DESIGN INDABA OCTOBER NEWS

DESIGN INDABA 2009

Design Indaba Conference will run from February 25 to 27, 2009, and the Design Indaba Expo will follow, opening on Friday February 27 and running until March 1, at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

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DESIGN INDABA 10X10 SOLUTION WINS $100 000 HUMANITARIAN DESIGN PRIZE

MMA Architects’ principals, Luyanda Mpahlwa and Mphethi Morojele, have won the inaugural Curry Stone Design Prize of $100 000 for their ingenious solution to the Design Indaba 10x10 low-cost housing challenge. The annual international prize recognises breakthrough design solutions with the power and potential to improve our lives and the world we live in.

Design Indaba’s 10x10 Housing Project challenged 10 architectural teams, composed of handpicked South Africans paired with international alumni of previous Design Indaba conferences, to provide dynamic design solutions for the low-cost housing sector on a completely pro-bono basis.

The objective was to come up with affordable, attractive, innovative responses to the urgent need for housing the urban poor. Sustainable design, construction and operation principles were to be incorporated.

The first solution to the Design Indaba 10x10 challenge, MMA’s design for a single-family home leveraged a modest budget by borrowing elements from indigenous mud-and-wattle building techniques. The design forgoes traditional brick-and-mortar foundations in favour of a two-storey frame of timber and sandbag infill construction, which is both energy-efficient and requires little to no electricity or skilled labour to construct.

By the end of the year, Design Indaba will oversee the completion of 10 such houses in Freedom Park, a township in Greater Cape Town, with volunteer help from local women in the community.

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DESIGN BECKONS SAFFERS HOME

The Design Indaba stand at the Homecoming Revolution event offered a freshly dynamic take on South Africa to expats living in London. Having run since 2004, the Homecoming Revolution aims to encourage and facilitate the return of South African skills to their homeland and speaks to over 12 000 people. Design Indaba’s presence at the event was heralded as a great success, with most of the design-ware sold on the spot, and moreover thousands of people sensitised to the cutting-edge creativity inherent in South Africa.

The likes of Peet Pienaar, Tsai Design, Ronel Jordaan, African Salad, MMA Architects, Michael Mxakasa, Derrick Senteni, Daan Samuels, Clementina van der Walt, African Magpie, Heath Nash, Streetwires, Thys Carstens, Jefter Mwazha, Mandela Park Mosaics, Cape Originals and Johnno du Plessis were all featured on the stand.

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DESIGN INDABA FILM TO AIR

United States filmmaker Rob Nilsson’s short film Frank Dead Souls debuted at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October. Made through a Design Indaba workshop in Cape Town, Nilsson improvised the script with non-actors. The film follows the staff of a magazine on a team-building bus trip. Poised to re-create itself as a more relevant interpreter of modern South African life, real life seems to get in the way as the motivational exercise unravels.

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WESTERN CAPE FURNITURE DESIGN COMPETITION

The inaugural Western Cape Furniture Design competition has announced its theme: EAT. The theme seeks to inspire a creative take on furniture that forms part of eating environments – tables, chairs, servers or other furniture in a dining room, outdoor, kitchen or other environments.

The competition is open to all professionals and students in the Western Cape and R50 000 worth of prizes to be won. Entries close on January 23, 2009.

Visit www.furniture.org.za for more information and entry details.

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NAMPAK PACKAGING DESIGN CHALLENGE

Nampak invites all professional design studios, agencies and freelance designers to compete in the Nampak Packaging Design Challenge and be acknowledged for creativity in the area of packaging and graphic design.

Entrants in the professional category can either participate as a group/business or as an individual, while the student category will involve pre-selected packaging design students. All you need to do is register in order to qualify.

The deadline for submissions for the Nampak Packaging Design Challenge is January 31, 2009. Winners will be chosen and notified in February and the final exhibition of winning designs will take place at the Design Indaba Expo from February 27 to March 1, 2009, as well as being featured in the Design Indaba magazine. The first prize is an Apple Macbook Pro and the second prize a Wacom tablet. 

Click here to download the full entry form.

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LAST CHANCE TO ENTER SOUTH

Don’t miss the opportunity to enter SOUTH, a travelling exhibition sponsored by the SABC and launched by the Creative Alliance, a collaboration between Design Indaba, the Creative Circle and the Loerie Awards. SOUTH is a celebration of the gloriously positive, ridiculously naïve and relentlessly spontaneous creativity inherent in our country.

Prizes to the value of R175 000 are up for grabs. Submissions for SOUTH are open to creative practitioners of any genre over 21 years of age. Selected centres will be receiving work in Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth between November 13 and 15, 2008.

For entry forms and more information please visit www.designindaba.com/south.

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LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT FOR EMERGING CREATIVES AND FILM FEST

The Emerging Creatives Programme, sponsored by the Department of Arts and Culture, gives young or up-and-coming designers the opportunity to exhibit at the Design Indaba Expo.

The Design Indaba Expo film festival showcases the best South African short films, music videos and animations. The festival is a curated programme and there is no fee for participation. Film screenings should not exceed 12 minutes in length and all submissions need to be in mini dv or high-resolution Quicktime (uncompressed or pal).

For more information or to submit your work, please contact Beverley Cupido on Tel: (021) 465 9966 or bev@interactiveafrica.com 

Deadline: 31 October 2008.

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EXPO BOOKINGS

Book your stand by 31 October 2009 to ensure your inclusion in the Design Indaba Expo buyers guide. The Design Indaba Expo 2009 takes place at the Cape Town Convention Centre from February 27 to March 1.

To make a booking, please contact Beverley Cupido on bev@interactiveafrica.com or Tel: 021 465 9966