Press Release

DesignPhiladelphia Sample Program List

DesignPhiladelphia, presented in partnership with the University of the Arts, showcases Philadelphia’s strong creative communities through more than 150 exhibitions, workshops, studio tours, lectures and parties that celebrate design’s many dimensions, dynamics and applications.

Included below is a sampling of 2011 programming. If you have any questions or requests, or if you are interested in specific design disciplines or issues and would like additional event tips, please contact emaleigh [at] canarypromo [dot] com (emaleigh [at] canarypromo [dot] com) for guidance.

View the DesignPhiladelphia event calendar online at www.designphiladelphia.org.

Download the full 2011 DesignPhiladelphia Program Book as a PDF document (will open in browser, 9.2 MB).

To request a hardcopy of the program, email Emaleigh [at] canarypromo [dot] com (emaleigh [at] canarypromo [dot] com).

OPENING NIGHT

[event] DesignPhiladelphia’s KICK-OFF
Thursday, October 13, Starting at 6pm
300 Block of North 11th Street

An evening of parties, performance and panache under the Reading Viaduct in the Callowhill Loft District.

STOP 1: The Liao Collection Benefit & Award Presentation
The Laio Collection, 310 North 11th Street
6pm-7:30pm
The evening begins at the Liao Collection, an Asian antique emporium, with a benefit party for DesignPhiladelphia. We’ll be presenting the first annual Design Champion Award to Mayor Michael A. Nutter for his unwavering support of the regional creative community and for his initiatives to encourage innovative design solutions to improving and greening the urban environment. $50 per person. www.designphiladelphia.ticketleap.com/VIP

STOP 2: Vox Populi, Grizzly Grizzly Gallery and The Action Mill
319 North 11th Street
7pm-9pm
Gallery openings inside, fanciful food trucks and atmospheric projections by Klip Collective outside. Free and open to the public.

STOP 3: The Trestle Inn
339 North 11th Street
Doors open at 7pm, Performance at 8pm
“Curlie Show” – the flirtatious design of burlesque hair styles featuring Richard Nicholas Hair Studio. Free and open to the public.

OFFICIAL LOUNGE

The DesignLounge + Information Central
Open daily during DesignPhiladelphia from 10am-8pm and 12pm-5pm on Sundays
The Philadelphia Center for Architecture
1218 Arch Street
Join DesignPhiladelphia in our temporary DesignLounge at the Philadelphia Center for Architecture for conversation, exploration and investigation of all things design. The DesignLounge features interactive design/art installations, designer furniture, design-related reading material, designer beverages and your creative minds, thoughts and opinions!

SIGNATURE PROGRAM

[lecture] Gray Area: Provocations on the Future of Preservation
Wednesday, October 19, 5:30pm reception, 6:15-8pm panel discussion
Center for Architecture, 1218 Arch Street
Gray Area: Provocations on the Future of Preservation is comprised of a moderated panel discussion, plus a limited-edition catalog of case studies and commissioned works intended to provoke fresh thinking about historic preservation. Using the Philadelphia region as a point of departure – but encouraging regional, national and global perspectives – Gray Area considers preservation in light of new economic realities, demographic shifts, technological changes, environmental pressures and myriad fast-changing factors.

Join us for an evening of smart talk with thinkers including Lloyd Alter (TREEHUGGER.com), Mark Alan Hughes (founding director, Greenworks), Enrique Norten (TEN ARQUITECTOS), Randall Mason (chair, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, School of Design, University of Pennsylvania), Susan Szenasy (editor in chief of Metropolis magazine) and Tod Williams (Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects). Attendees will take home a free copy of the Gray Area catalog, a compilation of projects and emerging ideas. Gray Area is made possible by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Heritage Philadelphia Program. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.grayarea.eventbrite.com

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

[event] Not A Vacant Lot
Wednesday, October 19 – Sunday, October 23, daily
Empty Lot, 313 S. Broad Street
In the middle of vibrant Center City Philadelphia, just four blocks from City Hall and surrounded by cultural venues, sits a large vacant lot. DesignPhiladelphia – in tandem with The University of the Arts, Independent curator Marianne Bernstein and Penn Design students – will produce Not a Vacant Lot, a 5-day exhibition at 313 South Broad Street incorporating Bernstein’s Play House. In re-imagining its purpose, the space will become a showcase of cutting-edge, temporary programming, cultural offerings and landscape design, studded with live performances changing daily, as well as video showings at night.

Used as little more than a parking lot, the space’s underuse is typical of Philadelphia’s pervasive vacancy problem, adding up to more than 40,000 such empty lots. But due to its prime location, access to transit and neighboring institutions such as the Kimmel Center and Wilma Theater, this lot has unique potential to be reinvented as a major asset to the Avenue of the Arts and Philadelphia as a whole. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible.

[lecture] Soaring and Submersive P1: A Citywide Gardenpark
VIADUCTgreene and Reading Viaduct Project
October 13, 5pm-6pm
FACTS Charter School, 1023 Callowhill Street
Join a conversation about transforming three miles of abandoned rail beds – 30 feet above and 30 feet below street level – into Philadelphia’s newest park. Explore the opportunities presented by this project, including the site’s rich historical, horticultural, and civic assets. Learn why this project, unique to Philadelphia, will be transformative for the city. In partnership with Metcalfe Architecture & Design. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.viaductgreene.org | www.readingviaductproject.org

[event] Soaring and Submersive P2: A Walking Tour of the un-Viaduct
VIADUCTgreene
October 15, 1pm-3:30pm
NE corner of 22nd and Pennsylvania Avenue, behind the Rodin Museum
What if you could walk or bike through a park from 7th and Fairmount to the Schuylkill without crossing a street, traversing the diversity of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods? Wear good walking shoes and join us for a tour of what will become the “submersive” side of the Viaduct park project. See the magic gardens that thrive beneath our feet and the remnants of Philadelphia’s industrial past that will serve our future. Free and open to the public. www.viaductgreene.org

[event] Build A Chair, Build A Neighborhood
P’unk Avenue
Ongoing
Philadelphia (City Wide)
P’unk Avenue invites you to participate in a design intervention to activate public spaces with chairs built out of discarded pallet crates. We will then place these chairs in locations around the city to encourage people to gather and converse. Every chair will have a QR code on it that will direct people to a website where they can note its current location and add comments. An associated website will track the chairs on a map. Check our website for dates and locations of workshops to make your own chair, as well as information on the topic of design interventions. Partnered with Indy Hall. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.punkave.com

[event] BetterBlocksPhilly
South of South Neighborbood Association (SOSNA), WRT, Brown & Keener
October 13-23
Opening CelebrationFriday, October 14, 6pm-10pm
17th to 18th Streets, Christian to Catherine Streets
Join BetterBlocksPhilly for a week-long block party celebrating musical performances, art and design exhibitions, workshops, presentations, vendors and pop-up shops. BetterBlocksPhilly is a living/functioning exhibit of temporarily installed Complete/Green Street concepts, fostering a safer pedestrian environment. The intention is to educate citizens while gaining city-wide attention of innovative traffic calming measures, and to help implement projects that will evolve Philadelphia’s neighborhood design ideology. In partnership with Brown & Keener Urban Design and Wallace Roberts & Todd.Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.betterblocksphilly.org

[event] Alexis Bittar – Cocktails + Conversations
Friday, October 14, 5pm-8pm
Scarlett Alley
241 Race Street
Showcasing three distinct jewelry collections for FALL 2011. LUCITE, hand-sculpted and hand-painted, ELEMENTS, slightly bohemian using semi-precious stones, MISS HAVISHAM, a sculptural line with custom cut stone and crystals. Learn about Alexis’ journey from the streets of SOHO to recipient of the Council of Fashion Designers Accessory Designer of the Year. A highly controlled seven-step process is revealed, creating bold design inspired by antiques, Art Deco Bakelite and Lalique glass. Sparkling specials this evening only. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.scarletalley.com

Anthropologie Event Series
Anthropologie, 1801 Walnut Street
Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible.
RSVP anthroevents [at] anthropologie [dot] com
www.anthropologie.com

[lecture] 1. Keith Johnson: Design Around the World
Friday, October 14, 6:30pm-7:30pm
Join Anthropologie art and antiques buyer and “Man Shops Globe” host, Keith Johnson, for a home design discussion and walk-through of found objects around the world.

[workshop] 2. Custom Book Workshop
Saturday, October 15, 10am-11am
Create your very own custom book with designer and founder of roughdrAftbooks, e bond. www.roughdraftbooks.com

[workshop] 3. Letterpress Stationary Workshop
Saturday, October 15, 11am-12pm
Learn the art of letterpress with local design house Two Paperdolls, and take home custom stationery that’s all your own. www.twopaperdolls.com

[workshop] 4. Jewelry-Making Workshop
Saturday, October 15, 12pm-1pm
Create a one-of-a-kind jewelry piece with accessories designer Lenora Dame. www.lenoradame.com

[workshop] IMPART: Composting Fashion
Saturday, October 15, 12pm-4pm
Greensgrow Farms
2501 E. Cumberland Street
Workshop: 12-2pm. In this workshop you will learn the basics of printing and patterning fabrics using non-toxic materials such as food, veggies and compost! Exhibition of Textiles: 12-4pm.
Wheelchair accessible. Admission: $10 as donation to Greensgrow Farms. Space is limited. RSVP by Oct 5th kc [at] garmentresearch [dot] org. www.garmentresearch.org

[exhibition] The Switched-On Garden
Sunday, October 16, 3:30pm-8:30pm
Data Garden, I-SITE. Bartram’s Garden
Batram’s Garden, 54th Street and Lindbergh Boulevard
Join Data Garden at the oldest surviving botanic garden in North America for an interactive exhibition exploring the relationship between plants, music, and technology. Participants will have the opportunity to wander Bartram’s Garden and connect with their natural environment through live music, performance, and sculpture that blurs the distinction between biological and digital worlds. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.datagarden.org

[event] Cocktails @ 6
Saturday, October 15, 2pm-8pm
More Than Old, 144-146 N. 3rd Street
A celebration of vintage barware – cocktail shakers, decanters, and accessories including glassware. Opening 2pm-8pm. Tasting beginning at 4pm. Free and open to the public. www.morethanold.com

SIGNATURE PROGRAM

[lectures] DuPont™Corian® Dialogues on Design
1. Presentation by Rama Chorpash: The International and Unexpected Life of Products and By-Products
Friday, October 14, 6pm
Center for Architecture, 1218 Arch Street
Rama Chorpash focuses on the exchange between people and everyday things. Embedded in each design is an exploration of social use and the interactions they cause. His work has been widely published, from The New York Times Style Magazine to Metropolis, and his projects have been exhibited coast to coast, from the Museum of Modern Art to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and internationally, from Portugal’s Bienal da Prata to Switzerland’s Design Miami/Art Basel Fair. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible.

2. MIO Measures: Creating Smart Design for the Planet Presentation by Jaime Salm
Monday, October 17, 6pm
Center For Architecture, 1218 Arch Street
Jaime Salm, MIO’s Creative Director, will share his journey in building a nationally-recognized design practice that defines best practices in sustainability. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible.www.mioculture.com

3. Presentation by Barbara J. Huelat: Organic Insight of Healing Environments
Tuesday, October 18th, 5:30pm reception, 6:15pm presentation
Marketplace Design Center, 2400 Market Street
Healing environments center on healing the body, mind and spirit. Healthcare design must focus on our Healing environments center on healing the body, mind and spirit. Healthcare design must focus on our human qualities. We are part of nature and as such we respond positively to elements of nature. Organic design is not just a trend or style, it is design based on programmatic needs of healing modalities.

This presentation explores healing environments that embrace nature as the teacher to solve complex issues in challenging spaces such as emergency medicine, cancer treatment, and behavioral care. Huelat will further discuss today’s design tools of color kinetic lighting, special materials, interactive video, music set to water, fractals, and human relationships. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible.

4. Presentation by Benjamin Pardo: Editing Design
Thursday, October 20, 5:30pm reception, 6:15pm presentation
Marketplace Design Center, 2400 Market Street, 4th Floor
Presentation by Benjamin Pardo, executive vice president of design at Knoll, pioneering manufacturers of modern furniture since 1938 working with seminal figures in 20th-century design and architecture, including Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van de Rohe. Pardo will discuss the process of commissioning, selecting, and developing new work for the venerable company. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible.

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

[event] Design Bike Tour
Sunday, October 16, 12pm-3:30pm
Trophy Bikes University City
Start/finish: 30th Street Station, 30th & Market Street, South Concourse
Easy-paced and short (about 10 miles). We’ll roll past some highlights and lowlights of Philadelphia design: magnificent interiors, odd vistas, the city’s smallest and grandest squares, and more. We’ll visit some DesignPhiladelphia receptions along the way. Bring bike, helmet, and lock. Leader: Michael McGettigan, Trophy Bikes University City. Rain date October 23, 2011.
Admission: $5. RSVP mcget [at] aol [dot] com. www.trophybikes.com

[lecture] Mad Men Chic: Molecules on Madison Avenue
Monday, October 17, 6pm-7pm
Chemical Heritage Foundation
315 Chestnut Street
Join award-winning design historian Regina Lee Blaszczyk to explore the little-known relationship between chemistry and interior design in the Mad Men era. A dynamic lecturer, Blaszczyk shows how new materials created by the chemical industry in Philadelphia – dyes, vinyl, and synthetic fibers – enabled modern designers to create the chic look of the sixties popularized by Madison Ave. Mad Men attire is optional. Visit CHF’s Making Modernity exhibit before the lecture. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. Register at www.chemheritage.org

[event] Createadelphia
Monday, October 17, 4pm-6pm
CampusPhilly
The Market + Shops at the Comcast Center
Createadelphia is a job fair and professional development event for Philadelphia college students & recent graduates interested in all fields of design. This event is a terrific opportunity to meet employers and experts in graphic arts, fashion, entertainment, environmental and museum design. Createadelphia is presented by Campus Philly, a nonprofit organization that fuels economic growth by encouraging college students to study, explore, live and work in the Greater Philadelphia tri-state region. For more information, contact Ashlie [at] campusphilly [dot] org. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.campusphilly.org

[event] Big Chalkers
Tuesday, October 18, 5pm
Playphilly
Café Cret, 16th & The Parkway
Express yourself with four-foot, adult sized ’sidewalk chalk’ crayons. Big Chalkers allow you to leave your temporary tag on Philadelphia’s urban canvas while invigorating your inner child. Coloring outside the line is highly recommended! Come out and play! During DesignPhiladelphia, Big Chalkers will spontaneously appear somewhere near you! Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.playphilly.org

[event] 100 Ideas in 100 minutes
Tuesday, October 18, 6pm
Digitas Health
100 Penn Square East, 11th Floor
Join us for 100 minutes (give or take) where we showcase 100 ideas. Big, small, strange and wonderful. We’ve combed the city and collected ideas from thinkers, designers, philosophers, and quite a few folks who just don’t fit into a category. Each idea will be presented 2 ways: as a one-minute video and on a plain sheet of 8.5″x11” white paper. If you’ve ever asked what’s next, this event will provide 100 answers. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.digitashealth.com

[event] Plastic Floats
Thursday, October 20, 9am-9pm
Love Park Fountain
JFK Plaza, 1500 Arch Street
Plastic bags float: in our rivers, in our lakes and in our oceans – never to fully disintegrate. A permanent mark of man’s negative impact on our environment. Conceptualist artist Josette Bonafino and fiber artist Janell Wysock, have created a floating installation of close to 100 plastic tapestries in response. Woven from thousands of plastic bags, Plastic Floats aims to make us pause before picking up or discarding the next plastic bag. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.plasticfloats.us

[event] Between Architecture, Nature and Technology: Material Analogs
Thursday, October 20, 6pm
American Philosophical Society
104 S. 5th Street
Architect and designer Jenny Sabin has created an environmentally sustainable greenhouse for the 21st century, now installed in the American Philosophical Society’s (APS) garden. Sabin, recognized for her work “at the forefront of a new direction in architectural practice that applies insights and theories from biology and mathematics to the design of material structures” will discuss the creation of this cutting-edge, pre-fab structure inspired by historic greenhouses in the APS Museum’s curated exhibition. Open to the public. Wheelchair accessible.www.apsmuseum.org

[event] Project the Peace
MYX: Multicultural Youth Exchange
Thursday, October 20, Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22, 7pm-10pm
Anderson Hall, 333 South Broad Street
Project the Peace is an outdoor projection installation of socially-conscious images produced by 25 Bartram High School students during a summer 2011 service learning program offered by MYX: Multicultural Youth Exchange. During the six-week program, students explored different acts of intolerance committed against people, animals and the environment, then collaborated on pro-social images in response. Funded by Philadelphia Youth Network, special thanks to the University of the Arts. Also running October 21st and 22nd. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.myxworld.org

[lecture] Keanan Duffty Rebel Rebel-Anti Style
Thursday, October 20, 6pm-9pm
The Department of Fashion, Product and Design & Merchandising of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University
Mitchell Auditorium, Bussone Research Center, 3140 Market Street
Celebrated designer and author, Keanan Duffty, will present a lively and inspiring, hour-long multimedia presentation entitled Rebel Rebel-Anti Style, tracing the roots of rebel style from the 50’s to present day, focusing on rebel icons from Marilyn Monroe and James Dean to Lady Gaga and Marilyn Manson. Q&A and book signing will follow. A display of student work and the D&M Kiosk, a pop-up shop featuring Rebel-inspired items, will be open for business. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.drexel.edu/westphal

[open studio] Studio Visit: Milner Carr Conservation, John Milner Architects
Thursday, October 20, 6pm-8pm
1431 N. Cadwallader Street
Studio visit to review collaborative architectural conservation and historic preservation projects of Milner Carr Conservation and John Milner Architects, co-hosted by the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art, Philadelphia Chapter. Free and open to the public. www.milnercarrconservation.com

[event] Getting Dressed
Saturday, October 22, 1pm-5pm
Denise Fike Designs
Joan Shepp Boutique, 1616 Walnut Street
Joan Shepp plays host to artist Denise Fike as she paints a model getting dressed in Joan Shepp’s window. The model will be wearing the collection of Bela Shehu’s NINO brand and sparked with Joan Shepp’s accessories. The life-sized fabric paintings will be the basis of a fashion collaboration between Bela and Denise. King Brit will set the performance on fire with his signature music production. Steve Belkowitz will film the event. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.denisefikedesigns.com

[event] Tease
Sunday, October 23, 7pm
Scissor Candy and Richard Nicholas
National Mechanics, 22 S. 3rd Street in Old City
As part of DesignPhildelphia’s closing celebration, Scissor Candy and Richard Nicholas bring vivacious vixens together for Tease, an event that will seduce and allure you. Ten salons will change live models into saucy sirens by interpreting pin-up beauty of another era through hair, makeup and wardrobe. With models flirting their way across several stages, guests will be enticed to join the ladies for a photograph or a tease makeover by our guest hairstylists. Come hither, take a peak, and be teased. Free and open to the public. www.scissorcandy.com

[exhibition] Leverage: Strengthening Neighborhoods Through Design Exhibition Community Design Collaborative
Center for Architecture, 1218 Arch Street
October 1 – 23
As part of its 20th anniversary celebration, the Community Design Collaborative is hosting an exhibition entitled Leverage: Strengthening Neighborhoods Through Design, showcasing projects and programs that exemplify best practices in community design. Leading examples of community design in Philadelphia and inspiring approaches from other American cities will be on display. Free and open to the public. Wheelchair accessible. www.cdesignc.org

[event] Art is Design
Please Touch Museum
Program Room, 4231 Avenue of the Republic Avenue
October 6-November 3
Please Touch Museum invites your family to visit and play with design! The Elaine Wideman Vaughn Program Room will be transformed into a kid-friendly design studio where visitors can create 2D and 3D representations of structures using bright, colorful, and playful array of materials. Children will have the opportunity to create mono-prints, mock-up buildings with modeling clay, and design the building of their dreams. Free with museum admission. Wheelchair accessible. www.pleasetouchmuseum.org