The new COVID world presents challenges for the cultural scene. All the more reason for us to be delighted that this year's Vienna Design Week will take place. Thanks to a sophisticated pandemic concept, design enthusiasts can now dedicate themselves entirely to design in Vienna from September 25 to October 4.

DIVERSE PROGRAM

From September 25 to October 4, Vienna's urban space will become a public exhibition space – virtually and physically. The Vienna Design Week is Austria's largest curated design festival. It has been held in Vienna since 2007, with around 200 events and 40,000 visitors last year. Over ten autumn days, it demonstrates that Vienna can be a "City Full of Design." Less-noticed places in the city also become venues for design. The festival promises easily accessible mediation, as well as professional discourse and new perspectives on everyday design. Creation and production processes are revealed experimentally and directly on site. The central focus of Vienna Design Week is to showcase the diversity of the design scene: product, furniture, and industrial design, architecture, graphics, and social design. The festival actively works to connect local potential internationally, which is also reflected in the program.

 The organizers of this year's Vienna Design Week.

DESIGN FOR ALL

In addition to recurring formats, such as the "Passionswege," which celebrate their 15th anniversary this year, the Vienna Design Week focuses on current topics. A crucial addition to the festival program are the contributions designed by numerous program partners. Design, innovations, concepts, and design processes are to be made accessible to as broad an audience as possible, local residents, and visitors to Vienna, while also appealing to an international professional audience. Good for the wallet: almost all program points of the festival are free of charge.

FOCUS ON MEIDLING

Each year, a district of Vienna is given special attention. For the 2020 festival edition, the district honored with this distinction is Vienna's 12th district, Meidling. The mix of traditional urban structures and dynamically developing areas, of residential, traffic, and commercial use, makes Meidling particularly interesting as a design laboratory. The history of the traditional working-class district is just as palpable as the influence of the industry still located there.

GUEST COUNTRY SWITZERLAND

In addition to the focus district, the guest country is one of the pillars on which the Vienna Design Week program rests. Each year, the design scene of another European country is presented and integrated into the festival. With the "Design Switzerland" initiative of "Pro Helvetia" cultural promotion, Vienna Design Week was able to gain a cooperation partner that plays a key role in the Swiss creative industry. Switzerland is known worldwide for a design culture that combines quality, innovation, and tradition. An ideal complement to the Viennese design scene, therefore.

As this year's media partner of the festival, form is also on site. Our magazines can be found in the Media Center of the Vienna Design Week.