Design Needs Ambassadors — Vienna Design Week

Tape Installation by for use/Numen at DMY Berlin, For Use/Numen

The VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is also on the go during the remaining 355 days of the year and outside the Vienna city limits as an ambassador for the design world. The VIENNA DESIGN WEEK Embassy is a format that is put into action at partner festivals, such as the DMY International Design Festival in Berlin or the Mikser Festival in Belgrade.

The ‘Rumkugelbahn’ [Rum Ball Run] by mischer’traxler has demonstrated in Berlin how one can make Austrian design enticing – and not only because of the delicious filled chocolate balls. Those who missed rolling the rum balls at the DMY will get a second chance at the MAK Design Shop during the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK.

Equally brilliant was the staging of the tape installation by for use/NUMEN at the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin. After having already created a sensation in an attic during the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2009 and at the Misker Festival 2010, Berlin was simply the climax because of the spatial conditions they were afforded – and the reward was a DMY Award from the jury chaired by Jurgen Bey. In Frankfurt, by the way, they will create another tape installation at Playing the city 2 in the Schirn Kunsthalle on 8 September. Patrick Rampelotto designed the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK Embassy entry at the DMY Berlin 2008. Considering its consistently wonderful results despite a restricted budget, one wonders all the more why official entries at trade fairs and expos in general come across as so unattractive.

The international activities include, of course, presenting talks and taking part in panel discussions. At the invitation of the Vienna Tourist Board, the Neigungsgruppe Design has travelled to several metropolises in the world over the past two years and has presented the concept of the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, in Athens, Bucharest, Budapest, London, Milan, Moscow, New York, and Prague, among others.

However, as it is with embassies, consulates, and diplomats, they are only representatives of a real thing, which is located somewhere else: from 1 to 10 October at the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK.