Ten things to look forward to at Dutch Design Week 2025
Dutch Design Week kicks off in Eindhoven tomorrow. Ahead of northern Europe's biggest design festival, we have rounded up 10 installations and exhibitions to look out for during the city-wide event.
From 18 to 26 October, Dutch Design Week will take over multiple locations in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Both established and emerging designers and studios will present projects based on this year's theme of past, present and possible.
Here are 10 of Dezeen's highlights to look out for during the event:
Umbra Pavilion by Pauline van Dongen
Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen will present an architectural installation showcasing heliotex, her solar-powered textile.
Called Umbra Pavilion, the installation features a recycled polyester yarn canopy woven with 147 organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells. The cells harness the sun's energy during the day, and the stored energy envelopes the pavilion in light after nightfall.
Formerly called suntex, heliotex has been developed for outdoor applications thanks to its weather- and UV-radiation-resistance. Visitors will be able to sit underneath the canopy to experience van Dongen's design.
Design Academy Eindhoven Graduation Show 2025
A regular fixture of Dutch Design Week, the Design Academy Eindhoven (DAE) graduation show will present some 200 projects from the next generation of Dutch designers.
This year's selection of bachelor's and master's graduation projects will unpack a myriad of issues, including the climate crisis, social justice and artificial intelligence, through a wide range of media.
"For this generation of graduates, the world of 2025 will feel radically different to the world in which they began their studies," said DAE.
"Rather than lose hope in the face of adversity and acceleration, our graduates prevail through rethinking their engagement with the world," added the design school.
The Class of 25 is an annual exhibition celebrating the talents of students from Dutch and other European universities, created to highlight the importance of design education.
Sixteen institutions will participate in this year's show, from Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design Budapest to Lithuania's Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Each academy will also present a specific project that "captures the current zeitgeist". Together, the chosen projects will form the Avenue of Fresh Perspectives, created to highlight the areas where tomorrow's designers hope to make a difference.
Kruisstraat Design District is a design exhibition created by and for people who have experience of applying for a visa to the Netherlands as non-EU residents.
The show will be underpinned by the phrase "essential interest to Dutch culture" – a requirement for many non-EU creatives to stay in the country.
Curated by Irish designer Ned Kaar, the exhibition will attempt to question what makes design "essential" and ask whether culture is something that can be measured through individual contributions.
In Action: Kiki & Joost and Friends
Billed as "two birthdays, one big celebration", local studio Kiki & Joost will mark its 25th anniversary along with Dutch Design Week's quarter-century.
The design duo will transform its studio-cum-gallery into a "buzzing playground", showcasing new works alongside pieces from Dutch painter Marac Mulders and Dutch fashion designer Diederik Verbakel.
"Expect tapestries, bold experiments and live screen-printing sessions," said Kiki & Joost.
Gabriël Metsulaan 1, 5613 LC
Workshop Wanted is a project by emerging Dutch designer Teun Zwets, established to highlight the growing difficulties faced by independent makers trying to find affordable workspaces in Eindhoven.
Known for his glossy, splintered wood furniture, Zwets will load his chairs, stools, cabinets and cardboard boxes into a car trailer and drive the pieces across the city.
With a tongue-in-cheek poster displayed on his car window detailing a mock search for a studio, the designer will aim to raise awareness of the intensifying commercialisation of spaces historically occupied by emerging creatives.
Gaza Travel Agency is a collective of Palestinian, Jewish and other international volunteers.
The group will present a speculative and interactive travel agency that aims to emphasise the Palestinian right of return, the principle in international law that guarantees everyone's right of return to their homeland.
Since the 1948 Nakba, which refers to the mass displacement of over half the Palestinian Arab population in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, more than seven million Palestinians have been made refugees.
"What connects us is the belief that design can illuminate suppressed narratives, challenge systems of erasure, and create space for justice and dignity," said the collective of volunteers.
"By mobilising design in this way, we aim to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza and contribute to broader struggles for liberation and decolonisation."
Redesigning Design Weeks by Nieuwe Instituut
Rotterdam's Nieuwe Instituut will present Redesigning Design Weeks, an event series that will unpack the social and environmental impact of design weeks on their host cities.
"Design weeks around the world have become vital events where designers, companies, and visitors come together to exchange ideas, knowledge, and ambitions," said Nieuwe Instituut.
"But despite their cultural and economic value, their current format often disconnects them from the places they're hosted in."
The programme follows on from its debut at Milan design week in April.
Show Not Show is a group show by designers Clovis Atelier, Frank Penders, Lucas Zito, Marc Meeuwissen, Mokko, Studio Luuk van Laarhoven and guest participant Yvonne Mak.
Launched during last year's Dutch Design Week, Show Not Show will return to the festival with an exhibition focused on the "concept of a 'concept'" in the early stages of designing objects.
de Kruisruimte, Generaal Bothastraat 7-E 5642NJ
Almost 100 international participants will exhibit in Forward Furniture, a show dedicated to forward-looking furniture design.
The exhibition will take place within a 2,000-square-metre hall in Campina, a historic former dairy factory in Eindhoven, which forms one of Dutch Design Week's key locations.
Among the participants will be designers Valentin Jager, Kelly Begizai and Sanghyeok Lee.
De Caai, De Kade, Kanaaldijk-Zuid 1 D 5613LH
Dutch Design Week 2025 takes place from 18 to 26 October 2025 at various locations across Eindhoven, the Netherlands. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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