A major initiative of the Design Council of Saskatchewan, Design Week is an open invitation to the public to learn about the different areas of design through a series of free lectures and other educational events such as tours, open houses and symposiums. Most events are free, and the general public is welcome to attend.
Design Week also includes the Premier’s Awards of Excellence in Design which recognize the great design being done right here in Saskatchewan. Entries for this prestigious competition are displayed to the public and awards are handed out at an evening gala at the conclusion of Design Week.
On Monday, November 14, the opening night cocktail reception takes place at 7:00pm at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, located at 414 Avenue B South.
On Tuesday, November 15, the Premier’s Awards Design Competition Exhibit opens at 9:00am, and will be on view for the remainder of the weed from 9:00am to 5:00pm at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. This is followed by a Speakers’ Series event – presentations by Bernard Flaman and Valerie Elliott from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Top of The Inn at the Sheraton Cavalier Hotel, located at 612 Spadina Crescent. Regina-based Flaman is a registered architect working in the field of Heritage Conservation. He will discuss his new book entitled Architecture in Saskatchewan: A Visual Journey, 1930-2011. Valerie Eliott of Victoria is the National Sustainability Chair of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC). She authored the GDC Sustainability Principles and has acted as an advisor to the AIGA’s Center for Sustainable Design. She is also the Managing and Creative Director of iD2 Communications Inc., a firm specializing in engagement strategies and sustainable communications design. Her talk will demonstrate how designers of all disciplines can make deep change through design thinking; fuelling the evolution of our communities, our culture and our professional practices.
On Wednesday, November 16, 2011, a film and discussion session takes place at the Roxy Theatre, located at 320 20th Street West. The Meewasin Valley Authority will present a short documentary entitled BioBlitz about the importance of Saskatoon’s Northeast Swale along the South Saskatchewan River. The film shows that the challenge for Meewasin and the City of Saskatoon is how best to manage and protect the area, not by fencing it off, but by conserving and providing public access to it with a sound management plan. A question and answer session will follow.
On Thursday, November 17, David Stubbs will present a lecture over the course of a luncheon from 12:00 noon to 1:30pm at the Saskatoon Club, located at 17 21st Street East. Stubbs, B.Eng, P.Eng., speaks on the commitment of the Canadian Masonry Design Centre to provide masonry contractors and designers in Canada with tools and resources to facilitate the proper design and construction of masonry structures. The cost of this event is $20, which includes lunch. Please RSVP by calling Event Design at 306.384.6044. The film series continues in the evening with Migrating Landscapes, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm at the Broadway Theatre, located at 715 Broadway Avenue. Migrating Landscapes is a joint venture between Winnipeg-based 5468796 Architecture Inc. and Jae-Sung Chon (University of Manitoba Faculty of Architecture), which was selected as Canada’s official entry to the 2012 Venice Biennale in Architecture. The project examines how experiences of immigration can be incorporated into designs for contemporary housing that also respond to today’s architectural, geographic and cultural environments. A representative from Migrating Landscapes will discuss the competition, the Venice project, and how things are progressing. Also featured is The Man Who Built My Childhood, Brian Stockton’s series of humourous autobiographical shorts that takes a detour into architecture with an “appendix” about renowned Saskatchewan architect Joseph Pettick. Beautiful Losers is a documentary by Aaron Rose that celebrates the independent spirit of DIY culture in the art world. The film details how a group of like-minded American artists emerged from the underground in the early 1990s to have an enormous impact on the worlds of fashion, film, art, music, and pop culture in general. A reception will follow this engaging multifaceted event.
On Friday, November 18, Design Week concludes with the Premier’s Design Awards reception, which runs from 6:00p to 11:00pm at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. Check out fresh, homegrown professional design, and don’t pass up a great opportunity to get out and celebrate with Saskatchewan’s professional design community. Tickets are $35, which includes food, refreshments and entertainment. All are welcome. Tickets may be purchased online at www.picatic.com.
For more information on Design Week, please visit www.designcouncil.sk.ca/html/design_week.html