2020 is a year of change and the 8th edition of Romanian Design Week explores this theme, so we were curious to find out how professionals from the creative industries interpret the idea of change today.
Their opinions can be found in the Possible Realities exhibition, part of @CHANGE, which takes place at Combinatul Fondului Plastic between 11th-20th of September.
Tsvetelina is a Co-Founder and CEO of DesignMorphine and responsible for the company's growth and worldwide popularization with achieved positions in 82 countries, leading the development of the company’s short- and long-term strategy, communicating on behalf of the company with government entities and the public. Tsvetelina is currently a PhD candidate in the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Sofia, Bulgaria working on the topic “Parametric Design: education, business, development” inspired by her work with DesignMorphine. During her PhD studies she is seeking to offer the unique and provocative perspective of an architect while improving her skills in leadership and management.
Tsvetelina has more than eight years of experience as an architect and designer both in big architectural studios and as a freelancer working on different scale projects like office buildings, public buildings, residential buildings, interiors, etc. Tsvetelina is an author of many publications for different newspapers mainly connected to her specialization in Architecture Technology or her work with DesignMorphine. Tsvetelina completed with Honors her Master’s Degree in Architecture in 2012 in Department of Architecture Technology, UACEG, Sofia.
1. How do you think the pandemic will change the world: the way we live or interact with others, with the cities we live in and with spaces in general?
The world has already been changed a lot for the past several months but more affects are to be seen in the following years. We see that everything around us is becoming digital - today one’s business cannot be competitive if it doesn’t offer online service. In DesignMorphine we started to offer online education several years ago and now it is the only possible solution for the courses we are conducting.
In the past decade technology has greatly affected our lives. There have been many discussions if that is more positive or negative thing. But during the pandemic we saw it was the only possible way we could be together - families, businesses, governments. Therefore, what I foresee for the future is that the people will live in the digital world more than ever.
2. How will the pandemic change the role of design in the future?
No matter what kind of designer you are and what is your field of work - you are always doing it for the people. So as it has been in the past, in the future the design will be mainly led by the needs of the individuals or our society as a whole. The regulations for the different kind of spaces are changing and so the design workflow needs to adapt to that reality. I think that technologies like virtual reality and augmented reality will continue to develop and spread more into our everyday life - in a way to compensate the social distance.
3. Is creativity an essential tool for adapting and/or for change? And is the current trajectory of design leading us to a better world, in your opinion?
Creativity has always been a shaping force in our world. One needs to be creative in order to achieve the best results, no matter of their profession. So, it is one of the most important tools for our society to move further - with or without pandemic. Today we need to be more creative than ever so we could figure out how to continue living our best lives possible in the pandemic reality but considering problems such as the global warming and pollution at the same time
4. How was the design world affected by the pandemic and how can it become more relevant and more resilient?
The effects of the pandemic are to be seen in the following months, even years.
For me, the future of design is in the constant development of new technologies that give us the opportunity to be creative in many ways. Today we have software and tools that allow us to design everything our mind could or could not imagine. Furthermore, we have technologies that give us the means to see our digital model physically in our hands in minutes. So most important for the designers is to constantly improve themselves and learn all the new tendencies in order to be relevant.
5. What do you think will happen next in the design world?
Change is happening at an incredible rate. I think the design will be increasingly digital. The new technologies and tools will give the designers more time for designing than the operations, communications, tracking, order management, etc that has historically made the biggest percent of their job. Those who are original and have something different to offer will always be the most successful in a world which is becoming more competitive than ever.
Romanian Design Week 2020, an event presented by The Institute and UniCredit Bank, will take place between September 11th-20th, and this year will develop a special edition, designed to highlight the essential role of design in conceiving a better future, in a period in which creativity became more important than ever. The festival addresses CHANGE, the theme announced since the beginning of the year, updating its discourse and projects presented in accordance with the transformations and contributions brought by the creative industries during the pandemic, under the title CHANGE 2.0