WDC2014 Cape Town

Yup - the World Design Capital (WDC) for 2014 is indeed Cape Town!

What is WDC? 

• For those who aren't in the "know" (umm...like me until a few days ago), WDC is like the Olympics or the World Cup but for design and minus the separate pot of money for new projects, is held every two years instead of four,  and has good design as it's focus.
• The idea is that a city gets this honor because they are already busting out really cool design related stuff, and by getting named the "World Design Capital" all the design related powers that be will now shine their spotlight on Cape Town and all the cool stuff that is being designed down there.

Why it matters?

• Serious no-brainer!  A city in the motherland gets this huge honor hot on the heels of hosting the first World Cup on the continent.
• Tons of South African (and other Africans who reside in Cape Town) will have that much more of an opportunity for people around the world to see how hot design from the continent really is.

Why does Brandie care?

• First: This award isn't just "ohh, let's see what pretty things South Africans can make"! Instead, the focus is really on how design can be used for social, cultural and economic development. Who can argue against design being used as a vehicle and medium through which lives are improved?
• Second: Cape Town is planning to seriously focus on using design to reconnect communities separated by apartheid. How awesome is that?!? 2014 will be the 20th anniversary since the end of such a sad historical legacy and I think design is such an awesome way to bring people together and highlight how they are connected rather than divided! 

To find out more about what this is all about and how the city and design community is going to rise to this occasion, check out Cape Town 2014. Better still, head on down to Cape Town and see what all the fuss is about! Just be prepared to be really sad once you get home!

{Photo: Cape Town 2014}