The Scottish Design Show
Amin Taha's groundbreaking residential building
What do Airdrie, Ardrossan, Cumbernauld and Greenock have in common? They have all been nominated for the Plook on the Plinth, the award given to the most dismal town in Scotland. These dreary places will be battling it out for the public’s affection or rejection following the launch of the Carbuncles shortlist on 6 October at the Tramway.This year the dismal awards form part of the Scottish Design Show, an event organised by people that worry about the quality of the built environment in Scotland. The Carbuncles will appear alongside the winners of the Scottish Design Awards 2005 to give visitors a sense of what can be achieved when private clients and government adopt a strategic approach to development, and talented design professionals get involved.
The Scottish Design Show is the first annual event of its kind. It combines workshops, masterclasses and debates from leading designers. The purpose of the event is to bring together organisations involved in design and development from across Scotland to help provide a picture, for professionals and the public, of what Scotland might look like in 2020. All of the work shortlisted for the Scottish Design Awards will be shown alongside an exhibition of Scotland’s 100 best buildings and models and displays from major regeneration bodies and manufacturers.
The Scottish Executive will be using the Scottish Design Show to launch a pilot for a fascinating new project that involves mapping the major future developments in Scotland.
The project is designed to bring “a bit of ‘bling’ to planning” according to Sue Stirling, principal planner at the Development department of the Scottish Executive and one of the mapping project’s creators. The initiative will use new technology and planning databases to help interested parties visualise future development across the country. The mapping exercise is in part inspired by similar pattern to mapping projects in the Netherlands, which are used to aid planning and public consultation.
Planners at the Scottish Executive have decided to use GSI technology to add new layers of information to the digital map of the country. This information should allow users, whether they be members of the public, planners, developers or politicians, to get a clear view of future developments.
The mapping information should allow us to look at strategic issues, such as transport sustainability and investment. We are collecting information on schemes that have planning permission and new schemes that are coming through the system.
The show will also host a range of high-profile guest speakers including Amin Taha, a respected young architect, Partrick Schumacher of Zaha Hadid and Scottish architect Richard Murphy.
To register for the Scottish Design Show, 6-7 October, contact Susannah Todd on 0141 352 4661 or go to the website www.scottishdesignshow.co.uk