M Bloc Design Week is Back in Six Cities in Indonesia

JAKARTA, September 27, 2023 –To celebrate M Bloc's anniversary on September 26, M Bloc Management is holding an annual event entitled M Bloc Festival, with a series of events such as M Bloc Design Week (MBDW). Different from last year, MBDW2023 was held in six M Bloc Group creative spaces spread across several cities in Indonesia, such as M Bloc Space, Pos Bloc (Jakarta), Pos Bloc (Medan), Fabriek Bloc (Padang), JNM Bloc (Yogyakarta), Lokananta (Surakarta ), and also at collaborator venue Uma Seminyak (Bali).

Celebrating the 4th anniversary of M Bloc Space, the M Bloc Design Week (MBDW) event is present for the second time from September 23 to October 8, 2023. MBDW2023 takes the theme Daur Rupa, a derivative of the adaptive reuse concept interpreted as adaptive or flexible reuse. Adaptive reuse refers to reusing something that already exists so that it can function again rather than throwing it away or destroying it. This approach aims to save resources, preserve historical or cultural values, and encourage sustainable development efforts.

This design event involved 124 designers from various design disciplines, 26 local creative communities in some cities, 16 local and national media partners, and 15 companies who sponsored this event. Some speakers, Andra Matin and Yori Antar, also presented their adaptive reuse building projects in Surabaya and Jakarta. Fashion designer Oscar Lawalatta also showed off his recycled work from leftover fabric. Studio Onix showed the results of processing cigarette butts into small household furniture items. Several communities also support this MBDW event, such as Yogyakarta Young Architect Forum (YYAF), the Rambah Runtah Community from Bantar Gebang Bekasi which is active in developing women there to process waste into ready-to-use thread, the Indonesian Graphic Design Association (ADGI) Community and others, etc.

In the architecture world, the context of buildings that use an adaptive reuse approach is commonly found, for example, a transformation of an old house into a cafe or office. Also, the buildings that become M Bloc Group space use this adaptive reuse approach, starting from the function of an official residence, warehouse, post office, or zinc factory and then transforming into a creative hub. Physically reworking a building or other functional object by renovating or recycling it until it has a new function is the essence of the adaptive reuse concept. The Fine Cycle is a naming idea that does not only connote buildings but also applies to other design fields such as product design, graphic design, and fashion, which will also be presented at MBDW2023.

"Design week events in various major cities in the world, such as Berlin Design Week, Helsinki Design Week, Tokyo Design Week, Sydney Design Week, and Singapore Design Week, have become an annual city agenda that attracts visits from the public and design industry observers. Indirectly, these events give great value to the tourism industry and also the city branding. "It is expected that the Design Week event will become a place for fresh ideas or innovations to emerge from the design industry, which will have a positive contribution to the development of design and the creative economy in the country," explained Jacob G. Sura as initiator and curator of M Bloc Design Week who is the co-founder of M Bloc Group.

"MBDW with the theme Daur Rupa-Adaptive Reuse this year is certainly exciting; many ideas and creative works are reusing various forms ranging from building and fashion waste recycling to recycled products made by cool local brands. I am glad to be part of the MBDW 2023 event, meeting other creative actors whose vibrational connection is truly effortless. We hope that through this exhibition, we can also spread goodness through our works. Keep up the great work, MBDW!" said Nia Sugihrehardja, designer and founder of Popsiklus.