The three-day world-class Speaker Series programme at designEX this May will feature some of the design industry’s most expansive thinkers and internationally renowned experts.

To be held at the Sydney Exhibition Centre, Glebe Island from 28 May to 30 May, the seminars will build on the solid reputation of designEX’s Speaker Series with a programme based on ‘The Future of Design’.

Each of the three days will focus on different elements of the forward-facing factors shaping design in the future including forecasts and design trends, technology and digital design, and collaboration for health and wellbeing.

The designEX Speaker Series will feature Dutch, Canadian, and English speakers in addition to a presentation by Dr Wei-Gong Liou of the Taipei City Government on ‘Adaptive City: Design in Motion’.

Lidewij Edelkoort (France)
One the world’s most renowned trend forecasters, keynote speaker Lidewij Edelkoort will open the Speaker Series with a presentation on her highly anticipated future design trends for 2016 and beyond, bringing a societal perspective to the architecture and design discussion. She will examine the future design trend of ‘Embryonic Architecture’ that explores how new architecture can embrace renewed lifestyle interest in sheltering, and how a homelier lifestyle is on the horizon.

Alastair Parvin (UK)
Alastair Parvin, who believes in making architecture accessible to 100 percent of the population, will make his presentation on the second day of the series. Parvin, who has trained in architecture but chooses to make a career looking for ideas beyond its conventional framework, is one of a team behind WikiHouse, an open-source construction set that allows anyone to freely share model files for structures, which can then be downloaded, printed on a CNC cutting machine and easily assembled.

Tye Farrow (Canada)
Tye Farrow, presented in Australia by WoodSolutions, will be exploring the link between design and health during his session on Friday. The award winning Canadian designer observes that expectations in recent years for environmental impact have been expanded to include awareness about how physical surroundings affect state of mind. Commenting that sustainable building objectives must embrace human health issues as well as environmental effects, he said that the public should expect design to make a holistic, meaningful contribution to their lives.

Margriet Vollenberg & Margo Konings (Netherlands)
Direct from their successful exhibition at Ventura Lambrate in Milan, Margriet Vollenberg and Margo Konings of Dutch practice Organisation In Design will lead a panel of experts to discuss the benefits and challenges for designers participating in international events, and what drives designers to travel internationally.

As curators and designer promoters, Margo and Margriet will be sharing their experience in organising leading design presentations such as Ventura Lambrate, now in its 5th year. The panel led by Margo and Margriet will further explore the motivation of designers to exhibit internationally, response from other communities, desired outcomes and actual results.

Architecture & Design Team

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