The Congress programs are as follows; Commemorative Speech: Kohei Sugiura Kohei Sugiura, one of Japan's leading thinkers, will give a lecture relating to the significance of this Congress and the essence of its themes. Keynote Address: Richard Saul Wurman This distinguished authority on information architecture will address the Congress on the primary theme: Quality of Information, initiating a panel discussion to follow. Panel Discussion What is the aesthetics of information? What is the quality of information? What is the most important attribute of the graphic design profession in this society overloaded with information? We will gather fine minds and talents from across the world to unearth answers to these questions and share the opportunity to explore these cardinal issues. Parallel Sessions Guest speakers from around the world will present lectures and attend talk sessions held at several venues during the Congress period. Approaching the main theme, the Quality of Information, along the paths of three sub-themes, Clarity, Creativity and Joy/Humor, they will express their various viewpoints from their unique perspectives and through their individual idiosyncrasies, from which we will all reap a rich experience. We will further pursue the Quality of Information in the sessions addressing tertiary themes such as identity, sustainability and education. The speakers invited from various regions for these sessions will present and elucidate the features and peculiarities of a specific locality. Challenging Congress convention, the organizers of the 2003 Icograda CONGRESS NAGOYA hereby announce the outline of two IT VISUALOGUE programs scheduled for the 9th and 10th of October, during the Congress period. You will experience a new session which utilizes advanced Information Technology. Here we will present performances and mysterious devices for the congress from the aspect of media arts and product design. When Fukasawa uses the term "information", he isn't talking about media, or "information" as we refer to it in normal conversation. He means it as a source of memory that soaks into your body day in and day out. You are not aware of this fact, but your body knows it. This Information Technology Visualogue will offer you an opportunity to learn the method by which the information fragments stored as memory in your body are transformed into design. In the city, which is like a flat sea of information, you will experience something as commonplace and as unobtrusive as air being given form. By taking everything,including our bodies, as part of the environment, Naoto Fukasawa will give the meaning of information a physical context. This session will consist of a performance using media technology as well as a discussion with a guest speaker. Since 1992, Masaki Fujihata has attracted great attention with his projects around the world integrating Global Positioning System (GPS) and video equipment. By spatially positioning events that occur on the time axis, he revives them as parallel realities, an experiment aiming to create conditions under which the audience can observe the world on a metaphysical level. Developing it further, in light of a parallel reality and in a condensed period of time he will present experientially a variety of problems, like 'self and others', 'media and communication', 'time and space' and 'the real and virtual worlds'. Summary Panel Discussion Speakers and Congress delegates will review the bearing and significance of the 2003 Icograda Congress on the graphic design world. Discussions around the main theme will result in a declaration issued by the 2003 Icograda Congress. Reception We have planned a variety of festivities, including a welcome celebration, formal gala dinner and farewell party to mark the different phases of the event.