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of The Hague Design and Government will take place.
A unique manifestation in The Hague focusing on the relation between design and government in the field of public design, architecture and visual communication. This edition entails a cooperation between the city of The Hague and the German governmental Capital Berlin. Projects with a German 'schwung' are marked with a red berlin bear.

Read short interviews with:
Jozias van Aartsen, mayor The Hague
Liesbeth in 't Hout, Chairman of the board Foundation Design The Hague
Ed Annink, initiator and intendant edition 2010 The Hague Design and Government
Gert Dumbar, member of the Board of Advice Foundation Design The Hague
Ludolf van Hasselt, member of the jury and director representative of the European Commission in the Netherlands

The police have the same mission in every European nation, but nevertheless, they look different in every country. English Bobbies wear a remarkably shaped helmet while Italian carabinieri have red stripes on their trousers. Read more

You can try and taste authentic organic German Currywurst at various locations in The Hague in June. Go to Dungelmann Butcher’s, café bijHem, de Haagsche Kluis or Schlemmer for a German taste experience! Read more

The National Library owns six million items that together offer 110 kilometres of reading material. Among the books, newspapers, maps and manuscripts there is a growing collection of publications on design and government. Read more

Sixty designers from The Hague and Berlin comment on the pros and cons of government policy through posters. Read more

Through the successfull application of various digital platforms, such as Twitter and Facebook, Barack Obama proved that he was able to reach enormous amounts of voters during his election campaign. Could this mean that political campaigns will unfold themselves completely different in future? Read more

Since recently the German police car is covered in blue stickers, while the Italian police force is proud of its fast Lamborghini. On 5 June police cars from across Europe will gather and drive through the city center in The Hague. Read more

From shoes and kitchen cupboards to coffee mugs and computer programs: they are all standardised. The industrial demands for the development of standard types inspired designers like Dieter Rams and Piet Zwart, manufacturers like Braun and Thonet and educational institutions like Bauhaus to design good but cheap products. Read more

With election posters we quickly think of party leaders who look at us seductively, election list numbers that don’t say anything and sentimental slogans like ‘Fighting for the vulnerable’. Much less often we see still interesting images full of symbolism, such as artist Albert Hahn’s warriors from the 1920s, or the daringly naked woman in a field as featured by the PSP in 1971. Read more

Philippe Starck once said ‘I am a European, born in France’. But what exactly is it, this European identity?
Students from design courses across Europe have come to The Hague to jointly develop ideas about a visual identity for Europe. Read more

Following surrounding countries, the Dutch national government is getting one new look. All ministries will apply the same cross-government house style and all old house styles and logos will be phased out. Read more

With over a hundred embassies, the Netherlands comes seventh in the global list, while The Hague hosts as many foreign embassies. What would happen if we were to let go of the notion of one embassy per country and thought of one European hub for economic and cultural collaboration? And what would such a building look like? Read more

Designers and architects often work for the government as their client. However, some architects and designers develop their own ideas and initiatives and offer them to the government, because they think things can be better or different. Read more

So far there are only a few visual means that connect the European countries. Think for instance of our number plates and European money. What could a European police look like? Read more

The Hague is growing. The city is considering expansion of its harbour, following other world cities, the Spui square is supposed to become a large cultural forum, and traffic is since recently diverted around the city centre. Read more

Sometimes they’re informative, sometimes they’re a call to action, sometimes they’re simply beautiful but don’t give away much about the party’s aims. A selection of historical election posters from The Hague from 1950 onwards. Read more

Students at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague and the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam have worked on the visualisation of a campaign for fictional social and political organisations. Read more

The current European flag with twelve golden stars on a blue background was designed in 1955. Since then, society in Europe has changed dramatically.
Read more

In Berlin buildings, forms and working spaces from local German governments have been photographed, the photoseries shows various displays of bureaucracy that we encounter in our daily lives. Read more