DDW22: Get Set… We’re on a mission!

Designer Miriam van der Lubbe joins this year as the new Creative Head of Dutch Design Week: "The theme of this year’s DDW is: Get Set. It means that we - as designers, as citizens – must adopt the right mindset. That’s where we are now. We must brace ourselves for what’s to come. Huge challenges such as the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine, inequality and many other social issues. To bring about change together, we need to have the right mindset. A mentality that is very current and already common among designers. So: Get Set!”

DDW shapes its mission with six thematic exhibitions that can be seen exclusively in the Klokgebouw and on the Ketelhuisplein at Strijp-S. These exhibitions present new perspectives on a changing world that invite you to contemplate and join in:

> Get Set for Durable Living shows designs that respond to the demand for a high degree of adaptability and flexibility in the built environment.
> Get Set for The Next Generation questions how we design, organise and innovate our education.
> Get Set for Digital Evolvement zooms in on how the virtual world is interwoven with the physical.
> Get Set for Smart Liveability uses the exhibition The New Nature of Living to present designs that improve or ease our relationship with the world.
> Get Set for Creations of Trust is all about work that responds to the demand for our safety and the call for more trust.
> Get Set for Global Wellbeing nourishes the mind and takes care of the body. With concepts and designs that connect to what we can do to remedy existing planetary health problems and what is needed to keep the world liveable for everyone in the future.

Marjan van Aubel and Formafantasma are the ambassadors of this 21st edition of Dutch Design Week (DDW). According to the Dutch Design Foundation (DDF) – the organisation behind DDW – the ambassadors represent contemporary and urgent voices in the design field of today and the future.

Marjan van Aubel
Marjan van Aubel Studio is an award-winning, innovative solar design practice that translates solar energy into everyday life. They design for a positive future with a combination of sustainability, design and technology. The studio creates lasting change through solar design, whereby the power of the sun is seamlessly integrated into our environments, buildings and objects. The aim is to make solar energy more accessible to everyone. Marjan van Aubel says: “We really need to think differently, to be less focused on the short-term and fast returns. Of course, recycling is great, but I hope that there is no waste at all in the future. This means that we must start thinking now about what something means a hundred years from now. DDW is one of those places where I find this way of thinking: it is very open and future-focused. It is a place where a lot of energy comes together, literally and figuratively. After all, energy is also generated by people and the fact that we come together at DDW each year with new ideas, people and connections gives me hope.”

Formafantasma
The Italian Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin have been advocating holistic design thinking and value creation ever since founding their own studio Formafantasma in 2009. Their goal: to better understand, facilitate and transform the built and natural environments around us. Formafantasma sees material, technical and social possibilities everywhere and loves to open them up for discussion. In the interview with Formafantasma, the design duo say: “Dutch Design Week had always managed to shine its light on a new generation over the years. Of all the design events, we think DDW is the best, with Design Academy Eindhoven as an important pillar. New, fragile voices must be protected and cherished and talented individuals need a place where they can showcase their ideas. DDW offers just that: a healthy dose of energy and good locations. DDW is a celebration of ideas.”

Over the past twenty years, DDW has presented itself as a festival that highlights the design of the future and the future of design. With this focus, DDW presents the work of creative minds from all over the world, designers who shape a positive future. Their work has the potential to influence our society in the coming years and decades. DDW is the place to show and discuss this.

The DDW22 programme is online. Over 1500 designers, spread over more than 120 locations, are taking place this year. To help visitors get started, the programme can be filtered into eight areas, by location, design discipline or by day. The video How to Visit DDW guides visitors around the festival. Tickets available here.

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