Cape Town selected as World Design Capital 2014

10 November 2013

by Richard Forster

Cape Town is planning a huge New Year’s party to celebrate the launch of South Africa’s oldest city as the World Design Capital 2014.

In the build-up to the event, Cape Town has spent months redesigning itself as a showcase gateway to the African continent with its rich heritage, innovation, diversity and creative talent.

Expressing her pride that the city of 3.6 million inhabitants was selected after Helsinki, Seoul and Torino as the first World Design Capital in Africa, Mayor Patricia de Lille said: “The value of an event such as World Design Capital not only exposes our creative design talents to the world, but in turn develops our local industry into an asset for decades to come.”

With more than half the world’s population now living in urban areas, cities are facing dramatic changes in how they adapt to their rising populations and effectively provide for the businesses that feed their economic growth. The future success of each city is therefore largely reliant on those who plan, design and manage the shared spaces and functions of their city.

“The central thesis of the City of Cape Town’s approach to the World Design Capital 2014 is to use excellence in design, to design the change we want to see in our city, using the very building blocks of which our city is comprised,” De Lille said.

Each of the city’s 111 wards will present a new community project among the estimated 450 initiatives undertaken. She said the idea was not just a showcase, but aimed at breathing life into the WDC programme.

“All of these projects are united by their use of design and design-led thinking to help us drive the social and economic change we want and need,” said De Lille.

The four project themes are:

1. African Innovation. Global Conversation — African ideas that speak to the world;

2. Bridging The Divide — Design that reconnects our city and reconciles our communities;

3. Today For Tomorrow — Sustainable solutions for people and the planet; and

4. Beautiful Spaces. Beautiful Things — Inspiring architecture, interiors, food, fashion, jewellery, craft, art and creativity.

“I am confident that the projects we have recognised for the official programme next year are true to the overall theme of ‘Live Design. Transform Life’ and through design and design thinking, improve lives for people who are challenged everyday in their communities,” said Alayne Reesberg, CEO for Cape Town Design.

The World Design Capital is an initiative of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, an international non-governmental organisation. Started in 2008, it is a biennial event that aims to protect and promote the profession of industrial design.

View the projects at www.wdccapetown2014.com

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