Urban glitz
Hundreds of architects from around the globe will appear at the World Architecture Festival 09 in Barcelona. Amid a varied programme of events the highlight will be “Less Does More”, an interactive thematic exhibition and series of seminars exploring architecture’s role in the world economy and suggesting ways of reducing the energy, materials and finance used to build cities. Seminars will cover subjects that include a project to create the world’s biggest, most ambitious zero-carbon city, Masdar in the Abu Dhabi desert, and plans for the 2012 London Olympics stadium. Another series of seminars, “Cities”, will look at important and interesting cities and the contribution that architects make to them. An awards ceremony will take place on the last day of the festival.
World Architecture Festival, Centro de Convenciones Internacionales, Barcelona, November 4-6, tel: +44 (0)20-7554 5800 www.worldarchitecturefestival.com
Digital dreams
New York will be the first city to host Bits ’n’ Pieces, an interactive travelling exhibition examining the impact of digital technology on the world of design. The exhibition, which also stops at Genk in Belgium and Eindhoven in the Netherlands, will feature furniture, jewellery, graphic design and consumer products created by a group of international designers. Examples of innovative digital technology in the exhibition include the MakerBot 3D scanner, which allows designers to produce complicated three-dimensional forms quickly and efficiently.
Bits ’n’ Pieces, Material ConneXion, New York, November 4-December 4 tel: +1 212 842 2050, www.materialconnexion.com
Cup of kindness
The design retailer BoConcept is to launch a competition in which aspiring designers will have the chance to create their own design for a ceramic cup. A template can be downloaded from the BoConcept website. An international jury will choose the winning entry, which will be manufactured and sold in BoConcept Stores around the world. The competition will run from the beginning of November until Christmas Day.
tel: +44 (0) 20 7434 7393, www.boconcept.com
