Seattle Design Festival

Ask More is a space for SDF goers to physically partner with all bodies and genders in an open-invite, fun partner dance setting. An hour-long drop-in intro to blues dance lesson (no partner required) will be followed by an hour social dance.

Lesson will cover partner dance basics, breaking down assumptions about dance role based on gender, and invoke the practice of asking more questions—verbally and nonverbally—to share a dance full of enthusiastic consent.

With the apparent ubiquity of water in Seattle it would seem that there is equal access to it. The intention of our installaton/project is to test the equity of Seattle’s waters, both in terms of access and quality.

During the Design Festival we will distribute small, easily deployable water testing kits at allied events, venues and organizations. Kits will prompt and instruct participants to visit a local water body and measure water quality.

Once tested, the location and information will be logged onto an interactive map and website, recording and revealing variations and potential inequities in access and quality.

The kits and the process of measuring water are designed to raise awareness of partner organizations and efforts - including the 12,000 Rain Gardens program - working to rectify imbalances in our city and regional water quality.

Project website: http://water-proof-seattle.tumblr.com/

Test Kit Distribution Locations (updated as new locations are established)

SDF Block Party - 9.12/13

SDF Conference - 9.19

 

 

 

Today we are frequently faced with finding creative solutions for extremely complex social problems. We must often do this in a very short time, with woefully little information and resources, while often working with people who we have never met before.

How is this even possible?

Come to this session and practice “Design Swarming,” a technique that brings together design thinking and agile problem-solving to help teams find creative answers to real 21st Century challenges. You will learn how to collaborate intensively with strangers to harness the collective genius of a team, and to use incomplete information and a frenetic sense of urgency as a creative springboard.

This technique has successfully been used around the world to solve difficult social problem and business problems. At SDF2015, the design challenge that you will be assigned with be related to a pressing and urgent problem of equity; the problem itself will be revealed at the start of the session. During the Design Swarm, you will be led through a rapid series of fun and moderated activities that will eventually result in a solution prototype.  Each of the three scheduled Design Swarms at SDF2015 will address a different, unique design challenge.

The moderator is Surya Vanka, the creator of the Design Swarm technique, who will be assisted by other seasoned designers. No previous design training or specific knowledge is required, but an open and curious mind is mandatory. 

Today we are frequently faced with finding creative solutions for extremely complex social problems. We must often do this in a very short time, with woefully little information and resources, while often working with people who we have never met before. 

How is this even possible? 

Come to this session and practice "Design Swarming," a technique that brings together design thinking and agile problem-solving to help teams find creative answers to real 21st Century challenges. You will learn how to collaborate intensively with strangers to harness the collective genius of a team, and to use incomplete information and a frenetic sense of urgency as a creative springboard. 

Join moderator Surya Vanka and Artefact's Daniel Gomez-Seidel to explore place-making for refugees. This swarm will focus on how existing, untapped community assets, such as social sciences, architecture, design and technology can promote agency and deliver tangible benefits to the children who live in refugee camps.

This technique has successfully been used around the world to solve difficult social problem and business problems. At SDF2015, the design challenge that you will be assigned with be related to a pressing and urgent problem of equity; the problem itself will be revealed at the start of the session. During the Design Swarm, you will be led through a rapid series of fun and moderated activities that will eventually result in a solution prototype.  Each of the three scheduled Design Swarms at SDF2015 will address a different, unique design challenge.

No previous design training or specific knowledge is required, but an open and curious mind is mandatory.

The swarm will take place in the fabulous Cloud Room. The stunning, light-filled space creates an environment of opportunity for both independence and connection with other engaged people in a range of fields. It is located at1424 11th Avenue, on 4th floor of Chophouse Row.

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Surya Vanka is a designer, educator and author who has been at the leading edge of designing physical and digital experiences for over 25 years. Surya has worked as a corporate design leader for more than 15 years, most recently at Microsoft as director of user experience. Prior to this, he was a tenured professor of design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a fellow at the prestigious Center for Advanced Study. He has authored two books on design and several publications, has lectured on design in more than 20 countries, and has been awarded several industry awards. Surya is the creator of the Design Swarm technique.

 

Daniel Gomez-Seidel is a strategist at Artefact, where he helps clients uncover new business opportunities and competitive advantages by crafting experience-centered strategies. Prior to joining Artefact, Daniel was an entrepreneur in the arts industry, a mentor for the World Resource Institute and a design strategy consultant in Colombia and California for clients such as Aetna, Intel and Microsoft. All the while he also traveled, making his way to more than 35 countries. Daniel holds two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of los Andes in Colombia in Business Administration and in Design, as well as an MBA in Design Strategy from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

Join us for a community conversation about the future of Lake City. We will hear back from our neighborhood Planning Outreach and Engagement Liaisons who have been reaching out to members of Lake City’s Latino, Chinese, and East African communities. We will also talk about how 28th Avenue NE, in front of the library and community center, might be transformed into a Civic Learning Plaza.

Today we are frequently faced with finding creative solutions for extremely complex social problems. We must often do this in a very short time, with woefully little information and resources, while often working with people who we have never met before. 

How is this even possible? 

Come to this session and practice “Design Swarming,” a technique that brings together design thinking and agile problem-solving to help teams find creative answers to real 21st Century challenges. You will learn how to collaborate intensively with strangers to harness the collective genius of a team, and to use incomplete information and a frenetic sense of urgency as a creative springboard. 

This technique has successfully been used around the world to solve difficult social problem and business problems. At SDF2015, the design challenge that you will be assigned with be related to a pressing and urgent problem of equity; the problem itself will be revealed at the start of the session. During the Design Swarm, you will be led through a rapid series of fun and moderated activities that will eventually result in a solution prototype.  Each of the three scheduled Design Swarms at SDF2015 will address a different, unique design challenge.

The moderator is Surya Vanka, the creator of the Design Swarm technique, who will be assisted by other seasoned designers. No previous design training or specific knowledge is required, but an open and curious mind is mandatory.   

Hack the CD, Umoja PEACE Center, Heart Haven Artist Cooperative, and Africatown Preservation and Development Association will be opening a pop-up space at 23rd and Union.

For the past two months, this group of community stakeholders has been collecting feedback from a black board mural at the location, which was launched during the 2015 Umoja Fest and sponsored by Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. The response has been revealing, and our community has confirmed that they’d like to see a sense  of Black pride, empowerment, and business.

We’d like to create an art gallery, retail space, and tech lounge in this pop-up space and we need your help!

For Work Party 1, we’ll be filling holes and painting the walls! Bring tools if you have them, but most importantly bring your hands and wear work clothes!

Inviting makers/doers/designers/partners with a heart!

The Taskar Center for Accessible Technology, as part of the University of Washington Department of Computer Science and Engineering, connects the University research community with end users from very early design stages, holding regular prototype troubleshooting sessions and interactive design labs to promote participatory, equitable design practices. We are partnering with community makers, developers, designers and innovators to be part of our process. This session will introduce interested community partners to the Taskar Center and a few of our end users.

Come learn how you can be a maker/designer to enhance quality of life for a child with disabilities! (expecting partners of all ages and sizes!)

Hack the CD, Umoja PEACE Center, Heart Haven Artist Cooperative, and Africatown Preservation and Development Association will be opening a pop-up space at 23rd and Union.

For the past two months, this group of community stakeholders has been collecting feedback from a black board mural at the location, which was launched during the 2015 Umoja Fest and sponsored by Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. The response has been revealing, and our community has confirmed that they’d like to see a sense  of Black pride, empowerment, and business.

We’d like to create an art gallery, retail space, and tech lounge in this pop-up space and we need your help!

For Interior Design Jam Session, we’re calling all architects, designers, and artists to this cypher. Bring an open mind and fill up on your creative juices as we collaborate to envision what our new space will look like. 

A two-part event: panel discussion + activity
11:00am panel discussion at Center Theater, Seattle Center; 12:00pm activity for all ages at the Artists at Play Playground, Seattle Center

The panel discussion will focus on the collaborative experience in design and how engagement, especially with the community of users, can affect design outcomes.  This moderated discussion will include key members of the Artists at Play design team: Site Workshop Landscape Architecture, Seattle Center and contributing artists.

Following the discussion, Artists at Play Olympics is intended to facilitate the exploration of the site through collaborative and lively activities. This is an activity open to all ages and abilities.

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11:00 am panel discussion will be located at Center Theater at Seattle Center, on the ground floor of the Armory just inside the east entry.
12:00 pm activity will be located at the Artists at Play Playground at Seattle Center.

(updated September 14, 2015) 

Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and South Park Arts co-present Horatio Law’s South Park Crisálida

Portland artist Horatio Law and South Park Arts present a hands-on art making workshop that invites community members and Design in Public participants to partner in the creation of South Park Crisálida, a temporary public artwork that will be installed in the South Park neighborhood.  Law’s sculpture invites the South Park community to be co-creator of the artwork by weaving “Community Yarns” that will form the outer skin of the artwork. Each participant will be able to create a 10’ “yarn” by weaving colorful ropes and incorporating personal artifacts. Design in Public participants are invited to observe and participate in this equity-building activity that empowers the community to create change.

Law is designing South Park Crisálida to raise community awareness about a sewer improvement project that Seattle Public Utilities will construct in 2016 and become a destination piece that attracts visitors to the neighborhood during construction. Through this workshop, community members and merchants will work together to build stronger ties, as well as incorporate their vision for a future transformed South Park.

“Community Yarns” created during the workshop will be displayed at the South Park Library (8604 Eighth Ave S, 98108) until South Park Crisálida is installed in spring 2016. The artwork is commissioned by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture with Seattle Public Utilities 1% for Art funds.

More information on SPU's South Park Sewer Improvement Project can be found here.

ACCESSIBILITY: ADA/Wheelchair Accessible, Family Friendly, Scent-Free Space, Multilingual program: Spanish interpretation (please check back for additional language interpretation) 

How can design create more equitable educational environments?

This interactive session, hosted by Mahlum, is the kick-off for the Voices for Schools project. People of all ages with broad educational backgrounds are invited to share and film their teaching and learning experiences. Interviews will be posted to voicesforschools.com.

 By collecting and broadcasting your voices, we can inform better educational design for the next generation. 

voicesforschools.com

voicesinfo@mahlum.com

Location Details
Seattle Central Library
Washington Mutual Foundation Meeting Room
Level 4, Room 1

This program investigates the deep social impacts of human-centered design.  Designers are but a domino in a very long line of dominoes.  There are a thousand things falling in place before us, and then we ourselves make a thousand other things happen after us.  We address designers' responsibility to those future "dominoes" to give them an equal chance at positive opportunities and outcomes.  The program highlights methods to go beyond an ordinary designer-client relationship by examining, for example, our impacts on the client’s clients, the neighborhood, and the population.

The program includes a workshop to give attendees the chance to discuss and share their ideas about social impact in design.

The location of this session will be:

Olson Kundig  |  159 S. Jackson Street  |  Seattle, WA  98104

Seattle just legislated an encampment in Ballard to house the urban poor. We are a group of UW architecture students, and we need your help to create visionary ideas for this legislation.

The workshop will address the potential design of the Ballard encampment and its presence in Ballard. Who should live there? How should the land should be divided? What should be the rights and responsibilities of encampment residents, city officials, social service agency staff, and the neighbors of the Ballard encampment? How should the Ballard encampment be designed to add beauty to the neighborhood and to benefit everyone who lives, shops, and works in and around the site?  Using the Ballard encampment site as a case study, the workshop will engage you in exploring design concepts and provoking discussion about all the encampments Seattle is considering.

The program is targeted to several participant groups, and is open to everyone: 

• Potential residents of the Ballard and other encampment sites
• Decision-makers who will manage the encampment sites
• Potential designers of the encampment sites
• Neighbors who own or rent housing and businesses near the Ballard and other encampment sites

By the end of the evening, you will be able to show off a colorful model of your visionary ideas. Come prepared to roll up your sleeves and be creative.

Please see our site survey for images of the Ballard encampment site, and our design concepts for possible approaches to the site. For more information about the status of the encampment legislation, see:
http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-city-council-clears-way-for-3-new-homeless-camps/ 

The workshop is at the University of Washington in Gould Hall Court • 3950 University Way NE • Seattle WA 98105

Facilitated by UW Architecture Students:
Chad Bailey (M. Architecture 12.2015)
Heather Jenkins (M. Architecture 12.2015)
Hanna Tania (B. Arts Honors 06.2015)

Mentor
Dr. Sharon E. Sutton FAIA, Professor

What will it take to make Seattle inclusive and robust for all?

The International Living Future Institute presents the Equity Drafting Table, an interactive event located at the Bullitt Center on Capitol Hill.

Neighbors from across the city, including partners from Sustainable Seattle, Feet First, Seattle Architecture Foundation (SAF) and King County will gather over refreshments provided by Fremont Brewing to explore strategies for making Seattle a thriving place for everyone.

Through a self-guided tour, attendees will engage with thought-provoking questions on topics of equity, privilege and green building. As you move about the space, you'll share insights to these inquiries in writing, pictures and conversation. You'll also discover a few of our programs, including the Living Community Challenge, and how we're collaborating with the First Hill neighborhood to bring some of these ideas into action. 

Stay for a beverage or the entire event—all ages and expertise are welcome. More info here.

Register here. 

The Bullitt Center is ADA accessible. Baby changing stations are available in both male and female restrooms. The program content will be designed to be accessible for all ages and abilities. 

Join Friends of Waterfront Seattle for Kids Design the Waterfront Thursday September 24 from 12-2 PM. This kid-centric event is free and open to the public at Hot Spot in Waterfront Park. See you there!

Hot Spot is a three-year park activation pilot presented by Friends of Waterfront Seattle preceding our central waterfront’s transformation into a 26-block park and cultural destination, with a stage designed by students from the University of Washington Master of Architecture program. Hot Spot is a place of constant change and a fresh, dynamic addition to our central waterfront that provides a preview of our urban shoreline’s future as a vibrant, dynamic park for all.

Hack the CD, Umoja PEACE Center, Heart Haven Artist Cooperative, and Africatown Preservation and Development Association will be opening a pop-up space at 23rd and Union.

For the past two months, this group of community stakeholders has been collecting feedback from a black board mural at the location, which was launched during the 2015 Umoja Fest and sponsored by Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. The response has been revealing, and our community has confirmed that they’d like to see a sense  of Black pride, empowerment, and business.

We’d like to create an art gallery, retail space, and tech lounge in this pop-up space and we need your help!

For Work Party 2, after setting the stage with paint and ideas, this is the time to put the finishing touches on the space. Bring your hands, tools, and hearts.