vienna design week 2015 at a glance

vienna design week 2015 at a glance
universität für angewandte kunst wien (vienna university of applied arts) noHOME pavillion
image © kollektiv fischka / kramar

2015 sees the annual vienna design week in its ninth year. as austria’s largest design festival, it stands as a platform in which to explore creative processes, and provides a venue for on-site experimentation. with thematic focuses on architecture, the future of urban mobility, the graphic arts, handicraft, to name a few, VDW focuses on design as being a key component in cultural production. the annual event explores how design shapes our material culture, our every-day life and our world as consumers; while influencing our lifestyles and most fundamentally our aesthetic senses and judgements.

the festival headquarters for vienna design week 2015 takes over what was once europe’s largest bread factory. the ankerbrot-fabrik thrived well into the late 19th century, and has been considered a jewel of industrial architecture, now transformed into a cultural quarter. set in the austrian capital’s favoriten district, brotfabrik is set to focus many events and exhibitions during the 10 day program of VDW.

lucia massari – marbleabilia
image © andrea marucchio

among these are lucia massari‘s ‘marblebilia’ created in collaboration with madruzzato marmi & graniti, a marble cutting manufactory based near vicenza. the project explores new ways of reusing high-quality marble scrap, such as carrara marble and onyx, to create something out of what would otherwise be destined to be ground into gravel.

work in progress – christophe machet – viennese (hi)stories
image © christophe machet

a major highlight of the festival headquarter’s programme is the laboratory which is a participatory exhibition space that challenges the public and selected design teams to work and interact with one another. running under the motto of ‘viennese (hi)stories’, this year sees approximately twenty visual motifs from the most populous urban district of vienna hanging on the walls as pre-printed tear-off sheets. instructions will ask the selected creatives, as well as visitors to collaborate together on manipulate these pictures to tell new stories of the favoriten district.

work in progress – christophe machet – viennese (hi)stories
image © christophe machet

christophe machet is among the creatives who will be present at the laboratory, taking over the experimental space from september 25-29, 2015. machet is interested in finding answers to environmental, social, ethical, political, technological and aesthetic questions, and will instill his creative philosophy within the laboratory, engaging with visitors to invent new design scenarios.

work in progress – christophe machet – viennese (hi)stories
image © christophe machet

mischer’traxler – ephemera for perrier-jouët
festival headquarters – brotfabrik wien
image © kollektiv fischka / kramar

the festival headquarters will also host mischer’traxler’s ‘ephemera’ installation for perrier-jouët, who were asked to develop a series of works that were influenced by the champagne brand’s heritage. the result is an interactive furniture piece that plays on the magical dialogue between mankind and nature. a table and two mirrors with images of flora will come alive when seen from a distance, and react to the proximity of the audience.

chmara.rosinke: cucina futurista 2.0
image © chmara.rosinke

the museum of applied arts of vienna is an important venue of VDW. the 2015 line-up sees local studio chmara.rosinke propagating an alternative haute cuisine. ‘cucina futurista 2.0’ will take the focus away from the round white plate which has been the blank canvas of cooks and those engaged in the culinary arts. rather than focusing on designing a table service, chmara.rosinke investigates how one could cook according to aesthetic conditions delivering a culinary-creative experiment.

during VDW, ‘figuras’ will open at the mario mauroner contemporary art — an exhibition celebrating the work of aldo bakker and joan hernāndez pijuan which is situated at the intersection of art and design and contrasts. whereas dutch artist aldo bakker is driven in his creative process by the fascination of a form, spanish painter pijuan reduces the chromaticity, as well as the content of his paintings to the quintessence. a selection of objects and sketches by bakker will be showcased alongside paintings by pijuan in this special showcase that runs until november 21st, 2015.