Aug 8 2014
Just shy of Dwell's 15th anniversary, the media company is bringing its flagship annual event, Dwell on Design, to New York for the first time and in an entirely new form. From October 9 to October 11, the show will welcome 5,000 attendees to 82MERCER for a three-day design workshop featuring editor-led discussions with a focus on the intersection of the design and the contract market.
Visitors will filter through more than 35,000 square feet of space boasting innovative installations, cash-and-carry opportunities and Dwell Design Week events in and around 82Mercer.
Since its debut in 2006, Dwell on Design LA has become the largest design trade show in the U.S. and a unique design destination allowing visitors to explore the newest trends, tour coveted homes, attend thought-provoking conversations, and network face-to-face with industry leaders. The show celebrated its largest incarnation to date this past June, taking over more than 300,000 square feet at the Los Angeles Convention Center and hitting record attendance numbers of more than 31,000. Dwell on Design NY will take a modified approach from its west coast counterpart, aiming to become a place for movers and shakers of the design, landscape, architecture and civic communities to get together, exchange ideas, and address important issues rapidly evolving in New York.
Taking the show to the East coast is another step toward establishing Dwell Media's foothold in New York, which began in earnest with the entire creative team's relocation to the city in January 2014 under the leadership of Editor-in-Chief Amanda Dameron. "We are excited to contribute to the incredible design energy happening in New York City, using our ever-growing platforms to explore important topics surrounding academia, healthcare, hospitality, technology and more," Dameron said. "Our advisory board is comprised of thought leaders who are working every day on the built fabric of our city, and we are thrilled to develop content with such knowledgeable thinkers and doers."
The on-stage programs will cover topics such as "Healthy Architecture," "The New Malleable Office," "Re-imagining New York City's Terra Firma" and Architecture for Humanity's "Design Like You Give a Damn: Live!" Alongside industry and content partner Architecture for Humanity, Dwell will create opportunities to promote design as a vehicle for social change that will include "Design Open Mic"—where up and coming designers can submit designs for good. Confirmed speakers for the conference include Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award winners Margie Ruddick and Clive Wilkinson, Vishaan Chakrabarti of SHoP Architects, Pentagram partner Michael Bierut, Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award winner and Tony Award nominee David Rockwell, and Designtex CEO Susan Lyons, among many others.
Thursday, October 9 and Friday, October 10 will be designated trade days, with programming that will include CEU opportunities for architects and designers from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday. Saturday, October 11 will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The always-popular Dwell Home Tour will also take place on Saturday, with a portion of ticket sales benefiting industry partner Architecture for Humanity, and will showcase five enviable modern living spaces in Manhattan from architects including Andrew Franz, workshop/apd and 590BC. The Home Tour architects will be on-site at 82Mercer to preview the projects at 'Meet the Architects' from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday evening. Ticket prices will run from $15 for a student-discounted pass to $125 for a 2-day trade pass.
The conference will take place during AIA's Archtober—a month-long architecture and design festival now in its fourth year—of which Dwell is the presenting media sponsor for the third consecutive year. "Archtober has very much been a celebration of New York City as a world design capital," says Dwell's President and CEO Michela O'Connor Abrams. "We're thrilled to bring Dwell on Design to the world stage of New York during the city's official architecture and design month, as we deepen Dwell's commitment to elevating the conversation around ways in which design can improve our lives."