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Celebrating Detroit as First UNESCO City of Design with Month-Long Design Extravaganza

08.14.18 | By
Celebrating Detroit as First UNESCO City of Design with Month-Long Design Extravaganza

Recently Detroit was designated as the first UNESCO City of Design and to celebrate, the Design Core Detroit is transitioning the Detroit Design Festival from a week-long series to a month-long design extravaganza! From September 1st to 30th, there will be events, special projects, and competitions all throughout the city to celebrate the best of Detroit design.

The full schedule is available at designcore.org but here are some of our favorite highlights:

At the Shinola Canfield flagship store on September 7th, a presentation by NEXT:SPACE + TOM GIBBS STUDIO in partnership with DetroitIsIt and Shinola will explore how design practices of iconic designers like Charles & Ray Eames and Florence Knoll are being implemented by today’s designers including Alex Drew and NO ONE, Nina Cho, Colin Turn, Hunt & Noyer, and more.

Drinks and design? Now you’re speaking our language. On September 13th, hosted by Design Core Detroit and presented by the Platform, the Drinks x Design: Design Crawl takes you through Detroit’s iconic Fisher Building for a night of immersive experiences, music, and hors d’oeuvres.

Detroit’s historic city makes for an interesting backdrop for photographers. On September 15th, the inaugural “Focus: On Detroit Photography Festival” will be celebrating people, places, and photos projected on on the city’s Bell Building.

Start them young, there’s a design day for kids ages 2-16 on September 15th at the Michigan Science Center for an afternoon full of creative workshops and exploration.

The Eastern Market After Dark event on September 20th will celebrate Detroit design in one of the nation’s oldest public markets with interactive experiences, brand activations, designer spotlights, installations and parties.

Gold Ink + Red Wine will be presented by POST on September 21st for an evening of tours, demos, and drop-in workshops where attendees can visit the design and production studios of Mutual Adoration, Hooray Forever, Scarlet Crane, and TAIT Design Co.

At PICNIC on September 22nd, with a project that will blur the lines between object, architecture and the field in between, Campo Studio will be creating a site-specific installation comprising a series of mobile furniture armatures.

Starting September 23rd through the end of the month, five to seven sukkahs (temporary huts typically used during the Jewish holiday Sukkot) will be displayed in Detroit’s historic Capitol Park accompanied by complementary programs and events.

On September 29th, for the 5th year, Light Up Livernois returns to celebrate design and creativity on the Historic Avenue of Fashion. It’ll be a night of shopping, dining, and design as attendees check out open studios, fashion vignettes, musical performances, and local small businesses.

Kat Holmes, founder of mismatch.design and named one of the “Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company, will be hosting a talk about how inclusion shapes design, followed by an inclusive design workshop and book signing.

If you’re living in Detroit, we’re jealous of your month-long schedule of festivities! For the full schedule of events and for more information about the Detroit Design Festival, visit designcore.org.

As the Senior Contributing Editor, Vy Yang is obsessed with discovering ways to live well + with intention through design. She's probably sharing what she finds over on Instagram stories. You can also find her at vytranyang.com.