How Dutch Design Week continues to inspire, even after 25 years

In October, Eindhoven will be transformed into an open laboratory when the Dutch Design Week (DDW) kicks off for the 25th time. Under the motto ​“Past. Present. Possible.”, the festival will look back on its beginnings, reflect on the present, and boldly look forward as it ventures into the future.

More than 2,600 creative minds will showcase their projects at over 120 locations throughout the city – from disused Philips factories to museums, studios, and public spaces. The focus is less on finished products and more on processes, questions, and scenarios. ​‘Design is never finished. And that’s exactly the point,’ says Miriam van der Lubbe, Creative Head of the DDW.

The city as a campus

Eindhoven as a voyage of discovery: in Strijp‑S, the post-industrial heart of the city, large exhibitions are lined up in the Klokgebouw and VEEM. In the city centre, the Van Abbemuseum, the Kazerne and the Philips Museum will open their doors, while Sectie‑C is to become a creative hotspot with more than 250 independent studios.

Guests can navigate with the official app, follow curated routes, or drift along with the free Design Rides – taxis that themselves form part of the festival. One of the richest items on the event schedule is Mission Days: each day is dedicated to one of five major social missions – from Thriving Planet to Equal Society. Keynotes, tours and discussions will reveal how design can find answers to global challenges.

Grand Projects and Graduation Show

The Grand Projects in public spaces are particularly impressive: eleven large-scale installations transform squares into open galleries. Thijs Biersteker, for example, makes political decisions visible with Econario, while Pauline van Dongen presents the Umbra Pavilion, a textile power plant that provides shade and generates energy.

The centrepiece remains the Graduation Show of the Design Academy Eindhoven, which will be held for the first time in the new Microstad near the main railway station. Around 200 graduates will present works combining speculative futurology with everyday relevance. The exhibition is a fixture for trend scouts, journalists, and collectors.

Many ideas, one goal

Dutch Design Week once again shows that design today is more than just form and function. It is a tool for connecting societies, exchanging cultures, and enabling the future.

Dutch Design Week 2025

Past. Present. Possible.
When: 18 – 26 October 2025
Where: Eindhoven, NL
Figures: >2,600 designers, 120 locations, 350,000 visitors
Special features: 25th anniversary edition, 5 missions, Design Academy graduation show

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