The MAK (Austrian Museum of Applied Art/Contemporary Art) opens design exhibition curated by Hartmut Esslinger, inviting BMW Group DesignworksUSA to showcase two recent projects

June 4, 2012, Vienna -- How can design as an applied art help deliver solutions for the social, ecological, and economic challenges of the 21st Century? “MADE4YOU: Design for Change” at the Austrian Museum of Applied Art/Contemporary Art (MAK) will explore the answer. Guest-curated by Hartmut Esslinger, the founder of frog design, the exhibition will show cutting-edge approaches to product research and development together with proven applications of design and innovation which intelligently cope with social and ecological responsibility.

DesignworksUSA has been invited to take part in “MADE4YOU: Design for Change” by showcasing two of its recent projects: the Embraer Legacy 500 Executive Jet, a ground-breaking design of a medium-range aircraft built by the Brazilian company Embraer; and a range of earphones created with Sennheiser which appeal to those looking for a premium solution to their mobile music needs.

“DesignworksUSA believes that design has the transformative power to shape the world around us, and to deliver solutions which satisfy both the innate desire for aesthetic beauty as well as the call for social and ecological responsibility,” says Laurenz Schaffer, President, BMW Group DesignworksUSA. “Our friend and colleague Hartmut Esslinger shares a similar philosophy, and we look forward to his exploration of these topics as the guest curator of MADE4YOU: Design for Change at the MAK.”

“The goal of this exhibition is to demonstrate and communicate design as a strategic and holistic way of finding and creating sustainable and successful solutions and experiences, and to convey at the same time that design as a crossdisciplinary profession requires a new level of public and private commitment that spans from education to politics and the economy,” says MADE4YOU guest-curator Hartmut Esslinger. “Also, we want to encourage people—first and foremost, the creative talents—to take part in this already global movement: DESIGN FOR CHANGE,” Esslinger continues. 

For more information regarding “MADE4YOU: Design for Change” at the Austrian Museum of Applied Art/Contemporary Art (MAK) please visit www.MAK.at

About BMW Group DesignworksUSA

BMW Group DesignworksUSA is a creative consultancy that’s been driving innovation for forty years.  Acquired by BMW Group in 1995, DesignworksUSA enables its parent company as well as internationally-renowned clients outside the automotive industry to grow their businesses through a portfolio of creative consulting services.  With clients including Coca Cola, Dassault Aviation, Embraer, John Deere, HEAD, HP, Microsoft, Siemens, Intermarine, and Varian Medical Systems, DesignworksUSA is deeply immersed in a broad cross-section of industries. Combining cross-fertilized knowledge with strategic long-term perspectives and global context provided by studios in Los Angeles, Munich and Singapore, DesignworksUSA draws upon its unique and vibrant resources to create the future.   Earlier in 2012, DesignworksUSA opened its new studio in Shanghai, its first such facility in mainland China.  designworksusa.com