Open Call: Designers in Residence Kortrijk

Designregio Kortrijk is looking for 3 highly motivated and recently graduated designer-makers or creative artists to join in a regional residency program in Kortrijk, Belgium. The Designers in Residence Kortrijk program is a 3-month full time working residency from October 2020 to January 2021. Each edition of the Designers in Residence tackles a broad topic and invites to reflect on the future urban condition. At the same time they are looking for small scale interventions, prototypes and experiment. To support this, they will provide a living lab condition in existing but empty buildings and shops in the city centre.

The theme of the current open call 2020-2021 is "The future of urban leisure".

Designregio Kortrijk will be your host. It is an initiative of Designregio Kortrijk, platform for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for the region Kortrijk in Belgium. A region part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) that breaths design thinking, visible through its design education, creative making industry, international events and inspiring public space.
They are a joint venture of 5 regional organisations, with whom you will work closely together. This will allow you as a designer to connect with the local community (city of Kortrijk), local producers and maker industry (Voka West-Flanders & Interieur Foundation), urban planners and developers (Leiedal) and innovative education (Howest). At the same time, the Buda Island is the focal point for a fascinating community of creative individuals, companies, cultural organizations, creative teaching as well as end-users. The aim is to connect with the local maker industry, largely embedded in the region and local producers in a contemporary way.

• The Budafabriek, Budalab Open Makerspace & Bolwerk Workspace are the inspirational locations in Kortrijk (Belgium) where you will create, work and live.
• The Kortrijk region (Belgium) is a strong player in the economically blooming largest European inter-regional Eurometropolis.
• University College HOWEST & their Industrial Design Center is an open knowledge center and a communication platform between the industry and the education, research and development programs of the Howest and Ghent University in Kortrijk. Digital Arts & Entertainment is, amongst others, one of their state of the art education programs. There is also Digital Design & Development, part of The Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) and the Royal Conservatory, focusing on the intersection of design, development and research.

Designregio Kortrijk provides for the selected Designers in Residence Kortrijk:

• accommodation
• monthly fee (400 €/month)
• usage of Budalab Open Makerspace
• experts in several domains and support of Designregio Kortrijk
• one-time travel expenses

The application is online, with deadline 4th September 2020.