Juxtaposed: Power Featured at Washington DC International Design Festival's The Next Wave Industrial Design Exhibition

The Next Wave

From Feb 21 – May 19 2013, Juxtaposed: Power will be featured at the Washington DC International Design Festival and The Next Wave Industrial Design Exhibition.

APARTMENT ZERO AND ARTISPHERE PRESENT
THE WASHINGTON, DC INTERNATIONAL DESIGN FESTIVAL
THU FEB 21– SUN MAY 19, 2013
A three-month multidisciplinary design celebration featuring the exhibition
THE NEXT WAVE: INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INNOVATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY 
Curated by Apartment Zero co-owner Douglas Burton
Free public opening reception: Thu Feb 21 / 7-10pm

The Next Wave is supported by media sponsor Surface Magazine, industry sponsor the Industrial Designers Society of America Mid-Atlantic Chapter and was produced in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute and Spain Arts & Culture, the Embassy of Spain and the Spain USA Foundation's cultural program.

Arlington, VA— What makes an object useful, engaging and beautiful? What is it about a distinct design that conveys calm, wonder and excitement in the user and helps us recall a moment in time? Artisphere and Apartment Zero present the Washington, DC International Design Festival from Thursday, February 21 through Sunday, May 19, 2013. The Festival is curated and produced by Apartment Zero co-owner Douglas Burton.

The cornerstone of this free three-month long multidisciplinary celebration of design is The Next Wave: Industrial Design Innovation in the 21st Century, a 4,000 square foot exhibition exploring innovation in product design from the last 13 years. Featuring one-offs, prototypes and pieces in production, The Next Wave focuses on innovation from Spain, Italy, Belgium, the U.K., Scandinavia, the Netherlands and the United States among others. On view will be over 100 objects covering the areas of lighting, tabletop, furniture, textile, product, electronics, housewares, tools and interactive design. The free public opening reception will be held on Thursday, February 21 from 7-10pm. The exhibition will be complemented by a series of free public programs (complete list follows) and a small retail shop.

The Next Wave: Industrial Design Innovation in the 21st Century concentrates on five areas of interest— eco-friendly design, functionality and minimalism, the conceptual and the avant-garde. The Next Wave allows the viewer to experience ongoing moments of engagement and enquiry between the creator and user and serves as a voice for objects that are provocative, rigorous and challenging—yet also beautiful. Creating objects that are works of art in themselves, each project sparks a new dialogue, diffusing preconceived notions of design and art, beauty and function while still capturing the spirit of the times.

Everything we see, touch and use on a daily basis was designed by someone at some point in time. It's how we feel when we interact with these objects and their subsequent usefulness and problem-solving capabilities that make all the difference. Do we use them often or put them away, invest in them or discard them, pass them along to the next generation or toss them into a landfill? Only the most adept and able will survive. That is what affirms their place in history and makes for a timeless design. An idea can be so simple that it is condensed and concentrated into its most basic parts. This is The Next Wave.

The Washington, DC International Design Festival also features a series of free public programs including lectures, film, video and photo competition (complete list follows). The complementary programming will explore important issues through the lens of design, including the role of women in design, the fall and rise of American design, an interactive photo contest and a special appearance by Roberto Palomba of Palomba Serafini Associati, Milan. The design symposiums will feature more than 20 panelists of critics, curators, product designers and writers who will share their unique voices on the subject of design and offer new ways of interpreting what we see and use on a daily basis. In partnership with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital, the Festival will include a screening of Design is One: Lella and Massimo Vignelli. In Artisphere's Bijou Theatre, videos of designers in the process of making their wares, from conception to completion, will be shown. As noted previously, a small retail shop will also accompany the festival, where certain items from The Next Wave can be purchased.

The Next Wave is supported by media sponsor Surface Magazine, industry sponsor the Industrial Designers Society of America Mid-Atlantic Chapter and was produced in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute and Spain Arts & Culture, the Embassy of Spain and the Spain USA Foundation's cultural program.

For the festival, an array of Washington DC-based design showrooms will graciously loan some of their most iconic objects for The Next Wave. Special thanks to Poliform + Sagart Studio, Ligne Roset, Design Within Reach, Contemporaria + Alessi, Poltrona Frau + Cassina, Boffi and Maxalto.

Additional Thanks to: Global Lighting, Fiskars, Lladro, Nanimarquina, Tumi, Christopher Roy, Reza Feiz, Blank Blank, Dyson, Buzzispace, Studio Dror, Maharam, Kettal, Manulution, Biolite Stoves, David Sylvester and Kara Heitz, O-Sun, Eric Pfeiffer, Josh Owen, Michele Giacalone, Francisco Tardio, K F Williams, Wendy Frieman and Dave Johnson and Christopher Ralston.