World Design Capital Taipei 2016 – Issuuuue Exhibition
At the World Design Capital Taipei 2016, International Design House Exhibition, the curators have proposed, and laid out a blueprint for the integration of design thinking with urban development on the theme of Sisheng: Quality of Life and Health, Ecological Sustainability, Smart Living, and Urban Regeneration.
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Taipei is this years World Design Capital. What is a World Design Capital? Every two years, a city is is designated by Icsid (definition at the end) – recognising that city's innovative use of design for economic, social and cultural development and to showcase effective design-led urban revitalization strategies that other cities can benefit from. In 2016, that city is Taipei in Taiwan, but their work started already several years in advance.
A few weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to catch the last day of the World Design Capital Taipei International Design House Exhibition in the capital, which showcased some of the best design and design thinking Taiwan has to offer at the moment.
The International Design House Exhibition, was one of four Signature Events taking place in October as part of the World Design Capital® (WDC) Taipei 2016, and presented an inspirational exploration of how global cities can use design to face the continuing challenges of urbanisation. The exhibition showcased pioneering programs and projects from WDC Taipei 2016, exploring the theme of Sisheng: Quality of Life and Health, Ecological Sustainability, Smart Living, and Urban Regeneration, and while doing so, demonstrating the versatility and strength of Taiwanese design.
"We hope that the International Design House Exhibition will inspire Taipei citizens and visitors to come together and share their ideas as we open a new era where design thinking and public participation drive future development"
said Pei-ni Beatrice Hsieh, Commissioner of the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs. She continued:
“The World Design Capital’s most important legacy is Taipei’s transformation into a forward-thinking city with a design vision where every voice counts.”
There were six pavilions making up the whole International Design House Exhibition, all located in the beautiful Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, a converted tobacco factory, (actually the first modernized tobacco Factory in Taiwan with roots all the way back to 1939). In 2012, the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park was positioned as the “Creative Hub of Taipei”, with the objective to nurture creative talents and energy. The Parks mission is to kindle creativity and innovation and to be in synch with the interdisciplinary developmental trend observed in today’s industries. A perfect location for the WDC Taipei 2016, that is.
In addition to pavilions showcasing Taiwanese design and art, and the ideas about how Taiwan should transform into a truly "liveable city" there was also an International City Pavilion, called "Unfold Cities", where 13 participating international cities, countries and organisations showcased their design strengths and shared projects that illustrate the power of design to solve urban problems. Sharing is caring and learning from best practices is a great way to develop and get new ideas and inspiration.
In this first article from the World Design Capital Taipei (there will be more to come from other pavilions) we will take a look at the "Taipei Issuuuue Pavilion", curated by Agua Chou of Taipei-based studio Agua Design. Don't miss the interview with her at the end of this article. This pavilion was perhaps the most interesting to us during our visit, as it showcased the results of innovative WDC Taipei 2016 projects, including the International Open Call and Designer in Residence programs, trying to envision how a better Taipei for its residents would look. It also explored and showcased the impact of public planning and design policies in Taipei City, and initiatives the city government has implemented over the last few years. The exhibition space was in addition also used for a series of interactive forums and workshops aiming to inspire the public to consider problems currently faced by Taipei, and to help them learn how to solve them by applying design thinking methods. In short, this was a pavilion for the people – to learn, interact and give feedback. And we thought it was great.
Visitors to the exhibition interact with it in many ways. Here, by placing different coloured stickers on a map of the city, indicating where they would like change, and what kind.
Photo Courtesy: WDC Taipei 2016.
Up cycling clothes workshop at WDC Taipei 2016. Photo Courtesy: WDC Taipei 2016.
The International Open Call program, held as part of the World Design Capital (WDC) Taipei 2016, brought global and local Taiwanese organizations together to affect social change in the city through design. The six projects selected by WDC organizers brought a multitude of carefully researched social design interventions to Taipei residents—from playgrounds built of junk to inner city recycling vending machines, traditional food re-design – and experimental lunch schemes.
One project, called Next Design for Aging Society represents a collaboration between 5% Design Action (a Taiwanese not-for-profit organization which invites designers to contribute a portion of their spare time to tackle societal issues), and numerous leading European education organizations, and customer experience and health technology design companies. Together, they are working to improve the lives of the elderly, focusing their efforts on community care centers in Neihu, in the north-east of Taipei. The goal is to create friendlier, more supportive communities that help elderly people to live healthier, more socially-engaged lives, to improve the efficiency of care systems by introducing better technology, and to train carers in the art of empathy. A very worthy goal for sure.
Some of our other favourites were:
Small Shop Signboard Project
Taipei has the same problem that most Asian cities do – its commercial signs are big, colourful and loud – and they take up a large portion of the space on the streets and of surrounding buildings. This project was led in tandem by Agua Design and Archicake and they asked "Can we do something about this?". "How could we possibly change the city view of our streets?" Thus the Small Shop Signboard Manufacturer project was born. The team has talked to a large amount of smaller businesses and asked them what they want when they design a sign, and what would make them choose a smaller sign instead of a big, loud one. Turns out, business owners want to be unique, to stand out, and of course attract customers. And there are other ways to do so than to be big and bold. To help small business owners connect with designers and manufacturers who can help them with this task, and to think a bit differently about the design of their sign, a book of all the sign manufacturers in Taipei was assembled. There has also been workshops and seminars in trying to educate the business owners in what good design entails, not just loud design. 100 signs have now been redesigned around the city, and in Dazhi Market three famous designers were brought on board to redesign 9 shop fronts: Aaron Nieh, Feng Yu, and Wei Da Lin.
Small shop signboard manufacturer project showing a typical street scape in Taipei. Photo Courtesy: WDC Taipei 2016.
See some of the cool new signs that are the result of this project below. I think we would need a similar initiative in Hong Kong..
The below initiative was made at the Dahzi Market in Taipei, in order to try to simplify the signs and make the whole impression "cleaner". I like it as even I can "read" what they are selling: poultry, pork and fish!
Green Ocean – The Circular Economy & More than the Economy
Taiwan's recycling rate of 56.4% has been highly praised the media abroad. However, this number has stagnated in recent years, and there is still much to be done. This project, which took place in stages between March and November, have held workshops to brainstorm the different issues with so-called "misplaced resources" and trying to learn from biosphere in nature, using the "circular economy" instead of "mining, manufacturing, disposed" – the usual linear thinking. The idea is to not waste, when you can borrow, share, repair something that is broken or use resources from something else than they were intended for originally – up cycling.
Confronting the challenges to environmental sustainability posed by single-use plastic and electronic waste, the team, run by Renato Lab developed Pipr, a prototype of a “recycling vending machine” which encourages people to recycle single-use cups.
How can Taipei take the next step forward to the next decade? When the opportunity to extract from nature is diminishing, the end of its life cycle is the starting point for Taipei sustainable cities. Through workshops, discussions and brainstorming, the two main topics of the project were worked out and led to new ideas on how to use this waste, giving a second life to objects that are not valuable anymore.
1. Disposal Cups – Pipr A HUGE amount of take-away, or disposable cups are used in Taipei each day. They end up in the trash and add to landfills. How could one collect the cups in a smarter way, as even if collected in special recycling bins, they take up a lot of waste? Through brainstorming, a special type of device was constructed and named "Pipr", enabling cups to be collected just as they normally come when purchased – stacked on top of each other! They call it a "recycling vending machine" and straight to recycling the cups go. That is a lot of recycled paper. And any left over drinks goes into the hole in the middle. Voila!
Paper cup recycling stations. To the left up cycled wood and fans – they become stylish flower pots and lamps! Photo Courtesy: WDC Taipei 2016.
2. E-waste. Massive amounts of computers and other electronics are thrown away each day. How could you use, not just the electronics inside the machine, but the screens, whose different layers of plastics actually when rolled out are quite large! A lamp was born, up cycling the screens as the front of the lighting box. Quite pretty, stylish and saves plastic from landfills!
In addition, ideas on how to use wood from fallen down trees from typhoons etc surfaced (up cycled into flower pots etc) and also turning used fans into lamps. It just shows that the possibilities are endless if you only have a bit of imagination! Some of the products can be seen to the left in the picture above and below.
Lamps made of retired fan covers. Photo Courtesy: WDC Taipei 2016.
Unfortunately, the great recycling rate in Taiwan does not apply to e-waste, and the e-waste per capita in Taiwan is above the world’s average. 3,705 disposed laptops piled up as the base platform for the exhibition. This is also the expected number of recycled laptops per day in Taiwan in 2016! Wowsers. In reality, Taiwan only recycles less than 10% of these. It is because many laptops (other small electronic devices) are forgotten in the home, and because they contain personal information that people are unwilling to share. To better use these materials, the process of recover, repair, reuse, redesign, and recycle needs to be put into practice. It is only when they are collected for better usage, a circular economy can truly be realized.
The NEBBIA wall lamp was one of our favourites, and it is made from materials within disposed screens. This recycled material is able to focus light and provides a higher illumination environment. Plus, it looks super stylish too.
Hoping to see the recycling paper cups idea go live – and perhaps spread to the rest of the world as well?
Taipei Street Cleaner’s Equipment Renovation Project
The Taipei Cleaning squad is on the front line of city sanitary! There are about 4,000 people working to keep Taipei city clean, and more than 2,000 workers start their day with street cleaning early each morning. Old materials and products are still used for this, and the idea is that once cleaners can work with easier and safer tools, the cleaning can be done with higher efficiency, improving the appearance of Taipei city and the quality of life for its citizens. It also enables the workers to have an identity they can be proud of. Right now, each cleaner use no less than 108 bamboo brooms per year. That is per person! The brooms are imported from China and it is not easy to define a set standard, and so the quality varies. The humidity in Taiwan makes the brooms mould, further shortening their lifespan. For this project, led by Archicake, prototypes for new brooms were developed. They are made with plastic and are not only more durable, but using them instead of the old ones will actually save the government 2 million TDW per year! It is recognised that it is necessary for the manufacturers to work with public facilities to find the correct way to a new broom, with the research of the brush material, density, and structure to find the perfect one. We can only hope recycled plastic will be used…
Solving another problem, the way the trash cans were designed in Taipei meant that the janitors had to pull the trash bag upwards, something that is very strenuous on the body. They newly designed trash cans opens in the front instead, meaning that no lifting is required, but the cleaners can instead drag the bag out in a sideways manner, saving backs and making the process more efficient as well.
Even clothing has been given a revamp as part of this proect. Today each worker is given 10 items, including shorts for summer and pants for winter, a windbreaker, a hat and so on. Its low quality has long been criticised by the workers and a decision was made to decrease the amount of clothing, and instead use a higher quality fabric. The criteria to choose the right fabric was aimed mainly to ensure safety and longer durability of the items. The fabric and design chosen for the new outfits is a breathable and water-resistant fabric, transporting sweat away and keeping the skin dry from rain. The hydrophilic and absorbent fabric is able to keep the skin cool even in the hot Taipei sun. Compared to cotton, it is not only less absorbent, but cooler than hemp, which is really suitable for the team to wear in summer. Also, the fabric is reflective, which provides the workers with higher visibility to keep them safe on the roads.
Taipei Street Cleaner’s Equipment Renovation Project. Photo Courtesy: WDC Taipei 2016.
Q&A with Agua Chou, Curator of Taipei Issuuuue Pavilion
Q: How did you come to be involved in the International Design House Exhibition?
A: When I was bidding for the position, we mentioned an idea, which was that we didn’t just want to exhibit the accomplishments of the World Design Capital Taipei 2016 — although the stalls in the exhibition certainly showcases these projects — we also wanted to create an exhibition which would kickstart a debate about what issues Taipei currently faces and how we can invest in the future of the city. Basically, we wanted to allow participants to start thinking about their own solutions to the problems Taipei faces. I think the Taiwan Design Center liked this idea, which is why we won the bid to curate this exhibition.
Q: Why did you choose the topic of Taipei Issuuuue?
A: We chose this topic because we believe Taipei faces a lot of different challenges, and we want to open up a forum for public debate and participation about how to deal with them, and share some creative approaches that use the principles of design thinking. This exhibition is about how to approach issues in a better way, with the right kind of strategy and investment, rather than just fixing things on the surface, wasting time and energy. We need to go deeper and find better ways to build a solution, open up a creative pipeline and a platform for civic participation, and then our society will improve much faster.
Q: What is main theme of your exhibition?
A: We have designed the space to feel like an Ancient Greek plaza, a place for public discussion where thinkers like Socrates or Plato would debate their ideas with other citizens. So the exhibition is a place where you can go into, you can sit in it, you can meet with lots of highly specialized professional people from all sorts of fields, and discuss different topics relating to the city — people discussing the future of the city from so many different angles, tackling things they are really passionate about. The topics raised by the exhibition stands include how to take care of the ageing population, the future of food trends, the issue of recycling and how to connect it to the economy, and the design of the city’s public parks just to mention a few.
The space in the middle of the exhibition used for workshops and seminars, resembling an Ancient Greek plaza. Photo Courtesy: WDC Taipei 2016.
Q: How do you hope visitors will react to your exhibition and what impact do you think it may have?
A: We hope that when people come in they will notice all the visual dialogues around the space, and start to think about the different issues that are being raised dn how these issues relate to them. Next, they can start to discuss these subjects with others in the space, which may include other citizens, exhibitors, representatives from the City Government, and many others. Lastly, they can go to the interactive section where there will be lots of different workshops and activities they can take part in, listen and share. I hope this is a chance for citizens from all different types of backgrounds to exchange positive and constructive ideas about how to improve our cities. I also hope that the exhibition will have a lasting impact on the strategy of how we invest our time, effort, and money in shaping the future of the city, and put civic participation at the forefront of urban development. I think it’s really important for citizens to have a voice and a platform if we want to move forward as a society.
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About WDC Taipei 2016
"Adaptive City — Design in Motion" was Taipei City's core concept in its 2015 application to host World Design Capital 2016. How can we apply innovative "design thinking" practices to overcome the constraints that limited resources place on our city's development, pursue continual change in our urban governance, create happiness in the lives of our citizens — providing them with a better quality of life in a more livable, forward-looking city? These are the go als for Taipei City. 2016 marks the beginning of an evolution for Taipei, taking advantage of the potential in change by "Engaging Communities," "Connecting Information," an
d "Revitalizing the City." For more information on WDC Taipei 2016, visit the official website http://wdc2016.taipei/en
About World Design Capital
World Design Capital® (WDC) is designated by Icsid (The International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid) – an international non-governmental organization (INGO) founded in 1957 that promotes the profession of industrial design) every two years to recognize a city's innovative use of design for economic, social and cultural development and to showcase effective design-led urban revitalization strategies that other cities can benefit from. Past cities to hold the WDC title include Torino (Italy) in 2008, Seoul (South Korea) in 2010, Helsinki (Finland) in 2012, and Cape Town (South Africa) 2014. Taipei (Taiwan) is this year's WDC, and Mexico City has just been named WDC 2018. For more information, please visit www.worlddesigncapital.com
