Why we do this

10th of April – 5 days until the big event  – Design Royale.

After several weeks of preparation, curiosity is building up and the demand for explanations and clarifications is at an all time high. But what is Design Royale?

The grapevine is growing, links are forwarded, and the website attracts click after click, followed by plenty of chat and exchanges on Twitter and Facebook. Still, it is not easy to understand.

And everybody is asking!

At the beginning of this project, by mutual agreement, we decided not to send out a press release, and to leave everything shrouded in mystery. We gradually released clues and fragments along the way towards the grand Design Royale event and exhibition at 11pm on Friday 15th April – when all will be revealed.

In a world in which everyone clearly communicates what they want to do, we thought it would be a clever idea (very naively) to work on the opposite principle.

In fact, the pressure to tell all has become too much now, therefore we have eaten our words and here we are with our fabulous press release.

What can we say?

Put very simply, Design Royale is a design experiment.

Organise an event in the era of Facebook and Twitter. Blending the physical (glass cube + secret garden in via della Moscova 28) with the immateriality of the digital.

An event created by involving people in several locations around the world, working passionately with social media, e-mail, and Skype.

Put together the best of contemporary Italian design with one hundred young designers and students who live in different continents.

New media has completely changed our lives. We ask if the Fuori Salone event and exhibitions can change with it, and what are the opportunities for experimentation and invention?

An event where the main medium is Facebook. Supported by Twitter. And the Mediateca degli Atellani: a fascinating urban space in Milan.

Make a rapid prototype (low-cost / hi-quality: in technical jargon we are referring to rapid prototyping), to test a number of assumptions and ideas that we have in mind.

A pop-up event and exhibition involving different minds and attitudes, and no sure results (which is what makes it interesting to watch, and follow).

Create a short-circuit between traditional communication systems, the element of play, a party, and thereby multiplying the message in infinite ways.

And then what? We still don’t know, exactly.

We are already working on a second episode for the summer. A new event? Maybe. A summer camp? It might be, but not necessarily. A school? Inconceivable.

…It’s more likely to be a club…, yes, a club…keep tuned….

Welcome to Design Royale

The project can be followed remotely by going to:

http://design-royale.com/

@d_royale su Twitter

design royale su Facebook

Videoleaks su Vimeo

The intense month of work will conclude on Friday 15th April at 11pm in: Design Royale al Cubo, Mediateca degli Atellani, in via della Moscova 28.

From Monday 11th April (daily from 3-10pm) we invite you to the making-of, an opportunity to learn, exchange, and build meaning, unexpected relationships.

The design arena will remain open on Saturday, 16th April.

Design Royale is organised by:

all zone, Pierluigi Anselmi, Claudio Farina, Rachel Fincken, Id-Lab (Michele Aquila, Bruna Cortinovis, Pan Gu, Stefano Mirti, Noemi Piccioli), Giulio Mannino, Alessandro Mininno, Matteo Riva

Art direction: Matteo Riva (Crockhaus)

Video: Pierluigi Anselmi with Giulio Mannino (sound by Alessandro Contini)

Photographs: Mariano Dallago

with the participation of:

Leslie Borg, Elio Caccavale, Alessandro Contini, Mariano Dallago, Duilio Forte, Francesco Librizzi, Danila Pellicani, Hagit Pincovici, Luca Poncellini, Paolo Priolo, Giordano Rizzardi, Antonio Scarponi (Conceptual Device), Alessandro Scandurra, Anita Silva

and special collaboration with:  Luca Ballarini (and Italic)

Speed Creating is a project by Dominic Wilcox, curated by Susanna Legrenzi

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Media Partners: Klat > http:www.klatmagazine.com

for the Cubo thanks to: Alessandro Cotroneo, Joelle Williams, Agata De Laurentiis

Special thanks to the experts and advisors for the online workshops with young designers:

Elio Caccavale, Rachaporn Choochuey, Peter Lang, Francesca Lanzavecchia, Tommaso Maggio, Attanasio Mazzone, Laura Perin, Hunn Way

Invited designers:

Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Faculty of Architecture, Dept. of Architecture:

Watcharapol Taemeyachat, Tanachai Thavornwatsakul, Ruchanan Patarapanich, Pote Laddaphan, Puttikit Suvarnapunya, Kiattikhun Nimcharoenwan, Asrin Sanguanwongwan, Patsaraporn Liewatanakorn, Kanya Vithayadumrong, Kanyada Nitjarunkul

BKK, Thailand:

Simona Meesaiyati, Panjaporn Chaichompoo, Pariphat Sinma, Karit Vichaithanaruks, Phorphen Prasertsil, Chonradee Piyapaneekul, Thanapat Teekathananontww, Ramon Ornelas, Perla Valitierra

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Singapore, 3D Design, Diploma in Furniture Design:

Calvin Pang, Tjiang Supertini

National University of Singapore, BA Industrial Design:

Terry Chin, Siew Ming Cheng, HK Ng, Darren Yeo

Dept. of Architecture Texas A&M:

Christopher Dilworth, Karine Bashoyan, Elizabeth Tschirhart, Miranda Katherine Rogers, Valerie

Marie Stevens, Trey Donovan Rice, David Rose, Katie Ogden, Allison Gay, Lori Kneese, Heriberto Rodriguez Valenzuela, Daniel A. Senning, Thomas V. Bett, Danielle N. Davis, Joshua M. Wilson

Dundee University:

Andrew Tibbles, Callum Brown

Politecnico di Milano:

Huang Zhizhong, Gao Yuxin

Domus Academy, Milan, School of Fashion and Design:

Arush Baluja