2nd edition of ‘Gdynia-Design for all’ workshop is upon us!
Where does a city end? How can we creatively integrate portside areas with an urban center? Can the road to the Marine Station be a promenade for strollers? The 2nd edition of the ‘Gdynia-Design for all’ workshop conducted by Pete Kercher is about to begin. Its goal is to lay the foundations for the thoughtful and balanced design of urban areas. This time around, Gdynia Design Center, in co-operation with the Emigration Museum, will undertake the diversification of the pedestrian route’s infrastructure running from Kaszubski Square to Polska Street. The recruitment for the workshop begins on October 14th.
The subject of the 2nd edition of ‘Gdynia-Design for All’ workshop is the extension of the pedestrian route, which will soon become a busy thoroughfare frequented not only by the citizens of the city, but also by tourists visiting the Emigration Museum in Gdynia. Participants’ goal will be to propose low-budget solutions encouraging citizens to stroll the thus far sporadically frequented route – from Kaszubski Square to Polska Street, where the main seat of the Emigration Museum will open at the beginning of 2015. It is the workshop’s goal to manage this space so that it becomes a natural extension of the communication artery leading from the center of the city. This goal will be accomplished thanks to conceptual designs opening an artistic dialogue with the areas surrounding the port, as well as with the historic context of the place. The overall convention of the proposed solutions is to help maintain the character of this industrial area, simultaneously making it friendlier for citizens and tourists who reach Gdynia in large numbers onboard passenger ships – especially in the summer period.
The workshop will begin on October 17 and 19 with two moderated walks aimed at getting acquainted with the needs and inconveniences citizens of Gdynia run into in this place. By the middle of the month, the recruitment of workshop participants will also begin. They will consist of students of design majors of the faculty of Architecture of the University of Technology of Gdańsk and the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. They will develop solutions for their area of choice under the guidance of Pete Kercher, ambassador of EIDD Design for All Europe – an organization supporting active interaction and communication between the theory of design and its practice for all.
Meanwhile, the 2nd edition of the workshop in underway. The recruitment begins on October 14, 2013. Please send your applications to zgloszenie@centrumdesignu.gdynia.pl. The number of participants is limited.
Workshop Program
October 17, 5:30 p.m. and October 19, 11:00 a.m. – moderated walk through Gdynia aimed at opening a dialogue with the citizens of the city (in co-operation with the Department of Social Innovations of the Pomorski Science and Technology Park). Participants will gather by the statue of Antoni Abraham.
Stage 1: November 5-6 – field trip with participants; workshop
Stage 2: November 27 – continuation of the workshop
Final: November 28 – presentation of the designs for the representatives of urban authorities as part of Gdynia Design Center’s birthday.
Pete Kercher – leader – ambassador and founder of EIDD Design for All Europe – an organization supporting active interaction and communication between the theory of design and its practice for all; lecturer and author of many publications; outstanding consultant in the field of design in urban strategies; speaker at many international conferences and seminars; an esteemed member of many scientific, consulting, and journalistic organizations, as well as a juror for international conferences and awards; citizen of the world, always up to date on the most recent trends in design, but foremost an active promoter of the idea of Design for All.
