Design Commons is a deconstructed conference founded by the CEO of Interactive Africa, Ravi Naidoo in collaboration with World Design Weeks founder Kari Korkman.[1] The event was established in 2017 and acts as a travelling discussion platform on the future of cities.[2]
Unlike the conventional conference format, Design Commons places stakeholders in urban planning and public space at the same table as notable designers to foster a sense of common ground and find solutions to some of the world's pressing issues.[3]
The first Design Commons event took place in Clarion Congress Centre, Helsinki as part of the World Design Weeks summit from 14 to 15 September 2017.[4] [5]
Speakers include architect David Adjaye, Dutch architect Winy Maas, Finnish technology entrepreneur Marko Ahtisaari, Dutch landscape architect Cees van der Veeken and Studio Swine, a collaboration between Japanese architect Azusa Murakami and British artist Alexander Groves.[6]
The event is open to the public and is partially released as a video series on the Design Indaba website.[7]