Atlanta Design Festival focuses on ‘Reconnecting Community’

ATLANTA, GA—The annual Atlanta Design Festival is back for 2021 with a full program of in-person and virtual events. This popular festival is focusing on ‘Reconnecting the Community’ for 2021 as the country emerges from the pandemic.

The annual Atlanta Design Festival is an open platform, ideal for fostering international dialogue on the economic and social impact of design. It provides connection, the free exchange of knowledge, design thinking and community building.

Each year the Festival brings together independent designers, established brands, young talent, international speakers from academia, NGOs and government entities, exhibitions, installations and architecture tours – all centered on the economic and societal impact of design. This is defined as ‘the design economy’ – the direct and indirect value created by those who use design in a wide variety of industries.

The 2021 Festival will feature a keynote speech from Georgia House of Representatives Park Cannon on ‘Creating Equitable Communities and Coming Through Covid-19’. This important talk connects the design economy of Atlanta with the wider community creating a roadmap for how Georgia can grow post-pandemic.

MA! Architecture Tours

Back for 2021 is the popular MA! Architecture Tours which spans Atlanta and Serenbe, GA along with Asheville, NC and new for 2021 is the Pace Gallery's Flagship space in New York City, in partnership with RIBA-USA.

RIBA-USA partnership

RIBA-USA, the American Region of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has a long tradition of celebrating the best architectural minds. Working closely with MA!, RIBA-USA will be Atlanta Design Festival’s Authority on the Built Environment and support the Satellite editions of the MA! Architecture Tours bringing a unique opportunity to see the best residential and commercial architecture in multiple cities across the USA. This new partnership enables more architects to showcase their projects under the ever-growing umbrella of MA! Architecture Tours—a nationwide program of opportunities to see inside outstanding architectural buildings.

Design Districts

In partnership with Jamestown Properties, Atlanta Design Festival creates a city-wide program of events with brands and independent stores.

The three Design Districts are:

Ponce City Market www.poncecitymarket.com

Westside Provisions District www.westsideprovisions.com

Buckhead Village District www.buckheadvillagedistrict.com

Instacart transforms to an essential service

On the evening of March 19, 2020, the first stay-at-home order in North America was issued in California, setting off an en-masse move from in-store shopping to online grocery. Nearly overnight, Instacart was transformed from a convenience service to a truly essential one—a lifeline for millions of customers to get food on the table safely, flexible earning opportunities for Instacart shoppers, and bringing grocers online during a crisis.

This unprecedented moment created unexpected, urgent, and complex design challenges and Instacart increased their investment in design. An important talk ‘How Instacart transformed from convenience to an essential service during a pandemic’ looks back at the design thinking and principles underlying our approach at the time and how they continue to guide Instacart's design into the future.

MARTA presents Railtalk part 2

Metro commuters are in for a surprise during the Atlanta Design Festival. In this digital age Railtalk gives MARTA riders the chance to post messages, thoughts and musings drawing people off their phones and encouraging analogue communication.

MARTA brings the Festival theme of ‘Reconnecting Community’ to the public spaces allowing for personal expression at multiple MARTA stations. With thousands of magnetic letters and boards outside and inside many metro locations, this opportunity brings an element of fun to the otherwise mundanity of wait time. For 2021, the boards are placed outside the station allowing more people to interact with the installation.

It creates experiences that otherwise would not happen making the metro station an unexpected, impromptu social event. MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) commissioned Dutch Designers, Bouke Bruins & Wouter Couvers to bring their international project to Atlanta. Atlanta’s metro is a vital transportation artery for the population, this commission is part of MARTA’s commitment to creating a more engaging environment for rail users and recognizes that the station areas have the potential to offer users more unique experiences during their often, daily commute.

City-wide Events

A robust talks & lecture program throughout the festival will provide further insight from design groups and renowned design brands alongside a series of showroom events providing further inspiration and discovery to the level and variety of products being presented today.

Further updates on these developments will continue to be released in the lead up to the festival opening. Tickets are on sale now via www.atlantadesignfestival.net