Cities x Design as featured on DESIGN 21, is a 35-city trans-media research trip across the United States that is recorded online and will later be released in film, exhibition and book form. Through visits, observations, and interviews Cities x Design will examine, during this time of economic instability and questioning about America’s future, the connections between cities, local culture and people in the United States. It will highlight how investing in design can change perceptions, boost economies and create unique places.
The documentary created will explore cities where local creativity, commerce and culture merge. It will highlight people, organizations and businesses that use design as a medium to reflect a deeper understanding of their city’s identity. It will reveal the diversity that lives in America’s most creative corners: from a cutting-edge entrepreneur who is working with the New Orleans Government to regenerate a historic riverfront, to a graphic design firm in Austin working with local musicians, a Native-American fashion designer in Santa Fe, or a small furniture company in Denver that uses domestically sourced material. The website, book, exhibition and film will showcase people who play an important role in the regeneration, tourism, branding, and creative economy of their cities. Their ideas are inspired by authenticity, craftsmanship, local identity and culture. These people are charting a new course for a sustainable future in American cities.
Cities x Design began in Orlando, Florida and will pass through New Orleans, Austin, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Boise, Salt Lake City, Boulder, Denver, Omaha, Iowa City, Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, Columbus, Lexington, Knoxville, Atlanta, Charleston, Savannah and Miami.
The idea of taking around a group of people in a sort of ‘tour’ format, to travel around individual countries trying to solve problems has such potential, and doesn’t just need to be design. Imagine taking an MP, philosopher, plumber, businessman, student and a vicar around your country putting their heads together to try and solve local problems within communities. More of this type of conversation I think should take place regularly and documented online like Cities x Design does. A worldwide network of ‘tour buses’ could be created perhaps?
http://trip.citiesxdesign.org/
