Impact
The WDC Torino 2008 designation increased international awareness of and appreciation for Torino’s accomplishments in design, including innovative and creative industries, design schools, promotional organizations as well as supportive municipal networks. The WDC designation helped to develop closer synergies with regional neighbours, as well as with other cities that want to collaborate, learn from best practice, or become WDC designated cities.
WDC helped Torino create and enhance a system of relationships with national and international design institutions, from the Center de Disseny of Barcelona to the Design Council of London, from the Design Center of Singapore to the Norwegian Design Council. Today, these players perceive Torino as a credible partner and WDC Torino 2008 as a successful programme.
In 2008, 80 great designers came to the city, most of them for the first time: from Jasper Morrison to the Campana brothers, from James Irvine to Martí Guixé, from Ross Lovegrove to Patricia Urquiola, from Giulio Iacchetti to Matali Crasset. All of them had the opportunity to discover and contribute to the city, working with local companies, meeting professionals, and taking part in workshops with students. As an example, more than 1,000 people crowded the public lectures held by Ross Lovegrove and Stefan Sagmeister.
At the end of the WDC year in Torino, Astra Research, an institute specializing in social research and marketing, surveyed 1,596 people to evaluate public perception of WDC. 73% of respondents knew of WDC Torino 2008. Of the 27% that had never heard of the designation, four out of five of them had participated in one or more WDC events. Half of the WDC events were known by at least three out of four surveyed.