What design do you love in Dundee? UNESCO City of Design Dundee is calling for everyone in the city to share photos on social media with the #LoveDesignDundee hashtag.
Each month the team will share a new theme – for the first month they’re looking for photos of ‘Beautiful buildings’.
This could be where you live, where you work, the local school or community centre, an old building full of character, or a new modern structure. The photo could be of the whole building, or a tiny design detail – inside or outside – which you find beautiful.
Anna Day, Project Manager of UNESCO City of Design Dundee, said: “Design is about finding and solving problems, and changing people’s lives for the better. The buildings around us have a huge influence on the quality of our lives, from keeping us warm and safe, to being places for family and friends to come together, to simply being beautiful designs to appreciate.
“To launch #LoveDesignDundee we’re calling on everyone living in the city, or who has been to Dundee, to share photos of our city’s beautiful buildings. We all have our favourite spaces, which might be where we live or work, or a building used by the community. We’re very excited to see all the different photos that come back in – and to hear from people living in the city about their ambitions for the future of Dundee.”
To share your photo of a beautiful building, include the hashtag #LoveDesignDundee when posting an image to Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Don’t forget to tag UNESCO City of Design Dundee (if you have enough characters left!):
Facebook – DundeeCityofDesign
Instagram – DesignDundee
Twitter – @DesignDundee
Olympia Leisure Centre
Willie Watt, Partner at Nicoll Russell Studios and President of RIAS, said: “Dundee is a very worthy UNESCO City of Design. The rich heritage of some tremendous buildings, both new and old, surround us for all to see. Some of the world’s most preeminent architects such as Alfred Waterhouse, Sir George Gilbert Scott and more recently Frank Gehry have all left their mark on the city, whilst its own highly creative architects’ practices have gone on to work across the United Kingdom.”
“I am sure that everyone will have a favourite, perhaps because they enjoyed a pantomime in the Rep, or worked for Olivetti, or were comforted by the staff and volunteers at Maggie’s. Architecture should make the world a better place. Dundee is fortunate that it has many buildings which have done exactly that.”
Kirsty Maguire, the award-winning eco-architect based at Dundee’s Fleet Collective, said: “People love space and buildings for all sorts of reasons – how sunlight pours in through a window, a particular atmosphere, or for quirky details like an amusing gargoyle or the ornate leadwork on The McManus. All of these things are interwoven with personal memories and dreams, and it is all of this that makes up the architectural and design richness of a city like Dundee.”
Dundee became the UK’s first UNESCO City of Design in December 2014, and is one of only 16 cities in the world to hold the prestigious title.
Throughout 2015 a small coordinating team – including representatives of Dundee City Council, Abertay University, Creative Dundee and the University of Dundee – has been developing the programme of work for the coming years, working with the Dundee Partnership.
Stairwell inside Central Library
The UNESCO award recognises Dundee’s global impact on design – from biomedical research and drug discovery to world-renowned entertainment including The Beano and Grand Theft Auto – and its ambitions to use design as part of the city’s regeneration.
Dundee’s two leading universities, Abertay University and the University of Dundee, produce hundreds of graduates in different design disciplines every year. Many stay in the city to set up new companies, with the support of organisations like Creative Dundee and Fleet Collective.
The 30-year, £1 billion Waterfront redevelopment includes the V&A Museum of Design Dundee at its heart, a global home for Scotland’s design heritage that will attract visitors from all over the world and work with communities across Scotland to inspire future generations of designers.
Dundee is also home to the first building in the UK to be designed by Frank Gehry, the world famous architect who designed Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum. Maggie’s Dundee was designed to offer a welcoming sense of calm and sanctuary to people with cancer and their family and friends.
For more information, please visit www.dundeecityofdesign.com