San Francisco Design Week, the West Coast’s largest design festival, begins on June 14. From tech to interiors, the show features some 200 panels and exhibits covering more than 30 design disciplines across various Bay Area locales. Here are five events interior designers should keep on their radar.
Humane Modernism—Inspired by Circumstance
Thursday, June 15, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Environmentally conscious architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson invites Design Week attendees to tour its bareboned, collaborative San Francisco studio. The architects, who designed New York City’s iconic, glass-cubed Apple Store, will share how each project’s physical, social and environmental influences create the framework for sustainable design.
“We’re hoping to provide some insight into the way we approach projects,” Bohlin Cywinski Jackson senior associate Denis Schofield tells EAL. “Climate, topography, the sun’s path, geology, flora, fauna, local traditions, materials and techniques, imbedded social and cultural factors—we study, engage, and sympathize with these characteristics and use them to guide the act of design. Understanding place allows us to create a dialog between the building and its surroundings, and we believe that serves the people who use and occupy these buildings.”
Innovative Minds Explore Interior Design
Friday, June 16, 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.
Design editor Diane Dorrans Saeks will be leading this discussion on creative process. West Coast interior designers Catherine Kwong, Gary Hutton, Jay Jeffers and Eche Martinez will walk attendees through their strategic planning using past and current projects as reference. The event will hosted at the UC Berkeley Extension digs of the Interior Design and Architecture program in San Francisco.
Introducing Le Corbusier's Polychromie Architectural by drikolor
Monday, June 19, 4:30 to 6:00 p.m.
Drikolor, innovators in dry pigment paints, is hosting a colorful workshop to promote their newly granted permissions to Le Corbusier’s Polychromie Architectural, a nature-inspired palette curated by the renowned French-Swiss architect and designer. Attendees will create their own “color keyboard” of the 43 pigment offerings.
Things We (Don’t) Talk About When We Talk About Design
Tuesday, June 20, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m.
The Adobe offices in San Francisco are set to host an authentic talk on criticism in design. The “hows” and “whys” of design will be the thought-provoking talking points in the panel discussion.
“Over the past few decades [designers have] argued strenuously that design is valuable, that it deserves a seat at the table,” says Adobe principal designer Khoi Vinh. “What comes with that power is the responsibility to think deeply about the context, meaning and impact of our work. I hope that fellow panelists Anne Quito, Molly Heintz and I are able to offer some practical advice on how to integrate criticism and critical thinking into the everyday practice of design.”
Tuesday, June 20, 5:30 to 8:00 p.m.
Assembly Design Studio, a new-concept creative consulting firm that has worked with the likes of Uber and Quid, is opening its studio for tours and a lighting-packed pop-up with local designers Rich Brilliant Willing.
“San Francisco is at the heart of innovation,” says Liz Guerrero, co-founder of Assembly Design. “There’s so much creative talent, tech and otherwise, that continue to propel things forward, yet there’s this interesting contrast between things that feel very high-tech and materials and pieces that are crafted and tangible. That duality is really appealing.”
