From September 12 to October 16, València will once again become an international hub of creativity with the third edition of València Design Fest, the major event promoted by the Design Foundation of the Region of Valencia.
The festival brings together more than 60 activities open to all audiences. Exhibitions, talks, workshops, guided tours, screenings, and gatherings will shape the València Design Fest program around three major themes: craftsmanship, urban design, and sustainability. In addition, the 2025 program revives the most avant-garde legacy of Valencian design with the line “Disruptive Design,” connecting past and present to project a critical and contemporary vision of creativity that takes us back to the 1980s.
The presentation event, held this Tuesday at the MuVIM, was inaugurated by local and national authorities and attended by a notable representation of the Valencian design sector, including institutions, schools, cultural agents, and companies. “València Design Fest reaffirms the city’s role as a creative hub of international reference and allows us to continue projecting the legacy of World Design Capital 2022, raising València’s global profile as a leader in innovation and creativity,” said Xavi Calvo, director of the Design Foundation.
The full program of València Design Fest 2025 is now available at: www.valenciadesignfest.com
Contemporary Craft: «Tiempo + Materia»
Within its own program «Tiempo + Materia», València Design Fest brings together all content linked to contemporary craft, curated once again by Estudio Savage as one of the main themes of the festival, with an exhibition and a set of experiences and talks around craft creation. This year’s guiding thread: gastronomy and design.
The main «Tiempo + Materia» exhibition will open at the MuVIM, Museu Valencià de la Il·lustració i de la Modernitat, on September 12, the official opening day of the festival, and will remain open for one month, showcasing works from national and international studios and workshops. The curators Estudio Savage will also lead several guided tours, announced on the festival website. As a special preview, one day before the opening, on Thursday September 11, the Barreira school, one of the institutions linked to València Design Fest’s craft program, will host an inaugural lecture at its Gran Vía Fernando el Católico headquarters by Fondo Supper Club, the creative studio that uses gastronomy as a tool to explore artistic practices.
Adrián Salvador of Estudio Savage, curators of «Tiempo + Materia», highlighted that this program “seeks to demonstrate that craftsmanship is not only about creating objects, but also an intangible manifestation with the power to connect past and present, tradition and innovation, and the individual with the collective.” Lucas Zaragosi, also of Estudio Savage, added that “this approach allows new generations of contemporary creators to reinterpret the craft, taking it to new frontiers, exploring its relevance in an increasingly globalized, digital, sensorial, and experiential world.”
As for this year’s talks, experiences, and workshops, participants include the artisan ice cream shop Campo a través on September 16 at Merkato Hub, Vidrio Sorribes on September 17 at Barreira, Steinbeisser on September 18, Clara Diez with Jesús Terrés on September 23 at CookTL, Canoalab on September 23, Estudio Savage at the Ágora Nude of Feria Hábitat on September 30, and Celler del Roure, once again with Vidrio Sorribes, on October 7 at off_line café.
Architecture and the City
Urban and architectural design once again takes center stage with a series of activities reflecting on how the relationship between architecture and humans has evolved.
Through debates and other discussion formats, contemporary examples will be presented under a common leitmotif: a more human practice, where people are the main asset of architecture. Highlights include conversations on new perspectives on architecture: Bona Fide and Clara Sáez on September 17 at Odosdesign, and “Intimate Architecture” on September 26 at Merkato Hub.
One of this year’s key venues will be the Colegio Territorial de Arquitectos de València, which will host the Neuroarchitecture Day on September 22, in collaboration with Fundación Arquia. Speakers will include Carmen Linares, Soledat Berbegal, and Nuria Matarredona, while Ana Mombiedro will present her book Espacio, cuerpo y mente. María Aucejo will give her presentation on September 24, and the second edition of “La Ciudad Generosa” will take place on October 14.
There will also be children’s workshops on architecture and the city, on September 26 with Silvana Andrés at the MuVIM.
Another milestone of this year’s València Design Fest is the collaboration with Concéntrico festival, an urban innovation lab that invites reflection on the city through architecture and design, proposing new collective uses of public space each year from Logroño. The Technical School of Architecture at the Polytechnic University of València will host an exhibition on Concéntrico starting September 25, displaying one of the pieces from its past edition. In addition, the new Veneno space will present the special 10th anniversary book of the festival directed by Javier Peña in Logroño, on October 13.
Fashion and Disruptive Design
The València Design Fest program also takes visitors back to the 1980s, when València established itself as a hub of disruptive design in Spain. In a context of cultural effervescence and the opening of previously existing borders, innovative movements emerged that broke away from established norms. The Design Foundation proposes to recover that essence with a series of activities organized in collaboration with the Arxiu Valencià del Disseny, showcasing some of the protagonists of fashion and architecture of that era.
On September 15, there will be a gathering and roundtable with some of the members of the brand Tráfico de Modas about Valencian fashion in the 70s and 80s, with a visit to the exhibition of the same name at La Nau. Also at La Nau, on September 19, the series “Confessions of Design” will kick off, bringing two generations face to face: MacDiego will be “confessed” by Elena Yuste and Sheila Moreno about the Valencian creative sector and its past and present challenges.
On September 25, La Filmoteca will screen The Grand Budapest Hotel by Wes Anderson, followed by a talk with representatives of La Filmoteca, designer Carmen Baselga, and Sara Mansanet, director of La Mostra de València, discussing the intersection of cinema, architecture, and design. Continuing with screenings, on October 3, the School of Art and Design of València will host a showing of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown with a cine-forum on cinema and fashion in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s.
Also joining this retrospective is Bombas Gens, Centre d’Arts Digitals, which from October 2 will open the major immersive exhibition “La Ruta: modernity, culture, and chaos,” inviting visitors to revisit a historic chapter that marked a turning point—a revolution that forever changed the way leisure and nightlife were understood in València.
Future of Fashion
Under the motto From ideas to action, Future of Fashion returns on October 16 to close València Design Fest. This international meeting on sustainable fashion serves as a platform for creation, experimentation, and knowledge exchange through design, focusing on the transformation of the fashion industries.
Future of Fashion will take place at La Harinera thanks to the collaboration of València Innovation Capital. Now in its fourth edition, and curated by Patricia Moreno Barberá, it continues as one of the legacies of València World Design Capital, serving again as an international “think tank” to debate the transformation of the fashion industries and their sustainable impact.
Last Friday, València became the epicenter of global design by hosting, for the first time in Spain, the celebration of World Industrial Design Day, an event broadcast live worldwide and dedicated to discussing the ethical principles of design. The event was organized by Andreu World in collaboration with the Fundació del Disseny, the World Design Organization, and the València City Council through València Innovation Capital.
Paula Llobet, Councillor for Tourism, Innovation and Investment Attraction at Valencia.
Today, Sunday, June 29th, is World Industrial Design Day, and we’re celebrating it from València, which once again became the epicenter of global design by hosting the World Industrial Design Day 2025, an international event led this year by Andreu World, in collaboration with the Design Foundation of the Region of Valencia, the World Design Organization, and the València City Council through València Innovation Capital. For over 16 hours last Friday, we broadcast content focused on ethics and design as shared themes, connecting with different parts of the world, with a central live hub at La Harinera, making València the host city of the main event.
The event was backed by the City Council of Valencia. The day was launched by Paula Llobet, Councilor for Tourism, Innovation, and Investment Attraction, who highlighted the strategic importance of design as a driver of transformation: “Often, certain sectors are unaware of the transformative impact that design can have in addressing economic, social, and environmental challenges. That is why it is essential to generate synergies between companies and the creative ecosystem. In Valencia, we have an innovative and dynamic environment that is ideal for promoting projects that not only add economic value but also contribute to collective well-being, positioning the city as an international benchmark in design-related innovation.”
For her part, Ester Olivas, Director General of Entrepreneurship and Internationalization for the Valencian Community, emphasized that “this event represents a unique opportunity to reflect on the shared responsibility that exists around the world regarding ethical design. It is a time to rethink how we design, based on values that place sustainability, inclusion, and social commitment at the center. And there is no better place to do so than Valencia, a city that has established itself as a creative force and international benchmark in the field of design.”
This year, we’re celebrating the World Industrial Design Day from Valencia!
And we’d like to invite you to join us in person for this global event where we’ll explore the principles of ethical design.
Valencia hosts the World Industrial Design Day for the first time in Spain. Six years after being announced as World Design Capital and following its recent recognition as a UNESCO City of Design, Valencia once again becomes the stage for a major international milestone: the World Industrial Design Day 2025 will be celebrated with a global event led by the World Design Organization taking place on June 27 at La Harinera, València Innovation Capital.
Under the theme “Let’s get ethical”, the day will bring together professionals, companies, students, and design institutions from around the world to discuss the major ethical challenges facing the discipline: sustainability, accessibility, emerging technologies, fair design, or responsible education, among others. Organized by Andreu World together with the Design Foundation of the Region of Valencia and in collaboration with the València City Council, the event will be streamed internationally over 16 hours, with a central block from 9am to 2pm (CEST) live from Valencia, which is open to the public upon prior registration.
The Valencia program will focus on ethics, design education, and industry, with a series of round tables and presentations by leading experts addressing topics such as the social responsibility of design, its impact across sectors, or the development of ethical frameworks and professional codes.
The event is free to attend with registration and will close with a celebration cocktail, from 9:30am to 2pm.
Let’s get ethical. Let’s meet in Valencia!