Design Solution: Swedish Design For 170 Years
What do you think of when it comes to Scandinavian design? Designer chairs? Or furniture with minimal lines that brings warmness? Scandinavian style has been the popular trend in Taiwan for the recent years and behind the simple designs are the unique aesthetic and practical functions. In addition, Sweden, the largest country in Northern Europe, is the one that leads the development of Scandinavian design and promotes it to the world.
This country that slowly caught up with industrialization in the beginning of the 20th century, merely spent half a century to become a completely modernized industrial country in the world. Whether it is the most popular home furnishing enterprise worldwide, IKEA, affordable and fashionable apparel brand H&M or automobile manufacturer Volvo that is reputed for its safety are all from Sweden. Yet, how did Sweden overcome development difficulties and make Swedish design made known globally under the constraint of limited resources?
Design Solution, Swedish Design for 170 Years Exhibition is hosted by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government and curated by Svensk Form, the association with a long history of promoting Swedish design trends, as well as Blue Dragon Art company. It will be the first international exchange exhibition among a range of exhibits in the 2016 Taipei Design Capital and will be opened this March at Warehouse No.1 in Songshan Cultural and Creative Park from March 12th to April 10th. Design Solution, Swedish Design for 170 Years Exhibition takes “Design Solution” as the theme while echoing with the core idea of the 2016 Taipei Design Capital, which is adapting “design thinking” in solving social issues. The exhibit will be divided into three categories; from 170 years of Swedish design development, visitors will explore Swedish design aspects that are at the heart of social pulsation and finally see how design becomes the solution to social issues.
Exhibition Info:
Time: 12 March -10 April, 10:00-18:00 FREE ADMISSION
Place: Warehouse 1, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. (No.133, Gungfu S. Rd., Taipei City)
Events Info:Swedish Design Salon
Viewpoint 1: Design Entrepreneurship
Time: 15:00-17:00, 12 March
Host: Joshua Peng / Editor-in-chief of LA VIE magazine
Panelist: Jonas Pettersson / Co-founder of Form Us with Love and BAUX, Matti Klenell /Designer from “A New Layer:” Project, Jack Shi-Jia Huang /Founder of Nordic
Viewpoint 2: From Sweden to Taiwan, Social design as a method to change the society
Time: 15:00-17:00, 13 March
Host: Shu-Chang Kung / Director of Graduate school of Architecture, NCTU
Panelist: Dung-Sheng Chen /Professor of Department of Sociology, NTU, Ewa Kumlin / CEO of Svensk Form
Viewpoint 3: Creative design thinking—Democratic design of IKEA
Time: 11:00-12:00, 26 March
Speaker: David Wahl /Designer from IKEA Product Development Center
Viewpoint 4: Learning from living—Design education in Sweden and Taiwan
Time: 14:00-16:00, 26 March
Host: Apao Chang /Editor-in-chief of My Home Magazine
Respondent: Cheng-Neng Kuan / Vice President of Shih Chien University, Yen-Wen Tseng / Industrial designer
Viewpoint 5: Design solution—Design history in Sweden
Time: 14:00-16:00, 2 April
Speaker: Kerstin Wickman / Professor Emeritus of the History of Design and Crafts
Design Round-Table workshop
Design Brunch: The designer in the service of society
Time: 11:00-13:00, 12 March
Host: Shi-Kai Tseng /Founder and designer of Studio Shikai
Panelist: Johan Karlsson / HONORARY AWARD in Architecture of Design S 2014, Josephine Bergqvist /Nominee in Fashion Design of Ung Svensk Form 2016
Registration is required: https://goo.gl/j8y7J4
Theme Guide Tour
Keyword 1: Lagon as Design Solution
Time: 14:00-16:00, 19 March
Guide: Peter Chiu / E-commerce Manager of Nordic
Keyword 2: Functionalism as Design Solution
Time: 14:00-16:00, 3 April
Guide: Jack Cheng / Owner of Danish Warehouse
Keyword 3: Minimalism as Design Solution
Time: 14:00-16:00, 10 April
Guide: Doris Liu / Design Director of CONCEPT
Cubitus Baby which won the honorary award of industrial design in Design S 2014, shows that design does not avoid difficult issues. Situation design is at its best. It creates closeness and care in the most indescribable moments. With great understanding for the need of integrity and practical necessity during the heaviest grief, the product acts as a silent companion during the time needed.