March is shaping up to be one of the busiest and most interesting months for lovers of the arts and entertainment in Costa Rica. At the same time the Festival Internacional de las Artes unfolds around San Jose, the Arts Festival in Jaco will be taking place, and the Envision Festival gets underway in Bahia Ballena, the second International Design Festival will begin exhibiting at the former customs building (la antigua Aduana). From March 1^st to 3^rd, la antigua Aduana will be transformed into a giant space dedicated to the aesthetics and visual elegance across a variety of media.

The first International Design Festival was an astounding success for everyone involved. Renowned artists such as Max-o-Matic, Paula Scher and Joshua Davis (one of the first adopters of Adobe Flash and Shockwave to create striking artwork) not only exhibited at the festival, but also participated in lively workshops with attendees who were passionate about modern design. More than 1500 people visited the first festival, including 300 who came from abroad. The second iteration of the International Design Festival promises to attract even more attendants and artists.

Guests and Exhibitors

Some of the designers invited this year include Leanne Marshall, a young American fashion designer who is well-known for her ultra-feminine dresses that have been worn by supermodel Heidi Klum and pop singer and reality television maven Paula Abdul. From Egypt by way of Canada, industrial designer Karim Rashid will bring his particular brand of object visualization and design. Mr. Rashid’s has been admitted to the permanent collections of the Museums of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco. Master Brazilian architect Ruy Ohtake, responsible for the beautiful half-moon shaped Hotel Unique in Sao Paulo and the Brazilian embassy in Tokyo will also exhibit and participate in design workshops.

Local architect Benjamin Garcia Saxe is sure to be one of the major attractions at the festival. He is responsible for some of the most interesting residential structures in Costa Rica: the Containers of Hope project. This brilliant idea of turning a couple of old metal shipping containers and recycled materials into a stylish house for Gabriela Calvo and Marco Peralta. The home, which is located just outside San Jose, was built at the cost of $40,000 and features some very smart design features. The layout of the home is strategic in the sense that it allows year-round natural lighting and ventilation, thereby minimizing the use of electricity. There are quite a few container home projects around, but Mr. Garcia’s design stands out.

The Purpose of the Festival

Visual design in Latin America has been attracting the attention of the world for decades. Brazilian architects are responsible for a lot of the public and private structures in Miami. Carlos Martinez Gensler, who is also a presenter at this year’s festival, has been recognized by his peers as one of the most influential modern architects and designers in Chicago. Costa Rica wants to position herself as a hub for design, to invite visual artists to collaborate in a space where they can exercise creativity and innovation. The first edition of the International Design Festival was very well-received by Latin American visual artists who are now very interested in what Costa Rica is doing in terms of design.

The festival also aims to provide balance, and to that extent it has also invited Ji Lee, a South Korean designer who is better known for work that keeps people coming back to Google and Facebook. If you have ever noticed yourself repeatedly drawn to those two web properties, you can thank (or blame, if you will) Ji Lee, as he is responsible for a lot of the visual aesthetics on those two sites. The organizers of the festival believe that visual design on the World Wide Web has become as important as in public places and private interiors.

Tickets to the festival are on sale now at the festival’s home on the web, on its Facebook page, or at any Ruta Urbana stores in San Pedro, Paseo de las Flores in Heredia, or at Multiplaza in Escazu.