A three-day festival in the southern city of Daegu will highlight the Korean city’s on-going efforts to reposition itself from a “textile city” to a design capital.

Design Week in Daegu, starting this Friday, will proclaim once again the hoped-for transition, as the city with a population of 2 1/2 million rolls out various events for industry insiders, experts and the general public, intended at thrusting the local industry into the spotlight of the design world. 

“The design week will serve as a platform where local design companies, academics and citizens meet to recognize the creative power of design and create a momentum to drive the growth of the local economy,” said an official from the Daegu City Government.

Scheduled to be held at Daegu EXCO from Oct. 16-18, it is one of the few public design events held outside Seoul. It is organized by the Daegu Gyeongbuk Design Center under the theme of “Design, Sharing and Connecting.”

This year’s design week highlights the public aspect of design and improving the living environment and quality of living through design. It will showcase various design products in the field of public, medical and renewal design, and present insights from experts in the fields.

Design experts are invited to hold talks for visitors. This year’s lecturers include Lee Sang-ho, CEO of 3-D printed prosthetic arm manufacturer Mand.ro, and Song Gil-young, vice president of Daumsoft, specializing in data mining.

The event will present creative, cutting-edge design products made to improve public service and medical service. Diverse products using upcycled materials will offer ways to promote sustainable growth in industrial design.

Diverse hands-on design activities await visitors with children.

“Children and parents can enjoy the educational side of design at Design Week in Daegu,” said an official of the DGDC.

Children can be directly involved in the process of design through calligraphy classes in which they will create their own styles. They can also learn the impact of art and design in everyday life through outstanding cases such as technology-infused artworks for patients.

Renowned origami expert Kim Young-man will hold a paper-folding class on Sunday. Kim Young-man, executive director of the Korea Paper Culture Foundation, has contributed to making paper folding popular among children since the late 1980s.

For more information, visit www.dwid.co.kr.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)