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DESIGN WHERE THE WEST WAS ONE Richard packed up t
he family and car and went West for us - to Design West, obviously. words Richard Seabrooke Design West is an international creative summer school, created by Design Factory’s Conor Clarke. A serendipitous trip to Letterfrack lead to him falling for the village and surrounding areas and following some conversations with the team in GMIT Letterfrack, and other locals, Design West was born. After two successful events, Covid scuppered the third event in 2020, but rather than humour another fallow year in 2021, the decision was made to condense the usual two weeks down to one and welcome only locally-based students to the event. Everything went off without a hitch, even the recent tumultuous weather came good, and I was fortunate to be there. Design West is hard to explain, in words on a website or in conversation, because the experience is far more than anything you could articulate without being there. The following aims to unpick some of what makes it so unique and special but, really, once we’re out of this unique challenge, it is best experienced first-hand yourself. Here are only a few reasons why. Location, Location, Location Leaving Dublin fully laden with family, and dog, and all our trappings for the first time since March 2020 was an odd experience. Finally going beyond city, county and provincial borders fuelled a sense of excitement we had longed for since the pandemic hit. As we got closer to the west though, our excitement shifted once more, into a state of decompression and openness for the adventure that lay ahead. Passing Galway and heading into Connemara, you really get a sense of our place on this isle, and your scale and (in) significance on this earth. As the Inagh Valley rises up around the meandering road and sheer mountains peppered with wild sheep and goats frame every vista, you can’t help but understand you’re going somewhere far from familiar. Driving into Letterfrack is a welcoming experience, a village set around a crossroads with a pub on two corners, a café/gallery on another and the GMIT campus on the other. Look one way and you see valleys and the looming Diamond Hill, look another and it’s the Atlantic and scattered islands, look the other and you see the wildness of the Connemara National Park. All are calling you to explore them more, but it’s time to get stuck in and discover what Design West is all about. It Takes A Village The location is a unique place to host an event like Design West, but it also couldn’t happen without the commitment and involvement of the team at GMIT. A world class centre of excellence for Furniture Design and Technology, they welcome, facilitate and aid the students each year in every way possible. They open their doors, facilities and experience to everyone who wants it, and they do this generously and wholeheartedly. This has a powerful effect on everyone participating, reassuring that anything they conceive and want to do is not only possible, but encouraged and even willed to go beyond what was thought possible. Their care and enthusiasm set the scene for big thinking and equally ambitious doing, and this optimistic spirit is infectious. They help set the vibe and that vibe travels through the village, the whole local community feeling the collective effect both socially and economically, albeit on a limited scale this year. Richard and Conor 14