15 Essential Design Events to Catch This Fall

Available to view virtually or at a safe social distance, these fairs, exhibitions, talks, and tours should be on your calendar.

Sep 23, 2020 - 01:00
15 Essential Design Events to Catch This Fall

Available to view virtually or at a safe social distance, these fairs, exhibitions, talks, and tours should be on your calendar.

A 3D-printed ADU by Mighty Buildings is on view as part of LA Design Festival.

The fall calendar of design events is typically a robust one, and while the listings are inevitably slimmer this year, there are still plenty of happenings to catch—even if it’s just from your laptop. The thought-provoking exhibitions, tours, films, and conversations below explore the impact of architecture and design during a time when new ways of thinking have never been more critical.

Poster House’s The Swiss Grid (February 27, 2020-February 14, 2021)

Concrete, instrumental to the Bauhaus design movement, greatly influenced the Swiss Style font, more formally known as International Typographic Style, in the 1950s. The Swiss Grid (through February 14, 2021) at New York’s Poster House museum shows how it was a graphic design powerhouse for decades, embracing geometric grid structures that yielded a crisp, streamlined, and timeless look.

Concrete, instrumental to the Bauhaus design movement, greatly influenced the Swiss Style font, more formally known as International Typographic Style, in the 1950s. The Swiss Grid (through February 14, 2021) at New York’s Poster House museum shows how it was a graphic design powerhouse for decades, embracing geometric grid structures that yielded a crisp, streamlined, and timeless look. 

Stephanie Powell

Detroit Month of Design (September 1-30)

Detroit is the sole UNESCO City of Design in the States, and that distinction is put front and center during Detroit Month of Design (MoD), produced by Design Core Detroit. Before the 10th annual event winds down on September 30, locals can hightail it to exhibitions like "Softhouse" (through September 28) for a look-see of soulful, ambiguous objects, or design studio Form&Seek’s "Never Normal" (through December 12), which reconsiders personal attachments to an ever-shifting domestic landscape, as well as pop into just-launched residential interior design practice Design Studio 6’s new workshop (September 26). Another clever, and democratic, design initiative: the local studio Donut Shop is hosting a Doodle Chair Competition that will add a winning drawing to its permanent collection and make a physical version to be auctioned to benefit activist organization Detroit Will Breathe.

Detroit is the sole UNESCO City of Design in the States, and that distinction is put front and center during Detroit Month of Design (MoD), produced by Design Core Detroit. Before the 10th annual event winds down on September 30, locals can hightail it to exhibitions like "Softhouse" (through September 28) for a look-see of soulful, ambiguous objects, or design studio Form&Seek’s "Never Normal" (through December 12), which reconsiders personal attachments to an ever-shifting domestic landscape, as well as pop into just-launched residential interior design practice Design Studio 6’s new workshop (September 26). Another clever, and democratic, design initiative: the local studio Donut Shop is hosting a Doodle Chair Competition that will add a winning drawing to its permanent collection and make a physical version to be auctioned to benefit activist organization Detroit Will Breathe.

Courtesy of Li Chen and Softhouse (Ostrich Stool)

The Design Museum’s Connected (September 11-October 11)

During the pandemic, the American Hardwood Export Council asked nine different design teams—Heatherwick Studio and Studio Swine among them—to create tables and seating that captured their work-from-home needs and desires. Then, they were paired with craftspeople at Benchmark Furniture, whom they only communicated with virtually, to bring these designs to life by hand in their Berkshire, England, workshop. This furniture, all crafted from a choice of red oak, maple, or cherry, is now on display in Connected (through October 11) at the Design Museum in London.

During the pandemic, the American Hardwood Export Council asked nine different design teams—Heatherwick Studio and Studio Swine among them—to create tables and seating that captured their work-from-home needs and desires. Then, they were paired with craftspeople at Benchmark Furniture, whom they only communicated with virtually, to bring these designs to life by hand in their Berkshire, England, workshop. This furniture, all crafted from a choice of red oak, maple, or cherry, is now on display in Connected (through October 11) at the Design Museum in London.

Courtesy of Connected (Studio Swine’s throne-style seat and table made from red oak and cherry)

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