Earlier this year our new curated trend focus, Design Futures, was launched at Decoration+Design!
Design Futures is a bit of an inspiration/information package and is as much about concept and social directions as it is product, styling and colour.
It consists of a large central exhibition of exhibitor, local and international guest products as well as an in-depth seminar on the trend topics as part of the D+D seminar program.
Having just completed the second instalment of Design Futures at D+D Melbourne I thought it high time I made note of some of the ideas, process, products and participants. So the next few posts will be doing exactly that.
The theme of this edition of Design Futures was Alone Together and was designed as the flipside to the debut exhibition in Sydney, A Shared Table.
A Shared Table - Design Futures debut at Decoration+Design Sydney 2011
The four themes of A Shared Table were united by our prevailing desire to connect with many references to the value of sharing, collaboration and community. In contrast, Alone Together considered the importance of solitude and privacy:
“Technology has brought us to a point of constant connectivity. The advantages of being able to share, search and socialize regardless of time or location are clear. However, the negative effect this is having on our psyche and behaviour is only recently becoming evident.
Comforted by the constant background noise of our virtual lives, we are forgetting how to be alone.
Alone Together reminds us of the significance of privacy, solitude and intimacy as we continue our search for more connected ways of living.
For designers, this is an opportunity to consider how to create private spaces that encourage us to switch off and cater to our need for solitude in what is becoming an increasingly shared environment.”
With the fabulous support from the team at D+D, Alone Together resulted in an extensive exhibit of about 180 products from 30 participants, made possible by our collaboration with 3 generous sponsors, talented custom designers and a very patient build team!
Alone Together - the second instalment of Design Futures, Decoration+Design Melbourne 2011
The space was broken up into 4 private spaces, plus a park-life oasis by James Dawson and Normark Landscapes. The four themes and some of the research and inspirations behind them will covered in subsequent posts. For now – a big thank you to Australian Exhibitions and Conferences for inviting me to be part of their stunning show and to our sponsors and all of our participants for sharing their fabulous designs!