DESIGN INDABA: Everything under creation

Andrea Nagel: DESIGN Indaba 2011 is titled "What will creativity hold for the future?" Speakers look at creativity as the ultimate renewable resource in a world in which resources are limited.

"Creativity can shelter, feed, educate and empower," declares the programme line-up of speakers.

I spoke to four designers who are among the 30-plus included in this year's indaba:

DROR BENSHETRIT, product designer

Benshetrit's portfolio encompasses architecture, art direction, and product and interior design. His focus is on the nature of movement, space and forms.

"I watch the world inquisitively," he says. "I watch responses and register the needs of our modern lifestyle."

Benshetrit, an Israeli based in New York, is to speak about a new architectural system, a structural support system, that he has been working on for four years. It can be used in structures as diverse as disaster-relief shelters or sound barriers for highways.

The support structure could be used for creating houses that will require far fewer building materials.

"It can be re-created at any scale in any material: wood, steel, concrete, anything," says Benshetrit. "I'm always investigating innovation for our modern needs.

"Creativity is like being a child, exploring the world, making it better by utilising knowledge from lots of different sources. I'm most interested in the space where poetry and practicality meet," he says.

FRANCIS KERE, architect

"Education", "development" and "upliftment" are the words Kere uses to describe the principles that drive his work. Born in Burkina Faso and educated in Germany, he considers it his duty to use his skills to benefit his home continent.

"As an architect I use new ideas and innovations to go back to my roots," he says. "New architecture is based on thinking not only about the building, but about climate and environment as well."

Kere has found new ways to use raw materials to meet the need for buildings in his home country to be climate controlled without air conditioning.

"I've created buildings that breathe," he says.

"I was inspired to become an architect as a child sitting in a hot and humid classroom. I wanted to improve a small piece of the world and make people happier by using design."

RENNY RAMAKERS, director of Droog

Dutch conceptual design company Droog creates products and holds events worldwide. "Simplicity is one of the precepts of design," says Ramakers. "The others are environmental concerns and a sense of irony.

"Creativity and design improve the world on the level of sociability. It helps people to interact with each other and makes them happy in a fundamental and emotional way," Ramakers says.

DANA ARNETT, graphic designer

Arnett co-leads a team at US company VSA Partners, which creates design programmes, film projects, interactive initiatives and brand communication for clients that include Harley-Davidson, Motorola, Converse and Sappi.

He says of the importance of design: "[It] moves the world forward in a very powerful and effective way. It's a universal language that crosses cultures and boundaries, connecting people through the visual medium on a very human level. Design provides a tangible way for people to 'get' each other."

Arnett talks about the honesty of design. "Design has to come from the heart to be effective. We help brands gain credibility by being honest about themselves so that they can be honest with their customers. People no longer want to be fooled by a brand. They want to get what they see, so to speak."