Geelong Design Week returns next month and Deakin University is rolling out the red carpet…
After coronavirus brought the 2020 event to its knees and restrained the 2021 program - a cautiously curated calendar of physical and virtual presentations - lockdown-weary eventgoers will once again know what it is to listen live, meet the maker, take the tour, to belong.
Taur, 'belonging' in the language of the Wadawurrung, Traditional Owners of Djilang (Geelong), is the Geelong Design Week 2022 theme, with event organisers declaring "a sense of belonging is more important than ever" as we embrace post-pandemic life.
Design is part of Geelong's identity - an enduring commitment recognised through its designation as Australia's only UNESCO City of Design, alongside international heavyweights Berlin, Bilbao, Singapore and Detroit.
As Victoria's first regional university, Deakin has been part of the fabric of Geelong since its establishment in 1974. Committed to developing solutions that have a genuine impact on the communities it serves, Deakin is at the frontline of design 'problem solving' across the architecture, industrial design, engineering, materials science, communication design, and information technology disciplines.
Its practical design mindset - perhaps most evident at Australia's leading advanced manufacturing innovation hub, ManuFutures - is tied to Geelong's origins as a renowned manufacturing centre with iconic innovations including the world's first commercial refrigerator, the Ford 'ute', the Ferrier wool press and the Hills Hoist rotary clothesline.
According to Professor Tuba Kocaturk, co-director of Deakin's DesignMind platform, 'design is no longer understood - as in the traditional sense - as simply a product only created by designers or merely to benefit the creative industry.
'On the contrary, design is increasingly used by governments, businesses and communities as a powerful strategy to solve complex social, economic and environmental challenges and to influence what is next for society,' she said.
'Researchers from various disciplines and all sectors now instrumentalise design to increase the innovation potential and human relevance of their research.'
Prof. Kocaturk said Geelong Design Week presented an opportunity for Deakin to showcase important research partnerships and projects that were delivering impact and steering economic growth, sustainable development and social change.
'Participation improves the visibility of our work; it's an excellent opportunity to engage with the potential beneficiaries of our research including industry, government and the public,' she said.
'We experience belonging when we connect in this way.'
Deakin is hosting or co-hosting 13 free events during the 10-day festival, which runs from 17 to 27 March:
- Because the Night - 360-degree cinema experience - hosted by Malthouse Theatre and Deakin Motion Lab
- ABC of Geelong - hosted by ABC Radio Melbourne and Deakin Design
- Explorations into an Innovation Precinct for Geelong - hosted by Deakin University, City of Greater Geelong and G21 Alliance
- The Unfolding - exhibition - hosted by Dr Phillip B. RoÖs and the Live-Smart Research Laboratory, Deakin University School of Architecture and Built Environment
- HYDAC Multi-user VR Training, Launch and Factory Tour - hosted by HYDAC Pty Ltd & Deakin Motion Lab
- Solved: Engineered by Design - showcase - hosted by Deakin University School of Engineering
- Belonging in Alternative Realities - immersive VR experience - hosted by Deakin University Emerging Technologies Group
- Living Structures: The Architecture for Life - film - hosted by Dr Phillip B. RoÖs and the Live-Smart Research Laboratory, Deakin University School of Architecture and Built Environment
- Topophilia: Attachment & Belonging - 3-day online summit - hosted by the Live-Smart Research Laboratory, Deakin University School of Architecture and Built Environment
- NYAAL News - interactive news commentating experience - hosted by Deakin University Faculty of Arts and Education and Deakin Motion Lab
- Play by Play - interactive sports commentating experience - hosted by Deakin University Faculty of Arts and Education and Deakin Motion Lab
- Tabor Robak Megafauna Virtual Reality Exhibition - hosted by Tabor Robak, Deakin University and Deakin Motion Lab
Discover more about the 2022 Geelong Design Week program and book tickets here.
