Romanian Design Week 2025 ended after ten days. Over 140 satellite events were visited by 30,000 people, the organizers announce.

Six curatorial formats, three central spaces, hundreds of ideas

The former Cina restaurant, Romania's National Art Museum (MNAR) and Casa Fratelii were the central venues for this year's edition, along with an extensive network of satellite locations spread across the city.

At the same time, the public was invited to discover design in all its forms through a series of exhibitions, interventions and events spread across the city. Between 16 and 25 May, over 150 organizations from Romania and around the world were involved in the festival, and the public had access to six distinct curatorial formats: RDW Exhibitions, RDW Design Flags, RDW & the City, RDW Design GO!, RDW Young Design, RDW Architecture Studios Night, and so on:

Ten themed exhibitions at RDW Exhibitions, on display in the former Cina restaurant building, MNAR and Casa Fratelli, and produced in partnership with creative organizations across the country, such as: “Sustainable Bucharest” (Bucharest Architecture Annual and OAR Bucharest), “Interwoven Secrets” (FABER), “10 years of Beta” (Timișoara Architecture Biennale), ‘ABCDG’ (Local Design Circle), “The New Middle Ages” (Transylvanian Design Week), “From Craft to Music” (Lutieri Artists Association), supported by Rompetrol, “Form with a Meaning” (Dacia Design Studio), "Balance. Eliza Yokina X La Centrala“ (Association of Art In Context Slănic-Moldova), a selection of 19 established or emerging designers presented at Mercedes-Benz Bucharest Fashion Week Spring 2025, the installation ”Fratelli XX" (Mihai Popescu Studio). They were joined by six Romanian brands: ASKIA, Meze Audio, Optimef, Lunet, MINDTHEGAP and Atelier Kairos, who presented their product and industrial design collections in a showcase format. The RDW Exhibitions format is presented by Rompetrol and co-produced by the Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB - Cultural Center of Bucharest.

12 international exhibitions included in RDW Design Flags, a format presented by Purcari, in collaboration with embassies and cultural institutes: the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Embassy of Spain, Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Institute of Culture, the Liszt Institute, the Czech Center, the French Institute, the Austrian National Tourist Office, Artcor (Moldova), Project1, Intro & Vitra and Retros Gallery.

Four urban interventions that transformed Calea Victoriei into a public design trail, as part of RDW & the City, signed by Studio An-An, BAZA. We open the city in collaboration with Łódź Design Festival, as part of the Poland-Romania cultural season, OAR Brasov-Covasna-Harghita and ASAP Romania & De-a Arhitectura. The installations were among the most photographed and shared moments of the edition.

Over 140 events took place during RDW Design GO!, hosted by independent spaces across the city - from exhibitions and openings, to guided tours, parties, fairs, workshops and open studios. The format invited audiences to explore Bucharest in a free and personal way, connecting with local initiatives and creative projects in a variety of formats and contexts. Through its diversity, RDW Design GO! activated the city beyond the core areas, encouraging the discovery of spaces, ideas and communities undergoing transformation.

More than 22 architectural offices in Bucharest opened their doors to the public during the Architectural Studios' Night - one of the most eagerly awaited moments of the festival. Visitors had the opportunity to discover the places where the projects that shape the city come to life, to interact directly with the architects and to understand the working processes in a relaxed and open atmosphere. The evening was marked by talks, exhibitions, installations and special moments prepared by each studio.

31 of the most talented young creatives launched through RDW Young Design - the space dedicated to the new generation of emerging artists and designers, selected from DIPLOMA Show 2024. The 31 young people present in this format brought fresh projects, brave ideas and new perspectives on how design can speak about the world, the future and identity. Presented by UniCredit Bank, supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute and Pepsi - the creative energy partner, RDW Young Design has become a true launchpad, connecting young creators with the general public, professionals in the field and potential collaborators.

 The Romanian Design Week 2025 edition was supported by more than 70 public and private partners, some of which complemented the festival content with special activations, immersive installations, visual interventions and interaction spaces dedicated to visitors.

In the former Cina restaurant building, the public could explore:

Regina Maria 30, an anniversary collection signed by Saddo and Alina Gavrilă-Borțun, accompanied by a memory game-like activation;
Design Lounge by Promenada Mall București & Mega Mall, a space dedicated to sustainable design, part of the It's Not Goodbye, It's Rock It Later by Electric Castle x NEPI Rockcastle x Promenada Mall București campaign, complemented by the installation “Loc de Design by Mega Mall”, signed by Alina Marinescu;
Raffaello by Mia Peculiar - White Collection: A Dreamlike Poetry of Textures, a collection of six clothing creations inspired by the universe of the iconic candy, exploring femininity and elegance through a subtle play of textures and proportions;
People of RDW, a series of photo portraits signed by Andreea Retinschi, realized with the support of creative energy partner Pepsi, and complemented by a visual intervention created by Ramona Bizbac;
Seletti Sensorium Piazza, a multi-sensory installation resulting from the collaboration between IQOS and Seletti, previously presented at Milan Design
Week - a bold reinterpretation of the traditional Italian piazza, exploring the connection between the physical and the digital.

On the last weekend of the festival, the Seletti Sensorium Piazza by IQOS installation became the focal point of special evenings that brought the RDW community together in a relaxed and creative atmosphere:

•  On Thursday, there was “Italian vibes @RDW with Maurice Munteanu”, an evening of music, inspiration and Mediterranean mood;
•  On Friday, the RDW party powered by IQOS continued with a set by Moss Farai;
• On Saturday, the edition ended with a special double set - DU MAD, followed by Corvin with Buniku, in an evening that brought the final energy of the festival to an already iconic space for this edition.

Design Tomorrow Today: a theme about cities, communities and the future

Under the theme “Design Tomorrow Today”, the festival set out to be a catalyst for ideas that challenge us to rethink the way we live, build and interact with the city. It was an edition that invited participation, proximity and involvement. Thus, in 2025, design became the language of a community on the move - a community open, curious and supportive.

 Romanian Design Week 2025 was made possible thanks to the involvement of more than 2,000 people from the festival's organizing teams and more than 30,000 visitors to the Romanian Design Week 2025 exhibitions and events, who turned this edition into a collective experience, born out of collaboration and enthusiasm.

The 13th edition of Romanian Design Week, the multidisciplinary festival dedicated to the creative industries, organized by The Institute, presented by UniCredit Bank, was a collective edition, built through collaboration and shared energy, bringing together a wide network of professionals from local and international creative industries. This edition showed what a collaborative festival is all about: each format was curated in partnership with local and international organizations, transforming Romanian Design Week into a platform that reflects not only contemporary design, but also its ability to dialogue with the great themes of the present - sustainability, inclusivity, urban regeneration, collective memory and innovation.

"Romanian Design Week 2025 is the first edition entirely developed through collaborations with other organizations, under the conviction that tomorrow's world is built today, together. The Institute aims to continue in this direction in the years to come, strengthening the link with local creative industries and demonstrating, through each edition, the strength of joint actions: more ambitious projects, a stronger and more visible creative community - both locally and internationally," says Raluca Mirel, Romanian Design Week project director.

Written by News.ro | 27 mai 2025, 10:38