The NYCxDESIGN Festival returns with an all-round celebration of creativity and the community that gravitates around it. The appointment is therefore in New York, from 15 to 21 May, a period in which the city becomes a focal point for events, conferences, exhibitions and meetings. Bringing together this palimpsest, which gets richer and richer every year, is the guiding theme of this edition, ‘Design is for Everyone’: a reflection on how design can create inclusivity and a positive impact for everyone, on many levels.
«The NYCxDESIGN Festival is much more than a showcase of our city’s extraordinary creative talent: it is a powerful unifier of the many design disciplines that make up the world’s largest design community,» said Ilene Shaw, Executive Director of the event. «Together, the Festival’s diverse and dynamic events reflect the boundless energy, innovation and creativity that characterises New York City. By bringing designers, brands, and visionaries from around the world together to converse and collaborate, we are not only defining design and its future, but we are making extraordinary connections right now, because design is for everyone».
IBM flagship store, New York
The festival is spread across all five boroughs – NoMad, SoHo, Madison Avenue, Harlem, DUMBO, Atlantic Avenue – and key locations in the city such as Hudson Yards, Javits Center, Domino Park, Central Park, Roosevelt Island among many others.
Immersive experiences not to be missed are the Design Pavilion by Lexus at Hudson Yards, where Lexus design interacts with the artwork of Australian artist Nick Thomm, and NYCxDESIGN x Souvenir Exhibition at The Oculus station, created in collaboration with Cool Hunting: the exhibition brings together a collection of 73 works inspired by the city and signed by renowned designers such as Karim Rashid and David Weeks (many of which can be purchased) for purchase.
Wanted – Photo © Jenna Bascom
Insights into design take unexpected forms and contents in the debate organised by Coca-ColaⓇ on the theme ‘A Decade of Photography for Coca-ColaⓇ Global Design by Guy Arcoch and Anna Palma’ combined with the ‘Contour’ exhibition at the International Center of Photography: an occasion to celebrate the 110th anniversary of the iconic Coca-Cola bottle. In the company of IBM, on the other hand, we talk about artificial intelligence in relation to design – to enhance storytelling, to generate images or to fuel immersive experiences. Appointment at the IBM flagship with the talk ‘AI: Sci-Fi to Society’. Design and wellbeing is instead the theme underlying the conversation organised by Life Time, which through the round table ‘By Design: The Healthy Way of Life’ (also involving Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts) intends to investigate how the world of design can generate wellbeing and spaces in which to regenerate.
Shelter by AfternoonLight
And still on the subject of cultural exploration, the festival offers ‘Cultural tours’ through which to discover the most relevant architecture and design constructions the city has to offer, in the areas of Hudson Yards, Central Park, Grand Central Madison.
NYCxDESIGN also means fairs and exhibitions. Starting with ICFF + Wanted at the Javits Center: over 450 North American and international brands come together to present new products and best sellers in line with the ‘Design in Harmony’ theme of this year’s event.
In addition to this long-standing trade fair event, Shelter by Afternoon Light, from 17 to 19 May at Starrett-Lehigh, makes its debut with this inaugural edition: a group show bringing together emerging and established brands.
Fashion Institute of Technology
NYCxDESIGN thus acts as a springboard for emerging creatives and hidden talents, thanks also to the space given to students and design schools, such as Pratt Institute, Parsons School of Design, Cornell Tech, the School of Visual Arts, Fashion Institute of Technology, and the New York Institute of Technology, which participate in the festival with dedicated exhibitions created by students.
For more information and event details:
https://nycxdesign.org/events/
