Special 2019

Special is whatever rethinks the concept of design. In this case: individuals, works, and approaches. The VIENNA DESIGN WEEK team – named VIENNA DESIGN OFFICE the rest of the year – also wants to be special as a communicator, ambassador, organizer, promoter, communicator, and advisor for the transnational awareness of Austrian design. The format Special presents a mixture of outstanding collabo­ rations, unique interventions, and special projects: While Vandasye once again puts on display contemporary Austrian product design, Sarah Franzl tells stories from the perspective of omnipresent sensors in the Festival Headquarters. The French designer Diego Faivre plays with the buil­ ding’s architecture. The photographers Susanna Hofer and Erli Grünzweil visited the Kovar studio and shop for pewter figures as part of a Passionswege spin-off. Playinghost has long come naturally to Spazio Pulpo. (Now at a new location!) Also part of the program: Jakob Lena Knebl, phobias turned into writing, a chromatic dinner over Vienna’s rooftops, and the benevolent relationship of textiles and ceramics.