Taipei, Taiwan

It’s been a week since I returned from the 2011 IDA World Design Congress in Taipei (IDA = the International Design Alliance, comprised of Icograda, Icsid, and IFI) and the 24th General Assembly of Icograda, the International Council of Communication Design… and my head’s still reeling.

The sold-out benchmark congress event drew together over 3000 delegates from around the globe, and was accompanied by a successful Design Expo (which enjoyed over 1 million visitors); scores of parallel exhibitions, conferences, and seminars further illuminated the city of Taipei’s position during this time as the centre of attention in the world of design.

The 2011 IDA Congress lived up to its billing as a unique gathering of thought leadership exploring the intersection between design and five key sectors of global relevance: economic development, the Internet, biotechnology, urbanism, and international migration. As such, it brought together designers with non-design stakeholders to promote the value of design and explore design-led approaches as an enabler of innovation. “The Congress theme—Design at the Edges—highlights the edges between design practice and other fields having a stake in design; the blurring of the boundaries between the design disciplines, as well as their unique attributes; and ‘cutting edge’ work and ideas—thinking that pushes the boundaries of all disciplines.”

Over the past two years I’ve had the pleasure of acting as an adviser to the Taiwanese hosts/organizers, and I was also pleased to have the opportunity of presenting a keynote lecture in the ‘Economic Development’ stream. I’ve learned a lot about Taiwan (this was my 7th trip there), in no small part through the process of researching and writing a feature article that appears in the current issue of Communication Arts magazine (November/December 2011 issue).

A huge ‘thank-you’ goes out to the local hosts in Taipei; the Taiwan Design Centre, as well as to the visionary Taiwanese ministries whose mission for sustainable economic development has placed Design at the center of their strategic thinking for the future. Thanks also to the many Taiwanese designers who contributed their works and viewpoints to my CA article… 謝謝!

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