Designers in Residence Kortrijk

DESIGNREGIO Kortrijk and Design Fest Gent join forces and invite you to participate in Designers in Residence Kortrijk 2024, with the theme "All the Small Things." Design Fest Gent (°2022) is a new biennial festival in Ghent that provides space for designers to present groundbreaking ideas. The festival acts as a matchmaker for new collaborations between designers, knowledge institutions, organizations and industry, and above all, shows what sustainable design solutions can look like. Designers in Residence Kortrijk has been organized since 2014 by Designregio Kortrijk, platform for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for the Kortrijk region. A region that is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) that breathes design thinking, visible through its design schools, creative manufacturing industry, international events and inspiring public space. The edition of Design Fest Gent 2025 wants to specifically focus on the "little things" and their importance in creating a sustainable future. These little things can relate, for example, to material use, energy consumption, efficiency, recycling, user-friendliness and social responsibility. By paying attention to these small details and integrating them into the design process, the designer not only gains the capacity and creativity to respond quickly to current questions and problems but can also make a positive contribution to the bigger picture of sustainability and a future-oriented perspective. In the search for sustainable design solutions for the future, this edition will explore the possible relationships and synergies between low-tech and high-tech design. Low-tech and high-tech are not opposites, but rather a spectrum where different technologies complement each other; in terms of scale, focusing on the size and scope of a technological system but also in terms of their rapport. By combining low-tech and high-tech, synergies can emerge that leverage the strengths of both approaches.