Solutions Twin Cities launches this Wednesday, with an evening filled with what Worldchanging‘s Eric Larson calls “no guff, no fluff” presentations that “showcase, connect, and inspire future-positive creativity” (as the poster at right says). The May 2 event will feature a series of rapid-fire presentations on themes from “solar powered clean water for slums, new designs for money, the first urban flower coop, the pre-fab weeHouse, a mobile movie theater for refugees and even blooming roofs.”
Here’s how Larson described the event:
Solutions is an event modeled after Pecha Kucha (which means “ the sound of conversation” in Japanese) a design event “ in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor.” The format is simple: Find people with the best and brightest design ideas. Put them in front of a live audience. Allow them to present twenty images for twenty seconds each (that’s six minutes and forty seconds per presentation). No guff, no fluff, just the essence of the ideas. To say Pecha Kucha has caught on is an understatement. The event, started in 2003 by two English architects living in Japan, now has manifestations in nearly fifty cities around the globe.
Using the same 20/20 format, Solutions, will expand the focus to include any person or organization with “ future positive” ideas. The first event, billed as “ Solutions Volume I” will be held at the Southern Theater on Wednesday, May 2nd from 8-10pm, has already garnered an impressive list of presenters or “ solutionists,” including local/international magazine NEED, Alchemy Architects, Architecture for Humanity, Studio 4284 at the U of M, Dual Currency Systems, Roof Bloom, Urban Earth Flower and Garden Co-op, Give Us Wings, and mnartists.org.
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