Design Week Portland (DWP) is back – and bigger, better, and bolder than ever! This city-wide, week-long festival running from April 21-29 includes hundreds of lectures, panel discussions, tours, open hours, hands-on workshops, parties, and art installations.
As an annual event celebrating the many layers of design in the city, DWP provides an exciting opportunity to explore new ways of engaging around civic issues. This year, DWP is hoping to increase and diversify civic dialogue about the future of Portland by focusing on one of our city’s most ambitious planning projects – the Green Loop.
THE GREEN LOOP AT DWP HEADQUARTERS
The central organizing theme of this year’s DWP Headquarters (HQ), the centerpiece of the festival, will be the Green Loop. And for the first time in the event’s history, DWP’s HQ, will be on the eastside of the river at Ecotrust’s newest building – The Redd on SE 10th and Salmon.
Untitled Studio, the winners of last year’s LoopPDX competition, will mount a participatory exhibit aimed at providing the community a unique platform to come together to learn, react, discuss, envision, and shape the future Green Loop.
“We’ve approached this exhibition as an incredible opportunity to use design as a platform to increase collaboration and participation in the Green Loop’s development,”said Courtney Ferris from Untitled Studio. “The exhibition will be an important catalyst for discussions and offer a visual and interactive way for participants to define a Green Loop that is responsive to their community’s needs and aspirations for the future.”
In order to break down the barriers to community participation in long-range planning and to provide meaningful opportunities for input, the exhibit will include an impressive range of activities including a large-scale interactive map, 3D models, pop-up shops, a film, and a full scale streetscape prototype funded in part by SE Uplift.
To check it out, stop by DWP Headquarters for Assembling a Mosaic – The Portland Green Loop Exhibit on Sunday, April 23rd from 11 AM to 5 PM or from 11 AM to 11 PM between Monday, April 24th and Friday, April 28th!
And while you’re at it, we recommend checking out the numerous workshops and presentations DWP is also hosting exploring the intersections of urban design, art, and civic engagement.
ADDITIONAL DESIGN WEEK PORTLAND HQ EVENTS – CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
Design Charrette: Towards a New Civic Ecology
Monday, April 24: 1:00 – 5:00 PM
Roll up your sleeves with UO Architecture to take on a challenging site on the Green Loop to address public engagement with the watershed and celebrating ecological infrastructure.
Portland’s Green Loop: The New Central City Rising
Monday, April 24: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Join journalist and Green Loop competition director, Randy Gragg, as he hosts a fast-paced opening evening of short presentations by the civic leaders building a bold new Portland destined to rise along this city-shaping work of infrastructure.
Real Time: Design, Data, & Engagement
Wednesday, April 26: 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
The Green Loop represents an opportunity to create a project that supports our communities. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to measure civic engagement, invite participation to make people feel hear, and collect data that is inclusive and actionable.
How We Got Here: The Evolution of Portland Planning
Wednesday, April 26: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Portland has an international reputation for its progressive urban planning, but these bold visions – and the city’s recent explosive growth – are not without their costs. Come join a panel of scholars, curators, and architects, as they debate Portland’s recent past from the ’80s with an eye toward the future, seeking answers to the questions: where have we been, and how did we get here?
Design & Citizenship: Using the Green Loop as a Tool for Social Good
Thursday, April 27: 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
How does the Green Loop serve the people of Portland and become a tool for activism? Join artist Michelle Illuminato to investigate social aspects of urban space, unpack the pressing needs and challenges for locals and newcomers alike, and dream about the future of the cityscape together.
Guide Launch – We The People Are Powerful!
Thursday, April 27: 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Scout Books in partnership with Business For A Better Portland present the launch of We The People Are Powerful!, a pocket guide to understanding your rights. It covers grassroots organizing, Oregon’s legislature and election cycles, along with contact information for your local representatives.
Making the Place: Branding Strategies for Public Space
Friday, April 28: 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Neighborhoods are not built in a day. How does experience design and brand strategy sync with the design of the public realm? Join for a strategy workshop to brainstorm approaches to building a thought-starter kit for communicating an identity for the Green Loop.
Designing a Political Campaign
Friday, April 28: 4:00 – 6:00 PM
Join for a conversation with Commissioner Chloe Eudaly, designer Jen Wick, and artist Joe Sacco about the power of visual communication in political campaigns. Eudaly’s campaign leveraged innovative creative work to break down the issues, communicate vision, and ultimately enlist enough support to win a seat on City Council. Learn about design’s role in political engagement and the opportunities for design in the ongoing political process.
Dreaming the Future: Portland 2035
Friday, April 28: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Great challenges demand visionary solutions. DWP is bringing together some of this city’s curious minds and boldest voices to pitch their most radical dreams for Portland’s future. Get ready to listen, consider, get inspired and maybe even hop up on stage to add your voice to the mix. It all starts with an open mind and an incendiary thought. So what do you think: What kind of city should Portland be?