Designers, sponsors, press and interested parties gathered for the launch of the program for the 2015 Beirut Design Week at Liza restaurant in Ashrafieh Tuesday.
The fourth edition of BDW is set to kick off June 1, under the theme of “Social Beings” at Beirut Souks. This is the first time that the festival – the largest of its kind in the MENA region – will be operating under a theme, explained its director Doreen Toutikian, rallying the attendees under the slogan: “We believe in the value of design, which is far more than just aesthetics.”
This year’s festival will be underpinned by three principles: value over aesthetics, inclusiveness over elitism and dialogue over dictation, all self-explanatory according to Toutikian.
New this year is a two-day international conference on the theme of “The Value of Design in Technology, Business and Social Impact.”
The speakers at the conference will be local and international designers including Johannes Torpe, the creative director of Bang & Olufsen, Doug Powell, the design principal at IBM and Julian Maier-Hauff, jazz musician, sound designer and the DJ at the festival’s closing party at the Yacht Club.
Also making its festival debut is the Finnish Design Exhibition, promoting designers from Helsinki.
Speaking at the news conference was Finnish Ambassador to Lebanon, Matti Lassila, who promised the gathered crowd a short speech, before launching into the birth of Finnish design upon its independence nearly a century ago.
“Most of you will know about the Scandinavian design; very simple, very clear. It worked for us very well because we are a simple, pragmatic people, and we were quite poor also at the beginning of our independence,” he explained.
The ambassador went on to discuss more modern manifestations of Scandinavian design, and the benefits that come from interactions between designers across borders.
“When you work in design in today’s world I think you need to have influence from elsewhere and influence from everywhere,” he said, expressing his happiness that Finnish designers would be participating in Beirut Design Week despite recent difficulties faced by Lebanon.
“We hope that they find colleagues here and thinking here that is very different to what they are doing and I hope that you find something on our Finnish side that might be useful and new to you.”
This year’s festival promises to be bigger than the last, with a slew of designers, exhibitors and workshops, according to Toutikian.
“This year we have 140 local participants, these are all designers from Lebanon who are taking part or architects and every year the number of participants is growing and growing and we are very happy with that.”
There will also be a new mobile application to coincide with the festival.
Beirut Design Week will run from June 1 - June 7 in various locations across Beirut.
