Streetlab promotes the work of young urban designers. Photo: Harrie Brieffies.
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The (Un)limited Design Contest lets entrants make their own products in a Fablab.
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More than half of Dutch people design things themselves in their free time. Conversely, a significant portion of people working professionally have no design training
Design and fashion are visible parts of popular culture and are situated between art, entertainment and folklore. The rise of the ‘amateur’ thus comes as no surprise. It was always there; it’s merely becoming more visible. DIY design is now such an everyday practice that producers and marketing agencies are developing all sorts of ways to facilitate it.
This, as well as the symbolic economy, cultural identity and globalisation, are important themes for the People’s Republic of Design.
In his bestselling book
Collapse
, Jared Diamond explains why some civilisations have disappeared and others haven’t. He argues that cultures that were closed off from their surroundings ultimately didn’t make it. Premsela believes alertness to changes in the surrounding world is essential for the proper evolution of design and fashion. With the People's Republic of Design programme, Premsela seeks to help design and fashion develop into open cultural fields.
A number of our projects have been representative of this effort. In the second Premsela Lecture in 2005,
‘Retro Design or Populism’, the architectural sociologist Werner Sewing spoke about cultural populism. Our interest in street fashion and youth culture led to
Streetlab, an important platform for urban design, a joint project between Premsela and Cultuurfabriek. And the book cover contest
Nederland Leest, Nederland Ontwerpt (‘Holland Reads, Holland Designs’) is open to amateurs and professionals each year.
In 2009, we held the
(Un)limited Design Contest with Waag Society. Amateur and professional entrants shared, copied and adapted designs and used Fab Labs to produce them. The competition highlighted the intersection of design with open technology and new developments in methods like 3D printing. It closed with an exhibition and awards ceremony during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.
Contact: Roel Klaassen,
klaassen@premsela.org
Masses of talent:
Roel Klaassen talked to TV’s Raul ter Linden about the popularity of amateurs competing on screen.
Read the article.>
