Design Week Philippines mobilizes creative industries

Design Week Philippines (DWP) makes good on its commitment to revitalize Intramuros as it returns to the Walled City for its 8th edition slated on 14-22 October 2017.

For three editions now, Design Week Philippines has focused on Intramuros as the central location for all things creative and design-related, with the aim of mobilizing it as a creative hub. Design Week Philippines, as a multifaceted celebration of design, art and creativity, continues to bring a series of activities, talks, workshops and installations inside the walls of Intramuros to stimulate artistic energy and inspire creative industries inside the locale.

“The Design Center is fully committed to supporting the creative economy agenda of the Philippines, and the Design Week Philippines serves as a platform for local and global creatives to showcase the value of Philippine design, culture and heritage and its contribution to the creative economy,” Rhea O. Matute, executive director of Design Center of the Philippines, said.

“Intramuros has great potential to be a unique creative hub/cluster for the Philippines and become a model of what we can achieve if we are able to successfully marry our country's past with our future. This exciting possibility fills me with a lot of restless excitement. The juxtaposition of heritage and culture with that of design, technology and the vibrancy of the youth could be a lighthouse for the Philippine Creative Economy as a whole," Matute added.

For this edition, Design Week Philippines promises a fun-filled, creativitycharged nine-day festivity through its design talks, design tour, creative workshops, installations, weekend market, and more.

Design Talks, a major event component of DWP, is set to feature a morning session on culture and heritage development, and creative hub development in Intramuros to aid in the revitalization of the Walled City as a vibrant creative environment, in support of Intramuros Administration’s mandate to preserve the rich, cultural, and historical heritage of the 64-hectare walled city of Intramuros. The AM sessions will feature cultural heritage conservation expert Associate Professor Eric Zerrudo; and geographer and cartographer David Garcia.

The afternoon discussions of Design Talks will tackle experience design, entrepreneurship, and social change and innovation as it gathers thought leaders from incubators, accelerator, startup companies, and aspiring gamechangers who want to transform every Filipino’s life through innovative ideas and entrepreneurship. The Design Talks is set on 16 October 2017 at the Ayuntamiento, Intramuros, Manila.

The Design Tours, in partnership with Bambike, promises its participants an enriching heritage tour around Intramuros on bamboo bikes. Kids will also get to experience the fun as they ride on bamboo push bikes, specifically designed for toddlers, in a small adventure zone in Plaza Moriones.

Bambike will offer discounted rates for both adult and kid tours during Design Week.