Doors of Perception
Previews of Doors 9 and Dott 07
by John Thackara January 2007
With this email we preview our main activities for the year - especially
Doors of Perception 9 in India, and Designs of the time (Dott 07) in the
UK. Please make a note of the key dates. Please also pass this
newsletter on to friends and colleagues who may be interested.
DOORS OF PERCEPTION 9 on "JUICE" (FOOD, ENERGY, DESIGN)
Doors of Perception 9 takes place in New Delhi at India Habitat Centre
on Saturday 3 March. The theme of the conference is "Juice: Food,
Energy, Design". It is followed in the evening by a social technologies
bazaar. Doors 9 is preceded by an evening Mediawalla Festival proiduced
by Pixelache. On Sunday 4 April all participants are invited a Holi
party.
WHY FOOD AND ENERGY AS AN ISSUE?
Global food systems are not sustainable. Industrialised food consumes
ten times more energy in production and distribution than enters our
bodies as nutrition. In 'developed' countries, the food consumption of a
single family generates eight tonnes of CO2 emissions a year. This
madness is enabled by non renewable fossil fuel. But what to do? Doors 9
breaks the food systems issue into bite-sized design chunks.
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/food/
WHY THE THEME "JUICE"?
To do things differently, we need to perceive things differently. How we
think about food is as important as the design steps we take to change
the system. Food continuously circulates through the landscape into our
homes and bodies; it thereby organizes our calorific, symbolic and
social energies. In south Asian cultures juice, the essence of food, can
also mean credit, electricity, access, flavor, and love. Doors 9 is
about food as metaphor as well as system - as culture, as well as
consumption.
DOORS 9 CONFERENCE PROGRAMME (Saturday 3 March)
Doors 9 opens with a introduction to the relationships between food,
energy and design by Hannu Nieminen (Finland, Nokia), Aditya Dev Sood
(India, Centre for Knowldge Societies), Debra Solomon (Netherlands,
culiblog.org) and John Thackara (France, Doors of Perception). Session 2
is about food in cities: Dutch architect Winy Maas (MVRDV) proposes
three-dimensional agriculture, with a reference to pig cities. Urban
designer Andre Viljoen explains his book about Continuous Productive
Urban Landscapes (CPULS). David Barrie and Nina Belk describe their
urban farming project for Designs of the time (Do0tt 07) in the UK.
Designers Sanjeev Shankar and John Vijay Abraham compare old and new
traditions of street food. Chris Hardwicke (Toronto) and Ron Paul
(Portland) discuss farmers markets as hubs within food systems. Session
3 is on food information systems. Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia,
ponders new ways to think about browsing for food. Divya Sharma looks at
food maps. Ellis Nader (USA) and Ian Brown (Fair Tracing, UK) look at
identity management and food certification systems. Session 4 of Doors 9
is on "juice". Designers Jogi Panghaal and Ezio Manzini discuss the
different ways European and Asian cultures think about food. Alex
Steffen and Sarah Rich (editors Worldchanging: A User's Guide to the
21st Century) describe small and large scale changes already under way
with Walter Amerika, an advisor to multinational food companies. Session
5 of Doors 9 (yes, it's a full day, but there's food throughout) is a
social technologies bazaar featuring innovative food-related projects
from around the world. Among those you will meet are: Garrick Jones (UK,
Ludic Corporation); Georg Christoph Bertsch (Germany, Cargo Bathing);
Giovanni Canata (Italy, DxH2O water project); Claire Harten (USA) and
Maria Wedum (Denmark), Dirt Cafe; Kultivator (Sweden, agriculture as
art); Dori Gislason (Iceland, new lives for fishing villages); Francesca
Sarti (Italy, food kiosks in Florence); Marije Vogelzang (Netherlands,
Proef project); Maja Kuzmanovic (Netherlands, Groworld) ; Margie Morris
(USA, Intel, food repositories).
MEDIAWALLA PROCESSION
Plans for a street-level new media happening during Doors 9 are being
developed in some secrecy by Juha Huuskonen and Aditya Dev Sood. We know
is its name - Mediawalla Festival, or MWF - and that it's inspired by
the mythical wedding procession of Radha and Krishna. MWF is, we hear,"a
collaborative interpretation of ritual in the public space". Featured
artists will include Leandro Pisano and Alessandro Esposito
http://www.interferenze.org/ who will present projects from
http://www.molleindustria.it/ . Delhi Air Traffic Control has been
alerted that Usman Haque will float into town on his magic carpet:
http://www.interactivearchitecture.org/open-burble-update.html
DOORS OF PERCEPTION 9
Further annoncements, together with details on how to register:
http://juice.doorsofperception.com/
DESIGNS OF THE TIME (DOTT) April-October
Who designs your life? Designs of the time (Dott 07) is a year of
innovation projects, leading to a two-week long festival, that address
just that question. Doors of Perception is leading the content
development of this new biennial, which is an initiative of The Design
Council and the development agency, One North East. Even now,
communities and individuals across the North East of England are
exploring ways to improve an aspect of daily life - helped by design.
http://www.dott07.com/
DOTT 07 FESTIVAL 14-28 October
The best way to experience the full range of Dott07 activities will be
during a two week festival in Newcastle-Gateshead. You will encounter
all those who have taken part in Dott's projects and events, and
Creative Community Awards (The Commies) will be given in recognition of
outstanding achievement. Special presentations will feature Sociable
Objects (Ulla-Maria Maartinen) and a daily skills bazaar in which
visitors may consult a multitude of experts in 20 minute increments.
http://www.dott07.com/go/dott-07-festival
WHAT IS DOTT FOR?
Two hundred and fifty regions in Europe (and many more worldwide) are in
search of a shared vision to inspire economic and cultural renewal. In
Dott 07, the abstract idea of sustainability becomes a concrete
question:"how do we want to live?" By the end of 2007, some Dott 07
projects may evolve into enterprises; people in the region will have
learned, by doing it, new approaches to social innovation; a further
legacy will be platforms for ongoing social innovation - such as places,
hubs, and support schemes.
http://www.dott07.com/go/the-region/a-new-approach-to-design/a-new-
approach-to-design
DOTT 07 PROJECTS
MOVE ME!
Could we improve mobility for people, and access to services, without
adding more cars or building new roads? Scremerston County First School
in Northumberland is the focus for this project, which is led by
Live|Work. This small school is a daily hub for 42 children and 34
families. The Move Me! project looks at the school community's mobility
needs - including un-met ones - and explores how they can be better
served by combining existing vehicles and services in smarter ways.
http://www.dott07.com/go/mobility/move-me
MAPPING THE NECKLACE 5-7 May, Durham
Could a public park be more than grass and benches? Durham's Necklace
Park is a 12 mile stretch of spaces - and experiences - linked to the
River Wear. You create your own park by mapping tracks, forests, picnic
and fishing spots. You can prepare routes in advance, online - or swap
ideas with fellow visitors once you are there. Durham Necklace Park is
yours to re-create. The project is led by Susan Williamson with Claire
Lancaster. Dates: 5-7 May 2007.
http://www.dott07.com/go/tourism/interviews/susan-williamson
LOW CARB LANE
More of us would like to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, especially
at home. But how? Wind turbines? Geothermal? Fuel cells? Solar panels?
Wood-chip boilers? There are so many competing proposals that it's hard
to decide. It's also hard to pay: few people can afford to invest, on
their own, in off-grid equipment. Low Carb Lane, which is led by
Live|Work, tackles these challenges head-on in a real street: Castle
Terrace in Ashington. The community is exploring the potential to
achieve warm homes in ways that reduce their carbon footprint and also
save them money.
http://www.dott07.com/go/energy/low-carb-lane
ECO-DESIGN CHALLENGE
Year eight students in 80 schools across the North East of England have
been invited to map their school's 'carbon footprint'. Having identified
which aspects of their school's systems and activities are wasteful,
they will soon propose the re-design of their school's key systems to
reduce its impact on the environment. The 50 best schools will further
develop their plans with the help of professional designers. The best
designs will be eligible for awards at the Dott Festival in October. If
you would like to be considered as one of those designers working with
the schools (as a volunteer) please contact project leader Nick Devitt:
<nick.devitt@xxxxxxxxxx>
http://www.dott07.com/go/eco-design-challenge
STUFF-O-METER
How many materials are wasted during the manufacture of a hairdryer? Or
a car? Dott and Design and Art Direction (D&AD) have issued a challenge
to communication design students: Develop a Stuff-O-Meter' to help us
all understand more about the "hidden rucksack" of everyday products.
Competitors will design a visual representation of the lifetime use of
material resources, from cradle to grave, of a household durable
product. The best designs will be presented at the Dott Festival in
October.
http://www.dott07.com/go/energy/dandad
OUR_NEW_SCHOOL
What should the design priorities be when a school is rebuilt? During
the next 15 years, 3,500 UK schools will be rebuilt or refurbished in an
£80m programme called Building Schools for the Future (BSF). Dott07 has
teamed up with a real school - Walker Technology College - to ask: how
best should the money be spent when their turn comes? In a project led
by Engine, Walker is setting up a Future School Lab within its existing
building. The Lab will be a place where design ideas are developed and
discussed among the school community.
http://www.dott07.com/go/school
ALZHEIMER 100
What practical steps are needed to improve daily life for people with
dementia and their carers? Dementia affects 750,000 people currently in
the UK - rising to an expected two million by 2050. This project, led by
Thinkpublic for Dott and the Alzheimer's Society, is investigating
everyday problems experienced by Alzheimer's patients and carers. The
project enables people with Alzheimer's and their carers to document a
"day in our life". These documents will become opportunity maps on which
are marked practical things that need to be fixed. Where new with
support systems, or devices, are needed, the project will make design
proposals.
http://www.dott07.com/go/health
DESIGN AND SEXUAL HEALTH
Sexual health clinics can be so unwelcoming that people who need to visit
them, don't. The UK government has given local authorities money to
improve their buildings and services. Dott is working with Gateshead
Council and Louise Hulton (Options) with Jennifer Singleton on the DaSH
(Design and Sexual Health) project. Its about design actions to make
sexual health services easier to access, and use.
http://www.dott07.com/go/health
THE CYBORG SHOW: ME, OR MACHINE? (August-October)
Who designs your body? This controversial exhibition, curated by Andrew
Chetty, features prosthetic body parts: ears, eyes, skin, limbs, organs.
They are joined by robots designed to look after old people - or to
perform surgical operations. You will experience devices designed to
connect our bodies and minds to networks, or try on smart textiles and
wearable computing. The event invites you to discuss the question: Is
this a future we want? Newcastle, Discovery Museum.
http://www.dott07.com/go/health/our-cyborg-future-me-or-machine
URBAN FARMING
Based in Tees Valley, the project will get people growing their own food
in small medium and large urban growing spaces. These will range from
window boxes to larger planter boxes and low sided skips. Meal Assembly
Centres, or MACs, will be established to show growers how best to
prepare their produce. The project, led by David Barrie with Debra
Solomon and Nina Belk, will culminate in one big 'Meal for
Middlesbrough' which will involve all the individuals, schools,
businesses, farms and communities which have taken part. (This project
will also feature at Doors 9 in New Delhi).
http://www.dott07.com/go/food
FOOD INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Doors teamed up with the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and Designs of the
time (Dott07) to sponsor a competition in the 2006-2007 RSA Design
Directions competition. Our two competition themes were food information
systems, and sustainable tourism. Winners will be selected in London
this month by jury members Emily Campbell (Critish Council), Hilary
Cottam, Professor Anthony Dunne (Royal College of Art), Rob Holdway
(Giraffe Innovation), Natalie Jeremijenko, Ulla-Maria Maartinen
(thinglink), Dorothy Mackenzie, Steve Messem (Fold Gallery), Lesley
Morris (Design Council), Debra Solomon (culiblog.org), John Thackara
(Doors of Perception).
http://www.rsadesigndirections.org/dott07.html
http://www.dott07.com/go/education/dott-rsa-design-directions
PICTURE HOUSE @ BELSAY HALL May-October.
Visiting an English country house will never be the same again. An
extraordinary array of artists has been commissioned by Judith Hall for
English Heritage for a spectacular event called Picture House at Belsay
Hall, one of the region's finest country estates. Juha Huuskonen, for
Dott 07, invited celebrated new media artists to instal digital works as
part of the show. Picture House opens on 5 May 2007.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.00100200800k00800b
THE WELCOMES
What do we see, and what do we experience, on arrival in a region? For
The Welcomes, Stella Hall is inviting artists and designers to re-make
places, situations, and experiences. Their work will feature in airports
and railway stations, motorway cafes, on mobile phones. Prepare to be
surprised!
VITAL SIGNS
How happy are we? The news - and politicians - can often be downbeat. In
Vital Signs, artists and desigers have been asked by Forma for Dott 07
to create a well-being 'dashboard for the North East'. State-of-the-art
infographics on huge displays - and in surprising other places - will
start a thousand conversations.
NEW WORK
Fifty-five percent of the UK workforce does not have a job in the 9-5,
Monday-Friday sense of the word. Dott's NewWork project (nicknamed
"Working Life After Starbucks") is about practical design steps to
improve the day-to-day experience of people who are self-employed or
have a micro-business. Many people who work from home are isolated and
could do with places to go to meet each other; they need help accessing
the government's 300+ assistance schemes; and they would benefit from
exchanging skills and services with each other on a local basis.
http://www.doorsofperception.com/archives/2006/11/life_as_a_spot.php
DESIGN CAMP ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM September
Could there be more to tourism than staring at strangers, flopping on
beaches, and shopping? In September 2007, teams of young designers
spanning multiple disciplines will develop radical alternatives to
mainstream tourism. Steve Messem of Fold Gallery will coordinate
projects for 'in-between' locations: medieval army barracks, disused
coal mines, cooling towers, fishing ports. Projects may include
twenty-first century youth hostel, extreme sport nature parks,
find-and-cook food trails, meetings beyond the convention centre,
mapping local knowledge.Teams will present their proposals to a jury of
design professionals, entrepreneurs and local citizens. The best
projects will feature at the Dott07 Festival in October 2007. A Call for
participants will be made later this month.
http://www.dott07.com/go/contact-us
ALSO SHOWING (October)
Dott has partnered with the region's existing design annual, DE07, to
present the following events and exhibitions, also during October: From
The Earth We Came (graphic design on the streets); Our Friends In The
North (graphic design show); Design For Science (world class scientific
visualization at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens); Launch +
Designed&Made (in Newcastle Fire Station); Re-Design | Design Contains;
Decompression (Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland);
Matthias Bentsson (National Glass Centre, Sunderland); Gareth Pugh (Arts
Centre, Washington); Talking Cities (Urban Drift exhibition from Berlin,
see below).
http://www.design-event.co.uk/
http://www.dott07.com/go/the-region
TALKING CITIES (October)
How might the forgotten corners of post-industrial cities be rescued?
This trans-disciplinary exhibition was conceived by Francesca Ferguson
for Urban Drift at the spectacular coal-washing plant at Zeche
Zollverein, in Germany. It looks at the ways marginal, residual and
neglected public spaces, and brownfield sites, can be reconfigured and
reactivated. For the North East of England version of the show,
architects and urban designers will add proposals for the region to
complement proposals shown in Germany. October, North East England.
http://talkingcities.org/talkingcities/pages/1_en.html
http://www.dott07.com/go/contact-us
CONFERENCE ON PROFESSIONAL DESIGN PRACTICE
What are the new ways professional designers will work in the future,
and how should design education best prepare them? This international
conference will discuss these questions in the context of lessons
learned during Dott projects.The conference is jointly organised by
Dott, the Design Council UK, and Northumbria University. Kevin
McCullough is conference director; Core 77 and Blueprint are media
partners. 25, 26 November 2007 (to be confirmed), Newcastle.
http://www.dott07.com/go/contact-us
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN DOTT
The Dott 07 website, and its monthly email newsletter, will announce
events and opportunities for participation.
http://www.dott07.com/go/contact-us
PIXELACHE 2007, HELSINKI March-April
Shortly after arriving back from India, the Pixelache team bring you the
2007 edition of Europe's most edgy and interesting festivals of
electronic arts and subcultures. Highlights include a seminar on
Architecture for Participation; a spectacular Nordic VJ Meeting / VJ
Jamming Session; an island party; Prix Möbius Nordica interactive media
competition; and a wide variety of DIY art + tech that involve
generative art and design, open hardware and circuit bending, self-made
VJ software demonstrations. There is also be a trip to Turku for the
'Digitally Yours' exhibition at Ars Nova & Aboa Vetus museum featuring
works from Finnish and international media artists .Wednesday 28 March -
Sunday 1 April 2007, various venues, Helsinki.
http://www.pixelache.ac/
__________________________________________________
Doors-Report mailing list
http://lists.webtic.nl/mailman/listinfo/doors-report