What
Design is everywhere. It is the chair you sit in, the building you occupy, the street you traverse. Wherever you are, manmade design has an impact on you. Done well, it has the power to inspire and connect. Poorly considered design can have the opposite effect. Communities falter; systems become less efficient.
Good design is, simply put, smart problem solving. It is a creative, open-minded, and integrated approach that invites in multiple perspectives and processes and encourages inventiveness. Design thinking is a catalyst for revelation, comprehension, and resolution. Everything is a design opportunity ready to be explored and the application of holistic design thinking can have a tangible and lasting impact on livability.
D:Center Baltimore is the catalyst for design thinking and production in the Baltimore region. It is a big tent under which the various professions and the community can come together. Through activities, collaboration, and outreach, this organization aims to promote increased awareness and expectations for quality design in the region and to support the production of new design.
D:Center Baltimore will:
- Enable the broader community to become an integral part of the urban process;
- Support the mission of design organizations and professionals and foster new initiatives and partnerships;
- Encourage inventive thinking, innovative ideas, and visionary outcomes;
- Foment multi-disciplinary collaborations and cultivate new perspectives;
- Harness the creative energy of individuals, communities, academics, professionals, and the public to nurture increased concern for high quality design in all environments;
- Engage disciplines not ordinarily associated with design to unlock its full potential;
- Embrace diverse visions of design;
- Make Baltimore a city where design thinking and production thrives.
Why?
Design culture has been a part of Baltimore for much of its history. Founded as a mercantile city of entrepreneurs and innovators and fueled by the proliferation of 18th century industrial technology, for decades the Baltimore area was a harbinger of progressive design and urban planning. Now in the 21st century, that progressive spark needs rekindling. At this time there is no single entity dedicated to galvanizing the professions and the community around design. There is an existing and vibrant culture that percolates on the margins, and D:Center Baltimore is the step toward putting that culture and its pioneering spirit at the center of this city’s future.
