About — Vienna Design Week

VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is Austria's largest curated design festival and has been taking place in Vienna since 2007. Recently it welcomed over 40,000 visitors to around 200 events per year.

During ten days in autumn VIENNA DESIGN WEEK proves that Vienna is a "City Full of Design". Overlooked corners of the city turn into stages for design, both critical and playful approaches, entry-level communication and professional discourse explore new perspectives on the objects around us and design as well as manufacturing processes are revealed often in experimental ways specific to their location.

The multifaceted output that product, furniture and industrial design, architecture, graphic design and social design as well as experimental and increasingly digital positions produce and that is the mark of quality of the Viennese and Austrian design scene is at the heart of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK. The festival aims to internationally connect this local potential which is something that clearly shows in its programme.

In addition to the festival formats such as Passionswege, Stadtarbeit, FOKUS, Debut, Re:Form, and Urban Food & Design, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK focuses on annually changing topics and their implications for design. Another crucial addition are the contributions organised by the numerous Programme Partners. Finally, celebration and informal networking find their due place in the festival.

The VIENNA DESIGN WEEK was founded by Lilli Hollein, Tulga Beyerle and Thomas Geisler. Gabriel Roland has been the festival's director since 2021. He works on the conception and implementation of the festival together with a team that is made up of different fields of knowledge and diverse approaches to design. In addition, the work at the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK relies on a strong network of people involved.

The various formats of the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK structure the festival and, as a result of their annual nature, act as a programmatic anchor for the festival audience. Such easily-accessible elements as the Festival Headquarters or the education program have proved invaluable as ways of introducing new visitors to the wide range of events offered by the festival. And the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK offers its specialist audience a program that is as ambitious as it is diverse.

Festival Headquarters

Located in the focus district, the festival headquarters hosts many program events. Depending on local conditions, exhibitions, lectures and award ceremonies will take place on the premises. The public can get information about the program and daily events at an info point. A pop-up café offers…

Focus District

In addition to festival events throughout the city, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK also explores an annually changing Viennese district as a "Focus District". Local structures are increasingly being integrated into the program, with the aim of focusing on local businesses and special locations. Below you find…

Passionswege

Design connects. Especially in the case of Passionswege. Since its formation, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK has been bringing international and Austrian designers together with Viennese production companies as part of the curated format. Open processes are experimenting, creating and transferring knowledge…

Urban Food & Design

In cooperation with Vienna Business Agency, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is once again tackling the trailblazing topic of "Urban Food & Design". This will take place as an Open Call in the context of a challenge as well as recorded on the basis of innovative presentations. wirtschaftsagentur.at

Stadtarbeit

Cities live. Cities change. Spatial and social structures are therefore constantly confronted with everchanging challenges. New concepts are needed. For the city. For our daily coexistence. Social design faces these challenges and thematizes them beyond aesthetic and functional interpretations.

FOKUS

Design is the conception of objects that are manufactured in industrial series. But this isn’t always the case! In their work, many designers don’t necessarily strive to scale up their ideas but, rather, devote themselves to the expression of an individual object. With the tools of design – but…

Design Everyday

While the increasing unmanageability of the world of goods that surrounds us makes it more and more difficult to determine the qualities that lend validity to good design, the sixth edition of Design Everyday offers insights into the day-to-day activities of Austrian design studios. The format…

PLATFORM – Program Partners

Diversity is not only desirable, it’s the goal. The VIENNA DESIGN WEEK has always sought to be a powerful platform for designers, companies and educational and cultural institutions from Vienna, Austria and around the world. This idea has been central to the festival since it was founded and must…

Special

What is special is what rethinks the concept of design. In this case, these are people, works and approaches. It should also be special what the team of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK - called VIENNA DESIGN OFFICE all year round - wants to achieve as a communicator, ambassador, organizer, sponsor, mediator and…

Debut

A first appearance that promises new aspects, highlights the unfamiliar, and heralds a lasting power for renewal: This is the format Debut, with which VIENNA DESIGN WEEK casts its gaze on a selection of outstanding educational facilities in Austria and abroad. The format also serves as an…

Education

Design for everyone! With its diverse workshop and tour programs, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK invites visitors of all ages to inform and entertain themselves and to be inspired. In addition to the varied explorations of Vienna in general and the focus district in particular, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK offers…

Talks

Let's talk about it! The VIENNA DESIGN WEEK discusses different aspects of design in lectures and panels. Since last year you can also listen to our talks that took place during the festival on our YouTube Channel CLICK, or as podcasts on Spotify CLICK.

Guest Country

With its changing focus, VIENNA DESIGN WEEK grants detailed insight into the creative work of a different European country year after year. The guest country has the opportunity to show exhibitions on current design positions and also to position itself elsewhere in the program. Designers from the…

RE:FORM

New perspectives and innovative solutions through sustainable cooperation! OekoBusiness Wien, the environmental service package of the City of Vienna, and the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK have launched the new format Re:Form. The project unites design, management consulting, and industrial companies to find…