"Introduction:
Summer 2009 was the beginning of a Design & Intervention program aimed at supporting ADXTUR (the Agency for the Development & Tourism in Aldeias do Xisto) by the creation of a platform in which, through creativity & design, ideas and possibilities for the sustainable development of inland Portugal could be explored and discussed.
Taking then the form of interdisciplinary design workshops, the platform created a meeting point between the local population and several international designers.
A meeting point through which knowledge that had survived in the people, objects, architecture and landscape of the region was mapped and with which insights into sustainable design processes and into some of the challenges involved in local development were gathered.
Design & Intervention Summer Workshops 2010:
This upcoming August, with the direction of the designers Daniela Pais and David Luxembourg, the Design & Intervention platform will take the shape of a Design Laboratory which will explore and investigate ways of supporting the efforts of local municipalities in central Portugal against the human desertification, oblivion and abandonment of traditionally built stone villages.
Around this Design Lab, in 3 periods of 1 week each, a series of interdisciplinary design workshops will take place. The program for these workshops is a combination between creative thinking and creative making, and is aimed at offering and developing new insights into the design process and challenges involved in the creation of new and innovative concepts about crafts, nature, sustainability, social design & local development.
The project is a collaboration with the Portuguese project Schist Villages Network ‘Aldeias do Xisto’. This is a sustainable development project of a regional scope and context that is promoted by ADXTUR -Agency for the Development & Tourism of Aldeias do Xisto, in a partnership with 16 counties in the Central Region of Portugal and over 70 operators & businesses on this territory.
Participation in these workshops is open for designers, design students and other creative professionals who are interested in sustainable design within the contexts of rural living & local development.
The Design Laboratory:
As mentioned already above, the Design & Intervention platform will take the shape of a Design Laboratory, as a part of a continued program, integrating the main objectives of the Design & Intervention platform (to see what these are click here) and following/focusing on a different themes as the design and intervention program develops.
The first Design Lab. theme will be focused on the idea of survival: survival of knowledge, of heritage, of values, of resources and of the participants of the LAB & Workshop themselves.
Around this theme the Design Lab. will promote a continuity of the design & intervention program in the villages through specific projects during the year and as well as through residences for designers and the summer workshops.
Workshop 2010 Program:
TO FEEL > TO ANALYZE > TO RECOGNIZE > TO VALUE
As mentioned before the program for these workshops is a combination between a ‘Hands on’ approach and a ‘Minds on’ approach, involving the local community its resources and its artisans with national and international designers & design students while keeping the focus on the regional intervention program, its aims and its needs. A briefing will be given in the beginning of each workshop as to what these are and as to the communities, artisans and crafts that are involved.
The participants to the summer workshops can expect to be busy with hand-on design regarding sustainability and the reinvention of everyday luxuries (including cooking) & technologies in a rural environment (also in order to reduce their footprint during their stay at the villages). They can also expect to get involved with local communities while scouting and collecting knowledge and information about their environment, data that will be transformed into proposals or acts of intervention as each workshop progresses. Bellow you will find a week-by-week themes and planning:
Period I - 02.08 till 08.08
Hands on: Making the basics for living / survival tools
Minds on: Researching & developing initial proposals for interventions according to LAB assignment by Scouting; mapping; analyzing; pointing out proposals/ directions.
Period II - 09.08 till 15.08
Hands on: Making of design essentials / sustainable & local technologies
Minds on: following on the previously LAB assignment directions, Research and development taking a more specific and direct approach into providing solutions and detailed proposals.
Period III - 16.08 till 22.08
Hands on: Making of communication materials exploring local resources and using the technologies previously developed at workshop 2.
Minds on: Finalizing proposals and solutions on a micro level, dealing with execution details and scenarios of implementation of proposals provided by previous workshops.
Criteria for participation:
Participation in these workshops is open for designers, design students and other creative professionals who are interested in sustainable design within the contexts of rural living & local development.
You can ask for an application form for the workshops - either via info@danielapais.com or through hello@yoad.info
Please note:
- Per workshop/period there are only 8 places available. We recommend people who are interested in participating in the workshops, to contact us directly and register/reserve their place(s) ASAP.
- You can participate in 1, 2, or 3 workshops (see listing of period below).
- You must be 20 years old or older.
- In order that we will have a better understanding of who you are and how you work, we ask each participant to write us/send us a short C.V. or Bio (max 1 A4 long) with some details about themselves their work, study, education etc.
+ Also (this part is not compulsory) if you have any website or a small portfolio that we could look in please let us know where it is (URL) or simply send it to our emails.
* As a platform the design & intervention program is open to involvement of all interested and interesting parties, therefore the possibility is given to creative professionals & design students with a special interest or project to combine their studies with this program and to continue and explore their ideas and concept within the workshops. If you have a special interest or an ongoing project you would like to continue and explore during the workshop, please attach a short power point presentation or PDF about it when sending back your application form.
Participation costs:
*Important notice* Together with the local municipalities we are working on ways to reduce the participation fee to an ideal cost of 300 Euros/week. Prices bellow may change in the future. *Important notice*
Per week – 500 Euros
(Period I - 02.08 till 08.08, Period II - 09.08 till 15.08, or Period III - 16.08 till 22.08)
For 2 weeks (10% discount) – 900 Euros
(Periods I & II - 02.08 till 15.08)
For 3 weeks (20% discount) – 1200 Euros
(Periods I, II and III - 02.08 till 22.08)
Prices are per person and include: Accommodation (in a shared room / camping), Meals (full board) and Materials.
Deadline: All application must be submitted and received before the 10th July 2010."
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