5 Design Events to Check Out This Summer 2022

It’s been a long two years, but finally, events, exhibitions, and gatherings are back in full swing. What does that mean for our architecture and design community? All the design fairs and exhibitions we’ve missed out due to Covid are back in full force, better than ever. So block your dates and start planning, it’s going to be a great summer for design. 

If you’re new to this design scene, you might wonder why these events matter. Design fairs like Neocon and Salone Del Mobile have served two important purposes for nearly half a century now. On one hand, they’ve enabled brands of all shapes and sizes to launch or display new products to the masses, allowing the world a glimpse of what they have to offer or what is yet to come. On the other hand, it’s a place for the design community to learn, collaborate, and socialize with the community and learn about different cultures as well. These events are places to see what’s new, what’s trending, and what’s important in the world of architecture and design today. 

If you’re not sure where to look or which one to start with, we’ve got you covered. Here are five design events to check out this summer. 

Featured Image Credits: Unsplash

Clerkenwell Design Week

With a large concentration of showrooms, design firms, and creative agencies in one central London location, the Clerkenwell area is no doubt an obvious choice to host the England’s annual design fair. Like almost every year in the past, Clerkenwell Design Week (CDW) will be held May 24-26th, during perhaps one of the best seasons to visit London. The weather’s great, people are out and about, and generally a great time to wall around Clerkenwell, visiting showroom to showroom. 

Besides events and parties, there’s new design projects, street spectacles, workshops, and temporary installations all around Clerkenwell. The organizers are hoping they “challenge visitors’ perception of design application, as well as to inspire and entertain them”. Look out for the Porsche Taycan installation, checkout the next gen design pavilion, or attend the Fabric Party to celebrate the CDW’s comeback – there’s a lot to look forward to!

Index Dubai

Not one to be left behind, Dubai has worked itself up to become a top design destination in the past decade. If you’re not convinced, then a visit to this years Index – the largest interior and fit-out trade show in the mena region – should change your mind. Not only does it feature international brands but several local manufacturers as well. 

Visitors can look forward to the Index Design Talks, the Work Design Summit, and several designer installations as well. As always, the venue at World Trade Center will feature Workspace at Index – a week long event that connects buyers to manufacturers in the commercial workspace industry, including but not limited to smart-office technology solutions, fit-out and design concepts, and corporate wellness solutions.

Salone Del Mobile.Milano

Italy has always been closely associated with high quality design. Not just furniture, but Italian brands across various industries – from fashion to cars – are known for producing excdeptionally high quality products. When it comes to industrial design, specifically within the furniture and fittings industry, there’s no fair quite like Salone Del Mobile in Milan. 

Milan, a global capital of fashion and design, will host Salone Del Mobile’s diamond jubilee ( 60th ) edition this year from 7th to 12th June 2022. According to Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, “The event will focus on the theme of sustainability, acting as a showcase for the progress made in this regard by creatives, designers and companies”. Visitors can look forward to Supersalone – an event curated by Boeri in collaboration with designers Andrea Caputo, Lukas Wegwerth and Giorgio Donà, curators Maria Cistina Didero and Anniina Koivu, and graphic designer duo Marco Ferrari and Elisa Pasqual of Studio Folder. It will be presented as a thematical and scenographic display where companies are able to show their best work from the past 18 months.

NeoCon

For nearly 50 years, the Merchandise Mart in Chicago has been home to North America’s, and perhaps the world’s largest commercial interior design exposition – NeoCon. The event will be held this summer between June 13th to 15th, featuring game changing products and services from leading manufacturers and designers the world over. NeoCon has served as a launchpad for many important product launches throughout its history, and started as a place for the design community to meet, learn, discuss, and move forward together. Brands such as Knoll, Vitra, Steelcase, and Herman Miller have leveraged NeoCon to launch to many of their industry defining products. The shift in workspace design driven by the adoption of personal computers was first seen at NeoCon as well. 

NeoCon isn’t about products, it’s about experiences too. Make sure you check out the i+s Trend Sources where you can explore the emerging design trends that will shape commercial interiors in 2022 and beyond. For those interested in sustainability, hop over to the Metropolis Sustainability Lab – where you’ll learn about the the latest technologies and products that help make a bigger impact.

3 Days of Design 

Denmark’s premier architecture and design event welcomes visitors and design enthusiasts from all over the world to experience in Copenhagen in a whole new way. With a focus on Danish and Scandinavian design, but also celebrating notable international design, 3 Days of Design curates the best of lifestyle, design, furniture, lighting and interior design. Hosted at various venues across the city, 3 Days of Design takes place from 15 to 17 June 2022. 

What’s interesting about this event is it goes a little beyond celebrating design, but invites visitors to appreciate Danish culture as well. What started in 2013 in a small warehouse with just four Danish brands – Montana, Kvadrat, Erik Jørgensen, and Anker & Co – is a now a major design event for the region. Over 200 brands will available to interact with, and over 250 different types of events across Copenhagen to attend.