Gdynia Design Days 2016

About the festival

The organizer of the festival is the Gdynia Design Centre / Pomeranian Science and Technology Park Gdynia / City of Gdynia

Theme od the festival

RETRIEVED

This year's theme of the Gdynia Design Days festival refers to the history of Gdynia, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year - a city being important, strategic and unique. In 1926 a decision was made to build the port of Gdynia since Poland regained access to the sea. Despite this, we are not a maritime country. There are as little as two episodes which link us to the sea itself: the Swedish deluge, and the battle of Oliwa. Although we have shipping connections with the whole globe, travel by boat or sea transport do not come to our minds in the first place. Although we have beautiful beaches and seaside reserves, when it comes to sunbathing, we are used to fleeing southwards. Overseas neighbors do not seem to be close ones - overseas land is, by its nature, far after all. We would like to retrieve the link with the sea, not the geographic yet the mental, emotional one. We want to regain the Baltic neighbourhood. Gdynia and its surrounding area both have a history which is sometimes forgotten or underestimated. Unique paths, traces of the city’s emergence, its identity, the crumbs of the past. By walking around Gdynia, we would like to recover them as well, restore into consciousness and memory. The SEA is erratic and untamed . It’s an element of water, air and earth. Wisely entering into alliances with these elements, one can regain energy. We will look at how others do it: countries where the marine element have been making life difficult for centuries. We will give thought to the amount of energy we lose whilst trying to gain it. We want to recover the balance in the discussion about what is ecological, responsible, wise, sustainable. But also at the micro level: by collecting and processing we can recover raw materials or items that may obtain a second and third life - refreshed, renewed, with altered function. The SEA as an element nourishes and kills. It feeds us too - terrestrial creatures living on its shores. A culture related to cuisine production and processing. Similar and different between us and our neighbours. Although made of the same elements yet forgotten, undiscovered. How can the herring taste? What is the wind like? And the sea? This is the sort of memory that we want to retrieve. Design is a team game. It not only touches of a beautiful form and function, but it also refers to technology, process and needs. Design in Gdynia and for Gdynia requires alliances. As a festival, we want to cooperate with academic environment, as well as with the research and business one. We want to retrieve the natural connections between them since they arise from the needs. We want design to regain its true meaning. Design is also a tradition - materials, locality, crafts. Many of them disappear. There are other which remain unknown and underestimated. Proximity to the sea has its own specialisations and areas that need to be learnt by a designer who intends to face the marine theme. We want to find and name them. We want design to retrieve its sou

GDD programme council

GDD Team:

  • Ewa Janczukowicz-Cichosz
    Deputy Director of PSTP Gdynia, Manager of Gdynia Design Centre
  • Paulina Kisiel
    Festival Director
  • Ewa Chudecka
    Event Producer
  • Katarzyna Czapiewska
    Promotion, Partners

Previous editions