Open Design fun

DF Malan High School and Stellenberg High are among the 14 Western Cape schools taking part in the Designing Careers High School Programme at the Open Design Cape Town Festival this year, which runs from Wednesday August 10 to Sunday August 21 at City Hall.

Career and educational events are a key component of the 12-day festival, which features over 140 events including talks, exhibitions, workshops, tours, activations and interactive experiences that explore how design and innovation can be used to add value to our lives and create a more sustainable future.

The festival takes place in two stages, with events, expos and workshops at Cape Town City Hall from Wednesday August 10 to Tuesday August 16 and citywide activations from Wednesday August 17 to Sunday August 21.

Open Design is open to everyone, whether they are new to design or already see design and innovation as critical to designing a better future world. While some festival events are ticketed, most events are free to attend.

Top South African design icons, including Y Tsai of Tsai Design Studio and Andile Dyalvane of Imiso Ceramics, head the line-up of speakers for the Open Design education programme, together with an exhibition to further inspire high school pupils studying them as part of the curriculum.

Pupils will also be able to view the work of these design Icons, as part of an exhibition displaying their standout designs, such as a 3D model of the international award-winning 10×10 low-cost housing design by participating architect Luyanda Mpahlwa.

Numerous other events at this year’s Open Design Festival enable young people to further engage with design. They include:

* The Designing Careers High School Programme with presentations by top tertiary design schools about design-related study and career options. This runs between 9am and noon from Wednesday August 10 to Friday August 19 in the City hall.

* A One Stop Design Shop Expo, a design education showcase from top tertiary design schools in the Western Cape, open to all, will be run from 9am to 2pm from Thursday August 11 Friday August 19 in the City Hall.

* Open Day workshops, from 9am to 4pm on Saturday August 13 in the City Hall, enabling parents and high school pupils interested in pursuing design-related careers to connect with some of the top design tertiary schools in the province.

* Design Education Open Day Talks in the City Hall on Wednesday August 10, giving people the opportunity to explore design career options.

* SeeSawDo Children’s Design Workshop on Wednesday August 17, from 3.30pm to 6pm in the City Hall, which aims to encourage kids to take responsibility for a project, co-create with teammates and think critically.

* Make and break – at the Brightminds Disassembly Workshop young and old can learn how to break apart appliances such as a toaster or iron and see how it was designed and built. They can then get up close and personal with its internal components and learn how to fix or recycle it. Participants will also be given the opportunity to build a gadget of their own and receive a handy toolkit to take home, so they can do it all again in their own time.

Anyone and everyone can take part in the Doodle sessions in the City Hall on Wednesday and Thursday August 10 and 11, which will culminate in a massive sale of drawings to raise funds for a deserving cause.

* Visit www.opendesignct.com or follow @opendesignct on Twitter, @opendesignct on Instagram and Opendesignct on Facebook. The official hashtag is #ODCT2016.