Design Week Budapest celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. During this past decade, the Hungarian creative industry has significantly changed, while the borderlines of design have become less visible: design thinking has by now become a factor determining all branches of culture and economy.

In 2013 the design festival focuses on the crossovers of contemporary design:
What do designers do in the kitchen or in the parliament?
How can traditional artisan techniques survive in the age of 3D printing?
Why does the country's GDP depend on programmers and pixels?

It seems like a paradox only at first sight that our creative industry has the most outstanding achievements in two areas: our designers make one-off artisan objects of unmatched quality, while working in the digital space, our developers, graphic designers and the experts of our amazingly growing IT sector develop software, web sites and applications of the highest standard.

So, no wonder that this year's Open Studios include a team developing mobile applications for the biggest brands, called Team Distinction, as well as a manufactory making one-off leather bags, called TheBetaVersion. Besides Anna Nemesi who continues a family tradition by working in a tiny jewellery workshop, we find two of the most acclaimed Hungarian architecture studios, Minusplus and 3H architecture.

Young designers like ÁERON, ANNCHI, APLI DESIGN, and KOMOD, as well as two brand-new collectives uniting different creative energies, Heinrich Alkotói Szint and HOLLÁN9 appear next to already well-known brands, the Absoloot creative studio offering relief printing services, the Graphasel Design Studio, a graphic design team celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, and the acclaimed fashion photographer Mark Viszlay. During their open days, they welcome everyone who is interested in the behind-the-scenes secrets of the creative professions and wishes to meet designers, a.k.a. “engineers of the future”.

Budapest Design Week:
Budapest Design Week is entering its tenth year in 2013; the jubilee festival takes place between 27th September and 6th October. The Hungarian Intellectual Property Office is the patron of the festival, its leading professional partners are the Hungarian Design Council and Design Terminal, it is organised by HIPAvilon Nonprofit Ltd.

In 2013 the festival focuses on the crossovers of contemporary design, or the intersections that design creates with architecture, fine arts, crafts or digital technologies. In recent years, contemporary design has been pushed by a range of significant external forces to redefine itself and explore new forms of expression.

The economic crisis has increased the demand for cheap products, modern technologies (for example 3D printing) enable practically anyone to become a designer, while professionals these days cannot disregard new aspects like social responsibility or recycling. The economic, social and cultural changes of the past few years, as well as the transformation of the values seen in consumer societies have again pushed the technologies of craftsmanship in the limelight, which have so far been in sharp contrast with the traditional interpretation of design, the image of standardised industrial products.

The detailed program of Open Studios can be found on the web site of Budapest Design Week from the beginning of September, and in the program brochure of the festival that is available from the middle of September.
Further information: designweek.hu, facebook.com/budapestdesignweek

Source:  Budapest Design Week