Vienna Design Week 2025: Sustainability Takes Center Stage in Global Design Hub
Vienna Design Week is back, transforming the city into a global design hub from September 22 to October 5. With over 200 events at 50 locations, the festival expects 40,000 visitors and features a 2,000 square meter festival center in former ford dealership halls. High-profile talks, including London architect Sam Jacob, foster intellectual exchange and explore design as a critical discipline.
Sustainability takes center stage this year. The 'Urban Food & Design' and 'Viennese Colors' exhibitions showcase the luxury of circular economy and upcycling. The 'FOKUS: Ageing' exhibition celebrates patina, cracks, and signs of use as aesthetic qualities, promoting durability against a throwaway society. Live demonstrations highlight sustainability as a status symbol, creating organic pigments from food waste and invasive plants.
Design duo Swedish Girls and Frankfurt designer Kai Linke are among the notable collaborations. The 'Passionswege' format brings international designers together with local craft workshops to create experimental objects embodying new luxury concepts. The festival also features installations, workshops, and the 'Feminist Welding Club', offering welding courses for women and queer people in a former canva repair shop.
Vienna Design Week consolidates its position as an influential design center, focusing on culture and process rather than commercial aspects. This year's festival partners with Rhein-Main-Frankfurt, the 2026 World Design Capital, bringing international networking to Vienna. The festival runs from September 26 to October 5, 2025, in the 4th district, Wiedner Hauptstraße 52.
