Hasta La Ideas

DesignPhiladelphia is rolling along here in Philadelphia. On Tuesday evening, Philly Works—now in its third year—invited three professionals to speak and participate in a panel discussion around the topic of “quality of life” at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, kicking off something a little bit different this time around.

Philly Works hosts an annual event occurring during DesignPhiladelphia that aims to highlight the thriving communities in design, craft and production in Philadelphia—often paying homage to Philadelphia’s history as being a highly productive and creative hub; “the workshop of the world.” Philly Works, in past years, has celebrated Philly’s makers by showcasing local products—from furniture to clothing, from housewares to motorcycles—alongside images of workspaces throughout the community to give viewers a glimpse into where and how the products were made.

After two successful exhibitions, Philly Works coordinators Will McHale and Alexandra Schmidt-Ullrich decided to take a drastic shift for this years DesignPhiladelphia event. “The last two years we had large design exhibits with things. It was wonderful and it was a lot of work for 10-days during DesignPhiladelphia. Last year we actually made a catalogue,” says Alexandra. “But we realized that while it was great while we did it, eventually we needed to move on. We were showcasing local Philadelphia artisans, fabricators, makers, designers’ architects and what they were doing, but it was starting to repeat itself. So we thought, why don’t we take these amazing minds—people with all of these amazing skills—and start letting them work together.”

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