Salone del Mobile.Milano 2019. Photo by Alessandro Russotti.

Architecture & Design – After one year and a half of postponements, cancelations and virtual editions, some of the most influential design and architecture appointments are ready to welcome visitors again. September 2021 is a Super September offering many brands and designers the chance to present their new collections, projects, and innovations at a physical event in over a year. Can’t visit them all? Don’t panic! Most fairs, biennials, and festivals have also developed digital platforms to discover new products and e-visit the venues virtually.

Milan Design Week

5-10 September

Brera Design District 20219 – Photo via IG by @breradesigndistrict.

The world’s most influential design event will take over the Italian city for a whole week of events and exhibitions. Salone del Mobile.Milano will be back with Supersalone, an innovative edition and format curated by Stefano Boeri, taking over the city’s fair and La Triennale Design Museum. Forget traditional booths and pavilions. At Supersalone, visitors will explore the best of Italian and international design along a curated creative path conceived like an extensive design library.

Supersalone 2021 – Renders by Andrea Caputo.

During the week, the city will thrive with Fuorisalone, the ‘diffused festival’ featuring hundreds of exhibitions and events across Milan’s renowned design districts, including Isola Design Festival, Brera Design District and 5 Vie, but also Masterly, Alcova, Super Design Show and the brand-new ALPHA District. Read more…

Maison & Objet + Paris Design Week

9-18 September

MaisonObjet 2020 – Photo by ©AETHION.

Decorative pieces, designer furniture, accessories, textiles, fragrances and tableware… La Ville Lumiere will shine again with design under the theme Desirable Development. Maison & Objet – 9-13 September – will be placed under the sign of home decor, design, craft and the art of (re)living together. 3.000 exhibitors, 60% of which are international brands, will present their latest collections across eight pavilions at the Parc des Expositions.

On 9-18 September, the tenth edition of Paris Design Week will celebrate design in the heart of the French capital with new concept stores, staged window displays, vernissages, meet ‘n’ greets with designers and more. Over 200 venues will animate some of the most creative districts of the city: Marais-Bastille-Palais Royal, Rive Gauche, Opera-Concorde-Eoile and Pigalle-Barbes-Stalingrad.

Helsinki, Copenhagen and Stockholm

9-19 September

Helsinki Design Week 2019. Traces from Anthropocene soil group – Photo by Tzu Yu Chen.

What is Wise to Design now? This is the question posed by Helsinki Design Week [9-19 September], which will feature exhibitions, discussion forums and meeting places for design professionals and enthusiasts. The Design Market event will be open online and in shops around the city.

Denmark’s annual design event 3 Days of Design [16-18 September] takes over Copenhagen with a rich event program, showcases and exhibitions in almost 200 venues. The inaugural Stockholm Creative Edition [23-29 September] includes exhibitions, talks and a food tour. The first edition of the independent design week will focus exclusively on Swedish design. The Nordic capital will also host the Stockholm Craft Week [September 30-October 3], featuring 42 exhibitors increasing awareness of craft as an art form.

Architecture biennials from Seoul to Chicago

From September 16

Chicago Architecture Biennial 2019 – Photo by Kendall McCaugherty.

Two major architecture events are scheduled in September. Under the theme ‘CROSSROADS – Building the Resilient City,’ Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism [September 16-October 31] will attempt to respond to the complexity of the relationships that shape our cities and to the critical time that humanity is currently facing by drafting a manifesto for a more sustainable city.

‘The Available City’ is the theme of the fourth edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial [September 17, 2021 -January 31, 2022], which will explore the impact collective space can have in cities today. Through a reinvented and responsive global platform, the Biennial will create opportunities for conversations about the intersection of architecture and design and such critical issues as health, sustainability, equity, and racial justice.

London Design Festival

18-26 September

London Design Festival 2020. Lee Broom’s MAESTRO collection – courtesy of Lee Broom.

London Design Festival will take over multiple creative districts in the British capital with exhibitions, window displays and urban art projects. Among the specially commissioned pavilions and public exhibitions is Yinka Ilori’s major initiative, transforming central London and the City of London into an outdoor art gallery. At the festival’s hub at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Sou Fujimoto and Tin Drum present Medusa. This interactive installation will slowly morph and evolve based on the movement of audiences in the space. Major design destinations include Kings Cross, Shoreditch Design Triangle, Mayfair and more.

DesignMiami/ Basel

21-26 September

Magnus V by Joseph Walsh Studio @ Design Miami:​ Basel 2019 – Photo by James Harris.

The fifteenth edition of Design Miami/ Basel returns to the  Basel Messeplatz with 27 international gallery presentations and 14 Curio exhibitions and a reimagined Design at Large program with large-scale works and installations. In an international first, Superblue will partner with the fair to present Skylights by DRIFT. Taking over the expansive downstairs space in Hall 1, the mesmerising work features sculptures that unfold and retreat in a fascinating choreography, mirroring the “sleeping” pattern or nyctinasty of real flowers.

Design China Beijing

24-27 September

Stellar Works ultimate collection – Courtesy of Design Shanghai/Design China Beijing 2021.

Design China Beijing comprises a trade fair at the National Agricultural Exhibition Centre and a programme of several offsite events with iconic international design names and local design talent. As part of the Beijing International Design Week, the 4th edition of the fair will focus on the theme of Nature, Nurture and Sustainable Beauty which will be expressed with sustainable design materials, industrial research, and the new innovative system of ‘Green Building Standards and Certification System.’

Vienna Design Week

September 24 – October 3

Vienna Design Week 2020. SPIELWERK installation by TU Wien University – © Stefanie Freynschlag.

Under the theme ‘A City Full of Design,’ Vienna Design Week will turn overlooked corners of the Brigittenau district into stages for design to explore new perspectives on the objects around us and how they are created and manufactured. Max Shieldl will present public spaces interventions that offer preventative psychological exercises, raise awareness about mental health, and gather personal experiences and stories to create a sense of community.

Cersaie

Bologna, September 27-October 1

Cersaie 2019. CODE collection by Arbi.

Cersaie, the most influential fair for the world of the ceramic industry and bathroom furnishings, will open its doors on September 27. On show the collections and innovations of over 600 leading international exhibitors from 26 countries across 15 pavilions. At Palazzo Giustiniani, the exhibition Building, Thinking, Living curated by Renzo Piano will showcase projects by up-and-coming studios.