “Oops!” and “Barbarlight” grabbed the attention of design lovers with their stories of “unrealized” projects, instead of usual design stories. ‘Oops!” was curated by Erdem Akan and organized by Maybe Design. The second exhibition “Barbarlight” was an initiative by 12 independent local designers including Adnan Serbest, Defne Koz and Alper Boler. “Barbarlight” is the second project of this group which collaborates to realize design exhibitions. By using rapid prototyping technology and creatively working with lighting, they create innovative design objects. Both of these Turkish design exhibitions were hosted at the Istanbul Culinary Institute.
The three winning projects of the “Design and the Mediterranean, between today and tomorrow” international online contest were announced for the first time at IDW 2009. The contest, which was organized by Palermo Design (PAD), was divided into three categories including product design, visual design and photography. 0.11
Among the highlights of the event were the exhibition “Richard Ginori 1735”, curated by architect and designer Paola Navone. The installation was an engaging and intriguing art makeover of the famous Italian porcelain firm’s identity and style. Another favourite was the installation “Mezzoterra Mezzomare, Mediterranean Seas – Love Difference Chairs” by Italian Michelangelo Pistoletto. This famous international artist was awarded with the Leone d’Oro for the Carrier at the Biennale di Venezia in 2003.
During the event several conferences were held. These included one on Mediterranean design and one on architectural lighting. These conferences brought together people from all over the world of Mediterranean design.
All in all, the Design Week provided an excellent opportunity to assess the state of Turkish design in a city like Istanbul, which is making a name for itself on the international design map. It is not only a platform where many cultures convene, but it also fosters young talents.
A library fully dedicated to design now in Istanbul
Following Milan and Shanghai, the world’s third design library opened in Istanbul as part of the IDW 2009 line-up. This international project aims to promote design by creating a library completely dedicated to it.
Design Library Istanbul is yet another meeting point for education and innovation, and will add sparkle to Istanbul's cultural life. It will also be a social place, a centre for cultural events and design exhibits. The library, opened at Haskoy’s Old Hat Factory, is the first independent Turkish design library.
Currently, the library possesses 3,000 publications including 1800 international magazines, 700 books and 500 catalogues from international design companies. And more is certainly to follow.
