Just days before the festival opens, what has defined Berlin Design Week for ten years becomes tangible once again: established brands meet emerging voices, international research meets design practice, and social questions meet concrete product worlds. From 28–31 May, the anniversary edition under the theme DESIGN REAL presents design not as a closed discipline, but as an open system that makes the act of designing visible in all its facets. What makes Berlin Design Week distinctive is not only the breadth of its programme, but above all the way its parts interact. International studios, universities, companies and independent designers don’t meet in separate formats — they meet in direct exchange. Established names and emerging positions stand side by side, not as opposites, but as a natural part of a shared discourse. This thinking is especially visible in the exceptionally strong presence of international universities and research projects. Institutions from Germany, the USA, Czech Republic, Austria, Ukraine, Egypt and New Zealand are bringing current work to Berlin, offering insight into design research, interdisciplinary processes and new forms of collaboration. Participants include the Universität der Künste Berlin, FH Potsdam, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Whitecliffe University of Applied Sciences, German International University Berlin, and universities from Lviv and Zlín. The focus is not on finished products alone, but on new perspectives, questions and ways of thinking. The project Hands-on Light demonstrates how closely research and design can intertwine. Together with ERCO, the Universität der Künste Berlin presents experimental lighting concepts developed through a shared research process. Fifteen prototypes explore how light can become tangible again in increasingly digital and abstract environments — at the intersection of technology, materiality and sensory experience. One of the most unusual projects of the festival comes from Czech Republic: Titan, presented by Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín and the Technical University of Ostrava, is a four-seat electric supersports car developed entirely within an academic context. From exterior to interior, the vehicle was created in university settings, combining experimental materials research with technical development. The project celebrates its world premiere at Berlin Design Week and exemplifies how research, technology and design can work as one. That design at Berlin Design Week also reaches well beyond products is demonstrated by the Tolerance Poster Show at Die Macherei. The international exhibition brings together 82 posters in 82 languages, all addressing the same brief: giving visual form to the word “tolerance.” The project was initiated by Mirko Ilić. The exhibition has been travelling the world for years, treating design not as decoration but as social stance. Alongside exhibitions and discourse formats, Berlin Design Week also opens space for playful, cross-generational encounters. The Kindertag (Children’s Day) at Tylko Space on 31 May makes design tangible as a shared experience. Interactive installations and workshops with artist Isis-Maria Niedecken invite children and adults alike to experiment and create together. Numerous further formats shape the festival programme. Berlin Design Night opens around 40 studios, galleries and showrooms across the city on 28 May from 5 pm. Satellite venues and partner formats extend the festival well beyond its central locations. The Berlin Format forms the intellectual core of the festival — the conference brings together international voices from design, architecture and research to discuss current questions at the intersection of artificial intelligence, social responsibility and design practice. Berlin Design Week thus presents not only results, but above all how design comes into being and which questions will shape it in the future. It is precisely where research, industry, emerging talent and established positions converge that a vision of design emerges that reaches far beyond any single discipline.

Programme Highlights at a Glance

TOLERANCE POSTER SHOW M60, Die Macherei Hallesches Ufer 40–60, 10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg 28–31 May 2026 HANDS-ON LIGHT | UDK BERLIN × ERCO ERCO Showroom Berlin Reichenberger Str. 113A, 10999 Berlin-Kreuzberg Friday, 29 May 2026, 6–10 pm TITAN M60, Die Macherei Hallesches Ufer 40–60, 10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg 28–29 May 2026, 2–8 pm 30 May 2026, 12–8 pm 31 May 2026, 12–7 pm KINDERTAG IM TYLKO SPACE Tylko Space Gipsstr. 7, 10119 Berlin-Mitte 31 May 2026 Workshops: 12 pm and 2 pm Free tickets via Luma BERLIN DESIGN NIGHT Thursday, 28 May 2026, from 5 pm approx. 40 locations across Berlin THE BERLIN FORMAT M40, Die Macherei Hallesches Ufer 40–60, 10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg Friday, 29 May 2026, 3–8 pm (doors open 2:30 pm) Tickets €79 via Luma