DesignInquiry

DesignInquiry is a non-profit educational organization devoted to researching design issues in intensive team-based gatherings. An alternative to the design conference,
it brings together practitioners from disparate fields to generate new work and ideas around a single topic.

DesignInquiry selects a topic to explore at an intensive gathering of presentations, discussions, and workshops. We invite professionals, educators and students of diverse disciplines to contribute to the topic in any way they think is appropriate. We share these responses, while working toward a publication that binds the outcome: a free-to-download boost of information, meant to inspire and inform its readers.

DesignInquiry is an alternative to the one-way delivery of a standard conference: each participant contributes and is equally responsible for the quality of the gathering; a collaborative production where we both learn and teach the aesthetics and ethics that are central to Design (and life). Days become nights; the program doesn't stop when dinner is served.

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<< watch our group pool at FLICKR or read comments about the DesignInquiry experience >>

TOPIC: JOY
June 20-25 2010, Vinalhaven Maine

'The absence of joy is the biggest threat to our society.'
- Will Alsop, architect
read more

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TOPIC: Being Here
March 11-14 2010, Marfa Texas

Dig into our archive to see a sample of our program
Jump to our Journal

TOPIC: Being Here
March 11-14 2010, Marfa Texas

With mesquite, cacti and tumbleweed, pristine air and the distant Chinati and Davis mountains, Marfa has a spare and sublime atmosphere that literally suggests a site-specific creativity. The minimalist sculptor Donald Judd relocated here from New York in 1971, taking over a former military compound and setting his house in field of gravel; the crunch underfoot was meant to raise awareness, as Judd put it, of every footfall. Many artists have followed Judd's path, and the sleepy town now hosts a surprisingly well-stocked bookstore, several galleries, the Chinati Foundation, and some fine eating establishments. Nights are cold but as the desert warms in the sun, Judd's 100 aluminum boxes can be heard popping on a cement floor, and the winds sweeping through town are punctuated by the occasional Amtrak train whistle. Our thinking is that being in Marfa is an opportunity to explore an approach to design that is contemplative and reactive, a design that does not prescribe or impose formulas but responds to the conditions that surrounds it. BeingHERE challenges design as an act of premeditation, and seeks instead to situate it in time and place, be it in Marfa or elsewhere.

Accommodates 15 people.

LOCATION: We'll be meeting and eating in a 3000 square foot loft-like space, an open-plan converted former gas station with modern appointments and a generous outdoor space in which to eat, drink and dive into the topic. Located in the center of Marfa.

Housing options are listed below, and should be organized well in advance of the event, as Marfa places are few and book up fast.

APPLY: Propose a short (20 min) presentation, workshop or installation relating to the topic of BeingHERE. Contact us and we'll email you a questionnaire. You can also contribute by submitting essays, questions, links or anything that will expand the topic for possible inclusion in the DesignInquiry journal.

COSTS
$375 participation donation (not including housing)
+ $175 fee for breakfasts and dinners (cooking is a communal design project)

Listen to "The Man Who Bought Marfa"

Read a recent New York Times article about Marfa

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Contact us for scholarship opportunities.

Dig into our archive to see a sample of our program
Jump to our Journal

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HOTEL/MOTELS: (book early!)
thunderbird motel
$130-150 per night weekdays
$150-180 per night weekdays

hotel paisano
$99-210 per night

OTHER ACCOMMODATION: (book early!)
casitamarfa
1Bd/1Ba
sleeps 2-4
$140 per night (2 night minimum)

windmill retreat
1Bd/1Ba
sleeps 2-4
$175 per night
$900 per week

private, cozy
2Bd/2Ba
sleeps 4-5
$110 a night

cozy casita
1Bd/1Ba
sleeps 2-4
$650 per week