VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2020 Starts Today! Virtual Tour + Press

VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2020 Starts Today! Virtual Tour + Press Material

VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2020

VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is Austria‘s largest curated design festival and has been taking place in Vienna since 2007. 2019 it welcomed over 40,000 visitors to around 200 events per year. In 2020 VIENNA DESIGN WEEK will take place from 25th of September to the 6th of October. We will adapt some things due to the circumstances of the consequences of Covid-19, the basic orientation and fields remain.

During ten days each 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, which celebrate their 15th anniversary in 2020 and will be celebrated with a best-of exhibition of projects from previous years, Stadtarbeit 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.

VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is directed by Lilli Hollein, who next to Tulga Beyerle and Thomas Geisler is one of the founders of the festival. She conceptualises and realises the festival together with a team uniting a variety of areas of expertise and approaches to design. Beyond that VIENNA DESIGN WEEK relies on a strong network of dedicated supporters and collaborators. Since then, its focus has been bringing local and international design positions and relevant discourse to Vienna each year. VIENNA DESIGN WEEK is a culture festival, not a trade fair. The majority of contributions are curated by the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK organization and accompanied over a period of months, from idea to realization.

Festival: September 25 - October 4, 2020

Festival Headquarters at Amtshaus Theresienbadgasse

Theresienbadgasse 3, 1120 Vienna FESTIVAL

The Festival in times of the pandemic

The Festival 2020 is taking place!

We have learned, felt and experienced so much in the past few months! Change, digital transformation, creative problem solving: These are all terms that we’ve been using for some time, but they suddenly sound quite different and new. Challenging is the word that we like to use, because it suggests athleticism, ambition and also, at the same time, a slight sense of exhaustion. But this isn’t about wearing the jersey for being King of the Mountains, it’s about not carrying on doing things in the old way but, rather, taking steps in a new direction.

Today, more than ever, design is in a position to demonstrate both the role that it can play in society as a discipline and the positive influence that it can exert through the development of the tools and processes that we will need in the future. The work of designers involves not only the development of products, but also the shaping of social processes. And we will need both if we are going to make progress on the basis of all these experiences.

Designers – and the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK team – are well-practiced in reacting to challenging situations with flexibility and curiosity. For this, my colleagues have earned my lasting gratitude, and I can say with confidence that we have, once again, succeeded in putting together a richly varied festival program in 2020.
I would like to thank you for reading this program with interest and we are looking forward to meeting you soon – in both our virtual and our physical spaces!

Lilli Hollein
Director VIENNA DESIGN WEEK

Festival-Team 2020 ©
Katharina Gossow / VIENNA DESIGN WEEK

We take our responsibility for the safety and health of our visitors, guests, employees and of all those, who are involved in the festival in any other way, very seriously. As part of our COVID-19 safety concept, our employees are trained to comply with all legal requirements. In order to be able to offer the maximum safety to all participants, including during events, please comply with the latest COVID-19 safety regulations, which can be found at viennadesignweek.at. >> more information here

Andrea Mayer
Secretary of State for the Arts and Culture

Design is not only an important economic factor and an integral part of our cultural fabric, it also serves as a driving force behind the development of sustainable socio-ecological solutions, especially in such challenging times. Over the years, the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK has contributed to a broad awareness of the relevance and the timeliness of Austrian design. The festival’s programming and diverse presentation formats offer countless opportunities for those interested in contemporary design to engage with topics according to their individual interests and to contribute to discussions and establish new collaborations. 2020 is a challenging year for the arts, which is why the Austrian Federal Government, as the main public partner, is pleased to support the activities of the VIENNA DESIGN OFFICE and the realization of the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK with increased funding. I extend my thanks to the team behind Austria's largest design festival for their efforts to further strengthen the importance of design both at home and abroad. I wish you every success for your event!

Veronica Kaup-Hasler
Vienna's Executive City Councilor for Cultural Affairs and Science

What is the role of design in a crisis such as the one that we are experiencing right now? The VIENNA DESIGN WEEK started asking this question at an early stage and has reacted to the changed environment with a program packed with innovative ideas and content. This year's edition of the festival is an invitation to the people of Vienna to think about design in their city and to discover new perspectives. It offers the Austrian design scene an opportunity to address the current challenges and also, once again, to present its highlyvaried work. And, by moving more elements of the program into the digital arena, the festival will also reach an international audience that is unable to travel to Vienna this year. I am looking forward to a fascinating festival and would like to thank Lilli Hollein and her team for their extraordinary and tireless commitment!

Gerhard Hirczi
Managing Director of the Vienna Business Agency

Having a laugh, eating, drinking and living together. A key cornerstone of Vienna's international appeal is its famous restaurant and culinary culture. And how we produce and distribute our food is just as central to the image of a smart city as the traditional schnitzel and pancakes. COVID-19 has tested the system to its limits. And we've seen that we can only deal with such crises if we strengthen social cooperation – analogically and digitally. We have been addressing the subject of urban food for some time and are continuing to do so this year, this time with the motto The New Local. We want to know just how innovative Vienna's creative industries can be when they turn their attention to food production and what food supply solutions they can come up with. You can find answers to these questions during the VIENNA DESIGN WEEK. The presentation marks the launch of the Let’s talk Lebensmittel campaign, which will be one of the focuses of the Vienna Business Agency in the coming year. In this spirit: Enjoy your meal!

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Next Page »