Queensland’s architecture and design sectors, which already generate more than $600 million in economic output each year, are forecasted for further growth, said the arts minister Rod Welford.
The launch of the Queensland Design Strategy 2020, an 11-year plan to establish the state as the Asia-Pacific’s centre for design excellence, is touted with “integrat[ing] good design into the Queensland way-of-life”.
“The Queensland Design Strategy will promote the economic, social and environmental value of design and encourage us all to use design-led thinking,” Welford said.
During the next 11 years, the strategy will build the Queensland design sector through a series of classroom, boardroom and community initiatives, high-profile events and international exchanges.
The initiative, Welford claims, will help establish Queensland as a leading centre for design innovation in the Asia-Pacific region by 2020.
“The strategy will also help to strengthen the Queensland economy and create jobs for local designers and architects by facilitating export opportunities,” he said.
Mr Welford said Queensland was now only the second state in Australia, after Victoria, to have adopted a design strategy.
“Queensland designs can be purchased around the globe — Brian Steendyk’s cero chairs in Milan, Easton Pearson’s fashion ranges in Paris, Marc Harrison’s Husque bowls in New York, as well as many other examples,” he said.
Download the Queensland Design Strategy 2020 here: www.arts.qld.gov.au
