Monday, June 30, 2008

Heartening Baltimore Design News

*Bruce Mau http://www.massivechange.com
"It's not about the world of design. It's about the design of the world."

The Baltimore Sun provides the synopsis below of the meeting last week at the Load of Fun gallery space to investigate the formation of a design collaboration here in Baltimore.
More than 75 architects, educators, planners and others turned out Thursday to attend a public brainstorming session for people who would like to see the formation of a local "design center" or "urban center" for those interested in design issues.

The meeting was sponsored by the Baltimore chapter of the American Institute of Architects and others to gauge the level of support for a design center comparable to those in many other cities. Organizers said they were pleased to see that many relatively young architects came to the meeting.

"I believe we have just witnessed a coalescing of emerging design energy in Baltimore and, in part, a generational shift with new blood entering the system," architect Craig Purcell said after the three-hour meeting. The key, he said, "will be to meld the advice and counsel of the elders with the youths who have the passion, sprightliness and get up and go to effect change."

The next steps include identifying a source of funds and a possible location for a design center and determining a shared vision for who would be part of it and what its mission would be. At the end of the meeting, more than 40 people volunteered to spend time working on various task forces to make the project a reality. Another public event likely will be held in the fall.
We were there. Design matters. (See following post if you doubt us.)

*Massive Change is a project by Bruce Mau and the Institute without Boundaries to promote design (urban design, information design, graphic design, new materials) as a tool to create a better future on a global scale. Posters were created to expose the utopian possibilities of design, an exhibition was held in Vancouver in 2004/2005, and a book was produced by Mau and Jennifer Leonard to explore the future role of design and its potential.

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