You are invited to the opening and award ceremony for the best collaboration awards of BIO 50, 24th Biennial of Design, on Thursday, 18 September 2014, 20:00, at the Museum of Architecture and Design. BIO 50 will unveil the results of a six-month long collaborative process of more than 120 designers, multidisciplinary experts, institutions and companies. The awards for best collaboration will be presented by the BIO 50 jury comprising industrial designer Konstantin Grcic, design critic Alice Rawsthorn and designer and professor Saša J. Mächtig. Before the opening at 18:00, the lecture and talk with Alice Rawsthorn, Justin McGuirk and Jan Boelen will be organized.

Brought together by the experimental framework that shaped BIO 50, eleven groups tackled the themes of Affordable Living, Knowing Food, Public Water Public Space, Walking the City, Hidden Crafts, The Fashion System, Hacking Households, Nanotourism, Engine Blocks, Observing Space and Designing Life, creating specific projects to be implemented during the Biennial and beyond.

Following a period of intense research, where collaboration and learning were fundamental values, the outcomes are widely diverse, ranging from a series of household appliances developed under the same principles that shape open-source software to a garden pavilion developed with the local residents to encourage new discussions about food. Other outcomes include a performative experiment that challenges the way one experiences walking in the city, as well as a multipurpose engine that doubles as a survival tool in a dystopian vision of the future.

“The opening week of BIO 50 will be the culmination of a long term process, which started about a year ago with the activation of local and international agents, when all those involved will descend upon Ljubljana,” said BIO 50 chief curator Jan Boelen. “Other than the presentation of the team’s process and projects, which will offer insights into possible futures for the design discipline, there will be a strong focus on creating connections with the city at all levels. From a series of debates aiming to create a local design policy to events happening all over the city, just the mere presence of the many, many agents that took part in BIO 50 will create a very particular dynamic in Ljubljana during the opening week.”

Founded in 1964, BIO was the first design biennial in Europe. In 2014, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, it undertakes an ambitious transformation, from a traditional industrial design competition into a six-month collaborative process. In its experimental approach and ambitious goals, this edition of the Biennial becomes a case study for what design and design events can be in the contemporary world.

BIO 50 is shaped by the exhibition 3, 2, 1 … TEST, which presents the process and projects developed by each of the groups. It is further enhanced by the retrospective exhibition The Biennial of (Industrial) Design over 50 Years, and complemented by BIO 50: NOW, a lively program of side events.

For this year’s edition, the Regional Development Agency of the Ljubljana Urban Region and its Regional Creative Economy Centre and company Eles, d.o.o. became main partners of BIO 50, supporting the event’s concept, interdisciplinary approach and some of the themes. Many partners, sponsors and supporters joined them; their support allows us to build a new, innovative form of the Biennial as a highly relevant international design event.

BIO 50 OPENING
THURSDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER
10.00 PRESS TALK at the Museum of Architecture and Design, and guided exhibition preview to all three locations (only with accreditations via form)
18.00 DESIGNING EVERYDAY LIFE, lecture and talk, at the Museum of Architecture and Design, with guests Alice Rawsthorn, Justin McGuirk and Jan Boelen
20.00 BIO 50: 3, 2, 1 … TEST, Opening and Award Ceremony

10.00-18.00 EXHIBITION PREVIEW, individual visit to all three locations (only with accreditations via form)

FRIDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER
19.00 MEETING WITH BIO 50 GROUPS and closing event, at the City Museum of Ljubljana

more events from BIO 50 program »

Location

Museum of Architecture and Design, Pot na Fužine 2, Ljubljana

Museum of Modern art, Tomšičeva 14, Ljubljana

Jakopič Gallery, Slovenska 9, Ljubljana

Opening Hours

Tuesday–Sunday: 10.00–18.00.

Closed: 1 November (MAO and MG)

Info

bio@mao.si
00386 (0)1 5484 280/270

Organization

MAO

Link
http://bio.si/en/features/24/bio-50-opening-day/