Torino 2008 World Design Capital
Green like optimism and hope. it’s the colour that, throughout 2008, will characterise Turin in its capacity as World Design Capital. A biennal competition set up by the ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design)that aims to identifiy cities and regions that actively operate in the area of design, design research and innovation.
Signals of a new way to grow, both economically and socially, that relaunches the idea of Turin as “laboratory city”, the cradle of design well before the term took on its current meaning. Credentials that enabled Piedmont’s capital to earn the right to host the event by edging out illustrious contenders that included Brussels, Hong Kong and Montreal.
Anyone imagining some run-of-the mill exhibition is making a mistake. Normally reserved Turin won’t be an aseptic showcase but a living city, a container and wellspring of ideas, energies, and projects. It will offer comparisons and contrasts, dialogues between enterprises and the political world, and travel new paths with the aim of rethinking its image and identity. With the intent, after the tangible signs left by the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, of laying the groundwork for the city’s transformation. Of bequeathing another important cultural and physical legacy, and helping to consolidate the slightly dulled image of the Italian model.