Celebrate Vancouver Design Week 2014

Ideas, contests, events, sales and parties, take advantage of these special offers during Design Week

Vancouver Design Week Calendar of Events – SEPT 15^th to 28^th

Monday September 15th

Vancouver Urban Design Awards 

Tuesday September 16th

Architecture for BreakfastP4A (Party for Architects)

• LECTURE /PARTY / DJ / BEER.  P4A aims to provide an ongoing forum for Vancouver’s architects+ designers to get together Past presenters have included: D’arcy Jones, Measured Architecture, Shape Architecture, This special edition P4A for Vancouver Design Week will be bigger and better than ever.

Design – thinking your next big idea

• How do you create a product, service or solution that is innovative, and that everyone wants? The most creative and successful entrepreneurs and business leaders use design thinking. As a part of Vancouver Design Week, on Wednesday, September 17th, creative agency, Briteweb is hosting a workshop in design thinking – an introduction, and all-around fun time, where you’ll learn the ‘design thinking’ approach, use a gagillion post-it notes, write on every whiteboard in the room, all while sippin’ ciders and beers and crafting creative solutions to a real business challenge. By the end of the night, you’ll have crafted an innovative solution, and be equipped with the tools to apply strategic design thinking in your work, personal projects, volunteer initiatives… the list goes on. Taught by experienced design-thinkers Marica Rizzo and Alexis Young, the workshop will also feature local industry experts to help you craft your solutions.

James Langdon: A School for Design Fiction

• As our contribution to Vancouver Design Week, the CAG is working with James Langdon, recipient of the 2012 Inform Award for Conceptual Design, presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, Germany. Langdon will offer a short course in reading objects, environments and messages. Stimulated by the curious genre of design fiction, the programme asserts storytelling as the primary function of design. Langdon will conduct a three day workshop on September 16-18 exploring narrative approaches to design, a series of connected exercises subjecting a collection of found materials to various manual and conceptual processes. The workshop is not concerned with speculative design or futurism, but with documenting and manipulating the narrative potential of ordinary artefacts through consideration of their essence; their relations with each other; and the meanings they might be made to express

 

Wednesday September 17th

d-StudioSchool for Design FictionFrom Rationing to RavishingDesign the best version of your business

• What would your work and life feel like if they were a shade or two brighter? If you finished all projects on time and on budget? If you had a sustainable, healthy bank balance? If your clients loved you at the beginning, middle, and end of a project? If your team rooted for you throughout the process, too? Pretty freaking great. That’s what. Join, Rob Leadley of Measure Co. and Rachel & Travis Gertz from Louder Than Ten in a sessiondiscovering what works for a happy business and happy life. Together, you will tackle these questions and leaved armed with tools to improve the management of your projects and the operations of your business. In this session, you will take off the cover and explore the guts of your business; how fine tuning your operations can level out your bank balance, and how overcoming fear in our relationships and communication means you can take back your life—and our companies. Once you learn the core steps, you should be loving your business, living your life, and making good money. Your business will be happier for it.

Nerd Jam: The Culture of Transformation – Part I

•  A two-phase Jam about how small interactive urban intervention designs can change our lives. This Jam would introduce the theme of how we can design and create small-scale projects that change the street-scape for the pedestrian through site-specific engaging typographical interventions and messaging. The primary focus of the Jam will be to allow people to consider the endangerement of Vancouver’s cultural spaces for creatives and to make work that responds to the need for reflexive and reflective action around showcasing and sustaining these spaces, which provide us with such rich content that can transform our lives.

• JAM I / IDEA CHARRETTE + PROTOTYPE-MAKING The Nerds would provide a variety of toys, tools, and materials for the Jammers to construct graphical messaging prototypes which will be presented to the group at large. Photographs will then be taken of the artwork/design, which will then be transferred to a digital file for production and print. To close the Jam, groups will need to plan for how to print, build, and install the interactive signage/pieces at the Railtown site on Saturday. Teams are also encouraged to take the level of engagement + dialogue up a notch once the works are installed on site taking into consideration physical and social environment

Thursday September 18th

Western Living Designers of the Year AwardsSchool for Design FictionPechu Kucha – Special VDW Edition

• Since PechaKucha is part of the first annual Vancouver Design Week, we are assembling a diverse roster of local designers to speak about their experiences, philosophies, inspirations, stories or anything else that is in their head.

Sala Exhibit: “Conceptualizing the Technical”

• This exhibit  features 19 student team projects developed by fourth term Master of Archi­tecture students studying at the University of British Columbia. The studio work featured is the result of a collaboration between the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and the UBC First Nations House of Learning. Each project on display explores the concept of “Research Centre” development in one of four institutional variants: centre, museum, archive, or memorial. Throughout the exhibit, the design process is illustrated through beautiful and provocative key images.

Friday September 19th

Creative Mornings – Special VDW Edition

• What role does process have in creative endeavours? How does creativity inform process? This will be an entertaining and thought-provoking look at the common threads that tie together works such as Union Gospel, Bridge, Ought Apartment, The Western Front, Good Bye Work, and his latest project Triumph of the Technocrat. To follow will be an engaging audience discussion about architecture and civic space, and how the built environment influences how we live.

A Journey into Storytelling: Move People to Act

• Creative leadership is the ability to realize and develop innovative solutions. Storytelling puts the plan in action. Are you telling the right story to accelerate your vision?   Join corporate leaders and visionaries in a day-long session to uncover storytelling techniques that harness your passion and purpose. Make new connections to the leaders in the community, practice innovation tactics, and walk away with the story you’ve been trying to tell. Creative leadership is the ability to create and realize innovative solutions especially in the face of structurally complex or changing situations.  If this higher level of game speaks to you, you belong at this workshop.  If this higher level of game speaks to you, you belong at this workshop. What to expect?- Delve deeply into the definition of your own personal and professional story, finding new angles and ways to capture – Storytelling techniques that harness your passion and purpose and paint a bigger vision of potential for team members and beyond  -Learn ways to structure and deliver stories that cultivate captive audiences for pitches and presentations   – Spend the day with fellow creative leaders and have a chance to make new connections

Natural, Wet, Woody: 22 Designers Talk With You About How Nature Sparks Innovation

• The Museum of Vancouver invites Vancouverites to discover and celebrate design and innovation in their city. Twenty-two designers, live and in concert and stationed throughout the museum galleries, present their work during a party on Friday, September 19. Designers representing the cutting edge in fields including sports, energy, fashion, and furniture will discuss how nature inspires their work—and how the innovative products they create shapes everyone’s experience of the environment. On Saturday afternoon, the event continues. Family programming that encourages interaction with designers will enhance the experience for people of all ages.

Do ShopCreative Leadership WorkshopVancouver Design Pop Up ExhibitionAfter Party(s)

Saturday September 20th

Modern Home Tour

• How many times have you driven by “that” house, and wondered what’s inside? Find out on Saturday, September 20th (11am – 5pm), when some of Vancouver’s most creative homeowners, architects, builders and designers open their doors for the first Vancouver Modern Home Tour. Get a literal ‘inside look’ at an impressive roster of the area’s most modern homes, all built and designed by Vancouver architects, and see for yourself the combination of cutting-edge building techniques and contemporary design against our own stunning landscape.

Garden Dialogues

• The Cultural Landscape Foundation, in collaboration with the Vancouver Landscape Collective, brings for the first time in Canada Garden Dialogues, an event that provides a unique opportunity to experience some of today’s most beautiful and significant gardens in company of their owner and their designer. This September, discover exclusive works by Cornelia Oberlander, Paul Sangha and Hapa Collaborative.

Playhouse

• A contemporary design inspired workshop for kids + parents to design, build and customize a space all in one sitting. Join us for a 2 hour workshop that draws directly from MAAStudio’s design and Collage Collage lesson plans to make a dream space that only you + your child could imagine. Participants will be lead through a workshop that allows families to work together on a building a space. A treehouse? A school? A living room in space? Choose from unique materials and get building in surroundings made to inspire. With special guest Denise Liu from Edison&Sprinkles and a special landscape installation by Kermodi Design in the courtyard!

Nerd Jame: The Culture of Transformation – Part II

•  A two-phase Jam about how small interactive urban intervention designs can change our lives.

• JAM 2 / PRODUCTION + INSTALL Teams regather to install artwork/designs on site (Railtown). Installations are temporary and must not damage, modify or harm the spaces they are installed in. Teams are encouraged to design interactive features into their work in order to garner audience engagement and ‘results’ that the VDW goers can play with or witness. The best team is the one with the most interactions/results. The best team receives book gift vouchers.

Open StudiosOpen Buildings

• Open Buildings is a walking tour of the forward leading architecture buildings at University of British Columbia. In partnership with the Society of Experiential Graphic Design (SEGD) and Vancouver architecture and design firms, this tour will be visiting sites including the UBC Pharmaceutical Building, The Buchanan Courtyard, and many more. Each site there will be a number of collaborators who were involved in the project including architects, graphic designers, lighting designers, and motion graphic designers. They will be giving a short brief on their involvement in the project and open a dialogue for Q&A.

Typewalk

• TypeWalk is an exploration of Vancouver streets through the lens of typographers and sign makers. This tour will be led through Vancouver’s Entertainment District, Granville Street and Museum of Vancouver’s Neon Vancouver Exhibition. Attendees will get a glimpse of the history and craft around sign making and typography. This guided tour explores different sites to give a brief history and answer any questions along the way. At the end of the walk there will be networking and refreshments at a local establishment.

SamplingsKids Design WorkshopArts Umbrella Classes & VDW Installation

Sunday September 21st

Garden DialoguesMonogram Dinner by Design

• Monogram Dinner by Design brings together internationally celebrated designers and local talent to create three-dimension dining installations that awe, inspire and delight. These extraordinary dining environments – from the lavish and romantic to the outrageous and whimsical – set the stage for two days of fun and fascination.

Monogram Dinner by Design Cocktail Art

• Designers and guests mingle during this dazzling display of amazing tablescapes, while sampling gourmet treats paired with delicious Absolut Elyx cract cocktails, wine and beer. Special live entertainment, custom cocktail bars as imagined by participating designers and reverie. Each ticket includes a complimentary drink and the opportunity to converse with some of the most influential creative thinkers in the West!

Arts Umbrella Classes & VDW Installation

Monday September 22nd

Monogram Dinner by Design Public Viewing

• Design enthusiasts and fans of IDSwest have a singular opportunity to come and experience Monogram Dinner by Design, admire the tablescapes, spot their next personal inspiration and enjoy an inspiring atmosphere. Photography is permitted and social media sharing encouraged. Further public donations to the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation will also be accepted during this portion of the event

Monogram Dinner by Design Gala Dinner

• Cocktails and table-hopping are followed by an elegant seated VIP dinner for 150 guests with all drinks included. Each of the multiple courses is perfectly paired by a beautiful wine and fine musical accompaniment. The creatively plated food echoes the spectacular design of the tablescapes. (Watch for Western Living’s own tablescape, designed by Provide.) Liveliness to follow along with the awarding of a special premium raffle prize couresty of GE Monogram. All raffle proceeds to benefit the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation

Tuesday September 23rd

Fashioning Cancer

• A night supporting cancer prevention, featuring a live auction of fashion art, music by Bif Naked and a cocktail reception with food by Hawksworth, all in the spectacular setting of the brand new Porsche Centre Vancouver

Design Industry Social

• A social night is a great excuse for design industry folks of all experience levels to socialize and network out of the office. At The Bitter Tasting Room.  Open to everyone. Designer, friends and colleagues. Join us for a beer or water.

Wednesday September 24th

MOV Built City Talk

• “New approaches to design . . . must be preceded by new ways of imagining and thinking.” Pamela Mang & Bill Reed, Regenesis Group. The 2014/2015 Built City @MOV speaker series kicks off with a talk that coincides with the inaugural Vancouver Design Week and showcases the potential of design to effect significant change in personal and public space. Fashioning Performance is a new way of looking at design process. It transcends the modernist maxim of “form follows function.” Instead, it explores the reciprocal relationship between beauty, utility, and design agency by asking: what are the limits of potential? The goal is an empowering design principle that can be employed across scales—from our cities and buildings down to our own bodies and minds.

Thursday September 25th

IDSWest, The Party on Opening Night

• The Party, on Opening Night, Presented by Cosentino @ from 6-10pm. IDSwest kicks off with the design party of the year on the exposition floor!  Dress to impress and enjoy the sophisticated atmosphere while exploring the exhibits and features.  Rub shoulders with the design elite from across Canada and abroad! Presented by Cosentino
• And stop by the Western Living Lounge to see our stylists design, work from several of the winners of Designers of the Year Awards, the September issue of Western Living and sign up for the e-newsletter and receive an entry in to the contest

Friday September 26th

IDSWest – GE Monogram Trade Day / Azure Trade Talks / Prototype /Coast Modern Documentary Screening and Director Q&A

• On the Livingspace Design Stage at IDSwest Attention Modernist Architecture buffs!  IDSwest brings you a screening of the acclaimed 2012 documentary Coast Modern! Coast Modern showcases the pioneers of West Coast Modernist Architecture and the homes that have become their legacies. The relaxed journey takes us across three generations of Modernist Architecture in the Pacific North West.  Open to all IDSwest ticket holders and followed by a Q&A and conversation with directors Mike Bernard and Gavin Froome

Passion & Process: The Think Guide to Making Ideas Happen

• Generating new ideas is easy, it’s developing truly original breakthrough ideas that’s hard. Whether it’s an everyday problem or a bold new concept, you first need passion and purpose to begin the disciplined pursuit towards invention. But without an effective creative process it’s hard to transform that vision into reality. In this experiential session, THNK co-founder and former CCO at Blast Radius, Lee Feldman chronicles his own learnings that helped companies like IKEA, NIKE and Starbucks think differently — as well as sharing tried-and-true methods for overcoming common blockers, forming new connections and where to look for signs and weak signals. Co-presented with Creative Mornings Vancouver, this hands-on and entertaining 90 minutes is designed to invigorate your creative leadership, helping set new habits, awakening the senses and providing practical ways to envision a better future and engage others in it.

 

Saturday September 27th

IDSWest – Trade Show / Gray Conversation Stage / Studio NorthIDSWEST/ Amanda Forrest on the Livingsapce Design Stage

• Amanda Forrest on the Livingspace Design Stage, IDSwest is proud to present celebrity designer Amanda Forrest as she takes you on a tour of her recent travels to some of the most historical, inspirational and personality filled cities in the south. Learn how to easily incorporate southern hospitality and charm in to your home to create warm, inviting, luxurious rooms that feel like they were curated over time

Sunday September 28th

IDSWest – Trade Show / Gray Conversation Stage / Studio North

• Spend a lazy Sunday at IDSwest perusing over 200 unique and inspiring exhibits – you’ve never seen eye candy for your home like this!  Design aficionados will be inspired by luxurious contemporary furnishings, fixtures, décor and much more from Montreal, Toronto, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Italy — not  to mention the wealth of emerging and established local talent.

 PLUS MANY MORE!  SUCH AS:

P4A – Special VDW Edition, Transformation Design Jam, Architecture for Breakfast, Laneway Tours, Type Walks, Architectural Walking Tours, Family Design Workshops and Design Bike Tour(s).

Samplings (VDW Signature Event)

sam’ple(n) – a small part of anything,intended as representative of the whole(v) – to take a sample of (to test, taste or critique) – to use or incorporate into something new (i.e music tracks…ideas)

• Samplings are a chance to sample full course design insitu; offering access the diversity of parts, processes and perspectives that make up the whole of the places we love.  Through intimate conversations between designers / baristas / cicerones / chefs / entrepreneurs in the coffee houses and tasting rooms they’ve collaborated to create, Samplings offer a rare chance to hear the storyies behind the spaces, and uncover what goes into creating them…along with the sampling of fresh food/drink and beats (of course!)

Go to www.vancouverdesignwk.com for more details.