Lille, World Design Capital in 2020
After Turin, Seoul, Helsinki, Cape Town, Taipei and Mexico, Lille Metropole, the first French local authority to obtain this distinction, is the 2020 World Design Capital.
Going the traditional city borders, the year-long programme is the base of a call for experimentation called POC, Proof Of Concept. All aspects of daily life will be covered, from housing to food, well-being of seniors to mobility as well a link to nature…
Overall 500 design projects (POC) are listed involving 3,000 stakeholders (from which 1,500 designers). 5 POC Maisons (houses), 20 exhibitions, 20 design itineraries and more than 50 events (first ones kicked off last month)… You can get the full programme here.
Overseen by an Organising Committee, the project is based on experimentation and territorial transformation through design. Lille Metropole 2020 World Design Capital has the goal to uniting a dynamic network of players committed to social, economic and environmental issues around this project. The programme follows the four seasons…
WINTER, Raise Awareness
Winter and the launch of the programme symbolise a period of awareness and introduction to design. In December 2019, the World Design Street Festival was the first event open to everyone. It was dedicated to workshops, meetings with designers, exhibitions, and more. In Lille, Lambersart, Roubaix and Courtrai, companies, agencies and design schools were opened to the public. Designers presented their work, explained what design is, what it is for and why it concerns every one of us in our daily lives.
Throughout the winter season, design initiation workshops are available for Lille Metropole residents, primary and secondary school students who are invited to participate in the Object of my Dreams inter-academic competition and imagine solutions to improve their lives.
Starting on 5 February 2020, the Fondation EDF presents “1, 2, 3 Data” an exploration of new creative worlds between science, art and design, with a common material: “data”, the billions of data items that today flow and shape the world.
From 15 February, the Institut du monde arabe - Tourcoing exhibits “Maroc Identité Nouvelle”.
SPRING, The Season Of Revelation
Spring is the season of revelation and emergence with the opening of the Maisons POC and the presentation of the 500 POC ideas. It also marks the opening of large-scale exhibitions.
Several hundred POCs covering housing, the circular economy, collaborative cities, care and public policies will be revealed in the Maisons POC. These exhibition areas are also the creation laboratories, they will showcase the projects and invite us to discover the POCs in situ.
Large-scale exhibitions will be in the hands of recognised design personalities. The Belgian designer Ramy Fischler convenes design fiction to imagine and anticipate our future world. A collective of architects and thinkers, brought together by the Arc en Rêve collective, questions how we can make the world more sustainable while a dozen leading figures in design present a panorama of the wealth of French design over four generations.
These exhibitions will open on 30 April 2020.
With Alexandre Bloch at the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Muller Van Severen at the Villa Cavrois , Chinese design at the Hospice Comtesse, in the Lille Metropole Area and also in Belgium, at the Grand Hornu in Mons and the Design Museum in Ghent, design will be showcased in all its forms.
SUMMER, The Season Of Fulfilment
The season of fulfilment will focus on meetings and exchanges.
Festive and participative moments will bring together Lille Metropole residents around two major areas: the Grands boulevards and the Deûle river, from the mining basin to the Escault river Three summer camps, imagined by the Lille school of architecture, the Roubaix design school and Lille Metropole will bring together young designers from all over the world.
The World Design Spotlight, the World Design Talk and the World Design Policy Conference promote design as a powerful instrument of change and innovation. Finally, the World Design Cities meeting brings together the previous world design capitals and those cities aspiring to become world design capital.
The Grande Braderie de Lille will obviously also play its part with its design area.
AUTUMN, The Season Of Accomplishment
Finally, Autumn will be the season of accomplishment with public events, opening on to the world. There will be a succession of events for the general public and for professionals alike. Autumn will see the creation of exhibitions focusing on material with the Dutch designer and “trend forecaster” Lidewij Edelkoort, on colour, organised by Lille3000, on the sense of touch at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Lille and at the MuBA in Tourcoing on a proposal from Lille-Design, the LaM will showcase design.
The Design week is the international highlight of the season and will link up with the Creative Week in Courtrai, UNESCO City of Design, and the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. A great Design Night will be the popular and festive counterpart.
Finally, the POC awards reward the best achievements of all contributors to the World Design Capital.
Here is a full recap… in French
