Winners of Design Weeks 2025-2026

Design weeks do not end when the events themselves finish. Through their awards and recognitions, they identify emerging talents, consolidate already established paths and shape - influencing them - the priorities of the sector: sustainability, technology, social impact, and material research. For this reason - less than a month before the Fuorisalone Awards - a recap becomes necessary: to understand where design is heading and what to expect in the months to come.


© Winners: Michael Anastassiades, Lord Norman Foster, Sinéad Burke and Rio Kobayashi

London Design Festival, London (13–21 September 2025)
It is a widespread festival involving institutions such as the V&A and The Design Museum, and for this reason strengthens London’s role as an international hub of design. The London Design Medals, awarded by an independent jury to figures capable of opening new paths and redefining ways of designing, represent the most anticipated moment of the week. In 2025, the London Design Medal was awarded to Michael Anastassiades; the Lifetime Achievement Medal to Norman Foster; the Design Innovation Medal to Sinéad Burke; and the Emerging Design Medal to Rio Kobayashi.

Vienna Design Week, Vienna (26 September–5 October 2025)
Different in structure, Vienna Design Week is an urban and experimental festival that explores the relationship between design, craftsmanship and public space. In 2025, the Falstaff LIVING Design Awards recognized Flora Lechner for the COROLLA and STAMEN lamps, Leo Mühlfeld for the Large Language Writer device, and Steven Dahlinger for the multifunctional table TENS.


© Wontek, Stanisław Stupkiewicz, Designblok 

Designblok, Prague (8–12 October 2025)
The largest design and fashion fair in Central and Eastern Europe opens with a Professionals’ Day reserved for experts and continues with exhibitions open to the public. The Grand Prix for Outstanding Achievement was awarded to the ceramics of Tereza Sluková and Milan Pekař; the Lifetime Achievement Award to Patricia Urquiola, guest of honor of the festival. The Best New Designer Product went to the 3D-printed products of Wontek by Stanisław Stupkiewicz, while the Best New Manufacturer Product was awarded to the Linden glass collection by Rony Plesl for Izaak Reich. MONUMENT by students from Ústí nad Labem received the Best School Presentation, and the Impact Award went to the photographic publication 1318 Minutes in Kutná Hora.


On the left: Chiara Lionello, Edit Napoli, Ph. EllerStudio
On the right: Katryna, Edit Napoli, Ph. EllerStudio

Edit Napoli, Naples (10–12 October 2025)
An independent fair founded by Emilia Petruccelli and Domitilla Dardi, dedicated to editorial and author design, spreads across the city of Naples, activating even its lesser-known areas, with particular attention to self-production and material research. In 2025, the Main section award was given to Chiara Lionello for Inserti, a project working on the hybridization between craftsmanship and serial production; the Seminario section was won by Katryna with Moon Candle Holder, a candle holder that translates a symbolic dimension into a functional object. 

© Winners Dutch Design Awards

Dutch Design Week, Eindhoven (18–26 October 2025)
The largest design event in Northern Europe is characterized by an approach that combines sustainability, technological innovation and social impact. In 2025, the Emerging Talent Award recognized the ceramic works of Vera van der Burg, created in close dialogue with AI; the allegorical and surreal contribution to design by Willem de Haan; and the marble-like furniture by Plasticiet, founded by Marten van Middelkoop and Joost Dingemans, produced from plastic waste materials.


© Dubai Design Week

Dubai Design Week / Downtown Design, Dubai (5–9 November 2025)
A key reference point for the Middle East, with growing attention to regional production, it includes two main awards. The Abwab Commission, focused on themes such as regenerative architecture and sustainability, awarded Maraj (Bahrain) for Stories of the Isle and the Inlet, a textile enclosure inspired by the stories and natural forms of Nabih Saleh island. The Urban Commissions 2025, following the theme Courtyard and exploring this spatial typology as a community urban infrastructure across local and global architectural, urban and public practices, recognized Some Kind of Practice with When Does a Threshold Become a Courtyard?, an installation-program that reinterprets the courtyard as an active space and collective device.

Danish Design Award, Copenhagen (21 November 2025)
The largest design event in Northern Europe stands out for a vision combining sustainability, technological innovation and social impact. The Emerging Talent Award 2025 recognized projects that redefine the role of design in everyday life: Digital Gateway, a digital platform for refugees to access information; Homegrid, an intelligent system that turns homes into micro energy plants; Levitate Forever Series, high-performance prosthetics; Obtinu, a medical device designed to ensure maximum discretion; Thoravej 29, a Danish collective bringing together 30 organizations working across art, politics, social innovation and sustainability; Clever Café, a sustainable charging station; Rumett, gypsum panels made from ash to reduce climate impact; and Løvskal Ochre, a natural pigment from a historic mine in Jutland.


© Superhouse, American Art Furniture, Design Miami

Design Miami, Miami (3–7 December 2025)
An international fair dedicated to collectible design, with an award system that highlights both works and galleries. The Best Thematic Expression award went to Friends Artspace for a selection of accessible materials with a strong aesthetic; Best Gallery Presentation to Charles Burnand Gallery (London) with Monuments of Ether; Best New Voice to Galerie Signé (Paris); Best Curio Presentation to Superhouse (New York) with American Art Furniture: 1980–1990; Best Historic Work to Moderne Gallery (Philadelphia) with Bookmatched Conoid Benches (1972) by George Nakashima; and Best Contemporary Work to Jorge Lizarazo, presented by Cristina Grajales Gallery (New York), with Sunrise Japan.


© Tobias Berg

Stockholm Furniture Fair, Stockholm (3–7 February 2026)
A key event for Nordic design, it stands out for the Greenhouse program, a platform dedicated to emerging designers. Among the main recognitions awarded in the latest edition were Best in Show and the Seek More Award: the first went to Tobias Berg for his ability to create essential furniture lines from essential materials; the second to textile designer Emilie Palle Holm, awarded for ORIORI, a series of dynamic textile sculptures imagining fabric as a flexible, architectural and poetic presence, suspended between traditional techniques and contemporary languages.

Madrid Design Festival, Madrid (5 February–8 March 2026)
A widespread festival with a strong institutional vocation, recognizing figures capable of shaping contemporary debate. In the latest edition, awards were given to Konstantin Grcic for his design rigor and attention to the “human” dimension of function; Rossana Orlandi for her tireless talent scouting and for promoting a continuous dialogue between craftsmanship, sustainability and innovation; and architect Juli Capella for his role as mediator between industry, institutions and communities.