A curated series of lectures, presentations and discussions is being held as part of Malta Design Week (MDW) which kicked off yesterday.
Design Dialogues 2018 is showcasing some of the best and international design practitioners, promoting good design and also asking critical questions about our society and the role of design.
The MDW is being presented for the fourth consecutive year by Foundation 808.
Valletta 2018 Foundation chairman Jason Micallef said: “One of the main aims of Valletta 2018 is to facilitate, promote and celebrate development across the arts and culture sector, including the design industry in Malta. Malta Design Week will provide several designers and workers within the art industry with the opportunity to meet, discuss,create and share their knowledge together”.
Design Dialogues 2018 speakers include award-winning Japanese architect Tetsuo Kondo, founder of Tetsuo Kondo Architects, (Japan) and Dmitri Jajich and Karl Micallef from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM, US),the architecture and urban planning firm with a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Other speakers include Toby F. Blunt, senior partner at Foster + Partners (UK), the innovative global studio for sustainable architecture and design; Marco Casamonti, co-founder of Archea (Italy), a network for architecture, research and communication of over 100 architects, operating in six different locations; local graphic designer Marco Scerri; Andrew Walters, director of research at PDR (Wales), a company that promotes how design can be improved through intervention at the organisational and government policy level; 72 Hour Urban Action (GER), the world’s first real-time architecture competition, where 10 international teams have three days and three nights to design and build projects in public space in response to local needs; product designers OS ∆ OOS (NDR); Germans Ermičs from Studio Germans Ermičs (Netherlands); and Neil Pace O’Shea (Malta), local designer of custom kayaks and founder of The Floating Project, among other guests.
Although coming from far and wide, many of the Design Dialogues speakers and organisations have strong connections to Malta. Archea designed the recently renovated Is-Suq Tal-Belt; Tetsuo Kondo is designing the new Valletta Design Cluster roof garden; and Foster + Partners have designed the Manoel Island Masterplan.
Design Dialogues presentations will be followed by an open forum where members of the audience can put questions, join in the discussions and learn more about these and many other projects of local and international significance.
Design Dialogues 2018 runs until Saturday at the Valletta Campus Theatre, University of Malta, Valletta. Lectures begin at 5.30pm. To register for free, visit www. eventbrite.com. For more information, visit www.designweek.com.mt.