This is the 19th edition of Poland’s biggest design festival. The motto of the new edition of Łódź Design Festival 2025 is not_end / un_end. The exhibitions and events prepared combine local and global design perspectives, and allow the audience to discover design processes that influence the state of the changing world. This year’s edition of Łódź Design Festival is part of the official programme of events accompanying the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The leading slogan – nie_end / un_end – reflects the approach to design as a process: open, unclosed, in which both experimentation and reflection on the changing world matter. The organisers have prepared dozens of exhibitions and events. We also met the winners of the most prestigious plebiscites – make me! and must have! You can see the selected projects with your own eyes by visiting the Festival Centre.
make me! 2025 – winners
This is one of the most important international competitions for young designers who want to change the world through design. Its aim is to promote courage, a fresh outlook and innovative solutions that respond to real user needs. The final of the competition took place on Tuesday 20 May. It was then that we found out which of the submitted proposals by young creators had gained the recognition of the competition jury. The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and Interprint sponsored the prizes, and the competition jury included: Agnieszka Polkowska, Jacek Ryn, Maja Musznicka-Janiec, Kamil Białas, Maciej Głowacki and Michał Piernikowski.
Who won?
1.place and a cash prize of PLN 15,000
→ UNI – Objects supporting social interaction in urban local spaces, project: Angelika Brzóska
2.place [Ex aequo] and cash prize of PLN 10,000 each
→ Harness stabilising dogs with behavioural disorders during basic veterinary care, project: Agnieszka Szmyd
→ Sono, project: Konstantin Diehl
In addition, special prizes were awarded by the event partners. The LPP Award in the amount of PLN 10,000 went to Dawid Fik for his project Zmiana. And the Interprint Poland Award of PLN 5,000 went to the designers Hak Studio (Żaneta Korsak, Paweł Lasota) for the UMA project – tableware that stimulates taste.
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The projects that made it into the final of the make me! competition can be seen in the exhibition ‘make me! – Innovation Lab.
15 years of must have!
The must have plebiscite is celebrating its jubilee – this is the 15th time the quality mark has been awarded to the best domestic implementations distinguished by their functionality, aesthetics and workmanship. The award is indicated by the Expert Council, which this year is made up of Kamil Białas, Anna Chwalińska, Agnieszka Gruszczyńska-Hyc, Anna Grużewska, Krzysztof Miruć, Michał Piernikowski and Hanna Rydlewska.
This year’s 65 laureates include everyday objects as well as high-tech, editorial or collector’s products. They represent various fields – from furniture and lighting, through textiles or ceramics, to mobile applications and visual communication systems. We published the entire list of award winners in the article HERE.
Łódź Design Festival 2025. The strongest points
EverCity – a city for eternity
What should a city that supports us in living a long, healthy and happy life look like? This question will be answered by the main festival exhibition, curated by Katarzyna Ludwisiak and Michał Piernikowski of ŁDF. – Our idea is to stimulate reflection on the role of design and architecture in long-term urban planning. We will look at ways of designing spaces that foster the well-being of residents and support social and environmental sustainability. “EverCity” will show the city as an interconnected system that needs to operate in a resilient, adaptive and future-proof way, ” explains Ludwisiak. The exhibition was created in substantive collaboration with Dr Agnieszka Labus, Małgorzata Bielawska and Katarzyna Świętek from the LAB 60 Foundation , who specialise in the themes of inclusivity and urban design for every stage of life.
Archiblok, open programme, urban installations and accompanying events
This year’s programme will include the anniversary edition of Archiblok – on the last day of the festival (25 May), its 10th edition will take place, which, under the motto ‘Cities for tomorrow’s needs’, will focus on the future of urban spaces. The event will consist of a series of speeches and a debate with experts such as Aleksandra Kulińska, Agnieszka Labus, Magdalena Milert, Jakub Szczęsny and Marcin Wojciech Żebrowski. The meeting will be hosted by Filip Springer.
The programme also includes initiatives submitted as part of the open programme call – exhibitions, workshops and proposals sent in from all over Poland. These are complemented by installations prepared by the festival organisers in Lodz, which introduce design into the city’s everyday life: “State of mind” – a ceramic mural by Bartek Bojarczuk, “Nitka” – a large-format urban sculpture by Izabela Bołoz, “Floating island” at Księży Młyn or the “Relax bench” located at the Łódź Fabryczna railway station.
The festival is also about educational and social activities. – The Łódź Design Festival is much more than a review of design. It is a space for testing, cooperation and discussion about the real needs of the contemporary world. An important part of this year’s programme is the presentation of the “Design Polish Design” study, carried out in cooperation with the Centre for the Development of Creative Industries and the Linkleaders agency. It is also worth noting the new season of our podcast Different Things,” enumerates Michał Piernikowski, festival director.
Łódź Design Festival runs until Sunday, 25 May. For more information, visit the official website at https://lodzdesign.com and the Facebook profile: facebook.com/Lodz.Design.
source: press materials
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