DESIGNKIOSK RUHR.2010
Objects with a Story to tell - "Arts & Crafts" Design in the Ruhr region
Graphics: DESIGNKIOSK RUHR.2010 / Photo:Silke Seibel
Across-the-counter designer goods. In Germany, kiosks are street-side stalls that sell newspapers and confectionery. In 2010, thirty of the region’s kiosks will be offering the general public the opportunity to buy hand-made everyday items from European designers. A competition was held to identify the 30 designers with the most compelling products. The conditions stated that the item had to have a functional purpose, fit into a box measuring 11x11x11 cm and cost less than € 20.
An integral part of German city life, kiosks provide the ideal platform for this project masterminded by BochumDesign e. V. It's an undertaking that unites several of the region's recognised virtues: resourcefulness, problem-solving, practical thinking and high-quality craftsmanship. Discovery tours lead out from Bochum, traversing the Ruhr region and ending at the 30 kiosks. Beyond the shop counter, the "design kiosks" themselves bear witness to their industrial locations where, often, yet-to-be-discovered firms in the creative sector have set up base. Indeed, consumer demand for better quality and greater individuality when it comes to functional, everyday items is boosting the design industry in the region as much as it is elsewhere.
A mobile design kiosk developed by students of the Dortmund University of Science and Technology will be unveiled during the "Local Heroes" week in Recklinghausen in March 2010. The bus will ply its trade along the design kiosk route, selling all the products from the 30 kiosks. Accompanying the project will be a retrospective exhibition of work by all Bochum Design Prize winners and entrants since 1997. DESIGNKIOSK RUHR.2010 has already led to the establishment of a network comprising numerous universities, companies, trade associations and institutions.
May 2 - August 1, 2010
30 typical kiosks in the Ruhr Metropolis
Partners: BochumDesign e. V.; City of Bochum; District of Recklinghausen; Matthias Reckert, Maschinenhalle Friedlicher Nachbar, Bochum; Guido Röcken, dwb, Culture and Project Manager, Herten; Sigurd Christian Evers, In Campo - Urban Interventions, Recklinghausen; Silke Seibel, Studio for Design and Culture Management, Bochum; Werkbund NRW; AG dt. Kunsthandwerk NRW; Dortmund Chamber of Trade; Ruhr University, Bochum; Gelsenkirchen College; Folkwang University; Private Universität Witten-Herdecke gGmbH; Ruhrakademie Schwerte; Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers; World Craft Council Belgium- Flanders; Estonian Designers' Association, District of Wodzisław, Poland
Project sponsor: Sparda-Bank West Art, Culture and Social Programmes Foundation
Project supporters: LWL Westphalia-Lippe Regional Council, Seibel-Designpartner (mono), Stadtwerke Bochum
You can find further information at:
designkiosk ruhr.2010
www.myspace.com/designkiosk_ruhr