World Industrial Design Day 2014 and the new Budapest Design Map Edition

Celebrating the World Industrial Design Day, which is held on June 29, the 2014 edition of Budapest Design Map was introduced on Friday. I joined the tour led by Judit Osvárt (Budapest Design Week Curator) and organized for that occasion and was among the first ones getting my hands on the newest issue.

Issued by Budapest Design Week and commissioned by the Hungarian Design Council, the downloadable design map was published for the first time in the summer of 2013 on the occasion of the design festival’s 10th anniversary.

The map features:
– Detailed offline app based on a street level map of the city also featuring key public transport information and rendered landmarks
– A rich directory with key information (address, opening times, etc.), photos and descriptions of the featured design spots, which can be sorted alphabetically, and by category
– High resolution
– Search tool based on name, category and location
– When online, functions include route planning

The first stop of the tour was just across the square behind the Design terminal building at hannabi – the sofa tailor.

HANNABI was founded on the idea that there was room for improvement in the cooperation of designers and producers on the Hungarian design furniture market. Hungary’s light industry provides outstanding facilities for manufacturing small series of high-quality furniture.

Short walk away, on the other side of the square we passed in front of Retrock Vintage Budapest to move on to Király street, also known as Budapest’s Design Street.

Second stop of our tour was VAM Design Center, and more specifically the VA Design Shop on the 2nd Floor of this vast building dedicated to interior and furniture design.

This was my least favorite part of the tour. Although they exhibit some of the most revolutionary and unique design pieces on a world level, I felt it cramped and I absolutely hated the laminated signs found on each piece of furniture. Totally ruined my experience.

The definite WTF of the day was this…pouff???

7th district mood was enhanced by the apparent lomtalanítás and piles of “treasure” we came across on our way to the next design tour stop.

And the next stop was the BP Shop at Wesselényi street 24, Budapest’s own streetware shop and brand. Founded in 2011 by Peter Jakab and Akos Lenkey with a mini collection of their trademark BP hats and some T-shirts they now own 3 shops in Budapest and they are getting serious!

After a pretty professional presentation buy the guys at BP shop we moved on to district 9, to see MOZA, the cement tile manufactory.

Last stop for me was the One Fashion Budapest showroom in Ráday street. This fashion agency and retail is on the market since the end of last year. It was founded by two friends Juli Décsi and Orsi Dániel with the aim to increase the reputation of the Hungarian talents on local and international markets. Showroom stocks 20+ designers and tries to represent various tastes and styles.

What I missed was the final stop of the tour, the sugar on top, the stop to the sweet Cukorka shop. The handmade bonbon factory, where you can follow the whole process of candy making before you eat them all. I am thinking I might need to visit that place with my kids anyway.