FEATURE DESIGN FESTIVAL
The designers are
As the Glasgow International Festival Of Design gets into full swing, some of the world’s biggest designers are rubbing shoulders with the city’s own style gurus. Susanna Beaumont highlights the names to watch.
Dayan Sudllc
Devan Sudjic
Deyan Sudjic has no time for the oft-repeated line that Britain is not a visually literate country. particularly when it comes to talking about Glasgow. ‘It’s a place where people can cut a dash. it‘s full of clubs and bars and there's something about Glasgow style,’ he says. ‘It's no accident that Versace is here.’ One of the main players in the Glasgow International Festival Of Design. Sudjic arrived in the city earlier this year to take up his post of director of the I999 Year of Architecture and Design. He is also a trained architect. a founder of the international design magazine Blueprint and The Guardian‘s architecture critic. Sudjic‘s move to Glasgow is clear evidence that the city means design business. ‘This is the first design festival in Britain. it‘s something big and spectacular and not just for the design ghetto.‘ he says.
12 The List 6-l9 Sept I996
CHRIS BLO'IT CHRIS BLOTT
Janlcc Klrlrpatrick
Janice Kirkpatrick
Glasgow girl Janice Kirkpatrick is committed to good design. The one-time reggae singer is now billed as a prime mover and shaker on the city's design front. Head of design practice Graven Images. which she launched with architect Ross Hunter in I986. Kirkpatrick was one ofa small team behind Glasgow‘s successful bid for the l999 Year of Architecture and Design. Kirkpatrick was also responsible for the redesign of The Herald newspaper. the style overhaul of the Tramway bar and the design of The Voodoo Rooms. Believing Glasgow to be like a city state with its very own culture and language. Kirkpatrick feels anything is possible. “It‘s a very optimistic place. where things can happen,‘ she says. ‘It has a history as a manufacturing workshop where a good day meant making something.‘ But Kirkpatrick is no nostalgia ticket-holder. When asked to choose items for the Festival's Objects Of Desire exhibition, she went for a bottle of Sweetheart Stout and a 250cc bike.
Janice Kirkpatrick is Objects OfDesire are at the Old Post Oflice. George Square until Sat 28 Sept.
Alberto Alessi
When is a colander more than just a kitchen utensil? When it is made by Alessi and commands a showcase at New York‘s Metropolitan Museum. Alessi, the Italian design and manufacturing company founded in l92l. transports the mundane gadget into the realms of pure style. Be it a coffee pot. cake stand or lemon squeezer, function and form bow to the aesthetics of looking good in the Alessi range. Alberto Alessi. who heads the company based north of Milan. is the Glasgow lntemational Festival Of Design ‘s star attraction. Though not a designer by training, Alessi’s name has become synonymous with stylish design through manufacturing some of the world's most avant-garde household items.
Alberto Alessr' will give a talk at the University of Struthclyde on Fri [3 Sept. 7pm.