News 04/2026
Dear Friends of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK,
The program for the 20th VIENNA DESIGN WEEK continues to take shape. As the festival program expands, we’re once again giving you a glimpse of what awaits you this fall.
In this newsletter, we’re not only introducing this year’s PLATFORM participants but also showcasing the projects selected for the city-wide initiative. This is VIENNA DESIGN WEEK’s Social Design format, made possible by Vermehrt Schönes!, Erste Bank’s sponsorship program. We’ll also meet the winners of the Biofabrique Vienna Challenges—a project by the Vienna Business Agency as part of the Urban Food & Design format.
There’s also good news for anyone who’d like to be part of the festival themselves: The open call for the group exhibition FOKUS, curated by Connie Hüsser, has been extended until July 26! Read more...
And finally: Save the date! The 20th VIENNA DESIGN WEEK will take place from September 25 to October 4, 2026. We look forward to welcoming you to Vienna this fall.
Enjoy reading and exploring!
PLATFORM 2026
In 2026, once again, a wide range of brands, designers, cultural institutions, universities, and galleries will contribute their content to VIENNA DESIGN WEEK. With PLATFORM, the festival program becomes a stage for a multitude of independent exhibitions, installations, and presentations from Austria and abroad. Together, they will transform Vienna into a “City Full of Design” for ten days!
We are delighted to already announce the following participants: Afterhour Furniture, Aqform, Die Angewandte, BerCollective, the Association of Austrian Interior Architects (BÖ), Collegium Hungaricum, Cucina Alchimia, design.mikimartinek, designaustria, Design in Gesellschaft, Desz Office, feinedinge, flexi studio, Galerie bel etage, GEMMA ZT, Olga Flor, Hugo Béhérégaray, J.B. Gambier, Pierre Castignola, Alexandre Delasalle, Diego Faivre, Institut Français, issue9, KIM+HEEP, Klemens Schillinger, LAUFEN, Lights of Vienna, Lijo, LOBMEYR, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, miramondo, Möbelmuseum Wien (Vienna Furniture Museum), Musca Design Studio, New Design University, NIOH NIOH, OekoBusiness Wien, paper republic, Polish Institute Vienna, Potpourri Studio, SCHAUM × Swedish Girls, SKICA Vienna, Slovak Institute Vienna, Tatiana Bifouri, Vöslauer, VOLA Vertriebs GmbH and ZAVADSKI.
More information on the individual entries will follow in the coming weeks.
Stadtarbeit 2026: The Projects
VIENNA DESIGN WEEK’s social design format is made possible by “Vermehrt Schönes!,” Erste Bank’s sponsorship program, and this year, under the motto “Feiertags geöffnet!,” it is dedicated to new forms of communal celebration.
The selected projects are Leon Theodor’s "Achtung – Tor öffnet automatisch", the Saliva Collective (Charlie Schneider, Deepshikha Pegu, and Mildred Cheng) with "DARK TIMES", and Johanna Kalinke, Réka Novák, Alexander Regal, and Theodora Hergheligiu with "Your Club is not my Club".
The projects will be realized in public spaces during VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2026. More on this in the coming weeks.
Biofabrique Vienna Challenges
The winners have been announced
As part of the Urban Food & Design format at VIENNA DESIGN WEEK, the Vienna Business Agency launched two Biofabrique Vienna Challenges. The call for entries sought ideas for workwear and experimental design applications of “Vienna Colors”—natural dyes made from organic waste materials.
We congratulate Anna Perugini and Stefan Decker on their outstanding concepts and look forward to presenting the results this fall at Biofabrique Vienna on the Nordwestbahnhof site as part of the 20th VIENNA DESIGN WEEK.
Biofabrique Vienna is a project of the Vienna Business Agency.
APPLY NOW
Illustration Residency in London
CLUSTER London is offering an international residency for illustrators. The selected candidate will receive studio space and housing in London, personalized mentoring, and access to materials and production resources.
In addition, the work of the winner and the shortlisted artists will be presented as part of an exhibition curated by CLUSTER in cooperation with the Illustrators’ Fair at the festival headquarters of VIENNA DESIGN WEEK 2026.
Submission deadline: July 26, 2026