Industry City to host Design Festival

May 2, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Colorful lanterns adorn this space at Industry City. Photo courtesy of Industry City

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Industry City in Sunset Park, home of the Brooklyn Design District, has announced the Industry City Design Festival (ICDF), a campus-wide celebration of art and design.

ICDF will take place May 12-16, as a partner program of NYCxDesign 2022. The week’s celebrations will be open to the public, inviting design enthusiasts and experts alike to participate in film screenings, artist studio tours, public art installations, and live panel discussions.

“With more than 130 companies on campus focused on different aspects of design, Industry City welcomes visitors from all around the world to meet and experience our thriving creative community,” said Jim Somoza, managing director and partner at Industry City. “The campus is as much an incubator as it is a canvas for these creatives.”

The Brooklyn Design District is a collective of more than 130 architects, designers, and design retailers, including West Elm, Design Within Reach, Restoration Hardware, Porcelanosa, Micol Ceramics, the IC Store by WantedDesign, Christophe Pourny Studio, cityFoundry, and scores of others. The 16-building, six million-square-foot creative campus on the Brooklyn waterfront boasts ground- floor shopping including outlets, vintage and specialty, plus offices and studios for textiles, lighting, interior styling and furniture.

This art installation at Industry City shows that somebody’s got the blues. Photo courtesy of Industry City

Opening on May 12, and continuing daily through May 16, ICDF programming highlights include:

IC Store by WantedDesign

Day/Time: May 10-27, 12 PM – 5 PM

Location: Building 2, Food Hall

As part of a special pop-up at the IC Store by WantedDesign, the store will feature the work of two Mexican artists, Daniel Barreto and Alejandra García Gutiérrez, whose two-dimensional work will be exhibited and available for sale.

The Talks @ ICDF

Day/Time: Daily May 12 – 16, 12 PM – 6 PM

Location: Campus-wide

Industry City hosts experts from across the worlds of art, architecture, and design to offer their perspectives on a wide variety of discussion topics in IC’s newly unveiled event space, Five Two A. Talks will be hosted by Cooper Hewitt, NYC Jewelry Week, Central Saint Martins, Brooklyn Rail, Asian Creative Foundation, Equator Productions, and more.

Industry City Open Studios

Day/Time: May 14 – 15, 12 PM – 5 PM

Location: Campus-wide

Back for the first time since 2019, Industry City Open Studios offers the unique opportunity to tour and meet more than 100 designers, artists, and makers in the comfort of their studios.

Central Saint Martins / Design Transforms: Borders

Day/Time: May 12, 4:30 PM – 7:30 PM and May 13-16, 12 PM- 5 PM

Location: Industry City’s Factory Floor, Building 1

Central Saint Martins: Design Transforms is a platform designed to engage diverse communities through collaborative design and creation. It is a live studio using ceramic-making to promote access, learning, and social justice across communities. Programming includes: a public participatory themed ceramic-making studio; ticketed, themed dinners by expert chefs working in partnership with IC tenants Sahadi’s and Union Square Events; designer and artist’s one-off edition plates; and expert panel discussions.

Young and old enjoy themselves by playing petanque, a bocce-like game from France, at Industry City. Photo courtesy of Industry City

Collision Project Showcase

Day/Time: May 12 – 16, 12 PM – 5 PM

Location: Campus-wide

Tour Industry City’s campus-wide arts initiative via a self-guided experience offering a first-hand look at the complex’s large-scale public art, including 18 murals campus-wide and a newly installed set of permanent sculptures titled, “Scumble Lumps” by artist duo Chioazza.

IC Local Tools! Exhibition curated by Adrian Madlener

Day/Time: May 12, 4:30 PM – 7:30 PM and May 13-16, 12 PM – 5 PM

Location: Industry City’s 5-2-A Event Space

Profiling several IC tenants including Nazz Forge, Jane D’Haene, Roll & Hill, Trumbull and Son Studios, Ian Love Design, Ophelia + Indigo, Christophe Pourny, Sharon Radisch, Teressa Foglia, and Yellow Bow Florals, this exhibition highlights the essential devices, machines, programs, and systems that each entity employs in its day-to-day design practice.

Architecture Design & Film Festival Presents: A Conversation and Films About Public Art Sponsored by Casper & Eventscape

Day/Time: May 12, Discussion begins 8:15 PM; Screenings begin 8:45 PM

Location: Courtyard 5 / 6

In partnership with ADFF, Rooftop Films, and Casper, Industry City will showcase two short films centering on art and design for their U.S, debut–Small Town Big Canvas: An Indiana, PA Story, directed by Bradford Devins, and High Maintenance – The Life and Work of Dani Karavan, directed by Barak Heymann.

Ahead of the screening will be a discussion with Suchi Reddy, Founder of Reddymade Architecture, artist Katie Merz, and ADFF Founder Kyle Bergman.

Immersion into the World of High-End French Lace Design + The Female Body

Day/Time: May 12, 6:30 PM

Location: Rue du Paradis, Innovation Alley Building 5

Founder Fanny Karaman walks through the experience of designing for the female body with high-end French lace fabrics. Her new experiential storefront showcases the making of premium lingerie, while also embracing a body-positive image for women.

Industry City + WantedDesign Residency Program

Location: Camp David

Industry City and WantedDesign’s International Design Residency, established in 2021, welcomes its second resident, Hannao Anonen of Finland. Anonen will establish Camp David, Industry City’s coworking space, for her residency May – June 2022.

Cooper Hewitt Design Family Workshop

Day/Time: May 14, 12 – 2 PM: “On Display”

Location: Courtyard 1 / 2 (2nd Avenue, Between 36th and 37th Street)

In celebration of ICDF, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will host a special day of programming at Brooklyn’s Industry City to include interactive sessions for design lovers of all ages. “On Display” is a hands-on workshop for ages 5-12, where participants explore the basic principles and elements of design to create a retail window display for an imaginary client.

Indigenous Artisans and the Vanishing Handicrafts of Morocco/Fragments of a Moroccan Palace

Day/Time: May 14, 4:30 PM – 8 PM

Location: Imports from Marrakech, Building 5, Innovation Alley

“Indigenous Artisans and the Vanishing Handicrafts of Morocco” Join Imports from Marrakesh founder Mohamed Elmaarouf for the opening exhibition of photographer Cody O’Loughlin. From the leather artisans deep in the medina in Marrakesh to the wool spinners in the Atlas Mountains, Cody traveled with Mohamed throughout Morocco in 2019 to document artisans who produce ancient crafts for Imports from Marrakesh’s stores in Industry City and Chelsea Market.