Droog LAB info booklet
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DEFINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF GLOBAL DESIGN. JANUARY 2009

DURING 2007, THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PRODUCED OVER 52% OF GLOBAL GROWTH, COMPARED TO 37% DURING THE LATE 1990S. CHINA ALONE PRODUCED 17.8% OF GLOBAL GDP GROWTH LAST YEAR, COMPARED TO 14.6% FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY. THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES’ SHARE OF TOTAL WORLD OUTPUT HAS RISEN TO 29% THIS YEAR FROM 18% IN 1995. THE WORLD BANK IS FORECASTING THAT THE ECONOMIES OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES WILL GROW 7.4% THIS YEAR, COMPARED TO 2.2% IN THE OLD INDUSTRIAL NATIONS. WALL STREET JOURNAL

THE DROOG LAB IS AN INITIATIVE OF RENNY RAMAKERS, ART HISTORIAN, CRITIC AND COFOUNDER OF DROOG DESIGN. IN 1993 RENNY RAMAKERS AND GIJS BAKKER STARTED DROOG AS AN ANTI-STATEMENT; A NONONSENSE, DOWN TO EARTH DESIGN MENTALITY THAT OPPOSED THE HIGH STYLE AND FORM BASED WORLD OF DESIGN. IN CONTRAST, IT PROPOSED A HIGHLY CONCEPTUAL APPROACH, ONE CAPTURED BY THE DUTCH WORD ‘DROOG,’ MEANING ‘DRY’ OR ‘WRY’. THIS MENTALITY HAS DEFINED DROOG AS A CONCEPTUAL DESIGN COMPANY OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS, AND TO A LARGE EXTENT, HAS DEFINED DUTCH DESIGN WITHIN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT. THE CONTEMPORARY...

THE CORE OF THE DROOG LAB IS TO IDENTIFY URGENCIES GLOBALLY AND INVESTIGATE THEIR IMPACT LOCALLY. AS SUCH, PARTICIPANTS NEED TO THINK BOTH GLOBALLY AND LOCALLY, AND THE PROJECT STRUCTURE IS DESIGNED TO SUPPORT THIS SHIFT. TOGETHER WITH THE CONTENT MANAGER, DROOG INTERNS IDENTIFY, RESEARCH AND PHRASE GLOBAL URGENCIES. A BRAINSTORM IS ORGANIZED WITH INVITED EXPERTS AND A LOCAL PARTNER TO INFORM THE DISCUSSION ON A GLOBAL AND LOCAL LEVEL. LED BY A RENOWNED DESIGNER, A DESIGN WORKSHOP IS HELD ON LOCATION, CONFRONTING PARTICIPANTS DIRECTLY WITH THE CONTEXT, AND ASKING THEM TO RESPOND. FOLLOWING...

THE DROOG LAB BELIEVES THE NEXT GENERATION OF GLOBAL DESIGN WILL RESPOND TO CONTEMPORARY GLOBAL ISSUES BY INVESTIGATING THEM ON A LOCAL LEVEL. IT FORESEES THAT LOCALLY RELEVANT RESPONSES WILL HAVE GLOBAL RESONANCE. THE NEXT GENERATION WILL NOT BE AFRAID OF MIXING; IT WILL BE STIMULATED BY—IF NOT ALREADY HABITUATED TO—CULTURAL CONTRAST AND INTEGRATION. THE GLOBAL CONDITION DEMANDS CULTURALLY, POLITICALLY, SOCIALLY AND ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS DESIGN—IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT THE LAB CONSIDERS RELEVANT DESIGN. INCLUDED WITHIN THIS, IS THE HUMAN DIMENSION, WITH ALL ITS SUBJECTIVITY, NOTIONS OF...

focus question

THE DROOG LAB IS FREE, UNRESTRICTED AND EXPLORATORY, YET HAS A VERY AMBITIOUS MISSION: TO DEFINE THE NEXT GENERATION OF GLOBAL DESIGN. IT SEEKS TO ANSWER: WHAT IS URGENT IN AN INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT AND HOW CAN LOCAL CONTEXTS CONTRIBUTE?

URGENT ISSUES WITHIN THE LAB, TOPICS EMERGE FROM A GLOBAL ORIENTATION. URGENCIES ARE IDENTIFIED BY INVESTIGATING A RANGE OF INDICATORS SUCH AS GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC SHIFTS, LATEST SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENTS, CHANGING SOCIETAL ATTITUDES AND EMERGING LIFESTYLES. ATTITUDE THE LAB WILL NOT TREAT URGENCIES AS PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED, IT WILL NOT ADOPT ANTI- OR A PRO- ATTITUDES, BUT RATHER, WILL ACCEPT THEM AS FACTS, AS EMERGING REALITIES FULL OF POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES AND POSSIBILITIES. NEW REALITIES MAKE SPACE FOR NEW DIRECTIONS, BEGGING THE DESIGNER’S CONCEPTUAL RIGOUR AND IMAGINATION....

2009 IS THE DROOG LAB’S PILOT YEAR. THE FIRST URGENCY IS IDENTITY AND IT WILL BE INVESTIGATED IN DUBAI, WITH OUR LOCAL PARTNER, TRAFFIC DUBAI.

Droog al Arab URGENCY 2009: IDENTITY PLACE: DUBAI PARTNER: TRAFFIC DUBAI

ALL OVER THE WORLD WE ARE CONFRONTED WITH EMERGING CITIES THAT REFLECT A LACK OF LOCAL IDENTITY. ALL THESE CITIES SEEM TO FOLLOW THE SAME RECIPE. WHETHER IN SHANGHAI, KUALA LUMPUR OR IN DUBAI, WE SEE AN ALMOST INTERCHANGEABLE MODERNITY. THE QUESTION IS: HOW CAN WE MAKE A CONNECTION BETWEEN GLOBAL AMBITIONS AND THE LOCAL CONTEXT? PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WILL BE DEVELOPED IN THE DROOG LAB TO CHALLENGE DUBAI’S MODERNITY BY INTEGRATING DUBAI’S HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL RESOURCES, LIKE RELIGION, RITUALS, RAW MATERIALS AND CLIMATE. THE RESULT WILL BE A WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS THAT WILL BE SOLD IN...

1. BE PROACTIVE, NOT REACTIVE BY INVENTING POSSIBILITIES RATHER THAN TACKLING PROBLEMS. 2. ASK WHO CARES? AS A WAY OF FINDING POTENTIAL STAKEHOLDERS. 3. MAKE FICTIONAL PROPOSALS FOR POTENTIAL CLIENTS. 5. WORK WITH EXISTING EXPERTISE AND THE WORK OF OTHERS. 6. IF IT IS IMPORTANT, QUANTIFY AND VISUALIZE IT. 7. SHIFT SCALES FROM GLOBAL TO LOCAL AND BACK TO GLOBAL AGAIN. 8. AIM FOR SPECIFICITY: THE MORE SPECIFIC THE RESPONSE, THE MORE GENERAL THE APPEAL. © 2009 DROOG DESIGN