Iconic locations, dynamic visuals with AI elements, and a competition for young talents. This year, the Czech Design Week festival will again showcase contemporary design trends.

This year, the Czech Design Week festival will again be held in two main exhibition centers – the functionalist Mánes Exhibition Hall and the baroque Clam-Gallas Palace. While Mánes will present design innovations from authors, students, brands, and studios through panel exhibitions, the Clam-Gallas Palace will offer visitors exhibitions connecting design and art throughout its entire premises.

The continuation of the New Generation exhibition line, returning to the palace for its second year, will feature a curated selection of the youngest Czech and Slovak designers who are already shaping the future of local design. This selection will be complemented by two independent exhibitions by glass artist František Jungvirt and multidisciplinary artist Pavlína Šváchová, located in the palace courtyard areas.

Tracing design in the heart of Prague

A new feature this year is the involvement of the famous Slavia Café, which will transform into a vibrant exhibition space for design objects and installations during the festival. Slavia Café, a cultural symbol of Prague with views of the National Theatre and Prague Castle, has historically been a meeting place for Czech intellectuals and artists – from Bedřich Smetana and Jaroslav Kvapil, through Franz Kafka, Vítězslav Nezval, Ferdinand Peroutka, and the Čapek brothers, all the way to Jaroslav Seifert and Václav Havel.

The festival will also connect other selected design venues and galleries in the center of Prague, creating a design route that will allow visitors to discover new works while traveling between the Mánes Gallery and the Clam-Gallas Palace.

"One of Czech Design Week's long-term goals is to bring design beyond traditional exhibition or trade fair settings and into public spaces. By connecting the festival's main locations with other venues in central Prague, a design route will be created, inviting visitors to spontaneously discover and connect with various forms of contemporary design," adds festival director Lukáš Pipek on behalf of the organizers.

A visual embodying the contrast of chaos and harmony

This year's festival visual was created by Prague-based studio Personaal, comprising Kamil Ansorge, Vojtěch Beneš, and Adam Zaňka. The visual is inspired by the fascinating process of creative work, which is often restless, scattered, and full of unexpected twists – from sketches and ideas scribbled on notebook margins to mind maps or digital prototypes. This internal chaos contrasts with the final form of design – thoughtful, harmonious, and cohesive.

The color and compositional structure of this year's visual captures precisely this contrast between impulsive beginnings and the final coherence of a work, reminding the viewer that behind every clean form lies a complex journey of conceptual development. This year's visual thus pays tribute to all who have the courage to create. 

Czech Design Week also plans to utilize the visual in a way that elevates it from a classic graphic framework to an interactive and dynamic level. This new visual concept, reflecting current technological trends and leveraging AI capabilities, will be unveiled by the festival shortly before its opening.

Czech Design Award: Ploom Edition

The Czech Design Awards, a traditional part of the festival since its inception, are entering a new phase. After eleven years of being awarded exclusively among festival exhibitors, they are transforming this year into an open competition for all talented designers. To mark this change, which is complemented by a new visual identity for the awards by graphic designer David Novák, the festival has prepared a special competition edition this year in collaboration with the Ploom brand, the main partner of Czech Design Week and the Czech Design Awards.

The Czech Design Award: Ploom Edition competition, themed "Tradition," offers all talented creators from the Czech Republic and Slovakia the opportunity to transform their design into a final product. The four most creative proposals will proceed to realization and will be presented to the public during Czech Design Week 2025.

Winners will receive a financial reward, the opportunity to exhibit at the next festival edition, and most importantly, the Czech Design Award – including an iconic vase designed by glass artist František Jungvirt, which symbolically connects contemporary design with Czech glassmaking tradition. The vases are produced at the AJETO glassworks, a partner of the awards. Applications for the Czech Design Award: Ploom Edition competition are open from May 5 to May 31, 2025, on the website: www.czechdesignaward.cz

Festival applications will include a competition for concert tickets

Applications are traditionally open until June 15th for all creators – including designers, students, studios, and brands – who wish to exhibit at this year's Czech Design Week festival. The festival organizers will reward those who submitted their applications in May with free tickets to Prague concerts featuring contemporary music icons such as Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa, and Empire of the Sun.

The twelfth Czech Design Week will take place from September 11th to 14th, 2025. In addition to showcasing contemporary design and art, it will traditionally offer an accompanying program featuring lectures and discussions that reflect current topics resonating not only within the cultural sphere. All updates for this year's edition can also be found on the festival's website www.czechdesignweek.com. The general partner of the twelfth edition of the Czech Design Week festival is Xiaomi.  

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