No prizes for guessing the topic of this festival: the Vienna Design Week does what it says on the label, with an eclectic array of events across the city.
- Annual international festival of design held throughout Vienna
- Features both regular themes and one-off tracks
- 10 days or so of events for both professionals and the curious layperson
- 2021 dates: Sept 24 – Oct 3
- See also: Fesch’Markt Wien | Blickfang Design Fair
What’s the DESIGN WEEK all about?
The festival showcases design projects, innovations, processes, and approaches through a wide range of exhibitions, workshops, lectures, tours, and more throughout the city. In doing so, it presents design as an interdisciplinary endeavour, where aesthetics, sociopolitics, and practical application all meet. (Phew.)
A strong international flavour always runs through the programme.
Regular tracks include, for example:
- A guest country: last time out, Switzerland took up residence in Vienna
- A guest Viennese district: Meidling carried the baton in 2020. Like most of the traditional city districts, Vienna’s 12th district offers a classic mix of old and new, commercial and residential, historic and modern
- The Path of Passion: a track that brings together design and (small) industry
- Urban Food & Design: a track exploring new concepts in the realm of local food production, distribution, and consumption
The main location changes each year: the 2019 HQ, for example, was the Althan quarter, specifically the building above Franz Josephs Bahnhof railway station and site of an ambitious and ongoing urban development project.
In 2020, the official Meidling district government buildings complex hosted the festival. The Amtshaus sits close to the Theresienbad public baths (whose origins date back to the mid-18th century). The event also saw an expanded virtual festival HQ accompany proceedings.
Events typically take place throughout the city, with numerous programme partners contributing everything from exhibitions to one-off talks.
For full details of the festival and the myriad of associated events, visit the official website.
2021 dates
The 2021 edition of Vienna Design Week takes place from September 24th to October 3rd.
How to get to the design week
As mentioned, events take place across the city. Once I know the location of the 2021 headquarters, I’ll post travel tips.