World Design Capital
We, the German Design Council, are a founding member of the World Design Organization (WDO). Every two years, the WDO awards the title of World Design Capital (WDC). With “World Design Capital Frankfurt RheinMain 2026”, this international designation will be hosted in Germany for the first time.
The German Design Council and the German Design Museum Foundation support WDC 2026 through a broad range of engagements and accompany it with various initiatives. These may include projects developed in cooperation with WDC 2026 as well as independent programmes. We are delighted that WDC 2026 is taking place in Germany and, where content aligns with our remit, we communicate its programme through our channels.
Selected Activities 2026
- 29 January 2026: Welcome address for participants of the Marques Design Symposium “Product Design – From Cradle to Eternity” (Lutz Dietzold)
- 6 February 2026: Hosting of the German Design Award 2026
- 7 February 2026: Organisation of the Designer Day at Ambiente (including Barbara Lersch, Sebastian Herkner and Naoto Fukasawa)
- 11 February 2026: Jury participation by Lutz Dietzold in the WDC project “Great Good Place” (Weißfrauen Diaconal Church)
- 26 February 2026: Launch of the talk series “Moving Business by Design”, initiated by the German Design Council in cooperation with the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- 13–28 June 2026: Hosting of the German Design Graduates project “Form Follows Friendship 2026 – Co-design as a Democratic Practice” (exhibition at the MAK, in cooperation with WDC 2026)
- 1 October 2026: Participation of Helge Aszmoneit in the Library Talks at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Frankfurt (working title: “Reading Design. The Library of the German Design Council”)
- 28–30 October 2026: Premium partnership of the German Design Council at the Service Design Global Conference, Wiesbaden
- 16–17 October 2026: Cooperation partner of the academic conference “Which World Did We / Do We Want? On the Value of Preserving Design Knowledge” organised by the German Design History Society (Gesellschaft für Designgeschichte e. V.), in cooperation with the Dieter and Ingeborg Rams Foundation, the German Design Council / German Design Museum Foundation and VDID
Throughout the year: Organisation of over 60 workshops by the German Design Museum Foundation under the motto “Design Makes School”