Claudia Lieshout
Global Leader CultureScan / Global Leader Trends, Strategic Futures Design

At the end of November I gave a keynote speech at the Rio Design Industria conference in Rio de Janeiro. It was an interesting concept where design and industry were brought together with governmental and other connecting initiatives. Since industry and design can have different end goals in mind, it was a great opportunity to share and learn. In 2011 Brazil celebrated ‘The year of Holland in Brazil’. The organization, in collaboration with the Dutch council, also invited Dutch designers and industry to share ideas and thoughts.

Rio doesn’t necessarily come to mind when thinking of design. However in the past, many creative global influencers of music, art and architecture have come from Rio. And today the local government has set up numerous projects to support the creation of the Creative Economy program in the state. At the conference Marcos André, the co-ordinator of this initiative, gave an inspiring speech about how Rio could become a center of creativity, including design. There is a great deal of interest, enthusiasm and potential in the city, as well as the willingness to develop itself in a creative way.

Design in Brazil seems to be synonymous with social, local and sustainable issues. The designers such as Fernando Jaeger underlined this when he spoke passionately about re-using waste or the clever use of materials such as wood. Carlos Alcantarino talked about using design to create a dialogue between different groups of people and using creativity to help people express themselves. This was echoed by Asta, a commercial network that helps small handcraft producers of Rio de Janeiro State to sell their products. Design history was represented by Royal Tichelaar Makkum from the Netherlands and the design classics of Sergio Rodrigues. Both understand craftsmanship and mastering materials and are still proven to be contemporary.

Considering the speeches given by the two countries, the similarities were obvious. Both stressed bringing different stakeholders together to enrich each other and benefit all, and the importance of cherishing the heritage and knowledge we have while constantly reviewing what it means in today’s world. Maybe most importantly, design was seen not only in terms of something beautiful, but as a dialogue that can bring creativity and industry together in an evolving journey to improve and explore future dreams and goals.

10 January 2012