Under the title “Design as Tool for Empowerment,” the MAK, the Vienna Business Agency, and the CityFactory extend an invitation to a workshop with and presentation by the Catalan designer Martí Guixé.In his projects (“Social Movement Design Book”, “Food Design”), Guixé proposes a contemporary, sustainable role for designers and their work—for instance in redesigning ideological, ecological, and sociocultural practices—and encourages us consciously to observe our own consumer habits and to alter them. The positions and formats of a range of design disciplines are examined with respect to their forms of production and operating principles in the context of everyday life and its rituals, and concepts such as “collaborative economies” presented.Design as tool for empowerment is the first step in making positive changes in existing behavior patterns: a topic that is also of central significance in the context of CityFactory 2018.In the context of the DESIGN NITE, in cooperation with the Vienna Business Agency, CityFactory 2018 invites creative minds and city dwellers to themselves become a part of this process. In a workshop conducted by Martí Guixé together with the CityFactory team and the designers of the Viennese design and animation studio LWZ, future scenarios and new design challenges are tested and discussed. A public keynote lecture by the designer provides insight into his wide-ranging ideas, publications, and projects._______“For centuries, architecture has planned cities and built buildings that represented and proposed new ways of life, symbolic elements that have influenced a society in continuous evolution. In our present days, architecture as a generator of change has been replaced by social movements. Activism has emerged as a socio-political power shaping and changing cities as well as the way we live, work, and socialize in them. Unlike social movements, buildings are objects that can easily be visualized and illustrated. Therefore, a perception of architecture can be created through images in order to build an understanding of its meaning. A social movement does not necessarily have a physical body and has to be read and understood through different media, it has a complexity and needs an attitude. Until now, most movements have been formed spontaneously and they gain visibility through their aura of authenticity. Can movements be designed? The complexity of the different media and the contextualization of the actions, reactions, and vales of social movements can definitely be organized and planned through a design project.”Martí Guixé 2018www.guixe.com_______CityFactory 2018 #wiegehtveränderungThe CityFactory is a real-time research lab for new fields of work in the creative economy, which focuses on discovering and visualizing future urban opportunities in Vienna. In cooperation with the IDRV – Institute of Design Research Vienna and the Vienna Business Agency, under the hashtag #wiegehtveränderung [How does change work] it aims to identify sustainably proactive pioneers for positive change and give them a voice. The format foregrounds networking and activating Vienna’s creative scene, as well as fostering interdisciplinary exchange.Project Content ManagementIDRV – Institute of Design Research Vienna: Harald Gruendl, Viktoria HeinrichMAK: Marlies Wirth, Curator, Digital Culture and MAK Design Collection; Janina Falkner, New Concepts for LearningVienna Business Agency: Elisabeth Noever-Ginthör, Head of creative center departure; Alice Jacubasch (Project Manager)www.mak.at/stadtfabrik