Spring always inspires new and exciting projects; and what better way to celebrate this creative force than with one of the most renowned events in the design industry: the NYCXDESIGN, also known as the New York Design Week. Dozens of designers of all lines of work meet annually in order to present their latest creations, as well as thousands of visitors, who attend this not-to-miss event in order to immerse themselves in avant-garde art.
Photography, video art, architecture, painting… are just a few of the areas that this event – which will take place from May 11th to the 23rd – will cover. The exhibitions will be displayed throughout New York City; that is, the five boroughs that comprise the metropolis, from Manhattan to Staten Island. The urban landscape will serve as scenario for many exhibits, as well as several galleries, art schools and rooms.
But this event will not only comprehend art exhibitions. A great number of interactive activities will take place throughout the week; from theoretical lectures – like the one organized by AARP & SYPartners, “Design for/with Disability”, in which the importance of Design for All will be discussed – to spatial experiments. Regarding the latter, the activity “A prelude to the Shed” organized by the multi-art group “The Shed” constitutes one of the best examples, for it can be understood as an “improvised atelier” that will serve as the perfect setting for discussions and debates on different topics.
Well-known artists, such as Azaleia Banks, Tino Sehgal or Asad Raza will participate in this philosophical exercise, making use of and transforming the surroundings according to the context of each specific activity.
NoMad Design District Night
The NoMad Design District is a nexus of creativity, art and design. It is an international design destination with some of the world’s most distinct designers, high end furniture and surfaces showrooms as COMPAC The Surfaces Company, art galleries, architectural firms and interior design studio’s.
Many of the pieces featured in the showrooms within the design district are museum quality pieces by renowned artists and designers. New York’s preeminent center within the world design. The mission of the design district is connecting people and forming communities. With a multitude of design houses the NoMad District developing a community rooted in culture, art and design. The proliferation of the creative elements that pick up where nature left off.
During the NYCxDesign Week some of the showrooms at the NoMad District open their doors for special events, including cocktail parties. Read more here.
On architecture and design
The conception of space, material and shape will be fundamental in this event, and will be present in almost all the activities carried out during the week. Not only from an architectural point of view, but also from an interdisciplinary perspective.
For instance, the artist Jarrett Earnest, who is an experimental writer; Anna Betbeze, a well-known textile artist, and Simone Kearney, a renowned poet, will conduct several discussions on color, shape and material on which the exhibition 15 x 105 x 15 is based.
People with an interest in architecture and city planning have a mandatory rendezvous with “Madison Avenue New York” and their activity “Madison Avenue: High Fashion & Historic Preservation” – An Architectural Walking Tour”: a guided tour through the historic avenue in which the keys for having kept it so eclectic and iconic throughout the years will be discussed.
For those who would rather invest their time experimenting with design on a smaller scale, the Limited-Edition Furniture Exhibition of the Israeli artist Shmuel Ben Shalom is not to be missed.
Understanding the role of contemporary art today
But if there is one collective that stands out for its dedication to architecture, design and education, it has to be the “Design NYC Pavilion”. This association advocates for artistic innovation and the promotion of new, young talents, providing them with an environment in which they can create and experiment freely. One of the organization’s branches dedicated to carrying out informative actions and talks, “Design NYC Talks”, will have a special role during these days, for they will be organizing over 14 encounters throughout Manhattan.
The questions they will be asking are, for example, if there is a gap between the industry’s current needs and what recent graduates expect from the labor market, or which social needs must a good design respond to. Should designers take into account the transition towards digital consumption that society is experimenting? Discussions on postmodernism, debates on democratic structures in neighborhoods, talks on influential women in the world of design and business…are just a few of the aspects that will be discussed during these encounters, in which the visitors participation will constitute a crucial aspect for their success.
NYCXDESIGN: a must for lovers of state-of-the-art culture
Organized under New York City Economic Development Corporation and the City Council, and in collaboration with MoMA, American Design Club and many other institutions, this event has been bringing painters, engineers, sculptors, photographers, architects and poets together for many years. And this year, 2018, all these experts in different fields are prepared to offer, once more, the latest in design from New York; one of the most avant-garde cities in the world.
The entry for most events is free of charge; however, some of the activities will request prior registration via a register form, which any visitor will be able to fill out on https://www.nycxdesign.com. The event’s official webpage provides the users with a tool that will help them find any activity, according to location and theme. The New York Design Week’s program provides such a wide and diverse cultural offer that the visitor will have a hard time choosing only a few activities.
