The design of the future is at the Dutch Design Week 2023

This year's Dutch Design Week aims to underscore the challenge that designers face today in promoting positive counter-trends. The emerging schools of thought in the design sector are strongly oriented toward more conscious design processes, addressing the most urgent challenges of the present. The theme "Picture This" seeks to promote and celebrate the imaginative power of designers in visualizing new perspectives and guiding the public through change.



In pursuit of the goal of encouraging change, Dutch Design Week 2023 has assigned each participating project a mission, introducing the "Programme Narratives" for this edition. The latter comprises five missions and five design perspectives, with the additional aim of directing every visitor and participant of the design week to exhibitions, activities, and events aligned with their interests.

The design perspectives introduced by the Dutch Design Foundation (the organization behind DDW) aim to provide an overview of the main facets of design—a sector and profession impossible to include in a single definition. "Signature & Collectible Design" encompasses objects and works of a poetic and conceptual nature, resulting from artistic explorations and individual expressions. "Speculative & Social Design" presents pieces created through unexpected and unconventional approaches, with a strong social character. "Product & Craft Design" offers objects requiring extensive knowledge, skills, and methods. "Service & Innovative Design" involves designers dedicated to addressing questions posed by rapid digital and technological developments. "Independent & Critical Design", then, features the work of authors and inventors whose independent and critical work defies easy classification.



The missions entrusted by the Dutch Design Foundation to designers address urgent contemporary issues, from the climate crisis to social inequality. "Enabling our Thriving Planet" aims to enhance the power of nature and its protection. "Creating our Living Environment" focuses on designing environments and mobility tools redefining the quality of life. "Boosting our Health and Well-being" promotes projects related to safeguarding and improving human health, encompassing aspects from the food we ingest to healthcare and personal well-being. "Achieving our Equal Society" concentrates on safety, inclusiveness, and connection, with the mission to foster better social equality through the redesign of systems and interactions. "Challenging our Digital Future" explores and delves into new digital realities, from virtual worlds to artificial intelligence and global platforms.