{"id":15036,"date":"2025-10-06T18:29:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T11:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/dutch-design-week-turns-eindhoven-into-a-living-lab-with-more-than-2500-designers\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T18:29:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T11:29:33","slug":"dutch-design-week-turns-eindhoven-into-a-living-lab-with-more-than-2500-designers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cstc.vn\/blogtsk\/dutch-design-week-turns-eindhoven-into-a-living-lab-with-more-than-2500-designers\/","title":{"rendered":"dutch design week turns eindhoven into a living lab with more than 2,500 designers"},"content":{"rendered":"

This month, Dutch Design Week celebrates a quarter century of imagination and collaboration in Eindhoven<\/a><\/strong>. Co-founder Miriam van der Lubbe reflects on how a small local initiative became a global stage for design\u2019s evolving role in shaping the future.<\/p>\n

Dutch Design Week\u2019s first 25 years have shown that imagination can be infrastructure. The next 25 will show how the possible becomes the plan. Photo: \u00a9 Nick Bookelaar<\/p>\n

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Eindhoven has never been afraid of transformation. Once an industrial powerhouse humming with Philips factories, the small city in the south Netherlands has reinvented itself as a beacon for ideas in motion \u2013 the kind that take shape, question themselves and reshape the world in the process. Every October,\u00a0Dutch Design Week (DDW)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0turns the town into a living lab, and this year marks a particularly luminous milestone: its 25th edition. From 18 to 26 October 2025, more than 2,500 designers will fill 120 venues with a single shared brief: to explore the \u2018Past. Present. Possible.\u2019<\/p>\n

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The scale alone is impressive, with 350,000 visitors expected and a line-up that ranges from emerging graduates to international names such as HEMA, Hydro and Vattenfall. Yet what truly defines DDW is its energy. It has always blurred the boundaries between exhibition and experiment, turning Eindhoven from a backdrop into a stage where ideas are constantly tested and reimagined. Here, concepts become prototypes and prototypes become provocations.<\/p>\n

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At Dutch Design Week, concepts become prototypes and prototypes become provocations<\/h2>\n

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As DDW 2025 celebrates its silver anniversary, the event feels anything but nostalgic. Instead, it doubles down on curiosity \u2013 on what happens when you mix generations, disciplines and ambitions across a city and call it collaboration. Between\u00a0\u2018Grand Projects\u2019<\/a>\u00a0towering outdoor installations,\u00a0\u2018Forward Furniture\u2019<\/a>\u2019s exploration of collectible design and the next generation\u2019s debut in\u00a0\u2018Class of 25\u2019<\/a>, among other highlights, this edition promises to be both retrospective and refreshingly restless.<\/p>\n

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To understand how the annual gathering of minds has evolved into one of the world\u2019s most influential design events, Architonic sat down with Miriam van der Lubbe, DDW\u2019s co-founder and curator of this year\u2019s central exhibition\u00a0\u2018Bridging Minds\u2019<\/a>\u00a0at the Van Abbemuseum. Over coffee, she spoke about reflection, responsibility and the kind of courage design still needs to cultivate.<\/p>\n

Miriam van der Lubbe. Photo: \u00a9 Lisa Klappe<\/p>\n

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Claire Brodka: \u2018Past. Present. Possible\u2019 feels like an open-ended invitation. How does this anniversary theme shape the week?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Miriam van der Lubbe<\/strong>: It\u2019s our 25th edition, so naturally there\u2019s a moment of reflection. Designers are wired to look forward; we rarely stop to see how far we\u2019ve come. This year is about recognising that collective effort, seeing what design has already achieved for society and realising how much more potential there still is. It\u2019s a celebration, but also a call to action.<\/p>\n

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How are you marking the anniversary?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We\u2019ll start with a special opening that will be memorable, although I can\u2019t reveal too much yet. We\u2019ve also built a pavilion on Ketelhuisplein dedicated to everyone who has helped make DDW what it is: designers, partners, volunteers and the people who keep Eindhoven running every day. It\u2019s a way to acknowledge the ecosystem behind the creativity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Visitors finding their way around and Miriam van der Lubbe at DDW 24\u2019s official opening. Photos: \u00a9 Max Kneefel & Lotte Dale<\/p>\n

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One of the headline shows is \u2018Bridging Minds\u2019 at the Van Abbemuseum. What can visitors expect?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The exhibition focuses on the connecting power of design. We\u2019ve gathered around a hundred works by designers such as\u00a0Hella Jongerius<\/a>, Formafantasma, Klarenbeek & Dros and\u00a0Maarten Baas<\/a>. These projects don\u2019t just comment on the world, they act within it. The exhibition is arranged around ten themes, from empowerment to care and from innovation to our relationship with nature. Each piece shows how design can contribute to progress, sometimes through modest or even poetic steps.<\/p>\n

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Ketelhuisplein once again takes literal centre stage at DDW 25 (top). Vattenfall will also join the programme once again (bottom). Photos: \u00a9 Max Kneefel & Cleo Goossens<\/p>\n

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You\u2019ve spoken before about design deserving a place \u2018at the decision table\u2019. What does that look like in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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It means that design thinking should be a structural part of decision-making in every sector, from government to business. In the Netherlands, ministries have pledged to establish design departments within ten years, which is a great start. The next step is proving design\u2019s impact in measurable ways. We need strong examples that demonstrate how creativity changes outcomes and improves lives.<\/p>\n

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Eindhoven itself is evolving quickly. How does the city protect its creative pulse as it grows?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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That\u2019s one of the key challenges. Eindhoven is part of the Brainport region, which will add about 70,000 homes in the next decade. Expansion brings pressure on space and affordability. During DDW we\u2019ll launch Design Development Eindhoven, an initiative to ensure that designers can continue living and working here rather than being pushed out by the tech boom. The city understands that creativity adds quality of life; it\u2019s not decorative, it\u2019s essential.<\/p>\n

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Designers Kiki & Joost will open their studio (top) on the outskirts of Eindhoven and spaces like cultural centre Sectie-C (bottom) will activate countless other sites throughout the city. Photos: \u00a9 Anwyn Howarth & Almicheal Fraay<\/p>\n

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DDW has always mixed established names with newcomers. How important is that cross-generational dialogue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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It\u2019s vital. Design has changed dramatically in 25 years, and with that diversity we risk losing clarity about what design really is. I sometimes joke that we must be careful not to become \u2018Dutch Everything Week\u2019. We need to preserve the profession\u2019s core skills while staying open to new disciplines. Collaboration between generations is essential; younger designers bring urgency and experimentation, while older ones bring context and continuity.<\/p>\n

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Those of us who have been around longer have a duty to open doors, share networks and give others a platform<\/h2>\n

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You also seem deeply committed to mentoring younger designers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I remember starting out when there was generous funding and plenty of room to explore. Today, opportunities are thinner, and young designers face information overload and economic uncertainty. Those of us who have been around longer have a duty to open doors, share networks and give others a platform. If someone approaches three weeks before the festival with a strong idea, I\u2019d rather say yes and find a way to make it work. That spontaneity keeps DDW alive.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u2018Class of 2025\u2019 returns as a standout exhibition (top), with materials and prototypes that inspire discussions of the future. Photos: \u00a9 Max Kneefel<\/p>\n

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Looking back, what stands out as the most transformative shift over the last quarter century?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Two things come to mind. The first is the expansion of design\u2019s role, from crafting objects to shaping systems, policies and public life. The second is the need to make the impact of design visible. Ideas have to be embodied. If we want others to join us in creating change, they need to be able to see and touch it.<\/p>\n

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Discussion is valuable, but prototypes, installations and physical experiences are what move people. The Netherlands has plenty of process and planning, but sometimes lacks courage. We need more bold gestures that show creativity in action, not only on paper. Bridging Minds aims to do just that: to demonstrate the next small but crucial steps in connecting design with real life.<\/p>\n

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What do you hope visitors take away from this year\u2019s edition?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I hope they leave with a sense that possibility belongs to everyone. Whether you\u2019re a policymaker, a student or simply curious, DDW is an open invitation to imagine the future together. If it works, people will leave Eindhoven thinking differently about how the world could be, because they\u2019ve seen it and experienced it first-hand.<\/p>\n

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Guest Feature by Claire Brodka \/\u00a0Architonic<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The post dutch design week turns eindhoven into a living lab with more than 2,500 designers<\/a> appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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