What is real and what is not? Is what real for you real for everyone else? If not, where do these countless realities and perspectives meet? These are just some questions that the upcoming edition of Dutch Design Week looks to investigate. From October 19 - 27, 2024, the anticipated design fair will set up camp in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, this time, unfolding around the theme Real Unreal. During nine days, designers will question and challenge the notions we accept as truths, in the process, speculating a plausible future of design and new schools of thought. “They [designers] help us imagine the unimaginable and make it more tangible. They find countless ways to use their imagination in combination with collective knowledge and varied experiences,” reads the design event’s official release.

Since its inception, Dutch Design Week has platformed creative voices that speak of design of the future and the future of design. It has done so through elaborate programmes encompassing design exhibitions, presentations, installations and conversations. The idea of change, specifically change driven by design, is intrinsic to the festival and will be delved into even further with this year’s theme. The 2024 edition seeks to implore the audience to look beyond what they think they see, their opinions and biases, even though the line between real and unreal is often blurred. This discourse rooted in the potential and power of design in defining narratives will tie together the designers’ manifestations of innovation, beauty, hope and more.

Each year, the design week invites three designers, pioneers in their respective fields, to join the ranks as beacons. DDW24 welcomes three seminal names: Julia Watson, Bas van de Poel and André Doxey. Australian-born author, researcher, lecturer and landscape designer based in New York City, Julia Watson works at the intersection of indigenous technologies, anthropology, ecology and innovation. During the design festival, Watson will hold a lecture at the Van Abbemuseum. Bas van de Poel is the innovation director and co-founder of Modem, a design and innovation office. He will present the projects Computer-Aided Design and Smart Aid Kit at the Klokgebouw with Modem and give a keynote speech at the Design & AI symposium during DDW24. André Doxey, Head of Design and Senior Vice President of the LEGO Group in Denmark completes the roster of the DDW beacons.

DDW Mission Days are new additions to this year’s event, aiming to facilitate relevant encounters between designers and visitors. From October 21 - 25, DDW will host five themed days, each with a curated programme around a mission to pursue a better society and healthier planet. During these Mission Days, the partaking creatives will conduct workshops, conferences and events that foster insights and build networks. The programme of each day will be across three segments: morning sessions, afternoon tours and an evening programme called DDW at Night.

Under Living Environment, the first mission, the visitors can interact with a series of presentations surrounding sustainable design and materials. Showcases such as Teunland 2.0. Teun Zwets and Secrid Talent Podium will stage furniture design and product design made from reused waste materials and environmentally conscious methods. The mission Thriving Planet will address sustainability on a larger scale (the city or the society) with installations such as Cooling down the city by elho X and Designing Society.

With the virtual world becoming as dominant as the ‘real’ world, Digital Future comes as an imminent subject in the fair. It will include conversations around the emerging language of the digital age, Poetics of Prompting and a glimpse into the evolving nature of human connection with Pokka: An Extraordinary Creature Made of Chrome. The section Health & Wellbeing will dive into the healing, interactive and sensory experiences installations through programmes such as Processing the Unprocessed and Sharing Bloemfontein. Narratives of peace, with nature and within humankind, will constitute the final mission of DDW24, Equal Society. The Trilix Bamboo Pavilion and Temple of Peace will be positioned under this sub-theme alongside other displays.

As the world paces towards the unknown, there rests a significant responsibility on the shoulders of the global creatives: to identify and propose solutions for pressing issues. Through their visions of a healthier world, designers hold the capacity to influence trends and break conventional cycles. Platforms such as the Dutch Design Week, hence, become essential in amplifying their voices of change and bridging them to each other and the world. With this ethos, DDW24 is set to open up its doors to people from across the globe, inviting them to be inspired, connect and contemplate the Real Unreal.