Bonjour les amis. For those of you who lament the fact that design has almost disappeared from these pages, i have good news: i’m now participating to The Great Tate Mod Blog together with Fiona Sibley, Features Editor of Design Week and guests who talk about their favourite places. They include Tate’s director Nicholas Serota, James Purnell, Jacques Herzog, of the architects Herzog & de Meuron who are in charge of the expansion of the Tate Modern gallery. Actually the aim of the blog is to allow the public to have their say on what the museum experience will be like.

So you are all invited to photograph examples of your favourite spaces and add the images to a ‘Mood Board’ featuring the kinds of interiors spaces, ambiance and design that you would like to see in the new development of Tate Modern. Favourite spaces might include a café or bar, chill-out space, lounge, domestic interior or public space. Herzog & de Meuron and Tate staff will also be contributing pictures of their own favourite interior spaces and source material.

We are hoping to get some debate and conversation about these ideas on the blog. Each week, a new subject will be proposed for discussion (I’m planning to write why i got so sick of the current “interactive anything” trend, i’m sure kids will throw stones at me after that but i like a bit of risk sometimes) and will pose questions for the public to respond to. It will also include interviews with design practitioners and will canvas opinion from different groups including young people, artists and families about what they want of the new museum.

There’s more news design-wise! I’ll be participating to the Interaction08, the first annual conference thrown by the Interaction Design Association. Ray Charles is to blame for that. Because of him, i dream of seeing Georgia and the event takes place there, at The Savannah College of Art and Design, on February 8-10, 2008. Well… there’s also an amazing line-up of speakers. Early registration ends December 15.

Talking about interaction and design, on Friday there’s the Open Day of Design Interactions at RCA in London and on Jan 9, it is the turn of Industrial Design Engineering (in case you missed today.)