INTERNSHIP // EVENT DESIGNJENNIFER PARKER / FEBRUARY - APRIL 2010 / ESTERNI

IMAGE // Public Design Festival 2009 / Piazza 24 Maggio

// WHAT IS ESTERNI?esterni is a non-profit association, made up of designers and professionals whose aim is to develop and produce cultural projects that improve the quality of urban life and envision the city of the future. At the heart of all esterni’s work is a passion for public space and building a sense of community in the city.

15 years of experiments in public design manifested into the Public Design Festival in 2009, running alongside the Salone del Mobile (Milan Design Week) in April. During a week in which the focus of the whole design and architecture world is on the design of private interior spaces and objects, the Public Design Festival presents a model of public space culture.

esterni’s biggest project is Milano Film Festival, which celebrates its 15th edition in 2010, and in which Milan’s parks and theatres are transformed into temporary cinemas for 10 days each year to showcase an international selection of films.

IMAGE // Milano Film Festival 2009 / Parco Sempione

IMAGE // Run for Rest / 2x5 parade

// PUBLIC DESIGN FESTIVAL 2010The second edition of the Public Design Festival took place from 13-18 April 2010. It was a week of events, installations and interventions in the public space, which imagine a city that creates relationships and through public design can become truly sustainable for its inhabitants. A city not only made of squares and streets, but also of functional and pleasant places, that meet the needs of a community.

In 2010 the Public Design Festival took over Piazzale Stazione Porta Genova, offering a host of services such as food and drink, bike sharing, music in headphones, guided tours, book swapping, an open-air workstation for creative thinking, a public vegetable garden, and much more.

The international competition ‘2x5’ challenged entrants to re-think the parking space, and from over 650 entries worldwide, 9 ideas were developed and realised in Via Vigevano in collaboration with their designers. A series of special guests were also invited to present their design projects, while a programme of music, cooking and parkour performances transformed the public space in new and unexpected ways. The grand finale was the Public Design Party held at Hangar Bicocca, an 18,000 sq.m former industrial factory transformed into a contemporary art space.

IMAGE // Vegetable garden / Piazzale Stazione Porta Genova

// RESPONSIBILITIESDuring my three month internship with esterni I worked in the production office, where myself and my colleagues collaborated with international guest designers, the 2x5 competition winners and suppliers to realise the Public Design Festival.

My main role was in communication and hospitality; with the following responsibilities:

// international collaboration with the 2x5 designers to coordinate project realisation (before and during the festival)

// hospitality of the 2x5 designers, who came from as far as Korea to participate in the festival

// ongoing management and maintenance of the 2x5 projects during the event, addressing and resolving unexpected problems

// ongoing coordination of the bed sharing project, esterni’s public hospitality service (I offer 2 sq.m, I’m looking for 2 sq.m)

COLLABORATION WITH 2x5 DESIGNERS TO REALISE PROJECTS

HOSPITALITY OF 2x5 DESIGNERS

IDEA GENERATION AND DEVELOPMENT FOR PUBLIC DESIGN SERVICES

PLANNING A PUBLIC CREATIVE WORKSTATION AND SOURCING MATERIALS (FOR FREE!)

ONGOING MANAGEMENT OF PROJECTS AND EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE WEEK

DIRECT COMMUNICATION AND PROMOTION

// PERSONAL INSIGHTSFrom a whirlwind experience in the world of events and a behind-the-scenes peek at the inner workings of a non-profit association.

I don’t really want to dwell on what I did. I’d rather point out what I learned.

For me, esterni’s greatest expertise lies in creating high emotional impact (perceived value) using minimal resources (material value).

In other words...they know how to create something from nothing.

And with a large helping of creative thinking as a way to overcome the financial barrier.

My strangest brief: what can we do with 20,000 yellow shoelaces?

The following pages summarise the most important lessons I learned from esterni; not only from the work I was directly involved in but also from observations I made during my time there.

So...how do they pull it off? With a lot of hard work! (of the blood, sweat and tears variety...)

THE POWER OF A STRONG MESSAGE

IMAGE // Step 2 of the Public Design Festival events before April

Provocation for public engagement: We’ve made our point clear, so what’s yours?Edutainment: If we learn something from an experience we’re more likely to remember it, right?A powerful message doesn’t die: once released into the public domain, it spreads and evolves organically.

IMAGE // Public Design Festival Infopoint at Piazza Porta Genova

THE POWER OF THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE IN USER EXPERIENCE

IMAGE // TOPOTEK1 / Public Space is a Personal Affair (Inside-Out)

Rethinking the everyday experience to transform the banal into a little moment of delight. And now that we’ve got your attention: What if we treated the urban space as we do our own homes? Or if we could step out of the metro into a green city?

TRUE STORY //A passerby stepped onto

the grass outside Porta Genova station, turned to me and

exclaimed... “What a sensation!”.That’s what we were

aiming for!

IMAGE // Grass laid outside Porta Genova train station

THE BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER OF (EVENT) DESIGN

IMAGE // Setting up Set a Seat at the 2x5 parade

Events are not just about the moment. They are also about the before, and the after.Researching, Concepting, Detailing, Realising, Publicising.A bit like a product launch, after all?IMAGE // Publicity shot of Set a Seat at the 2x5 parade

INNOVATION FOR COLLABORATION

IMAGE // Exchanging contact details with the Poken digital business card

TRUE STORY //Each installation in the 2x5 parade had an interactive

totem where visitors could find out about the project and its designers, and download this

info directly to their own Poken device

Events and sponsors go hand in hand. Well, someone’s got to pay for it all! But it takes some convincing - and creative thinking - to get sponsors to sign up.Ad space alone is not enough. Sponsors are looking for a real, branded experience. What about re-thinking their own product and offering it to them in a new format?IMAGE // Milan Traveler’s Pot totem at the 2x5 parade

THE IMPORTANCE OF CLIENT RELATIONS TO (PERCEIVED) PROJECT SUCCESS

IMAGE // Gifts from Korea for esterni’s hospitality team

If your domain is public space, who is your client? Or rather - who isn’t? How is project success measured, and by whom?Personal connections can make or break a project. We’re all human, after all.

IMAGE // Meeting with the 2x5 designers on a local resident’s terrace overlooking Piazza Porta Genova

TRUE STORY //The 75-year-old lady who

this terrace belongs to took such interest in our projects that she cooked pasta for the

entire esterni team and opened her doors to us for the

whole week!

JENNIFER PARKER / 2010