The Penguin Pool is Arup's global creative events series designed to inform, inspire and entertain.
The series takes its name from Arup's first project - the Penguin Pool at London Zoo. It was a brave solution that introduced us to the design world back in 1935.
With these events, held all over the world, Arup aims to encourage new connections and seed future collaborations across the design community. To date we have hosted Penguin Pool nights in Beijing, Cape Town, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney (where it began) and Toronto.
Next events:
Watch this space for details of our forthcoming events and follow @ThePenguinPool on Twitter for information on our emerging plans.
Recent events:
Melbourne – 19 March 2013
Our second Penguin Pool in Melbourne was all about ‘pop up’ design and spontaneity. Taking over the office front lawn with creative chaos, it featured an impromptu choir, performance art and “genome” networking, collage and crafting. A jam-packed night of phenomenal pop-up design and art pieces, in which guests could take part or stand back and talk and observe as we transformed a tranquil garden into a pop up festival experience.
Toronto – 7 March 2013
Our first ever session in Canada was a lively, interactive, insightful night focused on play and how it can inform and inspire the design process: How does play help us solve problems? How can we use play to spark creativity? How do games help us be better designers? The discussion panel, chaired by Arup’s Matt Browning, included Kate Hartman, Assistant Professor, Digital Futures Initiative at OCAD; Zahra Ebrahim, Principal and Founder archiTEXT; Mark Argo Founder of Aesthetec studio and Patrick Redding, Game Director from Ubisoft Toronto.
Cape Town – 28 February 2013
Our debut event in South Africa explored the secret life of objects, featuring and inspired by Brad Baard, Creative Director and Designer for the Cape Town Carnival. It delivered colourful spectacle and lots of surprises including sandpit creativity, a giant crocodile head and a man-sized dancing praying mantis!
Hong Kong – 4 December 2012
Our second night in Hong Kong focused on food. It was a journey for the senses and the soul, from seed to plate, with engineer-turned-Michelin-starred-chef Alvin Leung (Bo Innovation); designer-turned-chef Margaret Xu (Yin Yang); (IHM co-founder) Todd Darling and chef Vincent Lauria; and (Grassroots Pantry owner) Peggy Chan.
Dublin – 27 November 2012
Our first Penguin Pool event in Ireland featured a presentation from inspirational Irish furniture designer Joseph Walsh.
Manchester – 14 November 2012
Senses + design + creativity: featured Professor Trevor Cox on sound exploring and Victoria Henshaw on the power of smell in urban design, installations by Liam Hopkins of Lazerian design studio, sensory food, and live music.
Stay informed
Follow us on Twitter: @thepenguinpool | hashtag #ArupPP