From 25 September to 4 October, the twentieth edition brings 200 events to more than sixty locations
From 25 September to 4 October, exhibitions, installations, workshops and talks will take over Vienna, bringing together international designers, companies and historic Viennese manufacturers. This year, the Festival Headquarters moves to Hietzinger Kai 101, a nine-storey office building designed by Harry Glück. The venue will also host several projects marking the festival’s twentieth anniversary. Archive of Chance brings together objects and finds collected over the years by director Gabriel Roland and project manager Alexandra Brückner at the festival’s various headquarters. On 26 September, The Stages of Design Grief, a symposium moderated by Matylda Krzykowski, will explore the role of design in the face of climate change, artificial intelligence and social uncertainty.
Among the highlights is Passionswege, Vienna Design Week’s longest-running format, which has paired international designers with Viennese craftspeople and workshops since 2006. This year, Luxembourg designer Christophe de la Fontaine works with historic jeweller A.E.Köchert on UNIFORM, a collection that draws on forms and mechanisms from the industrial world to develop a new interpretation of fine jewellery. Artist Anna Paul, meanwhile, collaborates with Haanl, a rope-making company founded in 1889, transforming ropes, nets and traditional techniques into large-scale sculptural objects for SEILE. To mark the twentieth anniversary, Passionswege Perspectives revisits collaborations developed over the years, with Wiener Silber Manufactur, Rudolf Scheer & Söhne, LOBMEYR, Wäscheflott and Mühlbauer opening their archives and spaces to present a selection of past projects.
FOKUS also returns to the Festival Headquarters, this year curated by Swiss curator Connie Hüsser. The Essence of Lightness brings together 36 international designers around the theme of lightness. Selected names include Geckeler Michels, Odd Matter, Tomas Kral, Jenna Kaës, Daniel Schofield, Ward Wijnant, Adrian Bursell, Akiko Mori, Leo Koda, and Mara Tschudi with Sebastian Marbacher. The exhibition design is by costume and set designer Kathrin Kemp.
Austrian product design takes centre stage in Design Everyday, now in its tenth edition and curated by Vandasye, the studio founded by Georg Schnitzer and Peter Umgeher. The group exhibition features projects by EOOS, Nina Mair, MARCH GUT, Studio Barbara Gollackner, Camille Dutoit, Christian Bezdeka, Patrick Rampelotto, Lucy.D, KISKA and Georg Bechter Architektur + Design, with a focus on everyday objects and the relationship between design and production.
IKEA starts from one of its most recognisable objects: the iconic blue FRAKTA bag. The FRAKTA – More Than a Bag open call, launched with Vienna Design Week, received 113 proposals exploring new uses and functions for the bag. The winning project is STAPLA by Lisa Stolz and Juan Vertiz (MOWO – Move With Wood), a modular system that transforms FRAKTA into flexible elements for storage and spatial organisation. It will be presented at the Festival Headquarters alongside concepts by the other ten finalists.
Architecture is also part of the programme. Spatial Concepts from Frank to Loos explores the spaces of Adolf Loos and Josef Frank, including Villa Beer, while other itineraries take in the Werkbundsiedlung and Rietveld House, as well as buildings by Carl Auböck and Roland Rainer.
Luxembourg is the guest country for 2026. The main exhibition, Two-O-Eight – Designing Voices, curated by Anna Loporcaro in collaboration with Design Luxembourg, takes its name from Radio Luxembourg’s historic medium-wave wavelength of 208 metres. Listening stations and a radio studio broadcasting live will introduce visitors to Luxembourg’s contemporary design scene. Finally, the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts marks twenty years of Vienna Design Week with an exhibition of the posters that have shaped the festival’s visual identity from its beginnings to the present day.
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