Philadelphia’s Citywide Design Initiative in Full Swing for Spring

In April, 2007 DesignPhiladelphia returned to celebrate its third year. This citywide cultural initiative recognized this region’s distinguished design history and celebrated its contemporary significance as a center for the advancement in the design disciplines. For ten days, the city of Philadelphia became an arena of design with over 50 events, including: exhibitions, lectures, gallery tours, book signings, studio tours, parties and workshops all taking place under the DesignPhiladelphia banner. (For a complete listing go to www.designphiladelphia.org.)

In 2007, an unprecedented number of architecture and product design firms offered hard-hat and open studio tours. Participants included Kieran Timberlake Associates, Hiller Architecture, Voith & Mactavish Architects, BresslerGroup, Design Science, John Wagner Architecture, among others.

On April 12, DesignPhiladelphia kicked-off with a multidisciplinary design exhibition and symposium. The 2007 Symposium, entitled The Grid, was inspired by Philadelphia’s iconic city grid, created from the William Penn and Thomas Holme plan of 1682, a masterpiece of public design and urban invention. Whether it’s the rectilinear geometry of architecture and landscape architecture, the modernist page layout of graphic design, or the warp and weft of the loom in fashion, the grid is a dominant and controversial structuring principle across multiple design disciplines. What is the impact of the grid on the imagination of designers? In what ways does the grid constrict creativity, limit the imagination or allow it to flourish? These are some of the questions Chris Satullo, Philadelphia Inquirer’s Editorial Page Editor posed to invited panelists architectural historian David Brownlee; information designer Joel Katz; landscape architect Carol Franklin of Andropogon; trailblazing artist Edna Andrade; and Harris Steinberg, Penn Praxis Director.

The 2007 Exhibition, entitled Reinvention: circles, squares, and the city grid united seven Philadelphia college-level design schools to examine the differing ways these forms create the city, organize our daily life, shape our everyday objects, and enliven our field of vision. We encounter them in neighborhoods, skyscrapers, traffic patterns, and parks, as well as in spreadsheets, letterforms, waffles, and plaids. In this exhibition, students worked with these design elements to explore both their historical legacy in Philadelphia as well as their potential to reinvent our urban experience. Participants included:

University of Pennsylvania – Architecture

The University of the Arts – Museum Exhibition Planning and Design

Philadelphia University – Fashion

Moore College of Art & Design – Textile Design

Drexel University – Graphic Design

Art Institute of Philadelphia – Industrial Design

Temple University/Tyler School of Art – Interactive Design

DesignPhiladelphia 2007 also featured more than 60 additional citywide exhibitions, lectures, lectures, and book signings at cultural and academic institutions, galleries and boutiques. Participants included: The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Ed Bacon Foundation, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Fabric Workshop & Museum, The Design Center at Philadelphia University, American institute of Architects Philadelphia Chapter, Bahdee Bahdu, OLC, Minima, Wexler Gallery, Twist, among others.

DesignPhiladelphia would like to gratefully acknowledge our Presenting Sponsor, The Design Center at Philadelphia University, and the William Penn Foundation for their generous support. Additional supporters include: Media Sponsors, Philadelphia Magazine, Metropolis, Modernism and Campus Philly; Educational Sponsors, The Marketplace Design Center; Design Sponsors, Polite Design Inc. and Hillier Architecture; Government Sponsor, The Philadelphia Commerce Department.

DesignPhiladelphia is administered through The Design Center at Philadelphia University.

DesignPhiladelphia is a catalyst for advancing the public's awareness of design exploration and innovation in or about this city. To realize this effort, DesignPhiladelphia creates opportunities to enhance the public’s appreciation of the design disciplines. The mission of DesignPhiladelphia is to unite the diverse design communities within the Philadelphia region through multidisciplinary design projects, exhibitions, and events.

For more information, contact Hilary Jay, co-founder of DesignPhiladelphia and director of The Design Center at Philadelphia University. (215) 951-2863 or jayh@philau.edu.