Highlights of Medellin Design Week 2019
Photo by Juan Carlos Soto.
Over the past five years, Medellín Design Week, the Colombian platform that promotes local creative industries like product design, industrial design, graphic and audiovisual design, and architecture, among others, has welcomed more than 6,000 attendees from Colombia and around the world, providing hundreds of creative spaces around the city of Medellín, to boost business, stimulate learning and connections, and grant opportunities to emerging designers and entrepreneurs. medellindesignweek.com
Bodega Central
Held in the basement of Medellín’s new Click Clack Hotel, 2019’s Bodega Central presented pieces by more than twenty studios from all over the country, under the conceptual framework ‘Esto no es copia’ (This is not a copy). As a guiding theme, all pieces were presented in black, a reference to the design world’s ‘entregas en blanco’ — or a step of the design process in which the designer presents a completely white piece in order to fully appreciate its volume and measurements, and so that it can be marked with comments and corrections. Bodega Central takes this idea and inverts it, resulting in a ‘black delivery.’ To follow are some of our favorites:
‘Legados Levitantes’ or Levitating Legacies
by Juan Esteban Montoya in collaboration with Folies Artesano
Levitating Legacies by Juan Esteban Montoya in collaboration with Colombian design studio Folies Artesano, was developed within the framework of a competition by Tei - Taller en Identidad (Identity Studio) to be presented during Medellin Design Week.
After studying the kinetic theories of color, fashion design student Juan Esteban Montoya developed this soft, graphic piece that evokes the nostalgia of non- compensation, reconstructing a history from what we’ve received and understanding others as part of our legacy. The piece is a tribute to Colombia’s origins, with a special focus on one of the country’s greatest legacies: weaving, and the reconstruction of it.
Black Light
by Alberto Mantilla
La Deliciosa
by Sergio Vergara for Zientte
Ara
Liquid
Chess board made of coca wood
Andes
‘Sección’
by Heidi Jalkh
‘Pájaro de Origami’
Arca
by Camila Pardo
‘Elogio a la Copia’
by Isabel Prade
Esterilla chair
by HJA + Tu Taller Design
Coolbook 2 launch
Colombian studio ImasD also launched the second edition of the Coolbook, a printed book designed to inspire creative minds and those passionate about design and art.
The book covers topics such as sustainability, collaboration, consciousness, technology, community and culture, transparency and origin; a total of seven chapters that, using current examples, demonstrate design trends and solutions in each of these areas.
The Coolbook also presents a series of images and keywords for inspiration and tools that aid in bringing ideas to fruition and converting them into executable action plans.
The book, which costs 150.000 COP, can be purchased at grupoimasd.com.
Miranda by simon ballen for perceptual
For their latest collection, Medellin-based design studio Perceptual reached out to their old friend and current designer at Amsterdam-based studio Formafantasma Simon Ballen, to create Miranda, a range of minimalist furniture pieces that explore new product typologies.
After a series of design collabs and exchanges with Ballen, the initial ideas were materialized by Perceptual’s design team, who resolved execution and engineering issues. The result is a collection of clean, well-built design objects that go beyond function and become tools for everyday experiences. perceptual.co
