It used to be called Design Mai, but for the past few years, the event has been running under the name Berlin Design Week. By now, though, it’s only one of several events dedicated to design. In September, there will be Design Days as well as the contemporary format Currents. Slightly confusing, perhaps, but maybe more is more. One thing is certain: Germany needs more discourse around design. Design Week may feature a few recognizable names, but product design is simply not as star-studded or red-carpet-friendly as fashion. Still, it’s worth heading out, joining the conversation, and ideally bringing a little inspiration back into your own life and home. After all, beds, tables, chairs, and everything else are the things that give shape to our everyday lives. Sounds good, but what does that actually mean? Today (28.05.2026), Berlin Design Week begins. If you are looking for an easy way in, FeldFünf is a good place to start. There, students from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam are presenting designs for the threshold area under the title Zwischen Tür und Angel, exploring the space between inside and outside. If that still doesn’t stir much emotion, the UdK students have taken over part of the space and are showing their projects under the wonderfully direct title AAAAH!.
Questions of place, and of where and how we live and work, come into focus in conversation with Paul Cournet of Rotterdam-based studio Cloud. At Tylko Space, he will speak about architecture beyond the brief and expanding forms of practice. Speaking of architects, Allen Kaufmann Architekten also make furniture, and without screws. If you’re interested in how load-bearing objects can emerge from flat, solid wood panels, the Ako showroom is worth a stop. If you’re less interested in clever joints and more into larger questions, head farther out to Tegel, where the fourth Co-Aging Salon asks who we are designing for as society grows older. Science and design come together in the Design & Science Slam, where the Designpreis Brandenburg hosts the Sächsischer Staatspreis für Design. If you’re more drawn to tangible things, Macherei Berlin-Kreuzberg is worth a stop. There, among other projects, Robert Neuendorf presents Urban Signals, furniture whose forms and colors borrow from familiar traffic guidance systems. He is just one of the exhibitors at Design Pool, the fair-meets-market format running at the festival hub. Jewelry, fashion, and more from across Europe round out the concept. But Berlin Design Week is not only about finished objects. It is also about future thinking. That is where The Berlin Format comes in. Across three sessions, speakers from academia and professional practice will discuss topics including AI and design, architecture and research, and design and democracy. The exhibition Design in Wartimealso looks at Design Under Pressure and features work connected to Ukrainian and Austrian design and architecture students. And even that is only a small selection. If you want more, sign up for one of the tours, including one that takes visitors inside Mykita Haus. So go ahead and build your own Design Week itinerary.
Text: Nina Trippel / Credit: Anna Rave, Berlin Design Week, Neuendorf Arterior
Berlin Design Week 2026
@berlindesignweek
