COMPILED BY Lindi Brownell Meiring
This year’s Design Indaba Festival, which ran from 1 March – 3 March, featured 54 speakers from across the globe, all experts in their fields, from furniture design, tech and fashion to product design, architecture and music.
After three mind-blowing days at the conference, we’ve rounded up a selection of what inspired us most to share with you.
Dokter and Misses
Johannesburg-based husband-and-wife team Katy Taplin and Adriaan Hugo got the conference off to a good start, taking us through their designs from the last decade. As 2017 marks the studio’s 10th year in operation, we caught up with them ahead of the conference to find out more about stand-out moments and what we can expect next. Read our Q&A here.
Kaja Solgaard Dahl
Product designer Kaja Solgaard Dahl, one of this year’s 12 talented Global Graduates (a group of young designers that have graduated from some of the world’s top design schools and universities), debuted a local collaboration with House of Gozdawa called Tapputi and the Sea, a fragrance inspired by Cape Town and made using locally-sourced natural oils.
Great Things To People (gt2p)
The wide range of breathtaking work produced by this Chilean architecture, art and design studio made it difficult to choose just one project to share with you, however the Less N°1 Catenary Potter Printer project really did stand out. Watch the video below to see how these porcelain bowls are actually made. You’ll be amazed.
(Video via great things to people on Vimeo) 
Pauline Saglio
The interactive scarf project that interaction designer, artist and talented Global Graduate Pauline Saglio created for brand Emilio Pucci is a must-see. The scarves “react” to sound, touch and light, allowing you to see and enjoy the designs in an entirely new, different way.
Yinka Ilori
London-based Nigerian furniture designer Yinka Ilori took us through his chair collections, all inspired by African parables and traditional African fabrics. You can read VISI’s Q&A with him here.
Chris Sheldrick
Technology designer and co-founder of innovative global addressing site what3words shared one of his latest projects, namely a collaboration with local NGO Gateway Health Institute, which focuses on providing three-word addresses to those who don’t have addresses of their own. This makes it easier for emergency services to find the house of a person in need – quickly. Watch the video below:
(Video via what3words on Vimeo)
Olafur Eliasson
VISI managed to catch up with this esteemed Icelandic-Danish artist ahead of his talk at Design Indaba (read the Q&A here). Having featured the amazing Little Sun before, we were happy to hear of the brand-new solar light project, Little Sun Diamond. Unlike the Little Sun, the Little Sun Diamond is just a lens without the plastic border, giving the user a little more light when using the design.
Robin Rhode
This Cape Town-born Berlin-based artist captured the audience with a powerful performance piece. Unfamiliar with his work? Read our Q&A with him here.
Lernert & Sander
We had to choose two examples to share of the clever work created by Dutch artists and filmmakers Lernert & Sander. Watch the videos below to see their campaign for clothing brand COS and for Wallpaper* magazine’s Handmade issue.
(Video via cosstores on Vimeo) (Video via Lernert & Sander on Vimeo)
Giorgia Lupi
This fascinating information designer highlighted her Dear Data project, a collaboration with fellow information designer Stefanie Posavec, which we featured here.
(Video via Somerset House on YouTube)
Stefan Diez
The contemporary bamboo trestle table and bench that German industrial designer Stefan Diez created for Japan Creative is beautiful.
(Video via Stefan Diez Office on Vimeo)
Kate Moross
Illustrator, art director and designer Kate Moross is known for her bright, bold typographical work. We really like Kate’s book, a guide to graphic design and illustration, called Make Your Own Luck. You can order one from the studio’s shop.
MVRDV
Architect and urban designer Winy Maas, co-founder of Dutch architecture studio MVRDV shared a selection of the firm’s striking work. We featured 10 of our favourites here, including Crystal Houses. During his talk, Winy said, “Everyone wants to touch the building”. We’re not surprised.
(Video via MVRDVrotterdam on YouTube)
Joe Gebbia
The co-founder of Airbnb took us through a number of projects, including Yoschino Cedar House, a project Joe himself collaborated on with Japanese architect Go Hasegawa. The idea behind the building, which was built using locally sourced wood by local craftsmen, is for guests staying there to become part of the community, who in turn make use of the space themselves. It’s a truly beautiful, simple structure. Read all about the idea here.
Ekene Ijeoma
This interdisciplinary artist and designer’s interactive installation entitled Wage Islands wowed the Design Indaba audience. It’s a 3D map that highlights the cost of housing in New York City in relation to the hourly wage earned by its citizens. Watch how the installation works below:
(Video via Ekene Ijeoma on Vimeo)
TL “Tea” Uglow
The creative director behind Google Creative Lab in Sydney told us about the awesome Editions at Play project. Here’s how it works:
(Video via VisualEditions on YouTube)
Isis Shiffer
Global Graduate Isis Shiffer has created an eco-friendly bike helmet called the Eco Helmet that can fold up and be recycled. It’s aimed at the “spontaneous cyclist” and for those who use bikes sporadically, or while travelling.
Luis von Ahn
The technology designer and CEO of renowned language app Duolingo announced that the free app will soon be teaching users across the globe its first African language: Swahili. Find out more about the course here. P.S. Zulu is also in the pipeline.
Osborne Macharia
Kenyan photographer Osborne Macharia blew the audience away with his striking photographs. We love his series of “Kenya’s League of Extravagant Grannies,” as seen below.
Craig Dykers
Founding partner of Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta took us through a number of the studio’s architectural projects, 12 of which we featured here.
It was his announcement that Snøhetta, in collaboration with South Africa’s Local Studio, will be building an arch in tribute to our beloved Archbishop Desmond Tutu that brought the conference to a close.
Here’s what we know so far: The Arch For The Arch will be built at the entrance to the Company’s Garden in Cape Town and the official opening will be on Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s 87th birthday on 7 October 2017. Below is a peek at the steamed bentwood prototype:
For more information about the 2017 Design Indaba Festival, visit designindaba.com.
Images taken from: designindaba.com dokterandmisses.com; atelierkajadahl.com; gt2p.com; what3words.com; stevenson.info; dear-data.com; yoshinocedarhouse.com; isisshiffer.com; k63.studio
